salute [h.s]

not a sun person

december 27 - travelling for the holiday

1D fanfic/Salute Extra

Harry/Piper

*

They were going to miss their connection. Harry was sure of it. He kept checking his watch as he waited for Piper to finish up whatever the hell she was doing in the bathroom. When she finally emerged wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, her red hair pulled back in a messy bun, Harry stood from where he'd been leaning against the wall.

"You do realize that it's pissing rain and about ten degrees in London right now." He eyed her new outfit, a change from the business suit she'd been wearing on their first connection. They'd come from L.A. where they were meeting with liaisons from the CIA about a joint project in the New Year. It had been a couple of months since Piper had officially joined One Direction and she was settling into the role nicely. The great thing was that people seemed to just like her without any effort on her part. Maybe it was because she was younger and carried a certain positivity about their work but even the bigwigs took a shining to her. Harry was really proud of the work she'd done on the trip.

"You don't like it?" she asked cheekily as she struck a pose to model her change of attire.

"Piper, I'm tired," Harry said a bit shortly because he'd spent the entire flight worrying about her and hadn't had a moment to relax. "I just want to get onto our flight so I can sit down. Would you mind just telling me what's going on?"

Piper looked a little disheartened at his reaction, her big smile wavering a little, but she brushed it off and perked herself up almost right away. "We're not going back to London."

"We're what?" Harry wasn't totally convinced that he wasn't dreaming all this, already on their flight from Charlotte, NC, to London.

"I, um, I planned a bit of a surprise." She stepped closer so she was right in front of him and their conversation was a bit more private. Harry glanced at the people rushing around, then at the clock on the wall across from them, before finally looking down at Piper. She was smiling that hopeful smile again but she also seemed a bit nervous, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her t-shirt. "I booked us off for a vacation for a week," she explained. "We're actually getting a connection to Turks and Caicos in about an hour."

Harry had a lot of questions running through his head — mostly logistical things and then the big one which was how the hell Piper managed to keep all of this a secret — but the one that ended up coming out was, "why?"

Piper's face fell and she pressed her lips together for a moment as she stared at the skin showing above the collar of his dress shirt. "It's our one year anniversary. Of our first date."

He could tell by the disappointment in her voice that she thought he'd forgotten. He hadn't. He could never forget that night. "You're a week early petal."

Her eyes brightened a bit as she looked up. He could see her piecing together what he'd said because bit by bit, her frown spread out into a wide toothy grin. He couldn't help but smile back when he saw that kind of joy on her face. "You remembered."

"'Course I did," Harry told her as he placed a hand on each hip and used his hold to pull her closer. "How could I possibly forget? It was a pretty unforgettable night."

"I thought that, with us travelling to L.A. anyways, I would figure out a trip we could take now rather than waiting. I wanted to go somewhere warm. It seems like whenever we travel together, it's never warm." She had a point. The last three trips they'd taken together were to Stockholm, Ottawa, and Tallinn. Not exactly the warmest destinations in the later months of the year. "I hope this is okay," she added warily as she eyed Harry nervously.