CAMPING | h. lewis
summary: you go camping with his family.
pairing: bog x reader. (W2S)
notes: in honour of his bday! 🥳 please let me know what u think!! feedback is always appreciated! 🥰 & don’t forget to reblog! <3 this is one of my favs.
“HARRY I SWEAR TO GOD, if you pull out that bloody camera from your bag—”
“I haven’t! I haven’t! I haven’t!” The spitfire of reassurance flew from his lips as he tried to fool his his Mum who rounded him and his younger brother standing in the drive, “I mean I have but I probably won’t be filmin’ anythin’—”
“Bloody well you won’t! I’m so close to making everyone leave their phones in the house for the weekend!” She rushed past with more bags and containers in her arms, clearly stressed as she tried to make sure she had everything they needed packed for the weekend, not without complaining ‘don’t everyone all jump at once’ to lend a helping hand.
“Sure anytime we do, don’t we do it proper?” He hit an elbow with Josh, who laughed in agreement, the two standing with their hands in the pockets of their hoodies, just watching.
Their mum passed the cooler full of drinks to you to slot into the car before turning around and swiping her hair irritably out of her face. “Harry, we haven’t even hit the road yet and you are getting on my bloody nerves.”
“He’s got on my nerves the second he got here,” his younger sister emerged from the house, evidently agitated with a subtle frown and scorned brows; a combination from the stressful week at uni and now, being back home and living with the human headache that was her pair of brothers being reunited.
And now they were all going camping for the weekend, to pitch a shitty tent and sleep on a shitty mattress that would most likely give them all back pain after deflating in the middle of the night. A bright idea from no other than her older brother after he’d got talking to his dad about a recent Sidemen video he’d filmed and how much of a laugh it was. Well, one thing lead to another and next, Harry was helping order all the equipment with his dad looking over his shoulder, agreeing how good an idea it was and how enjoyable it would be for the family.
“Yeah, well Rosie, you’ve been nothing but an eyesore since I got here so, there you go, have that,” he raised his two fingers at her, earning another childish laugh from their brother.
“All of you, knock it off,” their mum warned as she slammed the door of her jam-packed car, reaching to smack the back of her son’s head whilst calling for their dad to make a move.
“You’re not coming in my car.”
“Didn’t want to go in your car anyway,” he humorously chuckled at the thought of sitting in her pocket-sized motor, having already planned taking everyone in his bigger car.
Rosie smiled smugly. “Good. Come on, Y/N.”
Harry’s grin fell, “uh, hey, hold on a second–” he moved to follow you after stepping towards his sisters cozy Fiat, lifting his hand out his pocket. “Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah—”
“Come on!”
“Wait! I need you to come with me! You were gonna keep me right on where to go!” He gently tried to grab your arm as you reached for the door handle.
“You have Josh?”
“Yeah but–” you looked at him confusedly as he looked at you like you were supposed to know what he was getting at, but you were clueless. “I wanted you to come with me.”
You pushed him off you with a giggle, “don’t be such a sop.”
“We’re gonna go for a coffee so don’t come looking us if we’re not behind you!” Rosie called from her seat, buckling her belt as she turned the key in her car. It was still relatively early and you’d complained how you’d not had your morning cup of coffee (well you’d made one but it was freezing by the time you’d gone to drink it) due to the last-minute packing of yours and Harry’s clothes.
You got in the passenger side of her car, buckling your seatbelt as you sent a kiss in the direction of Harry, who pressed his middle finger to the glass of Rosie’s window before you drove off.
It was about an hour’s drive by the time you’d arrived at the lot, an hour spent catching up with the Lewis sibling and her life at uni. Having obviously always been close to Rosie even when she was young, she always confided in you, being that older sister role model she always wanted, she’d revealed her latest break up with a boy to you. It was nothing serious, but from how she spoke, it was enough for you to realise she was entering her Kill All Men era. She was glad she was able to rant to you for the whole journey whilst you were just glad her anger didn’t reflect onto her driving as she managed to get you both there in one piece.
There was a massive bit of land, surrounded by greenery and even a lake nearby! It was only lunchtime so it was still very bright out, although cloudy, but at least bright. It was also colder than expected, your hands not leaving the pockets of your padded coat, you were glad you’d been left to pack your stuff as you’d filled your bags with nothing but hoodies and sweatshirts. There were very few tents also occupying the sight, so you didn’t need to fear you’d disturb others with your rowdiness as a group. There was many supposed activities you were able to do on the sight, between golfing, fishing, rock-climbing, archery and off-track racing, but you were convinced the most you’d be doing was sitting around the fire in your pyjama bottoms with a glass of wine in your hand. By the time all three cars arrived, Harry and his dad were trying to set up the tent while Josh and their mum began unpacking everything shoved into the car. You’d been put on dog-duty, the two leashes wrapped around your wrists as they yapped and wagged their tails at Harry who shook the tent like it was a fucking parachute.
“And you’re supposed to be the expert,” his dad complained as he scanned the instruction page in his hand.
“If you mean an expert in taking an hour and a half to set one up, then yes,” you agreed, sitting on a typical camping chair with a leg over the other, recalling the plenty of times you’d wandered off in a poncho to find someone else’s tent at festivals whilst Harry acted like he knew was he was doing setting your own up.
“Now, now, now, I will not take this slander on my specialty—” he fed the spine of the tent through while sending a look over his shoulder at you. You smiled in your seat shaking your head at his playful tone. He looked awful cute in that drawstring bucket hat. A proper camper.
You playfully rolled your eyes.
It didn’t take long for your site to come together. The tent was bigger than you’d expected with two rooms for beds and a large space for whatever else you wanted to put - maybe some chairs or a blow-up couch? Harry had helped his mum put up some windbreakers whilst Josh and his dad pinned a gazebo into the grass, and Rosie and yourself helped blow up the mattresses with the pump. The 6 of you were very satisfied with the end result, very proud of your spot and excited to finally use it for the weekend.
“Who’s staying with who? Or will I put a mattress out here?”
“No! Two mattresses can go in there easy!”
“Yes, but who is staying in that room then? I’m not staying in there with you.”
“Yes, you four can stay in there!”
