Sign Of The Times (1D fanfiction)

Chapter 9 : Picnic

A month later the accident, I was sitting in my room, going through the lecture notes when my phone started ringing. It was Harry. I picked it up and asked, "Hey, what's up?" "Hey Ava. Hope you are doing good. Yeah so, as you know, it is January month and we have arranged a picnic party. Only few close friends. Zayn, Liam, Louis, Niall, Me, Gemma, Zayn's sister, Liam's sister, Louis' sister, and you. Nothing is confirmed yet. The rest of them said yes. We are only waiting for your decision. Would you like to go? The 21st of January, in Alfriston. It's more on the countryside. Beautiful place, typical English village. What do you say?" "Um... Yes I would love to go. 21st is day after tomorrow, so I'll pack my bags. Just one day right? Okay yeah. Got it. Yes I'll be ready within nine in the morn. You can come and pick me up. Thank you Harry."

21st January came. I was awake at six in the morning. I packed my bag with a pair of shirt and jeans, a water bottle, some snacks, a book, my phone, my wallet, and some makeup. Harry arrived in my apartment at exactly 9 am. I got into his car and we drove till Zayn's home. There was a Chevy truck and everyone was getting inside. Everyone was so happy. Gemma said she brought five coffee cakes with her. All of us got into the truck and soon we were leaving the concrete jungles of London City behind us.

The road was long and beautiful. There were green fields on both sides of the road. There were lots of little farmhouses here and there. Harry said, "When I grow old, I'll own a farmhouse in this countryside and live a peaceful life." "Nah, that's a long time coming, Harold. Right now we are dealing with our band finances", joked Louis. Everyone laughed out. The cool January breeze and the soft sunshine touched my face. I embraced it and thought to myself, "Life is so beautiful when we see the good things in it. I'm in love with all it has to offer."

Soon we reached the village. It was beautiful with a long, clean road with houses on both it's sides. There was a field in the town which was owned by Liam's parents. It also had a little house attached to the field. So Mr. and Mrs. Payne let us spend the day at their farmhouse. We entered the house. It was pretty large. Zayn's sister started unpacking the food cases. She said, "Lunch time everyone!" Lunch was delicious. Bangers n Mash, rice, curry, Yorkshire Pudding, and Cakes filled our stomach to the fullest. Everyone then took out Monopoly and started playing it. We divided ourselves into teams. The girls vs the boys. After thirty minutes, the girls won (of course, we are Queens). Soon, all of them went to their room and fell asleep.

However, slumber wasn't exactly my thing. Who takes a nap while coming for picnic? Anyways, I was standing in the house balcony and staring at the large, vacant fields ahead of me. It was beautiful. Suddenly, I felt a hand in my shoulders. I was shocked for a moment. But it was only Harry. "Oh God, you scared me. You are a little piece of shit." Harry laughed, "Hey Ava! All of them are asleep. Hahaha those idiots. Louis is the biggest crackhead, I tell you. Anyways, wanna watch the sunset?" "Sure, we are watching it right now." "No not from here. There's a better view from the next field. Two blocks away. Just a five minutes walk. What do you say?" "Yeah, let's go."

We left the farmhouse and headed for the next field. While we were walking, Harry and me were chatting about all the odds and ends. He said that he hated oatmeal. I said, me too. He also said that when he was a kid, he thought his mom's lipstick was a crayon and he actually took it to school and used it for painting his sketch (what an idiot!). Soon we were at the field. There were seriously no houses near this one. I was scared a little bit. Then he assured me that this town, in fact, was pretty remote.

The sun was setting in front of us. It was a beautiful scene. We were sitting on the fence and watching the sunset. Suddenly, I felt a hand hold mine tightly. When I looked, I saw that Harry was holding my hands. We were sitting really close to each other, almost inappropriately close. He was staring at my eyes, and I too lost myself in his deep eyes. The next moment, I found Harry leaning forward and rubbing my cheeks with his thumbs. We were about to lock lips when... Bhrurrrr! The others were driving at the spot. Zayn saw us and stopped, "Hey Harry and Ava! Sorry to interrupt the kiss. But get in. We are going camping!" Both of us turned red. We hopped into the truck and we were heading towards our camping location. We were to spend the night in tents!

At five we reached the camping spot. We were setting up equipments for a karaoke which took around thirty minutes. Soon, there was a loud speaker, one microphone and little fairy lights here and there. The boys started singing:
"Baby you light up my world like nobody else
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know, oh oh, you don't know you're beautiful..."

I don't know if any one else noticed, but the whole time, Harry was staring at me, and I was staring back at him. It felt wonderful.

Soon, night fell. It was as if time was passing like the blink of an eye. The boys started setting up the tent and lighting a campfire while we (the girls) were setting up the BBQ grill. It was eight in the evening when dinner was announced. The BBQ platter tasted so good, of course. After dinner, we were sitting in large tree logs, surrounding the campfire. Niall brought his guitar and we all were singing along to "Wonderwall" by Oasis. At 9:30 pm, we said goodbye and went to each of our tent.

However, slumber wasn't very merciful to me. I was wide awake. So I decided to go and sit near the campfire. I put on my jacket and went outside. The campfire was lit. I saw Harry sitting as well. I went and sat beside him. "Hey Harry, I see slumber isn't your thing too." "Nah, such a beautiful place. Who wastes their time napping on such a night? Like I told you earlier, they are idiots. Hahaha." His deep and raspy voice kinda put a spell on me. I was falling for him, deeply and madly. "Hey Harry, I have my earphones. Wanna listen to some tunes?" "Sure, let's hit the melody!" I played my favourite song 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight'. Soon, the two of us got lost in the deep melody of the song. I don't know when, but subconsciously I rested my head on Harry's shoulders and we were holding each other tightly. Suddenly, Harry took the boldest move of his life. He cupped my face and leant forward to kiss me. I allowed myself to lean forward and lock his lips with mine. We kissed! It was a deep and wonderful kiss, eyes closing at the thought that it was safe, comfortable, and with the man I love.

He removed his lips when I was running out of breath. We smiled at each other. "Well this was... Needed!", Harry said. I laughed and hugged him. He hugged me back. We went back to our previous position. The night was deep, there were stars in the sky, and the warm campfire with Harry Styles hugging me added up to the most wonderful experience of my life.