Chapter sixteen

The week after the launch had been pretty uneventful. Perrie had stayed with us, as she was coming to L.A for the movie premiere, and so I’d gotten to know her a lot better. Mostly, we all just watched movies and talked. With so many people, there was never a shortage of things to say. So my days were full of my new friends and my nights were full of exclusively Harry.

By now it was Tuesday, and we were all packing for our plane that left tomorrow. We were heading to L.A a couple days early as me and the girls needed to go dress shopping. Harry and I were in our room and I was trying to squeeze as much as was possible into my suitcase, since after the premiere it was straight on tour from there. I grunted as I struggled with the zipper, trying to half-sit on it and do it up all at the same time. Harry laughed at me.

“What the hell is in there? Your entire wardrobe?” he asked, and I knew he was joking, but the sad thing was that he was exactly right.

“Pretty much,” I sighed, giving up on it for now and flopping down on our bed. Harry laughed, lying down next to me, propped up on his elbow.

“Well, why don’t we take a break?” He asked me, playing with my hair that surrounded me. “We can watch whatever you want, the choice is yours.” He smiled and I sat up.

“Anything?” I asked, raising my eyebrow. He nodded.

“Anything.” He said. I got up and rummaged through my overflowing suitcase and pulled out my season one of ‘New Girl’.

“Alright,” I said. “Let’s watch ‘New Girl.” Harry sat up and took the box from me.

“I’ve never heard of this,” he said, reading the back. I laughed.

“Well then, you’re in for treat,” I told him with a smile, going over to the TV and putting it in the DVD player.

“Who’s in it?” He asked.

“Zooey Deschanel , Max Greenfield, Jake Johnson and Lamorne Morris.” I told him, grabbing the remote and jumping on the bed next to him. He wrapped his arms around me and cloaked us in a blanket.

“Well, if my lovely girlfriend likes it I can’t imagine it being super awful,” he laughed and then paused a moment before adding: “Actually I take that back, your taste is a little bit off. How can you not like ‘Grease’?” he laughed, recalling this fact from our childhood.

“I don’t not like it!” I told him. “I just don’t like it as much as you do.” I laughed. “I don’t think anyone likes it as much as you do.” I teased.

“Pssh, you love it when I sing ‘Grease Lightning’ for you,” he smiled, resting his chin on top of my head.

“Yeah, I’ve got my own personal, better-looking Danny,” I said with a laugh. Harry kissed the top of my head.

“Only if you’ll be my Sandy,” he said and we both laughed before settling in as the opening song came on and the show began. Harry and I watched the episode and I don’t know who was laughing harder, me or him. One episode quickly turned into four, and before we knew it we were half way through the first season. By the end of the night it was safe to say that I’d turned him into a fan.

--

We were all standing in Heathrow Airport, waiting to board our flight. Niall was at the vending machines, buying anything and everything they could possibly contain while Dani and Liam were absentmindedly looking through the clothes in the airport store. El and Louis had gone off somewhere leaving just me and Harry sitting with Perrie and Zayn. I had my head resting on Harry’s shoulder, his arm around me. I looked at the clock as it struck eight. Our plane had been delayed and was now two hours late. The airport was beginning to get over-crowded, but luckily security had arranged for another waiting area to be opened up, exclusively for us. I felt myself shiver causing me to snuggle closer to Harry. Luckily I’d worn one of his wonderful cable sweaters.

Cozy by authorsdescriptions featuring flower earrings
I know we were going to L.A, but we were still in England and it was February, not exactly the warmest time of year.

“Passenger boarding on flight 101 to Las Angeles will now begin,” a voice came on over the speakers. Paul sat up in response, walking over to us.

“Alright, let’s get on the plane.” He said before quickly going to find Louis and Eleanor to tell them the same thing. Dani and Liam walked over to us, and Harry stood up, keeping our hands locked as he pulled me up with him.

We made our way to the terminal with the others and boarded the flight. Harry led me to the first class section, which was a completely new experience for me. We sat in the extremely comfortable first class seats, much different from those in the coach section, and Harry began flipping through movies. A stewardess approached us and took our drink orders. Unfortunately, I was not the greatest flyer in the world, and I was in desperate need of some kind of alcohol to calm my nerves. Or knock me out for the duration of the flight; either was acceptable. Harry looked at me as the stewardess left to bring me my drink.

“Are you alright, love?” he asked me. I closed my eyes and speed counted to ten, something that did not help with my anxiety.

“Yeah,” I said breathily. “I’m fine.” I lied, trying to force a smile on my face, but it felt more like a grimace. Harry wrapped me in his arms and kissed my head repeatedly.

“You’re a shitty liar, sweetheart,” he laughed. I closed my eyes and laughed too.

“Okay, maybe I’m a little stressed,” I conceded.

“Well don’t worry, I’ll be sitting next to you the whole time, nothing bad is going to happen to you.” I looked at him, one eyebrow cocked. Harry smirked back at me, and despite how stupid it sounded, his words comforted me.

“Here you are Miss,” the stewardess said, returning with my drink.

“Ah, thank you!” I said, eagerly reaching for it. I drank it all, bottoms up, and Harry stared at me in amazement.

“Wow,” he laughed. “This is going to be a fun plane ride.” He joked.

“Oh yeah,” I said, already slurring. Harry laughed.

“Although, you really are going to have to get used to air travel, darling,” Harry teased me, knowing that touring with them meant A LOT of plane rides, just as the captain came on the
intercom.

