Summary: Harry is scared of flying and Louis comforts him.
^^ he's such a baby omg "I can CRY!"
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One Direction's first time flying together is an exciting trip to the United States. None of the boys have been to the U.S. before, but all of them have been on a plane. Well, everyone except for Harry and Zayn.
When the five band members are told to pack their bags for a week-long trip overseas to promote their first album Up All Night, they are over the moon. Harry tries to act excited, but it is impossible for him to feel anything but fear. What is so exciting about being stuck in a metal death trap over an ocean for hours on end?
When the boys go back to their hotel rooms to pack for tomorrow's flight, Harry sneaks to Zayn's room to confide in him.
"Hey." Zayn looks up from his pile of clothes to greet Harry, who is standing feebly by the door.
"Hi," Harry awkwardly says. "You've never flown before, right?" He wonders.
"No. You?" Harry shakes his head.
"Are you nervous about it?" Zayn asks.
"I'm petrified," Harry admits, then goes to sit on Zayn's bed. Zayn continues packing, retrieving small piles of clothes from his dresser at a time.
"It'll be alright," Zayn nonchalantly says. "The pilots know what they're doing, it's completely safe."
"Planes have crashed before," Harry states.
"Do you know anyone personally who has died in a plane crash?" Zayn asks. Harry simply shakes his head, and Zayn slowly nods. "Exactly. Don't worry about it, it's gonna be fine. Did you finish packing already?"
"No, I haven't started yet," he says.
"Get to it, then! We're going to the U.S.!" Zayn cheers. Harry offers a fake smile, pretending to share Zayn's excitement until he leaves his room. As he walks back to his hotel room, he lets his shoulders slump and his chest fall. He already feels nervous for the flight, even though it is 18 hours away.
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The closer the boys get to the airport, the harder Harry's heart pounds in his chest. He looks out the car window and sees a plane taking off, and he hates that somebody else will be watching him fly soon.
The five boys and a few security guards wait in line to check their luggage, and Harry nervously taps his fingers on the handle bar of his suitcase. He has been in airports before with his family to welcome his stepdad home from business trips, but he has never had a plane ticket with his name on it and boarded a flight.
"Next!" One of the ladies behind the counter calls.
"We're gonna split up for this, just so it takes less time. Each of you pair up with a security guard," Paul says. There are two other guards besides Paul, which means that one band member will have to be alone with a guard, momentarily without the comfort of being by a friend their age. Unfortunately for Harry, that boy is him. When it is his turn to check his luggage, the guard insists he goes first. The lady asks him all sorts of questions like she is interrogating him. Regardless of how nervous he is, he gets through it and eventually loads his bag on the conveyer belt before standing back and letting the security guard go.
"Hey Curly," Louis suddenly says in Harry's ear, causing the younger boy to flinch.
"You scared me," Harry frowns.
"Sorry. I know you've never flown before, so I just wanna let you know how it's gonna go," Louis starts as the group starts walking to their terminal. "The flight attendant is gonna tell us how to survive in the event of a crash, which is actually false. They just don't want you suing if you survive the crash."
"What the hell?" Harry incredulously says.
"Anyways, when the plane gets ready to take off, there's gonna be a really loud sound, then the plane goes in a loopty loop in order to get high in the air." At this point, Harry knows Louis is just messing with him.
"Shut up. I know that's not true, I'm not an idiot," Harry rolls his eyes.
"Zayn believed me," Louis shrugs.
"You're so mean! Why'd you tell him all that?" Harry questions.
"I'm just joking. Are you nervous?" Louis wonders. Harry doesn't want to seem like a baby in front of his boyfriend, who he has been dating for less than a year, so he tries to act confident.
"No."
"Hmm, alright. So if we don't sit together, that won't bother you?" Louis asks.
"What? Why would we not sit together?" Harry quickly asks, forgetting about his front of not being nervous.
"Look at your ticket. I'm 16B, Liam is 17B, and you're..."
"18B. Ugh," Harry sighs. "Do you think Liam will switch with me?"
"Now boarding flight 89B to Los Angeles." Someone over a PA system announces. The boys and the security guards get in line to board the flight, and Harry feels a whole new level of apprehension.
"You can ask him," Louis shrugs.
Once everyone is in their seats, Harry fidgets with his fingers and can't keep his eyes off of Louis; poor Liam probably thinks Harry is staring at him. Niall, Zayn, and a guard are in front of Liam, Louis and Harry, and Paul and the other guard are just across the aisle.
"Please buckle your seat belts, the flight will begin shortly," the flight attendant says at the end of her long speech about flight safety and etiquette.
"Hey, can I switch with you?" Harry whispers to Liam.
"Can we do that?" He wonders.
