Always You |harry styles| - completed

TWENTY-SEVEN

Annie-Marie & James Arthur: Rewrite the Stars

It felt like I'd just closed my eyes, but sunshine and the sound of my alarm was already waking us up. It would take us about five and a half hours to get to Portugal and the concert was at eight in the evening, so we'd have plenty of time to see a bit of Lisbon and have some tasty food before the craziness of the show rolled around.

"There's nothing more beautiful than the scenery around Spain, I'm telling you.", we drove through fields of orange and olive trees, cotton and lavender, all different colors and sizes but all magically endless. The wind whooshed through the cracked windows of the big SUV and melodies of Joni Mitchell filled the space between us. We didn't talk much, but it was a comfortable silence... if such a thing even existed. Harry would glance over at me every once in a while, as if he wanted to make sure I was still here. He had a strange ability to sense exactly when I retreated into myself, only this time he seemed unsure of what to do. I kept thinking how incredible the last couple of weeks were, how much fun we were having and how I truly didn't want it to end. Unfortunately, I was also thinking about what happens next... how we go about this from now on. Something shifted within me when we got in this car earlier today, I couldn't say what exactly, but my mind was running circles trying to figure out what felt different. I was so lost in thought and I hadn't even noticed we'd made it into Portugal and were a mere hour away from our destination. The scenery looked very similar to the one that followed us all throughout Spain, oranges and lavender. We got to the hotel fine and asked for restaurant recommendations at the reception, they kindly offered to make a reservation in our name for lunch. We dropped off our luggage and took a quick nap before leaving the room and braving the scorching hot Portuguese sun.

"I can tell why you love this part of the world so much, teacup, the food is to die for. I mean look at all of this... fresh shrimp, risottos, white wine, fruit for dessert, what more could I ask for?", Harry had a hard time picking which dish to dig in first, as they all looked and smelled spectacular. There was no way to leave Portugal or Spain with an empty belly.

"What's on your mind?", I thought it'd be nice if I were the one prodding his brain for his thoughts for once, instead of the other way around.

"You seem a bit off, is all. But we'll talk about it after the concert.", his voice wasn't as calm as it usually was and I sensed that tonight's conversation would force me to share more than I intended.

"Would you mind if I stayed at the hotel for this one, I'd like to pack everything up properly and get ready for my flight home tomorrow morning?", he nodded absentmindedly and I was beginning to dread him coming back after the concert.

Music was playing in the background and I was just finishing folding my clothes into the suitcase so I could fit all the souvenirs from all the places I visited during the tour, when Harry walked through the door. He looked happy but he was emotionally exhausted, and there was nothing I could do to stop what was coming. We spoke few words while he showered and I packed all of my toiletries up.

"What's up?", I couldn't wait any longer and just wanted to get this over with, because the suspense was killing me.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, Harry. Let's not beat around the bushes, you said there was something you wanted to talk to me about.", I joined him on the little balcony that offered a perfect view of the moonlit ocean.

"What's next? What happens now?", he turned even more serious all of a sudden.

"Now I go home and spend time with my family, after not having seen them for over a year."