“Oh God, no!” Josh interrupted.
“What?” Harry laughed, watching how he dropped his duvet.
“Please, no, Harry, Y/N and Rosie?”
“Yes, Josh. Wind your neck in, it’s not that bad.”
“NOT THAT BAD? Are you joking?!”
“Josh, grow up.”
“Well I don’t want to stay in with you either. Would you rather stay with Mum and Dad?” Rosie tutted, watching him carefully.
Josh debated, looking between them all, not really knowing what the right answer was. “I don’t know.”
“And i’m not staying in a room with Harry.”
“OH SHUT UP, ROSIE!”
The siblings bickered while you and their mum set up the little tables, prepping the mini stove and kettle on top and getting it to brew whilst the other made the beds. Time passed and soon enough, the fun could begin. The first half of your day was action-packed with endless things to do: Harry’s Dad and Mum took the dogs a walk around the terrain whilst the Lewis children got on board with the quad bikes, not being able to wait a second longer to each each other around the forest. “Get ready to eat my dust,” the eldest tormented his younger siblings as he hopped on the motor, still the most childish of the lot. Stuff like this was his forté. Quad biking. Go Karting. Stuff you’d always been apprehensive to do but grown used to over your years together as you incorporated into your date nights, although you still weren’t as eager to hop on the back of a bike with only your arms securely wrapped around his torso to keep you on. “I swear, you better not go mad,” you warned putting the helmet on, never liking his confidence and eagerness to drive recklessly over the terrain. But you did have to smile at his excitement, knowing he was in his element.
“Can’t me and Y/N be a t—”
“No. Fuck off,” the wheels spun before his sister could finish her sentence, the machine shooting off on the track. Not expecting the sudden takeoff and yelling as you trapped your hands around him, the sound of his high-pitched laughter rattled your ears as you rocked over the bumpy path, your shoulders bobbing up and down as he raced to keep Josh behind him.
“Harry!” you tried to be serious but you couldn’t keep the laughter at bay as he swerved and sped on, not giving the others a chance. So competitive. You raced the lap in seconds, laugh echoing the whole way in Harry’s ear as the bike dipped down a bit before back up and swung to the side, pulling to a stop as dirt flew in the air. You wiped your screen.
“You alright?”
You took your helmet off, calming your breath, fixing the hair that had flew over your face from the impulsive driving, and nodded. “Yeah! My neck though!” You laughed at his carelessness, blinded by beating his siblings, forgetting to at least be a little considerate of his girlfriend hanging on the back.
“Sorry! Sorry!”
Unknowing Josh and Rosie’s wheels got stuck in the mud puddle Harry had sped through, you had the time to switch positions as you finished one lap, and sat up front to drive. “I’m actually excited to see this, I don’t think I’ve ever been behind you.”
“Sure you have,” you winked looking over your shoulder as he positioned himself.
It took him a minute. “Behave,” he sniggered, getting you between his legs and unknowing where to put his hands. You were so much smaller than him, holding onto you, if he fell off, you were getting pulled off with him. “My parents are walking about these parts. They might hear you.”
You could feel your head against his neck as you found your footing and inspected the handles, scoffing at his comment, “like you care? Like it’s ever stopped you from trying something anyway!”
“Alright, easy, easy,” he chuckled, showing you the controls. “Pull this back and pull this forward and push this in when you want to really fast,” his hands squeezed yours shockingly hard on the handlebars, you let out a yell at his roughness. He almost popped your acrylic off! “OW HARRY!”
“WHAT?!”
“WHY YOU SO ROUGH FOR?!” You shook it out as you looked at him behind you. You could hear the others cheer at making the starting point, panicking you. “Are — WOULD YOU STOP MOVING AND JUST HOLD ON!”
“WHERE?! I DON’T KNOW WHERE! WHY YOU SO FAR?!”
“MOVE CLOSER?!”
“Oh my f—” with ease, his hands grabbed your hips and slid them right down against him, bringing you to a halt in your actions as you closed your eyes.
Why did he do it so easy? You thought you weighed a tonne. “Well . . now I’m too far away from the handles.”
“JESUS! YOU LEAN FORWARD!”
“HARRY- oh my god, you’re actually right up my ass.”
“And you’ve never complained before! Hurry up and go,” his hand covered yours as he took control of the controls, forcing the wheels to spin once again and send mud spitting behind you. You jolted like three times, closing your eyes as dirt hit your helmet but you knew Harry was panicking from the distant sound of Josh and Rosie’s bikes. You laughed and made an attempt to race, arguing with him to take his hands off and let you do it.
“OH MY GOD! WHERE DO I GO?!”
“KEEP GOING! KEEP GOING! DON’T SLOW! DON—”
“HAR— oh my God, why’s it not working!” You squealed as it came to a stop, a rock no a boulder trapped in front of the wheel.
“OH MY GOD, JUST DRIVE!” Harry basically drove you through the wreck, adrenaline rushing through him as he flung the bike in the right direction. And then jolt. “Oh my God.”
“Oh my God, did you just knock the key out the—”
“JUST PUT IT IN!”
You let out a breathy laugh at his words, excitement on hold as you reached for the silver at your foot, “alright, later on please. Lower your voice. Parents walking about here ‘n that—”
He laughed at that as well as the sudden silence, twisting the engine back on, “no actually don’t ‘cause I do think I’m turned on,” he looked down as your brows furrowed together, also turning around to find out. He was. “Harry, oh my God.” In the company of his family?
“EAT THAT!” A youthful voice brought you out of your bubble as the young brother flew by you both, two fingers aimed in your direction as you jumped in surprise.
“NOOO!” Harry groaned half-heartedly, half-aggravatingly, “No this is why I don’t let you in top— IN FRONT! IN FRONT!”
You were cackling in your bones, breathless of laughter as your boyfriend forced himself to take over and drive while you clutched your stomach, his own laughter fuelling yours. You raced through the trees and finished your few laps of the track before calling it a day and finding something else to do. You did end up winning but at what cost? Because Harry didn’t feel as fulfilled as he thought and argued with you to not get off the bike yet for as long as every family member was around to see his evident boner.
“Archery?”
