Forest Greens (Larry Stylinson/AU)

Strangers

*guys, don't forget to help out on the "lyrics For Louis" fan project!!! Love you lots!💞💞*

Along the grim forest edges ran a lonely, one-way road; a road of which cars barely drove upon; if any happened to do so , it was surely not for the intentions of stopping by.

It was a new morning and Harry had set out on his daily four-o'clock stroll down the gravel pathway of the forest.

The sky showed off its usual splashes of blues and yellows, the breeze, still icy as ever, the trees and their leaves all rustled and and swayed with the wind as they usually did, but something was off- he could feel it...Harry sensed a change in the atmosphere. The silence, the quietness... it wasn't pure.

Harry ceased his walking and stood still on the pathway. Sounds similar to that of a metal pail being kicked around echoed through the woods, over, and over, and over again. Harry squinted past the trees and towards the roadside, hoping to catch a glimpse of the source which the noise had come from.

He scanned through the gaps of the trees, looking onto the road. Though he could not see much due to the slight darkness, Harry continued to observe thoroughly.

Just as he was about to give up the search, his eyes fell upon the sight of a white car which seemed to have stopped in the middle of the road.

Slowly, Harry wandered off the gravel path, heading towards the road, moving from tree to tree; not once had he broken eye contact with the vehicle. As he got closer, he heard another loud and hollow, metallic bang which echoed its way through the forest.

He was now sure that it came from the car, as it was still shaking from the impact. "Fucking hell..." a distant voice was heard from the far side of the car and soon, a five-foot nine man stepped out from behind the vehicle and into view.

Curious, Harry observed this man's features; his hair was swept messily to the side, his brows frowned and his lips curved downwards in what seemed to be irritancy. He had a nice figure, but Harry couldn't discern his eye, hair or skin tone due to the dull lighting.

Because he'd been staring at the foreign being, Harry hadn't noticed the large branch laying before him. Consequently, his careless treading came to a sudden halt as he tripped over the minor obstruction, landing face-first onto a scatter of small twigs, causing a loud thump and little crackling noises.

The stranger by the car spun around to face the forest, clearly startled by the sudden racket.
"Hello...?" He called out, his voice echoing through the trees, "Who's there?".

Quickly scrambling to his feet, Harry ran to the closet tree by the road and hid behind it, continuing to observe this man who was now calling out into the woods.

The stranger, hearing the shuffling of leaves, stepped further away from the forest edge in fear of what might've been hiding within the mass of trees.
Noticing this, Harry stepped out into the open, not wanting this mystery man to run away in fright; Harry wasn't finished with him; he was quite territorial when it came to the forest; no one stepped in or out without some form of his acknowledgment.

Wearing a sickly sweet smile upon his face, Harry walked over to the man who had now slightly calmed down after realising that the noise came from nothing more than another mere human being.

"Hi." The man sighed in relief as he ran his fingers through his short, silky hair.

"Hello!" Harry beamed, all too unnaturally. "What's your business here in these parts during this hour?" He asked, genuinely curious as to why this man was even here.

"Oh- I uh- so actually, I was driving down to visit my sister who lives in that town close by here but this stupid rust bucket of a car decided to break down in the middle of nowhere so... just trying to get this thing moving right now," the young man explained, as he gave his car another hard kick, "but as you can see, it's obviously not working". He grunted as he crossed his arms, glaring at his car in dismay.