There's A Reason - A Larry Stylinson Love Story

Chapter 21 - Nothing To Worry About

I kept catching Liam staring at me. He was continually motioning to Louis as if to tell me it was the right time to tell him. For god’s sake, I knew I had to tell him soon, but did I really have to be reminded every few minutes? He was going to drive me insane with his gestures that I was desperately hoping Louis didn’t notice.

My brain was on overdrive. How was it possible that the way I acted in front of the cameras was more of the real me than who I was at home? My life was becoming very messed up, because of a certain someone I had eyes for.

Niall and Liam appeared to be growing closer as well. They were at each other’s side quite often and were always whispering to each other and laughing about something or other. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they liked each other.

Today we had our first free day in awhile. We’d been jetting around between countries and were currently in Florida in the United States, where it was pretty warm and different from our homes across the ocean.

We’d taken a group vote and the activity of the day was going to be surfing, which I was not looking forward to. I was going to have to look at a half-naked Lou for hours while I embarrassed myself with my skinny, pale body and failed at the actual surfing. The only ones of us who could surf well were Liam and Louis, and Niall hadn’t gotten to try it yet so he might be able to.

We all bought wetsuits from a little shop close to the beach and got changed. I was already having trouble controlling myself by the time we re-entered the van and Paul drove us the rest of the way to the shore. Louis’ suit was the perfect fit for him, and it hugged his body tightly. This was a good thing since we were going surfing, but it meant I could see a lot more than I usually could on him. In this outfit, I could clearly see the nice curve of his bum and his muscle that he’d been working on building up by working out with Liam. Must he always make it so difficult for me to breathe?

As we piled out onto the sand, we grabbed our rented boards and hauled them to the edge of the water. Liam made us put on sunscreen, the protective guy he is. It’s not like I was going to get burned; I think the only one who needed it was Niall. But it was better to just do what Daddy Liam says before he snaps.

I had to avoid Louis during the whole process of readying ourselves to begin surfing. If he rubbed sunscreen on my skin, it would be left burning from his touch and I would be left aroused and unable to do a thing about it. So I chose the easy way out and simply had Liam put on my sunscreen, because I didn’t have any problems with him touching me.

Once we were in the water, my embarrassment mostly disappeared. I kicked swiftly and managed to pull my board alongside Lou’s, so we rode out past the waves together chatting happily. Eventually, we turned back around so we could surf in and I remembered how bad I was at surfing. Why had I let myself come out this far? How in the world was I going to get back in?

Louis sensed my nerves. “Hey, it’s okay, Haz. Stop stressing it. You’ll be fine, just copy what I’m doing, all right? You’ve got this.” I shakily drew in a breath and forced my mind to calm. Louis wouldn’t let anything happen to me; I knew that. I had nothing to worry about.

We paddled forward as the next big wave swept up from behind, and I focused on the lessons we’d had back in Australia. Wait until you feel the wave picking you up, push off with your hands and jump up quickly. I felt the tug as the wave caught my board and snapped to my feet, standing proudly. I made it! Placing my arms out for balance, I let the wave keep pulling me and I tried desperately to keep my balance as steady as when I’d first stood.

Eventually I ended up crashing off my board and into the water. As I resurfaced, I found Louis swimming toward me with a big smile. “Harry, you did it! That was amazing!” He finally reached me and placed his board beside mine, hugging me tight. “You’ve finally learned to surf!”

I grinned back at him. “It’s thanks to you, Boo. I wasn’t even going to try to surf it in, but you inspired me with your oh-so-kind words and example.” Okay, so I might’ve put in a little bit of sarcasm, but I knew he’d get the point and see my gratitude. He pulled back from the hug and clutched his board once again, diving out into the water.

“Let’s see if you can do it again!” He smirked.

As it turned out, I could do it again. And again and again and again. We spent the whole day surfing together, laughing and joking about in the waves. Occasionally I would glance around and see one of the other boys having a go at it, mostly Liam. But I was really proud of my newfound surfing ability, and Louis seemed to be proud that he’d helped me.

Of course, my good luck couldn’t have lasted the whole day.

As the sun started to set, Louis and I met up with Liam and we all agreed on one last wave before we would head in and go home. Niall had out a camera since he’d decided to tweet about what we’d been doing today once we went home. I paddled swiftly to catch up with Boo and Li, and we turned around at the same time, ready to catch the next wave.

I got to my feet as I’d been doing all-day, smiling and waving at Niall’s camera. I saw him chuckle before he turned to zoom in on Liam, who was in front of me. He seemed to be doing fine as well. The only one I hadn’t seen was Louis.

I turned around and felt my board slightly shift its direction, but I didn’t pay it much attention. Louis was surfing along behind me, doing wonderfully. I smiled at him and he returned the gesture, staring into my eyes as we surfed closer to the shore.

That was how I saw his face suddenly contort with fear. I heard him trying to shout something to me, so I leaned forward a bit more and cupped a hand to my ear. “What was that, Lou?” He just pointed ahead of my board.

I swiveled to find what he was talking about that had scared him so badly, only to hear a loud sound and have my body thrown into the air before falling back to the sea. As I came down the board drifted back toward me, so I slammed my head on it. I closed my eyes, feeling sick.

“Haz? Hazza? Come on Haz, open your eyes. You can do it, baby. Just open those emeralds for me. Can you breathe? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me,” Lou’s worried voice came from somewhere beside me as I felt a new pressure on my right hand. I wanted to tell him that I was fine, just a bit tired and sore. But I couldn’t open my eyes. It was as if they had been glued shut. I settled for a weak attempt at grabbing his hand tighter in mine.

“That’s it. Good, so you’re able to hear. Can you just open your eyes, love?” His voice trembled now. What was wrong? I hated hearing my Boobear sad. I tried once more but still couldn’t pry my eyelids open.

Upon realizing I didn’t have full ability of speech either, I mumbled a soft groan. I felt my body being lifted by someone and curled into their chest protectively while something hard slid alongside my back. We moved slowly, obviously being dragged back by something. Where were we again? Oh yeah, I was surfing. So I must still be in the water. Why was I here in someone’s arms while they pulled probably a surfboard when I should be out there on my own board?

Full memory of my crash zoomed into my head. I was so focused on watching Louis surf that I hadn’t been looking where I was going at all, and as I turned my board smashed into a giant rock. The weightlessness must’ve been me being tossed into the air for a second, and I would’ve landed in the water.

Maybe it was still Louis who was with me, carrying me to where I assumed the other boys were waiting. Had they seen me fall? I hoped not; it would be extremely embarrassing to explain that the reason I hurt myself surfing was I was paying too much attention to my best mate and too little attention to surfing. Giving a light sigh, I managed to snuggle closer into the person who I was now sure was Louis’ chest.

I let my body relax into the comfort of his warmth, and I felt myself getting sleepy. Are you supposed to go to sleep when you hit your head really hard? I think I remember a doctor telling me once that you should never go to sleep after you hit your head. I wasn’t sure though, maybe he’d said it was best to sleep then.

It didn’t really matter, because the next second I was out like a light.