God, you were shit at archery. You all were. It didn’t last long as each arrow hardly hit the circle in the centre but his Dad who clearly found his calling. However, upon seeing the lack of enthusiasm on his children’s faces, he realised there was no real competition here. “Right then, fishing?!”
God, you hated fishing. You hated fish. But, upon seeing your boyfriend dressed in a hoodie under the same dungarees he’d worn in a video, bucket hat on his head, you considered it had his perks. Not only did he look (oddly) insanely attractive to you, but his willingness and enthusiasm to take part in the activity alongside his family and eagerness to catch a fish for you (even if he knew you didn’t like them) sent tingles up your spine, you had to disguise the flirty smile on your face with a nail between your teeth.
Jesus? Why were you both so horny today? It wasn’t like you were in ideal circumstances.
“Oh Jesus, that’s cold!”
“Good. Maybe you’ll freeze,” Rosie’s monotone voice replied to him from the chair perched above the river. You laughed at her.
He flicked the cold water in her direction, triggering a squeak from her and a scolding from his mother. “HARRY!”
“Y/N, get in,” he ignored the two not on his side this day as you starred down at the water. Fishing was really not your thing; if a fish dared swam past you and touched you? Why, you were convinced you’d go into cardiac arrest.
But, you did love the water, and you wanted to join in on the fun.
“I don’t know if I like this,” the sound of your foot splashing into the water took Harry by surprise and he turned around to tend to you and gladly help you into the river. You smiled at his proud look, always a suck up and wanting to please him. You took it, in awe at him helping you. “Go on! Go on!”
“OH MY GOD, IT’S SO COLD!” Rosie laughed from above as she videoed you tense in the water. Harry laughed as well as, still not letting go of your hand until you felt secure enough to walk around in a decent height of the river. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” you gave him a smile, letting him release your hand.
“Come on.”
You followed him down the stream where his Dad and Josh were, holding nets and a rod, his Dad much more in the zone whilst his brother seemed to be slapping the surface with the net, impatient. “JOSH! You’re scaring them off!”
“Sorry! Sorry!”
Harry knew you were uncomfortable getting deeper and deeper: closer to fish territory but assured you were fine. “It’s alright, it’s alright, we’ll probably not catch one anyway.”
“Oh we definitely will.”
“Will we?” He asked his dad.
“Yes. And then we’re going to smoke it!”
“EW.” You grimaced at their dad’s words, provoking a laugh from the boys. And then he told you he was joking, that you would let it go.
“There’s one there,” the youngest brother said casually as you stepped beside him, obviously trying to wind you up and you didn’t find it funny one bit as he pointed to the water in front of you. Your fist hit his arm hard as you sent him a look, “don’t.”
The four of you walked down stream, Harry’s Dad far ahead and leading the way with a rod in his hands and net in his back pocket. “Somebody give me the bait.”
“Give him the bait.” Harry passed it to you.
“EEE—WOAHH!—” you bounced out of the way at the sight of worms, bugs and minuscule fish in a tiny tin, a shriek escaping you at the act of Harry even putting the critters near you. You almost flung it out his hand, swimming jumping over to Josh.
“Y/N!” He laughed at your reaction, struggling to get over to you both to pass it onto Josh who could pass it onto his dad.
“Why would you even put that near me?!” You accused like he was stupid.
“OI! There’s one there!” Josh flung his head in your direction, and you jumped impulsively, flinging yourself away from the spot and over to Harry who responsively hooked a hand around your leg, catching you like Scooby-Doo and almost breaking his back in the process.
“JOSH!” You screamed, not liking how he fooled you whilst off guard. Water soaked all up Harry, getting in his dungarees as you hopped out of the water. The feeling of the water sogging his clothes was uncomfortable but he did laugh at your phobia and the circumstances you’d willingly put yourself in. He closed his eyes as water flicked his face, opening one to find you watching him with your mouth covered by your hand. “Ohh, sorry Harry!” You practically whined in guilt as you wiped it off, “sorry my babe,” you kissed him lovingly just below his lip three times, furious at Josh and his boyish ways but also not wanting to disgust the family with your PDA. Such a pest.
Harry let go and you continued to stand with the boys, running the net in the water in hopes a teeny tiny fish might swim into it (small enough that you wouldn’t freak out) so you could claim you’d technically caught a fish. “Is there even any fish in this water?” The youngin asked from behind his dad, growing bored waiting about and nothing happening. Had he really signed up for this all weekend?
“YES! Patience, Josh!” Their Dad scolded, hating being interrupted whilst working hard.
Josh and Harry sniggered between them at the seriousness of their father whilst Rosie spoke to you above the bank from her chair, a leg crossed over the other. “How are you in that right now?”
“I don’t know.”
“What are you doing back in London? Have you to go shopping?”
“I said I would, there’s so many birthdays coming up, I can’t leave it last minute. And I really want to try and get that new pallet before it sells out again,” you moaned, “plus, stuff for the apartment and—” Harry was happy enough to leave evident gaps in your flat that could easily be filled with plant pots of cheap decor pieces. You weren’t but you couldn’t be arsed.
“You back next weekend?”
“Erm, I don’t know, actually, I think—”
“Yeah. We go back over Friday night,” Harry interrupted, curious as to why she wanted to know. They could stay longer if you wanted to.
“I wasn’t asking you.”
Harry looked at his sister oddly, clueless as to what her deal was and quite sick of her attitude. “Well you clearly were.”
“I’m talking to Y/N.”
“Well I’m talking to you you f—”
“OH MY GOD, HARRY! Shut up?!”
You shouldn’t find it so funny but because you knew the reasoning behind her feelings, it made sense. You did feel bad for her and you knew it was affecting f her more than she liked ‘cause Rosie was the sweetest person and she had a close relationship with her brothers, I mean they were all grown up and Harry was good to them; to his whole family, but, she was going through a rough patch, and being a little aggressive in her words, specifically towards the male species in her family. Talking about her boy troubles was angering and upsetting and as much as she was glad to be able to talk to you about it, she couldn’t help but feel like your words held no value because you were dating her doofus brother - the most annoying of the lot. It was like every time she looked at him, she thought of the thousands of boys who probably worshipped him and were influenced by laddish behaviour: his idiotic, disgusting laddish behaviour at times. Urgh, why could you be single like her and go out to get hammered? You gave him a sympathetic look as he looked puzzled between you both. “WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM WITH ME?!”
