Hi guys, hope you'll like the update!
I can't believe it's been over a week since the concert. TAKE ME BACK!!
It's raining :)
PS: 3.
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Harry's POV
After an about half hour drive along the border of the city, we reach the beach just when the clouds start to disappear, giving the moon a chance to shine. Liam parks the car at the edge of the street, next to the car that Zayn has just stopped.
The beach is completely empty except for two lifeguard stations in the distance on the left and the right end of the beach. Right in front of us lies a big camp fire halfway towards the water, there are about a dozen shapes moving around it. And there seems to be faint music. There is no sitting area, there is no beach lounge, and no dance floor like I am used to from the beaches I usually go to. There is just litter, a whole lot of litter.
When I get out of the car behind Beth, I see Louis getting out of the other car as well. He doesn't even look at me. He just slams the door shut and walks right past me towards the fire. I can't help but feel guilty for turning down his offer to sit with me on the car ride, even though I know that there is nothing to feel bad about. Also, he rejected me first. In a different way, but still.
"Ever seen this kind of a beach before, Mr Gates?" Liam jokes as he gets out of the car to stand next to me, smirking at me sarcastically.
"It looks... nice," I reply politely. I'm definitely not used to beaches like this.
"Yeah, I know right," Liam chuckles and puts his palm on my back, "sorry we can't serve you pawns and champagne tonight, but I guess beer and crisps will do, right?"
"Don't mind me, I'm just the hostage," I say under my breath as Liam gets distracted by two dark figures who walk towards us.
"Look who's here!" he calls over to them, "Luke, Cal, how you doing, lads?"
"Payno, what's up, man?" one of the boys says. As they get closer, I can see that one has blonde hair, the other black.
"Haven't seen you in a while, wanker," the dark haired guy says as he hugs Liam and pretents to kick his knee up into his crotch.
"Careful, Hood, you don't wanna have a repeat of the face-in-sand incident from last time, do you?" Liam warns him, laughing.
"Harry," he turns to me, "that's Calum. And the penguin over there is Luke."
The two boys look at me for the first time.
"Oh hey, are you new?" Luke asks bluntly.
"That's Harry," Liam introduces me to the two guys, "he's uh... a friend of..." he turns his head to all sides as if looking for something until he sees Niall who is just walking around the back of the car, "Niall!" he exclaims.
Luke and Calum look up to see the Irish boy and dramatically gasp, just the same moment Niall sees the two Shark Heads and stops short.
"Niall?" Calum sqeaks weakly and opens his arms wide, as if to give him a hug.
Luke begins to mock whimper, doing the same. "Oh my god, Niall! We've missed you so much," he exclaims in a high pitched voice. Both are pretending to sob by now.
Niall seems undecided. He is clearly still mortified from what happened yesterday, but something else seems to be trying to overrule these feelings somehow.
As if on cue, Calum and Luke run towards Niall, crashing into him and jump up and down while they squeak like little girls that are told they get to meet their idol. It just takes seconds until Niall joins them, jumping up and down in excitement, too.
"Oh my, we have to tell Michael that you've arrived," Calum wails dramatically, pulling Niall past me and Liam and towards the beach while Luke jumps up Niall's back to return to the fire by a piggyback ride.
I look at them in slight shock while Liam stands next to me, smiling pleased.
"Don't worry, Harry," he chuckles, "that's their normal state when they're together. I had hoped they could make the leprechaun smile again."
"That's their normal state?" I wonder, trying to imagine them when they're excited.
"Yeah, well. They're kind of in a weird fivesome relationship, the three of them and two other Sharks," Liam says, but suddenly stops to chuckle. "Platonically of course," he corrects himself, "like that bromance kinda thing."
I can't help but look at Liam weird. It never made me angry before - mainly because I never even gave it a thought - but now it bothers me that everybody seems to try and distance themselves from anything slightly gay related. It's probably since I've met Louis and started to have these feelings and... urges... that I've started to realize how inconsiderate and rude it is to always make sure that nobody thinks you're gay.
"Yeah, 'course," I croak and clear my throat quickly.
"Let's go down there, I need some booze right now," Liam pads me on the back and leads me to the camp fire.
As we reach it, I see that the other Sparrows have already sat down around it. Perrie is rolling around the sand in a bunch of squeaking girls that I've never seen and Louis is already sipping away a bottle of beer. Everyone seems to be busy doing their thing so I simply sit down on the next best log, starring into the fire. It doesn't last as long as I thought it would because suddenly somebody sits down next to me with two bottles of beer.
