julie’s haven

Stopping us in our tracks, Harry groans, tilting his head back to look at the starless sky without a care that we are forcing every single person who passes us on the sidewalk to walk around us. "I'm tired," he whines and I can't say I don't relate.

We left the hotel just as the sun started to set after spending the whole day in the beaming Brazil sun. Sunbathing in the lounge chairs by the pool, taking breaks to dip into the cool water every now and then. At some point, Harry got a bit tipsy and went in fully clothed, including his hat.

I don't even want to check what time it is right now, but the sky is fully draped in darkness. And it has been for a while now.

Stepping in front of him, I pinch his chin between my thumb and my pointer finger, tilting his head down so he'll look at me when I talk, "I know how much you wanted to get back on your own, pumpkin. We're both tired and we really do need to get back to the hotel soon before they get worried about you."

"I know," he pouts. And for some reason that's beyond me, the fact that he is genuinely bummed out when he pulls out his phone and types in the name of the hotel to the search bar in google maps, makes me love him that much more. He's always hated when things go another way than he wanted and had planned for.

The light, cold breeze blows straight through the brown flannel I snagged from Harry's suitcase. Without the sun to provide its constant, warm rays of sunshine, it's actually starting to feel quite chilly. So I wrap my arms back around Harry's waist, enjoying the warmth his body provides.

"Ha!"

The sudden, loud exclamation makes me jump, bewilderedly looking at Harry for answers. "What happened?"

"I was right." I've never seen him look more smug than he does at this very moment. "The hotel is fifteen minutes in that direction," he points down the long road we just walked down, "only we should've taken left a little while ago."

Nodding slowly, I let him have this little victory, "Lead the way, then."

"Happily," Harry grins, throwing his arm around my shoulder, turning us 180 degrees. It's with his phone in his hand we start what's hopefully our last attempt at making it back to our hotel before we're both old and in diapers.

We walk to the sounds of the cars passing and the chatter and footsteps of people milling the streets. No one pays us any attention and while we're anything but alone in the world right now, it feels like we're in a little bubble of our own.

When the time comes to go left, we cross the road safely and quickly.

The air smells of cars, dust and whatever food they're cooking in the restaurants we pass with all kinds of people going in and out of them. If I had the time to, I would probably spend half my time sitting at small cafes around the cities in the world and just watch people go about their daily lives.

"It's gotten cloudy," I point out, a small smile tugging on my lips at the dark, fluffy-looking shapes floating high in the sky. Harry hums, "You've angered the Gods, my love."

Almost as if on cue, a drop of cold water hits my cheek out of nowhere. The suddenness of it makes me jump with a small shriek as I wipe the droplet off my cheek with my hand, my eyes wide as they meet Harry's concerned ones, "What's wrong, baby?"

Before I get the chance to tell him, I watch the same thing happen to him. And one turns into five turns into ten until we're standing dead still in pouring rain.

The rain is loud when the drops splash to the ground. It's fast and it's heavy and it's cold. And it came out of nowhere.

Harry and I are staring at each other with wide eyes, the flashes of rain falling between us.

It can't have been raining for more than a minute before his white kiss t-shirt is starting to get see-through with the chilly water and it clings to his tattooed, tan skin. His hair starts to stick to his face and down his neck and his face glistens, water reflecting in the lights from the buildings around us. His long eyelashes are now clumped together from the water, eyes bright and sparkling with life.

My chest shakes as a loud, unrestrained laugh explodes from it, lifting my arms out the side, palms up to feel the rain bounce off my skin. The second Harry chuckles, shaking his head in fondness and disbelief, laughter pours from my body as freely as the rain falls from the sky.

"It's raining," I say loudly, tilting my head back and letting my mouth fall open and my eyelids close.

"It's fucking raining!" Harry's voice has me looking at him again, both of us grinning from ear to ear. There isn't a single inch of our bodies that's not soaked in rainwater and I don't think I've felt this happy and carefree in a long, long time.

My eyes drop to his pink, full, glistening lips before I drag them back up only to find that his are trained on my own lips.

