Harry's POV
I was half awake, listening to the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore through the open patio door, when I rolled over to pull Hailey closer to me and found she wasn't there. I groggily patted her side of the bed in search of her before I realized her side of the bed was cold and finally opened my eyes to find I was alone. I opened my eyes, looking to where she should be before my eyes scanned the room and landed on the stream of light coming from the bottom of the bathroom door.
I laid back down, closing my eyes but missing the feeling of her beside me, when I realized she must have been in there a while for her side of the bed to be cold. It was then when I could have sworn I heard a soft sniffle coming from behind the bathroom door.
I sat up in bed, listening for a second, before I got up and made my way to the bathroom, softly knocking against the wood of the door.
"Bear?" I said softly as I heard her sniffle once again. "You okay?"
I slowly turned the knob, a bit relieved to see it was unlocked, before I pushed the door open to find her hunched over on the bathroom floor. Her back was to me, so I couldn't see her face, but I got confirmation that she was crying as she reached up and wiped her cheeks. I took a few steps toward her and crouched down beside her, placing my hand on her back as worry started to rush through me.
"What is it? What's the matter?" I asked as she continued to hunch over, closing her eyes tightly and wrapping her arms around her abdomen.
I saw her wince and suddenly realized she was in pain, which was the last thing I was expecting. I think I thought maybe she'd had a bad dream, or she was missing home or something, the sight of her in physical pain instantly made my heart ache.
"Hails, talk to me. Are you in pain? What hurts?" I said as I reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear.
"I...I have really bad cramps." She sniffled as she reached up and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "I'm getting my period."
I felt a bit of relief wash over me that it wasn't something more serious, but instantly felt horrible at the idea that she'd been in there in pain for god knows how long while I slept soundly.
"Oh, Bear. I'm sorry." I sighed as I shifted to sit next to her on the floor, putting my arm around her and pulling her into me. "What can I do?"
"I don't know...they're really bad, I don't usually get them this bad." She sniffled as I ran my fingers through her hair.
"Why don't you take a bath? I know it can help sometimes, the warm water helps blood flow or some shit." I said as I pulled away to look at her, wiping the wetness from her cheeks with my thumbs. "I'll run you a bath and then see if I can find a hot water bottle around here."
Growing up in a house full of women, I'd picked up a trick or two in my life about these things. I remembered my sister used to spend an hour in the bath before she'd be on the couch in the fetal position for the rest of the day, clutching a hot water bottle like it was a newborn child.
"Okay." Hails sighed as she nodded, and I immediately stood up to turn on the water for a bath.
I poured in the bubble bath as the tub slowly began to fill, making sure it wasn't too hot, before I reached down and pulled her up to stand. She winced immediately, doubling over while she clutched her side and a small cry escaped her lips.
"It really hurts, Haz." She cried, and all I could do was try to get her into the bath as soon as possible.
"I know, babe. I'm sorry. This is gonna help, let's get you undressed." I said softly as I pulled my t-shirt that she'd worn to bed over her head, taking her hand as she stepped into the tub and slowly sat down.
She hunched over for a few minutes, resting her head on her knees as she tried to take deep breaths, as I tried to soothingly rub her back until the tub was full.
"Just take deep breaths, Bear. Let the water do its job." I said softly as she was finally able to lean back, and I gently brushed her hair off her face. "I'm gonna go check and see if there's a hot water bottle around here somewhere."
She nodded slowly as she leaned her head back, taking slow but deep breaths as she tried to control her pain, and I started searching through the cupboards in the bathroom. When I didn't find one in there, I checked all the other bathrooms and then the kitchen with no luck. I also searched for Midol, or any kind of pain reliever, and couldn't find that either.
I headed back to the bedroom and pulled out a pair of my sweatpants and a t-shirt that she could sleep in and feel comfortable, and went to grab her a pair of underwear and whatever feminine product she'd need once she was out of the bath. I searched all through her bag to find that there weren't any, realizing Sam probably didn't realize that Hails would be starting her period on our trip. I sighed as I realized I'd have to go to the store, making a mental note of all the things I should grab while I was there. I headed back into the bathroom to check on her, relieved to see that she looked a bit more relaxed.
