Roman Holiday | h.s

Twenty-Three

"I've always wondered what it would be like in here." Anna whispered, as they strolled hand in hand through the Louvre. Their eyes scanned all of the dazzling pieces of artwork that adorned the place.

"Me too, I don't think I've ever been?" Harry tried to recall a time he had been to the Louvre but he was coming up short. When he was in the band, he had the odd day off in a city - but he was exhausted and it was hard to go anywhere without being swarmed, so he never actually took a trip to the Louvre.

"Aww, that's exciting," Anna commented.

"We're sharing a first together." She quietly, yet excitedly spoke. She was trying hard to follow the unspoken rule of not speaking loudly among artwork, but she had so much she wanted to discuss and comment upon. She was truly having the best time.

"We are, aren't we?" He realised, it made him feel warm inside. They had lived all of their lives so far separately, growing as people on completely different paths - yet somehow their journeys intertwined and they were now growing as people together. Harry thought it was beautifully poetic and he couldn't think of anyone else he'd rather grow with.

"Oooh, the main event - the Mona Lisa." Harry whispered as they entered the room, he eyed the prestigious painting seriously - moving around the room slowly with his eyes locked on it. This strange behaviour had not gone unnoticed by Anna.

"Harry?" She whisper-shouted, as other people in the room eyed him strangely.

"With all due respect, what on earth are you doing?" She asked, when she was in close earshot.

"Seeing of the rumours are true." He answered, as if it were obvious - still focusing on the painting.

"What rumours?" She asked, looking at it herself.

"If she is smiling or not, and if her eyes follow you around the room. You have to see it from multiple angles to truly know." He explained, which made sense - but it also looked very strange to anyone not in the loop.

They made their way around the museum, stopping before the statues where Harry made some comments - wondering why most of them were nude and copying their poses.

"That ones you," he pointed to the Venus de Milo, which made Anna scrunch her nose.

"Elaborate please, mi amor." She pinched her bottom lip between her thumb and index finger.

"As in, you are a goddess. Not that you look like it, not that there would be a problem if you did." Harry tried to elucidate his previous comment, which Anna was trying so hard not to laugh at.

"Forget I said it." Harry said.

"No, it's cute!" She assured him, trying very hard to picture the similarities - and failing.

"This ones you," she said and pointed to a random statue of a nude man. Now it was Harry's turn to pull a face.

"I think we both know that this," he rested his index finger tip on the phallus of the statue, "-is no where near correct." and gestured to his own lower half, which she managed to snap a photo of.

"Please don't touch the art." A security guard towered over Harry, making him drop his hand away very quickly and a warm blush spread across his face. He grabbed Anna's hand and led them quickly out of the room - while she stifled her laughter.

"It's not funny!" He snapped playfully, but he was laughing himself.

"It is." She retorted, accidentally snorting.

"It's not everyday that your boyfriend, the Harry Styles gets told off for touching a penis in the Louvre." She couldn't help but continue the fun, they wound up in a fit of giggles that they couldn't contain and they ended up being ushered out of the Louvre by a very uptight security guard.

"Cazzo," Anna breathed when they had finally calmed down, sitting on a bench outside to kill time before their river cruise.

"Cazzo, indeed!" He exclaimed, his cheeks still pink.

"That would only happen to me," Harry chuckled.

"Well nobody asked you to touch it?" Anna shrugged, hiding her smile.

"Stooooop." He groaned, hiding his head in his hands.

"Okay, I'll stop."

They walked to the dock for their river cruise and got settled at their table, having a short discussion about how picturesque Paris was and fantasising about their crepes, which were brought out shortly after the boat left the dock.

"What are you going to put on yours?" Harry asked Anna, eyeing up the tray of toppings in front of them.

"Maybe some banana." She commented, running her finger along an unpeeled banana - but then had a moment of realisation of what she was doing and stopped.

"Please don't touch the banana." Harry joked, imitating the stoic security guard from earlier on in the day.

"On second thoughts, maybe a bit of chocolate sauce." She tried to recover.

"Nice." He commented, and picked up strawberries to sprinkle on his crêpe.

"Oooh can I have one?" She asked him, to which he happily obliged - holding a strawberry to her mouth which she took with a smile on her face.

Their cruise took them on a trip through the Seine river, passing monuments on their way around - such as the Louvre they had just been in, the cathedral and different museums they passed. Anna snapped some photos while on the cruise, wanting to retain this trip in her memory forever.

"Our last stop is the Eiffel Tower." The voice came through the speaker, this is where they would be departing from.

"Do you want to go up?" Harry asked her, as they gathered their things.

"Yeah, do you?" She responded, he nodded with a grin.

"Of course."

~

At the top of the tower, they strolled over to the champagne bar to each get a glass. After, they walked over the edge to take in the view of the city below where the people looked tiny and life looked simple. There were people walking around below probably getting home or to work, there were others posing on their own, in groups. There were couples strolling around together. It was so picturesque.

Harry's phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket to see who it was and immediately paled. The call rang out and his screen was full of notifications he had missed all day.

"What is it?" Anna asked him, concerned.

His sad eyes met her concerned ones, his glass dropped to the ground.

~~

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