"I don't think they're gonna care. Please," Harry says. "You can even stretch your legs out in the aisle if you take my seat," Harry adds, trying to sell his seat and make it sound more appealing than the middle seat.
"Alright," Liam decides, then stands up. Harry quickly slides over to the middle seat, already feeling better by simply being next to Louis.
"Nice to see you again. Glad you made the switch," Louis playfully says. "Now buckle up, it's almost time for the loopty loop," he teases.
"Stop," Harry groans as he buckles his seat belt, triple checking that it is secure. Louis looks Harry up and down, taking note of his constant fidgeting and slightly quicker breathing.
"You're nervous, aren't you? Be honest," he wonders, sounding gentler this time.
"A little bit," Harry admits. The plane begins to move, and Louis sees Harry turn almost as pale as a cloud in the sky.
"It's alright. Wanna hold my hand?" Louis asks, holding his open hand out for his boyfriend. Harry takes Louis up on the offer and laces their fingers together. "Look." Louis points out the window, and Harry squeezes his hand as the plane increases speed and begins to go into the air. Louis squeezes back to let Harry know he's there for him. Harry bites his lip and starts quietly tapping his foot on the ground as they get higher and higher in the air, because he just wants to be back down on the ground, where he knows it is safe.
"Louis," Harry says, sounding a little too needy for his own liking.
"It's okay," Louis assures him.
"I wanna be on the ground," he whispers.
"We will be eventually. Just relax," Louis calmly says. Harry can't bear to look out the window for another second, so he rests his head on Louis' shoulder and closes his eyes. As rowdy as Louis is and as much as he likes to tease people, he has a soft, nurturing side to him that made Harry fall in love with him. That side of Louis doesn't always come out, but Harry knows how to easily get to it, as it is mainly reserved for him.
"What if we crash?" Harry asks.
"We won't crash. It's impossible," Louis says, trying to make Harry feel better.
"I'm scared," Harry whispers so quietly that Louis barely hears.
"I know baby, I know. Everything's alright though. We're in the air, nothing has gone wrong, just breathe," Louis says. Harry takes deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Right now, he wants nothing more than to be in Louis' lap and be held, but he has to stay in his own seat. "Here. Do you wanna listen to music with me?" Louis asks after a few minutes. He offers Harry an earbud, who gratefully takes it; hopefully music will help him forget that he is over ten kilometers in the air. The Fray begins playing, and Harry shuffles even closer to Louis. Louis scratches Harry's scalp for a moment before holding his hand once again. Louis feels that the music is distracting Harry and helping him relax, so he doesn't disturb the boy when a stewardess comes by and asks if the boys want anything to drink. By the time food is brought around, Harry is fast asleep. Louis is torn between waking the boy and letting him stay in a peaceful slumber, but he eventually decides to wake him. "Harry," Louis quietly says, gently patting Harry's arm as well.
"Hm?" He takes a deep breath in and sits up, taking the earbud out of his ear and looking around. When he realizes they are still on the plane, he sighs. "How long did I sleep for?"
"A couple hours. Food's here. You can also take your seat belt off," Louis says.
"I'm gonna keep mine on," Harry decides, even though he sees that Liam and Louis both have theirs off.
"Eat up, love," Louis says before taking a large bite of his bread roll. Harry begins eating as well, the safety of his music and sleep bubble slowly fading and thrusting him back into the scary reality of being on a plane. Louis picks up on Harry's uneasy body language, so he tickles his stomach for a second before quickly going back to his food.
"Don't do that," Harry says.
"Don't do what? I'm eating," Louis replies. Harry hums, then takes another bite of his food. As he reaches for his water, Louis tickles his side again.
"Louis," Harry giggles.
"Can I help you?" He asks.
"You're tickling me!" Harry laughs.
"I'm actually eating this rice, thank you very much." Louis holds up his small food tray for extra effect.
"Whatever," Harry smiles, and Louis smiles back.
"Do you want my fruit cup, Hazza?" Louis asks after he finishes his meal.
"Sure." Louis hands Harry his fruit cup, then scrolls through television shows on the screen that is built into the seat in front of him. As Harry happily chews on a piece of apple, Louis hands him an earbud and starts a show. After a few minutes, Harry holds Louis' hand and rests his head on his shoulder once again, this time out of love instead of needing comfort. He smiles to himself as Louis periodically checks in on him, either by squeezing his hand or verbally asking if he is still alright. Harry feels so much more relaxed than he did before, all thanks to Louis; with Louis, he feels like he can conquer anything.
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Thank you for being so nice! I'm feeling better now, but I still have a bit of a cough which is annoying (why is coughing in a quiet classroom so embarrassing omg)
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