For the Road

25

Harry wakes up early to the sound of his phone ringer going off. He groggily picks up his phone from the charger and places the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" Harry's voice is deeper than it normally is and a little rougher since he's just woken up. He can hear Louis suck in a breath before starting to talk.

"Hey, H, so today is our one-month anniversary, and I'm on my way to your house. We're gonna hang out in Manchester for the night, so can you pack a duffel? Your Mum said you didn't have anything planned for today or tomorrow. I'm already in Manchester picking up some things, so I'll swing by to pick you up in an hour. I hope it's okay," Louis rambles. Harry's sleepy mind doesn't quite comprehend all of what Louis' telling him, but he gets most of it.

"Yeah, sounds good. See you in a bit," Harry hums. He hears Louis whisper a faint 'bye' before the call ends.

After grabbing a shower and brushing his teeth, Harry journeys back to his room. He decides on letting his hair do what it wants and pulls on pair of black skinny jeans. He combines through his closet and decides on a plain white T-Shirt and black converse.

He shoves a few clothes into a duffel bag and starts downstairs. "Louis' picking you up," Anne asks. Harry turns and sees his Mum standing in the kitchen eating breakfast. He sighs and nods tiredly. He'll admit, he stayed up a little late last night scrolling through his Instagram feed.

"Yeah, he should be here soon," Harry explains. His mother places her plate in the sink before walking over to him and giving him a quick kiss.

"Have fun and be safe. Don't do anything I wouldn't want you doing," Anne reminds. Harry rolls his eyes. "I love you," She calls as she heads back to her bedroom.

Harry doesn't have to wait much longer for the door to ring. He smiles widely as he opens the door and sees Louis. Harry examines his tiny boyfriend as he stands in the door of his home. Louis wears a pair of tight black skinny jeans and a black tank-top. The ends of his pants are rolled up to show off the boy's ankles. Harry notices the smile playing across Louis' lips from the time he's spent just staring at the older boy. He's gorgeous.

"Gonna keep staring at me or are we gonna go?"

Harry rolls his eyes and shoulders his bag as he follows Louis to his car. He sets his things in the trunk and then takes the passenger's seat. "So, what's going on again?"

"It's our one-month anniversary, so I decided to surprise you and treat you to a nice weekend. I reserved two hotel rooms. I got to leave early in the morning to catch my flight to LA anyway. Figure we could do some shopping and stuff," Louis explains.

"Sounds like fun."

~_~_~

The pair were now sitting in Louis' hotel room. Harry's eyes flickered to the balcony that overlooked downtown Manchester. He can already imagine Louis sitting out there having a smoke shirtless. Harry smiles as he sees himself situated between the boy's legs, Harry's own legs dangling over the edge of the balcony. It's a nice thought.

"I wish we didn't have to have separate rooms," Harry complains. Harry fiddles with the end of the comforter as Louis makes last-minute changes to his hair. Harry doesn't know why the boy needs the touch up, but Louis explains that he might run into fans and that'll want pictures.

Harry hasn't even thought that far yet. They're in one of the most populated cities in England, so of course Louis might run into fans, particularly if they aren't going out of their way to hide from them. Harry's stomach knots up at the thought of someone recognizing him.

He never found it necessary to keep his identity a secret from his Instagram followers. Of course, it wasn't a personal account at the time, so Harry didn't post every picture of himself on it. However, if he looked really good in one he wouldn't feel bad about posting it. So, most of his followers know what Harry looks like. What would they say if they found out Harry was friends with Louis?