It was a Saturday morning in late February, almost six thirty in the morning. I had been up on and off the whole night, now having been laying awake constantly for well over an hour, trying so hard to get back to sleep but not succeeding. Instead I was clock watching, watching each minute tick by, closing my eyes for what felt like half an hour only to see it had been five minutes. I was too excited to sleep. I'd always struggled to sleep in situations like these; if I knew something was happening the next day I'd be awake the whole night, excited or not. Harry had been sound asleep next to me since his head hit the pillow at around eleven. It'd been a couple of months since he stayed at my house for the first time, and somehow I'd managed to convince Niall and my mother to be okay with him sleeping in my room.

In three minutes my alarm would go off and then we'd get up and start getting ready to leave for the airport. Usually I'd be grumpy because I hadn't slept and was tired, but at times like these it didn't matter that I'd had around four hours sleep, because we were going to New York. I only wished I could've slept more so that it would appear as though time had gone quicker. I just couldn't wait.

Never in my life had I been so happy to hear that god awful marimba sound. I let it play for a couple of seconds until I was sure it'd woken Harry up. Once I'd silenced the alarm, I rolled over to him with a huge grin on my face, snaking my arm under his and around his waist and pressing my cheek to the back of his bare shoulder.

"Time to get up," I beamed, squeezing his middle.

I was wide awake and ready to go. Harry, on the other hand, laced his fingers in mine, sighed sleepily through his nose and kept his eyes shut with a pouty expression.

"Come on, Harry. We're going to America! In half an hour!"

"Mhm," was all I got in response. Unsurprising, as Harry was not the kind of person to get up before the sun.

I untangled our fingers and grabbed his cheek in-between my thumb and forefinger and pinched his skin, but he ignored me. I huffed and sat up slightly, leaning over him and smoothing my palm over his chest innocently as an attempt to get my own way.

"Come onnnnnn," I whined pleadingly, my hand flat and moving down his navel.

"Bit lower," he murmured, and he smirked at me with his eyes still closed when I grumbled and slapped his arm.

"Get up," I finally demanded, "Or I'm going without you."

I climbed out of bed and put on my fluffy dressing gown, traipsing downstairs to get a bite to eat before we left. When I was putting cereal into a bowl my mum came in and stuck the kettle on.

"Excited?" she smiled, her back to the counter next to me as she crossed her arms and waited for the water to boil.

"So excited!"

"Is Harry up?"

"Not quite. He better be when I go back up there."

She chuckled, "He'll be ready. He's put too much time and energy into planning this trip to let it slip now."

After eating my breakfast in silence I took two mugs of tea back upstairs to my bedroom. Harry was perched on the edge of my bed scrolling through his phone with a pained expression on his face when I walked through the door, clearly not enjoying being awake this early. I handed him his tea which he gladly took from me, and I went into the bathroom to get myself ready whilst mine cooled.

By the time I was done and had packed the remainder of my toiletries into my case, Harry was fully clothed with his suitcase all zipped up and ready to leave. If only all I had to do was pull on some jeans and brush my teeth to get ready in the mornings...

I got myself dressed into some comfy clothes and quickly drank my tea as I rushed around the room to make sure we had everything, while Harry just sat on my bed with his eyes closed, muttering a 'yes' if I asked if he had definitely packed certain things. I couldn't help but be a bit annoying, I just had to be certain I hadn't forgotten anything and that all was going to plan. I was a very organised person when it came to things like this, however in other areas of my life, such as keeping up with school work, I wasn't quite so efficient.

At seven the doorbell rang and I heard my mum answer as we hauled our cases down the stairs. I went through another check with her as Harry and the taxi driver loaded our stuff into the car, and I almost became emotional as we said our goodbyes and she tearily told me to have fun while she hugged me tight. She called out to Harry to look after me, to which he gave her a thumbs up and laughed.

