(Play when you see ***)
Aaliyah Moreno
Two weeks later
"Raven relax." I say while smiling over the phone
"You're going to be gone for agessss."
"Raven I will be two weeks. That's all."
"I'm gonna miss you."
"Me too Raven."
I say while pausing. It all hits me at once as I suddenly realise this is all real. Later on today I will be feeling none other than the city of Paris' atmosphere around me.
"How's Niall."
I ask. Me and her haven't spoken much recently but I didn't blame either of us. We just both had our own stuff going on.
"Uhm about that-"
"Hi Aaliyah!"
I hear a thick yet muffled Irish accent say on the other side of the line.
"Yeah that." She finishes.
"Oh my god Raven!"
I say while chuckling slightly.
"That's rude she didn't even say hi back."
Ni says while laughing on the other side. I hear Raven chuckle slightly and but his arm with what I guessed was a pillow.
"Hi Niall."
I say, rolling my eyes while I laugh and walk around my room.
"So. What are you going to get up to?"
She asks
"Well Harry got offered the opportunity to take some pictures so we're going to go take some pictures. I'm not sure what we're staying in looks like but either way I'm excited."
"Well Harrys boss is taking care of the finances so you can expect really high quality stuff."
Niall says on the other side of the line.
I look up to see Harry walking into my room with the last of our bags to place them onto my bed. I smile at him and bounce on the souls of my feet as I felt myself get all giddy.
"Whose on the phone?" He asks and smiles, coming over to me to wrap his hands around my waist and looking down deeply into my eyes.
"Raven and Ni." I whisper back.
"Hi styles!"
Ni shouts into my ear causing me to remove the phone from my ear and laugh.
"Come here." Harry chuckles and takes my phone to hold it. He presses the speaker button.
Why didn't I just do that anyway.
"Jesus Ni what are you trying to do, deafen the poor girl?" He says as we all laugh slightly.
"You excited styles?"
Ni asks
"Yeah I am actually. Still doesn't feel too real."
"Well it probably will feel real when you fuc-"
"Yes. Thank you Niall!"
Harry says in a panic before hanging up the phone. We pause and look at each other before exchanging loud laughter.
"Shall we go?" Harry asks as our laughter dies down. I nod and go grab my bags on the bed as Harry grabs his. We look at each other and suck in deep breath's. I don't know why either of us were so nervous, we'd be back in a couple weeks and we're only going to take pictures.
"Let's." I say and open the door for us both. Our steps were longer down the steps as we focused more on carrying the bags. It was quite early in the morning, about 6:30. Considering it was dawning on the edge of autumn it was getting colder in the mornings and evenings, slightly darker too.
I'm greeted by my mum rocking Cayden gently in her arms as he slept soundly in them.
"Here I'll take your bags then I'll come back in." Harry says and without hesitation he takes my bags I had hanging over my back and a couple on my arms.
"Thanks." I say back and smiling before looking back at my mum. Harry walks down to his car to put the bags in the boot. I rub my arm lightly from the crisp of the autumn air.
"You all set my love?" She asks and smiles. She looked more excited than I was myself. I guess it just hasn't fully sunk in yet.
"I am. I'm gonna miss you." I say before I hug her tightly.
"I'll miss you too Aaly." She whispers.
Neither of us were tearing up surprisingly. I guess we knew it wasn't a "goodbye" and more of a "see you in a couple weeks" type thing, which in fact it was.
"Promise me you'll have fun." She says as she breaks the hug. I nod into her hands as they cup my cheeks softly.
"Bye Cayden." I whisper quietly and peck a gentle kiss on top of his head. I hear Harry come up behind me on the porch and wrap his arm over my shoulder.
"Bye monkey." He says in a quiet yet playful tone as he rubs Cayden's head gently with his spare hand. We all chuckle silently.
"Look after her Harry." My mum says and raises her eyebrows.
"Mum." I drag out my word and roll my eyes while laughing.
Me and Harry begin walking down the porch to the car. He opens his door for me as I step inside. I look at my mum through the slightly tinted glass as she leans against the edge of the door. She takes Cayden's hand and pretends he waves goodbye to me. I laugh lightly and wave back.
"Ready?" Harry asks and gets into the drivers side of the car.
"Let's go to Paris baby." I say back excitedly. Harry turns on the ignition and began rolling slowly forward so I had some final time to wave goodbye back to my mum and brother.
"I love you" my mum mouths. Harrys speed of the car picks up as I roll down the window, allowing the breeze of the autumn morning in.
I put my hands on the edge of the window and push my top half of my body out of the car, the wind immediately catches my hair.
