Louis sat on the edge of his bed, shuffling through note after note on fucking cells.

Louis groaned and exhaled in small huffs that took up the silent of his flat.

"And that's going to be all for today, if you have an-" the teacher swooned in her fake voice before he hit the 'End Call' button and ran his hand through his hair.

Looking back at his notes and homework, he finished up the question he was on and stuffed the papers haphazardly into his flimsy blue folder.

He's in the last year of University to become a Biomedical Engineer, which is a decent job but he was barely holding his place for an opportunity for a job

First year, he barely passed with a 65%, second was slightly better with a 69%, third...he almost failed but he cheated on the final exam, and this is his forth and final year.

So far, his average was 63%, and he needs at least 70% to get a decent job. To say he was stressing would be an understatement. Not to mention footie practice every day, taking care of his sisters and mum, hours upon hours of daily homework and keeping up with his hobbies.

The only thing that keeps him from breaking is his best mate, Harry.

Harry has been there since his freshman year at the University, studying the exact same thing, but he dropped out. Kind of hypocritical seeing as Louis wanted to drop out too, but Harry was the one to convince him to stay.

He's the kind of person that lays back and relaxes, letting his responsibilities pile up (which is probably why he dropped out).

And the meditation. The fucking meditation.

Louis pretends that he can't stand it, but in reality he finds it kind of interesting, picking up bits and pieces of information that Harry rants to him about. He pretends he's not listening, but he likes to hear him talk. His slow, over enunciation of words, the small 'uh's or 'erm's that he says as place holders between sentences. Sometimes he listens to what hes saying, but other times he just likes the sound of his voice.

And the things he talks about. Louis had absolutely no interest in these kinds of things before he met Harry. It must be the influential tone to his voice that makes the things he says stick. If only that was the voice of his professor, maybe then he would actually do well in school. Maybe.

Harry's house was always littered with small glass bottles of essential oils and bath salts. The smell of burning incense and pot fill up his small bungalow. Lavender for sleeping, orange oil for colds, the list goes on.

It was the last day of school before summer break. That's the only good thing about this University, all students get the summer off, which was weird, but Louis' not complaining. The complete opposite actually, he doesn't know what he would do if he had to study through the summer, he surely would have dropped out by now.

He stopped hanging out with his friends, he turned all his attention to school and his sisters. He feels shitty for it, yeah, but he's not wasting all the money for University. He has to pass. No pressure.

Every day is the same for him, and he swears hes going insane. Sometimes he wishes he could talk up herbal remedies like Harry, maybe that would calm him down. Or smoke pot, but his University makes everyone take routine drug tests every week. Plus he wouldn't want to encourage that behaviour infront of his sisters.

Hes stressed, worried, pressured and anxious. He needs a vacation but he can't. His summer will provide be filled up with class selections and getting prepared for the next season, so he has no time to relax.

72? Seventy-fucking-two pages of homework tonight?

Louis stared at the screen of his laptop. He could cry right now.

He heard his sisters open the door downstairs. He quickly composed himself, keeping the screen open as he left the safety of his room and went downstairs. His smudged, thick framed glasses still sat upon his nose as he crept up behind his sisters to give them a hug.

It was Pheobe and Daisys birthday today, and he can't miss that. That means he's going to have to stay up late tonight to complete his school work. Shit. And he has a test tomorrow. So that's great.

Pushing all those thoughts aside, he pulled out the cake he had made the day before, from the fridge and plopped it ontop of the cold granite countertop.

The look on the girls' faces made it all worth it. What can he say? He likes spoiling them.

They start opening gifts and stuffing their mouths full of cake, blue and white frosting smudging their lips and cheeks, when the door opened up.

Louis didn't notice until the deep, slow voice of his friend sounded

"Happy birthday" he said with a grin, making Louis smile in return

He held 2 large pink and yellow bags in one hand. A coat wad draped over his shoulder, and in the other hand he held a can of Arizona Iced Tea, his keys, phone and a lip balm. Several black hair ties and loose bracelets covered both wrists as he pulled up his sleeves and knelt down the embraced the hyper girls in a tight hug

"Thank you Harry" Pheobe said, taking the bags he held out for them, and handing one to her sister.

