By The Hillside

Chapter 20

The beginning of this chapter is foreshadowing to the end of it *giggle emoji*

- - -

Louis had gotten quite a few rides in his life, but the hardest ones were by far the rides he had together with Bart. He was getting the hang of the basics, but his thighs were still aching after every ride, but it was all worth it with the time he got to spend with Harry.

Today he and Harry had gone on a long trail ride into the forest. They had already ridden past the lake, fond memories washing over Louis as he remembered their last time there. Now they were heading toward the treehouse, Bart's hooves moving in a quick trot underneath him.

Harry and Billy were trotting in front of Louis, Harry now and then looking back, grinning from ear to ear. A beautiful sight.

"Let's canter!" Harry loudly said.

"In what world has that ever been a good idea?" Louis yelled back, but he was laughing, grasping a tighter hold of the reins.

"It just is! Now canter."

Billy began cantering, and Louis didn't even need to give Bart the signal, the other horse already running up to Billy's butt. Louis had to hold him back.

Laughing, Louis and Harry let canter turn to gallop, and Louis even managed to steer Bart up on Billy's side. He turned his head to look at Harry, already being met by his favourite grin.

"To the treehouse?" Harry asked loudly.

"Yep!"

* * *

Louis was beyond exhausted when they finally returned home. Halfway back, rain had begun drizzling–then pouring—down, soaking through their clothes. Now Louis was wet, hungry, and about to get a cold, but he couldn't find it in himself to be mad, because as he walked through the door, Abby's barking reached his ears, Conny's cooking his nostrils, and he had a Harry wrapped around his body from behind. Actually, Louis had never been happier in his entire life.

"Boys!" Conny called from the kitchen, just as Abby came running into the hallway. "Is that you?"

"Yep, it's us!" called Harry, placing a kiss on Louis' neck before detangling himself.

Abby began licking at Louis' boots—well, Harry's that he stole. Louis scratched her behind the ear. "Hey there, girl."

Abby looked up at him, tongue out and eyes big.

Conny showed up in the doorway to the hallway, a big smile on her face, but it quickly vanished as her eyes landed on the two men. "You two! You're soaking."

"Quite observant," Louis said, smiling.

Conny rolled her eyes fondly. "Whatever. You two need to shower. I will have dinner ready in half an hour."

"Sounds amazing, thank you," Harry said, kicking off his boots. "Come on, baby. It's shower time."

Louis kicked off his own boots and followed Harry up the stairs. They went into Harry's bedroom, stripped out of all their clothes, and continued into the bathroom.

"Wanna shower together, or separately?" Harry asked, pulling the shower curtain to the side.

"Well... we are all about saving water, aren't we?" Louis asked.

"That was very well a lie, Tomlinson."

"Hush, just go with it," Louis said, stepping into the shower. He pulled Harry with him. "I wanna shower with you."