Chapter Twenty-Three

I get that some people probably thought I liked Harry for the wrong reasons. Just for the sex or because I was falling back on something comfortable or solely because we were stuck together for weeks on end and I couldn't stay away from him. Maybe you even think I just hated being single and he was the closest thing, but it was more than that. I liked him. I liked his personality and spending time with him, much as I hated to admit it. 

Despite the fact that he was mad as a hatter and we usually ended up getting into a spat about something pointless, I enjoyed being his friend, too. Together we always ended up getting in some stupid trouble that we'd have a laugh about later with our friends. We made no sense whatsoever, but he understood me. No one else could quite match all that I had to offer, except for him. It was almost like we were so wrong that we made a right.

*****

 "Harry," I whispered, hanging my hands on the edge of his bunk and resting my chin on his mattress. He didn't stir. "Harry," I said again softly.

He grunted before perking up his head and opening one eye, irritated at being awoken from a peaceful slumber. I giggled slightly.

There was something childlike and sweet about Harry when he first woke up, before he remembered all the stress from his life. He wasn't entirely coherent, just lazily moving around until his muscles awoke, too. "Hi," I said, blinking up at him. "Wanna come somewhere with me?"

He put a hand over his face and started rubbing his eyes groggily, finding it too early to answer any questions. "What time is it?" he asked with a yawn. 

I held a finger to his lips so he would know to be quiet. "Shh! It's about 7:30. Am," I added at the last second. "Everyone else is still asleep." The boys didn't have anything scheduled until late afternoon and they were taking full advantage of it, which included snoozing until the end of time. And Lizzie, well, waking up before 10 was a good day for Liz. 

He pulled his sheet back over his shoulder. "I don't think we can be friends anymore. No decent human being would wake me up at such an ungodly hour," he murmured, closing his eyes once more.

I punched his shoulder lightly, thinking of how that was exactly something Liz would say. "Come on, please?"

He sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep now. "What did you have in mind?" 

"It's a surprise." 

"I'm just supposed to give up on the rest of my sweet slumber and trust you like that?" 

"Come on!" I said, almost stamping my foot. I knew he would do it, Harry rarely said no to anything. He just liked giving me a hard time. "Think of it like Harry and Ally, up to their old shenanigans again." 

Harry smiled slightly, stretching his limbs. His chest tattoos peaked out from under the sheet. "Fine, munchkin, you win. I'll get dressed and meet you in five." He reached beside him to grab his phone. "Don't we have to tell someone or something?"

My hands fumbled to my pocket where I held up a note: Gone sightseeing. Love, Harry and Ally,  it read. "Already taken care of." I grinned at him. I had written it before waking him up, knowing he would give in. 

Okay, I know sneaking off to be with Harry alone probably seemed like I was making it into a date, or at least being a little obvious about how I felt about him. But, I don't know, something made me feel brave. Maybe I was just excited about the opportunity to spend the day with him, but something told me to just go for it while I still had the chance. He would be swallowed into another continent in a few weeks. 

The corner of his lip turned up in an amused smile. "You've got all the answers, don't you?"

I nodded, looking down to try and hide my uncharacteristic blush at his comment. Jeez, this boy was going to make me go soft. "Now get dressed," I replied excitedly.

*****

"So, where are we going anyways?" Harry asked while adjusting his hat. He was attempting to go incognito with dark sunglasses that were entirely opaque and a baseball cap to hide his curls. I was disguised a bit, too, but slightly more fashionable with aviators and a straw fedora. I probably didn't need to make an effort to hide, I hardly ever got recognized on the street unless I was in the company of Niall, but it was kind of fun to up the stakes. 

Harry had grumbled to himself about his getup, fashionista that he is, but agreed that it was better than getting mobbed by fans. We had plainclothes security guards following as well, just in case things got too bad.

I shrugged as we walked together on the sidewalk. I couldn't help but notice that there was just enough space between us so we wouldn't actually touch. I had to wonder if he did that on purpose, not wanting any unnecessary flirting. "I dunno, I just thought Bristol would be a fun place to look around."

He had been gazing straight ahead, but he turned to look at me. "Really?" he replied while grinning. "Bristol? Of all the big, famous cities we went to this summer, you picked this one?"