“Hello passengers of flight 101 to L.A., please buckle your seat belts as we will be ascending momentarily, thank you and enjoy the flight.” The intercom clicked off. I turned around in my seat to look at Danielle and Liam who were sitting behind us.

“Psst, Dani!” I slurred. “Are you scared?” I asked her stupidly. She looked back at me confusedly.

“No, are you drunk?”She asked in return.

“No...” I said, losing my balance as I swiveled back around. Harry caught me before I fell from my seat. His quick and capable hands swiftly clicked my seat belt in around me so as to prevent me from actually injuring myself. I pressed myself into Harry’s side, and he maintained his arm around me as I felt the plane begin to move. Before long, I lost consciousness and fell asleep in Harry’s arms.

--

I woke up with my head pounding. I looked around the plane and watched as it all spun around me before settling. I groaned, rubbing my eyes into Harry’s chest. I heard his soft laugh as his hand rubbed my arm.

“Here, babe, have some coffee,” he said handing it to me. I took it from him, and also gratefully took the two Advils he handed me next.

“How much longer?” I asked him after taking a massive gulp of the coffee, desperate to feel a teensy bit better.

“Three more hours,” he told me. I groaned, leaning into him again. All I wanted was for this to be over. Harry laughed at me. “Aw, sweetheart, don’t look so dejected, I have a surprise for you.” He said and I looked up. He reached around and pulled out a DVD. I squinted at it, trying to read what it said. Harry rolled his eyes at my efforts. “New girl anyone?” he asked.

“Umm... YES!” I laughed, and he slid the disk into the player that was in front of us. The remainder of the flight quite literally flew by as Harry and I cuddled and laughed together.

--

We’d finally landed and were now exiting from the plane. Paul was ushering us through the terminal.

“Now I want you all to wait here until more security show up, there’s a lot of fans out there,” Paul told us. I was absolutely exhausted and was barely able to stand; luckily Harry was supporting most of my weight.

“Aw, Sarah, you look awful,” Zayn said sympathetically as he and Perrie reached us, rubbing my back gently.

“Yeah, I feel it, too,” I laughed weakly. “Planes, they scare the shit out of me.” Everyone laughed, even although they all seemed to be perfectly fine.

“Don’t worry, love,” Zayn told me. “I used to be exactly the same way, it gets easier.” He said comfortingly. I nodded, feigning agreement when in reality I’d been on plenty of plane rides, and never was one easier than the last. Danielle snorted behind us.

“Yeah, although I’m pretty sure the alcohol just makes you more sick,” Dani laughed. I rolled my eyes at her.

“I was trying to just pass out gracefully.” I informed them and they all erupted into laughter.

“Oh dear,” Louis laughed. “I’m sorry love, but there was absolutely NOTHING graceful about that!” He retorted. I looked up to Harry in confusion.

“What is he talking about?” I asked him. Harry smiled.

“It wasn’t that bad, aside from the talking, the drooling, and the random outbursts of dancing...” Harry trailed off, unable to maintain his straight face and breaking into laughter.

“Priceless!” Louis exclaimed.

“So glad you took videos, Lou!” Dani laughed, shooting a wink my way. I rolled my eyes at them all, causing them to laugh harder. They were all so amused that none of them heard Paul calling out for us to leave. I began walking towards the door without them.

“Where are you going?” Dani asked me.

“Oh don’t let me interrupt you guys, I can see you’re all having such fun, I’m just going to follow Paul to the hotel,” I said continuing to walk for the door. I heard them all begin walking after me. Instead of waiting for them, I pushed through the doors myself and was shocked. There were hundreds of fans lined up along metal gates with security guards posted every few feet. I was so relieved when the rest of them finally came through the doors to stand with me. Harry grabbed my hand.

“Wow,” I said absolutely speechless.

“Yeah, the madness follows us everywhere,” he laughed. We began walking through the airport, stopping frequently to take pictures, just like we had at the Fragrance launch. I looked around to see that everyone was off taking pictures, leaving me standing there waiting for them. It was standing there like this that I finally realized that they were screaming words, not just noises. I also realized that among these words was my name.

“Sarah! Sarah, can we please get a picture? Sarah, over here!” The shrieks bounded from everywhere at once. I walked over to a group of girls, and they screamed at my approach. I smiled at them all as they took pictures with me.

“Sarah, can you sign this?” The girls asked me I took their sharpies and began signing phone cases, note books and any other objects they presented me with.

“What’s it like dating Harry?” A girl asked me. I looked at her and smiled warmly.

“The best,” I said simply and they began screaming again as Harry came up from behind me and hugged my waist tightly. He took pictures with the girls and we were about to leave when one asked:

“Can I get a picture of just you two together? No joke, you guys are LITERALLY my otp.” I laughed at her enthusiasm, and was overjoyed at her support.

“Absolutely,” Harry smiled, wrapping me in his arms.

“Thanks!” The girl grinned. Paul came over then and pushed us the rest of the way out of the airport. Once outside, we all filed into a large, black SUV parked directly out front. Once we were all inside and comfortable, the airport security cleared the road, and we took off for out hotel.

Notes

Sorry it's been a while, I've just had a lot going on. I'm also not going to be here for two weeks as of Sunday, but I'm going to TRY and update (if I'm somehow graced with wifi) however if I don't, rest assured, I will be writing more chapters, all of which will be posted when I get back. I'm also going to try and post and least once more before then so stay tuned ;) As usual, please rate/comment/subscribe and I'll love you forever!