Archive of Our Own

It was Niall’s idea to begin with, as so many of their shenanigans are. A cross-country road trip was symbolic, she had said, of new beginnings. Graduating high school, she had said, was the closing of a significant chapter in their lives. And what better way to find your next one by travelling aimlessly around the country until either you get bored, murdered, or your car breaks down?

It was maybe not the best way to present the information, and there was no way Liam was going to let anyone go on any trips unless they were planned meticulously, down to the smallest detail, but the idea had been modified, perfected, checked, and double-checked for a year by their whole group, and it was finally time. Well, almost time. There were still twelve hours left until it was time to go, and Louis hadn’t packed yet.

It wasn’t like she was unmotivated or anything, because Louis was the pinnacle of productivity. The effigy of efficiency. The crown of competence. For example, she’d just come up with all those titles. How much did one even need to pack to cross four states, anyway?

Louis sighed from her position on the ground, blowing at a fluffy piece of hair that refused to leave her face. She tracked the motion of the fan spinning. She sighed again.

Where’s your family’s fat orange cat to distract you when you need it?

Louis turned her head dramatically. “The fuck are you looking at, pal?” she said to a pile of laundry that was just disrespectfully close.

It didn’t respond.

She stuck out her tongue anyway.

It still didn’t respond.

Louis looked around her room for something else to fight. Clothes on the floor, a window, some more clothes on the floor, an empty closet (it was symbolically empty ever since she came out in middle school. Or at least, that’s what she said when her mother asked why the fuck were there clothes all over the goddamn floor, Louise William Tomlinson?), the pretty lacy bra that no one would ever see except the desk it was currently half falling off of-

Louis sat up, inspecting the bra. She looked down. The other one was much prettier than the boring gray boob cage down there. And the pale pink lace would compliment her skin tone so nicely…

And therein lies the biggest human dilemma of the late 20th and early 21st century -- which is more important, laziness or aesthetics?

After a tense few seconds of decision-making, Louis scrambled to her feet and practically threw herself at the desk (which was a very unsafe choice, considering the small size of her bedroom). She picked up the thing gently, as if it were made of glass. Which would probably be more comfortable than a regular bra. Louis ran a hand through her short hair, still looking at the bra.

What was even the point of putting it on? There was no one to see it. There was only one person whom she’d even want to see it, anyway. The one person whom she was trying so hard not to think about, in fact. The one person who, for the past couple of weeks, had been acting weird around Louis.

And Louis was not going to think about Harry. Not right now, when she had packing to do. Now was definitely not the time for that big emotional crisis. She threw the bra over her shoulder.

What do you even bring on a cross-country road trip? Louis had never even been out of Texas. Which made a lot of sense, okay, because Texas was fucking huge and she lived right in the middle of the goddamn place.

She looked around her room. Long sleeves or short sleeves? Crop top or sweater? Shorts or sweats? Skinny jeans or flare jeans? (Just kidding. Flare jeans are for people who are actively seeking to be hit by a car.)

It was fair to say that she had no idea, so Louis just grabbed every article of clothing she could see and shoved them all into the huge suitcase.

It was safe to say that packing was not her strong suit. That was more Harry’s thing.

And now that there was no empty suitcase to fill, Louis had to think about her. She gently pulled a polaroid off the wall, a beautiful picture of Niall and herself laughing, just on the hipster side of blurry and taken by Harry. She smiled fondly and picked up another. Liam and Zayn this time, smiling softly at each other as they sat on the sidewalk and braided one of Louis’ sister’s hair. Harry had taken that one, too. Louis’ grin kept growing as she looked at each one, and the excited buzzing for their trip started up again in her heart.

She grabbed the last one off of the wall, handling it more carefully with it than she had the others. It was her a favorite, a picture of Harry that Louis had taken.

The picture itself wasn’t the best composition - the face was too close to the lens and it was a little blurry with motion - but it was Harry’s best smile, the only that was reserved just for Louis and small kids. Her usually pale face was pink and her nose was all scrunched, making Louis scrunch up her own nose fondly as she looked at it. The green of Harry’s eyes shone through her eyelashes, and the unreal pink of her lips stretched into a frozen laugh, bookended by her deep dimples. The dark camera strap was still around her neck, barely visible in all her dark curls.

Louis could practically feel her own face oozing sappiness. Her eyes were probably all crinkled up by now, just from seeing this picture. God, she was so in love with Harry, so in love with every fiber of her body.

And now she got to go on a two month, cross-country road trip with her and three of her other best friends. Louis grinned at the picture, which she was still holding.

She jumped across the room and zipped up her bulging suitcase with finality before laying dramatically over it.

Her grin remained firmly in place, even as a cat slunk in the ajar door and decided to go to sleep on her head.

~~~

A car horn echoed through Louis’ front yard.

“Get in loser, we’re going road trippin’!” a distinctly Irish voice yelled.

“Fuck off, Niall!” Louis yelled back as she dragged her suitcase towards the beat-up car.

Liam jumped out of the front seat to help her with her bag, ponytail swinging. “Jesus Christ, Tommo,” she groaned, “what did you put in here?”

Louis shrugged, letting go completely of the bag. “I didn’t know what to bring.”

Liam groaned as she shoved it towards the popped trunk.

“Looking good, Li!” Louis called as she climbed into the unoccupied front seat.

Liam appeared in the window a second later, shoving her hair back as she good-naturedly climbed into the back row of seats.

“I know that you know I was sitting there,” she said.

Louis shrugged without looking back. “I called shotgun, Leeyum, and the rules of shotgun are more powerful than all of us.”

“You didn’t, actually,” Niall chimed in, pulling away from the sidewalk.

Louis smacked her arm. “It was implied,” she said over Liam’s worried mumble about safe driving.

“Anyway,” Louis said after a few moments of silence, “Whose house is next? Harry’s is really close.”

Niall laughed. “Harry’s house is fifteen minutes away. We’re going to Zayn’s first.”

“Harry’s is not that far from mine! I walk over there all the time,” Louis insisted.

Niall shook her head, laughing. “Maybe if you’re not using the roads,” she said, “but even then it’s what, like three miles? But,” she sighed dramatically, “maybe you fly there faster on the wings of love.”

“Fuck off, Horan,” Louis said over Liam’s laughter in the back. After that, she ranked up the radio, and it wasn’t long before the three of them were belting along to Adele.

They pulled up in front of Zayn’s driveway like that, loud even before Niall started honking the horn along to the song.

Zayn ambled out a minute later, skinny arm tugging a small suitcase and wearing a small smile that was still visible from the street.

Louis rolled down the window. “Z!” she hollered. “Hurry up!”

Niall cackled and honked the horn again.

Louis couldn’t see Zayn’s face from where she was putting her suitcase in the trunk, but she knew Zayn was rolling her eyes right then. She saw Liam scooting over in her peripheral a second later, right before the door opened and a thick mane of black hair stuck in.

“Hey,” Zayn said in her quiet, low voice as she slid in. “Vas happenin’?”

Louis grinned at her in the rearview mirror. “We’re just about to get our last sailor, then this boat’s embarking.”

Zayn raised an eyebrow as Niall laughed.

“Ever since you got that dumb compass tattoo, you won’t shut up with the sailing metaphors,” Niall snorted. “What’s next, are we gonna become pirates?”

“Well,” Louis said, “It would be cool to get a skull and crossbones…”

Zayn groaned. “Fuck off, Lou.”

Louis laughed uproariously and Niall put the car in drive. Louis turned to her. “Why do you get to drive, anyway?”

Niall grinned and pushed her sunglasses up. “This whole thing was my idea.”

“Fine, but I’m driving later.”

“Shotgun!” Liam yelled.

Niall laughed. “Shoved into me own backseat!”

Louis grinned. “Get ready to walk the plank, Nialler.”

Zayn groaned. “She doesn’t even have the jolly roger tattoo yet…”

Louis cackled, and the song on the radio switched to some upbeat song by an emerging girlband.

“Ooh, who’s this?” Liam asked. “I like them.”

Louis leaned forward and read the scrolling words. “Little Mix?” She turned it up.

“‘M surprised yeh’ve never heard of ‘em,” Niall cut in. “These girls are so good.” She turned up the volume.

Louis nodded along, grinning. “Yeah, yeah they are…”

Four minutes later, when they got to Harry’s house, all four of the girls in the car were bopping along and yelling the words they could guess. Niall, deciding that they all needed more of this in their lives, flipped it over to a playlist of her favorite Little Mix jams. Liam had heard of these girls, too, apparently, and she was rapping like a pro, voice low and smooth, like a soft metal (gold would be appropriate), as Niall belted like a champ, hitting all the notes just right, voice warm and broad with just a hint of gravel. Louis and Zayn grinned and joined in, hitting background notes when they could and flaunting their voices, as well.

Harry was running towards the car as they pulled up, and Louis stopped singing to smile widely at her, the crinkly-eyed one that she felt revealed maybe too much of how she felt, but it’s not like she could hide a thing like that. Harry grinned back, scrunching up her nose a little and laughing breathlessly, that relentless left dimple digging into her cheek.

She ran around back to throw her suitcase in the trunk before pulling the door open to it’s still-singing occupants.

“Is that Little Mix?” she asked in her slow voice.

Louis turned around to respond before anyone else would. “I’m surprised you know the names of any pop groups, Harold, given your alternative hipster taste.”

Harry laughed as she climbed in over Zayn’s lap to sit in the middle. She left her hand on the corner of Louis’ seat as she settled in, and Louis tried to conceal a small smile as she rested her own hand gently on top of it. When Louis looked away, Niall’s eyebrows were raised, unimpressed. Louis grinned at her and began to sing loudly and violently in her face, but the one hand stayed where it was.

Niall shook her head fondly and pulled the car into drive again, peeling into the street as they officially started their Symbolic Journey.

~~~

“It’s a classic trope, Z,” Louis was arguing jovially. “A coming-of-age sort of thing.”

Zayn shook her head, dark hair swishing with the movement. “It’s a thousand dollars out of my bank account, that’s what it is. Gas prices are rising, Louis.”

Louis laughed. “We both know how excited you are for this trip, you fucking nerd. I bet you planned what you’d take for two weeks before you actually packed.”

Zayn rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. “And I bet you just threw a bunch of shit in your suitcase last night.”

Louis laughed. “You can’t prove anything, Malik!”

Harry leaned forward, grinning, careful not to jostle a sleeping Liam. “Did you remember your toothbrush this time, Lou?”

Louis nodded, grinning so widely her eyes were beginning to squint. “Yeah.”

“Your hairbrush?”

“Yep,” Louis popped the ‘p.’

“Extra shoes?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“A jacket?”

“Of course.”

“Eyeliner?”

“Who do you think I am?”

“Pads or tampons?”

Louis froze. “Shit.”

Niall cackled.

“We have to turn around,” Louis said. “I have to buy, like, 12 boxes.”

“You can have some of mine,” Harry offered.

Louis was shaking her head before Harry had even finished her sentence. “No, H, you didn’t pack enough for two people. And besides, I’ve seen how much you pay for your underwear. There’s no way I’m letting you bleed out all over one of those things.”

“No worries, girls,” Niall interjected, “’ve got ya covered. Open the glove compartment.”

Louis raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Just go ahead and do it, asshole.”

Louis popped the lever. Her eyes widened as she saw what it contained.

A hundred tampons, probably more, filled the box to the brim. A few fell out from the sudden opening motion, but there were so many that it didn’t matter. Just tons and tons of tampons, all stacked for maximum storage, crammed into the glove compartment. Why would a person even have this many tampons? How long would it take to use them all? Questions like this didn’t even matter when faced with such a large quantity of tampons. There were so many that they smothered any room for thought. One thing was clear, though, and that was that they wouldn’t have to stop to buy more.

“Wow,” Louis said, speechless.

“What do you even do with that many?” Harry wondered.

Niall shrugged. “You never know.”

Zayn blinked pensively. “They were originally used to plug bullet holes.”

Louis whirled around. “Are you implying that Niall could get shot at any moment?”

Zayn shrugged, a smile beginning to cross her face. “You never know.”

