I couldn’t put it off any longer…I had to tell Harry. I picked up my red phone and dialed his number from memory, even though I had him on speed dial (I had butt dialed him on numerous occasions because of that). It rang for a moment before his answering machine picked up. “Heyy! It’s Haz! Leave you number and I’ll call you back…unless you’re Aiden, then I’ll call you the very first chance I get. Byee!!”
“Hey Harry…umm I really need to talk to you. Can we have some Harry/Aiden time soon? Love you Haz…” My voice had been fairly steady up until that point. Thank heavens I didn’t have to tell him yet. I had known that we were going to move for 3 weeks now…and I still hadn’t told him yet. He had been Australia for awhile, so I hadn’t even seen him which made it easier to avoid him. My phone buzzed in my hand indicating I had a new message.
‘Hello beautiful!! So sorry I didn’t answer, we are about to start an interview. I’m actually free tonight! So I’ll come over as soon as we’re done, yeh? Love you!! Xx’
Oh great…now I will have to tell him. Why am I such a big chicken? I should make use of the time we have left together.
‘Okay, that’s great. Can’t wait to see you. Love you <3’
I decided I wouldn’t break down or fall apart. I would try to make this a great night…no matter what. Then I would tell him just as he was about to leave.
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Harry would be here any minute. I had been preparing all day so that I could put on a happy face for him. There was a brisk knock on the door before it opened. “Aiden? I’m here!” Harry called out. I took a deep breath before going out to greet him. I walked to the entryway, and there he was…my best friend. The weeks of not seeing him…and the upcoming months when I would be gone…it all rushed at me at once. I ran and jumped into his arms before bursting into tears. Harry immediately picked me up and carried me over to the couch where he sat down with me on his lap.
“Sshhh…Aiden, babe, what’s wrong?” He rubbed my back and kissed my forehead and cheeks. “I…I jus…I just really missed you.” I told him in between sobs. “Heyy, well I am here now…okay? Nothing could keep me from you. You’re my best friend, and I’m not going anywhere. I promise.” That just made me cry harder. How was I supposed to leave him? He continued to rub my back, then began to sing softly…it was my favorite song, and he knew it. Moments.
“If we could only have this life for one more day, if we could only turn back time…”
“Harry…” He stopped singing. “Yes, love?” He smiled at me. I wish he didn’t do that…’It makes this harder, and the tears stream down my face…’ the words held a whole new meaning for me now. “I…I need to tell you something.” My voice was cracking already. “Go ahead.” He said playing with my hair. My eyes filled up with new tears, and he wiped them away with a worried expression. “Aid…what’s wrong?” He whispered. I moved off of his lap and onto the couch next to him. I looked down at the ground refusing to meet his eyes before quietly whispering, “We’re moving Haz…me and my mum…we’re leaving.” I didn’t dare look up at him. “Where?” He croaked. This was going to be the hard part. I grabbed his hand before answering, “…the United States…America…California to be exact.” I said numbly. I had rehearsed what to say to him so many times, and it still came out wrong. The hand I was holding had gone limp. I looked at his beautiful green eyes to see them misted over with tears. “When?” He breathed out. “The end of August…” He whipped his head around to me. “What!? It’s already the end of July! Aiden…you can’t! How could you leave me?” The tears were falling freely down our faces now. “Harry please…don’t…I’m sorry.” I went to hug him, hoping he wouldn’t turn away. I had nothing to be worried about, he nearly crushed me into a hug. The night didn’t go as I had planned at all whatsoever, but I cherished those moments with my friend anyways.
