personal best || harry styles au

prologue

2014
Harry Styles hated flying.
It didn't matter that the flight from Edinburgh to London Gatwick was only just over an hour - that was still plenty of time for the plane to crash, make an emergency landing or even have a problem with the left phalange. He leant forward on his tiptoes and started to bounce his thighs up and down, nervous that the grey clouds he could see from the window might mean their plane gets caught in a freak storm.
"Could all passengers travelling on the 20:37 flight from Edinburgh to London Gatwick, please note that your gate has opened and you may begin boarding your aircraft. Thank you."
Harry watched as the crowds of people subconsciously formed themselves into a long winding snake of a queue. He'd gotten into the habit of waiting until the hoards of people died down so he could take his time gearing himself up to get on the plane, without the watchful eyes of others.
***
Harry stepped onto the plane, lugging his bag onto his shoulder as he readied to walk down the cramped aisles; he was mindful where he walked as children darted out in front of him, spouses - not sat next to one another - passed bottles of water across the aisle and people quickly darted into the overhead lockers to retrieve something from their bag. He glanced at his boarding pass and carried on walking down towards the back of the plane.
When he reached his seat, he noticed that his row was empty; he glanced back up the middle aisle to see if he could see a last minute straggler but he couldn't see anybody. He quickly shoved his bag into the overhead lockers and scooted into his seat, fastening the seat belt as soon as he sat down. He relaxed his shoulders, closed his eyes and began counting backwards from 30.
"You were not there just a second ago."
Harry opened his eyes and turned to look at the voice in the aisle.
"I thought I'd lucked out," the voice - which belonged to a girl with long brown hair and pretty eyes, Harry noted - shuffled into the middle seat, "I thought I had the whole row to myself."
"Oh, s- sorry." Harry looked down at the girl's thigh - which was only inches away from his - he cleared his throat and shuffled as tightly against the side of the plane as he could. "I usually wait until the last call before boarding."
"That's a risky game. What if you can't find the gate? Or you're stuck in a queue in duty free?"
"No, I'm always at the gate." Harry rubbed his sweaty palms against his knees, "I just like- I like to wait for the crowds to pass."
"Fair enough."
The girl gave Harry a friendly smile before popping her earphones in and closing her eyes.
***
Harry knew the grey clouds were a bad sign.
They were just over half an hour into their flight when the plane hit a bad spot of turbulence; the sky outside was pitch black with the occasional flash of lightning. Harry's eyes were tightly screwed shut and his mumbling of counting backwards was full of dips and shakes.
"Hey," Harry felt a warm hand place over his fist, "are you alright?"
Harry opened his eyes, waited a second for his vision to clear and looked to the side of him. The girl, who still had in one earphone, was looking at him with a concerned expression. "I'm not- 'm not a good flyer."
"Right, well, let's shut this." The girl reached over him - Harry felt her soft cheek brush against his chin - and pulled down the window cover. "Already, that feels better."
"Thanks."
"Maddie." She stuck out her hand. "I'm terrified of sharks."
"Harry." He pulled his brows closer together he took hold of her hand, "I'm sorry to hear that?"
"No, you told me something about you so I returned the favour."
"Oh, I get it."
"It's your turn."
"Oh- this- we're continuing this?" Harry watched as Maddie nodded and put her earphones away. "Okay, right. Um... I am- uh- I have never broken a bone."
"Same!" Maddie crossed her legs, "I've never sat down to eat in a Chinese restaurant."
"No way, Mad. Never?"
"Never."
Harry hadn't really taken the time to look at Maddie before, his mind had been far too busy focusing on the fact that he was going to die in a horrific plane crash. His eyes flicked over the features of her face.
"So, what were you doing in Edinburgh?"
"I was- uh-" he let out a breathless laugh, "-playing a gig actually. I'm a musician- well- trying to be- sounds so stupid when you say it outloud."
"Doesn't sound stupid at all!" Maddie's eyes were wide with interest, "Was this your first gig?"
"The first one that's paid, yeah." Harry picked at the skin around his thumb, "I've done smaller things before but nothing- nothing exciting. What about you? Why were you in Edinburgh?"
"My friend's at University there so I was just visiting her for the weekend."
"Did you have a good time?"
"Yeah, it was lovely. Thank you."
***
The rest of the flight had flown by and, minute by minute, Harry found himself becoming more entranced by Maddie and all the things she'd had to say. He couldn't help but notice the subtle grazes of legs and lingering eye contact the two had been sharing for the last part of the journey.
"Where are you headed after you land?"
"Nowhere special." Harry lifted up the window shutter, "I'll probably just head home."
"Do you want some company?" Maddie watched as her question took Harry by complete surprise; his cheeks turned a bright shade of crimson and he couldn't look her in the eye. "Sorry, that was- I don't know where that came from. I just thought, you live in London, I live in London. I've enjoyed this flight and thought-"
"-no, I- I've had a nice time, too, Mad." Harry rejoiced as the 'fasten seatbelt' sign dinged off and everybody started moving and taking their bags out of the overhead lockers. "I'd like it to continue."
"Right, let me write down my number in case we get separated." Maddie tore off a section from the airplane guide. "Keep it safe!"
***
Harry walked through the doors into the Arrivals Lounge; his mind was whirring at a million miles a second to try and process the last two hours of his life. For Harry, the most surprising thing was that, after the turbulence, he didn't think about the flight once. His whole mind had been preoccupied with trying to remember all of the information Maddie had been sharing, whilst also maintaining decent enough replies so that the conversations didn't come to an end.
"Harry!" Maddie waved him over to an empty spot beside the Marks and Spencer's Food Hall, "How are you feeling now you're back on the ground?"
"Yeah, much better, Mad. Thank you."
***
Their lips collided together as soon as Harry's front door closed.
It should've felt weird, they both thought. It shouldn't of felt as right as it did. They'd known each other less than 4 hours but it felt like they'd known one another all their lives. Harry knew the exact spot to kiss on Maddie's neck that made her legs buckle and she knew that if she bit against Harry's bottom lip between kisses, he'd be putty in your hands.
Harry placed his hands either side of Maddie's thighs and lifted her up onto his hips, she giggled into his mouth as he tried to manoeuver his way into the bedroom without breaking mouth-to-mouth contact.
***
The morning light that peered through the bedroom blinds stirred Harry from his dreamy slumber; he reached his arm out to pull Maddie closer to him but his hand fell against the empty bed. He rubbed the hazy sleepiness from his eyes and sat up in his bed, looking around at the Maddie-less room. There was a note on his bedside table, propped up against a half-empty cup of water.
"Had to go! Hope you slept well, call me later. M x"
Harry shot out of bed and started to rummage around last night's mess in the hopes of finding the piece of paper with Maddie's phone number on. He searched through the pockets of the clothes he was wearing, underneath the bed-sheets and all around the floor; he retraced his steps around the flat and searched under every place he could think of but he couldn't find it. He'd lost it. The only of contacting Maddie and he'd lost it.