Happier - a drabble series

#7

Slow.

That's what you implored that day all those months ago. You needed things to go slow. You needed Harry to understand that you weren't ready to jump back into things head first. You'd been hurt. He was hurting. It was going to take time for you to feel safe with him again, and he'd promised you that things would go slow.

You'd kept up constant contact with him while he was away on the first leg of his tour, be it by text or phone, and the occasional video call (which, to your amusement, Harry was not very good at), and the more you two communicated, the more you missed him.

He'd asked you to be his pick-up at the airport, and you had said yes.

You stood in a little room at the airport, bundled up in a thick sweater with the sleeves pulled down over your hands and a pair of sunglasses atop your head, waiting for him to make it through security. He'd sent you a simple message no more than a few minutes prior, and the butterflies took up residence in your tummy.

It had been months since you'd seen him. The last time you two were face to face, you had warned him that you were still trying to forgive him, and that just because he'd shown up to your flat looking like a sad wet puppy, it wasn't going to be an easy road. And he'd been patient and understanding, voicing his own concerns when you stated your own. He'd kissed your cheek and told you he would never took anything further than you were comfortable with.

And now here you were.

The door opened to the room, and Harry's security guard, Dale, stepped through first. Your breath hitched a little when Harry came through the door next, looking tired but still just as painstakingly beautiful as the day he'd left you to start the tour.

His eyes brightened when they fell upon you, and he beelined around Dale, dropped his bag to the floor and came to a screeching halt in front of you, large hands settling on your biceps. "Yeh came," he commented, his voice raspy from the flight and lack of use.

"I did," you replied, settling your hands on his forearms. "Of course I did."

His smile was megawatt. Despite his lack of sleep and the aches in his joints from sitting for so long, he was suddenly renewed just by being in front of you. He tugged you in and wrapped his arms around you in an all-encompassing hug, swallowing your frame against his lanky one.

You reciprocated in kind, wrapping your arms around his middle and pressing your face into his chest, inhaling his scent and feeling the soft thump of his heart.

"Missed yeh, little bird," he murmured lowly into your hair, his hands rubbing up and down your back.

You simply nodded in return, eyes screwing shut as you squeezed him a little tighter, making him wheeze playfully.

He pulled back some, a soft grin on his face when you didn't let him go right away. It felt nice to know that you missed him just as much as he missed you. "Did yeh drive?"

You nodded. "The car is in the west lot - was the only parking I could find."

Harry's brow knit together for a moment. "S'a bit of a walk - maybe we can get Dale to drop us off at the car, then?" He asked, turning his head a little to look in his security guards direction.

Dale turned when he heard his name, and raised a hand in acknowledgement. "Two minutes."

"Two minutes, then," Harry hummed a little, then turned back to you, his green eyes searching. "Don't think it's going to be too crazy out there, but yeh know the drill, yeah?"

"Yeah," you replied, reaching for his hand. You had been together long enough that this was 'old hat' to you. It didn't make it any more comfortable, or any easier: the idea that there were paps and fans waiting to get a glimpse of the Harry Styles, wanting a 'piece' of him in a way, always set your teeth on edge. You never wanted something to happen to him.