I woke up as my alarm blared aggressively on the bedside table. I rubbed the sleep away from my eyes and rolled over, realising how unrested I felt after going to sleep so late after Harry and I… It was then that I realised Harry was gone from the bed and I wondered where he was. I needed to tell him that last night was a mistake… I shouldn’t have almost kissed him… I was glad I hadn’t. It was then that I was pulled from my thoughts by a knock on the door.

“Hey, hope you slept ok! Jen texted to tell me that he and Jared will be here in forty-five minutes!” Gemma said happily once I had called that it was okay to come in, “Do you need to borrow any clothes? He mentioned that Jared had accidentally taken all your stuff?” I smiled gratefully but told her that I had only worn yesterday’s clothes for a few hours so they should be ok. She nodded and flashed me another smile before heading back to her own room excitedly. I wished that I felt the same excitement that she did but I felt like there was a rock at the pit of my stomach again.

Once I was dressed and had used the toothbrush with Gemma had given me, I headed downstairs, hoping that I would be able to have a cup of coffee and hopefully perk myself up before Jared arrived. I walked to the small, cluttered but warm kitchen and stopped in the doorway. Harry was standing with his back to the door, shirtless, his long hair tied in a messy bun on top of his head, the sun rise in front of him creating a halo of light around him. I blinked for a second before stepping into the room and clearing my throat.

“Good morning.” He smiled over his shoulder. I nodded in response and took a seat at the breakfast bar as he reached into a cupboard to his left to get a mug for me. He filled it with coffee and handed it to me with a cheeky smile. I raised an eyebrow and looked at the mug suspiciously.

“Little miss stubborn…” I read from the side of the mug and then looked back up at him. He winked at me and I couldn’t help but smile back a little at his little joke even though it only made the rock in my stomach sink further. The palpable feeling that had taken over the room was interrupted as Gemma bounced into the kitchen. She grabbed her own cup of coffee as she told us about how excited she was, and it wasn’t until she turned around that she seemed to actually look at her brother.

“Harry!” She snapped, the smile fading from her face, “They are going to be here in literally ten minutes, can you go and get dressed! For god’s sake! I’m sure Selena doesn’t want to have her breakfast with all four of your damn nipples staring at her!” She rolled her eyes as Harry pulled a face, mimicking her distaste. I found myself trying to do anything I could to not look at his chest. I didn’t realise he had four nipples, I hadn’t noticed last night and I had been too caught up in the moment to notice this morning. I also discovered that I had somehow managed to ignore the huge butterfly tattoo that he had in the centre of his chest. Harry caught my eye and smirked. His hands suddenly flew to his torso, in what seemed like random places, as his mouth dropped open dramatically.

“You’re wrong Gem, she’s violating me with her eyes…” He squealed sarcastically to his sister. My own mouth dropped open and I looked at Gemma to protest but she was already trying not to laugh at her younger brother’s stupidity. He dramatically danced around the room, covering his extra nipples, jokingly ranting about how upset he was at the injustice until we were both in fits of laughter before leaving us to catch our breath and get ready to leave.

When the doorbell rang five minutes later, I flew to the door. I opened it and was slightly disappointed to see Jensen standing on the step in front of me. My expression was mirrored on his own face at my lack of being Gemma as we stepped past one another to get to our respective partners. Jared was adjusting the placement of one of the cases in the back of the car, and hadn’t noticed me until I flung myself into him.

“Jesus Christ! You’d think you hadn’t seen me in years!” He laughed, wrapping his arms around me and burying his face into my hair. I smiled into his jumper although in the back of my mind, I was just happy that him being around meant that I couldn’t be tempted into Harry.

“I just missed you last night is all.” I mumbled as I inhaled his familiar scent. He chuckled again and pulled back to hook his finger beneath my chin so he could tilt my face toward his and press his lips to mine softly.

“I missed you too gorgeous.” He whispered as our lips broke their contact. I smiled as a pang of guilt resonated inside of me at what I had really been doing last night, Jared didn’t seem to notice as he turned back to the suitcase that he had been dealing with. I found myself staring at him as I imagined how he would react if he knew what had almost happened and jumped when I was pulled from my thoughts by Harry’s hand on my shoulder.

“S, do you want to get in the car, you’re kind of in the way love.” He said softly as I shrank away from his touch. Jared didn’t seem to notice my reaction as he told me that the doors should be open but to get in the back since Jen was driving. I nodded and wandered round the car and clambered into the back seat and into the middle since I was the first one in. I could hear the muffled discussions about holidays and cases going on outside the car as I sat in silence, patiently waiting.

