The sun rises with them as they drive.
The world whizzes by in a flurry of trees and shadow, gold and pink light brightening the world in a swirling mirage. The clouds stretch on endlessly, rolling across the sky in winding tufts like a trail. Zayn keeps his foot to the floor, keeps the Chevy roaring beneath them as they fly along the road.
Soon, the world dips and flows around them, up and down in an alternating wave of countryside and city, of colors and sounds and smells that are a sensory overload. Louis watches everything whiz past him in wonder, watches the way the sun slowly rises up and turns the land bright. His legs are stuck to the bench seat with sweat. Even with the window down, the warm air from outside still hangs heavy and present.
They stop for breakfast two hours in, in a tiny Washington town called Connell. It's dusty and dry and Louis marvels a little at it as he follows Harry out of the truck. The air feels different than it does in Post Falls, feels thicker and scratchy on his throat. The sun beats down on them restlessly but Louis tilts his face up to it, welcomes it.
They eat their egg and bacon sandwiches on the curb, lined up in a row and stuffing their faces. Grease settles around Louis' lips, shiny and slick in the light. The land around him is so flat, and it feels odd not to be surrounded by something. Harry chews his food loudly and taps his feet on the ground as he hums around his bites. He's got ketchup all over his mouth, and Louis muffles his laughter into his breakfast, fond.
"Feels weird, doesn't it?" Zayn says as he scrunches up his rubbish into a tiny ball.
"What does?" Harry says around a mouthful of egg.
"This," Zayn says, gesturing around them. "It's like someone's come through and grinded all the hills down."
"Right?" Louis agrees. "It feels so exposed."
"Mm," Harry hums. He finally wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, and looks mortified when the notices the smudged ketchup. He looks to Louis accusingly. "It's your mission to embarrass me, ain't it?"
"Absolutely," Louis replies enthusiastically. Harry simply rolls his eyes and throws his rubbish at Louis' head.
The drive is a long haul. Louis falls asleep shortly after breakfast, and when he wakes up they're in Oregon, driving through the Deschutes County. He's leant entirely on Harry's shoulder, their skin tacky, but Louis stays there for a little when he wakes, watches everything flick past him, the mountains in the distance and the clouds settling over them like snow.
"How much longer?" Louis mutters into Harry's neck. He rubs at his crusted eyes and stretches his legs out, back twinging a little from being twisted for so long.
"About nine hours," Harry says with a sympathetic smile. Louis groans.
"Can we get out for a walk soon?" he asks. "My back's killing me."
"Sure, baby," Harry presses a kiss atop his head and shuffles down in his seat so Louis can nestle into his neck perfectly.
Zayn pulls the Chevy up at the gas station in Bend and sends Louis and Harry on a mission for food while he fills the truck. It's nearing lunchtime now and everything is set in summer haze, the rays from the sun licking at their necks and wrapping them in bubbles of sweaty heat. Harry's hair curls around his neck. All Louis wants to do is brush it away and kiss the warm skin there.
They eat their burgers on the road, Zayn with one steady hand on the wheel as he eats. Louis tries valiantly not to let any grease drip onto the bench seat, but Zayn tells him not to worry with the state it's already in. Once he's eaten he feels a little better, not so drowsy from his nap and able to focus on the road and not the gentle ache in his ribs.
The real excitement begins to settle deep into Louis' bones when two hours later, they fly past the Welcome to California! sign. He grips Harry's hand in his and lets out an exhilarated laugh, heart beating steadily in his chest. All around him is the hilly landscape and the empty expanse of ground, but it may as well be the city, it may as well be San Francisco.
When Go Your Own Way plays on the radio, Harry leans forward and cranks it right up, throwing his head back and singing the words loudly. Louis laughs unabashedly, leans his body out the window and screams the lyrics into the wind, into the fields and the twisting hills and the long expanse of road. The sky is endless above him, clear and bright. With the music swirling around him, his heart pumps hard in his chest, his eyes watering from the whipping wind.
Harry pulls him back into the car by his hips eventually, eyes full of awe and lips spilling guffawed laughter.
"You're crazy," Harry says into his mouth. "I love you."
Louis kisses him hard, still smiling as he does so. They can barely press their mouths together because of their teeth, giggling as Zayn sings obnoxiously loud to drown them out and presses his foot down harder to jolt them. Louis can feel his heart soaring, can feel everything that's ever dragged him down trailing behind them in a flurry of dust.
He's a world away, with the land opening up before them in a kind welcome. It feels like freedom, true freedom. Harry is laughing into his ear, his teeth knocking against his jaw as he smiles, hair tickling the side of his face. He's warm and familiar, and Louis knows in this moment, with everything stretched endlessly around him, and the feeling of hope stretched endlessly inside him, that this is where he wants to be, who he wants to be.
What lies before him is an uncertainty. While before that had made him panic, made him tentative and made him curl away, it now makes him want to run head on into the next adventure.
It hits him then, the surging feeling that's coursing through him splendidly, foreign and present.
He's excited to live.
YOU ARE READING
Here In The Afterglow
Fanfiction"If you hadn't noticed, I don't have many friends," Louis whispers, the blossom of insecurity in his stomach unfurling and clawing its way into his throat. Harry is silent for a long time, and then he speaks; a soft, slow uncurl that makes Louis' st...
