I was up for most of the night booking a flight for 7am. While Harry was sleeping, I somehow managed to pack a suitcase without waking him up. I guess the fact the he's a heavy sleeper helped a lot. It's now 5am and I've just had breakfast. I'm going to catch an uber from our apartment to the airport in 30 minutes. This is super rushed, but I just need to get away.
I will probably already be gone by the time Harry wakes up because he sleeps in until like 11am, so I'll send him a text when I get on the plane. That way, he can't talk me out of going or try to catch the plane with me.
It's kind of strange to just be doing this out of the blue, but my parents always told me to do what I thought was right. So I'm doing that. Going over for a visit is the right thing. I've texted some of my old friends and only one of them, Becki, is available to catch up. The other 4 girls have moved to Sydney and Melbourne and have a busy schedule.
"Why are you up so early?" Freezy walks into the kitchen and begins preparing breakfast.
"Why are you up so early?" I look at what he's wearing. He's wearing gym clothes, so I assume he's going to the gym.
"I'm heading to the gym for an early workout, what about you?" He places a pan on the stove and turns the heat on.
"I'm going to Australia, my flight is in roughly 2 hours" I pick up my glass of water and take a long sip while Freezy stares at me with his eyes widened.
"Since when?" He continues to look at me the same way.
"Last night. It's a long story but I need to speak with my parents face to face about some stuff" I answer short and sweet without giving away too much information.
"Is Harry going with you?" Freezy cracks two eggs into the pan and throws the shells in the bin.
"He doesn't even know that I'm going. When he wakes up I'll be gone" I stack my plate and glass on the edge of the sink. Freezy grabs my arm slightly and gives me the look of, 'are you serious?'.
"I know that when you set your mind to something you get is done quickly, but are you serious? That's not really fair on Harry" Freezy continues to try and talk some sense into me.
"I know it's not really fair but if I tell him, he will try and come with me or stop me from going and I just need to go. I need a week or two so I can clear my head and get some things in order. Harry could also use some time to think about things. Just take care of him for me" I hug Freezy and begin rolling my suitcase to the apartment door.
"Alright, have fun" Freezy sighs at me, knowing that this won't go down well between Harry and I when he wakes up to find that I'm half way to the other side of the world.
- - -
I sit down in my seat and stare out of the window. I look at the airport and the other planes around us. All of the people going in, going out. Its a busy world we live in these days. So many places to go, so many things to achieve. Millions, billions of people going from place to place for several different reasons.
"Layla?" My name is called out by a deep voice. Looking to my right, I notice a man seated next to me. His hair is wavy blonde and he sits tall. His eyes are a striking emerald green, which highlights his pearly white teeth.
"Sorry, do I know you?" I slide closer to the window in my seat. I'm not sure who this man is, but there's something about him that feels familiar. His voice reminds me of someone I used to know.
"What? Surely you remember me! I knew that losing all of that weight and taking care of myself would change my appearance, but I didn't realise how different I looked". The man chuckles. His laugh is adorable, and it's noticeable that he's a big sweetheart.
"Drinks?" A flight attendant approaches us and glares between the two of us.
"Yes please. I'll take a water. And you?" He looks at me.
"A-a water please" I smile awkwardly at the flight attendant. She nods her head and walks down the aisle of the plane. I look the man up and down trying to piece it all together.
"I thought you were a big shot now, no champagne?" He giggles. I begin to breathe slightly faster as fear twirls up my spine. "You have to remember me Layla. Remember 7th grade when we skipped school to watch your crush Henry Watts try out for the state soccer team. Then your mum caught us and instead of grounding us she bought us KFC for dinner?" The man looks at me with hope. My stomach drops and the pit that was becoming deeper and deeper, is now filling.
"Scott? Scott Wren?" I laugh the nerves off.
"Yes! I can't believe you didn't recognise me!" Scott laughs. I sigh knowing that I'm not in danger anymore.
"Wow you really have grown up man. You look great!" I sit back into my seat comfortably. I can't even remember the last time I saw him. It would have been years ago.
"Thanks. You too. I mean you're a YouTuber now and you're making a living for yourself. How are you and Harry? I saw a photo of you two together on instagram" Scott takes both of the bottles of water off the tray that the flight attendant is holding and hands me one. I sip on the cold water and think about the last few memories Scott and I had.
"Harry and I are great, in fact" I lift my jumper and my baby belly is exposed. Scott opens his mouth wide and nods his head impressively.
"Congratulations, seriously!" Scott smiles at my belly and then my face again. I miss our shenanigans back in school. He didn't have any friends beside me, and I left him. I dropped out and no sooner later, his family moved to London because his Dad got a really important Job opportunity. I felt so bad for not seeing him one last time.
"This is crazy. I mean, I dropped out and your family moved to London, and now how ever many years later this is, we meet again on a plane to our hometown" I chuckle at the situation. I remember him as the shy and intelligent boy who would do anything for anyone. Now, he's this confident man who looks like a model.
"Yeah, this really is crazy Layla" Scott looks me dead in the eyes. His green eyes are addictive to stare at. He is such a beautiful human to look at and talk to.
"Well, strap yourself in. We have 23 hours left to kill and you and I have a lot to catch up on!" I smile widely at him. He smiles back and nods his head. This will be a very interesting flight.
---
(Harry's POV)
My phone is ringing, its ringing loudly. I don't know who is trying to reach me but its really annoying. I reach my arm over to my bedside table and pickup my phone aggressively. I click the green answer button without even checking who it is. "Yes, hello?" I answer with a slight snark to my voice.
"It's Simon and we are beginning our Sidemen Sunday filming in thirty minutes, you better be here!" He hangs up the phone. I groan loudly and get out of bed. I notice that Layla isn't next to me. She's probably out with the girls, I'll give her a call later.
