Dear Iris [h.s]

BONUS CHAPTER| 1

Harry Styles

Paris.

I've never been here until now, and what better reason to come here than to visit the person I owe my life to.

It's been three years. Three long, heartbreaking years without the love of my life and the day I laid my eyes on her back home in that small little studio, is the day I knew there was not one ounce of love I had for her that had vanished.

New York wasn't all bad. I always dreamt of New York after all. I learned so many things and made so many connections I only could've imagined doing, but most of all,  I wrote my debut novel. It's called Eternal Heaven, and it's a love story. I wrote the dedication page to Iris thinking she'd ready it and come find me, but that didn't happen as quickly as I thought it would.

Living in New York all alone was hard, I missed Iris with my whole entire existence and I missed my little sister Harper. I knew upon my return she'd be three years older and Iris might have moved on, she might have fallen in love with another man and forgotten all about me.

Harper and I would write to each other as often as we could,I wanted to write to Iris too but nobody knew her address. Apparently she left the village shortly after I did, mum said it destroyed her. The day I left was the same day Iris and I were supposed to run away together but that never happened.

It was Harper that told me her studio was up for sale, three years without the privilege of laying my eyes on Iris, all I had were memories of us in her studio and all over the village, and now her studio was for sale. That broke my heart a little bit. I knew then that Iris really had moved on, she was selling the one Hingham would bring her back to the village. Once the studio sold I knew she'd live wherever she is forever. That's exactly what I wanted for her, however it was still upsetting to know somebody else would make memories there and ours would truly become a thing of the past.

That's when I had the thought, I could buy the studio.

It was an insane thought, however I had the finances to do so and Harper had fallen in love with art. Iris was an inspiration for her and I knew that if Harper had that studio, she'd flourish in ways I wish I could've when I was a kid. The studio would be in the safest hands if they fell into Harper's. So that's exactly what I did. I wrote to the landlord, who was Iris, and it was clear that she was eager to get the studio sold as she hadn't even asked the name of the person taking it over.

That worried me, I thought then that she was selling it because she met someone else. She didn't need the place where all our favourite moments were created, she wanted to get rid of it because she had all these new memories with somebody else.

I flew back weeks later to exchange ownership, the papers going in Harper's name. Harper knew I was nervous to see Iris, I hadn't in three whole years and she was the very person who showed me the true definition of love. To come face to face with her then was the scariest thing I've ever done.

But there she was.

Standing in a beautiful white dress, she was looking at the window, the very one she used to sit on with her cigarettes or sketchbooks. She looked gorgeous, the exact same as she did three years ago, only more mature and she had a different type of glow about her. She was happy.

The studio was empty, all her paintings and sketchbooks were gone. Even that old couch that doubled as her bed was gone and it was something that really struck me in the heart.

Looking her in the eyes for the first time in years was something I can't put into words. It reignited every fire I had burning side of me for her, although I'm not sure those fires ever went out. Harper hugged her and they had a little moment, but then Iris and I had a moment alone.