ARTICLE BY: @ROSANN_1986 ON TWITTER @WISHINGICOULDFLY ON TUMBLR ART BY: JUMBIART
Larry on vacation can be some of the best reads – put them in a remote location or traveling, and chaos ensues. These are some fun Larry on holiday/vacation reads. Enjoy!
Note that some AO3 fics are available publicly on the server, while some require an Archive of Our Own account/membership to access. If you don’t currently have access, you’ll need to sit on a waitlist – typically for a week or two – to gain access. Get yourself on that list ASAP as some of these require that access to read.
Don’t Want Shelter by kingsofeverything
Summary: Louis and Harry have known each other all their lives. Friends as children, they danced around each other as teenagers, and have spent the last twenty-five years either screaming at each other or not speaking at all. Except for that one time ten years ago. When Hurricane Nicole threatens the coast, they end up stuck together in their families’ old vacation home that they begrudgingly co-own. During the storm, and in the months after, they’re both forced to reevaluate their history and what they mean to each other.
Why I Liked It: I love the movement in this one. There’s action and there’s real motivation and meaning behind their feelings and emotions.
Endless Summer by Eravain – I have a PDF, but this is no longer on AO3
Summary: Harry is a butterfly with broken wings. Louis is a beam of sunlight blasting through the window. AU where the boys are cottage neighbors, Louis develops an obsession with the mysterious boy next door, and the end of the summer is really just the start of everything else.
Why I Liked It: It’s just lovely (and it’s short), just a perfect little snapshot of two boys who find each other during summer vacation.
Five Point by LilyBlue28
Summary: Five Point Summer Camp for the musically gifted is Louis’ home. For as long as he could remember it was the only place he’d ever been where he felt completely accepted and free to be himself. Even when all other parts of his life seemed to spin out of his control, Five Point and the friends he’d made there remained his constant. A place of peace where he could shed all the worries he carried around and just be relaxed and happy. That is until Harry shows up. One year, in the summer between his Junior and Senior years in high school, the camp gets a new member in the form of Harry Styles. Tall, sexy, arrogant, and flirty Harry, who coincidentally gets assigned to his cabin and happens to be related to Louis’ best friend. He couldn’t escape him if he tried, and he does try, but Harry has set his sights on Louis and doesn’t plan to give up until he’s uncovered ever facet of who Louis is. Little does Harry know that Louis has yet to discover that himself. Their journey pushes them both to the edge and in the end neither boy will ever think of home the same again.
Why I Liked It: I LOVE a summer camp fic. So many opportunities for angst and they are literally in each other’s pockets all summer.
I’ll Fly Away by juliusschmidt
Summary: Harry and Louis grew up together in Lake County, Harry with his mom and stepdad in a tiny cottage on Edward’s Lake and Louis in his family’s farmhouse a few minutes down the road. But after high school, Louis stuck around and Harry did not; Harry went to Chicago where he found a boyfriend and a couple of college degrees. Six years later, Harry ends up back in Edwardsville for the summer and he and Louis fall into old patterns and discover new ones. ft. One Direction, the local boyband; Horan’s Bar and Grill; families, most especially children and babies; Officer Liam Payne; many local festivals and fireworks displays; and Anne Cox, PFLAG President.
Why I Liked It: OT5 in the summer, what else could you ask for? Really nice character development here and small town, midwestern Larry.
Somewhere in between Lightning by jassy117
Summary: A summer gone wrong (or very right) when, under Liam’s persuasion, Louis finds himself drunkenly applying for Love Island, and getting accepted. Oh, well. A summer spent on an island paradise couldn’t be all that bad, right? Imagine his surprise when Louis arrives in sunny Majorca to find that his first love and ex-boyfriend, Harry, is another contestant, about to capture the hearts of everyone in the villa. Most normal people don’t have to face their ex on an otherwise straight TV show. Most normal people don’t fall for their ex again in front of the whole nation, either. Too bad this whole situation isn’t normal.
Why I Liked It: Fun concept and well executed. Also, LOVE ISLAND!
No Going Back by jacaranda_bloom
Summary: Sales reps Harry and Louis are bored with their jobs and their lives. After meeting at a conference in Cardiff they hook up, have a few too many drinks, and jokingly apply to become remote lighthouse keepers. Six months, just the two of them, looking after the southernmost lighthouse off the bottom of Australia. It’s not like their applications will be accepted. Right? This is the story of how one choice – a left instead of a right, a go instead of a stop, a yes instead of a no – can change the future forever and that sometimes, taking that leap of faith, is worth the risk.
Why I Liked It: This was super cute with good smut. I love the idea of a random hookup leading to a life-changing event.
Scintillating by scrunchharry
Summary: When Harry and Louis meet in Disney World during their family’s holiday, it’s love at first sight. Back in England, they fight against the distance to stay together, to make it work. When Harry signs up for The X-Factor, though, the precarious balance they’ve built is compromised. Or the one where they fall in love, Harry wins the X-Factor, and everything goes to hell.
Why I Liked It: Awesome meet cute at Disney. I liked the way fetus Harry discussed sex positively with his sister and mom. Also really liked the slow burn, and the way Harry wanted to take sex slowly.
Escapade by dolce_piccante
Summary: In the grand scheme of things, finding a date for a wedding should be no problem for Louis Tomlinson. He’s rich. He’s handsome. He’s reasonably well behaved. But when the wedding is for his lifelong best friend (and former boyfriend), and is happening in under a month, finding a date for the ceremony and accompanying festivities becomes more of an adventure than he ever could have planned for.
Why I Liked It: How could I not include Escapade in this theme? Such a perfect example of a great plot, funny and well developed characters, a bit of angst, and a happy ending.
Freeway of Love (In a Pink Cadillac) by MsHydeStylinson
Summary: Louis was on his way to Miami to visit an old friend. Harry was going there for a little R&R and to take in the sights and sounds. A sudden upgrade in seating brought these polar opposites together. The universe works in mysterious ways and they are unknowingly about to embark on an adventure they will surely remember for a lifetime.
Why I Liked It: I won’t give away the twist, but I loved this little adventure where Larry are strangers to lovers.
Ghost Note Symphony by WhoKnows
Summary: Louis is on tour when he first hears about it. It’s all over the news – Harry Styles Attacked By Fan runs in headlines for days. It’s not even just the gossip rags, either. Actual journalists are covering the story. It would have been impossible to avoid hearing about it. Technically, Oli is the one who tells Louis about it, but it’s not exactly being covered up.
Harry doesn’t answer Louis’ text asking if he’s alright, but that’s not really surprising. They haven’t spoken for months, and it’s been a lot longer than that since they’ve had a real conversation. The sting of the text going unanswered is still there, less painful than it might have been a few years ago. It’s not that it’s easy to forget about, exactly. Louis has a whole life outside of One Direction now, though. So Louis goes on with his life, figuring that if Harry was seriously hurt he would have heard about it by now. He might currently be in the same country as Harry, but being on opposite sides of it puts enough distance between them that putting it in the back of his mind is easy. There’s nothing Louis could do, even if he thought Harry might want him to. That’s why everything that happens next comes as a complete shock to him.
Why I Liked It: This one doesn’t fit the theme exactly, but it turns into a vacation-like road trip and I just love it. The supernatural element is unique and really interesting.
Xoxo – Rosann
Happy reading and thanks for checking out my recommendations. I’d love to hear from you and what you think of my suggestions! Let me know if you have any thoughts for future themes!