FILMS | H.S.

Reel Two: Mango Meetings

Harry was on a vacation in Jamaica with some of his closest friends while he was working on his first album when he saw you in the farmers market. You on the other hand had just graduated from college and were on a generous vacation, sponsered by your proud parents, with your friends to celebrate the major milestone you all had accomplished.

He spotted you from across the market while you were picking up mangos and assessing which was the perfect one for you to bring home with you that day. Your hair was twisted up into a clip and all you had on was a loose t-shirt over your bikini top and was tucked into a pair of denim cut-offs. You had stolen his attention from the moment you found the perfect fruit and happily spoke with the farmer as you overpaid for the singular mango.

Harry was so lost in watching you that he had pretty much forgotten what he came for. In fact, he was so preoccupied that his brain didn't register the fact that you were walking in his direction. And clearly you had been a bit zoned out as well because you didn't notice him standing there in your path until your shoulder bumped against his causing your fruit-filled tote to slip off your shoulder and into the crook of your arm.

"God I'm so sorry!" You said as you stopped to assess the stranger as his hand lightly grasps at your elbow in an attempt to keep you from falling.

And when his eyes met yours he saw the recognition creep onto your face and he couldn't help the sinking feeling in his stomach. This was his first run-in with a non-local since he arrived in Jamaica a week and a half ago and the peace was something he was not ready to let go of.

But you took him by surprise.

"I'm so sorry... I just wasn't watching where I was going. I was too excited to get home with my mangos I guess!" The nervous smile that took over your mouth was one that he didn't think he would or could ever forget.

"No, no. It's my fault love. Shouldn't have been in your way." He tries to stop the warmth creeping up his neck at his embarrassment but it's pretty pointless. He catches your eye and reciprocates your smile, causing butterflies of your own to swarm in your stomach.

It's almost as if time stopped around the two of you for a split second as you held each other's gaze in the not so busy farmer's market. You notice he's in a button-down that kind of reminds you of the ones your grandpa wears on vacation and a pair of sunglasses are pushed into his hair to keep his long hair out of his eyes.

Your body heats up as he examined you in the same way that you examined him, his eyes roaming slowly down your body until they meet your gaze again.

You were trying so hard to ignore the fact that in front of you is Harry Styles but... he's Harry fucking Styles. This was a moment so many people dream of, you included, but now that it had presented itself to you, you weren't really sure what to make of it.

Harry could practically hear your thoughts. He knows you know who he is and he's just waiting for the bubble to burst. It always does. But selfishly he hopes that this time it doesn't.

It's then that he realizes that his hand is still gripping your elbow, keeping you close to him. He squeezes it twice before he wills himself to drop his hand back to his side and he pushes his hands into his pockets to keep from touching you again.

You fix the tote back up onto your shoulder and slide a hand through your hair, desperately trying to right yourself in front of the man in front of you.

"You weren't in my way, just wasn't payin' much attention." You said shyly all the while wishing he was still touching you.

"Still my fault love, and to be honest I was watching you pick out your fruit from over here." He's not sure why he said it and he inwardly cringes as he replays the sentence in his head. God, what happened to his game? Does he have none left?

"You were watching me, huh?" The grin is infectious now and he finds himself wanting nothing more than to keep making you smile. "So what if I was?" He flirts back, desperately wanting to reach out and brush the piece of hair that has fallen into your face, back behind your ear. You blush a bit and look down at the ground, nervously crossing one of your feet over the other.

"M' Harry." He finally introduces himself and he can't help but feel a little nervous but you've given him no reason to rush away from this encounter. You shock him again when he hears you lightly laughing and shaking your head at the ground but not looking up at him.

"Is it weird to say I know?" He instantly feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders for some reason. He feels like he can trust you which is more than he can say for a lot of people. "Oh, so you know?" He teases as he sticks his foot out to tap yours, urging you to look up at him.

When you do you're met with another soft smile, the gesture speaking volumes. It's him saying thank you for not causing some scene while he's out in public seemingly himself.

"Of course I do, doesn't everyone?" You shrug your shoulders, trying to play it off that this man in front of you is the man you have dreamt of meeting. It just took you going to Jamaica and One Direction breaking up for it to happen.

"S'kinda why I'm here right now, away from everyone." He feels a tad vulnerable, but that's why he's here. To learn that it's okay to push himself outside of his comfort zone. "Ah, makes sense..." You toe at the ground, not really sure what else to say. Except you do say something, and what you say makes you internally want to die. And hell, even externally.

"You really do make the long hair hot." Instant regret washes over you but as you watch his face light up, you find yourself not being so embarrassed. But you still want to die. You can't believe you just blurted that out.

"Shame I'm feeling up to cutting it then, isn't it?" He smiles that smile that makes you weak in the knees and suddenly you know what Taylor Swift meant when she wrote that one line in her song. And it feels unnatural that you're on the recieving end.

The shrill of your phone cuts through the tension that was building and when you whisper a sorry and dig through your bag to find it, you see its your best friend calling, more than likely wondering where you wandered off to. God they are never going to believe this. But you also find yourself wanting to keep him a secret. For his sake of course.

"Well.. I think my friends are looking for me." He nods and the hair that was pushed behind his shoulders falls a bit to the front, the urge to touch it is so strong.

You start to back away from him, but when you do you bump into the corner of another fruit stand and he just laughs as he watches you, clearly loving how flustered you have become.

"Can I at least have your name? Kinda have one leg up on me right now, love." He knows he should just leave it alone but he hasn't felt this way in a while and it feels good to flirt with someone as beautiful as you.

You keep backing away, watching as he crosses his arms across his broad chest, waiting for your name. When you finally tell him after you've crossed the market, he smiles and repeats it out loud back to you and you decided right then and there that he's the only person who you ever want to say your name.

"I'll see you around," you muster up the courage to say, insinuating that you definitely want to see him again, but you have no real way of contactin him so you're chancing it with fate. But since you're here for another two weeks you have a good feeling about it.

He blushes, which does not go unnoticed by you. "Yeah," he starts before he starts walking further into the market, "enjoy your mangos, hope they're sweet."

You don't miss the syrupiness of his town of voice, how it dropped an octave as his eyes roamed down your body one last time before throwing you a wink and turning around to resume his shopping.

He's left staring down at the kiwis wondering how the fuck he is going to see you again and why can he not just follow you home like some lost puppy. You're still dazed for what feels like a few seconds too long because when he turns to see you still standing there, he chuckles and shakes his head to really walk away and end the encounter.

You wander home in a dream-like state, constantly pinching yourself to make sure that this was really happening, and all the while you're hoping that fate will be on your side.

AUTHORS NOTE:

HI!!! this is going to be a few parts. I want to keep writing short one shots because these are fun and easy for me to work on, so this will be a series about one of my favorite Harry era's. Jamaicarry🫡 I HOPE YOU ENJOY!💗