Without a thought, I close the distance between us with one step, standing on my tip toes as I bring his face down to mine by the back of his neck. The moment our lips connect, it's like a lightning bolt shoots through my entire nervous system. The feeling Harry leaves in my body is so strong it feels as if I might burst into a cloud of stardust.

His hands drop to my waist as he kisses me back with just as much passion. It's wet from the rain and it's messy as his body is flush against mine. Slipping my hands into his hair, water pours over my fingers at the pressure.

It dawns on me just what we're doing, and when it does, I can't hold in the grin that erupts on my face. Giggling when Harry inches his face backwards with an amused smile after kissing my teeth. "What's got you smiling so pretty, my love?"

If my cheeks weren't already red from the kissing, they are definitely red now.

Darting my eyes from his pink cheeks with his adorable dimples carving into them to his twinkling, green eyes, feeling my chest expanding against his as I breathe and try to articulate what's going through my head right now. "

"You just make me really happy," is what I eventually manage to get out, feeling like my heart could explode from the way his entire face seems to brighten at my words.

"Wanna know a secret?" Harry nudges my nose with his, tapping my hip with his hand. I nod, closing my eyes when his gaze becomes too intense for me to bear. "You make me really happy too."

I'm sure the people who sought shelter from the rainfall would raise an eyebrow or two at how Harry and I haven't made a move to get out of it yet.

I don't have a single care or complaint.

"I love you," I tell him, sweeping his hair out of his face. Harry's face breaks into a wide, dopey smile as he returns the sentiment, kissing the corner of my mouth since I still can't stop smiling.

Harry bites the inside of his cheek as he scans my face and I can tell he has something he wants to say. So I drop my hands to his chest, tilting my head to the side. "What is it?"

"You look like a raccoon," he blurts out.

My eyes widen in surprise at his words, not what I had expected to come from his mouth in the slightest. I shove him off me with a laugh, "You're such a fucking dick, omg." As much as I try to sound like his observation offended me, he sees right through it.

Harry takes a step forward, reaching for my waist again, "Raccoons are cute though." I playfully roll my eyes at him, backing away from him, feeling my heart pounding in my chest. The mischievous glint in his eye has a shock of nerves shooting down my spine. "Harry, whatever you're thinking of doing? Don't"

My warning only makes a smirk tug at the corners of his mouth as he keeps trying to close the distance between us. "I've got no idea what you're talking about. M'just walking, darling."

Just as I'm about to argue, he surges forward. And before I can even register what's happening, he's got my soaked body pressed against his. He lifts me up with the help of his forearms under my ass, a surprised shriek ripping from my throat when my feet lose contact with the ground. Instinctively, I hold onto Harry's drenched shoulders and squeeze my eyes shut when Harry starts spinning us around in circles.

I can feel the way his stomach shakes with his contagious laughter against my hips and I can't help but laugh too. The sound of his laugh is one I wish I could store in my brain and play on a loop for the rest of my life.

Tilting my head back, I laugh at the sky, feeling the carefree joy through every single cell of my chilly, soaked body at the spinning, dark clouds. With the way I’m feeling it may as well have been beaming sun and a blue sky without a cloud in sight.

When Harry carefully lowers me to the ground again, we stay close. My arms looped around his neck and his around my waist, both breathless. And god, does his wide, dimply smile have my heart feeling like it's about to both explode and cave in on itself all at the same time.

"Never stop laughing," Harry says, looking me dead in the eye. And even though he's still smiling from ear to ear, his voice is more serious than I've heard him all day. Twisting his long hair around my fingers to centre myself, I nod, "Ok. As long as you never stop smiling."

"Deal," Harry beams, showing off his bunny teeth before dipping down and smearing a kiss on my lips, my eyes fluttering shut as I kiss him back.

He pecks my cheek as he pulls back, "Let's go back and dry off."

"How far is it?" I ask when we resume walking, my arm back around his waist and his around my shoulders, exactly how we were walking before the rain started. Now, the rain has fully stopped, leaving Harry and me in cold, sodden clothes.

