sɪxᴛᴇᴇɴᴛʜ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ.
By now I was already accustomed to that pulsating magnetism dragging me to where Harry was every time I put a foot in the beach.
And that morning wasn't any different.
It guided me through the endless beach to the exact same place Harry was, functioning as good as a GPS.
"What are we doing today?" - I asked as I found Harry sunbathing in all his glory with his eyes closed.
"Please don't make me get on that beast again." - He said, making me laugh.
"How are we going to continue your training then?" - I giggled and sat down next to him in the sand.
"We are not. Yesterday was enough for me."
"Okay, so sunbathing?"
"Sunbathing it is."
I didn't waste a second to lay down next to him with my bare torso on display and resting my weight in my elbows.
"How was your morning run today?"
"Sweaty."
"I can see that." - I said, noticing his sweaty hair and forehead.
"Nothing much happened. The usual." - He shrugged.
He also looked more tired than all the times before, but I didn't want to push it.
Either way, he looked as beautiful as everyday.
And it was really hard not to stare at him and get lost in his sight.
"I know I'm awesome, but you have to stop staring."
I froze in my spot and blushed.
I turned my head around, wanting to actually bury it below the sand and never come out again.
Stop making a fool of yourself, Louis.
Maybe I could speak about myself for a change today, right?
"Tell me about yourself." - Harry said quickly, almost interrupting my line of thought.
"Oh, what do you want to know?"
"You said you had a lot of siblings and a farm, right?"
"Yes…"
"Do you have a girlfriend or boyfriend? Whatever you're into."
"Nope."
"Do you go to college? Apart from working on the farm."
"No."
"Do you plan on leaving this place anytime?"
"I don't think so, I love my family. I'll probably get a house of my own but close to them."
What is happening with all these questions, Jesus.
"See, it's not fun when you are the one who has to answer them all."
"What?"
"Nothing." - He laughed. - "I like answering your annoying questions anyways."
"Good to know." - I huffed.
"But today is about you. So, have you ever been to another country or even another city or you're a farm boy without knowing what the world looks like?"
"Only once, our parents took us to Disneyland Paris. But it was a few years ago."
God, I'm hating this rude, intruding version of him.
"I'm not being rude, I'm just trying to learn about you."
Okay, holy shit. He's literally replying to everything I'm thinking.
"Yes, I am."
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.
Okay, he is confident enough to actually shove it in my face. Damn.
"Drop the shit, Louis." - He said but with a wide smile on his face. - "I know you hear mine too."
"What? How?"
"Really?" - He laughed. - "You're so obvious whenever it happens."
"So… you already know how it works?"
"Nope, not a clue. But I'm never going to find out if we don't talk about it. And I'm very sure you know more about this than me because you always were extremely calm about the fact that we can hear each other's thoughts."
"Yeah…" - I trailed.
"So, what are you hiding from me?"
"I don't know if you're going to like it."
"But it's better if you tell me than just put up with the fact that you have more information than I do." - He said and sat up, now completely facing me.
"This is kind of an old legend here in town."
"Legend about what?"
I sighed and dropped my head down, staring completely at my tangled feet, not even wanting to see Harry's reaction.
"It's… It means that you found the person that it's destined to you. Your soulmate."
"Soulmate?"
"Yeah… that's how my mother found my father."
"So, you think you're my soulmate?"
"It's hard to believe, I know. But that's why it happens. That's why I only hear your voice and not everyone else's. That's why I feel this strange connection dragging me to you when we are near. And it only happens if we're here, they say it's the power of the sea that does it."
I saw Harry nodding but still with a confused look on his face.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Because you seemed pretty scared around me. I just wanted to be friends before telling you." - I shrugged, still not facing him.
I heard him sigh and by the corner of my eye I saw his head moving away as well, staring at the horizon instead of me.
"If you need time to digest it, I can go." - I said softly.
"No, I need to know more."
"There isn't more."
"You said you were dragged towards me, yeah?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"All the time." - I shrugged and he furrowed his eyebrows, more confused than before. - "Wait, you don't feel that?" - I asked and he shook his head. - "It's like some kind of magnetism, like if I needed to be close to you. It happened to me multiple times before we actually met, like if it was leading me to find you. That's how I actually found you honestly, it guided me. And now, it isn't as strong as before, but I can still feel it, like telling me in which part of the beach you are."
"And you feel it in your mind?"
"In my whole body. I can't believe you don't feel it."
"No, I just heard your voice, I thought that was it. And then the predictions started."
"What predictions?"
"The things that are going to happen, or at least the things that could happen."
"I don't know what you mean."
"These images that spin around in my mind telling me what is going to happen the following day."
"I don't have those…"
"No?"
"No, how is it?"
"They show future things, but not every single one of them happen. Like the day it rained. I saw we were going to try and do a sandcastle under the rain to see how long it lasts, but you didn't come, so I guess that's why it didn't happen." - He shrugged. - "They're never completely accurate though."
"Wow, I didn't know that. My mother never told me that part." - I said, slowly taking in what he told me.
He shrugged and dropped his hand to the sand, starting to make curved traces on it with his fingers.
His lips were pursed and his eyes were glowing brighter than the sun as he continued moving his long and elegant fingers around the warm sand underneath us.
God, he is beautiful.
Harry looked up at me with a smirk on his face.
"Thank you." - Harry said and laughed.
"Oh, damn, no! You were not supposed to hear that."
"Then you should start controlling your thoughts, Lou."
"Sorry." - I said as I covered my face with my hands.
This is so embarrassing.
I watched him giggle through the small space between my fingers. He grinned softly at me, sweetly taking my hands off my face, making me look at him.
"I just… I don't want you to get your hopes up with this. With me." - He said softly.
"Huh?"
"This is all really weird for me. And I'm not ready, but I really appreciate your friendship."
I suddenly felt like my whole body was shaking and slowly breaking into little pieces.
"Uhm, Okay. Yeah, I appreciate it too."
"Don't forget I can still hear you thinking." - He side smiled and took my hand in his. - "I really need a friend to survive here. I got used to you, and it makes me feel great to talk to you in the mornings, but I don't think we are destined for each other. At least not in the way you want it."
I swallowed the knot in my throat and nodded, trying to fake a smile.
"Yeah, you're right."
He smiled shyly back at me and let go of my hand, collapsing again on the sand, closing his eyes and continuing his previous task: sunbathing.
A lot of things were going through my mind at the moment, and I couldn't understand why he was so calm after the uncomfortable chat we had just had, why he was so unbothered.
"Harry?"
"Mhm?"
"Did you predict this moment too?"
"Yes."
"And?"
He tilted his head to my side, opening only one eye because of the sun hitting on his face.
"We're going to be alright."