Wish I Knew You Sooner

chapter twenty three

A/N: I linked the song above to listen to when it's mentioned because it makes the part even more magical:)

"Harry, what did you do?" I said in awe. Byerly and I stood there with our jaws on the ground, staring up at the giant yacht floating before us. I shook my head in disbelief, not comprehending what was before us.

The water sloshed around, small waves crashing into the dock, leaving there to be a small sway on the ground. I was in complete and utter shock at how Harry interpreted a 'casual day'. The peacefulness and serenity I could only imagine accumulating from us about to be on board is building in my mind.

Harry stood behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, and leaning his chin on my shoulder. "Something fun, huh?" he shrugged, placing a quick kiss on my cheek before standing straight to head towards the boat. I watched him get on board while standing still, racking my brain for the reason that him and his friends were so chill about this.

Mitch followed him, turning around to walk backwards, looking at us and saying "plus, management will buy him anything if he labels it as 'inspiration' for music." he said with air quotes, and I laughed at that excuse.

Sarah caught up to us, grabbing one of each of our arms, pulling us along. "C'mon!" she said, leading us to the edge of the boat.

We followed along, getting on board, and seeing the driver waving down at us from his post at the top. We all waved back, looking around us at the view of the open sea. Mitch and Sarah lead Byerly around, going into the indoor area, as Harry and I stood out on the deck. I was still in shock by how today took a rapid 360° shift from the calming morning I had.

I felt the floor underneath me shift, and we pulled farther and farther away from land as the captain led us out into the sea. I walked to the back edge of the boat, resting my hands in front of me on the railing. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Harry's tattooed hands on the outside of mine, feeling his breath along my ear.

"Beautiful." I stated, looking out at the crystal clear water trailing behind us; The type of water where you could see the bottom no matter how deep it was. There were schools of fish swimming peacefully, in their own little worlds as Harry and I were in ours. "Look at them," I pointed out, "it's all so beautiful."

He hummed against the side of my head, acknowledging my statement. "Not as beautiful as you, Love." he chimed in, sending my heart into a frenzy. Every compliment, tribute, accolade, and bouquet of words he said to me made me feel as if I was the only girl in the world, and he only held his eyes on me.

"Come on," He grabbed my hand from the railing, tugging me towards the daybed near the edge of the boat. I followed behind, setting my backpack on the ground next to me, plopping down and letting out a sigh of perfection as I laid back. I threw my arms above my head, the back of my hands hitting the pillow above. I looked up at the sky, not a single cloud in sight. The sun shone down directly on me, warming me, but the cool breeze not allowing me to overheat.

I saw a shirtless Harry pop into my view, leaning over me and pulling me up. I sat up, readjusting my sunglasses that became slanted on the top of my head. He sat down next to me, holding the flower I tucked into the side pocket of my bag earlier. He twisted the stem until the end broke off, making it shorter in stout, then tucking it behind my ear.

I scrunch my nose as he took all of my features in. "that was for youuuu." I groaned. I plucked the flower from the bouquet for him, since his beauty seemed to always rival the earth's creations.

His eyes burned holes in my skin, looking deeper than just the surface at me. "You get more and more lovely every time I see you." he says. I shove his arm in response, him crashing against the pillow behind him while letting out a captured breath.