The cold water has left my skin burning slightly from the low temperature and Harry's arm has a slight shake to it, so it's not just me.

Harry fishes his phone back out of the pocket of his athletic shorts, somehow not broken from all the water, and checks the directions. "It says it's just around two minutes left," he tells me and points towards a building close to the end of the street. "The hotel is actually right there."

"That's good," I smile, fully aware that I should've probably spotted it already. But I have an absolutely horrible sense of direction and might as well get lost in my own house. "You don't like exploring the city with me?" Harry asks and I don't need to see his face to know he has his lips jutted out into a pout and a furrow in the space between his eyebrows.

Giving his body a reassuring squeeze, I say with a chuckle; "You know I do. But you're shaking like a leaf, pumpkin."

"No, I'm not," he protests without a hint of conviction in his body. But he snatches his words back real quick when I say; "If you're not cold, I guess you won't want cuddles tonight."

When we reach the front of the hotel and the automatic doors open, the sigh I let out is one of pure relief at the newfound warmth. I swear it's like a wave of warm air washes over me like the ocean washing over a sandy beach.

We say hi to the man working in the reception, embarrassment turning my cheeks red when I realise that we're leaving a trail of water in our wake. Something Harry reassures me that they're probably used to. "Everyone knows that when it rains here, it pours."

It soothed my guilt a bit as we left a puddle in the elevator.

When the door to our hotel room shuts behind us, Harry lets go of me to turn the lights on. I suddenly become very aware of the way my skirt feels heavy instead of light and flowy like it always is. My sneakers feel like small lakes of their own and my hair sticks to the sides of my face and down my neck. The flannel I stole from Harry is ten shades darker than it was when I put it on and I can't wait to get out of these clothes and dry off.

"You know," Harry starts, wrapping his arms around my middle from behind and perching his head on my shoulder. "For a racoon, you're very sexy."

My head tilts on his shoulder back in laughter. "Yeah?" I giggle. "This whole drowned animal look gets you going?"

"Mhm. I'm too tired right now, but if you want to go looking for rain tomorrow, I'll prove it." His tone is light and full of teasing humour and I twist my head to kiss his temple, "Whatever you want, pumpkin."

With the side of his face pressed against mine, I can feel him smile. "I want cuddles."

"Let's get a shower to heat up first, yeah?" I grab his wrists, removing his hands from my body to give me enough room to turn around.

Harry shakes his head, running his hands down my sides before he lets them settle on my hips, "It'll take too long," he justifies. "Just wanna hold you close."

I try my best to ignore the butterflies fluttering around in my tummy as I take his hand and drag him with me into the bathroom, flicking on the bright lights. "You're gonna get sick if you go to bed all cold and wet. And you and I both know that you hate being sick."

My reasoning seems to fall on deaf ears when Harry reaches around my body for his toothpaste and toothbrush. "Don't need a shower to keep me warm when I have you." His hips bump against mine, keeping me in place right against the bathroom sink. I meet his eye in the mirror as I grab my own toothbrush, struggling to keep from laughing at the state of us.

I really do look like a raccoon.

He keeps his eyes locked on mine the whole time we brush our teeth. Toothpaste is running down his chin from the corner of his mouth by the time he's done from not spitting it out at all how he usually does. He still lets me spit out my own first and rinse my mouth before he does so himself. With his teeth all clean, he takes a step back and turns me to face him by my hips.

"Kissy?" he asks with his lips pouted expectantly. And who am I to deny him?

When he pulls away, he has a lazy smile on his face and an adorable blush to his cheeks, "Never wanna go a day without kissing you."

My chest tightens at how sincerely he says it. "What if I turn into an actual racoon when we sleep and don't just resemble one? Would you still want to kiss me?"

One second passes before Harry releases a loud cackle, his whole face scrunched up with laughter.

I roll my eyes playfully, grabbing one of the big towels from the peg on the wall as my tummy does backflips, "It was a serious question."

