Smile for the Camera (Harry Styles x OC)

The Flight Home (Part 2)

     "So, wait. You and your bandmates broke into your own venue the night before the show and got chased out by real police?" I could hardly believe it coming out of his mouth, but it's even more unreal coming out of mine.

     "Yes, and Liam was so mad because he was supposed to be in charge of keeping us in line, but we couldn't help ourselves. We were some wild kids." Smiles shakes his head nostalgically.

     "Sounds like it," I say, chuckling. "I was never much like that. I had a pretty calm childhood. Which reminds me, didn't you say Louis was the oldest? Why was Liam in charge?"

     Smiles wrinkles his nose and smiles a little. "Louis wasn't exactly 'in charge' material. Our management often made Liam watch over us because they thought he was the most mature."

     He may not have noticed, but I definitely caught his use of the word "thought" instead of "knew." I mean they were all just teenagers, how mature could they have been? No kid deserves that much weight on their shoulders. From what Smiles has told me, it sounds like each of the boys was forced into some tiny box and told who they should be for the cameras. That'd drive me crazy.

     "That's rough," I mutter, not exactly sure how to respond.

     "No, it wasn't all that bad. We did have a lot of fun, Liam included. We had opportunities to do things that normal kids wouldn't. So that counts for something." Smiles pulls his hat down and quickly turns away to look out the window as a young man passes in the isle, and I look down at the decoy magazine in my lap that I have no real interest in. After the man has gotten a safe distance away, Smiles turns back. "What about your teenage years? Ever break in somewhere or get drunk at nine in the morning and swim with sting rays that afternoon?"

     I lay my head back on the headrest and laugh. "Can't say that I have. I think the wildest thing I've ever done is stay awake for like a week straight during finals on Redbull and Jaffa Cakes alone."

     "Really?" The look of disbelief on Smiles' face makes me laugh even harder. "You really don't have any horror stories about drinking with friends or questionable weekend vacations with boys you hardly know?"

     My mouth drops open and I furrow my brow. "What kind of a girl do you think I am?"

     Questionable weekend vacations? That sounds like something famous girls do. Not regular plebs like me. Even back then, I wouldn't have had enough time for a vacation. Even though I didn't have a job to be entirely committed to, I had schoolwork and that took up most of my time. I guess I have had a rather dull life starting with a dull childhood, but a lot of people have dull lives.

     "The normal kind?" Smiles puts a tentative hand on my arm. "Look, I mean no offense, but most people have some crazy story from their teenage years. It's normal."

     "Your definition of normal is awful different than mine." I turn a page in the magazine that I'm not reading.

     "Come on, you've got to give me something. I told you all about me. What did you do for fun?"

     I glance up at the flight attendants who have been activated on both ends of the isle. It'll be a while before either one gets to us, so I take a deep breath and turn to Smiles.

     "Not much. I like to read and me and my friends used to shop downtown sometimes, but we never did anything crazy." He gets a mischevious glint in his eyes and I shut down his thought before he has a chance to vocalize it. "And no, we never stole anything. We went to private school, Smiles, the idea never even crossed our minds."

     "Ok, what about now then?" he asks, eyeing a woman suspiciously who had stood up to get a bag from the overhead compartment.

     I glance around as well, snorting at his question. "Still not a klepto."