Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Harry’s currently sitting on the sofa, in a building of which many would consider the ‘classic Sidemen filming location’, a relatively small looking building which had been the showroom for many of a Sidemen Sundays’ over the years: Dragon’s Den, Tinder In Real Life 3, and the latest, ‘Sidemen Complete the Challenge’. 

He’s sitting on the sofa (the same one used in Sidemen Hairdressing), legs crossed out in front of him as he taps aimlessly away on his phone, completely oblivious to the hustle and bustle of pre-shooting chaos going on around him.

People are filtering in and out around him, mostly camera crew bringing equipment in and out of the room in preparation for the fans coming.

He’s completely stuck in his own little digital world, when Harry feels a quick flick at the cartilage of his right ear and the blond haired spins round quickly where he’s met with a mischievous grin:

”Hello Bogo!” Ethan’s cheery voice instantly makes Harry’s eyebrows uncrease and all annoyance of who had dared to flick him on the ear melt off from his face as his scowl is quickly replaced by a soft smile upon the sight of his boyfriend there before him.

”Ethan!” He grins cheesily at the older man and pats the empty space on the sofa next to him eagerly: “Take a seat, take a seat.”

Ethan does so, gratefully, and places his phone on the table in front of him, before resting his head on the blond’s shoulder. It’s about an hour or so before the shooting is supposed to start: none of the other Sidemen having arrived yet, leaving the couple in each other’s blissful company. 

It’s only a few seconds before the red-haired starts to talk, and Harry chuckles inwardly at Ethan’s enthusiasm to make conversation.

”Excited for the shoot?” He asks, linking his fingers with Harry’s as he waits for an answer.

”I guess so, I guess so.” Harry replies, yawning as he stretches backwards and reaches his left arm around Ethan’s shoulders: “But man-oh-man I’m tired.”

“Well that’s not anyone’s fault but yours, is it?” the older of the pair rolls his eyes playfully, “It’s certainly not my fault you refused to sleep unless I had my arms wrapped around you the whole night .”

“Oh fuck off.” Harry chuckles, “It’s not my fault someone wanted to stay up and watch yet another episode of your crap TV shows instead of going to bed last night?”

”Dance Moms is good, okay?!”

”When I started dating you I’d never have thought that you’d be the type of bloke to watch Dance Moms.”

”Well, you know what they say. Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

”Yeah, yeah.”

”You know it’s only fair.” 

Harry smiles as he ruffles Ethan’s hair before bringing his arms back towards his body and slotting his head in between Ethan’s arm and chest.

Another quick yawn leaves the blond’s mouth as he tries to conceal it with his hand: ”Anyway, I shall be getting some rest now, I’ll have you know.” He says, all matter-of-fact-ily, causing Ethan to laugh and place a quick kiss on his boyfriend’s forehead.

”Yes, you do that.”

Only a few seconds past before one of Harry’s eyes pops open again and blinks up at his boyfriend, simply asking:

”You’re staying here, right?”

”I don’t think you’d let me go, love”

And so when the rest of the Sidemen turn up at least another 20 minutes later, they aren’t at all surprised to see the red-haired and the blond couple curled up on the sofa, arms wrapped around each other as their eyes are closed and breaths fall gently in sync.

Chapter Text

It’s not the busiest of days at Bondi Beach, which, of all things, the lifeguards are heavily thankful for. 

The surf isn’t at its worst either; Beardy had spotted a rip out near Backpackers’ not too long ago, but as Harrison scans the sea now, he can’t see anything to cause any sort of alarm. 

People wander in and around the tower, injuries and rescues are few and far between, only a woman with a blue bottle sting needing treatment and a couple out back needing rescuing from the previously identified rip by Jesse. 

Harrison’s lost in thought, eyes trailing out along the beachfront when the door of the central tower swings open, making the lifeguard jump as it bangs against the back wall. 

“Harrison!” Maxi comes bursting in, his cheery voice making Harrison spin round in his chair, face lighting up instantly as he is faced with the younger.

“Hello, love.” Harrison smiles gently, completely abandoning his binoculars on the table and stretching his arms out, gesturing for Maxi to come closer.

Maxi smiles and laughs, rolling his eyes but not actually meaning it. He slides himself onto his boyfriend’s lap, wrapping his arms and legs around his back, almost like a koala, and burying his head into his neck:

“Tired?” Harrison questions gently, brining one arm up to cradle the back of the younger’s head:

“Mhmm kinda,” Is the muffled reply, but Harrison’s question is answered for him as a small yawn escapes Maxi‘s mouth.

“Thought so,” Harrison laughs softly, patting his partner's hair before moving his arms back to pick up the binoculars, “Although sleepy Maxi isn’t an excuse for me to not do my job, okay? I don’t think Hoppo would be very impressed if he walked in to see us cuddled up together on duty, would he?”

“It would be cute though, wouldn’t it?”

“For us, yes, for Hoppo, probably not.”

As if on cue, the tower door swings open again, banging on the back wall as Harrison raises his head to see who was panicked enough to burst in with such urgency. But all urgency is lost when Harrison sees Jake standing in the doorway.

“What the fuck man?” Harrison says, half laughing with a tone of annoyance in his voice, “You scared the shit out of me! I thought there’d been an accident or something.”

“Uh, no mate, but something close.” Jake walks in, setting his keys down on the side and standing facing Harrison, Maxi still wrapped around him, soft breaths making his chest rise and fall rhythmically.

“What happened then?” Harrison questions, adjusting Maxi on his lap slightly, some form of urgency returning to his face. Jake glances down at the ground, then back up at Harrison, a glint of mischief behind his eyes.