"I can't find a hot water bottle anywhere, and I noticed Sam didn't pack you any uh, stuff, so I'm gonna run to the store. Do you want me to stay with you until you're out of the bath?" I asked from the doorway.
"Are you sure? I haven't started bleeding yet. I'll check, maybe she put it in one of the side pockets." She said as she moved to get out of the bath, wincing again as she sat up.
"Don't move." I said as I stepped toward her, helping her lay back down. "I checked, there's nothing. I can go, I don't mind. I'll even grab you some ice cream."
"Remind me to thank your mom and Gem for training you so well." She said, a small smile tugging at her lips before she grimaced in pain once again.
"I'll be back in a few minutes, is there anything in particular you want?"
"You know what I like." She sighed, closing her eyes as she leaned back. "I'll be fine with whatever."
"Okay...and um, what kind do you use? Do you have a certain brand or something?"
"I don't care, just tampons are fine." She said as I stood up. "Actually wait, no that's a lie. I hate the ones with no applicator, I usually just get Playtex but if they don't have them another kind is fine, just make sure they have the applicator. And I feel like it might be heavy so can you get a mix of sizes?"
"Got it." I chuckled. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Just stay in the bath, I'll add some more hot water so it stays warm. Move your feet."
I reached up and turned on the hot water, mixing it around to make sure it was warm enough before she put her feet back down to make sure they didn't get scalded. I leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, promising I'd be right back before I grabbed the keys from the kitchen and hopped into the car that was in the garage of the rental house.
I checked the clock on the dash, seeing it was 2:47am, and knew I'd have to hit a CVS or other drug store that was open 24 hours. I searched one in the GPS and was thankful to see the closest one was only ten minutes away. I drove down the dark road, the warm tropical breeze flowing in through the window, before I hit the main road and made my way to the drug store.
I pulled up a few minutes later, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, and hopped out to head inside. Being so late, there was hardly anyone around and I was thankful I could just get in and get the stuff I needed and get back to Hails. I grabbed a little basket, heading straight to the aisle to grab her tampons, midol and a hot water bottle, before I made my way to the junk food area to grab her some Ben and Jerrys, a bag of chips and some chocolate. I was just double checking I had everything when I heard a voice call my name behind me.
"Oh my god, Harry Styles?"
I turned around on instinct at the sound of my name, and saw a young girl, probably about 18, grinning excitedly at me.
"Oh my god, it is you! I can't believe this, of all the places you could be right now!" She squealed as I tried to shoot her a soft smile. "Can I please get a photo with you? I don't mean to be annoying, I just can't believe this!"
"Sure." I smiled as she pulled out her phone and came to stand beside me.
I had to admit, I'd grown so used to blending in that it seemed a bit strange that a stranger knew who I was. It was a stark reminder of just how different my life had been, and I knew I'd be going back to my old life soon.
"Thank you so much." She said sincerely as she pulled away.
"Of course, no problem." I smiled as she pulled me into a hug. "Actually, can you do me a favor?" I asked as I pulled away.
"Sure, anything." She beamed.
"Can you just wait to post that? I'm really just trying to enjoy some time off and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't post it until I'm off the island."
"Oh, yeah of course. I understand. I'll keep it under wraps for a few weeks." She promised.
"Thank you so much, I really appreciate it."
"No, thank you. I'm such a huge fan of yours and I'm so happy to see that you're just as sweet in person as I thought you were. Thank you for the photo, and I'll let you get on with your evening."
I thanked her again before she took off down the aisle, and I headed toward the check out so I could get home to Hailey. I knew there was a good chance that she wouldn't keep her promise, but I'd done everything I could to keep my presence on the island quiet, that was all I could do.
The guy at the check out counter ran my items through, smiling to himself as he bagged it all up.
"Ahhh the midnight run for the girlfriend on her period. Been there my friend." He chuckled as he noted the things I was buying.
