It is 8.40pm and I am running so late to pick Harry up. The gig technically started ten minutes ago but realistically 24/7 never come on the stage until around 9pm.

I am so pleased he agreed to come with me tonight and excited to be going out together but also a little apprehensive because I know he is a bit nervous about being 'found'. It tells that he isn't quite ready to go back to civilisation just yet.

Due to the 'estate' size of my car, I usually help Dylan and his band mates move their gear to each venue on gig nights. I am a bit like a roadie but minus the heavy lifting; on their insistence not mine that makes me vaguely laugh as I lug bags of compost round the garden with no trouble at all!

Tonight was no exception but when we arrived at Eclipse 69 it was all locked up. I didn't want to dump them and their kit on the pavement and leave because the weather has been goddam awful today. So, I waited patiently with them until the bar manager finally showed up with the keys.

Consequently, I arrived home much later than I intended to Thomas and his friend Sam, who had just arrived, wasting no time in settling in for their evening. The kitchen already had food strewn across the worktop and floor, an upturned glass of coke was fizzily soaking itself into the fluffy cream rug in the living room and the TV was blaring so loudly both boys didn't even hear me come in.

I discreetly tried to pull Thomas to one side to 'have a word' but he was having none of it. He moaned with attitude at me to back-off, that they were only having some fun. My frustration took over and we ended up having a screaming match that got us nowhere apart from me more angry at his impossible adolescent attitude.

At that point, I thought I was going to have to cancel my plans altogether but once I got a grip of myself I attempted a calmer big sister sit down chat with him. I rationally explained that mum and dad were trusting him and if he let them down he wouldn't be allowed to have friends over in future. He just tutted, rolled his eyes and said I wasn't mum so should stop trying to act like her.

Realising there was to be no reasoning with him, and when the cheeky so-and-so mumbled to shut the door on my way out, I rose above it and told him to stop being so immature.

All of this left me little time to get ready. My favourite jeans were dirty, the top I wanted to wear had two buttons missing and I had no time to wash my hair that courtesy of today's constant drizzle was a bouffant of frizz.

To cheer myself up I decided to dress up a bit and opted for my off-white dress smattered with electric blue floral patterns, black jacket and pumps and my hair tied back and under control in a simple ponytail.

As I was just about to walk out the door Olive texted me. She must have called me at least four times since yesterday morning but never left a message. Each time I had genuinely missed her call and when I tried to call her back it always switched straight to voicemail. She had her family dinner tonight and she knew I had the gig so I text her a quick reply to say I would call her tomorrow. She replied she really needed to see me if I 'had time to fit her in'. The unusual tone of her response caught me totally by surprise as we hadn't spoken since the previous week but then we had both been busy with exams and her with her family. Running late enough and thinking she probably didn't mean anything by it, it was just me over analysing as usual, I parked the thought and headed out.

Finally, I pull round the driveway at Summer Haze, frantically beeping my horn to indicate my arrival. I am all flustered and still worrying about my obnoxious brother and Olive's text. However, my tension diminishes when I see Harry is ready and patiently waiting for me. He has his back to me and is locking the front door.

I do not see him cross the driveway towards my car because I am scrabbling around in my bag for my mobile. However, I sense him open the car door though because that familiar scent sweeps a dizziness around my head and immediately stirs desires on my insides. Out the corner of my eye I notice his long legs ease him effortlessly into the passenger seat.

"Hi Beautiful." His gravelly tone sounds decidedly chirpy and when I glance up I notice why.

"What on earth is that?" I pull a shocked face and a deep frown.

He looks at me bemused. "You were the one who suggested a disguise."

"Seriously?" I let out a piggy snort then pull on a straight face. "Somehow I don't think anyone will believe that Barrack Obama is in town."

"Really, I thought it looked quite good." He's such a joker but he sounds deadly serious! "I found it along with a load of other masks in the games drawer in the living room. Oh well, what about just these then." He whips the mask off and dons a pair of child's novelty glasses. He holds one lens between his thumb and forefinger and wiggles them up and down, doing a jazz hand with his other hand. The plastic nose barely covers his and the black feathery fake moustache makes him sneeze.

I stare at him in disbelief, shaking my head and smiling. This wonderful man reads every ounce of me perfectly. He knows I am stressed because when I spoke to him earlier he asked me outright what the matter was. Of course I shrugged it off but his playfulness has instantly lightened the weight of my worries.

"Ah well, I guess the glasses aren't a goer either. Told you that I don't do disguises."

"Yes I can see why, you are rubbish at them! Now let's go."

"Not so fast, come here." He leans across the console, cupping one side of my face in his palm and pulls me to him into a kiss. "Missed you." His touch instantly fires up my cylinders. 

