“Here is your room key. Enjoy your stay!” chirps the friendly desk clerk.
29-year-old Harry Styles has just checked in for a long, well-deserved vacation. The past year has been extremely busy for Harry and he wants nothing more than to be able to leave all of that behind and spend the next month relaxing by the pool. He thanks the clerk and turns around, headed for the lift. He enters the lift, pulling the luggage cart with his many bags behind him. Harry always packs way too much for his trips, no matter how long he is going to be away for. This particular trip is one month long and his bags are piled precariously on the cart in danger of falling over at any moment. Harry places a careful hand on the side of the cart and presses the button for the fifteenth floor.
After a few moments, the lift comes to a stop at floor six and a man wearing swim trunks gets on and smiles at Harry. Harry’s eyes widen. This guy is hot. He’s a few inches shorter than Harry and he has short brown hair and bright blue eyes. He has tattoos on his arms, legs, and chest. Harry’s eyes are drawn to the words “It is what it is” inked by the man’s collar bones.
“What floor?” Harry asks, clearing his throat and tearing his eyes away from the man’s tattoo.
“One, please. I’m headed down to the pool,” the man replies with a smile.
Harry nods and presses the button for the first floor.
“Just so you know, I’m going up so you’re going to be riding for a bit,” Harry tells the man.
“That’s ok, I can wait. I wasn’t paying attention and must have pressed the up button by mistake,” the man says with a laugh.
“I’ve done that before,” Harry answers with a chuckle.
The two men fall into a comfortable silence. The man pulls his phone out of a waterproof pouch that he’s wearing around his neck. It slips out of his hand and hits the floor of the lift. As he bends over to pick it up, he bumps into Harry’s luggage cart. That slight collision is enough to make all of the bags tumble off of the cart and onto the floor, some of the bags landing on Harry’s feet and a particularly heavy looking one knocking into his knee.
“Shit!” the man exclaims, his eyes growing wide.
“Whoops! I knew that was gonna happen,” Harry says with a smile, gently rubbing his knee.
“I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry,” the man says, picking a couple of bags up off of the floor.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I pack way too much and it always causes some sort of issue,” Harry laughs, picking a few bags up as well and setting them on the cart.
The man is shaking his head. He looks frightened. He starts gently placing the bags back on the cart as the lift comes to a stop and the doors slide open. Harry reaches over and holds the open button.
“I’m so clumsy. I’m really sorry. Shit, these look expensive. I really hope I didn’t mess any of them up. Oh God, are any of them scuffed? Shit. Shit shit shit,” the man rambles.
Harry puts a gentle hand on the man’s shoulder. The man stops and looks up at Harry.
“I promise it’s ok. I always end up knocking them over. It’s my fault for packing too much and piling it all onto one cart. It’s fine. I’m not upset,” Harry says, soothingly.
The man nods and says, “I’m Louis, by the way. Louis Tomlinson. I’m really sorry about all this. Let me help you pick them up. I’ll help you get them to your room.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Louis. I’m Harry Styles. I’d really appreciate that. Thank you,” Harry says with a smile.
Harry keeps the button pressed so the doors don’t shut while they’re trying to get everything cleaned up. While Harry is holding the button, Louis carefully moves the cart and the rest of the bags into the hallway. Harry releases the button and steps out of the lift. They work for a couple of minutes, stacking most of the bags back on the cart. Louis insists on carrying a few so they have less risk of another mess and Harry leads the way down the hall towards his room. He inserts the keycard and opens the door.
The two men step into the suite. Louis gently sets the bags he is holding on the couch and Harry begins to unload the cart.
“Thanks. I appreciate this,” Harry says.
“It’s the least I could do after knocking it all over,” Louis says, chuckling.
Harry finishes unloading the cart and leans against the counter. He looks at Louis properly for the first time since he stepped into the lift. His breath catches at the sight of him. Wow, he’s pretty standing there with no shirt on, slightly sweaty from struggling with a couple of Harry’s bags.
“Hey, I was heading down to the pool. Do you want to come with me?” Louis asks.
“What? Oh! I’d love to!” Harry says, clearing his throat. He hopes Louis didn’t catch him staring.
“I’ll wait in the hall so you can change,” Louis says.
“Why don’t you just wait here? I’ll change in the bedroom,” Harry suggests.
“Sure,” Louis replies, and sits down on a stool.
Harry bends over and starts to look through his bags in search of his swim trunks. Louis takes this opportunity to admire Harry, staring at him until he stands back up with swim trunks clutched in his hand. Harry glances at Louis. He notices that Louis is blushing and he smiles to himself. He walks into the bedroom and closes the door behind him. He’s glad he gets to spend more time with Louis. He was hoping to get to know him better and now he has a chance. He quickly gets changed and applies sunscreen that he found in one of the bags before walking back out of the bedroom.
