me after you ; h. styles

we'll be alright.

Harry packs up the last suitcase.

They'll be here soon to pick him up. He looks around the room. Suddenly this home doesn't feel like it's his. He knows when he comes back it'll all feel strange to him before it feels like a place he knows. The smell of Stella's perfume will no longer float around his house when he comes back. The scent will just be gone and it'll just smell like this house. Not home. Just a house.

He takes his things downstairs and then waits. He thinks of how quiet it is and almost can't bear the sound of absolutely nothing. Usually this house is filled with music, the sound and smell of tea brewing, pages being turned, and the soft sound of his and Stella's voices.

What they have is beautiful and Harry doesn't know if he'll meet someone like her ever again. He has never met someone that he connected with so quickly. At this point he's sure that they were soulmates in another life time. He'll miss her for a long time. It's truly a shame that he's going away.

Moments later the car arrives and the driver helps Harry load his things into the boot. He's in the back seat when he asks, "Can we stop at this house just up for the road for a few minutes?"

The driver tells him yes, but that he can't take too long because he needs to get to the airport. Harry just nods, makes sure he has Stella's present in his hands, and then exits the car when it comes to a stop a few minutes alter.

He walks up to the front door and then knocks on it. He grips the small box in his hands tightly as he waits. He feels so anxious or maybe he's telling himself that so he doesn't feel the sadness that is currently pooling deeply in his chest. He'll go with anxious for now.

"Hi," Stella greets him when she opens the door. She sounds out of breath, like she was running down the stairs to come and open the door for him. Maybe she's just as anxious as him.

They're alone. Her grandparents are gone for the weekend, but he did say goodbye to them before.

"I only have a few minutes," he tells her as he walks in. Stella closes the door and they stand by it, not bothering to go and sit down.

She crosses her arms over her chest, hugging herself because she doesn't know what else to do. "Well, are you excited?" She asks him to make conversation and this as painless as possible.

Harry bites his lip and then finds himself shaking his head. "No, not really," he answers quietly and honestly. Stella frowns. "I want to stay here, I think you know that. I'm not looking forward to not seeing you every day."

Stella laughs. "Ah, come on. You won't even think of me when you're halfway around the world touring and singing your little heart out," she tells him sarcastically because she doesn't want to say anything that will sadden the conversation even further.

He laughs too, but says, "I think I'll think about you every day, until I don't anymore."

Stella isn't smiling anymore, but she doesn't look upset. If she is she's hiding it well and Harry hates that. Suddenly she has pulled him in for a hug and her arms are around him. He returns her embrace gently. "I'll think about you all the time too," she whispers against his shoulder. "I'll probably think about you for the rest of my life."

He takes in a deep breath. This is the last time he'll smell the scent of her and her perfume.

"I have something for you before I leave," he tells her and they pull away from each other. He hands her the box.

"What is it?"

"Oh, that's the thing," he says. "Will you do me a favor and open it on your birthday please?"