Six feet under the stars | Narry oneshot

“17,” Harry says under his breath, a hand above his head pointing at the sky with the other tuck under his head. He can feel the sand in between his toes, and on his calves, all the way up until it reaches his shorts and he knows he shouldn’t be lying here on the beach so late, not when he has this very important exam in the morning, but he just can’t bring himself to care. “There’s 17 stars in the sky tonight.”

“I count 18,” Niall whispers back, scooting closer to Harry until their shoulders bump. He lifts his hand as well, grabbing Harry’s finger and moving it slightly. “This one doesn’t shine as bright as the others, but it’s there nonetheless,” he says and Harry sees it. It’s a faint light, tiny and subtle and it’s so small that it got lost in the sea of the night. Harry feels like that sometimes.

They drop their hands at their sides, Niall twining his fingers with Harry’s and they just stay like that. Harry likes it. He’s pretty sure that’s what he likes the most about Niall, the fact that he doesn’t feel the need to fill the silence when he’s with him. It’s comfortable, it’s soothing and it’s right. He hears the sound of the tide coming against the shore, water soaking the sand at their feet and when Harry hears Niall shriek at the feeling of the cold water on his warm feet, Harry chuckles fondly and wraps an arm around Niall’s waist, the blond immediately curling into the younger boy’s body.  

“The sky looks beautiful tonight,” Harry says, still so quiet because he’s afraid that if he raises his voice, he’ll scare the stars away. Harry kind of wants to take them and keep them in a jar. He wants to be able to look at them anytime. He wants to be able to take them in his arms until he feels better.

“You’re beautiful Harry,” Niall replies without a second of hesitation. He brings his hand to Harry’s forehead to brush off the hair falling in the boy’s eyes, and he’s rewarded with a lazy smile from the curly boy. “Come here,” he demands, the hand in his hair falling to Harry’s neck to push him closer until their noses bumps which earns a giggle out of both of the boy’s mouth. Just a simple little tilt of Niall’s head causes their mouth to finally collide and it tastes like salt and cheap beer and they explore each other’s mouth, eyes closed and lying in the sand until they can’t taste anything but each other.

It’s Niall who pulls away first, with a gasp while Harry’s eyes remain close, just playing with the blond hair but Niall is shaking him with an excited “Harry, look!” so Harry forces himself to open his eyes in time to see the object of Niall’s fuss.

It’s quickly gone but Harry didn’t miss it and his heart is beating faster with excitement matching Niall’s.

“We have to make a wish,” Niall says and even though Harry always thought it was stupid to wish on shooting stars, there’s something in Niall’s eyes, a sort of twinkling that makes it impossible for Harry to refuse. He closes his eyes to make his wish only to realise that he have no idea what to wish for, and it’s proven to be an even more difficult task when there’s Niall squeezing his hand, and the only thing in Harry’s mind is Niall, but he already have him. So he wishes he could keep Niall by his side forever.

And when Harry opens his eyes to catch Niall’s still shut ones, lips moving silently, that’s when the younger boy realises he doesn’t need a jar of stars to hug in his arms to feel better. He doesn’t need it, because Niall’s there, and Niall shines as bright, maybe even brighter as the stars. And maybe Niall is the star in his dark sky.

“What did you wish for?” Niall asks once he’s done and Harry smirks.

“I can’t tell you or it won’t come true,” and Harry really want it to come true.

So Niall shrugs and leans forward to kiss him, and everything feels warm inside of Harry.

“I love you Ni,” he says against the pink lips and Niall smiles.

“I love you too Haz,” and yeah, Niall is definitely his star.