Open Road (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter 17

Harry rubbed the sleep out of his eyes when Louis gently nudged him out of his slumber. As much as he hated to have to wake up, he was glad they hadn't slept in and were forced to drive all night again. Obviously, too little caffeine and not enough sleep altered Harry's ability to properly make decisions.

"Morning," Louis grinned, watching Harry watch his lips move.

"Morning, love," he replied, his voice deep and raspy. "Do they have showers here?" Harry asked after lifting his arms up to stretch and catching a whiff.

"Yes," Louis replied, shaking his own wet hair in Harry's direction, spraying little droplets of water onto the boys face.

A drop landed on Harry's lip and his pink tongue darted out to lick it off, leaving Louis cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"They're, ah, right behind that trailer," he directed with a point.

Harry nodded, grabbing his bag and heading off in the direction Louis had pointed. Oh my god, he thought. What was I thinking? What am I feeling? I can't do this, this isn't planned. I need a plan.

Meanwhile, Louis began folding their blanket from the night before and reloading their car. What had happened last night wasn't even initiated by him, but he couldn't help but think that Harry hated him because of it, and that somehow this would be his fault, whatever it was.

And really, the reason Louis was so worried was because he knew that Harry would become distant. The boy would detach himself from Louis, and the mere thought of that caused him physical pain.

Heaving a sigh, Louis slammed the trunk of the car shut dramatically, lifting his troubled eyes to see Harry's wet curls flying out behind him as he ran to the car.

"I like your hair long," Louis said, opening the trunk again for Harry's bag.

"I know," Harry replied casually, lifting his bag in and closing the trunk with ease. His biceps had Louis short of breath, the fact that Harry's tank top was practically see through and covered so little was not helping the fact. "Ready?"

Louis nodded weakly and tossed Harry the keys to the car, walking to the passenger's side and sitting in the now familiar leather seat.

"What d'ya feel like listening to?" Harry asked casually.

"I don't care," he replied absentmindedly. How could Harry be so calm about this? Louis thought. We fucking kissed for god's sake. This is no small matter, he sighed.

Harry shrugged nonchalantly and plugged his phone into the stereo, setting it to shuffle.

Humming along, Louis wasn't really paying attention to anything other than his thoughts. I don't want to screw this up, I don't want to be just another bump in the road for Harry. I want to be his one and only, because I'm pretty sure he knows he's mine. And he was; Harry was Louis' one and only, his other half.

"So," Louis whispered, surprising the larger boy by interrupting the aura of silence that had taken over their car for the past few sunny miles on the highway. "The weather's nice today."

"Yes," Harry chuckled. "It really is."

Things were awkward now, and the air was tense. Louis wasn't sure what to do; he wanted to scream, shout, tear something apart because he felt like he was being torn apart. He was infatuated with this boy who had had the audacity to kiss him, and he didn't know what to do, think, or feel. The worst part was that they would be together until they reached LA, no matter how bad things got.

"Harry?" Louis asked timidly, breaking the silence again. "I'm starved, do you mind if we, like, stop for breakfast or something? If it's not a bother, of course-"

Glancing over at the timid boy, Harry felt nothing but guilt. It wasn't his fault he didn't feel the same way, yet. "Anything you want," said Harry, and deep down he knew he meant it.

Scared to do anything wrong, Louis was hesitant to suggest anything, but the constant thrum of Harry's nails impatiently tapping the steering wheel drove him to make a decision.

"Well, I've never been to a Tim Hortons," he said.

"I didn't think they had them in the states," Harry replied, puzzled, but Louis was typing away in google maps on his phone, presumably finding the nearest one.

"Turn left here, yes. Right there. Mhm, straight, okay. Right again," he commanded.

Harry did as he was told silently, not wanting to interrupt or upset the small boy seated beside him. Five foot nine my ass, he thought as he turned into the drive through.

"What do you even order here?" Harry questioned.

"I didn't plan that far," Louis mumbled sheepishly.

"Of course," he said, it was just like Louis to not follow through on a plan; and it was so Harry to chastise him for it.

Louis pondered the menu for a second. "I've heard there panini's are good," he said. "Get me one of those, please."

Harry nodded and got the same, handing the steaming meal to Louis after paying.

"Thanks," Louis whispered, even thought there was nothing to thank Harry for. It had been his debit card, after all.

Winking, Harry returned to the highway. "Anything for you, darling."

Back on the highway, the boys were quiet and listening to the soft music from the crappy car speakers until Louis broke the calm.

"Harry?"

"Yes?"

"If you were a transformer," he said. "You'd be Optimus Fine."

Harry felt the swell of happiness in his chest growing and growing until like a bubble, it burst. The way Louis' hair was drying down and he had a little bit of sauce on his cheek, the way the light picked up the blue in his eyes and the bubblegum pink chaps of his lips had Harry stunned. All he could think about was how much he appreciated the boy riding in the passenger's seat.

"Louis? Can I just say that you're fucking fantastic?"

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Do people even read these? I dunno but they seem important so I made another authors note. Y'all are cool <3