Eventually we were in the back of the car, on our way to Heathrow just as the sun started to rise. I don't think I'd ever experienced a sunrise with Harry, but it was beautiful and made my lips twitch into a little smile. I had my head on his shoulder, nestled into his warm jumper as I gazed out of the window, and I could see him peeking down at me with a hint of a smile on his face as well. I planned on sleeping the entire journey, but I was kept awake by the two men who seemed to be bonding over whatever they were talking about for two whole hours — I zoned out soon enough and sat on my phone for the majority of the ride.

After a long and boring couple of hours in the car, we finally arrived at Heathrow airport in London around two hours before our flight was due to take off. The driver parked up in one of the drop off points in the airport and we clambered out, stretching our limbs and yawning after being cooped up in a small space for so long. He opened up the boot and assisted us in lifting our suitcases out, I took my case and Harry took his along with both of our smaller cabin bags. It turns out he'd paid for the cab prior to the day, so after the two guys shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, we headed off towards the escalator to take us inside.

Having gone through the whole ordeal of handing over our bags, checking in and going through security with ease once we arrived, we headed into the departure lounge with over an hour to spare before we had to even think about boarding the plane.

"Do you wanna get some breakfast or something?" Harry asked me as we walked hand in hand across the marble flooring with our bags on our backs and our passports and passes in our free hands.

"I had some cereal before we left, but I wouldn't mind something small, or a hot drink or something," I shrugged, leaving it up to him since he hadn't eaten.

After insisting I didn't mind a hundred times, we ended up in a little Starbucks which overlooked part of the runway. I had a hot chocolate and a brownie, and Harry had a coffee and a breakfast panini-type thing. We sat at a bench along the window, admiring the yellow glow of the morning sun across the tarmac, watching the carts whizz across the huge opening with suitcases in the back ready to load onto the planes. I'd point out every time a plane was taking off or landing, and we'd try and guess where it was going or coming from.

Everything felt so different already for some reason. Both of us were so happy and we were already enjoying our time together, despite not even being on the plane yet. It's like every worry or responsibility that I'd had on my plate was forgotten about, and I was just so carefree. I would almost get butterflies when I thought about where I was; sitting in the airport with Harry, waiting to get on a plane and leave the country together for a week. He'd spent so much money and put so much time and effort into planning this trip, and it was all for me. For us.

"What're you smiling at?" I heard his teasing voice say beside me, and only then did I realise I was staring off into space with a little grin on my lips.

He was looking expectantly at me, mirroring my expression but with a bit more humour. He looked so beautiful with his clean, fluffy hair and a thick, cosy jumper hanging off his shoulders, fresh-faced and smiley. Sometimes I find it hard to believe he's mine — that he actually loves me, and wants to spend time with me. Getting all giddy, my smile stretched even wider and I dropped my head into his chest, and he chuckled and wrapped his arms around me.

"Nothing," I blatantly fibbed, hiding my face.

There was just something about wearing loose trousers and a hoodie, being freshly showered and makeup-free, cuddling into Harry in his flowery washing powder-scented, thick sweater that almost covered his hands. It was just so... nice. In a way that made my stomach flutter, because it was that simple but entirely perfect.

"Hmm, okay," he responded, and I could hear the grin he was wearing. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," I nodded, regretfully detaching myself from him as we started to pile our rubbish onto his tray and picked up our things to leave.

After a quick browse of the duty free, we made a quick toilet stop before standing in front of the massive board that was displaying all the flight information. We only had ten minutes to wait before our gate was displayed, and we set off to find it as soon as the number popped up.

Our passports were checked again and our boarding passes stamped. I found great amusement in taking the píss out of Harry over his passport picture, and it was really starting to annoy him. Mine was nowhere near as funny, so he had nothing to get me back with. I even said something when he was getting it checked by the man at the desk, and the old, stern-looking man cracked a smile as he looked at the photo and then up at Harry. Harry then proceeded to tell me off for embarrassing him as we walked down the glass corridor to the aeroplane.