The front passenger seat was the first to open and Gemma climbed in, with a quick squeal of excitement in my direction, she went to messing with the radio. I watched her for a second as it suddenly hit me, if she was in the front there were only two seats for Jared and Harry… either side of me. I started to panic as I rushed to undo the seatbelt and move over so that I would only have to sit next to Jared, but before I could slide over, both doors opened and they both blocked me in. I felt uncomfortable, and not just because I was squashed between two fairly built guys. Not that either of them seemed to notice though.

Jared just casually put one arm over my shoulders and hugged me a little closer as we waited for his brother to finish dealing with the cases, while Harry’s leg pressed against mine a little too hard so that I would know it was intentional.

“Let’s go!” Jensen said with a grin as he finally took his place in the driver’s seat and started the car, before looking over and Gemma with one eyebrow cocked, “You know the house rules Gem, driver picks the music…” Jared laughed as Gemma opened her mouth to protest.

“… shotgun shuts her pretty little cakehole.” Jared finished as Jensen jokingly laid a finger over his own lips, earning a playful slap from his girlfriend and a high five from his younger brother through the gap in the front seats, leaving the whole car giggling as we pulled away, finally feeling a little excited.

---

Louis and Eleanor were already waiting for us near the check in desks when we arrived at Manchester International Airport almost an hour later.

“Oh my god, S, this is so cool! I’ve never been skiing before!” Eleanor said as she grabbed my arm excitedly.

“Me either!” I laughed, leaning against my case while we all waited for Alex and Dean to arrive. This holiday was more than one first for me, since I had actually never been on a plane before. I hadn’t told anyone, not even Jared, since I didn’t want anyone to think I was weird… and although I knew it didn’t matter to him, I felt like it was just drawing more attention to the fact that I had less money than him.

“Where do you think Alex is?” She asked as she looked around at the check in desk, “The line is getting longer and we still need to go through security…” She added as she checked her wrist watch. I shrugged, mirroring her look of concern although I really had no idea what she meant by ‘going through security’. Just as I was considering the possibilities, I heard Alex’s voice from behind me.

“You guys are already here? I’m so sorry, my taxi was late!” she apologised as I turned around to see her. She looked anything but sorry as she stood three feet away, dressed like a winter catalogue model with her hair and makeup immaculate. I looked around her general vicinity and felt the hairs on the back of my neck prickle as the question formed in my mind but since no one else seemed like they were asking I didn’t want to upset Jared by seeming obsessive.


“The amount of times I’ve been through security, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one person set off the alarm as many times as you did, S!” Louis laughed as I pulled coat back on. I rolled my eyes and blushed at my inexperience and how obvious it must have seemed. Jared chuckled under his breath and then took my hand and squeezed it gently as we walked toward our gate.

Once we had finally found a group of seats near enough together we had nothing to do, but sit and talk while we waited to board. I sat a little away from the group, joking and laughing with Jared, finally feeling relaxed for the first time today.

“What’s your seat number?” Jared said, pulling his own ticket and passport out of the small pouch at the front of his backpack.

“The one that we picked together, I hope!” I laughed as I opened my handbag and produced my documents. I looked at the ticket and then back at him with a smile, “36A?” My smile faded as Jared’s eyes went to his own ticket and his brow furrowed.

“That’s weird, I thought we’d booked ours next to each other…” He said as he took my own ticket to confirm that I hadn’t got the number wrong. I felt a small panic rising in my chest as the confused look that had settled on his face remained. He stood up from next to me and began going around the group asking for ticket numbers, asking them quietly out of my earshot if they had my correct seat number. Once he got to Alex, she took out her ticket and showed him. I watched as his facial expression changed slightly and he gestured in my direction. She seemed to hesitate before her face had dropped a little as she spoke. He paused before nodding and coming back over to me.

“So, I’m not really sure what’s gone on, but somehow Alex has your seat number but she’s asked if you wouldn’t mind if she could sit with me since she was kind of hoping to talk to me about something… it’s to do with Dean… It’s why she was late…” He asked me gently, resting a hand on my knee. I looked at him, trying to hide my disappointment. I had hoped that he would sit with me since it was my first flight… not like I could ask him now though without looking like I was just trying to stop her from sitting with him.

“Yeah I guess so… who am I sitting with then?” I asked quietly, trying to keep my voice levelled and calm. He smiled at me appreciatively and leant in for a grateful kiss.

“Harry has the seat next to yours.” He said as he pulled away and leant back in his chair.