“Jesse got stuck in the skate bowl again.” Jake snorts in laughter, covering his mouth with his hand in an attempt to conceal his laughter.

Harrison lets out his own chuckle, rolling his eyes dramatically as he looks at Jake in the eye, “Again?”

“Yup, again.” Jake laughs, and picks up his keys, swinging them around on his finger as he walks down the steps, “So I’m here to get a ladder to help him out.” 

“I would come and help, but,” Harrison’s voice trails off as he trails his eyes down to his boyfriend on his lap, features soft as he sleeps soundly, completely unaware of the incident that’s occurring, “I appear to have a sleeping man on my lap.

Jake chuckles and nods as he picks up the ladder, “I can see, mate.”

Harrison pats Maxi’s hair, brushing a few loose strands from his forehead as he looks down at him lovingly, “I can’t say I’m complaining though.”

“You wouldn’t,” Jake scampers over to the door and tugs it open, “Anyways, don’t have too much fun without me!”

The red-haired skips out of the tower, leaving Harrison rolling his eyes playfully as he diverts his eyes back towards the beach. Below him, Maxi starts to move, as the younger’s eyes open slowly and he looks up towards his boyfriend.

“Hey, love” Harrison smiles down at his partner, as Maxi rubs his eyes gently and grins back at him.

“Good sleep?” 

Maxi nods slowly, “Mhmm. I heard Jake come in though, noisy fucker. What did he want?”

Harrison giggles, running his hand through his partner’s hair, “Not much. Nothing interesting anyway.”

Maxi looks at Harrison suspiciously, raising an eyebrow in his direction, causing the elder to laugh and shake his head.

“Jesse got stuck in the skate bowl again.”

“Oh my god!”

Chapter Text

It’s the day after the Croatia match, the first match of the Euros for England, where Jordan Pickford and John Stones are currently sitting in the cafeteria, surrounded by the buzz and positivity of the team. They’d just won against Croatia, starting their first match of the Euros with a bang. 

John’s head is resting on his boyfriend’s shoulder, his eyes fluttering closed as the ache of his body from the game takes over. 

“You okay there, love?” Jordan questions, unusually soft tone in his voice as his left hand rests on his partner’s head, fingers moving gently as he strokes John’s fluffy hair, whilst Jordan’s other hand holds his phone; scrolling endlessly and aimlessly through some social media platform.

“As good as I’ll ever be.” John replies, smiling softly up at his boyfriend with shining eyes.

Jordan laughs and nods, content with John’s answer as the door of the lounge clicks quietly open, taking both males by surprise as a figure pokes their head into the room.

“Hey, I- uh, sorry if I disturbed you guys...” Ben Chilwell peers into the room, his eyes searching around in search of something it seems, or more accurately, someone , “Have you seen Mason anywhere?”

Jordan can feel John’s body vibrate slightly under him as the younger lets out a short giggle, “You’re always looking for Mason. Do you ever go five minutes without being glued to that man’s side?”

“Could say the same for you.” Ben rolls his eyes playfully, “You’re always attached to Jordan’s side, you romantic fuckers!”

“He says whilst literally looking everywhere for his own boyfriend. ” John replies, raising an eyebrow at his older friend, “You are Mason are sooo-“

“That’s enough!” Jordan puts his hand quickly over John’s mouth, silencing the man before he can continue his sentence, “You two need to stop arguing the whole time, Ben, go and find Mason. I think he’s in the gym somewhere, John, you can-“

But suddenly Jordan feels a wet tongue against his hand and it’s quickly removed from being over John’s mouth, to reveal a grin underneath: “Did you lick my hand?!”

Jordan exclaims, causing John to laugh in response and shake his head unconvincingly, “Maybe…”

“You’re gross,” Jordan sighs and rolls his eyes, turning the attention back in the room towards Ben, standing in the door frame with a disgusted look on his face.

“Riiiiighttt, I think I’ll leave you lads alone then.” Ben backs out of the room, letting the door click shut behind him before sprinting off in the opposite direction, undoubtedly in the direction of the gym, where Jordan had suggested his boyfriend may be.

“I still can’t believe you did that.” Jordan tuts as they’re left alone again, picking up his phone again and logging on.

“Sorry! It was the only way you’d let me go-“

Suddenly, the door to the lounge is swung open again, almost as soon as it shut, banging against the wall as the person who entered pushes it with force.

John and Jordan both jump again, bodys in sync as their eyes rest upon the man stood in the entrance.

“Jordan?!”

“Sorry to disturb you boys, have yous seen Jack anywhere?” Jordan Henderson says hurriedly, leading both John and Jordan Pickford to come to the same conclusion, that he too was looking for his partner.

“Jack? I don’t think so…” John replies, eyes trailing up from his lap to meet Henderson’s eyes, almost trying not to burst out into laughter as he sees how red and flushed he is.

“How long have you been looking for?” Jordan narrows his eyes at the older male, “You look as red as a tomato!” 

John snorts with laughter at his boyfriend's comment, watching as Hendo turns from a rosy pink to bright red, shaking his head at the two on the sofa disapprovingly.

“You two need to stop being so smart with me, okay? Learn to have some respect for your elders!”

John and Jordan both giggle at this, knowing that Hendo’s only joking, but they still tell him that Jack Grealish is in the pool room, probably playing a game with Phil or something.

Finally when the door clicks shut once again, John and Jordan look at each other, slightly exasperated as the flustered look of the two men that both entered the room within two minutes of each other

“Oh my God! I swear, we’ll never get any peace in this place.” John starts, hands flying upwards as if to make a point.

Suddenly, the door flies open, and both John and Jordan groan simultaneously as they hear Jesse Lingard’s voice say, “Sorry guys, but have you seen Beans anywhere?”