Sweetened || HS AU

• thirty-five •

| Jailen |

I felt like I was stuck on the plane with two crying babies.

Except neither of them were crying.

And one of them wasn't a baby.

In fact, one of them was a big-ass 38-year-old who thought it would be a great idea to bring water guns on the plane.

I was once again reminded of how rich Harry was when he assured me, promised me that no one would get caught in the crossfire of the water guns because we have the whole plane to ourselves anyway.

But, it wasn't a plane. It was a jet. One with Harry's initials plastered on the side of it and if you had really good glasses, you could probably see the shit from the ground.

I was too tired to be nervous about getting on a plane. The fatigue of not sleeping the previous night had caught up with me when we were about fifteen minutes into the drive to the airport, but Hayden was excited and talked the entire ride there, which I didn't mind because seeing her happy was more than enough to distract me from the tiredness.

Once we were on the plane and situated, and Hayden had her snacks and tablet, I got comfortable myself. I had settled into one of the seats with one of Harry's blankets that helped me relax far more than I cared to admit. It smelled like him.

But I had dozed off, I think I had even started to dream until I was interrupted by Hayden's screeching and I was abruptly torn from my sleep for the second time today. Panic set in and I instantly searched the plane for her, only to be immediately hit with water the moment the blanket was away from my face.

Harry's cackle and Hayden's giggles filled my ears and I squinted at the two of them, "Really?"

"It was Dad's idea!" Hayden threw him under the bus just as quickly as I finished my sentence.

Harry scoffed, offended as he pointed the water gun at our daughter and sprayed her. She screeched, just as offended before taking it a step further and pulling the water gun's opening. She stood on the seat next to Harry and turned the gun upside down, shaking it and making sure all the water poured onto Harry's head.

I rolled my lips into my mouth to keep from giggling and shook my head because I knew exactly what was going to happen. Harry sighed heavily and this started an hour-long water fight. Which then turned into hide and seek, but that didn't last long because when it was Hayden's turn to hide, Harry found her asleep in her hiding spot.

He left her there on the bathroom floor, making sure she had her blanket and a pillow.

"Harry," I scolded but he shrugged as he plopped down in the seats across from me.

"What? She's fine."

"My baby's gonna wake up with back problems because of you," I murmured, taking the blanket off of me and standing up from my seat.

"Where are you going?" Harry giggled, tilting his head back to look up at me before he reached out to me.

I swatted his hands, "No, I'm going to get my daughter." I grabbed his wrist when he pulled at the waistband of my leggings but I did nothing to stop him as he gently pulled me closer to him.

"She's fine, Jai. She's snoring. Listen," he put one hand up to his ear and I didn't have to concentrate to hear her snores over the sound of the jet's engine, "Plus, we land in less than forty minutes. She's fine, I promise. No one likes a helicopter parent."

"I'm not a helicopter parent," I scoffed, putting my hands on my hips, "I just want to make sure she's okay."

"All the time?" Harry asked, an expression on his face that I didn't bother trying to understand as I nodded.

"Yeah, exactly! Because anything can happen, ya know?"

"Mm," Harry nodded, his hands coming up to rest on either side of my thighs, "I get it, baby."

"The world is dangerous-"

"It is," he mumbled, keeping his eyes locked on my face.

"And I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if something happened while-"

"While she's safe in the bathroom right there where if anyone wanted to get to her, they'd have to pass me?" Harry concluded and I was too busy talking to realize he had moved his hands to rest on my waist until he pulled me to sit in his lap for the second time today, "You trust me?"

"In what context?" I raised an eyebrow, unable to help the smile that formed on my lips when he rolled his eyes and pinched my ass.

"In the context of keeping our daughter and you safe."

"Yes," I answered without hesitation because no matter our differences, I do not doubt that Harry would risk either of our lives, especially Hayden's.

"Then relax," He kissed my forehead, which comforted me more than it should've, "Especially while you can. I don't think Hayden's gonna get any sleep, let alone allow us to sleep once she sees the surprise."

I tilted my head back just a bit to look at him, "What's the surprise?"

He sighed, "Why would I tell you?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Because it wouldn't be a surprise. Were you not listening when I told Hayden the same thing?"

I reached up and tugged on the ends of his hair, "Yeah well, I'm not a child."

He licked his lips, a faint smile on his lips as he did the same thing he did earlier. He closed his eyes, fake snores falling from his mouth as he pretended to be asleep. And I hated myself for giggling.

"You're so fucking childish," I rolled my eyes, laughing harder when his head fell into the crook of my neck, "Get off of me."

He 'startled awake', still smiling as he lifted his head a bit to look down at me, "Sorry, sweetie. Must've fallen asleep."

"Yeah?" I asked, my cheeks starting to hurt from smiling."

"Yeah."

"You're awake now?"

"Wide."

"So, what's the surprise?" I tried again and once again, he immediately closed his eyes, more fake snores leaving his lips. I reached beside us, grabbing the water gun off of the seat and not even thinking twice as I shot the water at his face, laughing loudly when he stood up from his seat with me still in his arms.

He flipped us so that I was beneath him and he straddled my waist.

"That's how you wanna play?" He asked through chuckles, grabbing the water gun from my hands and aiming it at me. And despite my pleas that were hardly understandable through my laughter, he sprayed the water at me, my hands barely doing much to shield me from the cold water.

This was going to be a long 30 minutes.