i.
It was too hot.
For it to be deep in the night, Y/N shrouded in the cradle of trees luscious with leaves and the moon to be the only source of light, her sweat should not have the fabric of her shirt clinging to her body. The sort of heat that penetrated deep to her marrow, making it intolerable to be in her skin let alone any of her clothes. A kind that makes her long for the sharp, crisp air of autumn; the thought of the breeze was the only thing keeping her from succumbing to a heat stroke.
Under regular circumstances, she would be evading this type of weather by the protection of her flat. Swallowed in the artificial wind of her paired air conditioner and fan, bringing goose pimples up to the surface of her skin when she dares leave her swaddle of blankets, where she even shivers when she steps into the bathroom. She longed for it now, the way her the kitchen tile freezes the balls of her feet, instead of the crunch of dehydrated grass and snap of twigs beneath the soles of her tennis shoes on the forest floor. Hell, she would take a million mornings of dancing along the linoleum tile half awake and trying to pee than to be here right now.
When she'd agreed to go camping, she had more imagined Harry having a secret cabin in the woods with a few separate rooms and a little kitchenette where he took all his conquests. Instead, she was greeted by him and his girlfriend Isobel in a small glade, with two tents, and pit that consisted only of large, misshapen stones because they graciously left the task of fire log hunting for her. Harry must have seen the look written across her features, the way her face dropped, and the sag in her shoulders, "Listen, I know I didn't say explicitly that we would be in tents but it'll be fun! One night of fresh air and sleeping under the stars...it's refreshing."
She would think he's devilish for putting her through the emotional turmoil of having her camp with him and his girlfriend, but to be fair he isn't aware of her feelings for him. Y/N isn't even really aware of them, as she stuffs and buries them down in an effort not to be hurt every time they go to a party and he disappears upstairs. They were just these tickling little feelings that work at the edges of her heart that she could ignore for the first part – she doesn't let herself dwell on them like she might for anyone else. Normally with her crushes, she lets the idea of them fester and swarm until they've invaded a part of her mind she is unable to gain the reigns on until she slowly, but surely, gets over them.
Harry was almost one of those boys when they met freshmen year of college. He was tall, his biceps bulged when he hugged his arms around his chest making the dark ink of his tattoos prominent, and he had this set face that just beckoned someone to even think of mess with him. And then, when they became partners for a silly Get to know ME! project she found that this probable bad-boy façade was quite fake, because albeit how hot and dangerous-looking he was, he was rather strange. He had an eclectic music taste, a dry yet weird sense of humor, and had an incredible nasty habit of inconspicuously inviting himself over and spending the night.
(The first time he had done it, she'd been so astonished by how smoothly he'd done so, her mind was boggled. "My flat's being fumigated 'cos of some nasty roaches. Bloody sucks don't it? D'ya have a toothbrush that I could use before bed?" To which Y/N had replied, "Oh, no, you'll have to bring your own. I've got enough mouthwash that should last us both tonight and tomorrow morning." It wasn't until after he'd told her he would see her around six with dinner that she realized what had just happened. Ever since, it felt as if he were at her home far more than she even was.)
While after the first time he'd managed to slither his way into her room for the night to sleep on the pallet on the floor, after a particularly immense night of Taco Bell and an unbelievably gassy Harry, she accepted that he saw her more as a friend and stifled the feeling that had been swelling for him since the day they met two months prior.
