《Forevermore | Hailee Steinfeld》Chapter 27 - The Feet of People Walking Home

Advertisement

"Welcome to Oxford!" Florence says as we pass the sign that signified we have arrived in the city.

Hailee and I are currently in the car with Florence, on the way to the home she has here in Oxford. The two of us are exhausted, Florence had us up early since the drive is a little under 2 hours. The time wasn't even that early, it just felt that way since we all went to bed so late. But nonetheless, the little road trip we had on the way there was fun. Florence was playing her favorite tunes, and we jammed out together for a while. Another portion of the ride was spent just talking, until Hailee fell asleep on my shoulder.

After a few turns and miles down roads, we finally arrived at Florence's home. It's a really beautiful house. I could definitely see her living here. I nudge Hailee's knee to get her to wake up, and she slowly detaches her cheek from my shoulder.

"How long was I asleep for?" She asks groggily, and I laugh.

"Just about 45 minutes. Come on, we are here." I tell her, getting out of the car.

The three of us walk towards the front door, Florence unlocking it.

"Ta da!" Florence shouts as she reveals the inside of her home. Hailee and I look around at the tall ceilings, then at the small knick knacks on the shelves accompanied by many picture frames.

"This place is amazing Flo, it's very you." Hailee mentions, and Florence smiles at her.

While we admire our surroundings, a dog reveals itself from around the corner.

"Oh! Billie came to say hello!"

The white and brown dog comes up to us, sniffing our shoes and clothes. Hailee lowers herself closer to the floor so she is at the same level as the dog, petting her on the top of her head.

"She's so cute." Hailee pouts while petting her. "I miss Teenie now."

"You will be reunited by the morning." I remind her.

"Come this way let me give you a tour." Florence tells the two of us, motioning for us to follow her.

She takes us through the large home, showing us the different rooms and spaces the house has to offer. She shows us her office which has the pretty standard things an office should have, but my eyes quickly avert to the Black Widow poster on the wall, and I begin to walk towards it.

"I knew you'd walk over there." Hailee says, and I look back at her with a smile that says 'you caught me'.

On a small shelf by the poster, there's a singular Funko Pop of Yelena in the white suit, still in it's box. I pick it up to admire it, since I have never seen that one before.

"That would be my own Funko Pop yes. Very proud of it." Florence mentions as I look at the small box. I place it down carefully next to the frame of her and Scarlett on the motorcycle in the Budapest scene. We exit the office shortly after, Florence taking us through another hallway.

"Who's room is this?" I ask curiously, as I peer into the room with the door open.

"Oh that's my little sister Raffie's room. She wanted her own room for when she visits."

After the house tour is completed, Florence shows us the backyard, which consists of a pool and a really nice porch area which has a grill and some nice outdoor furniture.

Advertisement

"We should swim, it's really nice outside." Florence suggests, but I immediately remember we don't have bathing suits.

"We didn't bring suits." Hailee tells Florence, and I wonder if she read my mind.

"Well you can borrow one of mine of course, and I have something for you too Jayden." She says looking at us both, and I let out a sigh of relief because I was not going to wear a bikini.

The three of us enter back in the home through the two double french doors, and we watch as Florence goes into the kitchen. Of course, she starts to pour us drinks.

"It's only 2pm!" Hailee reminds her, Florence already taking a large sip of a drink she whipped up.

"I'm British." She replies, and we all laugh. Hailee and I decline the drinks, telling her we will have them later on. We can only spend so much time at her house though, since our flight is another red-eye meaning we have to be at the airport at 9pm.

Hailee and I sit down together on the barstools Florence has surrounding her kitchen island, while she faces us from the other side. We all talk about all things life, mostly Hawkeye.

"Are you excited to be joining us Jay?" Florence asks.

"You told her?" I question, looking to Hailee.

"Duh." Hailee replies. "She sort of gave me the idea to ask Feige."

"Well, to answer your question Florence." I begin, now looking at the blonde in front of me. "I am extremely excited, yes. I also love New York, and I'll be living with this one over here." I tell her, pointing to Hailee with my thumb.

"You sure you want to live with her?" Florence asks me sarcastically and I laugh.

"Of course, I can't wait."

