Roman Holiday | h.s

Twenty-Six

"What?" Anna asked, trailing behind her as she lead them through the hedges to the clearing.

"Sunflowers."

"You don't even like sun-" Anna's breath hitched in her throat when Sophie moved and she could see the clearing fully.

Stood in the middle, on a blanket, holding a bunch of sunflowers was Harry. The moment their eyes met, it was as though they had never been apart. Their faces softened, eyes filled with tears as they came to the realisation without words that they needed this moment.

"I'll leave you two to it." Sophie said softly, giving them both a soft smile each.

"Thank you, Sophie. I owe you." Harry called out, to which she nodded with a laugh.

"Yes you do." She called back, but before she left the clearing she paused in front of Anna.

"Good luck. Call me if you need rescuing. But he seems genuine." She whispered, Anna nodded and hugged her before making her way toward Harry.

Her feet were shuffling toward Harry but she felt like she wasn't fast enough, Anna felt the overwhelming urge to run at him, to be close to him, so she did. When she reached him his arms were ready to embrace her.

She slammed into his chest, finding herself locked in just embracing the moment - and him. He smelled the same as he did when they had first met, he no longer smelled like the mix of them both. His skin had gotten a little bit paler, due to the lack of sun. His accent was stronger than usual. He felt warm, he felt safe.

"I missed you," Anna sobbed into the bare skin of his chest which was exposed thanks to the loose linen shirt he was wearing.

"I missed you more." He whispered, holding her tighter. They stayed that way for a while, feeling the warmth from each other and taking it in as if it were the first time. Eventually they laid on the blanket together, facing each other.

Harry had his hand cupping Anna's plump, pink cheek - eyes filled with adoration, while she stared longingly at him.

"What happened?" She finally mustered the courage to ask.

"I am really sorry," he began, leaning forward to kiss the tip of her nose.

"I lost my phone at the airport, which is why I haven't called," he explained, which immediately filled Anna with relief she didn't even know she would feel. "-I lost all of my contacts. I tried to message you on Instagram, but I guess you don't use it very often." Harry clarified further.

She felt silly now, for ever envisioning that he would just drop her like she was nothing. He had never done anything to make her feel that way, but because he was a pop star - and it was a typical summer fling, she wasn't naive enough to belief that he would be coming back.

"Sorry, I haven't been on any social media for weeks." She clarified, suddenly feeling a sadness in her chest that he probably thought she had been ignoring him for weeks.

"How's Paul?" Anna asked softly, now delicately tracing her fingertips up and down Harry's arm.

"He's good actually, the first week was very hit and miss. I got so emotional. He's so strong and stubborn though, I wish I was more like him." Harry articulated, telling Anna about the first day he saw him - and how he cried in the kitchen alone because he didn't know how to react. He followed it up with an explanation of how he was now, just taking it easy to avoid any flare ups.

"My family all want to meet you, they love you already." He told Anna, smile dancing on his lips as he thought about the many conversations he'd had about Anna back home - envisioning taking her back to his home town and even just sitting in the lounge with his mum and sister. The mere thought made him feel warm inside.

"They probably don't, it seems like I've been ignoring you for weeks." She laughed, feeling nervous. Harry had met her family with no qualms - but he was Harry, charming and full of confidence. She was Anna. She wondered what they would think, finding it hard to believe Harry's words that they would like her.

"They will, anyone I love - they will," he grinned.

"How have you been?" He asked her, which prompted a puff of breath to loudly leave her mouth.

"Not great," she replied honestly.

"I nearly got fired, because I was so sad and grumpy. But I've been working on it and we've really been making progress on the new collection - exciting stuff. My family's been staying with me for a few days, working on orchard stuff. They're actually staying here tonight because they are leaving tomorrow." The words spilled from her mouth, with Harry hanging on every word.

"Ooh, can I see any or is it top secret?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Top secret, I'm afraid." She laughed at his childlike excitement.

"I'm glad you managed to get through the rough patch, I'm just sorry I wasn't here to help," Harry spoke, more serious this time.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been there for you, too." She whispered.

The air was hot in the air between their faces, perspiration gathering on Harry's hairline as he contemplated his next move. There was so much he wanted to do, things he wanted to ask - but now wasn't the time. Tonight was for them to be together, after a month apart.

Both of their eyes were glazed over as they stared into each other's souls - neither daring to blink out of fear of the other disappearing again.

The distance had only confirmed their worst suspicions - they had fallen irrevocably in love with each other. Unable to easily untangle themselves from the relationship as they had both hoped at the beginning of the summer.

Questo é amore.
[ this is love ]

authors note:

Sorry for the delay in updates. I've been getting a couple of other stories ready to publish once this is finished - excited for them!!

Also, I thought there was two chapters left but this was a bit long so it's been split in two - second part will be uploaded in a couple of days and then there's just the final chapter - finito. <3