“Harry leave her alone.”
“I HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHIN’!” He held his hand out to his Mum who read from her seat.
“Rosie, why you being a—”
“OH MY GOD, JOSH! WHO WAS EVEN SPEAKING TO YOU?!” She held her hand out to him.
“Are you on your period?”
Okay, even you had to look at your boyfriend with your mouth open, his joke not landing well with the ladies. As much as he found it funny to ask, he wasn’t half-joking, he was familiar with the unexpected snappy behaviour and sour attitude when it came to a certain time of the month with you.
“I will kick your boll—”
“Rosie, go get the teabags from the car.”
Harry looked at you with confusion written all over him, even Josh and their Dad looked at you like you had the answers, but you gave nothing. You knew that feeling all too well seeing every lad pass by, labelling them as all the same, even ones closest to you; even the ones related to you! You’d called your brother a slag at the dinner table in front of your Nana whilst in the middle of a fallout with Harry. But looking at the boy now, you knew he was one who always came from good intentions, truly no bad bone in his body as much as he pushed his luck with jokes. He was a darling, really. He got you soft, and looking at him, you knew he was second-guessing himself as to how good a brother he’d been recently. Did I forget a birthday?
“She’s just had a fall out with friends,” you lied easily, “uni and stuff.”
“With that attitude, yeah!” He jabbed, and you rolled your eyes at his lame joke.
“Oh shut up, her attitude is nothing compared to yours,” you jabbed a finger in his chest before you trotted on past him in the water.
“M— me?! Mine?!”
“Yours.” Your widened your eyes as you walked in a line, hearing his dad and brother laugh. Oh yeah, you had deal with worse than a 13-year-old teenage girl on her period back home. Talk about at-ti-tude. “Have we caught a fish yet?”
“Y/N THERE’S A FISH!” Josh rapidly pointed next to you and without even looking in the direction, a scream ripped through you, heart leaping out of your chest as he splashed the water and you jumped along the bank to escape on the verge of pissing yourself. Harry’s hand on your arm to save you from his brothers torment was too slow, the movement in the water made his claims believable as you jumped away, unfortunately, onto a rock in the water, messing up your footing and causing you to fall almost up to your chest into the riverbank. You squealed even more.
Silence followed after the whole family had become breathless from hard laughter. You were frozen. Laughs caught in their throat as they struggled for air upon seeing you sitting in the deep water, your mouth agape in shock.
You were going to kill Josh.
“Oh. My. God.” You slowly stood up from the water, buckets dripping off your and out of the pockets, even your sleeves rolled up to your elbows damp. Harry reached his arm out but he was still buckled over in laughter, hand clutching his stomach as you accepted what happened. You were going to kill Josh. “I am going to kill you.”
Although you were soaked, you remained in the water as you might as well have, growing bored alongside the lads who were sitting or leaning in the water, playing with the equipment whilst you sat with your feet in the stream, waiting for a fish to come along and grab onto the bloody rod. “Have you always fished?” You asked their dad, plucking a piece bit of grass to help the time pass.
“Yeah, would say so. Not regularly but definitely during their childhood yes. They loved it,” he shared excitedly, likely recalling the memories in his head when his kids were actually excited participating in said activities instead of growing bored in 0.3 seconds.
“Did you?” You acted surprised, directing your attention to the boys, and then Rosie.
“Hm.”
“It actually was good crack when you’re younger, weren’t it Josh?” Harry muffled a laugh with a biscuit in his mouth.
“Yeah. Probably ‘cause there was actually fish to fish.” He flicked the cord out.
“I like fishin’,” Harry admitted from afar, in touch with his countryside roots. Things like that was why he didn’t mind certain Sidemen videos so much because he actually enjoyed them - camping, fishing, he didn’t see what the big fuss was when others dreaded the thought of them.
“I don’t,” you responded obviously, ears perking at the sound of his Dad reeling something in.
“It’s a good thing to have.”
“Why? Incase you ever get stranded on an island with a string and hook?”
“Exactly, Josh.”
You laughed.
“No I mean, it’s just something nice to be able to do, you know? As you get older you might join a group of old boys to go out on a Sunday evening, or for when you have kids, you might want to teach them. Like I did with you two,” he confessed, fighting the movement on the end of the line.
“Rosie was never fussed,” their Mum joined in with a smile, nostalgia filling her and creating a bittersweetness to moment. Looking down at her children, she suddenly wondered where all the time had gone. Handing Harry a biscuit in the water felt like she’d jumped in a time machine, not needing to tell him to be careful not to drop it. Now her first born was bigger than her!
“I don’t blame her,” you looked up to her, smirking at Rosie after. “If they want to see a fish, they can watch Nemo or Shark Tale.”
“Or Jaws.”
“Yeah.”
“W—hold on. So you’ll not come fish with me and our boys? You’ll stay at home?” Harry defensively turned around upon hearing your absence from your unborn children and bonding experience.
It made you pull a face. “Yes.”
“Are you serious?!” This was an outrage! You weren’t as country as you claimed! “You won’t come fishing with us?!”
WHO WAS US??? “Not fishing, no! I will go camping but you can catch me in the field of horses; looking for bears or rabbits! Not a fish.”
“You’re disgraceful. I will have you know fishing will be a–a reoccurring activity in our family. I will pass on what my father taught me,” he joked firmly. “You’ll – you will do as you are told.”
“Are you talking to the kids or are you talking to me?” You raised a brow, his reaction taking you by surprise. “I’ll come but I will not be hooking the bait on for them or nothin’, you can take them fishing, I’ll watch them to make sure they don’t fall in the water.”
“Hm. We’ll compromise—”
“I’ll watch the dog.”
“The dog will be in the water with us.”
“Then I’ll be watching the baby!” You came up with, liking the idea of having a fresh bairn to watch instead. Standing by the stream with her snuggled up in a little pink hat, strapped to your chest in a white wrap, accompanying and giving you the excuse to not get in the water with your boys and Harry. It was a very pretty picture.
