Walk That Mile

Days 4, 5, 6

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DAY FOUR

St. Louis, Missouri

For once, they wake up in a hotel offering complimentary breakfast and stumble down to the lobby with their packed bags just after eight in the morning. Someday, Louis is going to get Harry to actually sleep in even if he has to bribe him into it. He'll offer sugary cereal if he has to.

Motel 8 doesn't offer a ton of breakfast options but they both make-do with toasted bagels and cream cheese. The coffee isn't terrible for once and Louis eats fruit for the first time on the trip, munching on a banana while Harry goes about the much trickier task of eating a kiwi.

"What's on the schedule today?" Louis asks over a sip of coffee.

"The Meramec Caverns," Harry says without pause.

"And what fun thing are we going to do there?" Louis smirks as he says it and Harry rolls his eyes. It's become a thing now - their playful teasing. Sometimes they edge on the side of too aggressive but they're learning how to read each other.

"A couple of fun things actually," Harry says. He squishes some kiwi between his teeth and runs his hand over his mouth. "There's a zip line and a canoe trip on the river. Does that sound okay with you, your highness?"

Louis smiles, "It does, actually." He glances down at his black skinny jeans and then back at Harry who has gone for athletic shorts and tennis shoes. "When exactly were you planning to tell me I was overdressed?"

Harry shrugs, "I wasn't. Maybe you enjoy zip lining in skinnies."

Louis rolls his eyes. "Yeah, no. Not so much." He takes the room key from the edge of their table and lugs his bag back up the stairs to change into a more appropriate outfit.

*

The drive is forty minutes of winding through wooded back roads with the windows down and Frank Ocean playing through the stereo. Louis taps his fingers along the edge of the Jeep and smiles subtly as the sun peeks through the thick trees overhead. Happiness settles in his stomach as Harry hums along to 'Ivy' with only one hand on the wheel. It took them a few days to figure it out but Louis thinks they might actually be getting along without trying. At least until Harry tries to skip 'Thinkin' Bout You' and Louis has to slap his hand away from the stereo controls.

"This one is overplayed," he grumbles as the first bars come over the speakers. Louis turns it up louder and ignores him. By the first chorus Harry is singing right along with the words so Louis is pretty sure he's won the argument. Do you not think so far ahead? 'Cause I've been thinking about forever.

*

One perk of Harry's early rising tendencies is the parking lot at the caverns isn't even half-filled when they arrive and the cool air of the morning hasn't quite burned off either. They decide to start with the zip line and book their canoe trip for ten managing to snag the last two spots on the boat.

The zip line goes over for one-thousand feet above the trees and then over the Meramec River and sends endless butterflies up through Louis's stomach as he slides down it, a silly grin on his face for the entire ride. Harry comes behind him with a gleeful yell at every curve in the line and a matching smile at the bottom.

"Not as bad as the Spiderman roller coaster?" Louis teases as they take off their helmets and harnesses at the bottom.

"I'm a new man after that," Harry says proudly. "I'm like, invincible now."

Louis can't help his laughter as he adjusts his aviators. "Why's that?"

Harry tangles his ridiculous legs in the harness and huffs as he plops on the ground to twist out of it properly. "I evaded death," he says when he stands back up. "It changes you."