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Niall feels himself slowly start to kind of - but barely, it's the briefest, shortest feeling, but still there, so it's noticeable - regret having not doubled up on socks or wear a thicker pair under his rubber boots. It's not necessarily a cold day, quite frankly, it's beautiful weather, the sun playing hide and seek behind clouds and warming the air and ground enough for Niall to look over at Harry as he's driving the two of them and notices he's only in a long sleeve sweater. The material is a bit on the thicker side, but, point is, it's not freezing. It's just, Niall's heart is thick and heavy in his chest and it's making his palms sweaty and he's fretting over the smallest of details. He blames Harry for it. Harry makes him fuzzy.
Just as Niall smiles to himself behind his thumb as he's chewing on some of the skin on the side of his nail there thinking about the undetermined amount of feelings Harry constantly gives him, Harry pulls them off the highway they had been on since early hours in the morning - for whatever odd reason Harry wanted to go out as early as they did, Niall's not sure, but he's definitely sure he'd do anything Harry asks of him - and onto a dirt, gravel road that causes the car to bump and shake as they slowly travel along. Niall rolls down his window then, they hadn't been driving that long actually, still only about eight in the morning but the fog from the cool weather overnight had lifted already, so the wind slowly blowing in is nice and the sound of the rocks being squished under the heavy rubber of the tires is a sound Niall really likes. The radio is playing a beautiful slow melody decently loud, but Niall still makes out the pop of the rocks enough to satisfy him. It feels like it's going to be a beautiful day and the lovely morning spent with Harry driving and talking slightly while the radio plays makes him feel soft despite his heavy and thick heart.
“Where're you taking me anyway, Harry?” Niall asks eventually and Harry smiles that half smile that shows only one dimple and makes Niall breathless with its effortless beauty. Ever since the hiatus, Niall hasn't seen much of it, so it very much feels like a breath of fresh air after minutes of drowning in burning water. Not that - not that Niall's been suffering or any of that sort, it's just, that beautiful, Niall thinks. In its simple, you-take-my-breath-away kind of way. Niall's always thought Harry's beautiful, truthfully, and he doesn't hide away from telling Harry just that any chance he gets.
“Some place beautiful,” Harry replies as he looks over at Niall looking over at him from over his shoulder from the way he's half leaning out the window. He has this look in his eyes that makes Niall curious as to what it means, being something he hasn't really seen before except for a few times that Niall caught Harry looking at him when he thought Niall didn't notice. It's soft and kind and Niall decides it's his favourite at the same moment that Harry looks back out the windshield, still slowly driving along.
“You're already beautiful enough, innit?” Niall replies cheekily and it makes Harry laugh while looking out the windshield at the gravel in front of them. There's trees and bushes on either side of the path, some of the trees climbing high to make it seem as if they're arching over the two in the vehicle and it all is so beautiful. Niall likes that Harry gets like this, all soft and secretive, only sharing his beautiful findings with Niall like it's something special and beautiful between just the two of them. It makes Niall feel important to Harry.
“Nothing compared to your beauty, darling,” Harry tells Niall with a grin on his face and two dimples poking out. Even though this happens often, cheeky, light-hearted flirting between the two of them, it still makes Niall flush a pretty pink colour and scrunch up his face cutely and the dimples at the tops of his cheeks show. “I like that,” Harry says and this time, Niall is genuinely surprised and ignorant as to what Harry could be talking about since he's looking back at him again.
“Like what?” Niall asks, face still flushed a little pink because his pale skin fails him in times of needed embarrassment-avoidance-situations. Harry hasn't been like this in a long time, Niall notes, hasn't been all soft and fuzzy around the edges in a long time and he wonders if he's just happy to be back in England and spending time with the older boy just as Niall is to be with Harry right now.
“I like those dimples on the tops of your cheeks. They're very unique, Niall. Beautiful,” Harry explains and it may or may not make Niall lose his breath and cause him to breathe heavy and a little funny. It makes his body warm and his stomach flutter like a young person with a crush. Well, damn, he really thought he would've avoided these old feelings and thoughts this time with Harry. Niall's pulled himself back fully in the car a while ago, he looks down at his feet, hands placed on his thighs. It's hard to avoid this with Harry, Niall decides.