Defeated, the boy grumbled, leaving it for the minute. His Dad laughed at the conversation and the small image brought a smile to his Mum’s face the most, although she tried to keep it hidden from him as he would’ve most likely accused her of pressuring him.
“You gonna have one soon?” Rosie’s eyes twinkled with mischief while asking the question, knowing it was the only topic that could get under brother’s skin.
You shook your head at her teasing and shrugged, “don’t know . . who knows,” you went along with it.
“Your fucking pill, that’s who,” Harry snapped without even turning his head, sending his family into fits of laughter with his defensiveness.
“You not gonna give me a niece or nephew I can show off to all my Uni friends?” She smugged.
“No, fortunately,” he proceeded looking at the water in hopes of a tail flapping beneath, fake sympathy adding to the moment. You rolled your eyes and shook your head discreetly, his childishness always making you laugh. Always a big baby.
Fortunately for you, his mum called for lunch preparation and so you escaped to the community showers to heat yourself up and change out of your saturated outfit during, thankful to get into something much more comfortable as the sky began to dim. You’d change into a fresh hoodie and puffy coat after it but decided it was acceptable enough to wear your pyjama bottoms out, considering there was hardly any other people about and you didn’t care if someone saw you in them. This wasn’t London, not everyone had to dress like an influencer; an Instagram model or BooHoo fashion show. After warming up with a cup of tea over the picnic table, Harry and you decided to take the dogs a walk around the forest before dinner so they didn’t intervene with his Mum’s cooking, as well as to get out of her way and avoid arguments.
Your shoes crunched along the stoney path, the site’s lamps flickering on and lighting up your surroundings. There was something very refreshing about it: walking around in the silence, trapped in with trees, surrounded by privacy, no noise from the streets, people or roadworks, no blinding billboards rubbing in the latest fashion trends, displaying long-legged models in high fashion brands. Just peace. Calmness. Just you two, walking at a comfortable pace, no fear of being intruded or spotted by.
“Why’s this horny for me?”
You covered your snicker with your hand, not all disagreeing with him on that sentence.
Harry laughed, “it’s just so nice, innit?”
“Yeah. Don’t get me wrong, I love London but it’s nice to get away some times. You know me, country over city any day,” you quipped, eyes on the fluffy black dog leading you down the trail.
“Yeah, it gets me thinking about later on. I think we might need to get a house over here.” He confessed.
You looked at him to your left, “serious?”
“Yeah. I think so. I don’t know. I’d like to - yeah, I think it’d be a smart idea. For when like . . the kids are older and stuff. I mean—” he sighed, clearly in deep thought of what he was trying to say, and cringing a little, it was obvious he’d taken these things into consideration, however, this was the first he’d ever mentioned it to you. He was always telling you off for trying to discuss the future. “It’s years away.”
You mentally rolled your eyes. “Mhm.”
“But, I mean, do we want them to grow up here? So they can see their grandparents?” He asked you with a questioning expression, “do they go to school here? Do they go in London? I-I don’t—”
Oh, he was actually asking you.
“Oh. Well, I mean . . I mean I like the thought of them being close to their grandparents. I mean I know it’s only a boat ride over but I think . .” you have to envision it for a moment, never having thought about something like this before or take these things into consideration. You just always assumed you’d forever live in London and do everything in London, ignorant to your ties back home and where they fell into your schedule in the next stage of your life. You thought about your own upbringing in Guernsey and how you would change nothing about it. “I mean I love the idea of them going to the same Primary Schools as us?” You pitched the idea, visualising the uniform you used to wear on your tiny body. “Your Mum or my Mum could pick them up some days and keep them over even?” You suggested, imagining a Thursday night to yourself and lie in Friday morning.
Harry had never thought of that either, despite the thought of his future kids going to the same school as he did feeling oddly fulfilling. He liked it. “That’s actually really cute, I like that.”
“I don’t know, though. It’s your call with work and stuff. I think property over here is a smart idea but I don’t think London is something you can just cut off. I mean, all our friends are over there. . .”
“I know, I know. I know that.”
“But - I mean Guernsey is a shout, and we could always get a boat over weekends, half terms, during the Summer—” you looked at him, not finding a flaw to your plan. “Could take turns as well, I’m sure I could last a day or two without you in the house if you need to do something work-related. Or for a weekend away.” You appealed.
It made perfect sense in Harry’s head. He couldn’t argue with your suggestion. God, you were so smart. You had it so well thought out. “That actually sounds pretty banging to me—”
“DOESN’T IT?!” You impressed yourself.
“Yeah!” He laughed, having a foundation to his plan.
You continued walking, hands shoved in your pockets, the dogs had a sniff about.
“Right. Will you tell me the deal with my sister?”
Too engrossed in the behaviour of your former dog, you scooped him up in your arms and cuddled him like a baby. “Oh, my little Herby,” the baby voice naturally took over you, kissing him repeatedly on his furry head, muttering, “I miss you, you know.”
“You miss him?!” Harry squealed, taken back by your confession.
“I’m sorry I kicked you out,” you mumbled half-humorously, loving how he was just letting you coddle him. Harry watched the way you attacked him with kisses and felt the need to interfere, scratching his head with his fingers.
“Yeah. You kicked him out. She got rid of you mate, not me.”
“For his own good! You know I—”
“She abandoned you, son.” He spoke to him, watching you pepper him with more guilt kisses, and unexpectedly growing jealous of it.
“Harry.”
“I did take good care of him!”
“I’m not saying you didn’t!” You laughed, “but it was a good time to hand him over, it wasn’t fair on him!” You looked at the spaniel, and how relaxed he was in your hold. He was always your baby. “Go back to being a puppy,” you almost wined, pressing your nose to his soft coat.
“Right, set him down.”
“I know you miss our flat.”
“You got rid of him.”
“You were working all the time!”
“I walked him! I-I fed him! I took him to get his hair cut! I—”
“You walked him at the start, yes. He was well looked after but yo- Sidemen evolved all of a sudden and he was left in the apartment most of the time! You – you got lazy.” Just admit it, your eyes bored. “I spent more time with him.”