"Freezy! Have you seen my black Nike jumper?" I frantically search the flat for the piece of clothing. Freezy is seated on one of the barstools at the island bench when I walk into the kitchen. "Freezy. Hello!" I take a position in front of him. He's serious as he stares at the protein shake in his hands. "What? What is it!" I take a seat next to him.
"It's Layla Harry". Freezy finally answers me. He has little or no feeling when he looks at me. My heart starts to race, and I imagine the worst potential outcome. What went wrong? What exactly is going on here?
---
"Finally you are here Harry. You're 45 minutes late man!" Simon approaches me as I shuffle into the filming space. "Is this about Layla? Is everything alright?" Simon whispers to me. Before I can even answer him, the rest of the lads approach me and give me a mouthful of discipline for being late.
"Seriously man, the one shoot you couldn't be late on was this one!" Josh crosses his arms.
"Sorry that I'm late but Layla and I had an argument last night. It wasn't even that bad of an argument but I woke up this morning to find out from Freezy that she's on a plane to Australia and I didn't have any idea that she was going". I storm past the boys and head over to the couch that we all need to sit on for the video. I close my eyes and take a huge breath in, trying to calm down.
I open the small fridge near the couch and pop open a bottle of vodka. I begin to down the drink until I have drunk 1/4 of the bottle. I gag as I take my lips away from the spout of the bottle and burry my head into my hands. "She's pregnant with our child and now she's running off to another country without telling me. I don't even know why she's gone!" I try not to cry at this point. I don't really get emotional, but this is Layla we're talking about here.
"I'm sorry that we made you feel like crap at the lunch, I didn't realise the impact it had on you" Ethan sits down next to me and takes the bottle of vodka from my hands. He begins sipping out of the bottle and makes a slight groan after every sip.
"How bad was the fight?" JJ approaches us and takes a seat on a chair opposite the couch. Ethan holds the bottle of vodka in front of JJ, motioning for him to have a swig. And he does. JJ has a few heavy sips and starts coughing his lungs up.
"The fight wasn't bad. I'm just confused why she wouldn't talk to me before just leaving with no explanation". I talk to the boys while also talking to myself angrily.
The rest of the boys make their way to the couch and the chairs surrounding it and they all start having a drink. They open any bottle or can, they can find and start consuming the poison inside. Tobi just sits there sipping away at a litre bottle of apple juice.
"So much for cheap vs expensive drinks" Vik laughs as he swallows a heavy amount of gin. That man is unfazed when it comes to alcohol.
"We have two videos filmed at the golf course where we played soccer golf, we can upload one of those instead" Josh starts sipping his Malibu rum. "We have a few videos on the backbone anyway".
"I think I need to go home and just be by myself" I look at all of the boys and they don't say anything.
"If that's what you need to do man, that's what you do fam. I can see that your stressed" JJ continues to cough.
"You rhyming machine" Simon comments on JJ's accidental rhyming. I think this is the beginning of a group heart to heart.
"I know this is kind of a waste of a shoot and I'm late, but I just feel like shit and I'm so confused right now" I try to soften up the fact that I'm the reason today has been a waste of time.
---
(Layla's POV)
"So did you guys ever end up speaking again?" I cover my mouth while I speak. Scott and I are both eating sandwiches and chatting about what we have been up to.
"Nope. We went out and we hooked up and then I left. I was not going to stay with him, he was way too clingy" Scott runs one of his hands through his hair.
"So where in London do you live? When we both get back we will have to catch up again" I sip slowly but frequently at my water.
"I live in central London, I moved out of my parents house a few years ago with my boyfriend at the time. I'm currently at University studying a course for Secondary teaching". Scott fiddles with the rings on his fingers.
"Really? That's amazing! I currently live in central London too but Harry and I have bought a place about 20 minutes out. You know, starting a family and all". I rub my belly. Scott nods his head and opens his phone.
I stare at Scott's phone and suddenly it clicks with me. "Shit!" I yell loudly. Scott looks at me and so do some other passengers. I frantically open my phone and text Harry. I forgot to text him, I'm so screwed.
"Do you have your own wi-fi to send the text that your rapidly typing?" Scott looks at my phone.
"Yes" I say quietly. I continue typing away and hope that I haven't left it too late.
- - -
"I don't know. I just don't understand why she wouldn't tell me" I sniffle slightly still asking the same question over and over again. I'm so confused. Why wouldn't she just tell me? This isn't like her.
"Maybe you should talk to her. Give her a call or text when she lands and get some sort of answers" Tobi tries to offer me advice.
"Harry your phone just went off" Kon shouts from the other side of the room. He's packing up the camera gear and lights. I walk over to my phone and open the text message.
Layla- I'm so sorry, I forgot to message you earlier. I'm on a plane to Australia right now, I will call you and explain everything when I land. I'm so sorry that this is rushed, I love you x
I don't even want to reply. She could've spoken to me last night at least instead of me waking up to her being gone with no explanation. How long has this flight been booked for? How long has she been keeping this from me? I think I'm more pissed off than upset now. This can't be about the argument, there's no way.
"Good news?" Vik walks up to me. I shake my head and put my phone in my pocket. I staunch back over to the couch and take one last swig from the bottle of vodka.
"I'm going to catch an uber home. I'm sorry that today's shoot is a waste, I'll make it up to you lads" I say my goodbyes and walk out the front of the studio. I begin to order an uber and try to keep my mind from racing. Is she hiding something from me? Or is she avoiding me?
Written 4-7-21
Published 12-7-21
Words 2629
(Decided to release early. Have been so excited for you guys to read these and the next few chapters!)