A week had gone by. And then two. Unfortunately for Harry, it was, for the most part, uneventful. He was to spend five weeks in Doncaster with his uncle before going back home a few weeks before school started, and he still had three weeks left.
It wasn't like he was miserable, but he definitely wasn't living up to the expectations of partying every night and making memories that would last a lifetime that his mum had set on him. In general, Harry woke up around eight, ate whatever breakfast his uncle had decided to set out that morning, went on a walk around noon, played his guitar and wrote a few lyrics down to random chord patterns he was coming up with, and then improvising the rest of his day from there.
He had been spending quite a bit of one-on-one time with Niall. He learned practically everything there is to know about him because man does that boy like to talk. Harry's confident he could write a five-page essay on the fake blonde lad from Ireland who loves Nandos and golf. Harry and Niall had gotten along really well because both of the boys like guitar, so they had, a few times, met at the break from trees to open land during the sunset and just strummed a few melodies together. Niall was better, but Harry had the voice for their songs. It fit perfectly.
He had also been spending a lot of time with his uncle, going fishing whenever his uncle wasn't working, and, Harry will never tell you this, but a lot of the fish they caught, Harry released back into the pond when his uncle wasn't looking. He just hates seeing it struggle out of the water.
They also went out of town a few times to neighboring towns in Yorkshire: Bradford being one of them. Harry remembered hearing that the Malik family had been originally from Bradford so he thought it was interesting driving down the winding roads of the town the black haired boy had grown up in.
He didn't know much of Zayn, besides the fact that he seemed to be crafted by the Gods, but he could tell, even from the first second he met him, that he seemed like such a down-to-Earth fellow with a heart of gold.
Harry had passed Zayn and his group of friends a few times. It seemed to be four guys, sometimes six when Harry noticed two other guys with them, and two girls. They looked like fun and Harry had wished so many times that he had the confidence and security to go up to them and ask to hang out with them.
But he never did. Instead, he'd just watch as they passed him by, Niall giving him a small nod of acknowledgement, while he kept on his way, walking God knows where, thinking about how lonely being alone can get.
He kept up with his promise and had written his mum a few times. Other than that, he called her and texted her, but she had made him promise to write her old-fashioned letters because she told him that 'she had always wanted to have someone be able to write her while they're away' and apparently phones had ruined that for her.
So Harry had written quite a few lengthy letters to his mum. Barely speaking about his experience because, to be honest, there wasn't much to talk about, but he had written about how much he misses her and about the songs he had written recently.
Harry had developed a noticeable tan from all of the time he was spending outside. He had come with a milky tint to his skin, and now looked more similar to the caramel boy he had met two weeks ago.
Harry wondered about that caramel boy. What was his name again? And why does he seem to be a recurring theme in Harry's thoughts?
He hadn't seen him face-to-face since that first day. Of course, he had noticed him whenever he saw that group of friends walking around town, and he had seen him and Zayn together a few times.
He fascinated Harry and Harry didn't know why. He wished he could approach the boy and talk to him, but Harry could never do that.
So now, Harry and his uncle were out for dinner at a pub near their house. Harry had ordered a burger with chips on the side, his usual dinner meal from most of the pubs around them, and his uncle had ordered a big slice of steak. He didn't know how his uncle stayed so thin after eating as much as he did.
"So how's Niall?"
"He's good, I saw him yesterday. We met up and played some guitar."
"And have you gotten to know any of his friends? Zayn, Liam, Louis?"
Harry shook his head. As much as he wished he could say he did, lying was never Harry's thing.
"Oh, well you should. I bet they're real nice lads." Uncle Mike returned to his steak after that.
Harry only sighed, wishing what his uncle said was as easy as he made it sound. Harry hated being shy. It kept him from so much and he hated that. So he returned to his chips as he daydreamed about having a group of friends.
They finished eating around fifteen minutes later, leaving a generous tip, and getting on their way. The ride home was pretty silent because it was late and Harry was drained from the day, so he leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes. Not shortly after, he was being shaken awake by his uncle as he rubbed his eyes. A ten minute drive and Harry had managed to fall asleep. He chuckled to himself as he climbed out of the black SUV and into the house.
"I think I'm just going to go to sleep."
"Absolutely not. It's nine o'clock, go out and have fun. I bet Niall and his friends are out and having fun, go find them."
Harry rolled his eyes but agreed with his uncle. With no plans in mind, Harry grabbed a book he was reading and exited through the front door.
"Don't come back too early! Stay out late! Get in trouble!" Harry had heard his uncle call as he stepped through the doorway. Harry laughed at how backwards this interaction was.
He stuffed his book into a small over-the-shoulder bag he had grabbed from the cubbies, and started on his way. The sun always set super late in England, so there was no need for a flashlight as he walked down a random trail he had stumbled upon earlier with his uncle.
The wind blew through the curls everyone seemed to be so interested in and brushed them away from his face. The light chill ran itself against his skin as he wandered down the shrub laced path. Green was all he could see for ages. The color screamed at him from every angle as he continued with his walk. He loved green, but this was sort of overkill. A little color would be nice.
After walking down the gravel and wood-chip path for about ten minutes, a flash of color caught his eye. Finally, some diversity. He snapped his head towards the source of color, and sighed contently as his eyes laid on a patch of bright blue flowers, scattered randomly along the green ground. A rock sat itself in the middle of the patch and looked almost begging for Harry to come and plop himself on it while he escaped reality into the pages of the book he was reading, Call Me By Your Name.
He stepped over a few plants he recognized as the Peace Lily. Stay away from those, they're poisonous. His uncle had told him only hours earlier. When he had finally approached the rock, he positioned himself on it so perfectly that it almost seemed to curve around his back, like a lounge chair. The chilliness of the stone against his clothed back was oddly relaxing and seemed to tranquilize every tense muscle in his body.
He pulled the book out of his bag and flipped to where his paperclip bookmark was stuck. Marcia and Elio were on their 'date' as Marcia so called-it. Harry was confused why Elio was going on a date with Marcia when it was clear that he loved Oliver. Why not just go after Oliver? Nothing is stopping you. He thought to himself as he continued reading.
He had probably been reading for about an hour with no interruptions, until suddenly he could hear the loud noise of disturbed water in the distance. The noise of loud splashes mixed together with loud screams and laughs as Harry tried his hardest to focus on his book.
He curled up even tighter because it was now a bit past ten o'clock and the sun had finally set, and it created a cold presence all around Harry. He tucked his arms and legs into his large sweatshirt and just popped his hands out, holding onto his book T-Rex style and he let out a chilled breath. He didn't want to head home yet, he wasn't quite done with the segment. There were no chapters, only sections, in this book so Harry ended whenever he felt satisfied with where he was at, and he wasn't quite satisfied yet.
He ignored the loud screams of the people giggling and cheering not too far off in the distance as he used his phone flashlight to light up his book. He was so devoted to what he was reading, he didn't hear the shuffling in the woods nearby as someone came running towards where he was. He was so focused on Marcia and Elio's interaction, he didn't hear a boy screaming back to his friends, "I'm just taking a wee, I'll be back quick!" He was so invested in how Oliver was going to react and what he had been doing all night, he didn't notice the boy running straight over to the patch of bright blue flowers he was surrounded by. He didn't notice any of it, until suddenly he heard a loud, "Oops!", and his head snapped up.
There, only a few feet in front of him, stood the caramel boy.
Louis looked down at Harry, who was still cuddled up in his sweatshirt, with a confused but intrigued expression on.
"Hi."