Timeless [ A Harry Styles OU ] {1/2}

fourteen

a/n: WOW!! Timeless has 8k reads! I never ever thought that would happen, so I can't thank you all enough for your love. There's just 6 more chapters left :(

Leave me a comment about what you thought! 

This chapter contains mature content, please read with discretion!

Aaliyah settles into her seat next to Rhea on the flight, fumbling with her belt as she gets comfy. She narrowly avoids Rhea's flying elbow when she looks up from the task, quickly craning her neck out of the way to avoid getting hit.

Rhea's got her laptop in her lap with a file resting on top of it. It consists of a list of possible clients that they could pursue and take on at the start of next quarter. She's got a pen between her lips as she quickly throws her hair into a bun, the makeshift thing flopping onto her scalp as she leans back against her seat. She's got her glasses on, eyes permanently narrowed in concentration as they had been since Milan, which was over 10 days ago. Aaliyah can practically feel how stiff she is.

"Way to almost take my eye out, boss," she jokes, flashing her a smile.

But Rhea isn't paying attention to her, her gaze is focused a few rows ahead.

Harry is putting his brown leather duffle into the overhead bins, aimlessly nodding in response to whatever Jeff is telling him from the seat directly below. He glances backwards, meeting Rhea's eyes. Aaliyah watches as Rhea tears her eyes away, they go hard as she glances down at her file. Harry, for the briefest of moments, looks at ease. When she turns away his face falls and Aaliyah can spot the distinct lock of his jaw even from this far back. He shakes his head and then settles down into the seat next to Jeff as the air hostess tells the passengers to secure themselves because they're about to take off.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?"

Rhea is digging through the file, her glasses sliding down her nose from the angle. She looks up, frowning at her assistant and friend as she pushes her frames up and pulls the pen out of her mouth, "What?"

Aaliyah tilts her head, "Don't give me that, Rhe. C'mon, you and Harry have been walking on eggshells around each other ever since Milan."

Rhea blinks at her but doesn't respond, going back to rifling through the file. "I don't know what you're talking about, Al."

Aaliyah scoffs as the overhead lights go off. It's a night time flight to Singapore and although she plans on snoozing, it doesn't seem like Rhea does. Even over the past 10 days her boss has been overly zealous with conferencing back at the firm and getting things done in advance. While everyone had respectively decided to stick together over the last break in tour, Rhea had never been around for the outings. Aaliyah spent her time with Clare and Sarah, sometimes Adam and Mitch as they went around Italy.

"You're forgetting I know you better than yourself," Aaliyah says quickly.

Rhea reaches up, craning in her seat to turn on her overhead light. She doesn't respond to Aaliyah, tactfully avoiding her inquiry. She uncaps the pen, wanting to take notes on the client file that's on top. The pen doesn't work though and she's scratching it in desperate circles trying to get the ink to flow. She sighs in frustration, letting it drop against the file with a thud. "Do you have a pen, Al?"