“Ready?” Louis asks.
“Yep! Do you think you could keep this in that pouch? I don’t have a place to put it.” Harry asks, holding his keycard out to Louis.
“Sure,” Louis says with a smile, taking the card and tucking it away inside the pouch hanging from his neck.
The two men walk down the hallway together and get back in the lift. After a minute, they reach the ground floor. They walk outside to the pool and sit on the edge. They sit and talk for what seems like forever, telling each other about their lives. They learn about each other’s professions, their past relationships, their families, their education, their likes and dislikes. Harry learns that Louis lives in London. This makes him frown. Harry lives in Los Angeles and he wishes they didn’t have to live so far apart. Once they run out of things to talk about they decide to swim a bit. After a few laps Louis stops and turns to Harry.
“Can I take you out tomorrow night? Even just to the hotel bar. I want to have a chance to get to know you better,” Louis asks.
“I’d love to,” Harry answers.
“Great! It’s a date,” says Louis with a wink.
“Are you flirting with me, Tomlinson?” Harry asks with a smirk. He’s surprised, but he doesn’t let it show.
“Maybe I am,” Louis answers, wiggling his eyebrows.
This makes Harry laugh. Louis chuckles as well. They exchange phone numbers and agree to meet at the hotel bar the next night.
The following night, Harry has just finished getting ready for his date with Louis and is scrolling through their text messages. They’d been chatting constantly since the day before. Harry had shared a funny story about a friend back home in Los Angeles and Louis had told him an embarrassing story about something he had done at a party. Harry had seen a funny cat meme so he sent it and it made Louis laugh. Louis was walking through the lobby and noticed someone with almost as much luggage as Harry had brought. He snapped a picture and sent it to Harry saying that he was going to stay far away from that person so he could avoid causing another incident. Harry is just about to reread another one of the stories that Louis had sent to him when he hears a knock on the door.
“Coming!” he shouts, quickly moving to open it.
When Harry pulls the door open he sees Louis standing on the other side. He’s holding a rose and grinning.
“I figured I’d walk with you to the bar,” Louis says. He hands Harry the rose.
“It’s beautiful. Thank you.” Harry tells him.
“I know we don’t have much time together so I wanted to make the most of it. I’m only here for about six more weeks for work.” Louis says, blushing.
This makes Harry smile. He’s glad to know Louis will be around for his month-long stay. He finds a glass that he can use as a vase and puts water in it. He sets the rose in the glass and grabs his phone and room key from the counter. He steps into the hall, closing the door behind him and smiles at Louis. Louis tentatively reaches for Harry’s hand and smiles when Harry’s fingers close around his. They go down to the bar together where they sit for a while. They talk and laugh and tell each other stories. Once they’re both a little buzzed from the alcohol, the conversation turns a bit flirty. They decide to switch to water because neither of them wants to get fully drunk. They both want to remember this night for as long as they possibly can.
After an hour or so has passed Harry says, “I’m getting a bit tired. Will you walk me to my room?”
“Sure,” Louis says, with a smile.
The two men go back up to Harry’s room.
“I had a wonderful time tonight,” Louis says with a grin.
“I did too. I have some free time tomorrow around five after a yoga class. Would you like to come over and watch a movie? We could order room service.” Harry suggests.
“I would love to. See you tomorrow,” Louis replies before giving Harry’s hand a quick squeeze and walking back towards the lifts.
The next day Louis comes over to Harry’s suite. They sit on the couch, side-by-side, and decide to watch Scream. Harry normally isn’t a big fan of scary movies, but he figures it’s a good excuse to sit as close to Louis as he can. He turns and hides his face in Louis’ neck every time there’s a jump scare and his knuckles turn pale from how hard he’s squeezing the other man’s hand. When the movie ends Harry turns to Louis.
“Sorry I’m such a chicken,” he says with a chuckle.
“Don’t worry about it. It was kinda cute,” Louis says, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Harry looks at Louis for a moment before doing something that takes both of them by surprise. He leans in and kisses Louis. He’s not sure why he does it. Maybe it was the way Louis was looking at him or maybe it’s the fact that he doesn’t feel like they have the time to take things slow. Whatever the reason, he doesn’t regret it. Louis melts into the kiss and runs his fingers through Harry’s hair. They kiss until they have to pull away for air. They smile at each other, panting a little.
“I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but I feel like there’s a connection,” Harry tells Louis, a hopeful look in his eyes.
“I feel it too,” Louis says.
Louis shakes his head slightly and chuckles to himself. He can’t believe that he’s falling for a guy he met just a few days before.
“I’ve always read about summer love stories. Never thought I’d have one of my own,” Harry says with a giggle.
“Me either,” Louis says before leaning in to kiss Harry again.
