I’m being awoken by Harry, as nearly every morning on this trip, but this time, it feels nice. I am not angry for him but relax into his hand brushing through my hair as a smile spreads across my face.

“Morning”, Harry whispers, voice deeper than during the day, “Slept well? Sorry for waking you, but it’s ten and we need to be out of here in an hour. Plus, I still wanted to get some breakfast, so-“

“Stop rambling”, I interrupt him with a smile on his face and open my eyes to pull him down for a short kiss.

“Sorry”, he whispers as he pulls away from the kiss, “Just trying to be a bit less annoying, you know? Let you sleep in and stuff. Messed up this trip enough already.”

I roll my eyes and snuggle closer to him, wrapping my arms around his upper body. “Stop with that. I mean, yes, your sleep schedule is very much weird, but that doesn’t mean I kind of love being woken up from you.”

“If it’s done nicely”, I quickly add, “None of that repeating my name a thousand times or poking my face with your finger.”

He laughs. “I can kind of understand that, yes.”

He then leans down and kisses all over my face, brushing over my arm with the tip of his fingers carefully. “So, like that is better?”

I nod. “Yes. Most definitely.”

He laughs again and tries to pull me up so we’re both leaning against the headboard. After a few more minutes of trying to wake up completely, we head to the bathroom to brush teeth, smiling at each other in the mirror, get changed and fix our hair.

When we’re done, we once again walk down the carpeted hallway into the direction of the dining room. We choose all kinds of stuff from the buffet, finally using the chance for a proper breakfast.

“I want this table”, Harry says and points to a small, round table right at the window, “It looks cosy.”

I smile and nod while following him to the table and sitting down across form him. We start eating in silence. I take a bite from my scone but end up spreading jam over my face what makes Harry laugh and pull out his phone to snap a picture right before I have the chance to wipe it away.

“Cute”, he says and smiles fondly at the picture before showing it to me. I certainly don’t look cute but my lips are opened for a small chuckle and my eyes are shining a little and I definitely do look very happy.

I bump my foot into his under the table ‘I like you’, it says, and so many more words of affection I’m bad at, before continuing to eat.

We finish breakfast a few hours before we need to clear the room so we head straight back to get our bag and jackets.

“Okay, ready to hit the road again?”, Harry asks, hugging me from behind to press a kiss to my temple. I smile and blush a little before nodding.

“Yes. Let’s go.” I take his hand, a little hesitant at first but he presses it twice as if he wanted to support the decision.

We return back to the van and I sit down on the driver’s seat, putting my phone back into the holder to look at the map. We’re not far from home now, but there’s still two more days we can spend in the van, so we won’t be driving far today.

“Where are we headed to?”, Harry asks and turns the music a little quieter.

I shrug and start the engine, driving out of the small parking lot. “Find a spot at the sea to stay at? I really don’t feel like driving much today. Oh, and we could also stop at a grocery shop again to get something for lunch or dinner.”

Harry grins and I raise an eyebrow. “What’s so funny about that?”

“Nothing. You’re just cute.”
He leans over to peck my cheek and I want him to stop, but at the same time I never want him to stop being this affectionate.

We sing along to the lyrics of ‘Hate to say I told you so’. I’m feeling ever so happy and light, with Harry’s fingers drawing soft circles into the fabric of my shorts, smiling whenever I turn to look at him.

We arrive at the shop just a few minutes later. We head inside to get some pasta and tomato sauce as well as a few vegetables and some cheap wine we hope will still taste alright.

Once back in the car, Harry starts typing on his phone, asking me to wait with continuing to drive.

“I wanna find a very nice, hidden spot at the beach”, he says.

“You do realize that once it’s on the internet, it’s not that hidden anymore?”

He rolls his eyes and nods. “Yes, but there’s this rather unknown website with recommendations for really cool spots across the countries. Niall and me used it before and there was nobody around.”

“Who’s Niall?”, I ask, trying to sound casual what apparently doesn’t work because he laughs lowly.

“Are you being jealous?”, he asks and I think that the pink spreading across my cheeks proves his point.

“He’s my best friend. No worries, baby, he’s like a brother.”

I blush even more and nod tightly before pointing to my phone. “So, where are we headed to, then?”

“I’ll type in the address”, Harry says and bends forward to press a quick kiss to my lips before turning again to start typing into my phone.

His plan seems to work because we end up at some small spot right at the sea, the van parked in the rough sand.

