Diligence [H.S.]

THREE

Chapter Song: Safe From Heartbreak (if you never fall in love) by Wolf Alice

...

HARRY STYLES

My eyes feel heavy as I stare out the tiny plane window, and I manage to find comfort while looking at the dim light of any bit of civilization that is still awake.

Usually, flights don't bother me. This flight specifically? It's giving me a fucking headache.

The lights throughout the plane turned off once it hit ten o'clock, but I haven't even come close to falling asleep, and now it's nearly one in the morning. Even with earplugs, I couldn't drown out the loud whooshing of the engines like I usually do if necessary.

Nate fell asleep seconds after the sun went down. He joked about how traveling with me always stressed him out, but I know it wasn't me he was worried about. It's also why I've refused to bother him since he drifted off.

"Can I sit with you?"

My head quickly turns at the somewhat hushed voice, and I see Talia with her arms crossed over her chest. She has the sleeves of her jumper clasped between her fingers to try and make her hands warmer.

When she fell asleep, I figured the cold air conditioning would wake her eventually.

"Of course," I tell her and scoot over a few inches in the vast lounge chair, "Come here."

She sits down beside me gently, and I wrap an arm around her waist before she sinks further back into the chair. With my other hand, I reach down to pull the lever on the side and let the footrest spring up underneath our legs to make us more comfortable.

A sigh of relief escapes me as she turns to rest on her side and places her cheek against my chest. The closeness allows me to ignore my growing migraine for a moment, and I rest my cheek against her blonde hair. It temporarily fills the hole in my chest, but I know it will only last so long.

It's never permanent.

"I figured you'd be asleep," she says quietly.

I hum as a lazy form of disagreeing with her statement and rest my eyes momentarily. The warmth of her presence next to me is enough to help ease my relentless mind. My arm tightens around her waist to try and pull her closer.

"Were you writing a song?"

Her question makes my eyes open curiously, unsure of how she knew that, but when I glance down, I see my notebook resting on its side next to my leg.

"Uh, yeah," I respond shortly, hoping she'll drop it, "I gave up for the night, though. My head is killing me."

I notice her hand about to move from its spot on my stomach, and I shift my leg so my knee is bent. The composition book falls against the footrest; my leg ultimately blocks it from her view, and she sighs in defeat.

She's been intrigued by the few bits and pieces of songs that I've written, but I'm not comfortable showing them to her—none of them.

Not only are they all unfinished so far, but they're the rawest parts of my emotions and useless attempts at dealing with the emptiness that has lingered since Andrea cut me off.

I know she'll get jealous. She's a jealous person. I've known that since the day I met her, but I've never given her a reason to be, considering she's the only person I've been with since last August.

That doesn't mean I don't understand jealousy.

I may not behave that way when it comes to Talia, but I do with Andrea, and I know she won't take the time to fully understand why I'm writing about someone I'm no longer with. Her anger and emotions will just take over, as mine have in the past.