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Forty One

Harry Styles

I stand as close as I can get to their terminal, my weight shifting from my heels to my toes every so often in pure excitement. My hands are clasped in front of me as I impatiently watch the opening to make sure I don't miss them when they walk out.

I'm ready to see Ruby's curly head of hair and big smile. It's been far too long since we last saw each other. Almost five months, to be exact. I'm glad Louis and Zayn are both busy for the week, meaning I can fully take in her presence. I don't have to be embarrassed of how excited I am to see her. Feelings aren't really my strong suit, so showing them in front of my friends sounds like a nightmare.

I think Niall's a lot less upset with me for what happened the last time he was here. Sending him home early after Thanksgiving because I "got the wrong ticket" conveniently caused him to miss his date with Aubrey. He was pissed at first, even more pissed since I deleted her number from his phone. He doesn't know that I did it, he just knows he doesn't have it anymore. His phone is set up to only accept messages from people saved to his contacts, so her texts didn't even go through to him if she tried to send any.

I shake my head and will myself away from trying to come up with a reason as to why exactly I did that. I have no idea. I just didn't like the idea of them going out, so I stopped it from happening. Simple as that.

I hope Ruby likes my place. This'll be her first time seeing it. I normally am the one doing the traveling to see them for the holidays. Since she's just now 19, this is the first time I haven't been in a rush to go back. She lives in our old apartment alone now. Before she was an adult, she would have to stay with Niall while I was away for work. He didn't mind, but I didn't like giving him that kind of responsibility.

I already know she's going to make me get a stupid fake tree and other decorations so we can play pretend and act like every Christmas experience we had wasn't at Niall's house instead of our own. I even cleaned the place up to prepare for it. Only for Ruby.

Having people over also meant I had to do some grocery shopping, which was weird. I normally just order takeout every night and replace breakfast and lunch with my coffee. I had to rush to get my cleaning and shopping done after leaving Aubrey's house this morning, meaning I've been busy since I woke up. It'll all be worth it when I see her, though.

Speaking of, when I hear a bag drop and quick footsteps hurrying toward me, I break away from my thoughts and see Ruby running in my direction with a big smile on her face. I hold my arms out just in time for her to jump into them, the force of it making me take a couple steps back as she latches to me like a koala. She squeals and squeezes me tightly in pure excitement, a true smile forming on my face from it.

"Harry!" I can hear her wide smile laced in her voice.

"Hi, kid!" I laugh as I hug her back, holding up her body weight in my arms.

I swing her around a little bit while she stays holding me. She's a big hugger, so I'm not surprised by the action. Eventually, she realizes I've had enough, so she lets go. She then stands in front of me, the disconnect allowing me to get a good look at her.

She looks so much more grown up. Her hair is the same color as mine with our usual natural curl to it, but it's shorter, resting on her shoulders calmly. She even has bangs. I also see a septum piercing that definitely wasn't there when I left in August, the shining ring catching my vision. My eyes widen as I take everything in, not liking how much more adult she looks.

"You got your nose pierced?" I don't ask in a mean way, simply observing. It suits her completely.

"Yep. Cut my hair, too. You like?" She shakes it around with her hands.