Hold On For Dear Love (Sequel to WILD)

A few days later we decided to take the time to explore the small island. I brought along my camera and snapped random pictures as we walked along the beach. I paused to pick up a seashell from the water then walked back over to show Harry.

“Look at the pretty colors on this” I said as I looked it over.

His arms wrapped around my waist and he put his chin on my shoulder so he could look at it.

“It’s pretty, but nowhere near as pretty as you” he said softly.

I smiled and turned my head to kiss him before spinning out of his grasp.

“Hey, come back” Harry whined, puffing out his bottom lip in a pout.

“You’ll have to catch me first” I said with a grin before taking off running down the shore.

He laughed and took off after me. I managed to make it all the way back to the house before he finally got close enough to grab me by the waist. We spun around and ended up falling back into the sand in a heap of laughter. I turned to face him and laid my head on his chest.

“We’ve only been here a few days and I already love it” I said as I traced the tattoos on his chest.

“Me too”

He kissed my forehead, letting his lips linger there for a few moments before pulling back to brush some stray hair from my face. He looked like he was deep in thought about something.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked him.

“You” he replied with a smile.

“Oh really? What about me?”

“Just everything.”

“Nothing specific”

I giggled as he leaned forwards and kissed my nose.

“Nope”

His gaze turned towards the water and I noticed his eyes widen slightly. He sat up, then turned to pull me up with him.

“Emily, look” he said.

I turned to look out at the water and gasped when I saw the beautiful sight before me. I’ve seen sunsets here a few times now, but this one was breathtaking. The sun laid just over the horizon, leaving a mix of pinks, purples, and blues in the sky that reflected over the water. I immediately got up and ran over to my beach towel where my camera was sitting then came back to my spot and took a few pictures of it. When I was done, Harry took the camera and held it behind us, facing towards us and the sunset. With his free hand he turned my head to look at him before placing a kiss on my lips while snapping a picture at the same time. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck, hearing the familiar click of the camera once again. Our lips continued to move in sync for a few moments before he suddenly pulled away with a smirk on his face. I pouted as he stood up and began to back towards the water.

“What are you doing?” I asked as he untied the strings of his swim trunks.

“Going for a swim” He replied.

My eyes widened in realization, his thumbs hooking under the belt of his shorts.

“Oh no”

“Oh yes”

He did a goofy little dance as he dropped his shorts and threw them back at me, making me laugh. He then turned and ran into the water, disappearing under the waves. A few minutes later his head popped up and he smiled at me.

“Come on, babe” He called.

“No. Absolutely not”

“Get in the water! Get in!” He yelled.

He paused for a second then laughed.

“I’m sorry, love. Would you get in? Please, would you get in?” he asked.

I had a sudden flashback of The Notebook when he said that and I couldn’t help but smile. That would be the one movie that the two of us watch almost every time we have a movie night. I just never gets old, and I still cry every time the ending comes.

I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to see Harry waiting for me. I rolled my eyes and stood up, making a grin appear on his face as I took off my suit. I quickly went to the water and stepped in, swimming over to him.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this” I said.

“I know. I’ve been trying to get you to come skinny dipping with me for ages. You must really love me” Harry said with a smile.

“Or I’m just incredibly stupid”

“Or, you were just seduced by my insanely good looks” he replied as he pulled me close to him.

“Maybe a little”

He smiled and pressed his lips to mine. Our mouths immediately fell into sync, tongues dancing together between our lips. I let a few moments pass before I pulled back and leaned toward his ear.

“How about we continue this in the shower?” I said, placing a kiss on the skin just below his ear.

“Mmm. That sounds like a plan”

Our lips collided once more and he lifted my legs up so I could wrap them around his waist, then he carried me up the beach to the house.

