september
you're the reason i come home, my love
- ron pope.
Sighing, she remained seated while she looked around her, looking at the people she was just trapped in this flight for ten hours. They all stood up in lightning speed as soon as the seatbelt sign switched off, even though it would still take time to open the aircraft's doors. Some people were just so stupid.
Bella turned to look outside the large window on her side, like an excited little kid, admiring the dark blue skies and the snow on the ground. Manchester has always been so nice to her. She loves winter and bundling up in sweaters and scarfs and wearing large coats and boots.
When she noticed the passengers were beginning to move along the narrow hallway, she removed her seatbelt and searched for her scarf in her backpack, wrapping it around her neck when she did.
Her mum better be picking her up from the airport in this weather. It's not like she really fancied paying a good 30 pounds for a taxi. Those 30 pounds could be used in something like magazines and clothes. Useful stuff.
She turned to look outside the window once again, softly touching the cold clear plastic before standing up and walking along the hallway.
-
One hour. It had taken one hour for the stupid airport to get their baggage out on the conveyor belt. And then, she had to stand around for another half hour until her suitcase finally emerged behind those noisy flaps that separated the outside from the inside. If she wasn't that desperate to go home and lay in her bed - the bed she had missed all of these four years - she would've totally filed a complaint about that. There were probably more extreme airport cases, but who cares. She's tired and her bag is heavy and if she doesn't see her mum behind those doors she's gonna flip out so badly-
Oh. It's like she's frozen in place and can't stop staring at it. Not even in a million years can she mistake that curly hair for someone else's. A woman grumbles and pushes into her, and okay, maybe she had actually frozen in place and people picking others were looking at her weirdly. So, with that, she quickly walks towards him, Harry, who is talking on the phone.
When she's in front, he looks up and gives her a small smile, quickly hanging up on the person on the other line.
"Bella, Bella, Bella. Bells," he coos, arms wrapping around her and hugging her to his chest. But not with the tightness she used to remember.
"Harry," she mumbles, "Why are you here?"
"To pick you up, of course," he pulls away and walks towards the front doors. Not bothering to help her with her suitcase. Okay, then. Nice to know he apparently doesn't know that ten hours in a cramped up airplane makes you tired as hell.
He's taller than he was four years before. His hair is longer. His body leaner. (His chest firmer.) And he's walking with a certain hip in his step, swinging his car keys on one finger, not turning around to check if she's following or not.
When they reach his car, she's exhausted. This time, Harry actually helps her lift her suitcase to place in the boot of his car, and she doesn't thank him because he didn't help before. (This is definitely not some kind of stupid revenge.)
"So, how was New York?" he asks when they switches lanes to drive onto the motorway. He's the first to break their super silent silence. The radio wasn't even on when he started the car up.
"Fine," she says quietly, playing with the ends of her scarf because it's awkward.
Awkward because in the four years she was in America she didn't come back to England for a visit. Awkward because it had been about three years since she even texted or called or Skyped Harry. Awkward because when she left, he'd whispered into her ear just how much he was going to miss her and how she had to promise to "fly back to him." Awkward because the last day she saw Harry she was so, so, so in love with him, that she cried on the whole flight to New York. Awkward because maybe there will always be a tiny spot for him in her heart, and now here they were. Barely speaking to each other. Barely acting like the best friends they were. Acting like they were just acquaintances.