“You always know what to say to make my heart stutter,” Niall admits with a laugh, face still red and harry glances over to him with a grin. Like he knows and Niall wants to know what he knows to make this easier. Before Harry can reply, he's pulling the car off to the side as they pull up to a beautiful clearing, spring being a beautiful season, creating life and blooming blissfully in the softest of ways that pulls at Niall's hormones in the best of ways. With the compliments, small confessions, and the general, overall feelings he gets from just being with Harry, Niall feels whimsical, soft, beautiful, and bliss.
Harry barely even pulls the car into park before Niall is rushing out of the passenger seat, car door thudding behind him loudly and in front of him is a vast meadow, glistening with left over dew and dancing with the wind in the softest of gestures. Niall feels in love. He'll always love flowers and plants and the overall beauty of nature as it flows and thrives all in its own mighty strength. He hears the car door shut and footsteps walk up to him and looks over in time to notice Harry with that same look he gives Niall when he thinks he isn't looking and suddenly Niall's wondering how many times it has actually happened, then. Harry glances away right as their eyes make the smallest connection and he looks over to the meadow in front of them.
“Told you some place beautiful,” Harry says with a smirk and a dimple on his face. Niall has half the heart to roll his eyes at Harry actually pulling a I-told-you-so when completely unnecessary, but decides not to. Mostly because he gets distracted by Harry himself anyway. His cheeks have the softest blush over them, his eyes sparkling and soft, and Niall thinks he looks like all of the stars combined. Absolutely glowing. Suddenly, Harry's looking back at him again with a mischievous look on his face. “You're it!” Harry shouts as he taps Niall's shoulder and starts running into the tall plants and flowers of the meadow. Niall reaches his arm out quickly to try and tap Harry back before he gets too far and he has to chase him, but he misses and Harry’s breaking down a lot of the stems of the flowers as he runs along, leaving a path behind him.
Niall starts running after Harry with a smile on his face as he hears Harry’s laughter from in front of him. It makes him feel like a child again, all sweet innocence and simplicity in the fun of chasing and running around in a beautiful field of flowers and plants. His smile widens as he catches up to Harry who seems to just be running without a purpose now and enjoying himself, which makes Niall’s stomach swell with a feeling of fondness and happiness from the younger boy enjoying himself as beautifully as he is right now.
Niall manages to catch up to Harry a bit more, his arm stretched in front of him trying to reach the taller boy sooner than his feet are letting him in his rubber boots that Harry told him to wear through the texts they sent back and forth the night before when they were making plans for this adventure. His fingers manage to reach the fabric of Harry’s striped blue sweater and Niall pushes himself that much further before his palm is pressed against Harry’s broad back right at the same moment that Harry trips over himself. They’re both falling to the ground together, Niall on top of Harry from being too close when the boy tripped over his own feet, the dork. Niall briefly wonders if he’s hurt Harry under the weight of his body falling onto his, but decides not to worry too much about it when he hears the mumbled laughter of the younger boy underneath him.
“That was fun,” Harry mumbles softly through his tiny giggles and Niall presses his smile against Harry’s shoulder for the shortest while before he’s getting up and off of Harry. Niall expects Harry to stand up as well, the grass around them being the slightest bit damp from overnight dew and that not being a preferable substance to be lying on, but Niall watches as Harry just rolls over onto his back.
This. This is where Niall finally understands what it properly feels like to lose your breath from seeing something, or someone, beautiful. Sure, he’s thought he’s experienced it plenty of times, having been in a band with Harry for five years and attending events with beautiful people – specifically beautiful women in beautiful gowns that are just, brilliant, in Niall’s opinion – but it’s never been like this. Harry is still very giggly, but it’s soft, sort of quiet in a way that Niall has only understood in this very moment. The early hours of the day, the long-ish drive – it was about an hour and a half, Niall thinks – have gotten to Harry the slightest bit, causing him to pull his long sleeve that is oversized over his fist and up to his eye to rub at it gently. Niall knows now, what it’s like to witness the purest forms of beauty in the most natural situations and gosh, Niall is so overbearingly in love with this boy.