"Something like that." I smiled.
"You don't look like you're from around here, on vacation?"
"Yeah, just a little getaway." I said as he gave me the total and I handed him my credit card.
We made small talk as he finished packing up the bags and handed them to me, and I wished him a good night before I headed back out to the car and went home to find Hails right where I left her.
"I'm back." I smiled as I put the bags on the counter in the bathroom and crouched down beside her. "How we doin?"
"A bit better. I'm scared to move though." She laughed lightly.
"Well we should probably get you out of there, you're all pruney."
She nodded before I helped her stand up, and she seemed to still be uncomfortable but not in as much pain as before. I wrapped a towel around her and brought her my clothes that I'd pulled out for her, before I left her alone to do her business and took the rest of the stuff to the kitchen. I threw the ice cream in the freezer, left the chocolate and chips on the counter and filled up her hot water bottle before she appeared in the doorway of the kitchen.
She looked adorable in my sweats that were way too big for her, my t-shirt coming down to the middle of her thighs, like a kid who'd been playing dress up in her dad's closet. I made her a cup of tea and gave her two midol before I led her to the couch and turned on the TV. She cuddled up to me, wrapping her hands around the warm cup as if she was freezing, and rested her head on my shoulder as I flicked through the channels.
Once we settled on Netflix and found Pitch Perfect, I got up and grabbed the ice cream and two spoons before I hauled all our junk back to the living room and spread it out on the coffee table.
"Have I told you yet today that you're my favorite?" She smiled up at me as I sat back down next to her, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her into me.
"No, but you don't have to say it. It's obvious." I scoffed as I pulled the lid off the ice cream.
"Well, thank you. Most guys would have rolled over and gone back to sleep." She sighed.
I just leaned over and kissed her head, pulling her closer to me as she nuzzled her face into my neck. We shared our pint of ice cream until we both eventually dosed off, waking up hours later to a completely bright room and a stiff neck. I looked over to see the TV was still on, the main Netflix menu on the screen as I grabbed the remote and turned of the TV. I checked the clock to see it was 10am, and saw Hails was still sound asleep against my chest.
We'd spent the first couple of days of our vacation lounging around on the beach, settling into vacation mode, and I realized that our first adventure I'd planned was organized for that day. I wasn't sure how up for it she would be since I knew she was feeling kind of crappy, but I decided I should ask her before I just cancelled it.
"Bear, wake up." I said softly as I laid small kisses to her cheeks.
She stirred lightly before she let out a small whimper, burying her face back into my chest as she tried to cling to sleep. I left her alone for a minute, knowing she needed to adjust to being awake or I'd feel the wrath of morning Hails which coincidentally was like waking a sleeping bear.
"Come on, it's morning." I said softly as I ran my fingers through her hair. "How you feeling?"
"Sleepy." She mumbled as I couldn't help but chuckle to myself.
She groaned a little before she sat up, her hair sticking up on one side and the imprint of my t-shirt on the side of her cheek from how she'd slept. She looked like a toddler that had just fallen asleep in the car who was not happy to be awake as she rubbed her eyes with her hands and stuck out her bottom lip.
"You wanna go back to bed? How's your tummy?" I asked with a light laugh.
"Don't laugh at me, I didn't get much sleep." She defended as she swatted me in the chest. "I feel okay, just a little blah."
"Well are you up for an adventure today or do you just wanna hang out?"
"Ooohhh what kind of adventure?" She asked, immediately perking up.
"It's a surprise." I grinned. "That's part of the adventure."
"Okay, what time are we going?" She asked as she stood up with zero hesitation.
Morning Hailey was nowhere to be found as soon as adventure was mentioned, not surprisingly, and I just smiled and shook my head at her. I stood up from the couch, softy pressing my lips to hers as she smiled up at me, before I grabbed all the stuff off the coffee table and started to take it to the kitchen.
"We'll leave in about an hour." I called back out to her as she stared out the patio door at the beach.
