Strawberries & Cigarettes

Flight

                                                                      Song(s):

                                                    "I Can Fly" - Lana Del Rey

                                                   "Fallingforyou" - the 1975

Buzz.

Harry's eyes snapped to the phone lying next to his plate on the flowery tablecloth. He forced his hands to reach out patiently, as if he hadn't been anticipating every text that had buzzed in today, eyes always anxiously dragged back to the screen.

First thing in the morning, he had awoken at six am to Zayn texting every letter in 'Happy birthday' in quick succession, then a sunglasses emoji.

Then, at a more reasonable time, Niall's text: all caps and about a hundred exclamation marks.

A few moments later, Liam. Sober and kind words: Have a great day, H. Hope you have a good birthday! Much love Payno x

Then Nick, Clare, Adam, Sarah, Mitch, James, Greg, all of his aunt's friends. A brief call from his father.

Since then, the phone had been silent. Until now.

He peered at the screen, completely indifferent of course - his shoulders sagged. Eleanor. Slowly, he typed out a thankful reply and then set the phone down next to his plate again, facedown.

His eyes flicked to the clock on the living room wall. Almost nine. A tiny sigh escaped his lips.

"Why are you looking at your phone so much, sweetie?"

He looked up, seeing his mother smile tenderly at him from across the table decorated with streamers and flower vases.

"Have you got a secret admirer?" his sister piped up from her chair beside him and snagged his phone from the table, looking at his texts. "Such a heartthrob, our little Hazza."

"Hey!" He tried snagging the phone from her hand, but she held it away from her body so he couldn't reach it. Harry glared at her. Gemma flashed a grin and stuck out her tongue at him. Her hair had gotten longer since the last time Harry had seen her and it was back to the dark blond color Harry was used to; not the rebellious, vibrant purple anymore.

"Give your brother his phone back," Anne reproved Gemma who rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and handed Harry the phone back as if they were bickering children again.

"I'm not looking at my phone," Harry denied and determinedly shoved it away from him across the table to prove his point.

His mother chuckled quietly and leaned over the table to pinch his cheek. Her husband, Robin, was sitting next to her, running his hand in circles over her back. Jack, Harry's cousin, was about to fall asleep, his eyelids already dropping closed. Robin offered to bring him to bed while the others cleared the table and brought the plates to the kitchen.

Seeing his family again made Harry's stomach clench longingly every time he watched them. He hadn't realized just how much he had missed them all. They had arrived that morning and were set to leave again tomorrow already since Gemma had to get back to uni and Robin back to work. Harry already dreaded their departure.

He stacked up a few plates and carried them into the small kitchen where he set them into the sink. His mother appeared at his side, setting down glasses beside the plates. "My baby, twenty-one years old already. I can't believe it..." She shook her head lightly, eyes glinting. "I missed you so much," she said, embracing him tightly.