Harry laughed loudly, throwing her head back. Louis laughed, too, and Niall as well. But Niall was always laughing.

The combined force of the laughter woke Liam, whose head jolted up.

“What’s goinon?” she slurred, still tired from her nap.

Louis laughed even more.

“Why are there a million tampons?” Liam asked, confused.

Niall shrugged, grinning. “I mean, you never know.”

Liam’s furrowed eyebrows lifted a little, like this was a reasonable explanation. “I guess.”

Louis laughed. “It doesn’t matter, Payno. All that matters right now is we’re going and we’re not gonna stop until we get to our first scheduled stop!”

“Yeah…” Liam mumbled, still tired from her nap. “Where’s that, again?”

Zayn lifted a giant map of the country, filled with red dots and dotted lines and doodles of Bigfoot. When did she even get that?

Zayn stabbed a point with her finger. “The Grand Canyon.”

“Might be a while before we get there…” Liam said, waking up slowly.

Harry nodded, curls bouncing. “We’re probably gonna have to stop at a nice little desert town first.”

Louis frowned. “We’ll just hit up a drive-through or something. I wanna see the canyon.”

Niall laughed, for some reason. “Lou, The Grand Canyon’s 16 and a half hours away from Austin.”

Louis shrugged. “Probably more like 14, now. We can make it.”

Niall raised an eyebrow. “It’s been half an hour.”

“Oh.”

Zayn started laughing.

Harry grinned. “Does this mean we get to stay in a little motel and walk around a desert town?”

Louis threw a tampon at her. “What is it with you and desert towns?”

Harry shrugged, dimples still firmly in place on her cheeks. “They’re nice, is all. ‘ve even brought my camera to take some pictures.”

Louis laughed. “You horribly pretentious hipster, I bet it’s even the polaroid one that takes film.”

Harry blushed a little, giggling.

Louis pointed in her face (hardly inches away because of the small size of the car). “I knew it!”

Liam laughed. “It’s okay, Hazza, I like your Polaroid camera.” She wrapped an arm around Harry’s shoulders.

Zayn smiled and grabbed Liam’s hand while Louis pouted.

“I never said I didn’t.” She crossed her arms.

Niall laughed. “Let’s play some music before Tommo flies into a jealous rage.”

Louis grabbed the aux cord before anyone else could steal her rightful position as Road Trip DJ.

“I got it!” She plugged it into her phone before quickly scrolling through songs as Niall turned up the volume.

An upbeat song started swirling out the speakers, piano and drums accompanied by a nice voice.

Harry perked up, Liam’s arm (still holding Zayn’s hand, but Louis would examine that later, when she wasn’t busy being so incredibly fond) sliding down her back. “I love this song!” she exclaimed, grinning.

They all sang along, riffing in the back when she didn’t know the words. Especially Zayn. That girl could probably make a career out of her high notes.

“We should make a girl band!” Louis yelled.

“I’m in,” Niall said enthusiastically.

Liam nodded. “What’s our band name?”

“Niall and the Potatoes!” The aforementioned jackass shouted.

Louis shook her head. “Louis and the Assholes is better.”

Zayn snorted. “What about something cool and cryptic? Whales on Fire.”

Harry shook her head. “Too ambiguous. We need something with a message that we’re the best.”

Louis quirked her mouth. “Something that says we’re going straight to the top? I dunno, the Winners?”

Harry laughed. “What about One Direction?”

Liam laughed. “That’s good, that’s a really good name!”

Harry looked at Louis. “Does everyone like it?”

Louis smiled at her, eyes crinkling from the force. “I love it, Haz.”

Harry blushed and ducked her head. Louis bit back a bigger smile. She told herself it was because of the thrill of starting a road trip. She was never very good at lying to herself.

A rolled up map whacking her head made Louis start.

“Hey!” she whipped around.

Zayn was cackling.

“Shut up,” Louis said, sticking her tongue out and turning back around.

Liam and Zayn laughed as Louis turned up the music. (Harry laughed a little breathlessly, but Louis wasn’t looking.) (Niall saw in the rearview mirror, though.)

They all sat in silence for a while, and Louis started to drift off. She curled up against the chair, remembering how she’d stayed up late pretending to pack. Her eyelashes fluttered shut as the car rolled along, the white noise of the wind and the little breaths of her girls lulling her under.

“You’re staring, Haz,” she thought she heard Liam’s voice say as she slipped under. But maybe it was part of her dream.

~~~

They’d been driving for forever when Niall decided to stop for lunch at last.

“Finally!” Louis exclaimed as she stepped out of the front seat, stretching her tired limbs from her three-hour power nap.

Zayn groaned behind her as she stretched as well.

“I haven’t had my feet on unmoving ground for six years,” Louis said dramatically, walking with the group towards the doors of the little country diner on the side of the road.

“Fuck off, Lou,” Niall said from the front. “We’ve only been driving for four hours, three of which you were out for.”

“And technically, the ground’s always moving, with the spinning of the planet and all that,” Harry chimed in.

Louis clutched her chest. “Betrayal!” she exclaimed.

Harry laughed loudly, before her face closed off a bit and she stepped up next to Liam.

Louis’ face fell. There it was. The weirdness between her and Harry. She knew somewhere in the back of her mind that her steps were slowing down, but Louis was too busy cycling through reasons for this seemingly unreachable distance to care.

Did Harry know that Louis was in love with her? Did she think that their friendship was going to be ruined because of it? Did she just not want to hang out with Louis anymore? They were going to the same college, so maybe she wanted to sever ties before her cool new university friends had to meet Louis. Or maybe she was mad at Louis, and Louis was too stupid or preoccupied to realize.

“You okay?” Zayn asked suddenly from her left.

Louis jerked up, seeing Zayn’s concerned face hovering unexpectedly about a foot away.

“Everyone else is already inside,” Zayn explained, shrugging as she looked forward and started to amble in that direction. Louis followed silently. “They all went in when I told them I’d go check on you,” she continued.

Louis nodded, biting her lip.

The pair walked to the door of the little diner without a word. Zayn knew Louis well enough to tell when she just wanted to quietly turn something over in her head. Zayn also knew that Louis wouldn’t tell her until it was probably too late for her to do anything very helpful.

Louis kicked some dirt up in the dusty parking lot as they walked, looking up only once they hit the sidewalk. The building was small and the green paint had paled from the relentless sun, but it was cute and the plants outside were clearly well-kept. Harry probably loves this place, she thought. She’d most likely brought in the big camera that might as well have contained a piece of her heart, the way she held it so delicately.

Zayn put her hand on the dull metal of the door handle and looked up. Worried amber eyes met Louis’ blue ones.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” Louis nodded, “let’s go in.”

Zayn hesitated before she nodded, opening the glass door wide and stepping in, pushing it farther so Louis could fit in behind her.

A blast of cooled air hit her as they swung open, and she glanced around the dimly lit interior as she stepped over the threshold. The walls were covered with dark wood panelling and the carpets were dark green. There were medium sized windows around, but honestly, they provided just barely more light than the yellow pendant lamps hanging from the dark ceiling. There were booths with green benches and small tables all clustered together, and only one swinging door to the kitchen in the back. But what it lacked in decor and simple taste, it made up for in charm. The lighting was nice on their surroundings, and pictures of nearby lakes and paintings of flowers in simple wooden frames filled the walls. There were fresh white flowers in different small vases on every table, and it smelled nice, if a little like Louis’ Nanna’s house.

She saw Niall waving energetically to her and Zayn from one of the booths as the door closed behind them to the little tinkle of a bell. Louis only realized that it was time to walk over when Zayn’s black-clad shoulder bumped her on the way.

She startled a little but started to walk, keeping her eyes on the head full of curls that she wished would turn around and grin.

But Harry didn’t turn and Louis ended up sliding in next to Niall, smiling a little forcefully and still looking around as Zayn nudged in next to her.

“Charming little place you’ve found, Nialler,” she said nonchalantly.

Liam nodded. “Isn’t it cute?”

Zayn smiled a little, which was equivalent to the excited bouncing from Niall on Louis’ right. “‘S cozy, huh?”

Niall grinned back at Zayn. “I knew this one would like it, with her and H’s weird hipster taste.”

Louis grinned diagonally across the table at Harry, who looked up at the sound of her name and accidentally caught Louis’ eye. She smiled and laughed before looking down again. Louis’ grin faded a touch, and she bit her lip. Zayn put a hand on her thigh comfortingly and Louis smiled at her for that. Shoutout to Zayn for always sensing when something was wrong.

Louis looked back at the rest of her friends, ignoring the little twist she caught on Harry’s face as it quickly looked away and also ignoring the little twist in her own heart.

“So,” she began, “have you guys checked out the menu yet?”

“I’ve read a little,” Liam said, picking up the laminated paper in front of her. “The wings sound really good, actually.”

“I see you’ve started without me,” a voice at the end of the table stated good-naturedly. Louis turned around to see a boy in an apron standing there with a little writing pad. “I’m Joshua, and I’ll be your waiter for today. Do y’all want anything to drink, to start off with?”

Louis smiled brightly at him. Someone had to be charming. “Hi. I’ll just have a water, please.”

Joshua nodded before turning to Zayn. “And you?”

As the girls rattled off their drink choices one by one, Louis tuned out, looking around at the pictures nailed up. A lone flower stood in a field of grass. A cow stood alone behind a fence. A single boat sailed on an open lake. She shrugged internally. Harry could take better ones.

She looked across the table at Harry, who was currently ordering pink lemonade. Louis smiled. A cute order for a cute girl, she thought. Harry turned to face her and Louis ducked her head before she could see what must have been Louis’ “fond face,” as Liam and Zayn had laughingly dubbed it. Or her “Harry face,” as Niall so gleefully called it.

She looked back up as the waiter nodded at Niall and closed his book. “We’ll have it out soon,” he said, smiling before he turned and left towards the kitchen.

“He was cute,” Liam said. “Like, no hetero, but…”

Louis laughed loudly.

“I’d do him,” Niall said, probably a little loudly for the circumstances.

Zayn slapped a hand over her mouth, wincing at the slapping sound. “Dude, you can’t just shout that about people one room over.”

Niall laughed, pulling the hand away. “Well, I would.”

Louis elbowed her playfully, raising an eyebrow. “Gonna slip him your number, Nialler? Let him proper wine and dine you?”

Niall laughed. “I’m too aro for that and you know it.”

Harry laughed.

“...But I’m not above a booty call,” Niall finished, grinning.

The whole table laughed, and Joshua approached with their tray of drinks.

“What’s so funny?” he asked as he began setting the drinks out.

Niall shrugged. “That was some fast service,” she sidestepped.

He looked around exaggeratedly. “It’s not exactly rush hour.”

Louis tuned out again. She looked him up and down. He was attractive, she supposed, but she didn’t really swing that way. Girls were more her thing. One girl, recently. She turned to look at that one girl, smiling as said girl’s cheeks pinkened at something. She watched her eyes shine as she said something to Niall. Louis’ heart pinged as she remembered when Harry would interact so freely with her. Her side flinched as Zayn pinched her.

“You’re staring,” she said lowly. Louis tore her gaze away, guilty. Liam shook her head sadly.

“Always so obvious,” she muttered. Louis bit her lip in response.

Louis picked up her drink and her menu. She skimmed the pages for something to eat after so long in the little car. She heard Harry place an order and skimmed a little faster.

The waiter said something and suddenly Niall was ordering next to her.

“I’d like three of the hot dog plates, please.”

“Three?” The waiter sounded skeptical. “Our plates are full enough to feed one person, especially a skinny girl like you.”

Niall smiled sweetly. “I know what I’m about.”

He shrugged and grinned, marking her down. “And you?”

After all the girls had placed their orders and Joshua had whisked away to the kitchen once more, Louis faced her squad.

“So,” she started, “How much longer to the Grand Canyon? Just, like, a few hours, right? Aren’t we in New Mexico, or maybe Arizona?”

Niall laughed, shaking her head. “Mate, we haven’t even left Texas.”

“What?” Louis said, shocked. “What the fuck? How fucking big is this place? How many miles of dead grass and tumbleweeds can one state contain?”

Liam laughed. “It’s, like, the second biggest state, Lou.”

Niall grinned. “I’m an immigrant and even I know it’s approximately a fuckton of square miles big.”

Louis turned to her. “Thanks,” she deadpanned.

“We’re not even in the Panhandle yet,” Harry chimed in.

Louis turned to her, automatically brightening despite the bad news. “How?”

Harry shrugged. “Texas is fuckin’ big, I guess.”

Louis shook her head, smiling. “That it is, young Harold.”

Harry’s cheeks pinkened, and Louis’ smile grew. Niall interrupted the moment.

Or, rather, Niall’s stomach interrupted the moment. By growling. Loudly.

Liam laughed. “Hungry, Niall?”

Niall grinned serenely. “Always.”

Zayn snorted. “You literally just ate four of Harry’s granola bars.”

Louis smirked. Of course Harry would bring granola bars. What a responsible kid.

Niall shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a growing girl!”

Louis laughed. “You haven’t grown since middle school, Nialler,” she teased, ruffling Niall’s blonde hair.

Niall laughed. “Says you! You haven’t grown an inch since preschool!”

“That is blatantly untrue!” Louis said, grinning.

Harry nodded. “No, Lou, you’re tiny.”

Louis gasped, mock-offended. “Tiny? I’ll have you know, Styles, I am five-foot-nine!”

Harry laughed loudly. “When I measured you in January, you were 5’6 on tiptoe.”

Louis crossed her arms. “Maybe I look small to you, you giant.”

Harry nodded benignly. “Like an ant.” She pinched her thumb and forefinger to demonstrate. “Teensy.”

Liam laughed. “You can probably stand in the backseat of Niall’s tiny car.”

Louis grasped her heart dramatically. “I can’t believe this! Such glaring disrespect!”

Zayn laughed. “Admit it, Lou, you’re just a small girl.”

“Never!” Louis shouted.

“Inside voices, Lewis,” Harry said, giggling.

Louis grinned even as she rolled her eyes. What a fucking nerd she was in love with.

Just then, the waiter walked up again. He set down the tray nearby and picked up two plates.

Plates of delicious smelling food were laid out in front of people. Onion rings for Liam, buffalo wings for Harry, a hot dog for Niall, mac and cheese for Zayn, another hot dog for Niall, a plate of nachos for Louis that smelled downright heavenly, and a third hot dog for Niall.

“Is that everything for right now? Any refills?” he asked, smiling pleasantly.

Niall grinned. “We’re good, I think, thanks.”

He smiled charmingly. “Alright, I’ll be back around to check on you guys later.” And he made his exit.

Niall grinned wolfishly at her three plates. She licked her lips and picked up the closest one. “Gotta love diner food,” she said before taking a massive bite.

Louis laughed and grabbed up some of her food.

“Mmh,” she groaned in surprise, “this shit is delicious .”

Liam side-eyed her plate, and Louis pulled it a little closer to her own torso.

“If you ask me for a fuckin’ nacho, I’mma stab you with the fuckin’ nacho,” she warned.

Liam held up her hands in surrender as the rest of the girls laughed.

Niall licked her fingers after devouring the last of her first hot dog.

“What the fuck,” Zayn said. “You just ate that in, like, ten seconds.”

Niall shrugged. “I just drove four hours from Austin. Gotta refill my own gas tank an’ all that.”

Louis caught Harry eyeing her plate. She squinted at her and Harry grinned back.

“Maybe you can have a nacho,” she said. Harry grinned.

“How come she gets one?” Liam asked indignantly.

Louis shrugged. “She’s cuter than you.”

Liam laughed, if begrudgingly. Louis smiled fondly at Harry. She knew Zayn was rolling her eyes. Louis offered the plate in front of her.

“Here cutie, have a nacho,” she said sweetly. Harry grinned, dimples pushing into her cheeks, and reached into the plate.

“Whipped,” Niall whispered next to her. Louis dropped one hand under the table and pinched her skinny legs.

“Ah!” Niall shrieked, falling towards the wall.

Louis laughed loudly as the others looked at her questioningly.

She shrugged as an answer. Niall began cackling, which was weird because Louis was the one who pinched her. But whatever, it was Niall. Niall was just a weird kid.

They finished the meal over banter and stayed put for a bit after (the atmosphere was just so cozy, if a bit sleepy), just hanging out and procrastinating the two hours left of driving to get to their motel.

“Alright,” Liam said finally, clapping her hands together to get everyone’s attention. “We should probably get going, the motel isn’t too far from here.”

Zayn nodded and moved to stand. “If anyone needs to pee--”

Niall raised a hand. “I need to!”

“--hold it.” Zayn finished.

Louis laughed, getting up and out of the booth.

Niall laughed. “Seriously, though, I’m gonna pop in the bathroom real quick, but one of you is gonna have to drive until I get a decent amount of sleep.” She stood up, stretching, and sauntered over to the door marked as a girls’ restroom.

“I have to pee, too,” Harry said, standing as well.

“The bathroom only seats one,” Louis said. “Sorry, pumpkin.”

Harry yawned and leaned down on Louis, throwing a heavy arm over her shoulders. Louis looked up, no doubt smiling her ridiculous fond smile, and leaned into the embrace. Harry towered over her.

“‘S dumb that they’d even have two bathrooms but limit the people who can use them,” Harry said quietly. “No point in it.”

Louis nodded. “What’s the point of installing two if we can only use one at a time?”

Zayn ruffled her hair. “If they’re gonna insist on two separate bathrooms, why not make them unisex?”

Liam shrugged. “Because this is the South.”

Louis laughed, wrapping an arm around Harry’s waist.

Niall came bounding out of the bathroom and up to them, wiping the water left her hands onto her shirt. “What’s up? Anyone else need to go?”

Harry nodded and untangled herself from Louis to walk over. Louis felt suddenly cold, but shook it off. Niall turned to face her, looking serious.

“When are you gonna do something about her?”

Louis looked steadily back. “What?” she asked, faking nonchalance.

Zayn shook her head. “You just stared at her the entire way across the restaurant.”

Louis shrugged, ignoring the weird feeling rising in her chest. She tried for a flippant tone. “You know Harry; she could fall over at any moment.”

Liam crossed her arms. “I just don’t want to be stuck in a car with all this sexual tension and shit for the whole trip.”

Louis laughed hollowly. “Nah, guys, it’s not a big deal,” she said, waving it off and walking towards the door.

Behind her, Zayn raised an eyebrow and Niall shrugged. Harry emerged from the bathroom just then, and the group headed out to their little car.