"Oh! We have to check on the turtles!" She said excitedly as she sprinted outside and down to the beach.
I followed her, not nearly as quickly as she'd taken off, and eventually found her running from nest to nest excitedly looking like a kid on Christmas.
"Any luck?" I asked as I watched her.
"Not yet, but they usually hatch at night. I think this one is coming soon!" She said as she motioned for me to join her.
"How do you know?" I asked as I crouched beside her.
"See these cracks in the mound? Something is moving underneath to make the sand move. The eggs are probably shifting as they try to hatch!" She said excitedly as she grabbed my arm. "We have to come down and check tonight. Do we have flashlights? We'll have to lead them to the water."
"I think I saw some. Sounds like a plan." I smiled as I kissed her head. "Let's go get ready."
She took my hand as I led her back up the beach to the house, both of us showering quickly before we threw on some shorts and runners, ready to head out. The car picked us up a few minutes later, driving us up the mountain where we met a guide that led us into the jungle.
"I love this!" Hails said excitedly as we made our way through the lush greenery that was so different from what we were used to.
It was a different kind of scenery than what we were used to in Lily Ridge. There were no giant trees that were as tall as sky scrapers, the crispness of the air was replaced by the humidity and heaviness in the air of the jungle, and instead of watching for bears and cougars there were snakes and wild boars. Hails, of course, had her gopro out ensuring that our adventure was being well documented, and I smiled at the way she never left home without it. I often wondered what kind of hidden gems were on it, making a mental note that I'd like to go through them all one day.
Our guide was great, explaining all kinds of things as we made our way down the trail, and he eventually stopped and let us wander alone, letting us know we could meet him back at that spot when we were ready to leave. I held Hailey's hand as we made our way to a clearing at the peak of the mountain, both of us exhaling as we took in the beauty of it all.
We could see the blue of the ocean in the distance, but it was the miles and miles of lush plants and trees that seemed to take our breath away. It was absolutely beautiful as we stood on top of the mountain, the quietness settled around us as we took it all in. I thought of Hailey's favorite spot in Lily Ridge, where you could see the lakes and the town nestled between the mountains, and how she'd talked about how it made you feel so small in the grand scheme of things. I had a similar feeling in that spot, that we were a small part of something so much bigger.
"This is beautiful." She smiled over at me. "It's perfect."
"It reminds me of your spot." I said as I threw my arm around her. "You can see for miles, nothing but nature."
"I like it."
"Me too." I smiled as I leaned down and kissed her.
We stood there for a few minutes before a familiar sound came from overhead, both of us looking up to see a helicopter approaching. Hailey looked over at me, a smirk on her face as it got closer, the noise becoming too loud for us to speak at a normal level.
"Why do I feel like that's not a coincidence!" She shouted, making sure I could hear her over the noise.
"Probably cause it's not!" I laughed as it landed behind us in the clearing and turned off, the pilot getting out to greet us.
"What did you do?" She asked in disbelief as he made his way towards us.
I just smiled at her as I greeting the pilot, who let us know he was ready to go when we were. I grabbed Hailey's hand and led her toward the helicopter, and she reluctantly followed me. She kept shooting me looks as we climbed in, and I had to place her headphones on her head for her because she was too busy glaring at me.
"Harry..." She said as she watched me put my own headphones on, smiling at her once I was finished.
"Hails...." I said, mocking her as I rolled my eyes.
"I told you, stop doing things like this!" She scolded me.
"Oh come on, don't act like taking this helicopter across the island over this jungle to an epic waterfall isn't on your bucket list." I scoffed.
"That's not the point."
"Yes it is." I grinned at her and I watched her sigh in defeat as she turned to look out the window.
*******
Hailey's POV
I gripped Harry's hand tightly as we flew over the jungle, the movement of the helicopter making me a bit uneasy because I wasn't used to it. We passed numerous waterfalls and hidden clearings through the mountains, and every time we passed one Harry and I would look over at smile at each other, pointing out the things we could spot and making sure neither of us missed anything.
