It's finally Christmas Eve and everybody was scrambling around to prepare for their Christmas time in a place away from home.
"Hey Harry, can you hand me that plastic box of ornaments on the table?" Noel asked him, not taking her eyes off of the miniature-sized Christmas tree.
"Hm?"
She raised an eyebrow at him. He wasn't usually this 'away' from everything. "Is something wrong?" She left her spot by the tree to sit by Harry.
"No, well- No," he quickly responded, not making eye contact. Noel checked to see if her or Harry's parents were nearby and finally concluded that they wanted to sleep due to long-lasting jet-lag.
She repositioned herself on the couch by crossing her legs criss-cross-applesauce. "On a scale from one to ten, how scared are you that Taylor would be here in a few hours?" Harry quickly turned to face her, baffled at how she had the ability to instantly know what he was concerning himself about.
"No, I'm not psychic. I'm just good at listening to the news, reading magazines, and checking your phone notifications when you're in the shower."
"You went through my phone?" Harry's asked in disbelief.
"That's not the point," Noel waved off. "What I'm trying to say is that you have nothing to be scared of. If the whole world adores the one and only Taylor Swift, then why wouldn't your parents and Gemma think the same?" He merely shrugged at her theory as she left him to continue the last remaining decorating on the tree.
_____
Noel heard a knocking at the door and nervously straightened out her blouse. 'Taylor's here' she internally thought. "Places, people. Places," she softly whispered.
She opened the door and Taylor radiantly glowed. "Hi, uh-"
"Oh yes, Harry's here. He'll be out in a jiffy." Noel tried to look presentable to the person who was practically considered to be a queen and allowed Taylor enter.
"Jiffy," Taylor said with a small laugh, "That's really cute."
As she greeted everybody, Harry still has not shown up yet. "So, are you a family friend of Harry's? He never mentioned you to me." Noel knew that Taylor did not intend to make that message negative, but it felt as if she was ever so slightly stabbed in the back.
All Noel did was merely nod. She could already feel how awkward it was going to be for her and it hasn't even been the passing of one hour just yet.
_____
Starting conversations with Taylor was something that Noel has dreamed of since forever. But she can definitely say that it was not on her list of fortés; and it will never be.
No matter how much she adored her, they were just such different people. Noel tried to relate and agree with her on a majority of the comments that she made, but she found it entirely impossible. The mother's in the room even gave her looks of sympathy.
"Anyways, I- Hey, Harry," Taylor said with a smile, abruptly ending the pointless conversation to greet her boyfriend. "I have the necklace that you gave me. Can you help me put it on?"
"Sure, love." He gently took both ends of the silver chain and hooked it together with a smile on his face.
Noel saw what type of necklace it was: a silver paper airplane. And the only way she knew that was because she and Harry had a matching pair which was a gift from him to her. He saw her expression and was only able to give her an apologetic look.
She quietly got up from her spot on the couch and made her way to one of the other rooms without making eye contact with him. "If you'll excuse me for a bit. I think I'll let you all bond for right now."
Gemma did not to hesitate to follow and comfort her while giving Harry dirty looks without anybody else noticing except him.
• • •
Author's Note - December 13, 2016
To clear things up if they get cloudy: no, i don't hate Taylor lol it was just for the plot
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