~~~

It wasn’t dark by the time they got to the motel, but it might as well have been, from the way the squad dragged themselves out of the dinged-up car. The summer sky was hardly darker than it had been, and the air was hot and wafty, but much less stale than it had been in the confines of the little vehicle. The girls drew in lungfuls of the sweet-smelling breeze before each grabbing a suitcase and hiking across the flat parking lot to the front of the small motel.

The motel was very obviously in a smallish town that had just enough foot traffic to survive; it was low and flat and an orangey shade of tan, the only touch of architecture being the archways in front of the main door. Louis had seen prettier places to stay, but she’d also seen more expensive ones, and now that they were officially gonna be college students, it seemed smartest to grab the cheapest option.

Louis was the last to haul her suitcase through the glass doors, and Niall had already begun checking in at the front desk. Louis looked around. At least there was a fan in the lobby to move the air around. She stepped up behind Niall and looked at a weird elephant lamp over her friend’s shoulder. Yeah, this was for sure not any five-star hotel.

“Thanks,” Niall was saying, grabbing five key cards and stepping back from the desk. She walked over to the circle of the rest of their group. Zayn was already sitting on one of the little breakfast tables set off to the side.

“We’re in rooms 10 and 11 tonight,” she said. “So three and two?”

The group nodded their consent. Harry yawned and leaned her head onto Liam’s shoulder. Louis tried to ignore the sudden burn on her own.

“Me, Niall, and Liam in one room, Louis an’ Harry in the other?” Zayn asked, pointing.

Liam shrugged. “Whatever gets me horizontal faster.”

Niall grinned. “That’s the spirit!” she said, pumping an arm. She offered the cards. “Anyway, single for you two, and we’ll take the double.”

Zayn nodded and took the card.

“Cool,” Louis said, smiling.

“Nice,” Niall responded when everyone was ready to go. She put her hand in the middle. “Let’s do a cheer.”

Louis put her hand on top. Liam and Zayn walked away.