"I love you more!" I shout back over the wind howling in my ear and the loud exhaust from the rear of Harrys car. I climb back into the car and roll the window back up because it was very cold.
"It all feels real now doesn't it." He says through the sound of disbelief.
"Yeah. Crazy isn't it? How we met through a few stems of my favourite flower and now were here." I say as I close my eyes and process it all.
"That's crazy to think about." Harry agrees.
"Well Paris is beautiful so you'll be able to get some really nice shots there." I say and turn my head to face him. He kept his eyes fixated on the road as he took his bottom lip between his forefinger and thumb.
"Want to play a game?" I ask breaking the thick silence that circulated the air around us.
"Sure?" Harry says to me hesitantly.
"Let's play the what if game." I say now looking back at the road in which looked like it had no end. The leaves were beginning to change colour, some were even beginning to fall off.
Autumn is one of my favourite seasons as it's the season of change, kind of like a time of renewing ones soul. However at the same time autumn stirs the soul, at such a quiet unease that you sometimes can't tell whether it's your soul beautifying or decaying. We only ever find out when the blankets of the white snow of winter lay on the ground, absenting all noise in which gives you time to realise whether your soul has grown or fallen beneath the ground under the thick layers of snow. It's so quiet enough to hear.
"Okay I'll go first." Harry says. I smile to myself and await his follow up
"What if you didn't like paris." He asks
"I'd be a fool not to fall in love with the beauty of Paris. So I don't think there's really any 'what if' about it" I say.
"Fair enough. Your go." He says as he shifts himself to sit more upright as his hands grip harder on the steering will.
"What if you could stop time whenever you wanted it to?" I ask
"Well that's a bit of a hard question." He says
"How so?" I ask
"Well it depends on what we do with the time that is given to us every second to determine whether it's worth stopping for." He says
That was a good point it made me think about the whole of humanity for a minute and how time is what we as humans want the most
Just 5 more minutes
Just give me a couple minutes
Just one more second
But it's what we use the worst. We never use it wisely unless it's for the big things. For time changes everything, but it's up to us whether we follow through and adapt to that change.
"Your turn again." I say and close my eyes.
"What If we ever had children." He says while keeping his eyes glued to the road as I shot mine back open. That question threw me off guard, I'd never thought about a question like that before. Maybe it was simply because I never thought about having children yet, I mean... I'm only 19?
I don't look at him as my head both heart are trying to process the question. I lean my head against the car window which was now had condensation on it through the morning dew. I wipe my hand gently along the screen to be left with smudge as to where I could look out of the window.
I see the blur of oranges, reds, browns rush past me, too fast for my eyes to keep up. It's always been the time of year where everything bursts with the last of its beauty before it falls. Kind of like humanity and sunflowers in a sense, we always wait to the last minute to decide what's good for us before our times up.
"Sorry Aaliyah I shouldn't of-"
"I'd want them to have your eyes." I whisper as I keep my head against the window and my eyes facing the road and trees out of my window.
"My eyes?" He asks
"Imagine if they had a mix of ours. Brown just around the centre of the pupil like the core of a sunflower as the rest of the Iris bursts with a bright forest green."
"That would be sweet." He says in agreement.
"Okay your turn." He says
"What if our child was a girl. What would you name her?" I ask and bite my lip slightly out of his view. Even though the idea of children wasn't in plain sight at all right now it was sweet to talk about.
And I was just really curious.
"Darcy." He says while looking at me and smiling.
"Darcy?" I ask
"Darcy May Styles." He clarifies.
"That's so cute." I say as I feel my cheeks go hot.
"Okay my turn." He says as he takes one hand off the wheel to rest his elbow on the windowsill and his forefinger on his bottom lip. His eyebrows stayed furrowed, but that's normally how they rested.
"What would you call our child if it was a boy?" He asks and smiles.
"I've never really given much thought to names." I say honestly
"Okay. What's a name that you've had in the back of your head for ages. I know you've had it, we all have." He says and nudges my arm lightly with his elbow.
"Okay fine." I say while laughing.
"Everett." I say before looking down at my lap and intertwining my sweaty palms. I don't know why I was so nervous? I was talking about unborn children who I might not even have yet.
"That's a cute name? And middle name. Put it with my last name with you want." He says and smiles.
He knows what he's doing.
"Everett Parker..." I pause. He looks at me and raises his eyebrows and smiling as he awaited the last part
"Styles." I sigh out of defeat
"Everett Parker Styles." I repeat and smile realising how sweet it went together. It rolled off the tongue.