“That does indeed look good”, I say and smile contently while jumping out of the car. Harry walks around the van to my side and hugs me while we’re looking at the sea, the waves rolling in slowly.

“Wanna go in?”, he mumbles into my ear, kissing the spot right below it.

I nod, starting to undress until I’m only in boxers. “Going in like this?”, Harry asks and slips out of his shirt as well.

I nod. “Yep. Too lazy to search through all the stuff. Besides that, your yellow trunks are annoying me.”

He snorts and kicks of his jeans until they’re laying crumbled up in the sand. “Then I won’t ever wear them again, of course.”

I roll my eyes and start walking towards the water, Harry running after me to take my hand and walk with me. “Can we do this again next summer?”, he asks.

“What makes you think I’ll ever go on a trip again with you?”, I ask back, dipping my toes into the water only to notice that it’s not even that cold.

“Fuck off”, he says, “Of course you do. You love my company.”
“I do”, I mumble.

He grins happily and jumps into the water completely all of the sudden, despite it being rather shallow. He appears again, spluttering on a bit of water. “Salty”, is all he says and it makes me laugh.

The laughing stops again when he pulls me into the water all of the sudden, so I nearly choke on all of the water.

“You suck”, I say between coughing and he tries not to die of laughter while patting my back a little.

“Sorry”, he says and pulls me in for a kiss. He tastes a bit like sea and salt and Harry and I feel like never ever letting go of him again as I wrap my legs around his waist to pull myself a little closer.

“We can do this again next year, for sure”, I say and let my forehead rest against his, “And maybe the year after again. And then the year after again. And in twenty years too. And when we’re both old we won’t get boring but still go on a road trip every summer.”

“You’d do that? You’d stay with my until we’re old?”

“Yeah, I would. If you want me to.”

He nods quickly. “Of course I do. Do you think we’re being a bit too optimistic right now? We’ve known each other for three weeks.”

I shrug. “No. My grandparents met at eighteen. They’re still together. They started somewhere too.”

He smiles happily. “I wanna be like your grandparents.”

“I don’t want to be exactly like them”, I say with a small laugh, “But we could strive for following their path in the matter of love.”

“Love?”, Harry asks, wiggling his eyebrows and I hide my face in his shoulder.

“Bit too early for that, isn’t it?”, I mumble, “But if we want to stay together forever, then yes, love.”

“I could love you”, Harry says, “For sure.”

“Me too.”, I agree and then we stay like that for some time, in the middle of the sea, the endlessness of the water surrounding us, and I feel so, so safe with him here.

“Babe?”, Harry whispers, brushing a salty strand of hair out of my forehead, “I know you’re sleepy and all, but I’m very hungry.”

I nod and attempt to open my eyes, what turns out to be harder than I thought it’d be, with all the bright afternoon sun shining right into my face.

We’ve been staying on a blanket in the sun for some time now, talking and Harry trying to draw while I kept annoying him, before drifting of to sleep at some point.

He kisses me slowly and sits up. “I’ll start cooking. You join me once you’re properly awake.”

I nod with my eyes closed and smile happily, listening to him humming a song while he searches for the cooking utensils in the trunk.

“Louis?”, he asks, “Still alive?”

I nod and finally get up, patting the sand off of my skin, slipping into my shorts again.

“Yes. I’m here”, I say, voice still sleepy, and drop down onto the sand next to him.
He pulls me in by the neck and presses three quick kisses to my lips, smiling at me happily. “You know, you make me happy.”

“You know, you make me happy too. Very, even.”

We stay close while cooking, Harry’s hand wrapped around my waist, my head against my shoulder as we watch the pasta cook.

Once it’s done, we eat while sitting in the sand and it tastes surprisingly well, maybe just because this day has been so perfect until now.

When we finish eating, we lay down on the blanket again and I watch Harry draw for some time. It’s pretty relaxing and calming and it’s cute, the way he scrunches his nose when he concentrates.

“Wanna try?”, he asks and waves through the air with the pencil.

I laugh. “Wouldn’t wanna ruin your notebook, baby.”

“I’d be honoured to have you ruin my notebook.”

I laugh again and take the pencil from his hand. “What should I draw?”

“I don’t know”, he says with a shrug, “The van and the beach.”

I giggle as I try to get the lines right, messing it up pretty badly. Harry keeps laughing, trying to guide my hand with his every now and then. “Babe, don’t press so hardly”, he says, trying to adjust my hand, “You’re gonna rip the paper.”

