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Niall goes hitchhiking around America, but as he comes near the end of his trip, he doesn’t have the money for his ticket back home. Luckily there’s a farmer who has a job for him.
P R O L O G U E
The sound of laughter fills the air as Harry steps out of his car on Liam’s driveway. The buzz is already noticeable from outside the house, making Harry smile to himself as he pushes the door of his 1965 white Chevy shut. It squeaks loudly in protest, reminding Harry that he needs to fix it.
As he enters the house, the laughter becomes more clear with each step he takes. He walks through the hallway and follows the sound into the kitchen where his best mates are cracking up about something that’s apparently very funny. He watches them from where he’s leaning in the doorway, savouring the moment before he makes it known that he’s there.
They would have these kinds of nights most days of the week when they were still in high school. Nights filled with laughter, jokes, and stories, Harry remembers them so well, cherishes them deeply. His favourite memories are with these guys. He smiles as his mind goes back to one of those nights. It had been very warm, hot even, Harry remembers. It had been late in the evening, just as the night started to fall.
Louis was with Eleanor, Liam with Sophia, and Harry with Nadine, a girl he thought he loved at that time. They were still young back then, must have been around the age of 16. Eleanor had been with Louis for a while already, always a steady, loving relationship for as long as Harry can remember. It was something Harry admired and hoped to have too, one day. Liam and Sophia, on the other hand, were nothing more than a fling just yet. Liam had the biggest crush on Sophia and when she finally had agreed to go out with him, he couldn’t have been happier. So now they were dating for a few weeks, and Liam had asked her to come along to the Lake. It was a place near Harry’s house where they would hang out as much as possible, that summer.
“Come on, Liam. You chose dare, now you’ve got to do it.” Liam had stupidly picked a ‘dare’ when Louis asked him for the silly ‘truth or dare’ game they were playing. Liam sighed and gave Harry a pleading look, but there was nothing Harry could do.
“Sorry, Li. You chose dare so now you’ve got to do it.”
Louis smiled slyly at both of them and rubbed his hands together in anticipation and excitement. “Get on with it, Liam. It’s just a quick dip, in and out. Except naked. No worries, though,” Louis grinned. “I’ll cover Eleanor’s eyes, she won’t peek.”
Sophia gave Liam a shy smile, told him not to worry, that he didn’t have to do it if he didn’t want to. But Harry knew, like Liam, that Louis would never let him live it down. He would never hear the end of it. Not that he would hear the end of it if he did do it, but it would be a better story if he had done it, instead of chickening out.
So Harry decided to take one for the team and sighed as he got up. “Okay, Li. I’ll go with you,” he said as he took his shirt off. Liam gave him the biggest and most thankful smile. “You will?” His eyes had widened hopefully as he looked up at Harry. Harry had sighed again but nodded yes anyway. He couldn’t let Liam do this by himself. He knew Liam would be too embarrassed with all the attention on him, especially in front of Sophia. Harry didn’t mind a bit of nudity anyway, so why wouldn’t he join him?
“Hey, that’s not the rule!” Louis complained as he jumped up from where he was sitting on the grass. “You are supposed to go skinny dipping by yourself!”
“Well, Lou,” Harry had said. “You can either stay here shouting at Li or come with us, but I’m going to join Liam.” Louis had given him a bewildered look, almost pouted at Harry. He was sure Louis was just about to start begging him not to join. But to Harry’s surprise, he just grumbled under his breath as he toed his shoes off.
“We’re all gonna go, then?” Liam had asked and they all nodded. The boys quickly undressed until they only had their briefs left and walked up to the lake.
“Okay,” Louis said. “One, two, three.”
They took off their briefs and quickly ran into the water. All three of them naked to their bums. They were shrieking and laughing, and Harry enjoyed the water around him, enjoyed the freedom of being completely naked in the water.
He looked over at his two friends with a smile, Louis was pushing a struggling Liam down in the water, who on his turn, tried to splash water in Louis’ face. His gaze turned to the girls at the lakeside who had gotten up and were standing together whispering and giggling at the boys. He looked over the lake while he tried to stay afloat and watched the sun disappear into the water as he heard the shouting of his friends behind him.
He remembers that night very well, he had felt completely and utterly happy in that moment. Comfortable in his whole being.
