Stephanie’s P.O.V.
As Harry and I walked on, I remembered what Elijah had told me yesterday. The thought kept circling in my brain and I knew I had to talk to Harry about it.
“Harry?” I quietly asked.
“Yeah?” he responded.
“Do you think it’s still too early to visit my dad?” I questioned. He didn’t reply immediately, which made my heart sink, so I decided to tell him. “Yesterday, when Elijah pulled me into his bedroom, he told me that I should wait a few more days before seeing my dad because everything’s been moving too fast for me, but I want to see him so bad! I haven’t seen him since I was born! I don’t even remember his face and I need to see him! He’s my biological dad, for goodness sakes!”
“I kinda agree with Eli….” Harry answered.
“What?”
“I don’t want to see you get so stressed with everything going on,” he added. That’s exactly what Eli said.
“But it’s my dad!” I protested.
“I’m sorry, Steph, but Eli’s your big brother and you should listen to him. I promise these next few days will go by fast and then we can go see him,” Harry suggested.
“We?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’m allowed to come with, right?”
“Hmm, I don’t know,” I responded playfully.
“Hey! Come on, I’m now your boyfriend, for crying out loud,” Harry tried. Now that just gave me butterflies.
“Only if you do something nice for me…”
“Like what?”
“Take me out on a date,” I firmly offered.
“Deal,” he immediately agreed.
“But it has to be super romantic and you must ask me out on it, first,” I advised.
“What? Come on,” he groaned.
“If you don’t, you can’t come with me….”
“So is this what it’s going to be like dating you?” he asked. I giggled.
“Maybe…” I replied. “Not all the time.”
“Good, because I might just have to break up if...”
“No! No, no, no, no, no, no! I promise this will be the only time!” I declared, trying to convince him not to. I know he won’t because we were both laughing, but you never know when someone can be serious.
“Then it’s settled,” he delivered.
By that point, our walk was over and we reached the rest of our group. I don’t believe we missed much, since all of them were still by the table.
“Where were you two?” Louis asked, giving us a look.
“We had stuff to deal with,” I answered.
“Mmhmm, stuff,” Zayn remarked, giving us another look to tell us that he knew what we meant.
“Shut up, Malik,” Harry replied, sitting down in one of the lawn chairs. The picnic table wasn’t big enough and we all knew it, so we made sure to bring some chairs with us, and I decided to sit next to Harry in another one.
“Anyone want to go swimming?” Louis asked.
I groaned. “Really? We just sat down!”
“You don’t have to go swimming,” he replied.
“But I want to,” I responded, to which Louis shook his head and smiled.
“Come on,” Harry grumbled, getting up from the chair. I followed his lead and realized I’m not wearing my swimsuit.
“Crap, um, Harry, I’ve got to change first,” I noted, heading over to my bag.
“Bathrooms are across the parking lot,” he instructed, pointing in the direction of the small, brown building. Then he added teasingly, “Do you need me to walk with you and hold your hand?”
“Well, I don’t need it, but I would love it,” I teased back.
“Ooohh, girl’s got game,” Harry winked, walking up next to me and sliding his hand in mine.
“Yeah, I do,” I informed. “I’ve lived in America for 8 years. There’s a ton of stuff you learn over there.”
“Like what?” he questioned.
“Stuff,” I answered, keeping it brief. The only way he’s going to know what you learn is by going there himself.
“Aw, come on, tell me,” he pushed as we make our way across the cement road.
“Nope, sorry,” I apologized, nearing the building. I left him behind as I entered in the girls’ bathroom and changed into my bathing suit. Only was it after I assembled it on did I realize that I needed a new one. This one was too small for me, but it would work for today. I hoped.
Sighing, I exited the bathroom and out into the open air where Harry was waiting for me.
“Wow, you look—”
“I know, I know,” I interrupted, not sure where he was going with that.
“Okay,” he replied, intertwining our hands again and heading to the lake. The minute we got back, everyone was staring at us, apparently surprised. I immediately dropped Harry’s hand in embarrassment, even though I shouldn’t be.
“So, uh, when did this little exchange happen?” Louis teased.
“Shut up, Louis, let young love happen!” Rachel intervened, grinning at me.
“Let’s go into the lake, guys,” I complained. I didn’t really want to talk about my relationship.
“Wait,” Zayn halted. “First, you guys have to spill.”
“Alright, fine, Stephanie and I are officially together,” Harry announced. “Happy?”
“Very,” Louis smiled.
“When?” Zayn asked.
“A few hours ago,” I confessed.
“Aww, see? I knew it was going to happen!” Liam commented.
“Whatever. Can we go swimming now? I didn’t put on my swimsuit for no reason!” I delivered.
“Yes, yes, come on, guys,” Rachel declared, standing up and leading everyone onto the warm sand. I followed after her but Harry grabbed my arm and pulled me into the water in a matter of seconds.
“Harry, it’s cold!” I complained, wading up to my knees.
“Oh, it’s not that cold,” he said, bobbing in the water.
“How are you up to your neck?” I asked amazed.
“Like I said, it’s not cold,” he responded. “I’m used to this, Steph, and so should you.”
“I know, I know. I haven’t been here in a long time, Harry,” I replied, looking out and around the lake. It actually isn’t that big of a lake, to be honest. I’ve gotten used to Lake Michigan back in Wisconsin, and this compared to that is like a pond.
Suddenly, water was pushed towards me and drenched me good, and after I wiped my eyes from the water to see, another wave came at me. Hold on, there weren’t any waves before…
“Gotcha! Twice!” Harry laughed.
“Harry, that wasn’t funny,” I pouted.
“Aw, does Stephanie need a wittle cheering up?” Harry asked, wading closer and closer to me until his chest was level with my eyes. He seemed to appear like he was towering over me, well, he kind of was, with my neck stretching up and his head peering down. Instead of that tantalizing smile he had just plastered on his face a few moments ago, his expression was now serious, searching deep inside my eyes. I felt his hands move under the surface and grasp mine, also in the water. Our faces were soon inches apart, slowly coming closer. My breath became shallow as I fluttered my eyes closed to feel his smooth lips molding onto mine. Smiling into the kiss, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my summer than be here with Harry.