“Alright, then,” Louis said, stepping back. “See you losers in the morning.”

~~~

Harry pushed open the door to their room, stepping back to let Louis in first.

“What a gentleman,” she grinned.

Harry laughed, letting the door swing shut behind her as she looked around.

“Oh my god,” she said.

“What the actual fuck,” Louis said.

“Why would that be here?”

Louis shook her head in awe, then burst out laughing. Harry joined in.

It was a normal room, for the most part. White walls, cheap TV stand, cheaper TV, horrible bedspread, and a jacuzzi in the corner. A jacuzzi surrounded by granite, with pillars at each corner and elevated on two steps.

Louis looked at the bathroom door next to it. “Why wouldn’t this be in there?” she laughed.

“Maybe it was too tubby to fit through the doorway,” Harry giggled.

Louis hit her lightly. “That was not one of your best, fucker.”

Harry giggled some more. A moment passed of just giggling. “I almost want to get in,” she said casually.

“Oh,” Louis’ voice may have gone up an octave at the image.

Harry started laughing again, oblivious. “I bet you don’t get this with the double!”

Louis flopped back onto the bed in lieu of an answer. The single bed. The one bed which she would be sharing tonight with Harry. Who usually sleeps in nothing or next to it. Not that it was a big deal, though, because she’d seen Harry naked before, and they’d slept in the same bed too many times to count, and this was pretty much exactly the same. Except now this was happening in a hotel room, with just them -- no sisters down the hall, no mom downstairs -- and Louis was totally cool. It was no big deal. She wasn’t nervous at all.

Except that -- oh, wait, she was. Fuck.

“Tired, Boo Bear?”

Louis cracked an eye open. “Not in the slightest.” She closed her eyes and spread out on top of the sheets.

Harry laughed from above her. “Alright, sure, babe.”

Louis smiled.

“Scoot over,” Harry said.

“Nope,” Louis responded, popping the ‘p’ just to be annoying.

“A person as small as you shouldn’t be allowed to take up this much area.”

Louis shook her head and stretched even farther. “A person with a personality as small as yours shouldn’t be allowed any room.” She could feel Harry’s pout despite her closed eyes. It was probably her greatest superpower. Her Harry-senses were tingling. “Okay,” she conceded, “you can have a corner.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you so much,” Harry responded, voice dripping with sarcasm. “But I think I’ll make my own space.”

Louis only had time to open her mouth questioningly before a giant mass of girl fell on her. Louis shrieked. Harry laughed loudly, the weird guffaw thing that Louis secretly loved.

“The sky is falling!” Louis laughed back. “The sky is falling!”

Harry laughed loudly again, face somewhere near Louis’ right bicep. The two lay there for a while, laughing before trailing off, then bursting back into giggles again. Louis felt… drunk , almost, just from the warm weight of her friend on her. As the laughs died off again, Louis felt a puff of air move the hair resting on her cheek. She turned to face it and finally opened her eyes, met with a reflection of her own.

Harry’s face was close, far closer than she’d realized. Only a few inches separated their mouths. Louis’ breathing got shallower. Her eyes darted down to Harry’s lips. Subconsciously, she licked her own. She thought she felt Harry’s breath hitch at that, but there was no way.

Eternities passed in seconds. Louis stared at the eyes in front of her, looking and hoping and wanting and wishing , but remained unmoving. Harry blinked. Louis’ heart beat faster, thumping quickly, like the running steps of a fox on a dirt trail. She watched the sweep of her eyelashes. There was no way Harry couldn’t feel Louis’ heart smashing its way through her chest. Quiet breaths passed between them, their mouths so close they were basically breathing each other’s air. Louis opened her lips to say something, not wanting to ruin things but knowing she was going to kiss her if this lasted much longer, and breathed in shakily --

Harry turned away. Louis blinked at the mass of chocolate curls that now faced her. She deflated, heartbeat slowing down from its previous pit pat . Her lips turned down at the corners.

Harry rolled off of her completely. “Been a long day, huh?” she asked, voice a bit breathy.

Louis swallowed before she agreed. “Yeah.” Her voice was lower than usual.

Harry nodded, looking up at the bumpy ceiling above them. A comfortable silence passed.

“Should probably get to sleep…” Harry said, voice as deep and slow as ever.

“Yeah,” Louis said quietly, turning over on her side, eyelashes already beginning to flutter.

“But,” Harry said after a pause, her eyes already shut, “...can’t sleep in our clothes, can we?”

Louis grumbled in response, wrapped comfortably around a pillow. “We could.”

Harry giggled, turning on her side to face Louis. “No, we ought to change.”

Louis barely nodded, eyes shut and limbs heavy.

“Come on,” Harry said, rising to her knees and pulling Louis up against her.

Louis grumbled, but let herself be pulled away in the warm embrace. Harry lifted them up and onto the floor, but as soon as she let go of Louis, Louis dropped down into a sitting position on the side of the bed.

Harry laughed. “Fine,” she said, “I’ll get yours for you.”

Louis smiled, watching Harry squat down to open her suitcase.

“Lou, did you just throw everything in here?”

Louis laughed. “Pretty much,” she responded, waking up a bit.

Harry laughed as well. “Oh, Lou-” she stopped herself suddenly, looking down at something in the suitcase.

Louis sat up straighter. “What?”

Harry slammed the suitcase shut. “Nothing. You’re just a mess, is all.” She stood up. “I’m gonna get ready for bed.”

Louis shrugged. “Alright…”

Harry hadn’t gotten her pajamas, so Louis just pulled her shirt off over her head. Since the suitcase was so far away, she’d just have to sleep in a sports bra tonight. Better than anything with an underwire, anyway.

“Don’t forget to brush your teeth, sweetcheeks,” Harry singsonged across the room, shedding her clothes for the night.

Louis laughed. “Thanks, babycakes,” she responded in kind.

Standing up, Louis crossed over to her suitcase and grabbed up a pair of sleep shorts. She walked over the bathroom, where she quickly changed, throwing her discarded clothes out the door, and brushed her teeth. When Louis emerged, Harry was laying calmly under the covers, flipping through a book.

“What’s that?” Louis asked, climbing under the sheets herself.

Harry shut the book and showed Louis the cover, illuminated by the yellow light from the bathroom. “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland,” she said, smiling softly in the subdued light from the window.

Louis turned to face her, mirroring her smile. “Haven’t you seen the movie twelve times?”

Harry laughed quietly. Quietly and softly seemed to be the only way to do anything in this atmosphere.

“Closer to twelve hundred,” she responded, setting it down on a table.

Louis giggled. There was a pause, where they both stared at each other in companionable silence.

“We should probably close the bathroom door,” Louis whispered.

Harry nodded back.

The two stayed still, just looking at each other. Harry’s face was outlined in the golden light from the bathroom lamp, twinkling in her green eyes. Or maybe it was just her eyes that were shining, instead of the reflected light.

Harry raised herself on an elbow. “I’ll do it,” she offered, already making to stand.

Louis eyes slipped shut. “Thanks, love,” she breathed.

She couldn’t see it, but the way Harry looked at her in that moment was breathtaking. Her entire being went soft, just for Louis, and the lovestruck look in her eyes was more wondrous than any image the HUBBLE telescope could capture of any galaxy. The smile on her face was comparable to nothing, sweeter than honey and warmer than a lit fireplace in winter. If only Louis had seen it.

But Louis was blind to everything around her, laying in the warm blankets and listening to Harry’s quiet movements across the room.

“Whoa!” Harry yelped suddenly.

Louis sat up, sheets falling off of her chest. She crawled to the edge of the bed until she saw Harry on the floor.

“What the fuck,” she said, rubbing tiredness from her eyes.

“Why’s your underwear in the middle of the floor?” Harry asked confusedly.

Louis grinned. “Did you slip on my underwear?”

Harry pouted. “Why’s it all the way over here, with your sweats?”

Louis laughed mischievously.

“Your suitcase isn’t even over here!” Harry continued. “There’s no reason for…” she trailed off. Louis laughed even harder as understanding dawned.

Harry looked right up at her. “Why would you not be wearing underwear if we’re sharing the bed!” Her shock was breaking up even now as she began laughing, as well.

Louis shrugged, grinning. “I gotta breathe, Hazza!”she said dramatically, spreading her arms.

Harry laughed even harder.

Louis grinned down at her, leaning over the edge of their bed. “Besides, you’re not even wearing a top!”

Harry looked down, despite already knowing it to be true. She grinned down at herself before looking back up at Louis. “At least I’m wearing underwear this time.”

Louis cackled. She looked back down at Harry, who was standing up. As she stretched, Louis suddenly noticed that her head was level with Harry’s chest. Her mouth parted in a little ‘o.’

The yellow light from the bathroom created a painting on Harry’s skin, golden highlights and blue shadows. Louis followed her with her eyes and Harry walked to the door, making the shadows move and change. Harry’s arm reached into the room, and the lights clicked off. Louis sat for a second in the sudden darkness, frozen.

She crawled back into the sheets, getting under just as Harry arrived on her own side. Louis closed her eyes and breathed slowly.

I’m so gay , she thought, just before she drifted off.

~~~

Louis awoke to a face full of curls and the sound of soft breaths in the still air. It took her a second to realize that the warm mass in her arms was actually her best friend.

Suddenly, Louis was fully awake. She blinked, subconsciously tightening her hold around Harry’s waist. Soft light filtered through the blinds, making the dust particles in the air swirl like a thousand solar systems wrapped up in a galaxy, but the real sight was the still-sleeping form next to Louis. The highlights on her relaxed face made her positively glow, the light playing on her hair and giving the illusion of a halo that Louis knew was probably there. Louis lightly ran a finger over the curve of Harry’s waist, trying not to break the stillness of the morning. Harry shifted, legs shuffling the pooled fabric of the sheets.

Louis’ finger ceased its tracing. The air stilled once again. Louis sighed, lifting herself up on her elbow. She leaned in closer to her friend. Harry exhaled a little puff of air, eyelashes fluttering in sleep. Louis wanted to kiss her. But what was new there. Louis laid back down in bed, arms again circling the waist of the pale girl in front of her, and closed her eyes.

Louis had almost returned to her dream when Harry shifted. Louis, barely conscious, was powerless to move as soft lips placed a kiss on her cheek before Harry turned back around. The very last thing Louis felt was Harry’s legs linking with her own under the covers.

Or maybe it was just part of her dream.

~~~

“ALRIGHT LADIES, RISE AND SHINE! GOT A FIVE HOUR DRIVE TO ALBUQUERQUE TO LOOK FORWARD TO!” Niall slammed their door open, shouting her salutations. Loudly.

Louis groaned, shoving a pillow over her head. “Noooo, Nialler, go back to bed.”

Niall cackled. “Sorry, Tommo, got a schedule to uphold.” She turned away, looking for Harry. “H! Let’s go!-”

Niall froze where she was, mouth opening in surprise. “Why is there a hot tub in here?”

Harry laughed from somewhere in the room. “It’s actually a jacuzzi, Ni.”

Louis removed the pillow, cracking an eye open but making an effort to appear dead to the world. Until she realized what sight was greeting her, anyway.

“What the fuck, Haz,” she said. “Genuinely, what the fuck.”

Harry shrugged, giggling and sipping orange juice in a fancy glass. She was sitting in the jacuzzi, bubbles doing hardly anything for her modesty, her posture relaxed and her face split by a broad grin. You could probably use that dimple for storage, the way it was so deep from her smile.

Louis started laughing, too, finally sitting up to watch her girl. Her friend, that is. Her regular friend who probably didn’t know that Louis was in love with her and, wow, Louis should really be more lowkey right about now. Beaming like a lovestruck fool wasn’t going to get her anywhere, especially if the look on Niall’s face right now meant anything.

“...Anyway, guys, Li and I finally got Zayn up, so we’d appreciate if we could load the car and check out before she falls back asleep.”

Louis raised an eyebrow. “You got Zayn Malik to actually wake up ? What is your secret?” she asked dramatically, thrusting an imaginary microphone in Niall’s face as Harry laughed loudly in the background, echoing her joke quietly.

Niall cackled. “A magician never tells.”

Louis groaned at her, flopping dramatically to the bed.

“We do have to go, though, really,” Niall said.

Louis looked at her. “But I want to sl ee p,” she pouted.

Niall mock-pouted right back at her. “Sleep in the c a r.”

Harry laughed. Louis turned to her, clutching her chest dramatically. “Betrayal!” she shouted.

Harry bit her lip, wide eyes shining. They were so green . A beat passed. Another, and another did, marked by the skipping of Louis’ heart.

“Okay,” Niall said, backing out the door. Louis and Harry kept staring at each other. “I’m just gonna… leave you to it…” she said, muttering something about serial killer stares as she made her escape.

Louis heard the click of the door behind her, but all she could see was Harry. Beautiful, kind, sweet, Harry, whom she’d known since she was sixteen and loved for nearly as long, which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn’t very long, but what did it matter if she got to look into these eyes forever? Louis couldn’t remember not loving Harry; even when she hadn’t even met her yet it seemed like she must have been there somehow. Once, Niall, when she was drunk, had given a toast that she claimed would be repeated at the wedding of the two. It was about friendship and love and weaving the two together and, inexplicably, Toy Story as well. Niall was blubbering through her tears about a minute into the thing. She was really drunk.

Harry interrupted her train of thought by standing up. Bubbles and water cascaded off of her.

“You’re not wearing anything,” Louis said smartly, eyes trailing after the water.

“No,” Harry agreed, “didn’t want to get anything wet. Nobody wants damp clothes in their suitcase.”

“Some people might,” Louis said.

Harry rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. “Well, I don’t. I’m gonna towel off, and then I’ll get dressed and we can go, alright?”

Louis nodded, eyes drifting shut.

“Be out in a minute,” Harry called as she walked into the bathroom. “Don’t forget to put on clothes.”

Louis nodded, despite the fact that Harry couldn’t see her.

Louis sat still in the quiet room, warm under the blanket that surrounded her body, listening to the faint sounds of Harry in the bathroom. She didn’t even realize her eyes were closed until she was shaken awake shortly after.

“Lou,” Harry’s melodic voice called, “sweetcheeks, you gotta get dressed.”

Louis opened an eye to look at her. “Am I not?”

Harry laughed, hand lingering on her shoulder and curls falling all over the place. “Blankets don’t count, Boo Bear.”

Louis smiled at the endearment. “I regret the day my mother told anyone that.”

Harry laughed. “Of course you do. Now, let’s get up and get dressed!”

Louis groaned. “But I’m so warm here.”

Harry laughed again. It wasn’t even that funny.

Louis raised her arms. “Please carry me?”

Without a word, Harry scooped her up, blankets falling as Louis wrapped her legs around Harry’s waist.

“So strong,” she muttered.

“So lazy,” Harry whispered right back.

Louis laughed. “Alright, fine, I’ll dress myself,” she said.

Harry smiled widely, and Louis had no choice but to poke her dimple.

“I have to finish getting dressed, too,” Harry said, but she didn’t let go of Louis.

“Seems important,” Louis agreed, but not unwrapping herself from her friend.

Harry nodded. “Yeah,” she breathed.

And their faces were so close, lips barely parted, breathing each other’s air. It would be so easy to just lean in and--

Louis stepped down, missing the flash of disappointment on Harry’s face and swallowing her own.

“My clothes aren’t big enough to fit over both of us,” she joked in an effort to lighten her own heart. She poked Harry in the chest, looking up ( up ) into her face. “Yours may be, Bigfoot, but I’d die before wearing one of your horrible floral dad shirts, you hipster.”

Harry laughed. “If I’m Bigfoot, you’ll have a hard time proving to anyone how bad my shirts are.”

Louis grinned, pulling on a loose shirt. “I can consult with my fellow tinhatters.”

Harry laughed, wiggling into her skinny jeans. “They don’t seem like a very fashionable crowd.”

Louis gasped dramatically. “And you don’t seem like one to uphold stereotypes, so I guess we’ll both be surprised.”

Harry grinned at her, pulling on a sparkly ankle boot. “Maybe to make it up to you I can be a special guest at your next meeting.”

Louis looked over her shoulder, fixing her fringe. “It’ll take more than a Bigfoot sighting to fix this gruesome oversight.”

Harry laughed at her, zipping up her suitcase and standing up finally. “I’m sure I’ll find a way,” she said.

Louis turned around, slipping into her vans. “Are you flirting with me, Styles? In this good, Christian motel?”

Harry laughed as she picked up her suitcase and followed her.

“By the way, that’s my shirt you’re wearing.”

And the door swung shut behind them.