"Well, don't call me when she gets those bursts of energy late at night." Florence jokes.

"Trust me, I already know all about it." I reply.

We slowly veer away from the topic of Hawkeye, as I don't want them to spoil anything for me. Even though I'll be on set, I won't really know the extent of the story line.

"Florence, Black Widow was amazing by the way. I won't lie, many tears were shed." I tell her, switching the conversation to the newly released movie.

"Oh gosh, thank you. I had such an incredible time with that project, and I'm so lucky to have been brought back so soon for Hawkeye."

"How did you react when you found out?" I ask.

"I really wasn't sure where the story was going to go, you know Marvel." She explains. "Then they had me come in to do the post credit scene, and they told me Valentina was going to hand me the iPad with Clint's picture on it, then it all made sense."

"Then you met me!" Hailee interjects, and Florence giggles.

We talk more for a while, sparking a discussion about our favorite Marvel films and characters, until Hailee brings up something random.

"Remember the first time we watched a movie together?" Hailee asks me, and I think for a second.

"Little Women?" I answer back, and she nods.

"Can you believe that's what we watched? And now the three of us are here in person. So much has happened since then." Hailee tells us, reminiscing.

"That was a cute night. I was so nervous though gosh." I reply, the night slowly coming together in my head.

Advertisement

"Yeah and you texted me a picture with Amy on your TV!" Florence adds on, remembering the night also.

"You guys are cute, I'm happy for you both." Hailee and I smile at each other. "When's the wedding, I love a good party." Florence blurts out, and both our eyes grow wide.

"Um...." I say, my head turning to Hailee. "If that's where life takes us..." I spit out, not knowing how to finish that sentence, but Hailee picks it up for me.

"If that's where life takes us you'll be the first on the guest list." Hailee tells her, and Florence pumps her fist in the air in celebration.

"Don't let Lizzie hear that." I tell them both, and we laugh together.

Since we had been talking for about a few hours now, Hailee and I finally accept Florence's drink offer. She makes us both a martini, even deciding to be extra and putting a lemon peel around the rim.

"I'm going to cry I miss Martini." Hailee tells me and Florence hands us the drinks.

I watch as Hailee takes out her phone, taking a photo of the glass. She switches to instagram, adding the photo she just took to her stories, along with a cute photo of Teenie from her gallery.

@haileesteinfeld: missing Martini while drinking a martini

"I bet you there are people that are going to see the kitchen towel in the back and figure out we are at Florence's place." I tell her, and she rolls her eyes playfully.

"Twitter probably has it already. I can see the headline already: Yelena in Hawkeye confirmed!" She jokes, and I let out a small laugh.

I slowly sip my drink, Hailee doing the same as Florence excuses herself to the bathroom.

"This drink is strong as shit." I whisper to Hailee, laughing in between words.

"I know, but I don't think she realizes since she likes her drinks strong." Hailee responds, the two of us giggling together.

"What are you two on about?" Florence asks us as she returns from the bathroom back to the kitchen. Hailee and I look to each other, trying to hold back our laughs.

"Nothing, we just remembered something funny from a while ago." I tell her quickly.

"Yeah, inside joke. You had to be there, sorry." Hailee adds on, going along with my white lie. Thankfully Florence shrugged it off.

"I grabbed some suits for you guys after I finished in the bathroom." Florence tells us, handing us each swim suits.

"Whose are these?" I ask, pointing to the mens swim trunks.

"Those belong to my brother Toby, I'm sure he wont mind. Those have been in the guest closet for months now." Florence tells me, and I thank her.

"What about this?" Hailee also asks about the bikini she was handed.

"Oh that's mine. I picked out my cheekiest suit. You're welcome." Florence says, pointing that last part at me. "The bathroom is that way if you want to change!"

Hailee and I walk towards where she suggested we change, and I take a step back allowing Hailee to change first.

"Really, you're going to wait outside." She tells me, her arms folded across her chest.

"Yeah um, so you can change." I reply back. She quickly grabs my wrist, pulling me into the bathroom with her, closing the door behind me.

"Stop acting like we didn't have sex last night." She tells me. "Plus I've changed in front of you a million times, we've been together for months come on." Hailee says to me with a smile as she takes off her shirt, revealing her bra and toned stomach.

