Chapter Text
“Li…” Harry says softly, can’t keep his pretense calmness anymore.
“Don’t tell me what I think you’re going to say.”
Harry opens his mouth-
“Don’t you dare, Harry!”
“I think we’re lost.”
“Harry!” Liam sounds so defeated. Harry will laugh at Liam, definitely, if this is not his fault, getting them both lost in Liam’s birthday.
The morning this Friday was beautiful. Harry uttered an idea for celebrating Liam’s birthday. They discussed it and finally, they agreed that right after the school over they’d go to this rural lake Harry found from Google maps. Well, if ‘agreed’ means a little bit of reverse psychology slapped to Liam here and there to get ahead of his annoying responsible sense, Harry would do it gladly.
“Come on Li, that’s not that far.”
“Do you even know the route?”
“No, but that’s why we have Google maps.”
“It’s not 100% accurate you know.”
“Yes, but it is 98% accurate.”
“It’s going to be very late when we arrive back here.”
“But come on, see these pictures again. The lake is beautiful Liam, and this is your birthday! When is the last time you celebrate it outside? Ten years ago?”
“Last year, Harry! With you!”
“That was in Starbucks Liam! It was hardly thirty minutes from home!”
“But where is the lake again? Two hours trip? We’ll just get half an hour in the lake and then we have to get back here soon so it’s not too dark-“
“This trip is my gift for you.”
“You can just buy me-“
“So you don’t want it?”
Liam fell silent. Aha, Harry loves guilty trip. Especially with Liam. It almost never fails. “Fine then, I’ll go alone.”
“Harry, you can’t go alone. It’s dangerous.”
“I won’t be alone if you accompany me, actually.”
“Accompany you? I think it was my birthday present?” Liam’s brow quirked. Damn, caught.
Yes, I want to go there, Liam. Well, also give you a different kind of present. Two birds one stone, isn’t that great? But that was not to be said out loud. “That’s okay if you don’t want to go there Liam, I can buy you ordinary gift and I’ll go there alone.”
Liam’s face was worryingly unreadable, due to too many emotions swirling in one moment. Well, Liam is Liam, never underrating anything, even the simplest thing.
“You better not try a new route like that time when we went to the tree house or try an alternate route like that time-“
“We’re definitely going according to the directions, Li. Chill.”
Liam sighed. He secretly loves adventure, and even if he muttered a dark “You better,” to Harry, Harry knew Liam was as thrilled as himself.
Because Harry knew this was going to be a great day.
**
They are on the top of an uphill, and somehow Harry is certain that right after they go downhill, they will arrive at the lake he really wants to see. Even though right now they get no signal, which means Google maps is not working. Worry starts to drench on Liam as soon as they lost the signal right before they went uphill, but Harry was still could convince him to at least find out if they could see the lake if they reach the top. But now that they are on top and can’t find the lake-
“Let’s just go home,” Liam says for the fifteenth time.
Really, why is he so worried? Harry finally peers to his side, and take a thorough observation to his best friend. Liam is a worrier, of course. Over a hundred times Liam makes sure that Harry stays away from danger, and over hundred times he saves Harry from the danger itself. And now he finds Liam fidgeting on the passenger seat. That means there’s something really bothers Liam. The normal worried Liam will just smack him on the head or pretend to castrate him and ask to drive. Not that Harry will ever permit him, or anyone, driving his car.
“Fine,” he glances away. But wow. “But at least let’s just get out. The view is beautiful!” Now that he says it, truer it is. Wild trees, wild grasses, and everything about wild natural scenery is just Harry’s favorite. That’s why he wants to be a photographer. There’s something about sparkling dew on the grass in the right morning he always wants to capture, there’s something about golden hue on the tree lamp in the right night, there’s something about blazing pinkish light of thunder in the right rain.
And right now, there’s something about the shade of afternoon sunlight on the wild green leaves, very real scenery in front of their eyes, that the view really captivates Harry.
