"Callum Tate! Long time no see. What've you been up to?"

"Oh, you know, a little of this, a little of that."

Chris eyed Harper up and down. "I can see that."

I furrowed my brows and tried to overcome the screaming voice inside my head telling me to kick this acquaintance in the chest. Instead, I said through gritted teeth, "Chris, this is Harper. Harper, Chris." The freaking introductions lately.

They shook hands and I had to quell the urge to snatch her hand from his grasp. Get a hold of yourself, Tate. Jeez, man.

"A pleasure," Harper said with a charming smile.

Chris held his arm out after crossing our names off the list, gesturing us inside. I grabbed Harper by the arm and pulled her close to my body. This served many purposes. It sent a clear message to Chris, it kept her safe because The Bowery was packed, and, well, it just brought her close to my body. I loved being near her. Careful, Callum.

"What time is it?" She yelled in my ear.

"Ten fifteen. Cherry doesn't goes on for another forty-five minutes," I yelled back, digging the proximity the band currently playing was forcing us to take.

"'Kay. Hey," she yelled, leaning in closely, "this band blows. Let's find some place to talk while we wait."

Just what I wanted to be, alone with Harper Bailey.

But that was not going to happen because the second we stepped onto the rooftop I lead her to, although the music was dulled and the breeze was wonderful, Cherry, her band mates and a few of our friends were already there, as if in waiting. You can't turn around and drag Harper with you, Callum. When they saw us coming, they whooped and hollered, thoroughly embarrassing me.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Cherry started, rising and bowing at her engrossed crowd, "if I may have your attention, please! Introducing, for your entertainment, a one mister Callum Tate and his lovely assistant, Harper!"

The dramatic group all rose to their feet and clapped at our approach.

"I'm sorry about this," I whispered at Harper but she only laughed. "Thank you! Thank you!" I make a slight bow myself.

"Speech! Speech!" Freddy yelled.

"Freddy. Pink hair? Seriously?" I teased.

"What kind of speech was that?" He joked.

"Harper, pink-hair-dude is Freddy." Freddy waved. "This is Tie-Dye Tom, as you can tell from his tie-dye t-shirt." Tom stuck his hand out.

"Tie-Dye, eh?" Harper asked.

"Yes, milady. I own seventy-seven of them."

"Congrats?"

"Thank you."

"And you know Cherry," I say. Cherry hugs her hello. "And this is SO." I point out our most Gentleman's Quarterly member.

"A pleasure," Harper said. "SO, is it?"

"It's not my real name," he corrected smoothly.

"That's right, SO's real name is Henry or something stupid like that," Cherry chimed in.

"What does SO stand for, then?" Harper asked, ignoring Cherry.

"Smooth Operator," we all said in unison, then laughed out loud.

SO takes Harper's hand and kisses the knuckles. "Did I mention we are a dramatic bunch?" I asked. I point to each remaining member of the group as I mention their name. "Kelly, Cross, Marty, Aaron, Nat, Jared and Josiah, but we call them 'the twins' because, well, they're twins, and last, but not least, Sam, short for Samantha."

Everyone smiles and nods, finally taking note of Harper, mesmerized by the sheer beauty of her. Samantha patted the seat next to her and Harper took the offered seat. I found an empty place next to Cherry and watched Harper talk to Sam.

"You're smitten," I heard to my left.

"I'm not," I tell Cherry.

"You're smitten, dude. It's obvious."

"No, I'm not!"

"Callum, you wear your emotions all over your face. Plus, Harper's sitting directly next to Sam, whom, by the way, I would have bet money on that you were in love with just two days ago, and you barely took note of her. You're smitten with that girl."

"I can't help it," I blurt out. Cherry laughed. "I really can't, Cherry. I'm going out of my mind. I'm mad at you, by the way."

"What? Why?" She demanded.

"We had this moment earlier. The one you interrupted. Ring a bell?"

"Oops," she laughed. "Sorry."

I forgave her with a reluctant smile.

"Oh my God, Cherry. I have never met anyone like her in my entire life."

"What exactly did I interrupt?"

"It's embarrassing but it was this strange flirtation. We were close enough to kiss but we never closed the gap." I gripped the sides of my hair with my fists. "Gah! She is like no one I've ever known. She drives me batty."

"And Sam?"

I shook my head. "Sam who? She's a poor man's Harper Bailey."

"Damn, boy. Never thought I'd see the day you got over Sam."

"Sam's Charlie's, anyway." I said without thinking. I cringed when I realized what I'd said then peered over my shoulder at Cherry. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" She pretended.

"I know you're in love with Charlie."