It was one of the most amazing things I'd ever done, but I hated that I knew this entire trip had probably costed him so much money. I knew he wasn't exactly living paycheque to paycheque, but it was still his money and he seemed to be spending a lot of it on me lately.
"Bear." He said softly as he nudged me with his arm and pointed out his window. "Look."
I leaned across him to see the biggest waterfall I'd ever seen, cascading over a cliff and into a huge swimming hole below. I knew it must have been massive, because we were quite high up and it looked huge from that far away. I smiled up at Harry, both of us beaming at the sight of it, before I turned back to look down.
"You wanna go?" He asked, a small smirk tugging at his lips.
"Really? We can go down there?" I asked excitedly.
"We're in a helicopter. We can go anywhere you want." He said as he reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear, before he requested that the pilot take us down to that waterfall.
I was practically jumping out of my seat as we landed in a clearing a little ways from the waterfall, immediately jumping out and running up towards it as Harry ran behind me. We reached it in a few minutes, both of us stopping to catch our breath as we looked up at it.
"This...is epic." I sighed as he threw his arm around my neck, sighing to himself.
"Agreed."
We sat looking up at it for a few minutes, before Harry looked down at me with a mischievous grin.
"Let's go." He said, and before I could even respond he was stripping off his t-shirt and launching himself into the water, yelling at me to get in.
I pulled off my tank top and my shorts, stripping down to my bikini, before I jumped in and swam over to him. We made our way to the waterfall, swimming under it before we climbed onto the rocks behind it. Harry immediately started scaling the side of it to the middle of the cliff before he jumped off and back into the swimming pool. I had to admit, his adventurous side had become a lot more prominent over the summer, and I rarely had to taunt him into doing anything. He was just as game as I was, and at times I even found him talking me into doing things, which was quite the switch from where we started.
We swam around for a while before we got out, sitting on the rocks in the sun and drying off while we talked about our day.
"I can't believe there aren't any people here. I thought waterfalls in Hawaii would be crawling with people." I said as I looked around.
"I think they are at the popular ones, but this one is a hidden gem apparently." He shrugged.
"You knew we were coming here all along, didn't you?" I laughed.
"Maybe." He smiled.
"What am I gonna do with you." I sighed. "Stop being so nice to me."
"I will never understand why it makes you so uncomfortable when I do anything nice for you. It's bizarre." He scoffed. "You've got problems."
"Shut up." I laughed as I splashed him and he chuckled.
We sat there for a little while longer, before we threw our clothes back on and headed back to the clearing to find that the helicopter had left and there was a car waiting instead. I just looked over at Harry, who didn't seem surprised, and hopped inside. We made our way back to the house, and I kept catching Harry smiling to himself as he looked out the window.
"What is so funny?" I asked as I playfully nudged him.
"What? Nothing." He said, trying to keep a straight face but failing.
"Seriously, what is wrong with you?" I laughed. "You're practically giggling over there to yourself."
"I'm just happy." He said, grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it, still unable to contain his smile.
"You're full of shit, but okay." I chuckled.
A few minutes later we were heading down the familiar road back to our place, and Harry seemed to get more and more giddy. He kept telling me nothing was wrong with him but it was obvious he was extremely excited about something and on the verge of blurting it out any second. He was basically chewing the inside of his cheek to stop himself from speaking and I became more and more anxious as to why.
I peered out the window as we approached the house, looking for anything that might be out of place, and didn't notice anything to be off except for Harry. He hopped out and offered me his hand to help me out of the car, and I just glared at him.
"What?" He asked as I didn't go to get out of the car. "Come on, let's go inside."
"I am not getting out of this car until you tell me what the hell you're up to." I said sternly. "Seriously, you're freaking me out."
"I'm not up to anything!" He defended.
"Harry, you are the worst liar I have ever met." I rolled my eyes at him.
"Bear, please just get out of the car.'
I sighed in defeat as I took his hand and he pulled me out of the car, closing the door behind me and thanking the driver before he pulled away. He threw his arm around me as we walked up to the house, and I heard a sound that send complete and utter confusion through me. I immediately looked up at him, and he looked back at me curiously.