Rachel’s P.O.V.
Stephanie and Harry were pretty cute, I have to admit that. I had a feeling this was going to happen, I just didn’t know when. I was very thrilled for them because Harry makes her happy, and there’s no better feeling in the world than seeing your best friends be happy. Watching them reconnect after all of these years caused me to believe that anything can happen if you set your mind to it.
As everyone gathered in the water, I decided to wander around the lake than actually in it. I’m a bit of an adventurer, and apparently so is Niall, as he chose to join me in our exploration. We wandered over by the big rocks lining the lake, since I was curious.
“Dang, that kind of looks creepy,” Niall pointed out, motioning towards the scary woods that lie behind the rocks.
“Yeah, it does. I don’t want to go over there. I’m fine just staying here,” I told him.
“That is totally fine with me,” he replied.
“Woah, these are getting more and more jagged as we go, Niall,” I announced, being the leader.
“Maybe you should come back. I don’t think it’s safe over there,” he asserted.
“Okay,” I agreed. Stepping over the sharp rocks, I crawled my way back to Niall, my hands gripping the dry rocks to help my balance.
Suddenly, my foot slipped on a moss covered rock and my body went into shock as pain shot up my leg. My foot slid into a crack between two rocks, twisting my ankle, while the rest of my body fell helplessly onto the jagged rocks, sending more pain everywhere. My eyes were shut tightly because I couldn’t take this much hurt at once. It felt like I was getting beat up even though there was only one blow.
As I screamed my head off, I heard Niall rushing to my side trying to calm me down. One touch was enough to surprisingly mollify me and my wailing quieted down to sobs.
“What hurts?” Niall asked first.
“Everything,” I managed to get out.
“What hurts the most?”
“My ankle,” I answered in deep breaths.
“Can you get up?” he questioned.
“I-I don’t know, it hurts so much,” I replied.
“Here, come on.” Niall held out his arms and I basically let him do all of the work to pull me up. I winced as my foot was released from the hole it was momentarily captivated in.
“Ow! Oooohh,” I groaned, leaning into him.
“This is going to be the hard part,” he told me. “Just follow my lead.”
Slowly, we climbed across the rocks and back to the soft sand where Niall gently set me down. As I sat there, he ran over to the other guys and yelled at them to come over and help. The pain was soothing a little bit now that I wasn’t lying on the rocks or stuck in between them, but there was a good amount. That’s when I realized my foot was bleeding, too. Great.
“What happened?” Liam interrogated the second he rushed over.
“She fell and twisted her ankle on the rocks,” Niall explained.
“How badly are you hurt?” Liam asked me.
“I can hardly walk,” I answered, a tear forming in the corner of my eye.
“What should we do?” Niall said.
“I believe we’re going to have to take a trip to the hospital,” Liam announced. My eyes opened wide with the thought of that but I have no other choice.
“Can you carry her?” Liam questioned Niall.
“I don’t know, maybe,” Niall responded. He moved over me and scooped me up in his arms, picking me up bridal style. Dang, I didn’t think he was this strong!
Liam scurried to the others and explained to them that we need to go to the hospital and all of them began packing up while Niall transported me to the van. As he did so, I asked him the question that was spinning in my mind.
“Niall, am I going to be okay?”
“Love, you will be just fine. It’s just a sprained ankle,” he answered.
“Promise?
“I promise,” he confirmed, looking in my eyes for a second.
“Will you stay with me?” I questioned.
"Of course I will."
"Positive?"
He took a deep breath before continuing, "Always."

Notes

So I had to explain to Stephanie the importance of the word "always" and if you're a Potterhead, you'll understand. It's such a powerful word after you know the story behind it!

Rachel and Stephanie :)