Ready to Run

Chapter 22

In the morning, they both sleep in. They were tired from driving yesterday, and they need some rest. However, they are woken up by Louis' phone ringing at ten.

Louis groans and Harry protests by cuddling even more into Louis' chest. "Don't move." Harry warns Louis, voice heavy with sleep.

"Have to." Louis replies and begrudgingly reaches for the phone, picking up and not even looking at the ID. It is probably his mum, anyway. "'ello?" He says, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey, honey. Did I wake you?" It is his mum. Louis sits up a bit and Harry groans. Louis panics for a second but his mum does not point it out, so he relaxes. She must have thought it was Louis.

"Hey, mum." Harry settles comfortably on Louis' lap. "Yes, but I needed to wake up anyway. How are you doing?" He tells her while he pets Harry's hair. Harry's face breaks into a smile.

"Right on time, I guess. And I'm doing fine, love." She chuckles and Louis smiles.

He always loved hearing his mum laugh. At one point, she did not laugh much or at all. Louis remembers how he did not necessarily understand it at the time. It was after his dad left.

"Where are you now, honey? Are you coming back soon?" She asks and Louis bites his lip.

"I'm in Santa Monica, right now. In a hotel." He says, then he sighs. "I don't know when I'm coming back. In a few days, probably. A week maybe. Not more." Louis says, looking down at Harry. This one looks asleep, but his breathing is irregular. Louis guesses he is still awake.

The idea of having Harry for only about a week more makes Louis sad. He never wants this trip to end, he never wants whatever they have to stop. It hurts just thinking about it, really. He wonders if Harry feels the same.

"Oh, California! That's great, you always loved it there." His mum says. There is a bit of silence and then his mum says, "We miss you."

Louis misses them too. He is not used to being so far from them for so long. He does not regret leaving for a bit, though. Louis looks down at his lap, at the curly hair pretending to sleep so he can listen to the conversation, and he realizes that it was way more than worth it.

"I miss you too. I'll be home soon, okay?" He tells her, still looking at Harry and petting his hair. So he sees the little downturn of Harry's lips.

"Okay, honey. Have fun, okay? And call me later." She tells him. Louis tells her that yes, he will call her later and then they hang up.

"How's your mum?" Harry asks, eyes still closed.

"She's fine, she's fine." Louis nods, twirling a curl with his finger. Louis looks at Harry's small smile but he sees that there is a sad edge to it. He wants to make it go away. "Hey, baby." He says, rubbing Harry's cheek with his thumb. Harry opens one eye to look up at Louis.

"What?" Harry asks.

"You didn't kiss me good morning." Louis whispers as if it was a secret. Harry giggles and shakes his head, sitting up nonetheless. He smiles and rounds his arms around Louis' neck to bring him closer.

Once their noses touch and both their eyes are closed, their smiles too big and goofy, Harry whispers, "Just let me fix this." And he does by pressing his soft lips to Louis'.

It is such a nice feeling, Louis cannot believe he gets to experience it. He can't stop thinking about how he will miss this once this trip ends. He hates to think about it, so he pushes the thought away and wraps his hands around Harry's waist instead. Harry easily goes and straddles Louis' hips. Louis hums into the kiss and pulls away.