The X-Factor Experience | L.S

Twenty Six: April

The next day Harry woke up extremely exhausted from their little midnight bowling adventure last night.

(Which, clearly, he had won. He kicked their asses and they never stood a chance.)

He looked around and saw that he was in Lucas' house. They had fallen asleep the second their feet touched the floor when they got home at dawn-ish.

He rubbed his eyes so hard he saw blue dots, before he got up. He tried not to step on his friends when he headed for the exit.

When Harry reached his own home, his mum gave him a proper scolding for sneaking out like that. But she wasn't capable of being mad at him for long, because she'd ruffled his curls and encouraged him to get some rest, saying how her poor boy must've been so tired. It made him feel bad for disrespecting her only rule so carelessly.

He followed her orders without any complaints and went upstairs to his room to take a long nap.

The next few days were spent hanging out with Niall and Lucas, whether it was walking in the park and picking flower for bouquets or trips to amusement parks where they'd have the times of their lives.

At least for those who weren't scared of roller coaster rides. But Harry made a really good bag holder from the safe ground while eating his own weight in blue cotton candy.

Harry had also managed to have sushi nights alone with Niall, ending with late night walks around the city and deep talks about the future, just like old times.

Lucas and Harry had spent some hours singing together. Their voices didn't compliment each other whatsoever, and their styles were like polar opposites, but they had fun so they didn't care. They'd both lost the contest anyway so did it really matter if they sucked?

The point was that Harry had gotten so much happier in the span of a week and he regretted every second in his life that wasn't savoured together with Lucas or Niall.

However, that all changed one Wednesday evening on a spontaneous trip to the beach.

Lucas had gotten the brilliant idea: To go skinny dipping again. But with Niall this time. And this time Lucas promised to actually go through with it. Niall was up for it, and frankly Harry had gotten a lot to drink, so he ended up agreeing as well.

It couldn't possibly go as wrong as the last time he skinny dipped 'with' Lucas, right? It couldn't go as south as the last time he had gotten drunk with Lucas, could it?

We'll see about that.

The breezy air hit Harry's lungs as the three boys stripped out of their clothes; shoes, socks, shirts, trousers and then boxers - the whole package and headed for the water, the freeing wind nipping at their skin. They were all laughing their asses off about some stupid joke Niall had told.

They ran and climbed into the crystalline waves that were ice cold from the winter months' ruthless, chilly hands. The rays from the fire of the sun setting painted the water a warm, pink colour.

Harry let out a shriek when his foot got tangled into a long seaweed strand, fighting to free himself from it. He ignored Lucas and Niall cackling at him as he continued to try and untangle himself, but it only slithered its way up to wrap around his thigh.

His eyes widened in fear when something that felt like a jellyfish touched his hand and he panickedly swam towards the shore, screaming. He heard his friends' muffled laughter in the distance. It was safe to say that the alcohol left in his system was scared away.

Harry dried himself and his hair off with Niall's tank top, deciding he deserved it for laughing at him. He quickly got dressed despite the itchy sand sticking to the dampness on his cold skin. He was still shivering from the small icy droplets on his body.