Finer Things // h.s.

Changes

"Guess I just always thought they'd be at my wedding, y'know?" He says softly.

"It's not too late to invite them." I smile and he shakes his head.

"I feel like I don't know them anymore, Til. Z barely recognised me the other day when I saw him in New York. I sent sunflowers for their baby and Gigi was the only one out of either of them to send me a follow-up message. Not that I needed one, just that I thought he and I would always be close, we just aren't anymore." He says and I feel his confusion through his voice.

"Do what you know best, write about it." I smile.

"I have to pack. Will you help me?" He asks after a few moments of silence with an attempt to change the topic and I inhale deeply, standing to my feet, offering my hand to him and he nods, taking my hands and standing up. He pulls me into a hug and runs his hands up and down my back.

"I love you, fish." He says, kissing my temple and I smile.

"I love you too, boy." I reply.

We spend the night packing for Harry to go to Italy in a few days and we laugh, tossing items of clothing between one another to pack away for the filming duration and making jokes. We order takeaway tacos and walk downtown to pick them up and carry them back home. While walking down the dimly lit street with a bag of takeaway in my hand, I notice something about him. He keeps it very well hidden, I've always known that he's good at masking his emotions but Harry misses them more than anything. He misses each of those boys very much.

"Hey, Harry?" I say as I kick at a rock, my hands in the pockets of my baggy jeans.

"Hey, Tilda." He replies in the same tone as he looks up above him at the dark tree leaves that sway in the gentle wind, the night sky a fantastic backdrop to the collection of leaves, showcasing LA's minimal stars and maximum darkness.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"Sure. I've got you, don't I?" He says as he walks over to me and holds his arm around my shoulders.

"Sure." I say back and look to the ground. I know he misses them but pushing him on the topic is wrong. He's never really spoken about One Direction in the last few years, but I remember how fondly he used to talk about them. They were his brothers. I just wish I could do something.

******

October 1st, 2020

Harry's POV

I lay in bed listening to the ocean waves crashing against the bricks beneath my hotel that sits on the edge of the Amalfi Coast. Tomorrow we begin filming for the Golden music video and it's gotten me thinking a lot more about the old days. I fumble at my wedding band that sits on my finger and stare at the ceiling. Change is an uncomfortable feeling. I roll onto my side and my guitar sits in its case against the corner of the wall and I sit up in bed, the white bedsheet draping across my body. I inhale deeply and let go of the tension that resides in my shoulders.

"Is there a song you want me to write?" I ask the guitar and chuckle at myself, not expecting a response from the very inanimate object. The latch of the case shimmers with the moonlight that greets my room, spreading its silver rays across the blue painted wall and I take it as a sign. I stand and take the acoustic Fender from the case and sit back down on the bed and tune it accordingly.

*Play song now: Changes By Cam*

I begin to strum a few chords, Tilly's words playing in my head. Maybe I do miss them. Maybe I want them at the wedding. But maybe, just maybe, we're strangers now. I'd like to think I know them, but I don't believe I do. I strum a few chords and begin to think about the X-Factor days.