“What is it?” Harry mumbles softly while he’s still gently rubbing at his eye, giggles gone, but soft smile still present. He sounds tired, voice hazy and hoarse with the sleepiness, and Niall feels himself at a loss of words. Niall shakes his head, decides to sit down beside Harry instead of trying to answer and making a fool of himself.
They stay like that for a while, Harry lying in the grass, a few dainty pink flowers softly swaying by his short hair styled up, and Niall sitting down beside him, facing Harry’s body, legs pulled up close to his chest. Niall watches Harry as Harry watches the sky shift and turn above them, clouds still playing with the sun every once in a while. He notices that Harry hasn’t really stopped smiling the whole time since they’ve finally met up earlier in the morning and it makes his lungs fill to the brim with the sudden breath he abnormally takes in at this thought. Niall tends to think back to the past a lot, remembers the way they all were before the band split up for their break, even as far back to the days on X Factor.
He can never seem to just simply continue on with life without being nostalgic about his past. Niall even thinks back to his past relationships a lot, most of them being hidden away from the fans eyes just for the sake of privacy between the two – Niall is a bit of a private lover. He doesn’t consider it a bad thing, being nostalgic and all, just sometimes he gets so caught up in what happened that he kind of forgets to focus on what’s going on right then.
Niall rests his arms on the tops of his knees as his eyes move from the flowers above Harry’s head to the neatly styled curls above the boy’s head. He thinks back to before Harry started filming his movie, when his hair was growing long and beautiful. Niall loves Harry’s long hair, he thinks back to when Harry first told Lou he didn’t want to get anymore haircuts, wanted to try growing it out for a bit and how he looked over to Niall after saying that as if checking to see what Niall’s thoughts of it would be. Of course Niall told him it’d be sick, look real cool, Haz, just like all those rock stars from back then, yeah? Niall smiles to himself at that though, rubs his fingers against the odd bumps of his elbow gently and looks down at his feet.
“What’re you smiling at?” he hears Harry mumble from beside him and Niall's smile widens, shakes his head to indicate that it’s nothing big, really.
“Just when you wanted to grow your hair long,” Niall tells him, looks over to the other boy with sparkling eyes and Niall notices as Harry takes a sharp intake of breath when they make eye contact. Harry is so, so, so stunning in Niall’s eyes. He has a brief moment of thinking back to the first time he told Harry he was beautiful, back in the X Factor house when it was late and England was supposed to be sleeping, but Niall and Harry were cuddled up and mumbling things to each other. Most of it was nonsense, others were cool wishes they had for the band, and the rest were little confessions for their sweet, young, little hearts. That was when Niall first told Harry he was beautiful and Harry smiled into Niall’s collarbone, which, Niall remembers, had caused all sorts of feelings to buzz around inside his chest before telling Niall he’s even more beautiful.
“I miss it, honestly,” Harry admits with a soft sigh, hand going up to run through his short locks that Niall finds himself wanting to do right now. Niall continues thinking of that time on Harry’s bunk, though, and how Niall had admitted to Harry that he thinks he’s the ugliest out of the five of them, his stupid teenager insecurities getting the best of him. He almost tears up at the thought that maybe, just maybe, that’s the reason Harry constantly talks about Niall being beautiful. Harry told him in all their sixteen-year-old muchness that he was going to prove to Niall he’s beautiful. It’s completely cheesy and dorky, Harry having been a hopeless romantic right from the start, but Niall manages to let out a laugh instead.
“God, I miss you, Harry,” Niall confesses, tears still shining his eyes into a glossy wetness. It’s not to mean anything harsh, just that he can’t handle the distance between them that’s been happening too often since the One Direction break. He looks up to the sky, licks his eyes, and shakes his head in disbelief at himself for tearing up over this. “I know we all got our own things going, Louis with his own music and his son, Liam starting up his thing, me with my music, you and your movie and your music. I don’t want to keep that from all of us, but, fuck, I miss you,” Niall says while looking at the younger boy lying down still. He swallows his spit and brings his hand up to his eyes, index finger and thumb rubbing at his eyelids a little too harshly because he doesn’t want to cry right now. The day is too beautiful to spend crying.
