FINE LINE | HARRY STYLES

THIRTY-FIVE.

OCTOBER, 2019.

"Thank you- Dad!"

My neck cranes to see Dad rummaging through my carry on bag as I'm taking my luggage from the flight attendant. We're standing just outside the private plane where he had greeted me with open arms.

Open arms that snatched my carry on.

"I'm just making sure you didn't sneak narcotics or something." He sheepishly shrugs as he shoots me a tiny smile.

"Your souvenir is in my actual luggage. So you're wasting your time." I mutter as I pull out my phone to send a message to Blair.

Dad immediately drops the bag he's holding and darts to my luggage, unzipping the front flap. I swat him away before he can get any further and zip it back up before dragging it toward the Uber.

"Can I get a hint?" Dad frowns as he trudges behind me.

"Get in the car." I sigh, tossing my bags in before climbing in as well.

The Uber takes off, making its way down the street and onto the freeway. Letting out a heavy sigh, I lean against my dad and shut my eyes.

God, it's good to be home.

"You look lighter. Like air." Dad comments.

Even with my eyes closed I can see him staring at me. Studying my every feature.

"That's what Paris does to me." I yawn with a shrug.

"You sure it's Paris?" He smirks as I open one eye.

"Positive." I curtly respond.

"So it wasn't some utterly handsome British boy whose first name rhymes with "marry" and last name rhymes with "queen of the Nile" who was rumored to be in Paris around the same time you were?"

"Dad, I literally have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure." He narrows his eyes at me as we pull up to my parents' house.

Unsurprisingly, Mom is already behind the gate, clutching the bars in eager excitement. The second we park, she's bouncing up and down and typing in the key code to open it for us.

As soon as I step out of the car, her arms fling around me and she almost lifts me into the air.

She's certainly gotten stronger.

"You're home! We've missed you so much!" She squeals.

"I missed you too!" I beam, my eyes passing her to see Claudia and Francis running out of the house.

"Mona!" They chant together, bombarding me with hugs and random questions.

"Was it pretty?"

"Did you bring me something?"

"Are you pregnant?"

"Did you elope with someone?"

Their hands cling on to me as I walk past the front door to see Blair in the living room, holding a bottle
of champagne. There's a large banner that reads:

Soleil and Harry are in love!

All around the room are balloons and foods of all sorts. My eyes widen at the scene, before they slowly narrow at Blair who jumps up and down.

"I may have let it slip that he went to see you at the airport!" She squeaks as she rushes over to hug me.

"If this were all true, don't you think he'd be here?" I lowly ask, looking around the room in discomfort.