Sunbury Place (A Harry Styles Fan Fiction)

Chapter One- Welcome to Sunbury.

Chapter One

            The new apartment was better than I had hoped for. We’d only seen it in pictures online, but I’m sure it would live up to our expectations. I had just graduated from college in South Carolina as an English major, and was moving to England with two of my closest friends. The stewardess had just announced that we would be landing in about half an hour and had made her rounds handing out our last bags of airplane peanuts. The bag crinkled in my pocket as I turned to my side.  Rory and Cassie had been asleep for the past hour or so but I couldn’t sleep through the turbulence. I had never been a fan of flying, but let’s be reasonable- it took far too long to get here by boat.

            I heard the seatbelt light ding over my head and smiled thinking of how close we were to this new adventure. It would be mid-morning when we arrived, and we had a lot of things to get done before we could relax and enjoy our new home. We got a place just outside of London in Sunbury.  It was a three bedroom (though they looked more like large closets) with a moderately sized kitchen that attached to a lovely living room with a big window to flood the place with natural light.

            Cassie wiggled in her seat and sat up opening her eyes. She looked over at me, and smiled. “We close?” 

            “Twenty minutes or so, now.”  I pulled on my seatbelt strap to make sure it was perfectly secured.

            Cassie nudged Rory with her elbow, and she snapped up. 

            There was a loud beep as the flight attendants cheerful voice was once again filling the plane through the intercom. “Please prepare for landing.”  

            The minute we stepped off of the plane seemed to blur by. I don’t even remember grabbing our bags and calling for a cab to take us to the flat. I think the jetlag was really starting to sink in. I rolled the sleeves up on the denim button up I’d thrown on before we landed and slipped into a more comfortable pair of shoes. It was almost lunch-time, and the moving truck would arrive any minute now stocked full of the furniture we’d ordered.

             “Thank you, sir.” Cassie handed the cab driver a stack of bills and closed the trunk just in time as he sped off down the road.

             We were standing here in a new country with our six suitcases, a key to our apartment and a pocket full of peanuts. It felt so free and exciting.

            We followed each other into the apartment- it was loft style, and it was perfect for us. I threw my suitcase down on the floor of the room that was closest to the kitchen since I was a big fan of the midnight snack.

            The moving truck had been dropped off in the driveway, and while the other girls decided they were going to finish their naps from the plane on the one mattress they had managed to drag in, I thought I’d get a head start on unpacking the rest.

            I walked into the truck and started rifling through the boxes and plastic wrap, trying to figure out where to start.

            “D’you need a hand over here?”

            I turned quickly to find out where the voice had come from and slipped into a pile of dresser drawers, knocking them to the ground to break my fall. I heard a muffled laugh as whomever the voice came from hurried over to me.

            I looked up and had to make sure the jetlag wasn’t making me hallucinate. There was a boy standing about a foot away from me, smiling widely at my clumsiness. He was dressed in a perfectly fitting pair of jeans and an equally well-fitting white tee, that made his tan look even deeper. He reached his hand out toward me to help me up.

            “Thanks.” I reached for him and he pulled me up. I brushed my hands off on my pants.

            “Absolutely.” He smiled politely. “I’m Liam.”

            At this point, I was entirely convinced that his name could be ‘Garbage’ and it wouldn’t outweigh that killer jaw-line.  It took me a little too long to realize he was waiting for me to reply.  Instead I stood there, like an idiot with a strange staring problem. I finally remembered how to open my mouth. “Sydney Greene." 

            He looked slightly relieved that I had answered back. Maybe he was starting to get concerned that I may have given myself a concussion on all of those drawers.

            “Lovely to meet you, Sydney.” His smile was enough to make my knees give out, but I didn’t want to fall in front of him twice in five minutes. As he turned I noticed a tattoo along the outside of his arm, and thought I’d ask about it later. “I live in the flat next to yours. I guess that makes us neighbors.”

            I couldn’t hide my excitement. “I guess so.”

            “Right,” he chuckled again, low and careful. “Shall we start with the couch?”