Anchored : A Harry Styles fanfic

Chapter 4

Aria

It was just too comical watching him buzz around the fire pit trying to lay everything out. Just as he had gotten one side of the blanket down, the wind would kick up the other side and send the paper plates flying causing him to run after them in haste. What I loved most was his ability to laugh at himself, he never seemed to be angry chasing after those silly paper plates. As he fiddled around with the blanket and securing it under the cooler, I stepped out off the path that led from the parking lot to the beach and walked towards him.

"Harry?" I spoke when I had reached a comfortable distance behind him. He spun around, emerald eyes wide in excitement and a huge grinning breaking across his face.

"Aria! Hey! I'm so glad you came!" He clapped his hands in front of his stomach, unsure of what else to do with them.

I grinned back at him, "I'm glad too! You've got quite the set up." Gesturing towards the lay out of the blanket being held down by the cooler and some extra logs he had dragged from along the beach. The radio played softly alongside the cooler, two water bottles and a guitar case, all of which were encased in a glow from the fire light. "It's lovely."

"I'm glad you think so. Be grateful that we have paper plates, I had to fight the wind for 'em." He joked and I giggled as he beckoned me to come sit on the blanket.

I knelt down across from him and tucked my long skirt underneath my legs loving the soft feeling of the old blanket against my skin.

"Well I hope you're hungry but with low expectations." Slapping his hands against his thighs for effect, eyes twinkling at me through long, dark lashes. "You like sandwiches right?"

I laughed and nodded my head at him, "I'm always hungry and I love sandwiches, so you're in luck! In fact, I bet I can make a better sandwich than you." Crossing my arms across my chest in fake defiance.

Faking a gasp and one hand on his chest in disbelief, "You do realize you just insulted like the king of sandwiches?"
I squinted my eyes and began looking around the beach, looking under the radio and through my water bottle, "Hmm, how odd, I don't see him here." Winking back at Harry.

"Oh it's on!" Harry dove into the cooler, throwing the ingredients out onto the blanket and laughing when I failed to catch them.

Our 'Sandwich Spectacular', as Harry called it, was actually really fun. Harry reluctantly said I was the reigning champion once he tried my sandwich with the potato chips in the middle. After we ate, we sat and talked for hours, our faces bright with the glow of the fire and fascination. We talked of music and people, food and hobbies, dreams and aspirations. It all felt so normal, so right.

Harry was not reserved in anyway about sharing the things that made him happy. The way he lit up telling me about Miss Mary and his beloved library made my heart swell. He gestured wildly with his hands demonstrating the way he fell off of a step stool when a small family of mice surprised him at the top of a book shelf, how Miss Mary said he needed to apologize for scaring them and now ever since he leaves them dinner on their shelf every night at closing.

"Wow, I wish I could've seen your face!" I somehow said in between my bouts of laughter, "you just seem so graceful!"

"Oi! That's not very nice miss!" Preceding to attack me with a tickle fight.

"Oh! Hey! Harry!" I fell from my sitting position and onto my back, giggling uncontrollably, wiggling underneath his gentle touch as he laughed along with me. Finally, I grasped ahold of his hands and pull them off my stomach, realizing how close our faces were. My heart was beating wildly in my chest and I knew it wasn't from the tickling.