~~~

They drove for ages through open desert, the small towns along the road all blending together until they felt the same. (This is defined in Human Geography as placelessness .)

Conversation had slowed to a stop, Zayn was asleep again, and they’d worked their way through several albums when they finally stopped to refill gas, switch drivers, and move around a little.

“I’ll do the gas, you guys go stretch out your legs,” Harry offered, stepping out of the car.

“Thank god,” Louis responded, “because I’m fucking broke and I was hoping Liam would buy some chips for me.”

Liam was last to slip out of the back, straightening and stretching once she was finally free. “After what I just went through, sitting next to the two of you, I think you owe me some chips.”

Louis grinned and shrugged. “Alright, Lime, whatever.” She sprinted for the door, leaving Liam to sputter for a moment before running after her.

“That’s not a fair race at all,” Niall said, standing next to the car. “Everyone knows Liam’s strength is mostly upper-body.”

“And Louis is so fast,” Harry agreed.

Niall elbowed her. “Of course you’re on Team Louis,” she said. “Being supportive of your girlfriend, and all that.”

Harry shook her head. “She’s not.”

Niall rolled her eyes. “I think the real person to ask about that would be Liam. Nobody wants to be stuck in the back with Larry.”

“Larry?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow as she pumped the gas.

Niall waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it.”

Harry nodded slowly, smiling as she watched Louis teasing Liam through the giant windows of the gas station.

Zayn was still asleep in the car, and Niall adjusted her blanket. Harry looked around at the peaceful world, smiling at the little desert town around them. It wasn’t exactly early, but it might as well have been, by the emptiness of the roads. The orange dirt contrasted the smooth blue of the sky, and Harry suddenly needed her camera. She snatched it out of her seat and captured the picture, turning as Liam was chased out of the gas station by Louis, before raising her camera and snapping a picture of that, too.

Harry looked at the picture, smiling softly, at the crinkles by Louis’ eyes as she grinned, watching how the blue still shone out between her long eyelashes.

Louis ran up to her, standing on tiptoes in an effort to be as tall as Harry and balancing herself with a small hand on Harry’s shoulder.

“What’s that?”

Harry turned to her and - oh. There was hardly an inch between their faces. That was fine, she could deal with that.

“Just some pictures I took.”

Louis threw her chip bag at Liam and tilted the camera with her now-empty hand. “Wow, Haz, these are really good,” she said, smiling and genuine.

Harry blushed, still watching Louis’ face. “Thanks,” she whispered.

Louis looked up at her, cataloging the blush in her cheeks and the gold in her eyes, and opened her mouth to say --

“ALRIGHT, GIRLS, climb in, let’s get going!” Niall yelled, swinging the back door open. “And someone else can drive the last two hours!”

Liam laughed, climbing in with her. “C’mon, Tommo, stop flirting and climb in!”

Louis smiled. “Alright, Leem, don’t get your panties in a twist.” She clambered into the backseat, sitting delicately next to Liam.

“Guess I’m driving, then,” Harry said, swinging into the front.

“Let’s goooo!” Louis cheered, bouncing in her seat, energy apparently restored.

Harry started off, and they’d hardly gotten back on the road again when Louis asked for the aux cord.

“Louis, you played your music the whole way here,” Liam complained.

“It’s only fair to the rest of us that the one with the best taste plays the music,” Louis responded. “You only like rap, Zayn plays weird sex songs, and Niall hasn’t discovered anything outside of folk music yet.”

Liam groaned and Harry grinned. “As long as it’s not the Grease soundtrack again,” Liam said.

Niall cackled. “What about Harry?”

Louis smirked. “That implies that Harry has a music taste, Niall.”

“Heeeyyyyy,” Harry protested, only a little bit fond as Niall and Louis cackle.

“Alright, enough, let’s just listen to Get Weird again,” Liam cut in.

“Okay, okay, calm down, Lemon Point,” Louis said, waving her hand.

Liam, unfazed by the nicknames after spending years of her life at Louis’ side, rolled her eyes and smiled.

“We should make our own album,” Niall said after enthusiastically singing along to a few songs. “We’d be so good.”

“Yeah, alright, Nialler,” Louis said, rolling her eyes. “What kind of album would that even be, with me singing pop as you madly strum a banjo?”

Niall and Harry laughed, and Zayn stirred.

She groaned out a tired “What?”

“Our band is writing an album, Zayn, get with it,” Niall responded.

Liam smiled. “We’d probably be pretty good at it, actually.”

Zayn nodded.

“But those two-” Liam pointed at Harry and Louis “-would just write all this sappy, true love shit all the time.”

Niall shrugged. “At least they’ll be good songs,” she added. “Have you seen this one’s poetry?”

Harry blushed as Niall pointed at her, turning to thank her.

“Eyes on the road!” Zayn yelled suddenly.

Harry jumped, and Zayn collapsed into a fit of laughter.

Niall rolled her eyes fondly. “Doesn’t matter what kind of songs we do, anyway, as long as we’re together.” She paused. “And as long as I get t’ play the guitar in ‘em.”

Zayn nodded. “Of course.”

~~~

Seven hours after their original departure from the motel (one stop for gas, three pee breaks, one state line, one and a half lunches, and one mountain later), they’d finally arrived at Albuquerque, New Mexico. The landscape was nice, nothing to write home about, and the city was okay, with no remarkable aspects, but Harry was loving it.

“I knew I’d like the little desert towns!” She said, grinning widely, dimples etched into her cheeks like craters.

“Little?” Zayn said, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “It’s not exactly small, H.”

The group was walking down a deserted sidewalk, having parked and decided to stretch their legs before lunch.

Louis laughed, forcing herself to tone down her smile or else expose herself as the lovestruck idiot she really was.

“Well, H, you are going to love the rest of New Mexico,” Niall responded. “This is the largest city in the entire state, actually.”

“You should really see the old part of town,” Liam added. “Once, my mom met a guy who was redesigning the whole area to make it more useful, and he gave us a little tour. It was really cool, we should go check it out while we’re here.”

Harry nodded. “Sounds exciting!”

Niall laughed. “That’s not even the best part!” She elbowed Liam lightly. “Tell ‘em about the airport, Limothy!”

Liam laughed. “You mean the sunport , Niall?”

Niall cackled.

“Sorry, the what ?” Louis asked.

“The sunport,” Liam said again. “That’s what the airport’s called. It’s so funny, all the signs call it that. There was even a dog in there that you could pet, and she was wearing a little vest that said ‘sunport’ on it last time I was there.”

The group laughed.

“That’s ridiculous!” Harry exclaimed, delighted. “What does a sunport even do?”

Liam shrugged, grinning. “I don’t even know!”

They walked for a while, keeping an eye out for a nice diner to eat at.

“Did you know that High School Musical was filmed here?” Louis said, skipping along in front of the rest of the girls.

Harry laughed. “You may have mentioned it.”

“Once or twice,” Liam added.

“Maybe the high school is around here somewhere,” Louis singsonged, ignoring their disrespect.

“Pretty sure it's fake,” Zayn intoned.

Louis shook her head and grabbed Zayn’s hand, skipping faster and talking louder.

“Come on, Z, wouldn't you say that we’re…” she smirked, “ all in this together ?”

Zayn groaned as Louis burst into song.

Niall and Harry’s walking had slowed down from the force of their laughter. Suddenly, Niall started coughing. Harry stopped walking to check on her, pounding her back.

“Shit, Niall, what happened?”

“So much -- feckin’ dust,” Niall coughed. “Wrong pipe.”

Louis, up ahead, dropped Zayn’s hand and ran back.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, concerned.

Harry waved her hand, making eye contact. “She’s good, just breathed some dirt.”

“Aw, shit,” Louis said. She looked around a touch apprehensively. “Maybe we shouldn’t stop here so long.”

“No, please,” Harry said. “I want to stay, I haven’t even seen a tumbleweed yet.”

Louis laughed as Niall’s coughing subsided.

“Thanks for the concern, mums,” she said, voice rough from the ordeal. If anything, it made her accent stronger. “But I think I’m alright now.”

Louis nodded, focused on Harry. “I’m sure we’ll find a tumbleweed worthy of you.”

Harry blushed. “Thanks, Lou,” she said, looking away. “The others have gotten pretty far, we should catch up.”

She straightened, and, with one last glance at Niall for reassurance, hurried off.

Louis watched her with a frown.

Niall stepped up behind her and placed a hand on the other girl’s back. “Don’t worry, Lou,” she said comfortingly. “Just,” she looked at her. Their faces were close, but the electric blue didn’t set Louis’ heart racing like a certain pair of forest green. “Just tell her soon,” Niall finished.

Louis bit her lip, turning her face downwards and shaking her head.

“We should really catch up with the rest of them,” she whispered.

Niall nodded, silently supporting her friend.

Their pace increased, and Louis seemed comfortable once again by the time they caught up with their friends.

“So, I read about this nice little restaurant by Route 66… wanna try it out?”

Harry’s head whipped around, grinning. “You can… bet on it .”

“Not you, too,” Zayn groaned.

Harry grinned back at her. “C’mon, Z, we’re just having fun,” a smirk spread across her lips. “ Get’cha head in the game .”

Zayn groaned and shook her head, but Louis still saw the happy little crinkle of her nose.

Louis, meanwhile, was positively beaming at Harry. At that moment, she was more in love than she’d ever been. But, in all fairness, that happened every time she saw Harry. Even when she didn’t. Her love, like the universe, was constantly expanding.

Niall cut off her train of thought with another High School Musical reference. “No, no, no,” she sang. “No, no, no! Stick to the status quo!” Her grin gave away how clever she thought she was being. It was endearing, really.

Louis laughed, turning to Harry, who was already looking at her. Harry blushed and looked away. This gave Louis the internal struggle between finding this so incredibly cute and wanting to have all of Harry’s attention. She was torn, really.

“Where is this diner, anyway?” Liam asked.

Louis shrugged. “Dunno.”

Liam turned to her, unimpressed. “Then where were you leading us?”

Louis shrugged. “I was just dancing.”

Liam’s mouth opened in surprise, before involuntarily curving into a smile. She shook her head before turning away from her ridiculous friend.

Harry giggled. Louis turned to her, a new light in her face, but Harry, once again, wasn’t looking at her. Louis’ smile faded. Liam stepped up to her, rubbing the smaller girl’s back with a strong hand.

“Use Apple Maps or something to find the place,” she said. Liam was a good friend. Different comfort method than Niall’s, but just as good.

“Apple Maps?” Louis asked, smirking over at Niall. “We’re gonna end up in the middle of a field or some shit. Google’s where it’s at.”

Liam laughed, but nodded, pulling out her phone and tapping all the necessary things. “Alright,” she said, looking up, “it’s pretty close, actually.”

Niall charged forward. “Let’s go, then!”

Liam shook her head fondly, but hurried to catch up, slinging an arm around Niall’s shoulders.

Harry looked to her side and imitated Liam, throwing an arm over Louis’ shoulders and holding in a smile, if the deepness of her dimples and twinkle in her eyes meant anything. Louis rolled her eyes fondly at her girl and placed her hand on the small of Harry’s back, aiming to set that smile free. It worked.

