Bittersweet - Larry

11

"Where are we going today?" I asked, leaning back in my chair as everyone had finished their breakfast—except Sophie who was still eating pieces of banana while she continuously bumped her heels against her chair.

"We're going to a nearby park," my mom said.

"That's it?" Harry asked.

"We were never supposed to do anything special. The point of the trip is to spend time together, and the weather is nice." 

Harry hummed in response while I looked at him, his eyes meeting mine as I did so. I had a hard time looking away, and I was sure it was satisfying for him to know that, but he'd laugh if he could read my mind. I wanted to run my fingers through his curls or poke his dimples or something just as unmistakably stupid. I smiled unintentionally because I knew how stupid it was, and Harry scrunched up his nose when he tried not to smile back, that being something I had noticed about him. He did it every time he tried to hold back a smile, just like he stuck his tongue out whenever he was about to take a bite of something. It was almost endearing.

"Let's go then," Desmond said, forcing us out of our bobble when they got up. 

Harry went back upstairs to get Sophie's hat along with the sunscreen, letting Gemma know we were leaving while he did so. We sat down in the lobby while he put the sunscreen on Sophie and tied her hat under her chin so she didn't pull it off, Desmond having gotten the stroller from the car so we didn't have to carry her.

The walk to the park wasn't long, but the sun was burning down on us and I took off my hoodie when we got there, letting it fall to the grass while my mom put down a blanket for us to sit on. Harry took off his hoodie too, but unlike me, he wasn't wearing a t-shirt underneath, so I had to focus on not looking at his abs. Desmond got Sophie out of the stroller and put her down on the blanket while the rest of us sat down. Harry pulled her shoes and socks off afterwards as it was a lot warmer than we had first anticipated. It was rarely ever this warm at the end of September, but we had been unusually lucky with the weather this year.

"Let's get you out of all these clothes, shall we?" Harry asked, pulling her shirt over her head before he took her pants off as well, leaving her in her body. My mom put extra sunscreen on her arms and legs now that they were bare. I didn't even protest when she reached over to put some on my face as well, knowing I was gonna get sunburned if I didn't let her.

"Are you planning on going to uni, Louis?" Desmond asked. 

I appreciated him for trying to get to know me, but these harmless questions were getting slightly annoying. "I'm not sure yet."

"Do you know what you want to do in life?"

I looked away because I did know what I wanted, but there was a difference between that and actually doing it. "No."

"What about you, Harry," my mom asked. 

If I knew her well enough, she was trying to force the attention onto someone else. Not only was she interested in getting to know Harry, but she also knew this wasn't something I was comfortable talking about.

"I think I'm gonna go to uni," Harry said.

"And afterwards?"

"I wanna do something with music."

"Music?" I asked. He looked at me and nodded, smirking just enough for me to notice it. "What kind of music?"

"What do mean?"

"Do you wanna be a musician or just produce it?"

"A musician."

"Are you gonna write your own songs?"