"Hey mate, want one?" he says, holding one out for me to grab it. He's a rather stocky ginger of medium hight with a full sleeve on his arm and a guitar around his shoulder.
"Thanks," I smile at him and take the bottle.
"It's not the greatest - awful actually - but it does its job," he chuckles, clicking his bottle with mine before he takes a sip. "I'm Ed, by the way," he introduces himself.
"Harry," I say, taking a sip on my own bottle. It really is awful, bland and bitter at the same time.
"Harry, nice to meet you, man," Ed smiles, "Thought I'd join you, you looked a little lost."
"Yeah," I smile somewhat embarrassed, "yeah, a lot of new faces. Everyone knows each other. Everyone's excited. Didn't know what to do."
"Don't worry, just do whatever you like, we don't bite," he says, chuckling, "even though we're Sharks."
"Oh my god, you are, aren't you," I laugh. I like his humor. It's simple, like mine.
We sit next to each other, drinking our beer while everyone around is still laughing and shouting. But it's not awkward, it feels relaxing actually.
"I like your sleeve," I say when my eyes land on it again, "did it take long?"
Ed shrugs. "Not too long," he hums, "Little over a year maybe. Once I started, I couldn't stop."
"Yeah, I know the feeling," I chuckle, showing him my arm.
"Oh, you got quite the sleeve, too," Ed says, looking at my tattoos.
"Not really a sleeve, it's just a lot of tattoos on one arm," I smile, "I have more on the rest of my body."
Ed laughs. "The rest of you body, I see," I winks, making me blush slightly.
"I don't... I didn't mean-" I stutter.
"It's okay, man," Ed chuckles, "Everyone knows the girls love to find an elephant down there."
I force a laugh. "Haha! Yeah, guess so," I mumble.
"What? Are you saying you don't have one?" he jokes.
"Surprisingly no," I smirk.
"Well, if you need someone to tattoo you the trunk, just ask me," Ed winks, "I got equipment."
"Oh you're the guy that has equipment," I raise my eyebrows, "Louis told me."
"I am. It's fun," he smiles, "seriously, if you want a free tattoo, just ask me. Friends of the Sparrows are our friends, too."
I only smile politely.
"What? You don't trust me?" he laughs.
"Uh, yeah I do," I reply quickly, feeling really uncomfortable, taking another huge gulp of my beer to end the conversation. Ed doesn't seem to mind.
"You play?" I say after a while, pointing at his guitar.
"Definitly," he says, "Do you?"
I shake my head no. "I'm alright but that's all. I'm better at singing," I answer.
"You sing?" Ed says, looking impressed, "That's so cool, mate! I do, too. Sometimes, I perform uptown at the mall for the rich folk, earning a tiny bit of money for us."
I raise my eyebrows in recognition. "Oh my god, yes! I've seen you before," I say excitedly, "You're amazing!"
"You hang out at the mall?" Ed frowns, "How are you even able to afford the fries they sell there?"
Damn. "Uh, I just walk around there, pretty much," I lie. Why am I even lying for the Sparrows? "You know, see if I can find a certain ginger pop star," I laugh to distract Ed from his question, "You really are amazing, you know that?"
"You think?" Ed smiles to the ground, "We should sing together. You're down?" He pulls his guitar onto his lap, looking at me in expectation.
I laugh breathily. "Um, well, maybe some other time," I chuckle, "You can sing, though. I like your voice."
"Come on, one song," he says, "You said you heard me a few times. Do you know a song?"
"Dunno," I hum. Truth is, I already have a song of his in mind that I love.
"What about Thinking Out Loud?" he suggests, "I always play that. You must've heard it if you hang out there."
"I have, it's my favorite," I nod my head, smiling.
"There you go," he says and starts playing, "I'll start and you back me up, deal?"
I smile at him, not knowing what to do. I look at the others, sitting around the camp fire. How awkward will it be to sing in front of them, knowing that I don't really belong to any of them? Louis is sitting on the other side of the circle, looking up when he hears the first few sounds of the guitar.