~.:o:.~

Harry's POV

I woke up to a loud bang that sounded like a gunshot, followed by a scream. I shot up in the bed, heart pounding when I saw that Emily was no longer beside me. I immediately lept from the bed and ran out of the room, calling her name as I searched through the entire house. I looked everywhere, but found no sign of her until I noticed that the patio doors were open. My eyes scanned the beach and widened when I saw her laying in the sand.

“Emily!” I cried, running to her.

When I reached her I saw that she was wearing the same clothes from the night before -- my Pink Floyd tshirt and her black shorts -- but the shirt was now soaked with blood. I dropped to my knees and pulled her into my arms, cradling her upper body on my lap.

“Emily. Wake up, baby. Come on. Please wake up” I begged her through the tears that were forming in my eyes. “You can’t leave me!!! I won’t let you!!”

“H-Harry” she choked out.

I looked down and saw her struggling to stay awake. My trembling hand moved up to touch her cheek.

“Who did this to you?!” I asked through clenched teeth. “I’ll kill ‘em! I’ll fucking kill ‘em!”

“It was...” She suddenly started to cough up blood, choking on it as it filled her lungs. A few more seconds passed before she went limp in my arms.

“NO!”

~.:o:.~

I jumped awake, finding myself in the bedroom of the beach house once more. My eyes immediately turned to the space next to me, finding it empty. My heart pounded, terror filling my body.

"Emily!!" I yelled out, praying that she would answer back.

I got out of bed to go find her, but stopped in the doorway when she ran in with a worried look on her face

"What?" She asked me.

I let out a sigh of relief and pulled her into a deep kiss, my hands cupping her cheeks. She was confused, but kissed back until I pulled away so I could hug her. I held her close to me and felt my heart rate slowly start to go back to its original pace. My muscles relaxed now that I had her in my arms and realized that she was safe. I'm just glad it was just a dream.

"What's wrong?" She asked worriedly.

"Nothing, love. Just a bad dream"

"Alright...Well, now that you're up you can come have breakfast" she said with a smile.

She kissed my lips once more then took my hand and led me into the kitchen where she had two plates of pancakes, bacon, and eggs set up on the table. I chuckled as she pulled out a chair for me to sit on.

"That's supposed to be my job" I told her as I sat down.

"Not this time, babe"

She kissed my cheek then went into the kitchen to grab the syrup before sitting next to me. I caught her humming an unfamiliar tune and listened curiously.

"New song?" I asked her as I took a bite of bacon.

"Yeah. I've been playing it in my head all morning. I already have half of it written. If only I had my piano..."

"Well, maybe we can find one somewhere. Would you sing what you have for me? Pretty please?" I added my best puppy dog face so she would give in, which she did.

"Alright fine. Ok, so I got up to the first chorus so far"

She took a quick drink of water to clear her throat before starting to sing.

“With your lovin, there ain’t nothing
That I can’t adore
The way I’m running, with you, honey
Is we can break every low
I find it funny that you’re the only
One I never looked for
There is something in your loving
That tears down my walls
I wasn’t ready then, I’m ready now
I’m heading straight for you
You will only be eternally
The one that I belong to
The sweetest devotion
Hitting me like an explosion
All of my life, I’ve been frozen
The sweetest devotion I’ve known…”

I smiled widely as she finished the song. "You wrote that about us didn't you" I asked her.

"Psh. No. I wrote it about my secret boyfriend I've been hiding away from you for the past four years" she replied with a grin as she took a bite of pancake.

"Ha. Aren't you just a little comedian" I said with a smile.

"Oh you know it"

She did a little hand motion and a goofy face that made me crack up laughing. She giggled along with me for a moment, then finally calmed down.

"Oh, by the way, I called Jimmy to come pick us up in an hour to go wander around the city. Is that alright?"

"Sounds good"

We finished up our breakfast then got ready for our day out. I slipped on some denim shorts and a light blue button up tshirt. Emily wore a white sundress that went down to just above her knees. As she finished doing her hair I decided to check Twitter to see what the fans were doing. A few of them noticed that Emily and I had left for a vacation, but none of them knew where yet. That was good, but after today I think people will figure it out and it'll be all over by tomorrow.

