An Ocean Away

"Flight 347 to London Heathrow will be boarding in 10 minutes starting with first class. All passengers please make your way to gate 40D. Thank you"

I could feel my palms starting to clam up and my heart began to race. It was the first time I would be traveling to London by myself. I was nervous and I'm sure everyone else around me could tell. I had my copy of Crime and Punishment in my bag, which was due the week I returned to school. I was actually going up to London to stay with Harry and possibly get a photo shoot done while I was there. Before I boarded the plane I texted Harry and my agent to let them know I was on the plane and would be landing in London in 8 hours. Thankfully I was traveling first class.

I had traveled multiple times alone without my parents but most of the time I would be meeting a group or I would be traveling with friends but this time was completely different. The whole flight I couldn't sleep. I was too excited. I ended up reading about 200 pages and annotated. AP English Lit would be the death of me. First Atlas Shrugged and now Crime and Punishment? IT was like if my teacher wanted to kill off his students slowly.

When I arrived in Heathrow and after I managed to find my bag and go through customs I was greeted by a woman holding up a sing that read: Nicole Burg. I had my own car and driver? I was just expecting a taxi. Alone, Heathrow was overwhelming and I had gotten lost three or four times on my way to baggage claim but I managed. I could be really independent sometimes but for the most part I just followed others to see where they were going if they knew where they were going.

Sam's place was about an hour and forty five minutes from the airport. Even though her and her parents were away for the week, they allowed me stay here so I didn't have to pay for a hotel room. Sam's dad worked for an airline company. He was the CEO or something like that. He was always jetting off to places and taking his family along with him. I remember one time Sam and I took the company plane to one of the Virgin Islands for the weekend when they lived in Miami for a couple of months. There was always something to do with her around. The key was under the bamboo pot and I felt as if I was home. My parents and I would always come and visit them at least once a year so I basically knew my way around the house. Last year Sam had taught me to drive which wasn't too bad so she left me her keys in the room in case I needed to get around.

It didn't take long after I started unpacking for my phone to go off.
From Harry:
Are you settled in? Can I take you out to dinner someplace casual since I know you must be tired? You don't have to change. I know a place where jeans and sweatshirts are the dress attire. What do you say?
Nicole's outfit
That didn't seem so bad. I was starving. Although I was served food on the plane, I was still so hungry that I could eat a horse. Two hours after I finished unpacking I retouched my makeup, flat ironed my hair, and then waited for Harry to pick me up.

At 7:30 the door bell rang and there stood a simply dressed Harry Styles. The laid back look did him well. To my surprise, he was holding five grocery bags in his hands and waltzed right into the house.

"So are you going to tell me what we are doing?"
"Yeah, I'm cooking for you. Here. I already asked Sam if I could and she said it was fine"
Harry Styles cooked? He was going to cook for me? I just nodded and followed him into the kitchen. He seemed to know his way around just like I did. The first item he pulled out was a bottle of white wine which he placed into the cooler.
As he cooked our dinner we made some small talk as my phone kept buzzing with messages. I had already called my parents and skyped with them to show them I was alive and that the plane had not crashed, so I found it odd that I would be getting so many messages especially since it was late back home.
I grabbed my phone to silence it and I had 10 new messages from Alice. I so did not want to talk to her about any of this. I told her I was going to London to visit Sam and her parents for her brother's birthday. A little white lie wouldn't hurt her.

The meal was amazing. Smoked salmon, carrots, and mashed potatoes. I had to give him credit the boy could cook. Throughout dinner Harry was receiving invitations left and right to go to all these parties later tonight but he said he would only go if I went, which was sweet but he didn't have to do that.
"Harry, if you want to go you can. I'm super tired and jet lagged. Dinner was wonderful and I appreciate it but you should really go and hang out with your friends. Make an appearance. Do your fan base some justice. They would fawn over pictures of you at a party. Go for it."

"I would go but I want to spend time with you. I don't have to go to every party I get invited to. It's not like they are my best friends who would feel hurt if I didn't show up. They understand I have other things to do. If you don't want me to stay I can leave. I just thought you would want to have someone with you since it's your first night here and all. We could watch movie, have popcorn, drink some more wine. You know, normal things"

Yeah. Because drinking wine and having popcorn with a famous band member was totally normal to a girl like me.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the party? I mean I would love for you to stay and watch a movie with me. It would be fun but I don't want to take you away from having fun at some party."
Without responding, Harry got up, cleared the table and put the dishes in the sink. I couldn't tell if he was upset or he just didn't want to respond. I watched him pull out the popcorn and place it in the microwave and then he proceeded to walk over to me.
"So movie it is then yeah? Who care about a stupid party when I could watch a movie with a great friend? Pick the movie you goof"

Notes

Sorry it took so long to update. College is kinda stressful