Puzzle Pieces

12. Free Falling - Rose

Free Falling - Rose

I drum my fingers on my knees as Harry and I drive to Tandem Skydiving. Harry said that Niall, Liam, Louis, and Zayn would meet us there. I don't know what I'm more apprehensive about. Meeting the rest of One Direction, or the actual skydiving.

My heart beat speeds up as we pull into the parking lot. I can see all the boys waiting by the front of the building. They're all doubled over in laughter. I bite my lip out of nervousness, an old habit of mine that I can't seem to break.

"You'll be fine," Harry says, obviously sensing how tense I am.

I don't know whether he's talking about meeting the boys, or jumping out of the plane. Hopefully, both.

Harry gets out of the car and opens my door for me. He grabs my hand and leads me over to where his friends are. As we get closer, I squeeze his hand, and he squeezes it back, a sign to show that he's there for me.

"Hey, guys," Harry says, getting their attention. "This is my friend, Rose."

Liam speaks up first, "Hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm Liam."

"Trust me, I know who you all are," I say, laughing a little.

"Well, then you must know that I'm Zayn," he says, kissing my hand and winking at me.

I feel Harry squeeze my hand again, but it feels different from the first time.

"I do. And you're Niall and Louis," I say, pointing to each of them.

"No," Niall yells. "I'm ready to go skydiving!"

All of the boys scream and run into the building with their arms up, leaving Harry and I outside. Suddenly, I feel bad for whoever works here. These boys are crazy. Meeting them wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. They seem like really nice guys.

"Are you ready for this?" Harry asks, letting out a shaky sigh.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good. Because I'm not."

I let go of Harry's hand and turn towards him. Why is he scared? This was his idea after all. If it wasn't for his brilliant plan to complete my bucket book, we wouldn't be standing in this spot right now. I think about teasing him, but then I see the worried look in his eyes.

"Don't worry. I'll be with you the entire time."

"That's supposed to make me feel better?" He says, laughing.

"At least I tried. C'mon let's go!"

I grab Harry's arm and drag him inside to catch up with the rest of the boys. First, we take a short class on how to position ourselves when we jump and how to land. Then, we sign some papers and pay. Finally, we get suited up.

I look at Harry from across the room as a man attaches many safety things to my body. I give him reassuring thumbs up, and he holds his hand out to show me how badly it's shaking. I just laugh and return my attention to the man in front of me.

"Okay!" the man in charge shouts, "does everyone remember the rules?"

"Yeah!" we all yell back.

"Then let's do this, yeah?"

"Yeah!" we yell louder.

"Alright!"

The boys and I walk out of the back of the building to board the plane, and Louis comes over to talk to me.

"So skydiving was on your bucket list?"

"Actually, it's a bucket book- wait, how did you know that it was on my list?"

"You mean book?"

"Right, whatever. Go on."

He just shrugs and says, "Harry tells me everything."

Before I can respond, we're walking up the steps to the small plane. There aren't any real seats so Harry stands next to me.

"Can you believe we're actually doing this?" I ask.

"Not at all."

"You were all for it yesterday," I tease.

"Well, that was before I was actually sitting in the plane I'm going be jumping out of."

"Don't be scared, Harry," Liam says.

"Yeah, what could go wrong?" Niall adds, "well, the parachute could not work causing you to fall to your death, but still."

Soon, we're 30,000 feet in the air, and attaching ourselves to the professionals we will be jumping out of the plane with. We line up by the open door and wait for the instructors to tell us when to go. Louis and his partner goes first, then Niall, then Zayn, and then I watch as Liam jumps out of the plane, leaving Harry and I for last.

"Ladies first," he says, gesturing for me to jump.

"I don't think so mister. This was your idea, so you can have the honor of going first."

"Together?"

"Together," I nod.

With that, Harry and I hold hands and jump. My first reaction, of course, is to scream. The scenery below us is beautiful. Everything looks as though it's in slow motion. I attempt to look up at Harry, whom I'm still holding hands with. And even though the wind makes his cheeks flap, he still looks as gorgeous as ever.

I look back down and see how close we are to the ground. Harry and I get into our positions and our instructors let the parachute go. When we go shooting back into the sky is when Harry and I finally look at each other at the same time. He shouts something, but I can't hear a word he says.

"What?" I yell back.

All I get in return is more nonsense. I give up on trying to guess what he's saying and focus my attention on landing. According to the class we took, it's the hardest part. I try to let go of Harry's hand, but he just holds it tighter.

_____________________________________________

Who liked chapter 12? What do you think Harry was trying to say?

I want to give a shout out to my bffl @coolcurtis. You should all go check out his fanfic My Amazing Adventure With Harry Styles and his Instagram @topguydirectioner! LOVE YOUU.