"Thank you." Harry accepts the towel I hand him, humour in his tone as he says; "Fine. I'd have to find a way to turn myself into a raccoon too. Then I could kiss you all I wanted, right?"

"Do raccoons kiss?" I ask, making a mental note to google it in the morning.

Harry shrugs as he roughly dries his hair with the towel while I gently squeeze the water out of mine with a white towel of my own. "I have no idea. But I remember reading somewhere that they cuddle."

"Really?" I swear my heart grows tenfold when he nods; "Yeah. If raccoons can get very attached to their owner, they'll snuggle with them for hours."

"Can we get a raccoon?" I would die from pure joy if a raccoon ever wanted to cuddle with me.

Scoffing, Harry puts the towel back on the peg with a frown on his face. "You'd rather cuddle a raccoon than me?"

"Yup. They're so fluffy, H," I explain simply, as I find my makeup wipes and start the process of removing the mascara that's making me resemble the creatures I just fell in love with. "Don't even lie to me and say you wouldn't do it too if you could."

"I've got you, don't I? Close enough to a raccoon for me." Harry puckers his lips affectionately against the crown of my head before he adds; "Plus, raccoons don't have boobs," pleased quirk to his mouth when my cheeks go red again.

Harry tells me about the dream he had last night while I do the rest of my skincare routine, humming gratefully with his eyes closed as I massage moisturiser into his skin.

Our clothes are still soaked but other than that, we've both dried up pretty nicely. Both his and my hair is starting to dry as well.

In the time since we got back to the hotel, Harry's eyelids have gotten heavier and he speaks slower than usual. All telltale signs that he's in need of his beauty sleep. And I can't lie and say that my head hasn't started to feel a bit fuzzy and tired now that I'm warm again.

"You still want to shower?" Harry asks, genuine curiosity in his voice and I know he would join me if I wanted him to. If he had asked me twenty minutes ago, I would've dragged him into a hot shower, no question. But right now? "Your idea sounds a lot better, pumpkin."

A tired, triumphant smile grazes his face. "Yeah?"

"If you say I told you so, I will chop off your hair," I warn him, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling when Harry rips himself from me with a gasp, covering his long hair with his hands the best he can. "How dare you?"

"Sorry, baby. Had to be said." I stand on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek on my way out of the bathroom. Harry grumbles something under his breath but follows soon after and we start to take off our rain-drenched clothes. The sound of wet clothes hitting the floor and Harry's humming fills in the silence.

I catch Harry checking out my ass with no shame when I slide a fresh pair of underwear up my legs. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," I tease before I turn my attention back to the suitcase, rummaging through it for a t-shirt.

The familiar noise of a phone camera has me twisting my head with raised eyebrows and flaming cheeks. Harry is laying on his tummy on the bed in his briefs, with his phone in his hand and a shit-eating grin on his tired face. "You told me to," he points out in his defence.

"You're insufferable," I shake my head as I slip on Harry's white t-shirt with 'dream boat' printed on both sides. Small on the front and big on the back in red letters.

"That's why you love me." Harry is completely unfazed, setting both mine and his phone to charge.

I don't say anything, but he's not wrong.

Once all the lights are off, I pad my side of the bed where Harry has left empty in the dark. I can barely make out where he's laying on his side with his head propped up on his hand.

The sheets are smooth and cool against my skin as I tuck them up underneath my chin. Mattress soft enough to make me want to never ever leave this bed. Especially when Harry scoots closer. He pulls my body to him, spooning me from behind. His arms wrap around me as he presses a loving kiss to the back of my neck. He lets me use his bicep as a pillow, our legs linked as I slip my fingers between his.

"I love you so much." His is barely even a whisper, his breath fanning against my skin every time he breaths. His body is so close to mine, I can feel his stomach expand and contract against my lower back.

The familiar, comforting smell of him and the heat of his body have my eyes growing too heavy to keep open much longer. I can feel the exhaustion from the day settling into my bones as I give in and let my eyelids close.

"I love you too."