As he stood back up, a waft of some sort of spice encircled Louis' head.

"New cologne?" Louis asked

"Yeah, you noticed?" Harry asked, an eyebrow bolting upward, a small crooked smile etching on his face

"Vanilla and..." Louis nodded

"Tobacco. Vanilla and tobacco" he nodded

Louis nodded and took his jacket

"Oh, that's ok, I was just about to head out. I know you've alot of studying to do, just wanted to drop the gifts off" he spoke, his green eyes and frizzy long dark hair looking extra prominent.

"No, you can stay. I'm not studying until later" Louis replied with a small smile

Harry's face furrowed before softening

"Ok" he spoke softly, trying to hide a smile

They sat down, Louis put on some kids show the girls were begging to watch.

"Haven't properly hung out for a while now, the lads miss you" Harry said, in his (almost painfully) deep voice

"Sorry 'bout that. I've been really busy with-"

"With school. Yeah" Harry finished his sentence, looking down at his hands.

Louis slowly nodded and there was a pause

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something" Harry said, breaking the silence

"What is it?" Louis asked, almost in a panicked voice. This was one annoying thing about Harry, you could never tell when he was being serious. He never takes important things seriously, but he takes stupid, small, unimportant things so seriously.

"Erm, well you don't have to say yes, but" he started

"I feel like....well me and the lads all feel like you really need a break. You've been working your arse off of the past three years and you never have any down time" he explained slowly

Louis nodded silence

"We erm..we've all talked and everything decided that we're bringing you on a vacation"

Louis laughed

"That's funny, I thought you were saying something serious" he chuckled, leaning back into the couch, his bones cracking.

Harry stayed silent, playing with his own fingers

"I was" He said

"I was being serious"

A wave of guilt overtook Louis, straining his neck to turn and face Harry

"Oh" he said quietly

"It's just like, you never call us anymore. We miss you is all" he elaborated

"I miss you too. I miss you guys too" Louis replied, trying to get Harry to make eye contact with him

"Its just that sch-"

"But you have the summer off, don't you?" Harry asked, the expression on his face was unreadable

Louis nodded

"Then come with us, Niall just bought a trailer, we can drive all around Europe for the summer" Harry smiled, stretching his arms out like an airplane

Louis laughed and put his own arms up, mimicking the movements of Harry.

"See, you're going crazy!" Harry laughed

"That I am Curly, that I am" Louis agreed

"Then come with us. It'll be a nice break" Harry asked genuinely

Louis pondered for a while

"I would, but my sisters-"

"Gemma can watch them, she's volunteered" he cut in

"I geuss....I geuss I'm in then" Louis shakily laughed.

"Thatta boy" Harry laughed, ruffling up Louis' hair and jumping up, soaring around the living room with his arms out making 'vroom' noises.

Louis smiled fondly and let out a breath of relief he didn't know he's been holding in for the past 3 years

•

As Harry was occupied looking at Louis' rock collection that he got when he was 12, Louis brought the girls into the living room

"You guys remember Gem, right?" He asked

"Yeah, she got us ice cream that one time" Pheobe recalled

"Yeah, she did" he laughed

"Um, Harry and me and our friends are going on a little vacation, and so you guys will be staying with her for a bit" he said. He really hated doing this to them, he really wants to be there for them.

"Where are you guys going? Disney?" Daisy asked

"I'm not sure where were going, but nowhere nearly as fun as Disney" he smiled

"Ok, that's all?" Pheobe said

"Yeah" Louis responded

•

4:46am. Harry left shortly after the girls finished their dinner. Now its 4:46am and Louis has been doing his homework since then.

"This is the last late night for 2 months" he kept reminding himself. Quiet music played through his earbuds, and the stringed fairy lights around his room cast a soft glow on the stacks of papers he had to complete.

"Lou?" A soft voice came from his door. He spun around and saw Daisy standing there, a teddy bear in hand

"Daisy what are you doing up? Did I wake you?" He asked, she just shrugged and shook her head

"What's wrong?" He asked, getting up from his chair, done with his homework, picking her up and setting her on his hip.

