Tired Tired Sea

10

Chapter 10

Tired Tired Sea

Credit: MediaWhore

"Do you have to encourage my dog to go swimming every single time we"re down here?" Louis asks, pretending to be annoyed when Clifford runs in the water to grab the tennis ball Harry just threw in there.

There"s not much that would stop his stupid pet from running into the freezing water, but Louis often tries to limit the damage so he doesn"t have a big lump of fur trailing water everywhere in the cottage.

Harry definitely doesn"t look remorseful at all. He gives Louis a massive grin before exclaiming excitedly when Clifford comes running, tennis ball in his mouth.

"Look at you!" Harry yells, applauding, before grabbing the ball. "You"re such a champion. A big swimming champion!" he insists, before throwing the ball again.

"Clearly you do," Louis deadpans, mostly to himself.

"Aww, come on. Don"t be grumpy, he loves it," Harry says, jogging a little to get to Louis" side, wrapping an arm over his shoulders.

"You"re cleaning up the mess he"s going to leave in the house later," Louis declares, resting his head against Harry"s arm.

"Of course," he agrees, kissing Louis" forehead. "It"s worth putting in the work for his happiness, right?" he says and Louis really should stop feeling surprised whenever he says deep, insightful things like they"re little nothings.

"I suppose," Louis jokes, rolling his eyes.

"It"s like me following the program," Harry adds, reaching inside his jacket for a pair of sunglasses Louis had no idea he owned. He puts them on and looks at the horizon. "It"s worth all the work."

"To gain happiness?"

"Well, to get closer to it, at least," Harry laughs. "I don"t know that people are ever fully truly happy. I mean, they are obviously, I just mean... No one is happy all the time. People aren"t built that way. And life would lack depth. But no one should be unhappy the way I was, you know?"

Louis looks down at the sand, wrinkling his nose. He sniffs. "Yeah, definitely not," he says, trying to not let himself feel emotional. "Though you"re cheating a lot on the program I have to say. I mean, what part of this is your routine?" Louis teases. "Not to mention you"re not even doing group therapy."

Harry"s shoulders drop a little and he nods. "Yeah, I suppose."

Louis clears his throat, then, awkwardly says: "so what do you want for tea then?"

It makes Harry laugh, at least. "Is that you trying to subtly change the subject because you"ve made me morose now?"

Louis puffs his cheeks like a chipmunk, crossing his eyes, before exhaling. "Yep!" he admits, tilting his head a little to look at Harry. He smiles when he feels Harry"s arm around his shoulders tighten even more, Harry holding him closer. "Is it working?"

"Yeah," Harry agrees. "Yeah, it"s working. And I want chips I think."

"Just chips?" Louis laughs.

Harry shrugs. "Chips are a meal."

"Yeah. I think I"ve got some sausages left in the freezer, we could have that too."

Harry nods. "Sorted," he agrees before whistling, calling Clifford over so they can make their way back.

&

"You"re too small to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders like that, you know," Louis says conversationally a few days later, letting his right hand slide down Harry"s naked torso to grip his waist, just above his sweatpants, wrapping him in a half-hearted hug.