If I could fly (BOOK 2)

Fully cleared

Three weeks later, everything felt like it was moving again.

America was behind them now-long flights, interviews, hotel rooms that blurred together. Home had been brief, just long enough to breathe before tour swept them back up. Y/N felt steadier than she had in weeks, her body slowly starting to feel like hers again instead of something she was carefully borrowing.

The doctor smiled when she said it.

"You're fully cleared," she told Y/N. "Take it slow, listen to your body-but yes. One hundred percent."

Y/N walked out of the appointment with her heart racing for reasons that had nothing to do with nerves. It wasn't just about intimacy. It was about normalcy. Choice. Feeling like herself again.

She didn't text Harry.
She wanted to see his face.
When she opened the hotel room door, the first thing she saw was Darcy.
Their daughter lay in the middle of the bed on her back, kicking happily, cooing like she owned the place. Y/N smiled instantly.

The second thing she saw was Harry.

He stood a few feet away, half dressed, buttoning his shirt with one hand while rummaging through his bag with the other. His hair was still damp, curling slightly at the ends, shoulders relaxed but focused-already slipping into venue mode.

He looked up when the door clicked shut.

"Hey-"

Y/N didn't let him finish.

She crossed the room in three quick steps, grabbed his face in both hands, and kissed his cheek.

Then the other cheek.

Then his jaw.

Then his nose.

Harry froze, blinking in surprise as she kept going.

"Hi to you too-" he laughed, breath already a little uneven.

She kissed his forehead. His temple. The corner of his mouth.

Then-deliberately-she kissed his lips.

It wasn't rushed. It wasn't shy. It lingered just long enough for him to feel the shift in her mood, the spark of excitement, the confidence returning in a way he hadn't seen in weeks.

She pulled back smiling, still holding his face.

Before he could say a word, she jumped-arms around his shoulders, legs wrapping around his waist automatically.

"Jesus-" Harry laughed, stumbling once before catching her on instinct. "You alright?"

She nodded, breathless and glowing. "I'm more than alright."

Something in her voice made his eyebrows lift.

She leaned in, brushing her lips near his ear. "I'm cleared."

The reaction was immediate.

His eyebrows shot up-down-then up again, fast enough to be comical. His hands tightened at her thighs just a fraction before he forced himself to steady.

"Cleared," he repeated, like he needed to hear it twice.

"Yes."

Harry closed his eyes for half a second, forehead dropping to her shoulder as he exhaled slowly, carefully.

"Right," he murmured. "Okay. That's... very good news."

She laughed softly, pressing another quick kiss to his lips before letting him set her back down-his hands lingering at her waist longer than necessary.