Harry looks over at me and smiles before resting the palm of his hand on my thigh and caressing it slowly with his thumb. I lean my head back against the window and watch the trees pass in a hypnotic rhythm as I feel my eyes slowly start to get heavy.
-
"Aaly." I feel someone's fingers put a strand of hair behind my ear. I open my eyes slowly to be greeted with the dim light of the underground car park and Harrys nose inches away from mine.
"Hi." I smile lightly through my stretch.
"Good morning lazy." He says making me smile as he unintentionally kisses my teeth as I do.
"Are we here." I say now sitting up a bit more and looking around at the covered car park which consisted of very few cars."
"Yep." Harry nods and gets out the drivers side of the car. He walks around and opens mine, making me feel a slight draught hit one side of my body. Harry leans over and Unclicks my seatbelt before pecking loads of kisses on my cheeks.
"Wakey wakey." He says sarcastically through small chuckles.
"I'm up." I say and get out the car, acting as if it was the toughest thing in the world.
It took a second for my eyes to adjust from what was at view with daylight to now a carpark dimly lit. I rub my arms slightly from the breeze. I hear the boot close loudly behind me causing me to turn around. Everything seemed louder in the dark and early in the morning. It was as if the darkness blanketed the world while the birds songs, the sound of rushing cars and the sound of people talking were much louder as it echoes through the abyss.
"Ready?" he asks before handing me my bags. i swing two of them over each shoulder as the sound of the wheels on my suitcase echoed along the concrete floors.
"As ready as I'll ever be." I say as he wraps his arm around my shoulder with his other one carrying a duffel bag full of clothes behind his back.
-
I look over at Harry who is continuously biting at his nail beds of tugging on his bottom lip. We could see the planes taking off or coming into land where we were sat. We were both tapping out feet as we awaited our gate to be called.
"Are you nervous or excited?" He asks
"They're the same emotion Harry. It all depends on how you choose to view it." I say to try and comfort him.
"Look at it this way. In a couple hours time we'll be feeling the sun against our skin and warmth embracing us. You'll get a chance to go to one of the most beautiful cities in the world to take pictures for a career you've wanted since forever." I say. With that he stops biting at his nail beds.
"Want to go look at the planes?" I ask. He looks at me and raises an eyebrow out of confusion.
"Trust me." I say while standing up and smiling as I reach my hand out for it to intertwine with his.
He chuckles slightly before standing up. We both bring our bags over to the windows and sit down right in front of them. The sky was bright now, broad daylight. The sun reflected off each wing of the plane as it came into land or took off.
I tuck my knees up to my chest and rest my head on Harrys shoulder as nothing but the sound of muffled chatter surrounded us. I think we were the only ones silent, but for me and Harry, we could read each other's silence. We didn't have to speak to know what the other person felt, and right now it was identifiable we both felt content.
It was peaceful watching planes sometimes. The idea that a couple hundred people all get on one flight to go to the same place, and yet most of them probably end up never crossing paths again. But knowing that you were with them for a while in a giant floating metal tube soaring thousands of miles in the sky together, that may have been the only interaction you ever got with them. Some people make the most of it, others don't. It all just depends.
That's what life is all about though
Depending
Not so much on others, but depending on fate or the current moment.
"Gate 28 open for boarding." Me and Harry look at each other and smile before helping each other up.
Here we come Paris
Harrys fingers interlock with mine. I felt his palms sweating slightly.
"Relax. Everything's gonna be fine. We'll be alright." I say to him quietly as we show the lady at the desk out tickets. Once they were approved we begin boarding the plane.
Peoples conversations could be heard probably even from the back of the line because the walls were quite confined in the tube that links to the plane. The line moved slowly so each time we stopped me and Harry leaned on the walls opposite to each other and had a few staring contests
He won
I cant help he has that really intimidating stare that when his eyebrows furrow it causes a crease between his eyebrows. His jaw will sometimes clench as his eyes practically pierce into my soul.
"Hi there! Have a nice flight." The lady who looks at our passport says.
"You too." I say accidentally before walking of down the isle. I hear Harry hold in his laugh behind be as I turn around and discretely wack his arm with my passport.
"She gets a little confused." Harry says to the lady sarcastically causing me to want to crawl into a whole and never get out. It was evident that the lady plastered a fake smile, indicating she got that often.
"Harry!" I whisper shout.
"Awh don't worry darling. Do you need help finding your seat?" He says with a fake pouty face.
"Whatever." I say and laugh to myself. I mumble our seat numbers quietly under my breath before I find them.
"Dibs on window seat." I say before sitting against the window, sprawled out as if I was guarding it.
