Night Sky (Harry Styles)

01. the beginning

NOTE: This story is set in the future (2017) because of one event that takes place in the epilogue. There is no other reason to it.

_________________________

CHAPTER 1 : THE BEGINNING

Friday, May, 26th 2017 - Brookings, Oregon

"Estelle, do you really have everything you need? Do you want me to go through your bags to check if you have really everything? You are going to be on the road for a very long time and I don't want you to forget anything." My mother asks me from the bathroom as she rummages around, trying to find anything I could have forgotten.

"Do you have enough panties, bras and socks?"

"Oh my God, yes."

"Something in case it is getting cold? A parka?"

"Yes, mom." I sigh as I zip up my bag and try to carry it downstairs without my mother's help.

"Your pills?" She asks and I scream back a 'yes, mom, I really have everything I need in my bag' and she sighs loudly before I hear her coming downstairs. A quick glance out of the window shows me that the car of my friends is already parking in front of our house.

My mother approaches me and quickly pulls me into a tight hug. "Call when you need something, call when something went wrong, just call me, okay? And don't do drugs, not too much alcohol because you are still underage, got it? I'm okay with you and your friends drinking but don't get caught. And not too much. Oh, and don't you rob a shop for booze or stuff like that. Don't rob anything in general. I love you. Have fun! Don't forget to call me."

I laugh at my mother's rules and give her a kiss on the cheek, telling her that I love her too, before I carry my bag out of the house and walk towards the car of my friends. Sam, my boyfriend, honks and the other's laugh loudly. Every seat in the car is taken but Dylan climbs from the passenger seat onto the backseat so I can sit in the front next to Sam.

"Hey babe, you have everything?" Sam asks and gives me a peck on the lips.

"Yes and God, I will slap the next person who asks me this." I say laughing.

"Hey Estelle, you've got everything? Are you sure?" Dylan asks from the back and I turn around, playfully slapping him against the chest.

"We still need to pick up Harry!" Jessica reminds Sam.

Harry is Jessica's boyfriend and they are one of those couples whose company you do not enjoy together because they snog each other whenever they have the chance to. Jessica immediately had a crush on him after I found him peeing in the woods and then introduced him to my friends.

We became very good friends over the last year. He can be kind of weird sometimes and also pretty quiet. Usually the more people are around him, the quieter he gets but he is still very sweet and kind.

Sam starts driving and turns up the volume of the radio. His hand is on my knee as we disturb the whole neighbourhood with our loud music on a Friday morning on our first day of summer break.

The ride to Harry's house takes us only ten minutes and as soon as the car stops Jessica jumps out of it and runs up to Harry. We all watch her wrapping her legs around his waist and him dropping his bags so he can catch her. Only seconds later they are in their own world whilst having a steamy make out session right in front of our eyes.

"Dude, that's so disgusting." Dylan says and shakes his head. He leans forward and honks the car, telling the two lovebirds that they should hurry. Harry puts Jessica down and throws his bag into the small trunk of his Ford Capri. We need a second car since we travel with six people and they do not fit all in Sam's little Volkswagen.

"I'm gonna go with Harry!" Jessica informs us and hops into Harry's car.

"What a surprise." Beth laughs as Jessica tries to start another make out session with Harry in his car but he keeps shoving her away, however with a smile on his face.

"You two are innocent compared to this." Dylan agrees and points back and forth between Sam and me.

"Bro, you don't know what we've already done when we hung around at your house." Sam laughs and starts the car.

"Gross!" Dylan says and I shake my head.

"Nothing happened." I tell him and giggle.

"Really baby? Don't you remember anymore when we were—" Sam starts but I quickly cover his mouth with my hand. Sam licks the palm of my hand, chuckling slightly as I pull my hand away.

"I'm driving, babe."

"Then shut up!" I say laughing and he nods, keeping his eyes on the road as we follow Harry's car, "Where's our first stop anyway?"

"Medford," Sam answers, "Harry said he knew how to get there."

"You trust Harry with this? You know he always gets lost!" I exclaim and put my feed up, playing with Sam's free hand. All of them laugh and agree with me.

"She is right. Remember when he got lost in Walmart? Such an idiot." Dylan laughs and puts his feet on the edge of my seat. „And it wasn't even a big Walmart."

The wind blows my hair around and keeps my head cool. Sam rests his hand on my knee and I give him a little smile before I close my eyes to get some more sleep. We still have to drive two and a half hours until we arrive in Medford unless Harry won't get lost and lead us somewhere else. The loud music coming from the radio and the loud voices from Beth and Dylan while they are trying to hold a conversation makes it impossible for me to get some more sleep, so I decide to join them singing along to the songs that are coming on.

"Are you gonna tell me our destination?" I ask Sam after a while.

Sam did not want to tell me what the destination of this road trip is. Everyone around me knows it, except for me. I know that we want to stay in California and he told me that it is one of the cities I have always been wanting to go to. However, there are so many cities in California that I would love to visit that I don't have a clue which one it could be.

"Nope." Sam grins and I roll my eyes.

"That's not fair," I pout and cross my arms in front of my chest, "Everyone knows but no one's telling me."

"It's a surprise to your birthday," Sam informs me, "Harry and I planned everything so we'll stay in one of your favourite cities at your birthday."

"But my birthday is in, like, a week."

"Exactly," Sam chuckles and turns to me before his eyes flicker back to the road, "I'm gonna tell you that we're taking seven stops and the seventh is the final one. We never drive for a long time. The longest we'll drive is going to be less than four hours so we can enjoy the city we're staying at."

"Man, I don't even have one clue where we could be driving to." I laugh and cover my eyes to block more of the sun light even though I'm already wearing sunglasses, "You and Harry set this up, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm gonna talk to him. He gives in very easily," I say giggling and Sam rolls his eyes but tenses up when I say, "Or show him my boobs if he doesn't wanna tell me."

"You'd actually do that? Can you show me too?" Dylan jokes and his head appears between the two front seats of the car. I laugh while Sam slaps his forehead without looking at him.

"She won't, you idiot," Sam tells him sternly, "and I don't think Beth would like that."

"He's right." Beth chips in and pulls Dylan back. We all laugh, except for Sam who is staring at the road or rather at Harry's car and is gripping my knee tightly. I put my hand above his and his grip relaxes a bit.

"I was kidding, babe." I tell Sam and give him a kiss on the cheek before I put my feet up and enjoy the drive to our first stop which is Medford, Oregon.