"I know, I just still want you to have the option of privacy if you chose to want it." I reply truthfully.

"And that's why I love you." She answers back, walking up to me to give me a kiss on the cheek.

I'm standing behind her against the door with only my shirt off. It's seemingly difficult to focus on my own undressing when she's doing it right in front of me.

"Can you help me tie this?" She asks, and my hands gravitate towards the bathing suit strings hanging from her neck. I tie a knot with both strings, making sure it isn't too loose or tight around her skin. I except her to step back in front of me to where she was standing, but instead she does the opposite.

"Thank you." She replies in a low voice, slowly stepping backwards until her behind hits my lower area. My body temperature seems to rise within seconds of the contact, my hands naturally gravitating towards her waist to pull her closer to my body, causing her to gasp.

"Come on, let's go." I suggest, stopping this from going any further as Florence is expecting us outside. Hailee obliges, stepping out of the bathroom after I put on the swim trunks that were lent to me. We both step outside, joining Florence in the backyard, who whistles when we arrive.

"Look at you two!" She hollers as we step out onto the porch.

"Is the water warm?" Hailee asks straight away, and Florence laughs.

"It's summer Hailee, the water is perfect."

"Your definition of summer temperatures are different than mine! LA summers are so hot and dry." Hailee argues, and I nod in agreement.

"Just test out the temperature." I suggest to her as all of us stand at the edge of the stairs.

Hailee slowly lowers her foot in, and immediately retracts it.

"It's a little cold." She tells me, and I roll my eyes.

"Let me see how cold the water is." I reply, teasing her.

I place my whole foot in the water, the bottom of my foot landing on the first step. I look to Hailee with a face of disbelief.

"Hailee, the water is perfect, just get in you'll get used to it."

"There's no way she thinks this is cold." Florence interjects as she walks right into the water placing her full body into the pool. I slowly begin to step down too, letting the water rise higher and higher to my body until it reaches my waist.

"Come on, I got you." I motion to Hailee, reaching my arm out for her to grab. After a few seconds of hesitation, she grabs it gracefully, slowly stepping into the water.

"You're right, it's not that bad." She finally admits.

"And you were making fun of me for not wanting to ride the London Eye." I remind her, and she giggles.

Florence, Hailee and I swim around in the pool. Mostly Florence and I while Hailee sits on the steps. We continue to talk and chat, Florence getting out of the pool every once in a while to get a refill on her drink.

"I never realized you had so many tattoos." Florence brings up, and I look at my skin once she mentions it.

"Yeah, I've been collecting them over the years." I tell her, along with some of the meanings of a few of them.

"Is that a scar?" She points out, looking towards the scar on my upper arm by my shoulder.

"Oh this one? I've had that one since I was a kid." I explain, not going into much detail.

"What's this?" Hailee asks, pointing towards the circular scar on my back. I guess she hasn't really fully analyzed my skin in the times we have been undressed together, so she's doing it now.

"I don't remember actually. Since it's on my back I never really noticed it." I reply, lying through my teeth. I think it worked, since Hailee and Florence started talking about something else.

The truth is, the circular scar is from a bullet. Living in the neighborhood I used to live in when I was younger, I came across a lot of bad people. I've tried to repress that memory as much as I can, but it's hard when your own father was the one behind the gun.

"You okay?" Hailee asks me, pulling me out of my train of thought.

"Yeah, yeah just zoned out for a second there, sorry." I reply.

We decide to get out of the pool, the three of us sitting together on the outdoor couches wrapped in towels, continuing our conversations from before until we decide to go back inside to change.

"Florence." I say, calling to her attention.

"Yeah?"

"A little birdie told me you like to sing." I tell her, and she gets slightly embarrassed.

"Please tell me you didn't show her my old YouTube." Florence says directly to Hailee.

"You're really good." I compliment.

"Well, I do have a guitar upstairs..." Florence mentions, and I clap my hands quietly.

The blonde quickly sprints upstairs to grab the acoustic guitar from her room, bringing it downstairs. She hands it to me, and I place the strap around my neck.

"Sing My Dove." Hailee requests, and I look to Florence.