"Fine I'll sit here." Harry says as he points down to the seat next to me. We both laugh slightly.
"Chuck me your bags." He says. I hand him my carry ons for him to put in the overhead cubby. The way he put the bags in so harshly yet elegantly really pleased me for reasons I'd never understand. I see him unzip his brown leather bag and take out his journal.
"Surprise?" I ask
"You know it." He says as he slumps down into the seat next to me before folding his arms and resting his head against my shoulder. I wrap my arm gently behind his neck where my fingers tangle loosely in his hair. I lean my head against the window and feel the vibrations of the planes engines start to increase. Luckily we weren't in plain sight of the wing so it gave me a more clearer view outside.
We feel the plane jolt backwards ever so slightly causing me to press my hand against the window to make sure we were going. I don't remember the last time I was on a plane so the nerves began to kick in.
***
Music
I look down at Harry who looks up at me. I tried not to display my nerves too much. I need to keep saying in my head what I said to Harry
They're the same emotion
Just look at it differently
I feel my breathing pace quicken slightly as Harry furrows his eyebrows and sits up. His hands cup my cheeks lightly as he looks deeply into my eyes. The plane meets the runway and I frantically bite at my nail beds.
Harry stays facing forwards with my hand held tightly in his
He starts to sing
You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
I look over at him and smile remembering that's what my mum used to sing to me on take off when I was younger
You make me happy
When sky's are grey
He pauses to look at me as the plane begins to speed up down the runway. He keeps his eyes fixed onto mine
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
I join in with him as I feel the planes wheels lift off the ground
Please don't take
My sunshine
Away
I lean backwards on my chair and look out the window. The plane was tilted backwards at an angle as we got further and further towards the sky.
"My mum used to sing me that when planes took off." I whisper
"Mine did too." He says. He's never really spoken much about his parents but that wasn't really my concern. I'll come around to see them after paris sometime soon.
"I figured that would help as you sing that to your younger brother a lot." He says while smiling. I feel my cheeks go hot from slight embarrassment but I decide to let his words go into the air while I look out at the clouds we were now above.
This was always always my favourite thing about flying. Looking out at the clouds. When you're this high up everyone goes silent as they're in awe of the world around them.
My favourite part of looking at the clouds is the listening part. Call me crazy, I know you can't hear clouds. But staring into the world of nothing but fluffy condensed water, the only thing you're left audible with is your thoughts.
Sometimes we look at our own thoughts as just noises and come to realise that the so called "outside world" and "inside world" come together and are... what I guess I'll call... a happening. My head and thoughts get so lost when I look in the clouds that I'll come to realise that my thoughts are a happening just like the sounds going on outside the plane window that I might never be able to hear. But the fact that
Simply everything is a happening
And all we as humans do is watch it go by.
I watch the white fluffy clouds illuminate from colours of oranges to yellow as the suns rays bounced off them. The way they moved so gracefully through the air. From down on the ground they looked so different, almost 2 dimensional. But up here everything just seemed so... real. The way they glide across the blue marbled sky painted with different shades of blue as the white and orange illumines contrasted with it. My eyes get so lost in the beauty of the atmosphere.
"It's so pretty." I whisper and I feel Harry lean over to look out the window with me. The sun highlights a portion of his face the closer he got to the window.
Up in the clouds has never failed to make living feel so real. I feel so safe as I'm protected by layers and layers of vagrant white and insubstantial pinks.
I turn around to look at Harry who makes a few quick notes in his journal. His journal looked like it had been with him through his best and worst moments, it had some sweet doodles on it and a few tears in the corners. But hey, what's something good if it's never been worn or with you through your most alone moments?
Harry places his journal in the holder in front of him before taking his hand in mine once again. I leaned my neck against his shoulder to look out at the clouds as he leans his head backwards on his chair. I look up to see his eyes closed peacefully as his thumb still strokes the back of my hand. I smile to myself and look back out at the window to see the small section of clouds floating in a hypnotic rhythm.
So much so that I feel my eyes feather shut and my breathing pace slow down. I feel so safe up here.
"Get some rest Aaliyah." He whispers as he takes his spare hand to stroke my forehead lightly.
"I will do." I say before closing my eyes and feel myself drift of to sleep in the same rhythm that the clouds drift with each other. Until I'm left with nothing but the sound of mine and Harrys silent breathing and the voice in my head saying
you made it.
-
A/N: longest chapter of the book so far! What did we all think?
I hope school is going good for you (if you've started it.)
I hope you had a good day! <3
I love you and I'm so excited and also not excited *wink wink* to write these upcoming chapters.
Treat People With Kindness
I love you.