---

My heart was racing as I walked down the narrow aisle of the plane. I wanted to turn around and run off the plane, and I think I might have if it wasn’t for the mass amounts of people that were herding on behind me. I felt claustrophobic and like I couldn’t breathe… how was this little metal bird meant to keep us up in the air, and how didn’t it run out of petrol up in the air? I followed the actions of the person in front of me and put my handbag in the overhead bin once I got to my seat. I saw that Jared and Alex were a few rows ahead as I slipped into my own seat, confused at the odd seatbelt that I was confronted with. As I was studying it, I suddenly felt Harry’s eyes on me. When I looked up to meet them, I saw that one eyebrow was raised.

“Do you not want this under the seat in front of you?” He asked, pulling my small bag down for me to see.

“I can do that?” I questioned instantly without thinking. His brow furrowed and a small smile touched his lips as he handed it over without another word. He lifted his small carry on into the bin and shut it before sitting next to me. He grabbed the two parts of his seatbelt and slowly pushed one part into the other and then pulling the loose strap to tighten it. I mimicked the action and then heard him chuckling next to me.

“What?” I snapped quietly, as I felt my face start to flush red.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone this was your first flight?” He said gently as he looked over at me. I frowned, determined to still go along with my lie.

“I have flown before, I don’t know what-“ He laughed and interrupted me quietly.

“Either you were trying to watch me do my seatbelt, or you were staring at my crotch longingly… I’d go with first time flyer if I were you… unless you’re trying to tell me that you’re done being Little Miss Stubborn…” I hesitated and then sighed, sinking back into the incredibly uncomfortable and small seat, feeling a little relieved that someone actually knew now.

“Okay, you caught me… don’t tell anyone please… I don’t want them to think I’m weird or something…” I admitted quietly, looking at my lap. He nudged me gently with a smile and rolled his eyes.

“Embarrassment is cute on you, S…” I blushed and looked back down as he continued, “Are you nervous?” His voice had gone a little concerned as he had asked. I looked back at him and saw that his small smile had faded slightly.

“A little…” I admitted. Harry looked down the aisle at Jared and Alex and then back at me.

“Why is he sitting with her if this is….” His frustration was suddenly replaced with realisation as I looked at him sheepishly. He sighed.

“He doesn’t know either?” He asked and I nodded. He looked at me and then back at Jared and then began to unbuckle his seatbelt. I hurriedly grabbed onto his wrist as he began pushing himself out of the seat.

“What are you doing?” I hissed, pulling him back down. He looked at me confused.

“You don’t want me to get him to switch?” He asked gently, his eyes flickering to the hand that was clasped around his wrist and then meeting my own.

“No!” I said quietly, removing my hand and sitting back in my seat, “He doesn’t know I’m nervous and Alex said she needed to talk to him about something to do with Dean…” I trailed off at the end. Harry hesitated.

“I’m sure he’d come back here if he knew you were nervous…” He said comfortingly. I looked at Harry and couldn’t believe that we were even having this conversation, how compassionate he was. His brow furrowed in concern and I realised how much inner conflict he must have been going through right now.

“I know.” I whispered and then turned to look out of the window at the airport that had begun rolling slowly out of view, feeling my stomach tying itself in knots more rapidly than before. He didn’t answer as the safety video started playing and I wanted to pay full attention as we watched. Funnily enough, the video that alluded to the possibility of suffocating when the cabin runs out of oxygen and crash landing in the sea didn’t make me feel any better as the plane made its way to the runway.

I closed my eyes tight and gripped the armrest as the plane suddenly sped up, the force pushing me back into my seat. Was this normal? No one else was screaming so it must be. The feeling was horrible as the plane began tilting upwards and I swore that I heard the tail of the plane scraping along the tarmac. Everything felt heavy but light at the same time, it was the most confusing feeling in the world as we rose into the sky. I opened one eye and peered out of the window after a few minutes finally feeling a little brave but slammed it shut again as I let out a small yelp as the plane felt like it was dropping and I was momentarily convinced that was how I was going to die.

“It’s ok, take off can be a bit bumpy.” Harry’s voice whispered soothingly to me, suddenly close to my ear. I took a few deep breaths to try and calm myself down as he interlaced his fingers with my own and began rubbing circled on my thumb. Taking another deep breath and forced myself to open my eyes. I looked at him as he watched me intently with a small but encouraging smile, making sure that I was okay… and suddenly I was.

Notes

Harry to the rescue! Let me know what you think!

Please comment! Hearing your thoughts is what motivates me to keep going!

Subscribe and rate to see more if you enjoy my story!

All my love,

Lola xo