I chuckle and try again, hoping to not destroy his journal completely. When I’m done, it looks a little like a drawing a five-year old would bring home from kindergarten, but Harry insists he likes it.

I roll my eyes but let him kiss me until we’re laughing against each other’s lips anyways.

The rest of the day passes quickly even though we’re not doing anything. We eat gummy bears and kiss and cuddle, staying on the blanket in the sand, our hair sticky from the salt water.

We have some salad we got at grocery shop earlier for dinner and are happy to eat something healthy that isn’t as sticky and sweet as the whole bag of gummy bears we finished over the day.

“Wanna head to bed?”, Harry asks, kissing my cheek.

I shake my head and spread out my arms and legs, turning around so I’m facing him now. “No. Not really, it’s still so warm.”

We watch the sun go down slowly and now it’s getting darker and darker while we’re listing to the sound of the waves and the birds squeaking.

“Good”, he agrees with a nod, “Me neither.”

He wraps an arm around my waist and I bury my face in his chest, inhaling the smell of salt and sand and his perfume.

We kiss for some time, slowly and deeply, his lips tasting like the green gummy bears he likes the most, his fingers tangling up in my hair, keeping me close.

“Wanna go inside?”, Harry asks, pressing his thumb into my waist carefully, “The surface here is a little uncomfortable, what do you say?”

I laugh and wiggle my eyebrows.  “Uncomfortable for what, Styles?”

He rolls his eyes. “For whatever you want”, he replies, grinning and I roll my eyes with a small smile.

“We could’ve done this in the hotel, you know?”, Harry whispers, letting his head fall back again the pillow and brushing through the sweaty hair sticking to my forehead, “Was a little more spacy there.”

I chuckle and let my head rest on his bare chest, feeling his breath calm down slowly.

“You’re so beautiful”, he whispers and I try to make my face disappear somehow.

“Stop”, I mumble, attempting to push him away from me.

“Why?”
“Because I don’t know how to react properly.”

He smiles softly and shrugs. “You don’t  have to react at all. I just want to tell you, it’s not like I expect a reaction, love.”

I nod. “Okay.” I move up a little so our faces are on the same height and capture his face with my hands, pressing a sloppy kiss to his lips. “You’re perfect, Harry, very much so.”

He smiles and traces along my cheekbones with his thumb. “Ever been skinny dipping?”

I shake my head. “Nope.”

“Wanna go?”
I laugh and nod, not getting up for some time though, enjoying him close, enjoying the warmth his body radiated and his lips on mine.

“Okay, let’s go”, I whisper after some time and sit up.
We run to the water while laughing, trying not to stumble in the sand, cursing because of the rough sand being uncomfortable under our bare feet.

The cool water feels good on our sweaty skin and we dive in completely, hair dripping with water as we appear again.

“Look at the stars”, Harry says and lays onto his back, drifting in the water.

“Pretty.” I take his hand and we stare up into the night sky for some time, drifting on our backs with our hands intertwined.

“I never really properly thanked you, did I?”, Harry asks, not waiting for my answer, “For taking me with you in the first place, for making this better than I thought it’d be. For supporting me when it mattered and for leaving me alone when it got too much. For being as perfect and thoughtful as you are.”

“Harry”, I whisper, not knowing what to reply, “You’re insane.”

“Just in love”, he mumbles, “Just in love with a boy that makes my heart skip a few beats every time he laughs.”

“Funny coincidence”, I quietly reply, trying to contain my bearing heart, “Me too. Just, he doesn’t even have to laugh. It’s when he smiles too, when there’s that dimple appearing in his cheek. And when he cries. It shatters my heart a little. When he wraps his arms around me and I feel protected or when he’s making fun of me but I know he doesn’t mean it in a bad way. When he presses his thumb in my waist softly. When he kisses me and I smell his ridiculously good smelling shampoo. I think about him all the time, you know? Being around him doesn’t just make my heart skip a beat, it makes it jump with happiness.”

“Babe”, Harry says, “You can’t say such things and expect me to be cool about it.”

I laugh and swim over to him so he can lift me up a little and I can wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck and I can kiss him for a little.

“You were the one starting with that cheesy bullshit.”

He laughs. “Was surprised you played along.”

“I think I changed my mind a bit. What I said about love and feelings? Maybe they’re not so disgusting after all. Maybe they can be pretty wonderful."

~~~

<3