~~~

Another night, another shitty motel.

After a pleasant but wholly unexciting afternoon spent wandering around Albuquerque, they’d finally returned to the motel parking lot they’d started at. Niall had gathered the whole group in a circle in the lobby shortly after checking in.

“Alright,” she began, “we’ve got two rooms again.”

“Same rooms?” Louis asked, glancing at Harry.

“Let’s switch it up,” Liam suggested.

Niall nods. “Sure,” she shrugged. “‘Don’t really have an opinion on it, anyway.”

Zayn grabbed a key. “Me ‘n you, Haz?”

Harry nodded, picking up her suitcase. “Sure, Zee.”

Louis shoved down a flicker of disappointment in her chest.

Zayn nodded back at Harry (what a cool dude) (dude being gender neutral) and swung her own duffel around her shoulder, coolly headed for their room.

“She’s probably tired,” Liam said, watching as Zayn left.

Louis laughed. “When isn’t she?”

Niall cackled. “She’s right, though, dunno about y’all, but I’m knackered.” She yawned.

Louis laughed right back at her friend. “You’re so Irish,” she teased, ruffling her blond ponytail.

“And so Texan at the same time,” Liam said, smiling like the puppy she was.

Harry grinned and began walking towards the low building. Zayn had already made it in.

“Let’s go, then, I guess?”

Liam nodded her agreement and dragged her own suitcase after herself and Harry. “We’ve got snacks in the car, but we had a late lunch, so I don’t know if anyone is hungry.”

Louis slapped a hand on Niall’s back and grinned. “Nialler’s always hungry.”

Niall laughed delightedly. “It’s true!” she shouted gleefully.

The two girls followed their friends into the shadow of the motel, pausing right in between the two doors.

Louis hovered awkwardly, fighting her instinct to pull Harry along with her, even as Niall cheerfully walked through the door behind Liam.

Harry seemed hesitant, too, standing just inside the open door to her separate room. She opened her mouth to say something, but Louis was already turning around.

Louis threw a quick wave over her shoulder as she slipped through the door to room 2B with her bag.

And after a moment of her back pressed to the wood inside, she heard the soft thump of 3B shutting against the wall.

Louis slumped a little, ignoring Liam and Niall’s pitying gazes burning into her face.

“Shut up,” she said, flipping up her middle finger as she walked past them into the bathroom.

“We didn’t say anything,” Liam responded.

Niall laughed. “Did we really need to?”

Louis spun around in the bathroom doorframe, pointing a finger at each of them. “Shut up.”

Niall cackled again and Liam smiled bashfully. She was too sweet, really.

“Wait, Lou,” Liam called. Louis paused, listening. “Are you sure you’ll be okay in there? It’s a whole two rooms away from Harry…”

“Fuck off, Lime,” Louis laughed, waving a middle finger over her shoulder as she closed the bathroom door to do her business.

When she stepped out, Liam and Niall were still giggling to each other in the corner. Louis was positive it was about her and Harry; what else could have captivated their attention like that in the short time span of a single piss?

And she was right, kinda, because, as she stood unnoticed, Louis realized they were placing bets.

“Nah,” Niall was saying, “I’d say less than an hour.”

“Really?” Liam asked. “I mean, at least before, like, 9, but that seems fast.”

Louis’ mouth dropped. Nine o’clock? That was only, like, two hours away! How weak did they think she was?? She shook her fringe out and swallowed her moderate outrage, deciding that she’d just have to show them that she could last without Harry. Because she could. Obviously. What kind of weak-ass kid couldn’t handle a few walls between them and the girl of their dreams??

An hour later, Louis was no longer so sure that she wasn’t that kind of weak-ass kid. It’s just, the only thing between her and Harry was a thin motel wall; how could one be expected to just lie there and ignore what had to be the heartbeat of their love pumping through their own veins?

Okay, that may have been dramatic, but Louis missed Harry. And the other girl was right there , so close, and yet so far away. How cliche.

But she had to prove Niall and Liam wrong. She could make it past nine. No problem. None at all.

Except that, even now, as she sat cross-legged by her two friends, who were happily chatting away (and sneaking glances at her every few seconds), her leg was bouncing anxiously. Each brief quiet was filled by her ears straining for a deep voice or a loud guffaw which would signal the other’s presence.

She ignored the slight burn in her chest, not unlike mild heartburn. But instead of it being a direct result of the acid in her stomach churning up into her esophagus and burning the fragile tissue, it was because of jealousy. In the last room, there was a bed for two and a bathtub that Harry sure took advantage of, so why wouldn’t there be in this one? And Zayn was easily the second prettiest person Louis had ever met, so it made sense that she’d get to share all that with the first. And Louis was petty, sure, but being jealous over not being picked to share a room with the girl she loves? Louis would say it was ridiculous if it wasn’t true.

But, like, Louis was chill. It was fine.

“Mate, do you just wanna go see her?” Niall was asking Louis. “We all know it’s gonna happen eventually, might as well just admit you miss her and go kiss your girl goodnight.”

Louis scoffed. “I don’t miss Harry. Actually, I’m feeling the opposite of missing her. I’m so glad she’s sleeping in the other room.” Louis nodded, as if she was convincing herself of this as well as her friends. “She’s so… tall, and, um, she talks so slowly. Can’t have a conversation with someone like that.”

Niall raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

Liam leveled a disbelieving gaze at her.

Louis looked back evenly.

“Not even a little bit?” Liam asked.

“Nope,” Louis responded, popping the ‘p.’

“Not even her dreamy eyes?” Niall shot back, fluttering her eyelashes.

“Or her silken locks?” Liam asked, twirling her hair into makeshift curls.

“Her soft skin?” Niall asked dramatically, clasping her hands together.

“Her plush lips?” Liam chimed in, pouting her own.

Louis rolled her eyes, willing down the blush that was struggling to rise in her cheeks. “I don’t say things like that, you nerds.”

Liam raised an eyebrow. “You don’t?”

The blush gained a little ground.

Niall looked at her flatly.

The room was quiet for a moment, the only movement being the small turn of Louis’ head to look at her friends in turn.

“Mmm,” she hummed, breaking the silence, “I don’t, actually.”

Niall rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something when a small beep cut her off.

Louis looked at the alarm clock. 8:30. She could do it… probably.

She got up, sifting through her luggage to find her pajamas. She threw them on quickly, sighing once she was finally free of her constricting bra.

As she dropped it down, gently rubbing the red lines where the wire had pushed into her skin, she saw something lacy at the bottom of her suitcase. Louis paused, considering. She hadn’t brought anything nice along, and she didn’t remember buying anything like that fabric. She bent to pick it up, realizing what it was as she pulled it out of the mess.

Back a thousand years ago when she was “packing,” Louis had thrown a pretty bra (possibly more accurately classified as lingerie) off to the side. And somehow, that bra had landed in the bottom of her suitcase and made its way to Albuquerque. Oops.

That last word, along with the memories of her thoughts the last time she’d picked up this bra, lead Louis to the completely wrong thing.

She wasn’t supposed to be thinking about Harry right now, about how, when they had first met in a bathroom, Harry had crashed into her on her rush to a stall, and how she had laughed out a surprised little “oops,” and how Louis had dumbly responded “hi.” She refused to remember how, the next time she saw Harry was in the same bathroom, and Harry had needed a tampon, and Louis had begun her career as the person who would provide anything and everything for Harry Styles. And, of course, she was absolutely not thinking about how green, green, green those eyes had been the first time she saw them, flecks of gold and bronze making them sparkle like the leaves of a forest at sunrise. And how, over time, those eyes had developed bluish flecks, like Louis had somehow physically become a part of Harry. And she steadfastly ignored the way that she had done it as well, some green sneaking into her own blue eyes, marking what she knew to be Harry’s territory.

And Louis was not going to go see those eyes tonight. Because that would be dumb, as she’d been hanging around Harry all day, and she’d see her in the morning, and it wasn’t like she couldn’t handle Harry being so close without Louis being able to see her. That would be ridiculous.

Louis looked at the clock, considering. It was 8:33. Twenty seven minutes before Liam’s estimated time of surrender.

She could hold back for twenty seven minutes.

At precisely 9:01, when the sun had completely given way for the moon and Niall and Liam were settling down and slipping under the covers, Louis stood up from the bed.

“I’m gonna turn that front light off,” she said softly.

Niall murmured assent.

Louis slipped out the door, closing it behind her before she turned the light off.

She stood for a moment in the still night, hearing the quiet sounds of faraway cars and bugs from across the pavement. She looked up at the stars, or what she could see of them, partially obscured by the light pollution from the still-awake city.

Louis sighed, the soft sound seeming to fill the air around her like she was inflating her own personal atmosphere.

She looked around, blinking at the mellow lights from windows and porches.

She turned, looking resolutely at the worn wooden door of motel room 3B.

Louis took a step towards it, placing a hand gently on the dull doorknob. She lifted another hand to knock, but dropped it slowly, instead just turning the knob. It went easily, opening the door slowly and silently.

The room was dark and still, which made sense, because they were all tired. Some sheets rustled in one of the twin beds. Louis stayed still, and eventually they quieted.

As the slant of light closed over the room before shrinking into nothing, she felt the unmistakable feeling of Harry’s gaze on her. Louis made eye contact as she adjusted to the low light.

A clear relief lightened her stomach as she realized that there were two small beds, rather than a large one. She refused to believe it was jealousy vanishing, just like she refused to admit that she was one jealous fucker.

“Shouldn’t leave that unlocked,” she said, stepping forward, closer to the bed. “All sorts of riffraff could get in.”

“You should lock it for us, then,” Harry said. “Before any other shady characters sneak in. Wouldn’t want anyone else walking in.” Her voice was slow and deep and obviously sleepy and the words wouldn’t have sounded nearly as naughty at another time.

Louis reached behind her and locked it, glancing at Zayn’s bed and trying to cover up her response to Harry’s presence, especially when it was like that .

“She’s been out since 7:30; wouldn’t notice if there was a World War III going on outside,” Harry said in explanation, rubbing sleep from one of her eyes. “Not a very fun roommate.”

And Louis really needed to stop thinking about these things sexually.

“I bet,” she said, standing at the edge of the bed, knees barely brushing the blankets. They looked so much more inviting than her own, but that probably had more to do with the girl inside of them than the blankets themselves.

“Is everything okay?” Harry asked, scrunching an eyebrow and reaching for Louis’ arm. It was adorable. Louis wanted to smooth her forehead out.

She shook her head.

She was taller than Harry, this way.

“Just…” she trailed off, looking into Harry’s open face. She was so pretty, inside and out. “Just missed you a bit, is all.”

Harry’s face softened so much more, practically overflowing with fond.

“Is that weird?” Louis asked, voice small.

Harry shook her head fiercely, eyes shining and curved happily. “Not if I missed you more.”

Louis smiled at her, the crinkly-eyed one she just couldn’t hold back when it came to this girl, before climbing under the covers with her. There was hardly enough room on the bed for Harry alone, but Louis made it work. Harry flipped over automatically, and Louis smiled even harder as she wrapped around her girl. They were so familiar, so practiced, almost as if they were actually together.

Now there was a thought to dim her smile.

As if she could feel Louis’ shift, Harry reached back, wrapping an arm around Louis’ neck and tangling her big hand in Louis’ short hair.

Silence reigned in the room for a long moment as their bodies grew heavy.

“I left the door unlocked on purpose,” Harry whispered into the thick darkness. “Was hoping you’d come.”

Louis smiled hard, smooshing her face into the soft curls before her in an effort to hide it. She didn’t know why she even bothered. It’s not like anyone could even see her. So Louis turned her smile out finally, letting the air see the joy inspired in Louis by the girl in her arms.

“Goodnight, Harold,” she whispered, smiling up into the dark room.

“Goodnight, Lewis,” Harry whispered back, momentarily tightening her grip.

After a few minutes, when Harry’s arm got heavier and her breaths finally evened out as sleep claimed her, Louis nestled a kiss in between her chestnut curls.

“I love you,” she finished.