I rolled my eyes. "I guess really I just wanted to get out of the tour bus and do something. We have to go home sort of soon and I wanted some sort of memories from this trip besides Louis' fart jokes and-" I stopped myself when I saw his gaze shift upwards, green eyes staring right up at the clouds. "Harry? Are you even listening?"

He chuckled slightly. "Al, do me a favor, look up."

"What?" I replied incredulously.

"Just do it," he said without breaking eye contact with the sky.

In my head I made a sassy comment about him being bossy, but my curiosity led me to accept his advice, gasping at the sight before me. For a moment there, I was awestruck, completely speechless. There was just nothing to say.

Balloons, hot air balloons, hundreds of them. Maybe even thousands. Some were dots on the horizon, slowly fading into oblivion while some were so close that you could see the people monitoring the blaze in the basket. There were millions of shapes and colors and patterns. A smile spread across my face slowly and I laughed, finding it hard to believe that I hadn't noticed them earlier. It was amazing how oblivious I could be sometimes. 

"What are they all doing here?" I breathed, still craning my neck in awe.

Harry shrugged. "I dunno, but this is kind of an uplifting experience, don't you think?" he said while nudging me with his elbow.

I groaned, Harry had dad jokes for days. "That one was just terrible. One of your worst yet." He laughed in return, knowing how much I hated puns. Especially ones that weren't even funny.

"Hey! I thought it was pretty punny!" he said in a teasing tone.

I glared at him, which of course only egged him on more. "You better stop before somebody smacks you. And by somebody, I mean me."

Harry just laughed and patted me on the top of the head. "Come on." He motioned with his head to the park across the street.

"Where are we going?"

He grabbed my elbow and towed me along, dodging the traffic as we moved over to the park. "We're going to find out what they're all doing here."

I shut my mouth, unable to ignore how his touch felt on my skin. We finished crossing the street and found the park littered with people, all looking skyward. There were picnic blankets spread across the lawn as they munched on sandwiches and laughed under the treetops, enjoying the view and each other's company. 

I pulled myself away from Harry and walked up to an older man wearing a newsboy cap. "Excuse me, sir? But what's going on?"

He turned his head to look at me. "The Balloon Fest, ma'am," as if it was obvious. I would have asked more, but he twisted his face back upwards and didn't seem in the mood to talk. Or maybe he thought that was enough of an answer, he seemed like a local that had been doing this all of his life. I spun around back towards Harry and found him observing something closely beneath a tree. A single strand of hair had slipped out from underneath his hat, leaving a little tail at the back of his head. 

I pulled on it as I approached him. "What are you looking at?" I asked.

He moved his body and I saw the poster. He traced underneath with his finger as he read. "The 35th annual Bristol International Balloon Fiesta." In subtext below it explained how teams from all over the world come to participate in mass ascents.

"I guess that answers that question," I muttered.

Harry turned to look at me and beamed, for a second I felt weak in the knees, knowing it was me that he was smiling at. "Well, you wanted to go sightseeing, didn't you?" I nodded. "So we might as well enjoy ourselves.

If I could have seen his eyes behind the glasses, I can assure you that they would have been twinkling. He moved to find an empty spot on the grass while I followed close behind, not wanting to lose him. Despite the fact that it was August, Harry had still tied a flannel shirt around his waist before he left, try hard that he was, which he now shook out and spread on the ground. I thought it was for him, but he motioned with his hand for me to sit down. 

I looked up at him, confused. "You're allergic to grass, aren't you?" he asked. 

It was amazing, the little things that he remembered about me. He had posed the statement as a question, but I knew from his tone that he already knew the answer. Which was a yes, grass left my legs looking like I got a bad sunburn and the sound of my scratching at the rash probably could be heard all the way back home in Ireland.

"We can share," I replied, slightly embarrassed, trying not to show how flattered I felt. 

I made myself comfortable, pulling my knees to my chest and fixing my sights on the sky. The hot air balloons looked so close that you could almost drag your fingers across the sky like water and touch them.

There was something beautiful about the sight. It seemed silly, with it just being hot air balloons, and some were even just advertisements and funny shapes, but still, they were beautiful. They looked so peaceful and dreamlike, just a bunch of ovals slowly drifting off into the sun. 