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The month went by so fast. We were all at the airport now waiting for our flight. Me, my mum, Harry and his mum, and the rest of the boys had all come to say goodbye. I began hugging them all one by one saving Harry for last, since he would be the hardest to tell goodbye. Niall was first. “I bought you a few snacks for the trip.” He said while pulling a huge bag off of his back. I waited for him to open it and grab a few things out…but no. He gave me the entire bag instead. I unzipped it to see that he had completely stuffed it full of random assortment of food. My eyes filled with tears…great, I was doomed. “Niall! Thank you so much!” I hugged him tightly and he kissed me on the cheek. I moved on to Louis who was waiting with his arms open wide. I gladly moved into them. “Hey babe, I’m going to miss you so much.” He picked up a bag off the floor and handed it to me. Inside was a TOMS box. I smiled and opened it to see a pair of light grey nautical TOMS. “Lou! Thank you so much! I love them!!” I hugged him again and went to pull away. Right before he released me he leaned down to kiss my cheek…at least that’s what I was expecting, but then I felt his soft lips against my own instead of my cheek. The kiss didn’t last more than 2 seconds, but it made me gasp. “Oops…missed…didn’t I?” He smiled making me blush. I looked around, but nobody had seen. That little punk…Harry must have told him I had a crush on him. Oh well…I would kill him later. Liam was next in line. “Hey sweetheart, be safe ok?” He hugged me tightly. “I got you something too…” He pulled out two picture frames. One was of me and the boys at a football game. My mom had taken it while we had been cheering on our team. The second picture was of me and Harry. He had his arm slung around my shoulder and we were both laughing. My eyes filled up with tears again. “Thank you LiLi.” He kissed my forehead and gently pushed me into Zayn’s waiting arms. “Love you Aiden…don’t forget about old Zaynie, yeh?” He whispered into my ear. “Never!” I said back. “Good.” He kissed my cheek and pulled out a brand new white iPod touch. “Don’t worry…Paul said we could get it.” He said directing his comment towards my shocked expression. “Since we won’t be able to sing for you anymore, well…we put all of our songs on it…and Ed’s of course. I downloaded all your favorite games already, and there are some pics of me and the rest of the boys.” I smiled at him. “Thanks Zayn.” I reached up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. Harry was next. I turned to him, he was staring at me with watery eyes. Slowly he opened up his arms, and I jumped into them. “I love you Harry…I’m going to miss you so bad!” I cried into his neck. “I love you too Aid…I’ll come see you soon, kay? I promise.” His voice broke on each word, and I could feel his own tears running down the side of my neck. We sat there crying and holding each other. Harry pulled away first, “I got you something too…” He handed me a small black box. I carefully opened it up. Inside was a tiny chain necklace with a sterling silver paper airplane charm hanging from it. I let out a watery laugh. Me and Harry used to send each other notes during the classes that we had together with paper airplanes. I took it out to look at it. On the back of the tiny wings was a small inscription. ‘HS + AH‘ was on one wing… ‘Best Friends’ was on the other. I began crying again, Harry took the necklace from me and helped me put it on. “There…now we match.” He quietly told me. I looked up at him confused. His fingers went to a small chain around his own neck that I hadn’t noticed before, and pulled an airplane out of his shirt that was exactly like mine. He smiled at me and pulled me into one last hug before softly kissing my cheek. “Be safe.” He whispered. I heard a small sniffle from behind me. I turned around to see Niall with red rimmed eyes. “Oh Nialler…please don’t cry!” I grabbed him and kissed both of his cheeks. “Group hug!!” Louis exclaimed. All the boys rushed over to us for one last hug goodbye. ‘Flight 32B is now ready to board…’ They boys broke away wiping away tears. Harry’s mum grabbed me into a hug. “Be safe little girl, I’m going to miss you so much. “ She said squeezing me tightly. I squeezed her back. “I love you so much Anne!”
“I’ll see you soon, ok?” She gave me one last hug before returning to hug my mum one more time. I took advantage of this to hug Harry one last time. “I promise I will see you soon, and we will talk EVERY day. Call me as soon as you get there…and just call whenever you need me. No matter how late or early it is, alright?” I just nodded my head in response. “I love you so much Harry…”
“I love you too Aiden.” He said his voice cracking. He kissed my cheek and slowly turned me around, before lightly pushing me towards my terminal. I only looked back once to wave one last goodbye to their tear-stained faces, and it nearly broke my heart to do it.
