For the Summer // A Harry Styles OU

I. Victoria

It was warm. Really fucking warm. Though he was uncomfortable, Harry couldn't deny that he was relieved he'd decided to actually leave the hotel today, rather than hide inside like he had done for the past three days. Bath wasn't usually somewhere he'd choose to hide, but he felt like he needed a change, whilst simultaneously not being thousands of miles away from his family and his life in London.

Usually he would stay at Babington House; a member's only hotel just outside of Bath. But their availability was lacking for such a stay longer than two days, so he chose the next best thing; a landmark hotel just a five minute walk from the city centre, yet strangely, almost completely private considering the amount of footfall it created.

Bath was an interesting place - not just for its rich history but for the fact that Harry could walk around for hours without being pestered by anyone. In the three days he'd been there only one person had asked for a photo, and they had been residents of the hotel.

It wasn't very often Harry had the opportunity to walk around in public without being stopped - he was grateful Bath was able to provide that luxury.

He sat down on an empty patch of grass on the large lawn of Victoria Park, surrounded by groups of friends and families that evidently didn't give a shit that he was there. He sat facing the very building he was staying in, admiring the architecture; the strange golden sand colour of the stone that made up every single building within the city limits (and some a little further out), the grand columns that distinguished each house, the large magnolia that strangely climbed up the middle house, and just the pure uniformity of it.

A helpless giggle from just ahead distracted him from his pondering. Following the sound, his eyes fell upon a young girl who was way more invested in the book she was reading than anything else around her. He couldn't quite place what she was reading, but the expression on her face was a tell-tale sign that she was enjoying it.

She was stifling her laughs every so often, her face permanently grinning as she read through the apparently hilarious novel. Harry found it impossible to take his eyes off her as she eagerly read through the pages, a stray hair constantly falling from behind her ear, which she would repeatedly tuck back a moment later. She was lying on her front on top of a blanket she'd maybe brought with her, her hair tied up messily on top of her head. It was naturally a warm brunette but highlighted throughout to give it a lighter appearance.

Harry hadn't noticed he'd been staring until her attention was snapped from her book to the phone beside her that had started chirping. Her smile instantly vanished, replaced with a grimace and a frown as she rolled her eyes and answered. Her round face gave her a childlike quality, maturity only cemented by the cut of her cheekbones and the crease between her brow.

"Hello?" Her voice was soft - or so Harry thought anyway - a complete contrast to the look on her face. "It's fine, what's up?" Her tone completely contradicted her words. "No, I specifically told her they couldn't because it's not pet friendly." Her whole demeanour changed as she began to rub circles into her temple. "I told her no. That reservation in Room 1 is so long there was no other way. So she's lying." She folded the corner of her book as she listened, closed it and put it to one side in short and snappy movements. "No problem. Yeah, you too. Bye."

She threw her phone at the ground in frustration, rubbing her eyes with her fingers. Another ding from her phone and she quickly relaxed, unlocking it and snorting loudly at the contents. For the next five minutes her green eyes studied her phone screen, scrolling through whatever it was she was so invested in, her facial expressions constantly changing for whatever content she was looking at. Something about her was intriguing and endearing (besides the fact that she was a pretty sight to look at), and Harry had a strong sense that he could've sat there for hours watching her. But that would be weird, and he knew someone would soon notice that he'd been staring at her for probably a fair while now.