“C’mere,” Harry mumbles, voice sounding deeper with an emotion Niall’s not too sure of. The younger boy reaches out for him, grabs Niall’s arm as he starts to shift towards Harry and pulls. Niall is kind of lying beside Harry now, arm lifting him a bit higher than Harry so they can make face-to-face eye contact. Harry reaches his hand gently up to hold onto the side of Niall’s face softly. “Can I kiss you?” Harry asks and Niall lets out the breath he was holding. It’s been so long since the last time they kissed and Niall can’t deny the opportunity now.
“Yeah,” Niall whispers and Harry’s pulling Niall down for the kiss. It’s soft, as gentle as the day has been so far and makes Niall’s heart flutter just as every other kiss they shared has done. Niall’s tongue slides into Harry’s mouth softly, the two slowly moving their mouths together. It feels wonderful, Harry being the best kisser in Niall’s opinion.
Niall moves his hand to slowly slide up the arm Harry’s holding Niall’s face in before gently gripping onto Harry’s hand pressed against Niall’s face, his other hand lowering his body so he's pressed flush against Harry to instead move the hand to tangle into Harry’s hair like he’s subconsciously been wanting to all day. They pull apart briefly and smile at each other in a way that makes Niall feel filled to the brim in blissful magic. Harry giggles slightly and it makes Niall giggle too before they’re both leaning back in to kiss each other some more. It keeps happening on like that for a while, brief pauses to look at each other and giggle before pressing more kiss against each other. Eventually, Harry pulls away and presses kisses to Niall’s cheeks before turning his hand to hold onto Niall’s softly and sighs happily.
“I miss you too, Niall,” Harry finally tells him. Niall can’t help the smile that makes its way onto his face when he hears Harry’s heavy voice say those words. “I miss your smile, your beautifully pink cheeks, your voice, your eye dimples… or are they cheek dimples?” Harry starts rambling and Niall starts laughing at Harry, cheeks starting to hurt a bit from how much he’s been smiling.
“What are you even going on about, Harold?” Niall asks through his laughter and Harry pouts slightly.
“Whatever, Niall, your dimples. That’s all I meant, but I wanted to sound whimsical and poetic,” Harry whines and it makes Niall laugh even harder, pressing his face against Harry’s collarbone. He feels as Harry’s arms move to wrap around Niall and his cheek gently presses onto the top of Niall’s brown hair. “I’m the most poetic when I think of you,” Harry whispers and Niall eventually stops laughing to instead just cuddle back into Harry, arms moving to hold Harry back as best he can in this position.
The wind continues to dance with the meadow around them, a few bugs flying by the two boys lying down together in the grass, and the insects and animals around them singing together. The dew on the grass has dried by now and most of the clouds had vanished from the sky. Niall’s not sure why Harry told him to wear rubber boots, it’s not like the meadow is muddy or wet, but he lets the thought pass and just sighs happily against Harry’s shoulder instead.
“I love you, Niall,” Harry whispers, but it doesn’t sound as if it’s being said directly to Niall. It sounds more like it’s being whispered into the blue sky, to be lost with the wind and dance all the way through the entire meadow. The words sound secret, soft, and like Niall wasn’t supposed to hear them, that he was eavesdropping on a very intimate conversation that Harry was having.
“I love you, Harry,” Niall whispers back anyway, feeling his chest feel tight at how he managed to sound almost the exact same as Harry. Niall blames the meadow. It makes him feels poetic and magical. Niall sits up finally, smiles at Harry slightly embarrassed suddenly. He feels like when he was twelve and had his first kiss. Harry sits up too, reaches out and holds Niall’s hand. He doesn’t pull Niall off anywhere, doesn’t pull a joke, or anything of that sort. Harry just holds onto his hand and smiles at Niall so big, it seems like it surprises Harry too because he immediately bites his lower lip to try to contain it.
