Paris In The Rain [h.s]

La Plus Belle Femme

AN: The title means 'the most beautiful woman' in French :)

... or so I hope it does

~Alex

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One Year Later

"Please take your seat for landing."

That same sentence is repeated in French I assume as the seat belt signs flash above us. My foot taps nervously on the floor as I stare out of the plane window, biting my lip as anxiety courses through me like rolling waves.

Holy shit. I'm in Paris.

The man sitting beside me wakes up abruptly once the flight attendant nudges his shoulder, almost jabbing me in the ribs with his elbow. I cringe away from him and pray to God he doesn't try flirting with me again like he has for half of this flight. After politely smiling at him multiple times, I finally told him to take the hint by popping earbuds into my ears and closing my eyes.

"What are you in Paris for, babe?" He asks me and I let out a harsh breath.

"I'm seeing someone. He doesn't know I'm coming, though," I say while keeping my eyes trained on the window.

That's true. Harry doesn't know I'm coming to his art exhibition. The only way I found out was by Liam, who had gotten the information from Louis.

"Maybe we'll bump into each other again," The man says, causing me to gag internally.

The tires of the plane hit the runway before slowly coming to a halt, everyone immediately hopping up from their seats. "I hope we don't," I smile at him before squeezing my way into the aisle and rushing towards the door.

Harry's art exhibition starts in two hours, and I know it'll take me at least half an hour to escape the clutches of the airport. Finding my hotel and the place where Harry's holding his art exhibition is going to be a struggle on its own.

It's been a year since I've seen, or even spoken to him. There hasn't been a single fucking day where I haven't thought about my missing masterpiece. Honestly, I'm not sure if he'll even be happy about seeing me again. Even though I'm only staying for one day, the thought of seeing him for even a brief second brings tears to my eyes. Because I haven't moved on, and I seriously hope he hasn't either.

My happiness has only returned in mere inches this past year, still not completely there... not even halfway there. It's taken time, and I still need more of it, but I want to see him. I want to see if he's happier, or if he's just as miserable as me. I want to see if he's found someone new. But mainly, I want to see if he's grown his hair out.

This year without him has been hard. I think I've cried almost every single day. Sometimes they would be tears of sadness and heartbreak, but other times they were tears of happiness and relief. I've felt myself changing for the better, no matter how small that change may feel. With every step forward, I'll take a baby step back. I'm still working on myself, but maybe seeing him will help that longing hole inside of my heart heal. I just need closure.

Liam and I are... back on good terms. I still haven't completely forgiven him, but I'm working on it and trying not to blame him for my heartbreak even though he was only half of it. It took me a while to admit that I needed this break. Part of me still believes Harry and I could have worked through our problems together, but I have to stop myself and say that's not true. The number of times I've done that is fucking countless.