We watched in silence for a little while, just enjoying the view and each other's company. At some point, a mischievous smirk pulled at my mouth as I pinched Harry in the side, not looking away from the balloons. "Hey!" he replied sharply. "Don't start something you can't finish!"

I whipped my head around. "Who says I can't finish it?" 

He bit his lip, daring me with his eyes before attacking the soft skin above my hips and stomach area with his fingers. I started to fight back and he pushed me over onto the ground until I couldn't move, collapsing his weight on top of mine. 

"I believe this is you not being able to finish it, love," he said triumphantly.

"Really?" I replied before jamming my elbow into his gut. He rolled over in pain. "My brothers taught me that one!" I called while running off through the park.

Harry picked up his shirt and took off after me. "You are so dead, Moore!" he yelled while laughing.

*****

"Where to now?" I asked after Harry had caught up with me and we decided to leave the festival in search of some food. We had made a pit stop at a cafe and wolfed down a quick breakfast before heading off again. I was swinging my arms more than necessary while we walked together on the sidewalk. 

The security guards were nearby, I knew, but they were so good that I honestly had no idea where they went off to. I had asked Harry about them and he, being taller, had confirmed a sighting before we pressed on. He had caught an earful the last time he accidentally ditched them and felt awful about it for days. 

"I dunno, this whole thing was your idea."

"And I picked the balloons, it's your turn."

He moved to face me, the iced coffee we had picked up sloshing in his cup. "You didn't pick the balloon festival, you wouldn't even have seen it if it wasn't for me. But I'll give it to you since you were the one that decided on a random adventure in Bristol." 

"I guess we make a good team then," I said, immediately looking down at the ground and blushing. I hadn't meant to let that slip out, it just sort of fell from my tongue nonchalantly.

He didn't respond to the comment, and I cringed on the inside, wanting to shove it back in my mouth. Keep it together, Al. I looked up again when I felt him knock his arm against mine and take off running. 

"Come on!" he yelled back at me. I had no idea where he was going or what the point of this was, but I went with my gut and trusted him. My feet carried me faster and faster to keep up with his long stride while my heart started pounding and my breath quickened. Exercise was really not my friend after a summer where I was rarely more than 10 paces away from either a snack table or a well-stocked bus kitchen. 

We reached a busy street and he started to cross but I stopped him. "We're going to get run over!" I yelled over the noise of the automobiles.

Harry just grinned at me, grabbing my hand and yanking me so that we sprinted across together. "Live a little, Al!" he shouted back to me and I laughed as the endorphins from running started to kick in.

"Wait!" I called out when we reached the median in the middle of the road, tugging on his hand so we would stop but not letting go completely. "I need to catch my breath."

Harry started chuckling to himself, not at all winded. Apparently the daily dance rehearsals had left him in better shape than me. The warm air whistled in my ears as the cars whizzed by on either side, speeding by without a second glance at us. "Of all the places to stop, Al, really?"

I looked up at him. "It wouldn't be the first time you called me crazy," I joked.

He smiled at me. "I like crazy," he replied, bending down and grabbing the small of my back before he kissed me. I pulled him closer as the wind from the cars blew my hair in all sorts of directions. The sound of tires on asphalt was overwhelming but all I cared about was him. 

I tried to ignore how flirtatious his comment sounded, tried to ignore how much my heart soared at his kiss. But I couldn't help but feel happy. Despite the rather large audience, it felt like a moment that was just ours. No friends to tease us, no potential budding romance with the makeup artist on set, no ghosts of exes or our pasts haunting the edges of the scene between us. Just me and him, doing exactly what we wanted for a moment. 

I don't know how long we stayed like that. It could have been a fleeting instant or it could have been forever, but I really didn't care. All I wanted in that moment was Harry.

*****

 "So, what did you two do today?" Liam asked in an overly curious tone as we were eating dinner later that night. Rehearsal had already finished and the boys had an hour break to eat before they had to go to hair and makeup.

Harry and I shared a look. He shook his head ever so slightly and smiled, wanting to keep the secret between us. I agreed, feeling like it had been too wonderful to ruin with any teasing from our friends. 

"Nothing," I replied, trying to hide my happiness. "Nothing at all."

Song: Little of Your Love by HAIM