the song for this chapter is "My Cherie Amour," by Stevie Wonder :)

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My cherie amour, lovely as a summer day
My cherie amour, distant as the milky way
My cherie amour, pretty little one that I adore
You're the only girl my heart beats for

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Tate

     France was everything I expected it to be. Well, minus the fact that instead of being there on a romantic getaway, I was trying to solve a software that had cost a countless amount of people their lives.

    The safehouse was in Normandy, and we landed at an airport that was about an hour and a half away from it. The drive went by quicker than most, for some reason. I couldn't explain why, but we all were just very agreeable, no one said much, but not in an awkward way. It was more so that we were all growing so comfortable in each other's presence that sometimes...words were not needed. 

   We arrived at the safehouse, which was definitely the smallest one that we had stayed in so far, as it was more so a cottage than an actual house, and were currently sat outside on the back patio, journals spread out in front of us, and ready to crack the next riddle.

   There was an old metal painted table out back, painted white, but over the years of wear and tear placed upon it, the paint was all cracked and beginning to chip and flake off.

   The table came with matching chairs, four of them to be exact, and seeing as there were five of us, I was comfortably and contentedly sat in Harry's lap, and I don't think I've ever been so glad to not have a chair, for this was the best seat of all.

    His arms were looped around my waist, and every so often, I would kiss his forehead to silently tell him to stop bouncing his knee up and down.

    "Sorry, baby," he'd mumble into my ear, pressing a quick kiss to it after.

   Abel had his laptop pulled out on the desk, and I began to wonder if there was some invisible tether that attached it to his body, as I truly could think of maybe three or four times I had seen him without it.

    Niall was swatting his hand around in front of his face to deter any incoming gnats, as they all seemed to be attracted to him today.

   Will was watching a couple of birds fluttering around in the birdbath across the yard, the sunlight hitting the shallow pool of water within it, and reflecting back onto his blue eyes.

   The journals were on the table, but no one was touching them. Was the time of the essence? Completely. Was that motivating us in any way right now? Not one bit.

   We were all just sitting in comfortable silence, partially due to hangovers, but also just because...well, because of the fucking crazy lives we were living.

  I had only been living this lifestyle for a few months now and I was exhausted.  Harry and the rest of the guys had been doing this for years, and I found myself questioning whether or not they were really human, because I don't think I would have the strength to live this way for so many years.   

    It was Abel who broke our silence, letting out a reluctant sigh as he moved his laptop to the side, placing his elbows on the now vacant table space in from of him and resting his head in his palms, drumming his fingers on the side of his face. 

    "We should probably look at the journals," he announced, and we all tutted and nodded our heads in agreement, but no one made the effort to actually do anything about it.

   I let out a groan of annoyance, startling the silent atmosphere and the people occupying it, Will jumping a little bit in his seat next to me, Harry's arms involuntarily squeezing a bit tighter around me.

   "Fine, I'll look at 'em," I huffed, reaching my arm forwards and grabbing both of the journals, pulling them back towards me.

    "Way to take one for the team, Tate," Niall encouraged, giving me a big thumbs up, but only seconds later going back to fanning the gnats out of his face.

   "Happy to be of service," I chuckled, opening both of the journals to the pages we had determined were intended for our France journey, holding a journal in each hand.

   I opened my mouth to read aloud the words scribbled down onto the pages, but promptly shut it again, realizing it was, of course, in French.

    I heard Harry let out a soft chuckle from behind me, and soon, his large hands were placed over my own, lowering the books back down to the table, and leaning forward so that he could read them.

   "Yeah, you can take it from here," I muttered, and Harry peeked his head back at me, a dimpled grin on his face.

   "Thank you, you know, I couldn't have gotten to this point without your help," he teased back, and I waved him off like the gracious creature I was. 

 Harry threw me a wink that made my heart beat a little faster before turning back to face the pages spread out before him, darting his tongue out ever so slightly to wet his bottom lip before he began to speak.

"The sun stepped down from his golden throne.

And lay in the silent sea,

And the lily had folded her satin leaves,

For a sleepy thing was she;

What is the Lily dreaming of?

Why crisp the waters blue?

See, see, she is lifting her varnished lid!

Her white leaves are glistening through!"

      Will looked at the pages on the table in confusion, as did Abel, and as did Harry and me.

 Niall, however, had stopped his swatting and was zoned out with a very concentrated look on his face, and suddenly, he was pushing back his chair, causing me to wince at the metal scraping against the ground, and began pacing back and forth in the small yard area. 

   "Niall, what are you-" Abel began, but Niall cut him off with one of the loudest shushes I've ever heard, far louder than Abel's voice that apparently disturbed him too much.

  "I'm thinking," he sighed dramatically, shaking his head disapprovingly at Abel and continuing his neurotic pacing back and forth in the overgrown grass. 

     We all just sort of stared at him in amazement, watching while his brain fumbled for some sort of connection that he knew was there, but that he couldn't yet articulate.

  He suddenly stopped, and I think involuntarily we all began to hold our breath, not wanting to disturb whatever thought he had possibly managed to grab onto.