Harry’s sleeping mouth curled up at the corners, and Louis drifted off to sleep, subconsciously pulling the warm mass of Harry tighter to her own front as she teetered on the edge of a dream.

Harry sighed softly, and Louis plummeted into the warm fog of sleep.

~~~

In the morning, the air was lighter in both weight and hue.

One thing that was not very light, however, was the mass of girl currently covering her, even though it was warm and soft and solid. Louis groaned, shoving Harry gently and combing a few loose curls out of her face. Harry mumbled in her sleep.

“Babe,” Louis whispered. “Pumpkin, you’re smashing me.”

Harry murmured something again.

“Hazza, really,” Louis said quietly, so as not to hurt Harry’s ears or disturb Zayn.

“Louuu,” Harry said sleepily, blinking heavily a few times.

“H, you’re crushing me to death with your giant cryptid body,” Louis complained, her own eyes drifting shut.

Harry shrugged, sort of. “Occupational hazards of being a small big spoon.”

Louis’ eyes opened at the insult. “I am not small. The problem here is that the little spoon is actually a giant on the run from adventurous tourists.”

Harry laughed at that, but remained firmly where she was.

“Hazza,” Louis whispered, breath surely tickling Harry’s ear from the miniscule distance.

Harry sighed and shifted her weight, acting all put-upon. Louis rolled her eyes fondly, but slipped out from under her and curled into her side.

“How’re you so warm,” she muttered into Harry’s shoulder, “if you don’t even wear enough clothing to hold all your heat in?”

Harry giggled into Louis’ hair. “I guess I’m just a really hot person.”

Louis groaned, pulling away. “That’s it. I’m out,” she declared dramatically. “I’m going back to my actual room.”

“Sweetcheeks, no,” Harry said, grinning and grabbing Louis’ arm as she pulled further away. “You can’t leave,” she tried to pout, but her giggles broke the illusion.

Louis grinned, face inches from Harry’s. “And give me one reason why not,” she whispered back.

Harry put on an exaggerated thinking face, tapping her chin and twisting up her mouth. Louis highkey wanted to kiss her until she couldn’t make any expression other than dazed.

“Because,” Harry giggled, “the outside is dangerous. I heard,” she dropped her voice, and Louis leaned in, despite being able to hear her perfectly fine. “I heard that that’s where the Civil War happened.”

She nodded earnestly, and Louis couldn’t contain her laugh at her girl’s cuteness.

“You’re such a nerd,” she whispered, still laughing quietly.

A groan sounded from the other bed. “Get a room,” Zayn called. “Some people are trying to sleep, and you two are gross.”

Louis laughed evilly, launching Harry into another fit of giggles. Angry grumbles erupted from the other bed as Zayn turned over and shoved her head under her pillow.

Before the situation could progress any further, loud knocks sounded from the direction of the door.

“Wake up, fuckers!” a distinctly Irish voice shouted from behind the thin wood.

Louis rolled her eyes and made a face at Harry. The other girl giggled again, burying her face in the loose fabric of Louis’ huge sleeping shirt. It was probably Harry’s.

“I don’t know what you two are doing over there,” Zayn said threateningly, “but I know that it isn’t something that should be happening with me here.”

“Aw, come on, Zee,” Louis cackled. “Don’t you want to have a threesome?”

Harry gasped in gleeful surprise, Zayn fake gagged and Niall finally broke the door open.

“Nobody’s having a threesome, we’re about to get back on the road,” Niall said. “I’ve already let you sleep in ‘til 11:30.”

“Good,” Harry whispered. “Because I don’t share.”

Louis let out a small moan at that, but smoothly (see: not smoothly at all) covered it up with a cough for the sake of Niall and Zayn and her own image. Niall closed her eyes as if she was praying that the Lord was testing her. Harry was probably joking, anyway. It’s not like they were really dating, anyway. It was all just some sort of game they played, tiptoeing around Louis’ actual feelings.

It wasn’t real. Last night wasn’t real.

Louis suddenly felt very small. She sat up in bed, pushing the sheets off. Behind her, Harry frowned, and something broke a little in her eyes.

Niall looked over. “Lou, go get your clothes. I told Li we should’ve brought them into here in the first place.” The last part was quieter, directed at herself.

Louis rolled her eyes. “Were you even worried about where I had gone, Nialler? I could’ve been kidnapped!” she exclaimed dramatically on her way out. “A pretty girl like me, all alone in a dark parking lot, anything could’ve happened!”

“Any kidnapper would’ve dumped you within five minutes,” Niall cackled. “And I’m pretty sure you could take anyone who tried, anyway.”

Louis laughed, grabbing the door. “You could’ve at least pretended, for my sake.” She grinned one last time at Harry before closing the door.

And she didn’t miss that Harry didn’t smile back.

~~~

They’d been driving for nearly four hours, with only one left before they finally arrived at Wherever the Fuck They Were Headed, AZ.

Louis groaned. “We could’ve flown from Austin to Oakland in the time it takes to pass the same fucking strip of desert as many times as we have.”

She realized what she’d said after a moment with no response. The dreaded subject had been breached: the colleges they were on their way to.

They hadn’t talked about it, trying not to think about how far away, how separate they’d be, but the fact remained that this road trip wasn’t going to take them back home. Louis’ stomach suddenly hurt. Nobody had mentioned how, soon, they’d be dropping like flies, passing through campuses and emerging one less. Zayn would be the first to go, left at the University of California in LA for her English degree. The remaining four would go one final stretch to the Bay Area before dropping Niall and Liam off. And finally, the last two would make their way to Portland, Oregon for their own respective colleges, truly sealing the end of their trip by giving Niall’s car back to her brother near their destination. And thus would end the story of their friendship. Fucking shit.

A chill ran down Louis’ spine. She’d never been so far from her best friends before. At least she’d have Harry, not too far away in the dorms of another school. Shit , Louis thought, heart racing from premature separation anxiety.

Apparently everyone was having similar thoughts, because Liam’s soothing voice cut into her downward spiral.

“It won’t be so bad,” she said. “We chose these schools for a reason, right? We’re going to be doing what we love at the best places for them.”

Harry nodded. “And it’s not like we’re spread all over the country. We hardly hit two states.”

She squeezed her hand around Louis’ drumming knee, and it stilled immediately. She hated how much Harry’s presence soothed her. Who was she kidding, she loved it.

Harry smiled around at their closest friends. “Our families will meet us down there, and we’ll remember why we were so excited to grow up. And, besides, it’s not like we’re gonna stop being friends. We’ve still got the group chat, and we’re all just a phone call away.”

“No more memes in the group chat, though, or I will block you,” Liam warned.

Louis smirked, already tapping away at her screen.

Four phones buzzed.

“Fuck off, Louis,” Liam said a second later, but her tone was colored with fondness.

Louis laughed, settling into her seat.

~~~

They arrived in Flagstaff, Arizona around five o’clock, and honestly, Louis doesn’t really give a fuck. There’s nothing to do, and the Grand Canyon is an hour and a half away, and she really doesn’t feel like getting in another car maybe for her entire life.

They’d checked into the motel just as the skies started to darken, the hotel dude making small talk about how it hardly ever rained here. Must have been some sort of miracle. Or maybe it was just a result of the recent hurricanes in the Southeast. Either way, it was probably connected to global warming. Louis honestly didn’t give a flying fuck about the magic rain. She was tired and she wanted to lay down on a cheap motel bed and die.

She yawned and looked around, hardly taking in the bright colors and cozy feel of the lobby. It was a nice enough place, with lots of character, in a good way and not an “old and full of maggots” way. Harry probably loved it. She looked over to check. Harry was gazing around with a grin and starry eyes. She loved it. Louis’ mouth twisted into a smug smile at knowing her so well.

“Alright,” Niall interrupted her train of thought as they all circled up. “Two rooms again, one with two beds and the other with one. I was thinking me, Liam, and Zayn in one?” She glanced quickly between Harry and Louis, repressing a smirk.

Louis raised an eyebrow, but took the offered keycard. “Okay,” she said cooly.

She started towards the door, looking behind her to find Harry following with a bright smile. Louis’ own face softened.

They walked out in companionable silence, not a word spoken all the way to their room on the bottom floor, where Louis abandoned her suitcase and dropped face first onto the bed.

Harry laughed from somewhere behind her. “Tired, Lou?” she asked, amusement clear in her tone.

Louis groaned back.

Harry stifled another giggle and sat down on the end of the bed, mattress dipping and shifting Louis’ body.

They sat silently for a few moments, just existing together, when Louis broke the silence.

“You’re staring,” she said quietly.

“Your eyes are closed,” Harry responded in kind, shifting closer.

“Yes, but I can feel your creepy frog stare burning into my flesh,” Louis shot back, lips curving into a smile where they were pressed against the sheets.

“Heyyyyy,” Harry pouted, drawing out the ‘y.’

After Louis’ resulting laugh, the only sound in the room was the quiet pat s of small raindrops beginning to fall.

“It’s raining,” Harry whispered after a moment.

“Ridiculous,” Louis responded, “this is supposed to be the desert.”

“Well, it is ,” Harry said.

Louis nodded, probably rubbing some of her makeup into the sheets.

Harry flopped down onto the bed, curls flying everywhere. Louis smiled. She seemed to be doing a lot of that on this trip; should probably be careful her cheeks don’t permanently stretch out.

“Oh noooo,” Harry said slowly and monotonously, “it’s raining… I guess,” she heaved a dramatic sigh, “we’re just stuck in here, alone at this motel forever…”

Louis grinned, but a shiver ran down her spine at the thought of something they could do to pass the time.

“...unless you want to go out in the parking lot and dance in the rain with me,” Harry said, flipping over so that her face was leaning down in front of Louis.

Louis smushed another fond grin into the bed before raising her face just enough to look into Harry’s.

Time froze for a moment as she simply stared, blue and green eyes still, as if connected by a silken strand, and twin smiles spread across their lips.

“Well, what’re you waiting for?” Louis whispered.

Harry laughed and jumped up, followed closely by Louis, who grabbed her hand as they dashed into the bad weather.

Louis laughed in exhilaration, not only from the hot rain, but also the feel of her hand being enveloped by the other girl’s larger one, and the feel of her racing heart thumping away behind her heated skin, and the zing in her lips when she inevitably looks at Harry’s own pink, plump, shiny ones.

But it would just be so terribly cliche to have their first kiss in the rain.

Not enough to stop Louis if Harry initiated it, though. As if anything could be enough for that.

Harry laughed, shaking her wet curls and flinging even more water around. Louis grinned, fond probably pouring out of her like heavy rays of light.

They danced, the drum of the rain on the concrete nothing compared to the beating of their hearts in time. Louis twirled her, laughing as Harry ducked to fit under their arms, even with Louis on her tiptoes.

Every anxiety, every responsibility, every fear, drained out of her like the fallen water rushing into the pores of the ground, leaving Louis void of any emotion other than brightness. She wasn’t even sure how to express it, this mixture of joy and love and light, with a touch of danger in it from the urge to put her heart on the line like that, and it was just so intoxicating , this feel of Harry , that Louis couldn’t do anything but laugh and continue to dance.

It was like the rain had cast a spell on them, or maybe some sort of cupid had stolen the air from their lungs and replaced it all with roses, but none of that mattered, because Louis was dancing hand in hand with the most amazing girl in the world and nothing else was there.

Eventually, they ran out of breath and energy, and even though it was bound to happen, Louis was disappointed.

They were left standing close in the parking lot, steam already rising as the rainfall slowed and the sun sunk, and Louis needed to kiss Harry, to breathe her in and wrap herself around her, and be covered completely by her.

It was a confusing mix.

Louis wasn’t sure who moved first, maybe Harry had even leaned down, or maybe they met somewhere in the middle, but suddenly, at long last, Harry’s mouth was on hers, and it was better than she could have ever imagined.

Her heart must have stopped; she couldn’t feel it at all after it’s past violent bumping.

Louis could feel the kiss all over, a burning sort of energy circulating through every vein and capillary, until she felt an onlooker could probably see the rose gold light outlining her blood. She clung to Harry like she was a rope and Harry was her anchor, but at the same time she felt so calm and relaxed, like this was something they did all the time.

After the longest few seconds of her life, their lips fell apart, but Harry left her neck bent so that their foreheads stayed together, like now that she’d started touching Louis like this, she couldn’t ever stop. Louis could relate.

Harry giggled.

Louis’ eyes fluttered open and she looked into Harry’s.

She’d seen them a thousand times, of course, a thousand times a thousand, even. She knew the greens and blues and golds better than she knew her own eyes, and had seen them from just about every angle. They were one of her infinite favorite things about Harry, but right now, seeing them like this blew all of those straight out of the water.

She smiled wide, blinking a few times to reassure herself that this was real .

Harry giggled.

Louis kissed her again, and again, and again, in a series of short pecks. Not all of them landed on her mouth, covering her cheeks and her nose and her jaw, basically anything Louis could reach.

They stood like that for who knows how long, maybe for mere minutes, maybe entire days had passed, the two entwined and simply happy.

“‘S stopped raining,” Louis whispered into Harry’s mouth, lips brushing the other girl’s from the miniscule distance.

“So it has,” Harry replied distantly.

“Your eyes are closed,” Louis said, echoing Harry’s words from earlier as she leaned back, grinning as Harry, in turn, leaned forward to chase her lips.

“Don’t be silly,” Harry said, pulling Louis back in by the waist and locking their lips once again.

Louis melted into it, arms remaining locked around Harry’s neck as they kissed. Her hands tightened around Harry’s curls involuntarily and Harry moaned a bit. Louis’ knees weakened and she pushed more into Harry’s lips. She stepped back after a few seconds.

She tangled her hands in Harry’s and started walking backwards, towards the motel.

“We’re soaked,” she said.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, mouth beginning to twist into a smirk. “I’m wet.”

Louis threw her head back and laughed. “You dirty girl!” she exclaimed.

Harry giggled and used the opportunity to swoop in and press kisses all over her neck and collarbones.

“H, stop!” Louis laughed. “I’m ticklish!”

Harry stopped to grin into the joint of her shoulder and neck.

Louis continued to walk them to their room. She looked behind her, approaching the sidewalk.

Right before she needed to step up onto the higher concrete, Harry swooped her up into the air, placing her on the stoop gently.

Louis laughed, kissing her. They were nearly the same height like this.

Harry shoved her backwards a bit, crowding her against their dark wood door.

Their lips connected again, but soon enough they were both smiling too much for it to be anything but their lips and teeth bumping.

Louis put a delicate hand on the door handle and Harry put her own larger one over it. Together, they pushed it open and stumbled backwards in. It swung shut quickly after, followed by the blinds flashing down.

The slightly steamy parking lot laid still and lifeless.

Less than a minute later, three figures practically ran out of a room next door to Harry and Louis’.

“How does a snack sound to you guys? A snack sounds great to me,” Liam was saying quickly, cheeks pink.

Niall was too busy laughing to respond, but Zayn was nodding frantically.

“Anywhere but there,” she said hollowly.

They ran for the car, Niall almost doubled over from her cackling.

“Jesus Christ,” Liam muttered to herself as they sped out of the parking lot.