She shrugged again

"Do you need a cuddle?" He asked, pushing some hair behind her ear. She nodded silently.

He sat on his bed and pulled her to his chest, rocking her back and forth

"Are you really leaving for the whole summer?" She asked

"Yeah, m'leaving in a few days, but I promise to call every day" he replied sadly

"We're gonna miss you" she yawned

"I'll miss you both too, but I'll be back before you know it"

Pause

"You deserve it" she replied

"What do you mean?" He asked, very confused

"I see how tired you are from all that math all the time. I don't really understand it because I'm little, but you deserve a vacation with your friends" she explained, making Louis chuckle at her take on things

"Well thank you, you like Gem don't you?" He asked, but she didn't answer, already sleeping

Slowly he also drifted into dream world.

•

The next morning, (which really wasn't morning because he had only slept for 3 hours) he woke up to both of his siblings laying ontop of him, all their bedding and pillows from the linen closet stacked ontop of him, making a fluffy and comfy nest. They were both sleeping peacefully, thumbs poking out of their mouths, hair swept clumsily over their pale faces.

"Louis"

"Lou"

He heard someone whispering

"What?" He said

"Are you awake?" The still unidentified voice said

"No" he replied with a smirk

It was silent for a second

"That's not funny"

"It was kinda funny" he replied, now realizing the voice belonged to Liam

Liam flung back the top of the blankets that Louis and his sisters were under, exposing Louis' scrunched up face and armfuls of sleeping girls.

"What are you doing here?" Louis whispered

"Picking you up?" Liam responded, more of a question than an answer

"Can I ask why?" He deadpanned

"Did Harry not tell you about the vacation?" He asked

His eyes imma shot open. Why was his mate interrogating him in his room? What vacation? What day is it?

"That's today?" He asked, adrenaline shooting through his veins

"Yeah mate, have you even packed?" Liam shook his head

"Idiot" Liam mumbles under his breath

Louis carefully slid out from under the sleeping girls, smacking Liam silently on the arm

'OW' he mouthed, rubbing his arm

'Don't wake them up' Louis mouthed back

He grabbed a bag and stuffed as many clothes as he could into it.

Liam went over to the bed where the girls were still laying and tucked them back in

'Sorry for kidnapping your brother this early' he said

Suddenly, Liam's phone rang and he answered it

"What?...yeah we're coming, relax...I don't care" Liam spoke on the phone, hanging up

Louis gave him a 'who was that' look

"Niall" he replied, helping Louis pack his bag.

Louis walked over to his sisters, kissing their foreheads softly.

"I'll see you guys soon" he said, before quickly writing them a note saying bye, so they had something to wake up to

"Shit, where's Gem?" Louis panicked

"Hey, calm down, okay? You need to stop stressing and focus on yourself, alright? Shes downstairs" Liam soothed Louis, making him nod. With a final hug goodbye, they walked downstairs, sleep over talking Louis, the cold morning air making his skin feel sticky.

He saw Gemma sprawled on the couch, surfing through channels on the TV

"Gem, thank you so much for this" Louis said, giving her a quick side hug

"Yeah no problem, I love kids. My boyfriend and I were actually thinking about having one, so this can be a good trial" she laughed

Louis laughed with her

"I know you're nervous, but they're good kids, I've got it. Take a break from school" she said

Louis nodded and took out his wallet, rummaging through the contents

"What are you doing? Put that away" she laughed

"Out, out, go enjoy yourselves" and before Louis could respond, Liam grabbed his arm and pulled his to the car. A large, metal trailer was being pulled behind it. Nialls probably.

He was met with cheers and whoops as he walked down the sidewalk. The air was cold and the sky was a pinky orange colour. Harry's arm slung out of the open window of the driver's seat. He had on a pair of Ray Bans, with a black fedora, his hair was curled perfectly and peeking out of the sides of his hat.

Niall stood on the back seat, head hanging out of the sun roof as he flailed around 2 sparklers above his head. Zayn clung onto his legs, making sure he didn't fall.