The air hostess, who I felt sorry for having to fly in a tight, red suit with a pencil skirt and face caked with makeup, smiled brightly as we ascended the aircraft steps and entered the plane. She welcomed us and checked our tickets, directing us to our seats. I immediately called shotgun on the window seat, which meant Harry would have to sit next to a stranger, which he wasn't all that happy about. I handed him my rucksack and he shoved our bags up into the overhead compartment, swearing much too loudly when I tickled his lower stomach when his top rode up as he stretched his arms up, making him flinch and smack his elbows on the bottom of the shelf. I was told off for that when he sat down as well.

The look of disgust on his face when a middle-aged man sat down beside him made me crack up, and he told me I was in big trouble when we landed for laughing at him all day. I was strangely okay with that.

"Are you nervous? You look like you're going to çrap yourself," Harry commented as we waited for the plane to start moving.

To be honest I was getting a bit nervous the more we waited. I wasn't exactly scared of flying, I just hadn't had much experience with it. It was kind of just the thought that if something did happen, you're thousands of miles up in the sky. My heart was thumping slightly.

"I'm alright once we're in the sky, it's just the initial take off. There's so much build up that I get a bit panicky I guess," I told him.

"Aww, do you want to hold my hand?" he leaned into me and asked in a sarcastic, mocking voice, and I scowled at him.

"You wish," I shot back, pushing his head away from me — making him laugh.

Soon enough the plane backed up and slowly rolled onto the runway. My palms were sweaty as it picked up speed and took off, lifting up into the blue sky and leaving land far behind us. I watched out the little window as the buildings and landscape got smaller and smaller the higher we got, and eventually the nerves faded and I was in total awe of the scenery before we rose above the clouds.

"It's so weird, isn't it? Like, the houses don't even look real," I whispered to Harry, who was peering over my shoulder through the window.

"I know, it's so cool. We'll be over the sea for ninety percent of the flight though, so all you'll see from here is water and clouds until we actually start getting near New York."

"How many times have you been on a plane?" I questioned curiously, fiddling with the rings on his fingers as his hand laid next to me on the arm rest of his seat.

"I don't know, I've lost count. Quite a few times I suppose."

"Where've you been?" I liked that this quiet and long flight gave me the chance to talk to him one on one, get to know him more.

"Spain, Greece, Australia, Florida, Thailand, urm... Iceland," he listed with a thoughtful expression.

"Wow, that's a lot of holidays," I chuckled, and he smiled and shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing.

"I assume you haven't flown much?"

"Not really, I've flown to Scotland and been on a couple of holidays abroad to like... Tenerife, but nothing long haul like this one."

"I'm glad your first time is with me." There was a pause, before he added smugly, "Not the first time I've said that."

"Harry!" I scolded him.

"Probably won't be the last..."

"Stop."

"Have you ever heard of the mile high club?"

"Yes I have, and I will not be joining it," I said bluntly, frowning at him exaggeratedly.

"Come onnnnnn," he smirked, nudging my arm. "I reckon we could sneak into the toilet together and—"

"In your dreams. If you're that keen, you've got a perfectly good hand."

He rolled his eyes at me, and I'm sure I caught sight of the bald man next to him giving us a quick glance of disgust.

We spent the first hour or so of the journey chatting until we were given lunch. I opted for a suspicious looking cheese sandwich that actually didn't taste too bad. We were given a few snacks on the side which I saved for later. The air hostesses were constantly coming round offering us drinks, and I wanted to stay hydrated so I took one every time. Although this worked against me, because I kept having to get up and go to the toilet, which meant asking the man next to Harry to let me past all the time, which was embarrassing and probably irritated him.

We spent a few hours watching films, listening to music, playing games on our phones — not really talking much. As we got toward the end of the flight I became impatient and restless, not knowing what to do with myself and not feeling like watching anything else. Harry was engrossed in a film at the time and I ended up bothering him so much that he had to turn it off. After that we talked a bit more about the trip, and that passed some time.

It was two PM in New York when we finally touched down on the runway of John F Kennedy airport. We were told it was two degrees Celsius outside, and there had been loads of snow this week. Instantly I was thankful I'd done my research before we left and I'd packed all warm clothes, hoping Harry had done the same.

"I can't believe we're here," I gushed excitedly as everyone in the cabin started to stand up and get their things together.

