GREEN (RL Harry Styles fanfic)

45. Green Palms

Nuzzled into my seat under a $12 inflight blanket, I tortured myself. I buried myself deep into Harry's music collection envisioning him singing along or dancing wildly. His taste was eclectic and impressive, but I made a mental note to add some of my favorites to his library. I even listened to demos for the new album, some of which I had heard being laid down in the studio myself.

I scrolled through his camera roll, swooning at his selfies, though few and far between. I cursed internally every time I came across a picture of him with a baby, looking adorable. Apparently a lot of his friends were new parents, that or he was holding strangers' newborns, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. I came across some photos of the two of us and emailed them to myself before finally stumbling across one picture in particular. A photo of me passed out on the floor in my midnight blue dress from karaoke. If I didn't know Harry I might be creeped out, but instead I thought it was sweet that he has captured the moment.

I checked his Twitter app to see pictures from the Summertime Ball that afternoon. He looked amazing in his orange chevron shirt, barely buttoned as always. I watched a few videos of the concert and made sure not to accidentally follow anyone and cause a scene while on his Twitter. Finally, deciding I had tortured myself enough, I stopped binging on all things Harry and gave Gemma's latest column a read.

She had written her article about Tinder that she mentioned last week. I chuckled reading the words with her voice in my head. Her dry tone was just as evident in her writing. I decided to send her a text, letting her know I liked it.

Great article Gemma. I love your writing voice. It made for excellent inflight reading material. I'm on my way home to LA now. Oh, it's Liv btw. My phone got run over by a luggage cart. :'(

Thanks Liv. :) I'm glad you liked it. And I think my writing voice is just my regular voice typed out, but I'll take the complement either way. My heart hurts at the thought of your phone. Literally my worst nightmare. Oh, and I'm glad you're safe doll. You had everyone very worried.

That's what I hear. The Universe was certainly looking out for me. I'll be happy to be back on the ground.

When do you land?

In 3 hours.

Oh, I was going to say give me a call, but that's like 1 AM here. I like sleep. A lot. Call me tomorrow and we'll catch up.

Yeah, timezones are rude. I think I'm going to sleep an entire day to get back in this timezone. I'll call you tomorrow after I take my coma.

Lol. Talk to you tomorrow Liv. Have a safe flight and a nice coma. ;)

I smiled as I tucked the phone into my pocket. Gemma was like the sister I never had. We got along well and I was glad she seemed to like me as much as I liked her.

When I finally landed in LA I was grateful to be home. The warmth of the California sun was a strong contrast to England and I found myself appreciating the familiar green palms that lined the streets. My homecoming was bittersweet since it meant I wouldn't see Harry for a month and the city reminded me of him now.

I finally wheeled my suitcase through the front door around 6 PM, but I was still ready to crash. I left my suitcase and bag by the door, kicked off my shoes, and headed down the hall to collapse on the bed.

I pulled my borrowed phone from my pocket to toss it on the nightstand. I realized I hadn't texted Harry yet to let him know I had made it home safe. I clicked on the screen to find a missed call and a handful of texts from him. He must've just sent them while I was carrying my things inside.

Did you land yet babe?

Everything okay?

Your flight should've landed by now. I'm getting worried.

Why didn't you answer when I called?

He was clearly concerned and I felt awful for making him worry, even though it was sweet. I quickly called him to set him at ease.

"Babe! Everything okay?," Harry said sounding slightly panicked.

"I'm fine Harry. I just got home. It's late there, you should go to sleep baby." It was 2 AM his time.

"I will, but I didn't want to sleep until I heard your voice." I smiled at his admission.

"That's sweet baby. How was the show? I saw some stuff from the ball and it looked fun."

"It was actually really fun, different sort of crowd. The show in Cardiff tonight was good too." His inflection made it clear he was smiling. "I missed you though. I liked having you in the crowd." He paused and when he spoke again I could hear the mischief in his voice. "And I liked having you on the stage beforehand too."

"Mmm. That was certainly a highlight."

"Fuck babe," Harry growled. "This is going to be a really long month without you."

"It'll be fine baby," I said trying to convince the both of us. "Go to bed Harry. I'll talk to you tomorrow. We've both had a long couple of days."

"I know. I'm exhausted, if I'm honest. Call me when you wake up tomorrow babe. I love you."

"I love you too Harry. Goodnight."

I hung up and retired my phone to the nightstand, like I had originally set out to do. For once I drifted to sleep easily from pure exhaustion. My mind didn't have a chance to keep me up with wandering thoughts before my body surrendered.