~~~

Louis awoke in the morning on her own, for once, without Niall banging on the door and yelling her head off. It was nice, but it wasn’t her main source of happiness right then.

No, that would be soft mess of girl in front of her and encircled in her arms, pale and sleepy and warm, hair a curly mess, and her exposed neck covered in bruises.

Louis smiled, kissing one of the aforementioned marks on her girl’s neck. Harry sighed happily, still asleep.

Louis began running light fingers over her tattoos, tracing the dark shapes on her pale skin and raising goosebumps in her wake.

Harry turned her head at that, brows furrowed from tiredness. Louis lifted herself up to kiss the wrinkle away. When she backed her face up again, Harry was grinning at her, dimples deep. Louis giggled and kissed each dimple.

“Good morning,” she said quietly.

Harry murmured affirmation before kissing her squarely on the lips, morning breath be damned.

Louis couldn’t remember ever feeling so happy.

Harry snuggled back into the covers, head tucked under Louis’ chin.

“Does your food the night before affect how your mouth tastes in the morning?” she asked.

It was a weird question to ask, especially first thing in the morning, but then again, Harry was a weird girl.

Louis shrugged in response. “Probably.”

“Hmm,” Harry said. “Well, I remember the last thing I ate was pretty amazing, so it shouldn’t be a problem, anyway.”

Louis laughed loudly and looked down at Harry, who was already looking up at her, a smirk prominently displayed on her face.

“Delectable, even,” Harry continued.

Louis laughed at her again before kissing her on the nose. “Something you’d like to taste again?”

Harry licked her lips -- actually fucking licked her lips .

“Ooh, for sure,” she said, voice low. Louis’ ribcage felt weaker than it had been. Harry’s brows suddenly contracted. “Only, though, if you’d let me,” she added worriedly.

Louis smiled and placed a small hand on her cheek. “I’d let you do anything.”

Harry’s grin was suddenly back in place as she lifted herself up over Louis. “Think we have time before Niall comes in to yell at us?”

Louis grinned shyly and placed a hand on Harry’s arm. “Actually,” she said, “I think I’d like to return the favor.”

Harry’s eyes widened and darkened. She lunged down and kissed Louis hard, nodding.

Half an hour later, Louis was still lying on the bed as Harry dug through her own suitcase.

“Lou, are you ever going to get dressed?” she asked. “You look beautiful like this, babe, but I’d rather nobody else got to see it, and we have to leave eventually.”

Louis blushed, turning her face to smile against the white pillowcase.

“But my clothes are all the way across the room,” she said.

Harry laughed. “Here, I’ll throw you some.”

Louis smiled. How sweet and accommodating. She opened her mouth to say something she’d been thinking for a long time, three short little words that meant everything, when a pair of jeans hit her in the face. She sputtered and spit them out of her mouth.

Harry was laughing at her, still digging around in Louis’ suitcase. She slowed drastically, picking something up.

“Lou,” she said quietly, “what is this?”

Louis looked up. It was the lacy gray bra, back to haunt her. She blushed.

“I don’t know, Haz, it’s just…” she trailed off, unsure of how to continue and embarrassed that she’d bought lingerie for herself.

Harry was suddenly sitting very close to Louis. “Would you mind wearing this for me?” she said breathlessly.

Louis looked up and smiled shyly. She seemed to be doing a lot of that recently.

“Alright,” she said, standing on her knees on top of the blankets and slowly sliding the bra on and clipping it in place.

Harry moaned.

They didn’t leave the room for another hour.

~~~

The one hour and twenty-seven minute drive from their motel to the Grand Canyon (thanks, Google Maps) was probably the most lively one yet.

It was like Harry and Louis’ spirits had been revived by each other, and they’d gotten back up to their usual shenanigans. Their usual shenanigans, but worse, actually, because they kept whispering sappy things and kissing under the blanket Niall had eventually thrown over them.

Liam had taken the driving shift, and Zayn had decided to sit shotgun (mainly as a chance to extend her sleeping time). Harry and Louis, of course, took every chance to annoy the driver, safe driving be damned.

Harry's feet were currently pushed all the way against Liam’s chair, knees bent nearly to her chin as Louis leaned forward to tap Liam’s shoulder periodically and hum. Harry grinned and kissed Louis’ cheek every couple seconds, and Louis was still blushing, even after the billionth time. She’d probably still get butterflies every time Harry kissed her when they were old and celebrating their 60th anniversary.

She smiled at the thought of forever with Harry.

Not that they'd discussed it. Louis hadn't even said ‘I love you’ yet. But what was to stop her from dreaming and hoping?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Niall yelling about the volume.

“Turn it up!” she said excitedly. Liam obliged, twisting the volume knob, and a lively beat got louder from the car speakers. Niall grinned and started wiggling erratically in her seat. It took Louis a second to realize she was dancing.

She laughed at her friend, and Niall started yelling along with the words starting up with the music.

“ Maybe it’s the way she walked ,” Niall yelled enthusiastically.

“What is this?” Harry whispered to Louis.

Louis shrugged back at her. “Some up-and-coming boyband Niall loves,” she whispered into Harry’s ear.

“Stop sharing secrets,” Niall yelled at them, pointing an accusing finger, “and start dancing!”

Harry grinned, but started bopping her head and twisting her torso anyway. Louis laughed at what terrible, terrible dancers her friends were. Harry grabbed her hand and looked at her imploringly with big, green eyes. Louis smiled and began to dance along. She yelled the lyrics she knew, and Niall hit every note of the obviously familiar song.

They only calmed down finally when they finally approached Grand Canyon village. It was obviously tourist season, despite the scorching heat, and there weren’t any close spots to park.

Liam drove up near the actual canyon, stopping in the road. “You guys get out, I’ll go find a parking spot somewhere and find y’all.”

Niall nodded, getting out.

“I’ll stick with you, Li,” Louis said. “I don’t trust all these white men hanging around.”

Harry rolled her eyes fondly from outside the car. “So overprotective,” she said.

Niall raised her eyebrows. “Do mine eyes deceive me? Is Louis Tomlinson actually offering to be separated from her girlfriend for five minutes? Who knew you two were so independent?”

Louis rolled her eyes, a blush rising to her cheeks at the term Niall had used to define she and Harry. She looked up at Harry, who wore a blinding grin, dimples deep as the canyon behind them.

“I think my girlfriend and I will be just fine ‘til she gets back,” Harry said, smile not dimming a bit.

Louis’ own grin grew to match. “Yeah,” she said happily, “I think my girlfriend should be okay for a few minutes.”

Niall looked between the two of them, confused. “What just happened here?”

Louis laughed and closed the door. “We’ll see you three in a minute,” she called as Liam slowly began to drive away.

“Bye! Love you! Be safe!” Harry yelled, waving.

Louis brain was in shock. Harry just said she loved her. She shot finger guns at her through the window as they left.

Harry froze as she realized her mistake. “Did I just…?”

Niall nodded. “Yep.”

“And did she just…?”

Niall nodded. “Give you finger guns back? Yep.”

Zayn put a pitying hand on her shoulder. “That was rough.”

Harry stood completely still.

Back in the car, Louis was still in shock. Everything rewinded in her head, and she suddenly realized what had happened.

“Oh my god,” she said.

“Yeah,” Liam said from the front.

“I just shot finger guns at the girl I love,” Louis said.

“That’s not even the worst of it,” Liam replied calmly.

“ Shit ,” Louis said. “Why did I do that? I love her! Why didn’t I just say it back?”

She was talking mostly to herself, but Liam replied, anyway.

“Because you’re fucking stupid,” she said as she pulled into a spot.

Liam got out of the car, but Louis stayed put.

“Shit,” she said again.

Liam knocked on the window. “You gotta get out, Lou.”

Louis nodded and got out, not noticing anything outside of her thoughts.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Liam spoke.

“It's not a big deal, Louis,” she said.

“We'd never said it before,” Louis responded hollowly.

“Shit,” Liam said simply. “You've fucked up.”

Louis laughed.

“You can fix it, though,” Liam said confidently. “You two love each other.”

Louis nodded, and the rest of the way there was walked in silence.

Louis saw Harry first, her back to her, facing the amazing view.

She broke into a run, crashing into Harry's back and wrapping her arms around the taller girl’s waist.

“I love you,” she said, ignoring Harry's surprised squeak. “I love you, I love you, I love you more than you could ever imagine.”

Harry turned around, grinning.

Louis kissed her before she could say anything.

Harry leaned back after a minute. “You mean it?”

Louis nodded fervently. “Yes, of course, always.”

Harry leaned in again, smiling wide.

“I love you,” she whispered against Louis’ lips

Louis felt absolutely drunk on their mutual love. Soon enough, they were both smiling too much for the kiss to still be considered a kiss.

“Hey, you two!” Niall yelled. “Stop being gross and check out this canyon!”

Louis laughed, pulling her arms off of Harry and leading her to their friends by the small of her back.

“I love you,” she said one last time.

Harry shot back finger guns.