"Show me the chords." I ask, and Florence takes the guitar off my neck to show me. Once I know the chords and strumming pattern, I practice a bit until I'm ready.

"Ready?" I ask Florence, and she nods. I begin to strum lightly.

She holds a smile inside her

She wants love to find her

And I know that's nothing quite like her

I can't help but admire Florence's voice and tone when she sings. It's low and raspy, giving her a unique edge when singing. The song she is singing right now is so pretty, and I can't help but connect the lyrics to Hailee.

Pale skin, dark hair, eyes beyond compare

Warm laugh, sweet love

You're my dove

You're my dove

We finish a whole run through of the song, and Hailee claps when we finish.

"Your turn." Florence says, suggesting for Hailee to sing.

"I knew you would say that." Hailee replies.

"Sing one from Half Written Story." I propose, and she gets nervous.

"Is that the project you're putting out soon?" Florence asks, and Hailee nods.

"Let's do Wrong Direction, we've played it together before." I offer, and she accepts the idea. We look to Florence and she's looking at us, excited to hear the unreleased song. By the end of it, Florence is impressed, complimenting Hailee on all aspects of the song. I tap my phone to check the time, realizing we should probably start making our way out. I hand the guitar back to Florence, standing up from my seat.

"We should get going." I mention to Hailee, showing her the time on my phone. She frowns when she realizes we have to leave since we still need to drive the few hours back to London.

Hailee and I change back into the clothes we came in, and the three of us get back in the car to begin the drive back. I felt bad that Florence had to drive so much today, but she said she didn't mind. Plus she's staying in London with a friend for a little while, so I don't feel as bad. On the ride back to our place, we made sure to bring snacks and drinks to keep us occupied. Thankfully there wasn't enough traffic, so we were able to get back to our flat in a pretty timely manner.

"Thank you for everything Florence." Hailee says while hugging her.

"You're welcome here any time, the both of you." She replies.

"Next time we'll see you we will be in New York!" Hailee reminds her, and they squeal together.

I hug Florence goodbye as well, thanking her once more. We watch as she drives away, back to wherever she is staying. Thankfully our luggages are packed, and the apartment is picked up just like when we arrived. Hailee and I decided to quickly take showers to get the chlorine from the pool off.

Once we are all set to go, I call an Uber to take us to the airport. The drive there is calm, especially since our driver was pretty silent the whole way through. Hailee and I would talk every once in a while but it mostly consisted of us staring out the window in silence.

We arrive at the airport, and I thank the driver for his service. Our bags are quickly taken to be checked in, and the two of us are left to navigate the airport. I asked one of the employees where TSA is located, and they directed us to where the line started. I helped Hailee place her backpack and mine on the conveyer belt to get checked, and once we were all set we started the walk to our gate.

There's still an hour before, so the two of us decided to grab something to eat at one of the grab and go type places we spotted on the way to our designated gate. I bought us two water bottles to make sure we stayed hydrated. Hailee and I take a seat in the chairs by the gate, taking our time eating the food items we bought.

"Excited to go back home?" I ask between bites of my food. Hailee wipes her mouth before answering.

"Very. But this trip was so amazing." She replies, and I nod in agreement.

About a half hour later, the plane begins to board, and Hailee and I are the first on the plane. We are seated in the same style seats as we were on the way here, with the same curtain and all. The two of us make ourselves comfortable, placing our bags under the seats.

"You look like you're about to knock out the second this plane takes off." I mention to her, and she sleepily nods in agreement. I take off my hoodie, leaving me in just a t-shirt so Hailee can use my bunched up hoodie as a pillow, reclining the seat back as much as she can. I watch as she falls into a deep sleep, looking as beautiful as ever. I put on my AirPod Max headphones over my head, putting on some music to set the vibe for the beginning of the flight, or at least until I myself get tired too.

We are finally going home.

3516 words

    people are reading<Forevermore | Hailee Steinfeld>
      Close message
      Advertisement
      You may like
      You can access <East Tale> through any of the following apps you have installed
      5800Coins for Signup,580 Coins daily.
      Update the hottest novels in time! Subscribe to push to read! Accurate recommendation from massive library!
      2 Then Click【Add To Home Screen】
      1Click