“Herb, I took good care of you lad. You remember.” He sucked up to him, now kissing his head. “She didn’t even let you sleep in the bed.”
You faffed. “Y– I – NO! You know why he wasn’t allowed in the bed, it was like co-sleeping with a child!” You loved Herb and you did miss seeing him as a tiny puppy, potter about your apartment. He was a good dog and he kept you lots of company, but he was hard to work around when it came to work, weekends away and planning vacations. You could only have so much faith in Callux and Freezy to spoil him like you did. He was a little dog, but he deserved to have more space to run around and a proper garden.
Plus, you could do without hoovering the whole flat everyday when it came to shedding season.
“HE WAS SO SMALL!”
“You complained the one time!” You laughed. “You nearly squashed him!”
“I didn’t know he was there!”
You couldn’t get your next sentence out, you were laughing so much. Harry had nearly crushed him when he rolled over in bed to seduce you when you’d gasped at him for almost crunching your puppy. To say the mood was killed instant, you scolded him for being so careless and he had argued with you he didn’t know he was in the bed, and quickly put him out in the living room in his own bed after seeing how much attention he drank from you. One of the only times he was stern with the dog.
“He’s happy here.” You gave him one more cuddle.
“He can come for a sleepover.” Harry scratched his ear.
“No.” You deadpanned. You loved him, but you didn’t love his hairs over your house.
Harry laughed and you set Herb down to proceed his walk, brushing the loose strands off. “Do you think we’ll get another dog?”
“If you give me a big house and garden for it to run about, yeah. We can get a big dog.”
“Could we get a cat?”
“Don’t really like cats, Harry,” you grimaced, remembering your cousin’s old, boney cat who hated human contact. They always acted like they were better than people.
He let it go as you began making your way back. “Do you know what’s going on with Rosie? Like seriously, what did I do?”
“You didn’t do anything. She’s just . . having a day.”
“Why am I getting it the worst though!”
“I don’t know.” You really didn’t. He just seemed to wind her up the most. His concern did awe you. “I think Uni’s just taking a toll and . . I think she was supposed to go out with her friends this weekend and they bailed as well, so . . ” you looked at him understandably, cutting her some slack.
“Why do I feel like there’s something else?”
You looked at him, trying not to break as he waited for the giveaway. Your lips slowly started to twitch and he smiled competitively. “YES! What is it?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Tell me!” He pulled your arm back to keep you from the base, not done with the conversation. “What is it? I deserve to know!”
“She just—“ you couldn’t. But you couldn’t as well with Harry waiting for you to slip the secret, his gaze putting you under pressure. You sighed and gave in, “right, you can’t let her know I told you.”
“I won’t.”
You puffed again, “so . . this guy—”
“Are you fucking serious?!” He interrupted, already bored of the conversation, tone high-pitched. “A guy?!”
“This boy, he like, wasted her time or whatever. It’s not a big deal but she’s like . . getting stick from it, she just – she wants to forget about it. Don’t tell her I told you—” you warned, and then grabbed his ear when he went to walk off. “I’m serious!”
“Ok! Ok!” He yelled.
“I’m serious! She’ll be raging at me!”
“Join the club,” he scoffed, looking at you fake bewilderedly.
“Harry.”
“Mate, who cares? She’s young, like, go out and party and get drunk with your friends. Lads that age don’t want a relationship. She shouldn’t be so surprised.” He kicked a rock, unbelieving some geezer was responsible for his sister’s sour mood.
“Well, I think that’s the thing, she gave him a chance after her friends sa— wait, wait, wait, hold on a second,” you froze in your steps, turning to look up at him, “what do you mean, that age? I was with you that age? Were you waiting to break up with me?!”
“Oh don’t you start,” he rolled his eyes almost out of his head.
“SERIOUSLY!”
“Oh my God! No! Obviously not!” He looked at you blankly, “you think I wouldn’t have done it after getting endless stick for being some tied, little virgin boy to you?”
A snicker left your mouth after that, seeing his features relax.
“You think 17/18-year-old me was bagging bitches if I broke up with you?! You think I’d push my luck, mate?!” He kept going, fuelling your laughter.
You swayed into him, leaning your head on his arm as you found his jokes wholesome. “Ok, so what do you mean?”
“Well, he’s in Uni, innit? He’s - like, mate couples break up when they go to Uni, they just go on mad ones all the time and flunk their class. Cheat on their partners as much as they cheat on their paper, like—” he shrugged.
You hit his arm despite laughing along to his words, finding perfect sense. “Ok, yeah. Makes sense.”
“Shouldn’t be so surprised about it. Shouldn’t let some lad affect her that bad.” He grimaced.
“She’ll get over it. Just don’t take it to heart.”
“I’ll seriously drop kick her if she says—”
“Harry.”
Muffled complaints left him and you let him have his moment, kicking a stone about as you entered camp again, seeing his Dad finish tidying the fishing equipment and his Mum set the table. You were greeted by the suffocating scent of her cooking, your stomach grumbling as you neared the table, seeing it sizzling in the pot. You groaned out loud. “Oh my God. Get in me right now.”
“Cheeky,” muttered behind you as you felt fingers pinch you neck in the motion of grabbing the wine from the table.
You nicked a piece of chicken from the pan before helping dish it out, his mother doing the favour of sorting everyone’s drinks. You’d always grown up with your dad drinking beers and ciders as well as your brother now, so you always found it funny the way your boyfriend drank anything, including the fruitiest of cocktails and wines. You shook your head at him for bringing the bottle to his lips.
“HARRY!”
“It’s so good,” he ignored his mum.
Dinner was unbelievably tasty, maybe because you were outdoors or had been starving since only snacking on biscuits all day, but it hit different eating the meal outdoors. It was extremely delicious. You looked pregnant after. “Oh my God.”
“Mum that was a scran and a half.”
She didn’t know what that was but she took it as a compliment.
“I’m literally, 8 months,” you said, holding a hand to your bloated belly.
They laughed.
“I can’t move.”
