Harry manages to wake up on his own sometime the next morning, mostly thanks to the faint sunlight that's warming his face and encouraging his eyes to open. He'd reluctantly left the room last night after continued encouragement from Nick. He hadn't wanted to move, but Nick had swayed him with the promise of food. After dinner, he'd attempt to spend some time with Nick's family when they went out to the pool, but it seems Nick's earlier prediction had been correct, and he'd ended up dozing off in one of the lounge chairs within an hour.

He doesn't remember much after that, but he thinks Nick carried him back to bed. He vaguely recalls curling up in his arms and mumbling something about how he was fine, to which Nick had laughed softly in reply before tucking him in and telling him to get some more rest.

He feels better now though, still a bit jetlagged, but he wants to leave the bed. His muscles are stiff from the long flight, and he knows they'll only protest more over the course of the day if they aren't loosened up.

Harry slips out from under the duvet, stretching his back when his feet hit the carpeted floor. Nick's still asleep, but Harry doubts he'll stay that way for long. His work schedule has been permanently ingrained in his head, so even when he's on holiday, he wakes up early no matter how late of a night he's had.

Harry does some simple yoga poses to alleviate the tension in his legs, his curls falling into his eyes as he lets his head hang in between his arms limply. Of course, it's then that Nick decides to get up, his soft chuckle alerts Harry to that fact.

"Still on your yoga kick are you?"

"'Course," Harry huffs, turning his gaze in Nick's direction the best that he can without losing his balance. "You do it too, so you can't tease."

"Did it," Nick corrects him. "I could never get over how silly I felt when I tried it on my own, so I've written it out of my workout routine."

"Well if yoga's too ridiculous for you, how do you feel about a quick run?" he suggests. That's what his body needs right now. A jog always loosens him up and works out the kinks he gets when he's forced to sit down for too long.

"I think I will take you up on that," Nick nods, checking the time on his phone while he throws off the blankets. "No one should be up yet, so I can show you the scenery and we can make it back in time for breakfast."

"Sounds perfect," Harry grins, "but first I want a kiss." He pushes himself upward with the palms of his hands, purposefully wobbling slightly so he can fall back into Nick's chest.

"Have you brushed your teeth yet?" Nick teases. He doesn't even give Harry a chance to tell him no before he's leaning in, nipping softly at his lower lip as he kisses him thoroughly.

Harry has to drag himself away from Nick's mouth before he tosses out the idea of a run in favor of another form of exercise. They both get ready quickly, stepping out into the brisk air without bothering anyone else in the house.

"Which direction do you want to go?" Harry asks, peering at their surroundings with bright eyes, taking in everything he'd been too sleepy to observe yesterday.

"Saw a nice path down there," Nick points. "I didn't follow it that far at the time, but it looks like it loops back after a few miles, so it should make for a good route."

"Lead the way," Harry gestures, waiting for Nick to take a few paces before he follows behind him.

They pause at the head of the road to put on some music since Nick is convinced that he can't jog without it. Harry laughs when he forgoes headphones and just lets it play out from his phone so they can both hear it, the sound resonating in the otherwise silent air before the song Nick's picked joins it.

Nick takes off again when he's satisfied with his choice, maintaining a looping pace that Harry finds easy to keep up with. He can run for ages, but Nick's faster than him if he wants to be. They've had numerous races in the past, but Nick's taking it easy today, which Harry's sore muscles appreciate.

Harry has no idea how long they've been out when he hears something over the sound of Lady Gaga which is the current track playing from Nick's mobile. His ears perk up as he tries to ascertain its source, and when he catches the noise again, his lips break into a smile.

"Nick - is that cows?" he asks loudly, increasing his speed slightly so he's directly beside him.

"Think so. There's lots of farms and stuff around here, so I wouldn't be surprised."

"Can we go see them?" Harry questions eagerly.

"We can try, not sure where they're at exactly, but they sounded close."

They continue around the next bend in the trail at a slightly faster pace. Harry keeps his eyes peeled for the cows as Nick holds up his phone and starts taking a video. Harry hangs back as he does, it's instinctual at this point, even if a part of him is tempted to say something anyway.