   "Abel, look up who wrote that poem, find out the title," he instructed, and instead of arguing for a bit like I thought he would, or a sarcastic comeback about how he thought Niall had wanted him to be quiet, Abel complied. 

   Harry slid the journal across the table towards him, and Abel quickly went to work, glancing back and forth between the pages and the screen in front of him.

  "It's called 'The Star and the Water Lily,' written by Oliver Wendell Holmes," Abel announced, and Niall snapped his fingers in excitement.

   "Water Lily! That's what I was fuckin' thinking of," he began to rattle off.

    When he turned to us and saw that we were not following whatsoever.

  He let out a huff of slight annoyance, as though we were expected to be able to read his mind.

  "Okay, so, when I was with Izzy and telling her that we were going to France, she started talking about this artist who was from some super small place in Normandy. He did this piece called The Water Lily Pond I think, his name starts with a 'C'," he mumbled off, tapping his finger against his chin as he attempted to recall the name.

   "Claude Monet!" He cried out.

      My jaw fell open slightly without me even realizing it.

 Niall had been able to make the connection from this poem to one of the most famous artists of all time, and we hadn't been able to follow at all until he said his name.

    This was new.

  Before Niall could even begin to further instruct Abel, his fingers were already flying across the keyboard.

  "Giverny, it's in Giverny," Abel smiled, looking up at Niall with pride.

    "Niall, that was..." I started, unable to form the words.

 "Incredible," Harry finished for me, and I eagerly nodded in agreement.

    "Well, shit. Try not to look so shocked guys," Niall scoffed, but we knew he was joking when the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile.

   "We're just proud," I chuckled, smiling when I felt Harry's hand begin to rub up and down my back.

   "I guess we should get going then," Harry sighed, lowering his hand from my back and patting the side of my thigh.

   I let out a huff and went to stand up, but Niall halted my actions.

    "Sorry, no can do. You two are officially off duty tonight," he stated very matter of factly, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at us with a smile that made it look like he was hiding something.   

   "The fuck are you getting on about Niall?" Harry chuckled, and I looked back at him to see his brow raised in suspicion.

   Niall glanced between Will and Abel, who apparently were in on this too, all three of them looking like they had a deep dark secret that they just couldn't wait to spill to us.

   "Well...okay, so listen. You two have been dating for a while now, and still have not been able to have a proper date. One of you is either getting stabbed or kidnapped or both, and then the other has to come and kill some people, and you know, it's a whole ordeal," Abel began, humor in his voice as he spoke.

  "Your point?" Harry laughed, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

     It was Will's turn to continue. "So, we thought, you guys deserve a night to yourselves. A night without fear, death, or anything involved with this mission. Even if for just one night, you two deserve to not be people involved in a criminal led manhunt. You deserve to just be Harry and Tate, having a romantic time in one of the most romantic places in the world."

    My throat tightened at his words, and I tried to dismiss the happy pricks or tears I felt in the corners of my eyes.

   "So, tonight...well, tonight is all about you guys. When we went to the store earlier, we got a bunch of stuff to make, pasta, your favorite Tate," Abel pointed out, and I gave him a sincere and grateful smile before he continued. "We thought we would set up your own little romantic night together, we will cook and I guess be your servers slash bodyguards, and let you finally have a somewhat normal first date."

    "I was even gonna play that old piano for you guys, just to set the mood. But, if you don't mind, please allow us to leave the room before you guys start tearing each other's clothes off," Niall joked, and I felt a happy tear rolling down my face.

   "Shit, she's crying," Will cursed, looking back to Abel and Niall in a panic.

  Before I could answer, Harry answered for me.

    "Because she's happy, you idiot. And so am I. I...wow, I just really can't tell you how much this means to us," Harry admitted, and I loved seeing him be vulnerable not just around me, but around his friends too. 

    "Guys, this is...this is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me, and that includes pre-kidnapping," I joked, and they all burst out into laughter.

   Abel waved me off like it was nothing. "Out of everyone here, you two deserve this the most. I am just honored to even be able to contribute the slightest bit to both of your happiness," he admitted, and I could just bawl right then and there.

     Will suddenly stood, clapping his hands together and looking down at Harry and me.

 "Well, you two lovebirds better go to your room and get ready, the rest of us have a romantic evening to prepare," he instructed, and just as I was about to stand up, Harry scooped me into his arms, and I threw my head back and laughed.

   "Thank you guys again," I called out over Harry's shoulder.

     "Dinner is at seven o'clock sharp! Don't you dare be late!" Niall called back.

  Harry began to literally skip with me in his arms, and with the late afternoon sunlight streaming down on him, and the scent of honeysuckles and lilacs in the air, it was one of the most beautiful moments I had seen thus far in life.

    He was my cherie amour, forever and always.

AN: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR 100K I AM AT A LOSS FOR WORDS FOR HOW THANKFUL I AM FOR ALL OF THE LOVE AND SUPPORT YOU HAVE SHOWN ME! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS SWEET CHAPTER AND THE NEXT ONE WILL BE SWEET AS WELL, ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS! MWAHAHAHA! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT! xx g