You all sat around the fire his Dad started, stuffed from dinner and stuck in your seats, your feet crossed out in front of you as you were wrapped up in your coat and sweatshirt, cradling a weak drink in your hand next to his mum. “I will have to cook your favourite meal in this new flat. Owe you back for all the times you’ve fed me over the years,” you stretched.
“Give me a date and time, my lovely,” she agreed to the idea.
“A nice roast . . or my signature—” interrupted by the crash of a glass and smash of the bottle, you escaped your chair by the table just in time for the drink to spill all over your little camper seat, drenching it.
“FOR FUCK’S SAKE, HARRY!”
“I DIDN’T MEAN IT! I DIDN’T MEAN IT!”
Next, you were in the car, driving to the nearest ASDA to collect a new bottle of wine or two after it had been established that the night could not continue unless Harry had a glass of wine, for himself and for his Mum so she would get off his back. You parked in a spot and leaned on the window. “There you go.”
“What? Are you not coming in?” He paused to open the door, looking lost.
“N- why? No, I’m in my pyjamas, look at the state of me!”
He scoffed. “Wise up, no one’s gonna see you, it’s near 9 o’clock.” He looked at you still. “Come on!” His hand slapped down on your thigh and gave it a deathly squeeze, sending you out of your seat in a jump as you tried to pry his tickling hand off with a pained laugh. “OW HARRY!”
“Ow, Harry,” he mocked your voice, looking at you hopefully, leaning over to steal a kiss and get you on your own. “Please.”
Your lips starred at the other, you could feel the warmth of them as you smile and said, “no.”
“You’re fake. Ya don’t love me.” He unbuckled his belt and got out.
Somehow, you did end up walking down the aisles in the supermarket in your pastel pink pyjama bottoms, two bottles of wine in your arm as you traced behind your lanky boyfriend - lanky in the terms he was tall, not so much slim as he once was as this year more than most, he’d seemed to unexpectedly fill out - and you weren’t complaining in the least. Still fit, much stronger and toasty as hell to snuggle into.
And, he even made you look small.
You happily walked behind him, watching his stocky shoulders move under his t-shirt. “Is this enough?”
“I’m just going to grab a bottle of Malibu,” he replied, grabbing it off the top shelf, “did you say you wanted to go grab something?”
“Yeah, a colouring book.” What? There was no signal and your battery was to last you until tomorrow. And you liked colouring. You waited for him to join you in the middle of the aisle, amused at the satisfied expression he held with the drink in his arms. “Happy?”
“Very.”
Although it was a quick stop, he liked the little time he had away with you, just so he could kiss you freely without hating his family being around, a hater of PDA himself. He shut the car door after him as you threw your bag of felt-tips and book in the back, ready to head back. His hand found the back of neck and you smiled as he pulled you into a kiss without a word, savouring it before you went back to the minimum with everyone around.
Your grin broke it and he muttered you to stop it before taking up your lips again, a grunt filling your ears as your hand cupped the side of his face, fighting the urge to lift your leg out of your seat and past the handbrake. You were thankful for the darkened sky and tucked away hiding spot the car was parked in, giving you the privacy you needed. As you made an attempt to pull away after feeling Harry’s tongue brush yours, he seemed to tighten his grip and pull away to say, “should we just shag in the back? Really quickly?”
A concealed chuckle rattled your chest as you stroked his face, intrigued, but not knowing if you could handle driving back after such messy activities, “no, Harry.” Seriously, it was his idea to go, he knew what he was getting into. You kissed him once more before taking the route home, putting up with his complaints about as much as loving camping and being home, he wanted back in your apartment in near Big Ben.
Josh had managed to get up the Football game on his phone and propped it up against his glass for his dad and brother to crowd around. Meanwhile, you girls huddled in your own group, talking amongst yourselves whilst making s’mores over the crackling fire. You weren’t drinking heavily, just the few cocktail tins you’d grabbed whilst in ASDA for yourself and Rosie to enjoy whilst your boyfriend was hogging the wine from his Mum. “Are you going to pour me a glass?”
“Oh shit, yeah, sorry,” he held it out to her from his seat, “you might need to open the other one soon.” He made nervous eye contact with his mum.
“Never thought you’d be fighting over a bottle of wine when you first held your baby boy, did you?” You laughed, watching her roll her eyes awaiting Harry to do as such. With her hands stuffed in her green quilted coat over her pyjamas, scarf around her neck, she shook her head and sat back down after receiving a glass of the red substance, hoping it did a better job of heating her up than her husbands attempt of a fire. “Hogger. I’m telling you! Appreciate the time when they’re little!”
You giggled into your shoulder, glancing over to the boys consuming their drinks. Harry really was a hogger, but you were always amused to see him progressively get drunk as the night went on. By the time the match was over, he was buzzing to say the least, although his team lost, he was still acting a clown alongside his brother after finishing the first bottle of drink and pouring his second cup of the Malibu. He held it up to you suggestively.
You shook your head.
“Awww, come on.”
“Don’t give into peer pressure.”
“Rosie shut up.”
“I’m okay,” you told him, grinning at his tired eyes despite his previous, hyperactive behaviour. After that second glass, you knew it was all going down hill.
Instead, you had your final cup of tea with Rosie for the night, finding the plank of wood you sat on freezing cold as your chair was still soaked with the previous bottle of Red. The picnic table was cold but you didn’t want to take anyone’s chair. “Y/N, move closer to the fire!”
“It’s okay, I have my tea.” You were enjoying yourself but the thought of being snuggled up in a warm bed was getting more and more tempting. You looked over to Harry to see if he was in any form to go to bed, but he stood in front of his Dad, talking about something pointless with his single cup of Malibu. Josh was trying to video his conversation, clearly, he must have been speaking funny or slurring. You rubbed your hands together, going for a top up.
“She can’t sit down in her seat, Harry covered it in drink.” Rosie reminded them, bouncing her leg over the other.
At the sound of his name, he spun around and looked at her. “What? Hu – what was that? What you say?”
He stood sassily in front of her. Hand on the hip and everything.
It was silent.
“Do you want to fight?”
Your grunted laugh escaped and Rosie looked at you to see if he was serious. “I’m saying your girlfriend can’t sit down ‘cause you ruined her seat!” She complained for you, watching how her brother planted himself down on his own camp chair in front of the cracking fire. He chewed obnoxiously on that biscuit.