Louis smiles, the first genuine smile in a while. This feels right. This will be a good summer.

•

The second he climbed into the trailer, he was attacked by all 4 boys, messing up his hair and placing sloppy kisses on his cheeks

"Oi mate! We missed ya" Zayn chuckled

"Missed you lot" he smiled

"Come sit up here Lou" Harry said, motioning to the passengers seat

Louis fake-flips his hair and sashays to the front seat

Niall immediately goes up behind him to hug him around his chest, resting his chin on his shoulder

"Really though, I missed you" Niall smiles, speaking quietly

"I missed you too Nialler" Louis flicks his nose.

Louis had never been one to show many emotions. He just wasnt that type. He wasn't good with...feelings either, he always just made jokes to avoid sappy situations.

They talked for a while and caught up, watching the orange sky slowly turn blue

He looked out of the window, leaning his forehead on the cold glass

Harry did a double take, looking at Louis, his half closed eyes looking longingly out the window, his head bumping up and down in unison with the road.

The girls were probably up by now. What if they missed him? What if they don't know where I went and forgot? What if-

"You okay?" Harry asked, his deep voice penetrating Louis' thoughts

"Yeah" he replied, picking at a hole in the knee of his jeans, his leg bouncing up and down.

Harry placed a steadying hand on his knee, making him stop moving it

"You don't have anything to worry about, just try to live in the moment okay?" Harry said softly, earning a nod from Louis

"Where are we even going" he asked after a while

"Everywhere" Harry replied

"The moon?"

"If you want" Harry smiled, his hands settled upon the cool leather steering wheel. Louis took this opportunity to look around the trailer.

"Through Paris, all through Rome" he said in a smooth voice that sounded like a song.

"The city of love" Louis singsonged

Harry smiled

And so, that's how they started their summer, 5 best friends, laughing, screaming to music with the windows down, living like people were made to live. And it was only the first day.

•

They drove for a while before Niall had to pee, so they pulled over to a gas station. Both Liam and Zayn were sleeping, the ride was comfortable silence.

"Let's get some snacks" Louis suggests to Harry. It's quite hot by now, so they take off their jackets and make their way to the gas station, stalking up on snacks

When they get back to the trailer, Niall is still in the bathroom and the others are still sleeping. Louis started getting back into the car, but Harry called him over to sit on the hood

"Are we going to the Eiffel Tower?" Louis asked, breaking the silence. His voice came out alot higher than he intended it to

"Wasn't planning on it, why, do you want to? We can if you want" Harry replied.

"No not really, do you?" He answered, scooting up higher on the hood.

"No. I feel like the whole 'city of love' thing is overdone." He said

"How so?"

"Well, hundreds of proposals are done there every day, and that's thought to be romantic. I feel like it's not original" he said

Louis just nodded, laying back on the warm hood of the car.

He felt the metal dip as Harry layed back beside him

"The sun's setting" Harry pointed, Louis waved at the sun, making them both giggle. The orange tinge of the sky slowly disappeared behind the horizon

"Are sunsets overrated too?" Louis joked

"No, they're natural" Harry whispered

"It's cold, let's go back in" Louis said after a moment

Harry sat up, rather quickly

"Yeah, okay" he said, combing his fingers through his hair.

They got back inside and decided to sleep there for the night.

They all packed into the floor like sardines, piled with sheets and pillows, and quickly fell asleep.

•

Louis was awoken late at night, or early in the morning. He didn't know what time. The smell of freshly burned incense wafted through the air. He flopped his arm down beside him to feel an empty bed.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and craned his neck to the side. No Harry. He lay awake for a while waiting for him to come back. He eventually gave up, standing up slowly.

He followed the scent that morphed into pot, outside of the trailer. Harry sat in the sand, leaning up against the side of wheel of the metal trailer.

Harry didn't notice him at first, inhaling the burning stick, blowing out the smoke into the clear sky.

"What are you doing up?" Louis asked quietly, as to not wake the others.

"Couldn't sleep" he replied, bending one leg and pulling it up to his chest.

"Me too" Louis lied

"Come sit" Harry beckoned, tilting his head