"Harry...is that...what the fuck?" I asked, beyond confused as he led me into the house.
The sound only got louder as we entered. It stopped for a minute, but I definitely knew I wasn't just hearing things when it started again.
"Okay...why is there a crying baby in the house?" I asked as I looked up at him. "Please tell me you didn't steal someone's baby."
Before he could respond, I heard little footsteps barreling down the hall and the sound of a little voice that was like music to my ears.
"Auntie Hails!!" Cash squealed as he crashed into me, almost knocking me over.
I barely even had time to process what the hell was happening as I looked over at Harry, who just leaned down and scooped up Cash, the two of them just staring at me as I tried to absorb what was happening.
"Wha....I-What the...?"
"I think we got her pretty good, didn't we buddy?" Harry smiled as he held up his hand for Cash to high five.
"Yep." Cash giggled as he slapped his hand with Harry's. "Happy Birthday, Auntie!"
I was still trying to figure out how Cash could possibly be in Hawaii when Ryan appeared holding Sophia, Kels trailing behind them as they came down the hall.
"Well, she's speechless. I can't say I've ever seen that before." Ryan chuckled as he came over and hugged me, kissing my head as he pulled away and grabbed Sophia's little hand and waved it at me. "Happy Birthday, Auntie Hailey! I'm your surprise."
"Okay, I hate you all. Give her to me." I laughed as I took her from Ryan, cuddling her into my as I rocked her back and forth. "You're the only one who didn't lie to me, Munchkin. They're all jerks."
They all just stood there laughing at me as I still tried to grasp that they were really there, nobody saying anything as they got thorough enjoyment out of my shock.
"How did you even get them here!? And why?!" I said as I swatted Harry.
"Well see, they have these things called planes now. You get on one, and it takes you somewhere." Harry said sarcastically as I swatted him again.
"Harry asked us like over a month ago. We didn't know how it would go cause Soph's so young, but we made it work." Ryan shrugged.
"Yeah, your stubborn ass brother made it work by not letting me pay for it." Harry scoffed, obviously annoyed.
"Let's not do this again." Kelsey rolled her eyes at them. "You two can bicker over it later. The important thing is that we're all together for Hailey's birthday. That was the point, so quit your arguing."
Harry and Ryan just shot each other a look, both of them letting the other know they weren't finished, before Harry put Cash down and he immediately clung to my leg.
"Can we go to the beach?" He asked as he looked up at me.
"Yes, buddy. Let's go." I laughed as we headed out the back to the beach, and Cash was completely mesmerized by the different colored water.
He'd obviously been to the beach before, but not a tropical paradise and it was obvious he was very excited about it. Ryan made sure he had on his sunscreen and bathing suit before Harry took him into the water, holding him as the waves rolled in and helping him jump over them as he giggled. Soph slept soundly under the beach umbrella while Ry and Kelsey laid in the sun, and I was still having trouble believing they were all really there.
Harry and I showed Cash the turtle nests and explained that they might hatch soon, and he immediately made us promise he could stay up and help them if they hatched. I watched as Harry explained to him why turtles had hard shells and why they are different from the ninja turtles. He listened intently as I smiled to myself, listening to them discuss the various weapons each ninja turtle used and why real turtles are too slow to use them.
I looked around, my brother and his wife finally getting a much needed vacation as their new daughter slept soundly beside them, and Harry teaching Cash everything he knew about the differences between real and cartoon turtles, and I couldn't remember a time that everything felt so perfect. It was by far the best birthday I'd ever had so far, and it wasn't even my actual birthday until the next day.
Without thinking I just leaned over and pressed my lips to Harry's, not caring that he was in the middle of a sentence about Raphael's bad attitude, and watched the smile cross his lips as I pulled away and he looked over at me.
"What was that for?" He grinned as we both ignored the disgusted noise Cash made from Harry's lap.
"No reason in particular." I just smiled.