"I'm not," she said, her eyes wide.

"Cherry, come on. You and I are the king and queen of unrequited love."

She shoved her shoulder into mine. "Am I as transparent as you?" She teased.

"Shut up," I laughed then smiled stupidly. "Probably not." I watched Harper's mouth. "I want to kiss her so badly, Cherry." I turned back to Cherry, leaning my head on the railing.

"What ya' tellin' me this for? Tell her," she said, bringing my attention back to Harper, who was now staring and smiling at me.

I stood and walked over to Harper, grabbing her hand, barely acknowledging Sam. "Come with me."

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"We go on in fifteen, Callum! Don't stray too far!" Freddy yelled.

"We'll be there," I yelled back, keeping my eyes on Harper.

I looked across the rooftop deck and found a dark corner with our names written all over it but Harper surprised me by bringing up the furthest topic from my mind.

"Callum, when Charlie comes back from touring. Where are we going to stay?"

What surprised me the most in that question wasn't the fact that she was concerned about what was going to happen but what's going to happen to us.

"Don't worry, Harper. I'll take care of us." And I meant it. I'd figure out a way. "We're going to be fine. I have two weeks to figure something out. We can save our money and cross that bridge when we come to it. Now, for tonight, stop worrying?"

"Alright," she grinned.

I tucked a stray hair behind her ear and hugged her tightly.

"Callum Tate," we heard over the scratchy speakers. "You're needed near the stage."

I sighed loudly. "I'm gonna' kill Cherry. Come on," I said, dragging Harper back down the stairs and into the main hall.

We dug our way through the crowd and stood close to the edge of the stage. Cherry poked her head from between the curtains and winked at us. So many beautiful sounds surrounded us and I grabbed Harper's hand as I listened to them; glass bottles clanked like bells against others, happy people laughing all around us, the pumping of awesome tunes coming from up above, Cherry's band tuning their instruments.

"So, who's in the band?" Harper yelled in my ear.

"Oh, Cherry's on keyboards, Nat's on drums, Freddy's lead singer and lead guitar, Sam's on bass, and Tie-Dye Tom is rhythm guitar."

"Oh, very cool," she smiled. She looked around her a bit before leaning into me. "Uhh, at the risk of sounding rude, I've observed that they're all older than you," she added.

"Yeah!" I laughed. "They're probably mid to late twenties, the lot of them. I seem to relate to them better than kids our age. Maybe because at this age, they know what it's like to be the only one responsible for yourself."

"I can see that," she said. "Older's cool. Except for Sam, though, right?"

"Yeah, Sam's our age."

"Mmm, yes." She cleared her throat. "I know."

"What?" I furrowed my brows at her.

"Oh, nothing. It's just...I think Sam may like you."

"What! What gave you that idea?"

"Well, when we were talking earlier she sort of gave me the impression that I wasn't to touch you."

"You've got to be kidding me. That is really weird."

"Why? You're kind of a catch," she teased.

That made my chest swell. "No, it's just that Charlie and Sam are sort of dating."

"Are they exclusive?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Well, that explains it then."

I was embarrassingly sort of flattered by that but peeved at the same time because she was dating Charlie and although they probably weren't exclusive, why would Sam all of a sudden take an interest in me? Unless, she's one of those 'I want what I can't have' sort of girls which are the worst kind of girls. Nothing is less attractive than that quality.

"I wouldn't go out with Sam for anything in the world," I honestly said.

"Why?"

Well, besides the fact that she's dating Charlie, she's not you. "Because, I just never would." Harper eyed me strangely but turned back to the stage.

The curtain began to peel open, revealing a marvelous Cherry and band.

"Cherry pie!" I yelled out inciting a little dance from Cherry at her keyboard.

"She's wonderful," Harper said, laughing at Cherry's antics.

"I know."

"Hi, we're The Ivories," Freddy said.

Their first song was my favorite because it did wild things to the chest and stomach, filling both up with anticipation, and making the heart beat violently. It didn't help that Harper held my hand the entire song. I'm not complaining. I loved sensation.

The crowd swayed and bent like wheat in the wind. The Ivories were the reason the crowd was what it was. I watched Harper's eyes widen with every song they played. They were truly talented but this was something I am newly reminded of living the songs anew through Harper. She was so incredibly charming dancing and laughing. At one point, Cherry reached out and waved at her. You should have seen Harper's reaction. She was so adorable.

When The Ivories set was over, I pulled Harper towards the back wall to cool off.

"Can I get you something to drink, my dear?" I asked.

"Uh, a water would be wonderful," she said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Okay, don't move or I'll never be able to find you again," I only half-teased.