That look Harry’s giving him right then reminds him of the first time they ever kissed. It was back in 2010, when Harry visited Niall’s family with the Irish boy in Mullingar for the first time. Niall never brought anyone home before that, never really brought anyone else after that – there were the few times he brought one of the other lads with him to meet his family and to see where he grew up because that’s what they all did with each other, but it was never like when Harry would visit. They were young boys back then, foolish and curious about themselves and everyone else around them. Niall had already taken a bit more of a liking towards Harry, he was cute and cheeky and very kind to Niall, but it didn’t seem like much else. Not until they spent a whole week together in Mullingar, Niall couldn’t help but stare at Harry a little too long and wonder what he felt like, tasted like, smelt like, all sorts of things until finally, Harry asked if he could kiss Niall.
The grin so big that Harry wasn’t expecting it either and he bit his bottom lip to contain it appeared after their first kiss too.
“You keep dazing off and thinking about something,” Harry comments. It doesn’t sound accusatory or upset, just a simple statement of the fact that Niall keeps getting lost in his thoughts today. Niall smiles.
“I always think about you,” he says, smile growing wider at the blush that spreads over Harry’s cheeks. Niall laughs a bit. “Been thinking about when we were younger and how we got to where we are now,” Niall explains with a bit of a shrug.
“It’s all thanks to your beautiful voice,” Harry says cheekily, smile spread wide despite the bright red blush spread over his nose and cheeks. Niall laughs a bit harder, forehead turning read like it usually does when he laughs.
“Why thank you,” Niall laughs before shaking his head a bit. “No, I meant, like – between us. You know, the casual kissing, the few dates we went on, this sort of, um. I guess it’s sort of this unspoken thing between us? Not going to lie, I like it a lot, but yeah, just been a bit nostalgic today thinking about how it started,” he explains casually, simple shrugs every once in a while, and a few times his eyebrows scrunched together in the middle as he thought about ways to explain it. Niall looks over to Harry who has an expression on his face that’s a bit unreadable, but Niall still finds it very beautiful. What can he say, he’s in love with Harry. Always has been.
“Niall,” Harry starts to say before pausing and licking his lips. His eyebrows furrow together as he tries to find ways of explaining what he’s going to say right after Niall hums a soft “Hm?” in response to Harry. “Can I tell you something that I’ve wanted to for a long time?” he asks finally and Niall’s stomach fills with nerves.
“Of course you can,” Niall tells him gently before taking a deep breath in. They’re still holding hands and Niall squeezes Harry’s hand softly to let him know it’s going to be okay, no matter what.
“I love you. Seriously. Like – I’m in love with you. I don’t know why I never told you this before, especially since I’ve hurt my own heart so many times with stupid things like dating other people instead of admitting my feelings for you and seeing you date as well, but no matter what I always come back to you. Ever since our first kiss,” Harry confesses and it makes Niall’s head all fuzzy and his body warm.
“You’re an idiot,” Niall says first and Harry gapes at him in shock. “No, no, no! Like! You’re so cheesy! God, shut up, I love you too, okay? Like in-love-with-you love you! Stop laughing, you dork!” Niall continues whining, but Harry can’t stop his laughter. He lets go of Niall’s hand and flops down onto his back, hands moving to hold his sides as he continues laughing.
“Of course, Niall Horan calls me an idiot before telling me he’s in love with me too!” Harry shouts while laughing and it’s so ridiculous and so Harry that Niall starts laughing too. Eventually, Niall’s laughing just as hard as Harry as he realizes his own ridiculousness with his response to Harry’s confession and soon enough, they’re lying side by side and laughing into each other while their foreheads are pressed together. Slowly, their laughter dies down and Niall finds himself to be just staring at the curly-haired boy’s green eyes as Harry stares at Niall’s mouth. Niall glances down at Harry’s lips and sighs, watches as Harry licks them.
“Can I kiss you?” Niall asks and Harry’s eyes start to sparkle and he’s nodding his head enthusiastically.
“Yes,” he says and Niall tilts his head forward and presses their lips together. It’s just as soft and gentle as their previous kisses shared earlier in the day, but this time it feels like there’s more meaning to it. More gratefulness and it’s more carefree. Completely beautiful in the rawest form of the word, in Niall’s opinion. They pull apart softly, smiles still present on both of their faces and Niall doesn’t feel ambivalent about the surges of love shooting up and down his veins this time.
