LIGHTHOUSE // a harry styles au

eight

After your morning at Saint Aymes, you left the cafe feeling excited and hopeful. Things felt different, and the possibilities of exploring what was going on between you and Harry felt endless. He had felt so far away not that long ago. But he was opening up more and more, and every occurrence of him showing a piece of himself made you want to take a bulldozer to every wall he'd built throughout his life. You wanted to know everything about him - every minute detail.

When you got home, you immediately checked the lots Harry had sent over. They were both huge, thickly wooded areas in the middle of nowhere. You shook your head with a smile - this was what he was decisive about, huh? It didn't take you long to find two more spots, both with a similar lot size, but had open land. From the google earth view, one looked to back up to miles and miles of fields while the other was situated next to a national park. There was, surprisingly, not that many to choose from in the acreage size Harry had mentioned at the cafe, so you left it at the four, sending your two finds back to him with a quick "thoughts?".

You were surprised how quickly his reply came through, your phone buzzing beside you just as you logged into your email.

Harry Styles: Looks good. When are you free next?

That was how you ended up giving yourself an extra spritz of perfume four days later, waiting for Harry to pick you up to go check out the lots together.

You couldn't help the smile that spread across your face the first time a text came through from Harry just to say hi. It was only a day after planning to look at the lots, and he just wanted to "check in" and "see how your day was going". It was really sweet. He was really sweet.

What once would have made you nervous - getting a random text from Harry Styles - now made different kinds of nerves settle deep in your belly. It felt sort of ridiculous how quickly you were getting used to talking to him daily. You looked forward to checking your phone to see if he'd responded to your last message, eagerly waiting for the next tidbit he'd give you. And the first time he sent a tiny "x" at the end of his message, you stared at the single letter for longer than you would like to admit.

You were mid-gargle when your phone vibrated in your back pocket, quickly spitting the mouthwash in the sink as you slid it from the confines of your pocket to see Harry's name on the screen.

"Hey," you answered warmly.

"Hi love, I'm outside."

Your heart did that thing where it twisted in your chest at the sound of the pet name casually rolling off his lips. "Okay, give me two minutes." You could hear the smile in your own voice, your tone light and airy. You were excited to spend time with him - learn more about his quirks, his interests, his mind.

It was completely overcast when you walked outside, but Harry was sitting idle beside the curb with the top down, watching you as you walked across the street.

"Ah, I didn't realize the clown car had a removable roof," you teased as you climbed into the ironic but equally impressive car.

"I'm sorry... the what?" He laughed, staring at you. His hair looked soft, curling around his ears perfectly. He was sporting a black tee shirt with Higgs written across the chest in baby pink and light blue letters, and a pair of athletic shorts were casually hiked up his thighs.

"The little yellow clown car," you smiled. "I've been referring to it as that in my head since I met you."

He scoffed dramatically. "First of all, you should learn to appreciate a sick car."

With a shrug and a thoughtful pout, you fought your smile from widening any further across your face. "Nah."

His mouth fell open in offense as he glanced up at a bypasser walking down the street.