“Didn’t mean it.”
“You wouldn’t be quick to consider giving her your seat though, would you?”
“She can sit hear if she wants!” He searched for you, watching you bent boringly over the table, waiting for the water to boil. Now he liked the look of that. He patted his leg invitingly. “C’mere!”
“It’s ok!” You shot down, not seeing the big fuss.
He gave a blank look and stood up, pointing to the chair. “Sit down. I’ll — I’ll get your tea.”
“Don’t you dare go near that kettle,” you said holding a biscuit between your teeth, walking over with your mug anyway and near the toasty fire. Harry sat down before you and pulled you down onto him, managing to get your full figure on his lap to sit comfortably with your legs up, nearly like a child. Even his Mum and Dad had to smile at his subtle affection, knowing he didn’t try to show much of it in their company but it was warming seeing their son care for his other half even in his drunken state. He did dote on you but it was an unusual sight for them to witness. They could only hope he was always this loving when he went out on the piss, not a tornado under your supervision.
Smiling at him playfully, he shamelessly cradled you, zoning out, watching you drink your tea through hooded eyes before placing a long, kiss to your head. Definitely drunk. “Happy?” He sassed his sister. She only pointed her middle finger to him. Prick.
You could only sit in his embrace for so long when he was getting fidgety and irritable, not letting you finish your tea without rocking you both in the chair. Even when you moved and snuggled into his side, listening in on the stories his Mum and Dad told, your eyes were drifting, his arm would accidentally elbow you, followed by a muster of apologies and tiny kisses. You eventually found your tent after kissing a goodnight to everybody. Rosie joined you, calling dibs on the only pink sleeping bag at the top of the mattress, making Josh take the bottom. You were both having your girly time, dragging the names of girls from her classes and you getting up photos of wanna-be-influencers who got on your absolute tits.
“Like – and literally didn’t leave him alone! I was pissed and I am never like that but she wouldn’t stop looking and starring at me. It was a shit night anyway but URRGHH,” she laughed at the sound you made, and the sight of you squeezing the pillow to your face in frustration. “just had be in the bad mood going home. If I see her again, I’m honestly, punching her.”
“I’ll back you.”
“Thanks babe. I need one Lewis to,” you rolled your eyes, knowing how lackadaisical Harry was and how unprovoked he was whilst drunk.
“I’ll come over next month and stay.” She suggested.
“You so should,” you propped yourself up on one elbow, an idea brewing. “. . Harry could go out and we’ll order food and make cocktails.”
“Or make food as well?” She raised a brow, “pizza? Pasta?”
“Oh my God, yes. And brownies.”
“Oh my God, yes please.”
“How nice would brownies be right now.”
“No, please don’t.”
The tent opened and in walked Josh who disturbed the mood by stomping along his side of the mattress and disturbing the peace. “WOULD YOU MOVE OVER?!”
“WOULD YOU STOP SCREAMING IN MY FACE? WHY YOU SO LOUD FOR?!”
You must have been so tried because the whole interaction had you giggling into your duvet, not wanting to encourage Josh or anger Rosie. But watching them was so funny. They were all so funny.
“I HAVE ARRIVED!”
“FUCK SAKE!” Josh yelled, clearly having tried to escape his brother.
“BLUEEEEEEE—“ his arm scooped around his neck as he began to dance and chant in the tent, “IS—”
“Harry please sit down, love,” you facepalmed at the sibling catastrophe, trying not to laugh to encourage anybody.
“JOSH, CAN YOU TURN YOUR FUCKING VIDEO DOWN?! JESUS CHRIST!” Rosie’s voice exploded over the sound of Josh’s phone playing the football highlights, something that only angered her further because what the fuck, he’d just watched the game?
“Mate, how do I get in this?” Harry stood above you, trying to figure out where the sleeping bag was. He stepped over everybody, loud in doing so, pulling everyone’s blankets off them. His heavy footing had your whole mattress rising and falling and you just knew it would be deflated in the morning you woke up. “Harry, please.”
He tripped on you, as well as spilling the remainder of his drink on the floor as you fingers rubbed your eyes. Rosie’s head was under the duvet and Josh was covering his mouth trying not to laugh, knowing he’d get another telling off from his sister. Your body was shaking with held in laughter.
“OH MY D—” he threw the blanket up and about, eventually getting in next to you in his drunken state. And then he froze, made eye contact with Josh and clapped his hands, “WHERE IT BEGAN—”
“I actually want to die.”
“Harry, you’re bloody deafening me,” you complained, feeling his voice boom in your ear. He was right up in your grill, unable to get any closer and as much as he was keeping you warm, you could feel every bit of him against you, especially the little hairs of his beard scraping your face. “Harry!”
“Why you shouting at meee?” He fake cried high-toned, arms wrapping protectively around you in a headlock, hugging your body.
“Please,” you struggled to turn around to face him, appreciating his hold as you were struggling to get heat into you. “Calm down. Calm down,” you shushed, trying to do his family a favour by quietening him down. You grinned in the dark, brushing your fingers through his hair, hearing the calming of his breathing. You could have done it for longer, had your hand outside the blanket not be freezing. His head nestled under your chin, pressed to your chest and you tried not to laugh at the ticklish feeling of the tiny peppered kisses placed on it. You warned him with a poke of your finger, not wanting to voice his name and nerve his brother and sister.
‘Stop it’ you mouthed, unknowing if he could even see, but you think he heard because he grumbled and pressed his cheek flat to your skin again, giving in.
Tucked up, you tried to drift off between the sound of Josh’s video playing, Rosie’s complaining, Harry’s snores and their parent’s ongoing conversation outside. As much as you loved your own bed in your home and most importantly your electric blanket, you couldn’t help but be excited for tomorrow to carry on your camping antics, knowing you wouldn’t enjoyed it half as much had you been doing it with any other family.
You loved them.
Even when they forced you into fishing, you loved them. You wouldn’t change your in-laws for the world. You’d gotten really lucky that way.
You kissed the top of Harry’s head, forever thankful to be part of the family.