He'd rather not let the rest of the world know he's here, that's the point of him sneaking away, but mostly, he doesn't want to disturb Nick and his family on their holiday. He's accepted that his fans will most likely despise anyone he dates, which is why he and Nick have kept their relationship as private as possible, but he doesn't want to hide him forever. If only there was a way that he could protect Nick from the perils that come with being romantically connected to him, that way they'd have no reason to be so secretive.

Harry's distracted from his thoughts when Nick stops in front of him abruptly. He's finished with his video, or he assumes he is since his phone is no longer in sight. Nick turns to face him, pointing back the way they came toward a field to their right.

"Did you see?" Nick beams, gesturing again when Harry fails to look the way he wants him too.

"Wha - oh!" Harry exclaims happily.

Near the stone fence separating their path from the grass that seems to stretch on endlessly is a young calf. They're staring their way curiously, their large eyes peering up at them in a questioning manner, most likely trying to decide if they have any food on them.

"Caught them on camera and everything, was just waiting for you to notice, but apparently you were distracted. Checking out my arse again Styles?"

"Maybe," Harry giggles softly, not bothering to mention what's truly on his mind in favor of focusing on the small animal. He moves toward the cow tentatively, making sure the owner isn't around just in case this isn't allowed. "Do you think I can pet them?"

"Don't see why not?" Nick shrugs. "They look like they want a bit of attention, don't you sweetie?" he coos at the animal as they both come within arm's length of them.

Harry reaches out his hand gently when his knees bump against the stone barrier, letting the cow sniff at his knuckles before daring to touch their cheek in a feather-light caress. He beams when the calf decides to shove their nose against his hand, snuffling at his skin wetly before licking it with their large tongue.

"Look toward me," Nick speaks up as Harry continues to stroke the animal delicately, making sure to keep away from their teeth since they are trying to nibble at his fingers at the moment.

Harry does as he's asked, seeing that Nick has his phone out again. He squints his eyes against the sun as Nick snaps a photo, his smile staying in place even when Nick puts his mobile down. He thumbs through his camera roll while he returns to Harry's side, showing him what he decides is the best shot when he's satisfied.

"Saving this one for myself," Nick mutters as Harry looks down at his grinning face and the cow which is staring at Harry instead of the camera.

"That smile is only for you anyway," Harry responds. His stomach flutters when Nick blushes faintly before pressing a quick kiss to Harry's cheek. "Well, and also cows apparently."

"I think I can live with sharing you with this one. We should probably leave soon though, don't want the farmer coming out and thinking we're trying to steal their livestock."

"Right, probably pushed our luck enough as is," Harry nods, patting the cow goodbye one last time before he moves away from the fence.

"Ready to head back, or do you want to go a bit further?" Nick asks.

"I think I'm good for now, nothing up ahead will beat a cow anyway," Harry decides after a quick internal debate.

"What if there are more cows?" Nick jests.

"True, but I think I've worked out most of the kinks for now. We can have more cow adventures after breakfast."

"You know, I think there are some miniature ponies around here, we'll have to find them next time. I know I saw them on the drive in, but I can't quite remember where now..."

Nick keeps talking as they walk briskly back the way they came, matching his stride to Harry's this time so they're side by side the entire way. Harry thinks back to the picture he'd just taken as he listens to Nick ramble, the reckless side of him debating on asking him to just post it to Instagram and see what happens.

He won't, at least not now. He doesn't want the fallout from it to hit the entire Grimshaw family, but he does wish that he could share the fact that he loves Nick with the world. They've done so well at keeping their relationship obscured, and at first, it had seemed necessary. They were dealing with enough as it was, so media backlash was a layer of drama they weren't ready to handle.

Things are good now though, and as private as Harry is, he never planned on keeping Nick a secret forever. He wants to be able to talk about him or even just hold his hand when they go out, but the fact that it would disrupt Nick's life greatly if they went public always holds him back. So he keeps silent and enjoys the cadence of Nick's voice and the synchronized beat of their footsteps instead of voicing his thoughts, even if they still swirl restlessly in the back of his mind.