"Yes! Finally some music," Luke cheers, making everyone pay attention. At first I feel awkward, but when Ed gets to the chorus which I know by heart, I start singing along and it feels great to sing again. The whole time, I try to avoid Louis' frown and keep my eyes on Ed's fingers that move over the guitar in such a light and effortless motion. But every once in a while, I catch myself looking directly at this beautiful boy with his feathery brown hair and his blue eyes and that sexy stubble, feeling like these lines were written for him.
When we finish, the others cheer and whistle and I do to because it was really just Ed singing honestly and every time I listen to him, I'm in awe of his voice.
Suddenly, Louis speaks up who is still sitting there with crossed arms and a bored expression on his face. "Isn't it beautiful," he says loudly, "Just met each other and already harmonizing together. Terrific." Everyone goes silent in confusion.
"Congratulations, Styles, you have made a friend," he scoffs, "You wanna stay with the Sharks from now on?"
I just stare back at him with furrowed eyebrows. What's wrong with him? The bottle he is holding in his hand is already his second.
"Cut it out, Louis," Liam interferes, "Just drink your beer and shut up if you're in a shit mood."
"What? Are you not able to speak for yourself anymore, Styles," Louis chuckles. "Need to rest your voice for another incredible duet with Mr Ed Sheeran himself, right?"
"Louis," I say quietly. Why is he doing this to me?
"You know what, you guys should start a band. See who else is up for it," Louis huffs, looking around the crowd as if he was being serious.
"Wow, what a killer mood tonight, huh lads," a voice says from behind me and I turn around to look at its owner. It's a tall, lanky guy with dark blonde and wavy hair. I haven't seen him before. He wears a bandana on his head and a ripped band tshirt with black skinny jeans. "Sorry for being late. But I brought burgers!" he cheers, holding up two full paper bags that I'm sure he has not paid for.
"Ash! Look who's here!" Calum yells and points at Niall with both hands. As soon as bandana-boy sees the Irish boy, he drops the bags and jumps over too him, completely forgetting the food.
Ed chuckles and grabs the bags. "Yeah, they're pretty lame, actually," he smirks and hands me a burger. Only now, I realize who hungry I am. I haven't had anything nearly as good as a cold burger in over a week.
"By the way, your voice is incredible," Ed smiles at me, "are you sure you're not a professional?"
"Absolutely sure," I laugh, "Even though, I was once the lead singer of a band when I was just a kid but we kinda stopped meeting at some point."
"Man, I'm starving! I seriously need a burger right now," bandana-boy says as he walks towards us, sitting down next to me.
"How did you get them, mate?" Ed asks, smirking knowingly.
"You know that the old lady behind he counter is completely infatuated with me, Ed," he smiles proudly. To be honest, I can see why. When he smiles, he presses his lips together, making his mouth look like a very long line from one cheek to the other. In combination with his big honest eyes he looks like a cute frog or a little puppy or both.
"I thought as much," Ed laughs, "that woman would totally bed you if you'd let her, or breast feed you which ever you like better."
"Ugh, stahp, Teddy," bandana-boy laughs with a disgusted expression on his face, "I'm never going to get the picture out of my head." Then he looks at me as if he just realized that there is a person sitting between him and Ed. "Hi, I'm Ashton," he smiles and I shake his hand, "are you new?"
I shake my head. "No, I'm Harry," I joke. "Friend of Niall's," I go with what Liam has told Calum and Luke.
"Of Niall's?" Ashton raises his eyebrows, "Good lad, isn't he?"
"Very good lad," I smile.
"You know, at first I thought you were Louis' friend," he says casually, "Seemed really intense when I arrived. I thought he was jealous or something." He looks at me expectantly when I don't reply immediately.
"Oh yeah, no. He's probably just in a bad mood," I say feeling sad at the thought. Louis jealous. No way, that ship has sailed. Not interested is more like it.
"Looked like his 'bad mood' was directed at you personally, though," Ashton persists.
"Guess he just doesn't like me as much as I thought he did," I mumble, in thought.
Ashton doesn't reply for a while, just looking back and forth between me and Louis who is still looking over to us with a deep frown on his face. Suddenly Ashton's face breaks into his adorable smile and he bites into his burger as if he was trying to hide it.
"What?" I wonder, nervously picking on my own burger.
"Nothin'," he smiles before taking an alarmingly long sip of his beer.
Ashton you little sh*t! :D
Okay, if you read this, thank you, I love you, you're beautiful, and damn you look sexy today!!
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