hope your life leads you back to my door » l.s.

five: goodbyes are bittersweet

"On your mark," Aria yelled. "Get set. Go!"

Louis paddled forward with as much energy as he could exert. Ahead, the Noguera River split the thick forest surrounding them, their path winding deep into the mountains. All their rafts traversed the rapids recklessly, their laughter echoing with the occasional shouts from those who spilled over. In front of Louis on his river raft were Harry and Finn, working to move just as quickly as him. They were ahead by a centimetre against Aria, Zoya, and Liam.

"Keep powering through," Louis encouraged Harry and Finn, his competitive side coming out. "We can do this! We're going to beat them."

The point of river rafting, as Cal had explained, was to take in the scenery and have a fun, chilled-out time on their last day before they headed back home. Somehow it became a race among their group members, though, in good fun. The incentive was the winners would get free drinks at the bar tonight while the losers would buy rounds.

So, naturally, Louis had to win.

However, it seemed that Harry was the one who wanted it more. He was powering through so hard that Louis had to stop and stare at him for a moment to watch the monster inside of him unleash. He had known Harry had a serious competitive streak, but seeing it like this was incredibly sexy.

In the end, though it was a close call.

Louis, Harry, and Finn won, but not without Liam tipping their boat over, making the three of them fall into the water mid-cheer. Louis closed his eyes as he sank to the bottom of the river before resurfacing. His hair was plastered to his face and the water was a lot colder than he'd expected. While Liam laughed gleefully at him, Louis swam over and pulled on their boat, making them fall over, too. It caused a few shrieks from Zoya and loud laughter from Aria, while Liam wrestled Louis in the water. Before long, everyone else was in the water as well, laughing and shouting as they splashed each other.

When Zoya distracted Liam away from Louis by splashing him square on the face, Louis turned around, ready to head back only to be met by Harry. He was beaming, clearly ecstatic about their win, and before Louis could do or say anything, Harry's arms came around his shoulders, pulling him in for a hug. It knocked the breath right out of Louis and he almost toppled over but held himself together and wrapped his own arms around Harry's waist.

He couldn't help but think back to the guy on the train platform that very first day. Harry was closed off, scared, and timid. That same guy was here in his arms — happy, smiling, and confident. He was also making Louis' heart flutter in a way it never had before. He shrugged it off as a result of the adrenaline rush from the race, but when Harry moved back at arm's length and locked eyes with him, Louis knew he was lying to himself. His breath caught in his throat, making him blink slowly at the other boy, while his lips parted.

Harry looked beautiful this close. Not that he didn't look beautiful from afar, too, but Louis hadn't ever been this close before. Harry's long, dark lashes were clumped together and his green eyes had tints of gold in them. There was a smattering of light freckles across his nose and his lips were wet and pink, making Louis lick his own absentmindedly.

Just before he could entertain the idea of leaning in closer, someone landed on his back. "We won!" Finn screamed, wrapping his legs around Louis' waist and making him topple forward with Harry in tow.

The three of them sank underwater again while everyone laughed around them. When they resurfaced, Zoya swam over to Harry, the two of them laughing about Liam getting caught in river grass. It seemed the moment had passed, and a part of Louis couldn't help but wonder what could have happened.

✈

There were fields of green dotted with rocks and wildflowers stretched far and wide. Harry took in the calming scenery as their Jeep sped past. He wanted to imprint all of this into his memory so that when they left the next day, he could relive it in his mind over and over again. Especially given that his life back home was so mundane. In lonely and dreary moments, he wanted to think about this — all the beautiful places he had seen, all the new friends he'd made, and the wind blowing his hair, all of it making him feel brand new.