He glances back to Liam. The awe in his eyes overpowers the ghost of disagreement that etched on his face. Liam loves natural scenery as much as Harry does, so if he wanted to say “Harry, it’s dangerous,” again, he’s already bit it back.
Harry takes it as approval, so he gets out of his car. Soon, the freshness of the air fills his lung. Rather humid and cool temperature is what he feels despite the rather bright sunlight in such afternoon. He hears a door slammed, so Liam has joined the party. They take in their surrounding, the downhill road over them, the small forest in front of them, and the road where they come from. Such a peaceful place.
Something moves behind the trees. Something dark, Harry can tell. Well, he is curious. He moves to see from a better spot.
But what a misfortune, he wishes he didn’t. It is a big, black dog that comes to him. The eyes are so wild and the teeth are bared, ready to pounce on him in one big leap and bite and savor and kill him in a minute.
“Liam… there’s a wild dog approaching me…”
He casts a quick glance to Liam in panic, and finds that Liam already eyeing the dog approaching him, but the heck, Liam has two black wild dogs coming nearer him as well.
He takes a step back nearer to Liam and his car instinctively. “Liam, there are two black dogs-“
“I know. Get in the car as calm as you can,” Liam says, unbelievably calm.
Unfortunately his standing position is not the best spot to just open his door and slip in. Liam has better chance in doing it, since he’s not too far from the back door. He, on the other side, is rather far in front of his door. The best thing he can do is climb on the hood of his car, if the dog doesn’t get him first.
“I’ll try,” he replies. If he sounds rather squeaky, well, he’s totally normal human being.
He takes a step back, and again. The dog follows his movement, taking a step nearer as Harry tries to elude. From the corner of his eyes, he sees Liam makes a careful movement, almost like he’s adjusting to the black dogs’ gesture. He sees the big black dog in front of him, somehow already nearer. Now that he can see it better, it looks so menace. It’s maybe not a dog after all. The canine are so sharp, wolf it is. Crap, wolves to kill them are not what Harry has in thought of Liam’s birthday present.
“Harry, focus on the wolf! Can you get away?”
“No I guess-“
There are pained animal voices and Harry wants to glance a bit to check on Liam but Liam already runs and jumps and slides over the hood and suddenly he sprays Harry with perfume while already standing in front of him and-
“Get away!” Liam shouts to the wolf.
Somehow the wolf seems affected and strangely moves its tail in defense.
Liam crouches down while still holding the wolf’s gaze, gathering some stones in his hand, and stands protectively in front of Harry. When Harry takes a step back again, Liam takes a step on the side, and he throws a pebble right on the top of the wolf’s head. The perfect angled hit makes the wolf throws its head up, and after a pained whimper and a last glance to them, it disappears into the woods.
They just stand there, heavy breaths are the only audible sound. After a moment, Harry’s ankles buckle and he gives up standing straight, leaning on his car. He’s not pretending he’s not terrified. And Liam loses his coolness and runs his hand to his hair, exhaling a long breath.
“Dead. We are so dead!” Liam’s panic comes in such a –fortunately—late moment.
“We’re not.”
“You don’t even know what could happen-“
Funny, it seems like the possibility of death has just dawned on Liam now, not the moment when the wolves appear.
“But you save me!” Harry says, finally at ease. Liam has saved Harry’s life. Again. Harry’s the one who has always done this to them, accidentally –mind that— putting them in danger. And Liam almost always disagrees with him, but still helps him, saves him, and not leaving him. And most importantly, will do what Harry suggests, in the next time. Eventhough, again, Liam is of course right.
The worried expression is still drawn on Liam’s face. Huh.
So Harry preens, and hugs, and kisses Liam on the cheek. “My knight in shining armor!”
“Eugh… Harryyy!”
But the smile betrays him. Now that Harry sees the smile, he knows this is why they are such a best friend. He needs someone who can guide him and reasons him the logic and stabilize his sometimes silly adventurous ideas, and Liam needs someone who is carefree in front of him and trusts him and challenges him to do something different. They need and complete each other, don’t they?
**