How It's Going To Be [h.s.]

Chapter 64

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{Kate's Point of View}

                 

Against my better judgment, I boarded a flight from London to Los Angeles to attend Laura's wedding in late September. Alessandra and I booked the same flight, and, as always, Eli accompanied me. The flight was long, especially when Alessandra began telling me about a new boy she was seeing. I wondered if she could tell I was far less than interested in hearing about her new love when mine was gone.

I was angry. I was angry with Harry for not going public with our breakup because he was holding it for his own benefit. I was angry that I felt so alone all the time. I was angry that sometimes I missed him. I was angry because he changed his mind about being with me so fast. I was angry with myself for being so easy to leave. After everything we had been through together, after all the special moments, after all the love, Harry effortlessly asked for a break. That should have made me angry with him, but it only made me angry with myself.

I didn't even know why I was going to the wedding. Laura hated me and I didn't even attempt to mask my distaste for her. Laura was partially responsible for ruining my life after causing my anxiety with her "intervention" to tell me how much I hurt Harry—the unnecessary anxiety that would later lead to my concussion. It was hard for me to rationalize why I had agreed to attend the ceremony. But then again, in the back of my mind I knew why I was going: Harry would be there.

  We landed in Los Angeles among warm sunshine and palm trees. The city was buzzing with energy as people rode by on bicycles and drove with the tops down on their convertibles. Music blasted from every storefront. Designer shoes clacked on the pavement. Designer handbags swung back and forth from diamond-ringed fingers.

"We have to be to the ceremony by one tomorrow afternoon," Eli said to me as we waited at a stoplight somewhere downtown. "I have the address."

"Right," I said absently.

"Are you feeling okay?" he whispered to me.

"Fine. Hey, do you think you could drop Alessandra and I off on the next block? We still have to buy a wedding gift for Laura. We didn't buy one in London because we didn't trust to fly with it."

"Sure." Eli signaled and pulled over in front of a series of high-end home goods stores. Alessandra and I climbed out of the car and arranged a time for Eli to pick us up.

____________

{Harry's Point of View}

                 

I felt the force of the airplane pushing me back in my seat as we gained altitude. I closed my eyes and griped the armrests. Flying didn't scare me, but the intensity of takeoff was always somewhat unnerving. When the plane evened its course, I opened my eyes and glanced around the cabin. Niall was already asleep. Liam and Louis were sitting with some people near the front talking about writing a new song. Amid our ever-present entourage, I found myself alone.

I stared out the window at the lights of Minneapolis shrinking beneath us. The concert there had been good compared to the last few. I had finally felt okay. I had been able to sing without voice cracks and I could carry a note a lot longer than I had been. The fans' energy was so strong that even I couldn't be immune. I remember it took several hours for my smile to wear off long after the show ended.