But now they’ve gotten older, and their meetings have gone from being every day to once a week and now it’s only once a month that they can have these types of nights. It’s still one of his favourite moments when he gets to sit down with his friends for some beers, just fucking around. A night where he doesn’t have to think about his business and the work that’s waiting for him the next day. One of those nights where he can forget about everything else and just focus on having fun.
But apart from his friends, there’s another bloke at the table as well. It’s someone he hasn’t met yet. He guesses it's the one that Liam had told him about over the phone. The hitchhiker, what was his name again? Harry thinks to himself. Niall, something like that. His eyes are drawn to the boy as he’s laughing at something one of the other boys must have said. His pink mouth is wide open, showing off all his perfectly lined up teeth and his tongue moves in sync with the sound that comes from the back of his throat. He’s clutching his stomach with one hand while the other is folded into a fist on the table. It’s one of the most free and open laughs Harry has ever seen like the boy doesn’t have a care in the world. And Harry admires him for it.
He clears his throat to make himself known and lifts a hand to greet the boys. He gives Liam and Louis a tight hug before he comes to a stop in front of the bloke, who’s smiling brightly at him. “Hi, I’m Niall,” he says as he extends his hand to Harry.
And once again Harry is stunned by the boy in front of him, but this time it’s his eyes Harry gets lost in. They’re the most beautiful blue eyes, fresh and deep, like the ocean. His eyes have a slight shine to them, a sparkle that makes them look bright and friendly, and the brunette hair atop of his head makes them stand out even more. He soon realises that he’s being rude for not taking Niall’s hand so he quickly catches it in his and introduces himself.
He sits down at the table, across from Niall, as Liam gets a beer for him. Liam’s happy chattering fills the room as he tells the story of how he and Niall met but Harry is not really listening, his eyes are still on the boy in front of him. Niall is laughing again at something Liam is saying and once again Harry finds himself mesmerised by the sound and the sight in front of him.
“So, Niall. You’re a hitchhiker?” Harry says, cutting off Liam mid-sentence.
Niall turns to look at him and gives him a bewildered look as he was clearly listening to Liam’s story. Harry’s cheeks burn at the look he’s getting as he realises that he’s being quite rude again. He doesn’t really know what’s happening to him, he’s obviously happy to see his friends, but he feels a bit uncomfortable. He doesn’t know where to look or how to behave, how to be friendly to Niall. He can’t really seem to warm up or open up to the boy in front of him.
Maybe it’s that he rarely gets to meet new people anymore. Maybe he’s forgotten how to behave in front of strangers. Harry lives in a small town and everyone knows each other. Even if Harry doesn’t know them they sure know him or his dad or the business. He hardly ever has to introduce himself or explain who he is. And often people are so interested in him or the business that he doesn’t even get the opportunity to ask questions about the person in front of him.
So Harry is a bit thrown off by the stranger in Liam’s kitchen, even though he knew Niall was going to be there and even though he has been nothing but friendly. He clears his throat uncomfortably and apologises to Liam who just waves it away and encourages Niall to tell his story.
The brunette starts to talk hesitantly about the journey that got him here, but soon his enthusiasm takes over and he tells them all kinds of stories about funny or strange experiences he’s had on the way. Harry only hears some parts of the stories, he hears cities come by like San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Nashville but he doesn’t really listen. He still feels a bit uncomfortable and can’t really get past the awkwardness he just felt. He does notice that the boy has a strong, thick accent. The words that form on his lips sound thick and rich, a bit teasingly even. Liam told him Niall is from London, but somehow he doesn’t really seem to recognise it as the posh London accent. Then again, Harry isn’t familiar with English accents, so what does he know, really?
Harry soon realises that he’s spacing out and once again behaving quite indecent so he turns his attention back to the boy, who’s animatedly talking, coming to the end of his story. He starts listening just in time to hear the story of how Niall ended up in West Palm Beach and how lucky he feels to have met Liam.
As the story ends, Niall turns his attention towards Harry, stealing glances at him. “And what’s your story?” He asks expectedly as he gives Harry a curious look.
Harry doesn’t know where to look, avoids the boy’s eyes because he doesn’t know what to tell the brunette. He doesn’t have those kinds of stories to share so he rubs the back of his neck while he softly murmurs out, “Ehh, I own a farm?”