Harry grinned at my excitement, stretching his arms and legs as he waited for the man beside him to get his stuff and go.

"Are you ready to get out of here and see New York?"

"I'm so ready. Oh my god, this is surreal!"

I was handed my stuff after a short wait and then we stumbled up the aisle, having been sat down for the most part of eight hours so our legs were like jelly. The flight attendants thanked us for flying with them and wished us a good trip as we left.

We went through passport control with ease, even though we had to tell the man behind the booth almost everything about our trip because he asked so many questions as he checked our passports and took our photos for their records. Afterwards we went to get our cases, and I did the spotting while Harry did the hauling of the luggage off of the conveyer belt before they passed us, nearly knocking out a little kid as he swung mine through the air.

When we walked through to arrivals there was a stocky man with a moustache wearing a suit and holding a sign that read "Styles" waiting in a huddle of other people holding signs with various other names on.

"There's our taxi driver," Harry said, pointing towards the man, who obviously didn't know who we were yet so was just staring blankly at the people flooding through the doors. "Err... Hi, we're— I'm Styles," he spoke up as we approached the man.

"Ah, mr Styles!" he replied enthusiastically, suddenly coming to life. "Welcome to New York."

"Thank you." Harry shook his hand, and so did I.

"Can I take your bags for you?" he offered kindly. Harry gestured towards me and our taxi driver instantly took my suitcase from me, to which I thanked him. "Alright, follow me."

We were led through the gigantic airport, getting in lifts and shuttles until finally we reached a car park. The guy took a few minutes finding his car, nattering away to us carelessly as he did so. Once he'd found it we crammed our bags into the boot and hopped in.

"Alright then, let's get you to your hotel. It's a nice one, great choice."

"She has no clue where we're staying, I guess it's a surprise," Harry told him, smirking deviously at me. Only then did I realise that I actually knew nothing about this trip.

"Ah, a surprise! Nice! Is this some kind of anniversary vacation, or...?"

"Sort of a Christmas and birthday present rolled into one," Harry explained.

"What a lucky lady. Well you sure made a good decision in choosing New York, you'll love it here I bet," he told us certainly as we pulled out of the airport grounds and onto the freeway.

It was nice how talkative and friendly the man was, telling us all about the state. He was recommending places to go and to eat, telling us all about the history of certain places and asking a lot about us. He really knew how to keep a conversation flowing. I don't think Harry liked how upfront he was at first, but he soon warmed to him and was chatting away happily.

It was mostly him just and Harry talking once again, as I was too consumed in staring out the window and admiring the city. The buildings were huge and the streets were crawling with people, all trudging through the thick white snow that covered everything in sight. It all just looked much bigger than where we lived, much more impressive and full of life. I was sitting there in amazement, examining everything I saw and not really believing I was there.

I think we were in the car for about half an hour, I wasn't really aware of the time. But it didn't feel like long before the man announced, "Okay you guys, here we are."

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Please remember to vote and comment if you're enjoying the story!

So I'm really excited to write the New York chapters. What do you think they'll do while they're there? Looking up about New York has made me SAD because I was supposed to be going there like this month and it never happened :( I want to go so bad!!!!!

Sorry if there's any mistakes, I have edited and checked it all but I've been staring at the screen for so long, I like... can't see anymore. Like I keep saying, there isn't a whole lot more left for me to write before the story ends. I say that, but it'll probably end up being way more than I'm anticipating lol. I'm really interested to know how you think it'll end - please comment telling me! I'm super nervous excited about my idea for the new story too.

Q: all3gra: When's your birthday and what would you want as a present?

A: I can't believe you have to ask, it's all I've been talking about! My birthday is the 14th (5 days!). I wasn't actually that excited about turning 18 but the closer it gets the more I'm buzzing tbh. There's really nothing I can think of that I want as a present. I keep telling my mum that I've bought things and she's like I WAS GOING TO BUY YOU THAT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY FFS!!!!

Highlight with a question for me to answer!

My question for you: Where is one place in the world you'd like to visit, and who would you like to go there with?