“Will you be my boyfriend?” Harry asks and Niall laughs again. Harry pushes at his shoulder slightly. “Don’t laugh at me! It’s better to ask than to just assume just because we both feel the same way,” he defends himself and Niall scrunches up his nose as he continues laughing, dimples atop his cheeks poking through again.
“It’s not that!” Niall says and Harry looks at him, asking what he means then through his expression while also looking so tired. “I’m just so happy, couldn’t help myself,” he mumbles and watches as Harry yawns before smiling at the older boy.
“So, what’s your answer, princess?” Harry asks and Niall keeps the groan inside that he would’ve previously let out each time Harry called him that previously before. It’s not that Niall hates the nickname, he enjoys it so much actually, but he didn’t want anyone to catch onto his feelings and figured that meant he couldn’t like every nickname Harry gave him. It’s a pathetic reason, he knows.
“Of course I’ll be your princess,” Niall says gently before his eyes widen when he realizes what he said. That’s not – no, wait, that’s not right. That’s not what he meant. That was an accident. Niall keeps rambling inside his head while letting out little mumbles of “um’s” and “uh’s” while Harry starts laughing. Niall feels as his face turns a bright red with the blush that’s spreading over his face and onto his neck but Harry doesn’t seem to be laughing maliciously.
“I’m glad you’ll be my princess,” Harry whispers before leaning in and asking if he can give Niall a kiss. Niall mumbles out a yeah and expects Harry to press a kiss to his lips, but instead he’s pressing a kiss onto the tip of Niall’s nose. “God, you’re so cute!” Harry mumbles before pressing their foreheads together again.
“My boyfriend’s cuter,” Niall mumbles and Harry groans.
“I don’t want to be those couples! We’re both super cute, adorable, beautiful, sexy, all of that, okay?” Harry says and Niall laughs before asking for a kiss, which Harry happily gives him. They’re both just lying there, smiling at each other with Harry’s arms wrapped around Niall’s shoulders and Niall’s hands holding Harry’s hips. It’s been such a beautiful day spent together that they didn’t even notice the complete change in weather or the grey clouds rolling in.
Rain starts sprinkling down onto the two boys and it surprises Niall. Oh. That’s why Harry told him to wear the boots. Harry just groans at the rain. They both get up and grab each other’s hand before Niall’s pulling them quickly back towards the car since the rain started getting heavier and heavier really quickly.
“Wait!” Harry shouts and Niall pauses briefly to look back at the boy.
“What is it, Harry?” Niall asks and the rain is starting to dampen their clothes.
“Can I kiss you in the rain?” Harry asks and Niall is in such a good mood that a little cold and dampness can’t bring down his mood, so he shuffles closer to Harry before telling him that he can. Their kiss is a little bit slippery this time compared to any other, but it doesn’t bother either of them, hands still held tightly together and the kiss just as slow as the rest of them have been today. Niall pulls away a lot sooner than he would’ve any other time though, but he still smiles brightly at Harry.
“You’re so cheesy,” he tells him before he’s pulling them both off towards the car again. Harry unlocks the doors and they both quickly get in, shutting the doors loudly behind them. The car starts, the heat starts coming through, and Harry pulls them out and off the gravel road.
When they’re back on the highway, Niall looks over at Harry and Harry glances back at him with a smile before looking back at the road. Niall reaches over and grabs onto Harry’s hand that was just sitting on his lap, rubbing his thumb slowly along Harry’s before mumbling out an “I love you”. Harry whispers that he loves him back.
Wherever I go, you lead me home.
They stop at McDonald’s on their way back and sit in the car and throw fries at each other before Niall yelps about how they’re wasting food and Harry mumbles that they’re both rich, they can buy more fries. Niall says that’s not the point, but Harry asks for a kiss anyway and Niall says okay and kisses him before blowing a raspberry against his lips to be a dickhead. Harry loves him so much anyway, it doesn’t matter.