"Yeah, missed you too." I flutter my eyes and take a deep breath in to luxuriate in his closeness.

His whispered words brush into my mouth. "You know we could always skip the gig and spend the evening in." I flick my browns open straight into his greens to see him studying me, hopeful.

Acting dumb but knowing full well what he means, I raise my brows. "Are you always this insatiable?"

His fingertips tease into my hair as he grazes his lips over mine. "It's your fault that I can't keep my hands off you. I like this dress by the way." His words and actions are deftly tugging right down there and I am on the verge of jumping him here and now.

"Don't you go blaming me, it's this that's at fault." I palm his crotch, squeezing it suggestively and suck his bottom lip into my mouth.

Dropping his chin to his chest, he rushes a whistling breath up his nose and closes his eyes before puffing out a huge exhale. A lustful glance bores right into the whites of my eyes and he growls against my mouth. "You know, we haven't christened every room in the house yet."

My heart is throbbing against my rib cage as I pull both lips into my mouth before smacking my lips open to speak. "As tempting as that is, we are going out to the gig."

Before he has time to complain, I give him a quick peck kiss and put the car into first to pull away but he grabs my arm and ticks his head towards the rear of the car. "Um, I think we have an extra passenger on board."

I stare in my rear view mirror to see a carefree Percy suddenly sat up in the middle of the back with his tail thumping furiously against the velour of the seat.

"What the hell, how did you get in here?" I rest my head on my hands that are gripped on the steering wheel. Could my night become any more of a comedy of errors.  

"We have a stowaway!" Harry laughs as Percy puts his nose in between our two seats and licks fondly on Harry's ear. "I'll just go and put him in the house, come on boy." Harry gets out the car, opens the back passenger door and with Percy's collar held tightly in his grip leads him inside.

We finally set off.  It was my intention not to arrive until the band had started anyway so we could creep in the back but we are very late. Harry's hand rests on my thigh tracing circles over my skin that are very pleasurable but extremely distracting.

As we edge nearer to the town, he seems quietly apprehensive as he studies the buildings out of his window. "So this is town?"

"Yep, not much of interest but its okay. Have you not driven in at all since you've been here?" I know he doesn't venture out much but nevertheless I am a bit surprised.

"No, there's been no need. I get all my food and supplies delivered and I don't need anything else."

"Right, well you're not missing much. It's like most other towns with all the same shops and chain restaurants, cinema, bowling.  You know, same old same old but it is home and I like it."

"Is this where college and the florist you work at are?"

"No, the florist is in the next small village you come to driving the other way after passing Summer Haze. It's pretty, quiet and unspoiled there, more my type of place. As for college, there is a campus here in the town centre but I am based at the bigger site on the outskirts."

"You know I considered going back to study during this time off. Even visited some colleges here and in the States during the tour last year to find out about the possibilities."

"Really, wow, what stopped you?" I ask intrigued.

"A few things like distance from family for the States, length of commitment required, ability to lead a normal student life. I still haven't ruled it out for one day though, just not right now." He answers pensively.

"Constantly challenging yourself huh?"

"Yes, always."  He responds proudly.  

I pull into the concrete car park that snakes round and round to the parking levels at the very top and fly into the first available space.

The punishing summer stormy weather has made the evening darker than the norm for this time of year so I didn't manage to take in what Harry was wearing when I picked him up. As we get out the car he looks completely different from his usual black skinnies, loud shirt and suede boots. He's wearing baggier blue denim on his legs and his feet adorn a pair of black converse with his top-half covered in a plain sweatshirt. His hair is tied in a low bun and he pops a patterned bobble beanie on his head.

He catches me staring at him and holds out his arms, palms facing upwards and spins around. "Will I do?"

"Yes absolutely, you look....."

"Different?"

"Well I was going to say sexy but ok, yes different."

He closes the space between us, placing his hands on my waist and pulling me into him. "Different is kind of the idea but I'll take sexy as well." Then he kisses me and takes my hand in his as he heads us towards the exit.

We descend the filthy urine smelling stairwell down to the ground floor because despite the stench of goodness knows what around us, I do not trust car park lifts in the slightest and getting stuck in one would be worse than enduring this smell.

"Who is playing tonight again?"

"A band called 24/7. They are an Indie rock and pop covers band. My friend Dylan plays lead guitar. They're well known on the circuit around here and really good."  

"Sound great, it's been a while since I've been to a gig, I'm really looking forward to it." He replies fondly, squeezing my fingers in his.

I remind myself that despite everything that happened earlier, tonight is a special night and I am determined to make sure we both have a good time.