Jimmy, the boat driver, pulled up a few minutes later. I stood up and called for Emily to hurry up.

"One sec!" She called back.

A moment later she appeared with her sunglasses and my wallet in hand. I smiled and took it from her.

"That's where it went" I said.

"I was putting money in it. Oh, and I brought your sunglasses, too, because I knew you'd forget"

She unfolded them and gently set them in place before leaning in to peck my lips.

"Ok. Now we can go" she declared, pulling me down to the boat.

We greeted Jimmy and got settled into the seats as he drove off towards the mainland. As we drove around the nearby islands I couldn't help but turn my eyes to Emily. She was smiling to herself while enjoying the beautiful scenery around us, but none of it compared to her. I couldn't wait until the last few days of the vacation...the time when I would finally put my four months of planning into action.

"Harry!" I snapped out of my thoughts and saw Emily looking back at me with an amused expression.

"We're here" she said.

"Huh?...Oh, right"

We climbed out of the boat and thanked Jimmy for the ride before heading off into the city. The two of us walked along the streets, stopping at a few shops on the way. We eventually came to the gift shop which Emily absolutely HAD to go into. Most people don't know this, but she has the weirdest obsession with key chains. She has to buy one every place she goes, even if they are from different shops in the same city. There is a huge box of them in our closet back home that she keeps them in, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were a couple hundred in it.

"Oo! Look at this one!! It's a little dolphin!!" She said, excitedly holding the key chain up to my face.

"Yeah, it's cute, babe" I told her.

"I'm going to get it" she declared, moving on to the rest of the shop.

I followed her around until I got distracted by some cool looking postcards. As I looked them over I became unaware of the fact that Emily had found a very life-like rubber snake and was creeping up behind me with it. I felt it on my shoulder and when I turned to look at it I let out a girlish scream, swatting it away with my hand. Emily burst into laughter at my reaction and had to grab onto one of the shelves to keep herself from falling over.

"Ha ha. You're hilarious" I said, shooting her a glare.

"I think I'll get this, too" she said as she wiped away her tears.

"I don't think so" I told her as I pulled it out of her hand and put it back where she got it.

"I'll get you back for that"

"Sure you will"

I turned around to smirk at her.

"Are you saying I can't do it?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying" she challenged.

"Oh, it's on"

"Oh my gosh!!" A girly voice cried out.

We both turned to see a girl who looked to be around fourteen standing next to us with an excited look on her face.

"Y-You're Harry Styles and Emily Brighten. I'm such a big fan. Could I have a picture with you? If that doesn't bother you, of course. You don't have to. Man, I'm rambling. I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked" she said, turning to walk away.

"Wait. It's no problem it all" Emily said, making her turn back around.

"Really!?"

"Yeah, of course" Harry agreed.

"Oh my gosh. Thank you so much" she said as she pulled out her phone.

We let her stand in between us and we all made goofy faces as she took the picture. She showed it to us and we laughed at ourselves.

"You look like you're possessed or something" Emily told me.

"Me? Look at you. It's like you just tasted something really sour" he shot back.

"Oh, shut up.” She playfully hit my arm and I just laughed at her. The fan looked at us with a
huge grin on her face. We smiled sheepishly, having completely forgotten that she was there.

“Sorry” Emily said, handing her phone back.

“You guys are so cute!” She gushed.

“Aw, thanks, babe” I said to her.

“You’re welcome. Well, I better leave you two alone. Have fun on your vacation” she said.

“Thanks you, too” Emily called after her.

She waved at us then left the gift shop. Emily turned to me and smiled.

“She was nice” I commented.

“Yeah, she was....I’m still getting the snake” She said as she skipped away from me to get it.

I laughed and shook my head before following her.

Notes