"Daddy why you do that?"

Harry looked over to Nate, the 3 year old staring back at him and almost seeming disgust as his eyes were locked on his breakfast plate. "Do what...?"

"Put ketchup on you eggs, that wrong," Nate wrinkled his nose at the sight.

"I dunno, I think it's quite good," Harry shrugged. "C'mon try it, you might like it," he said, scooping some up on his fork and offering it to Nate only for the toddler to quickly scamper away and shake his head violently.

And Harry kind of figured he would have that reaction, but he was given the opportunity to freak his son out for a second and he wasn't going to pass it up.

So as Nate was desperately trying to get away from the fork Harry was doing everything in his power to not burst into laughter at his son's face. He thought he could at least try to give him something somewhat nutritious considering everything he picked out at the breakfast bar was nothing but a waffle with some sugar to put on top of it.

"Excuse me, do we have a problem here gentlemen?"

Both Nate and Harry stopped what they were doing, freezing where they were and looking over to the voice, only to see a bright smiling Liam in front of them.

"Uncle Liam!!"

"Big guy," Liam said happily as the 3 year old jumped in his arms. "How was your first night on board?"

"It so fun!! Daddy make friend with Peter!"

At that Liam raised his eyebrows, looking to Harry with a sly grin only for the younger lad to quickly shake his head.

"No, no, it's not like that, and Nathaniel we talked about this, his name isn't really Peter," Harry looked at his son seriously, and seeing him roll his eyes.

"His real name isn't Peter?" Liam asked confused. "What does he have a fake one? What's his actual name the-"

"Louis."

All three of their heads snapped up, noticing the pair of blue eyes looking right back at them with a soft smile.

"Nate I've miss ya since last night, and Harry, long time no chat," Louis winked at the curly haired lad.

And it was immediate Harry felt himself blush, it being just hours ago they finally texted goodnight to each other even though it was about 2 in the morning. The way Liam was looking between them wasn't helping anyone either, his face between a mixture of shock and awe.

"Hey mate, good to meet ya, I'm-"

"You're Louis Tomlinson!" Liam whisper yelled, looking at the brunette haired man wide eyed and trying his absolute hardest not to scream. "Holy- just, oh my- oh my God, it's so great to meet you sir!"

Louis was a bit startled as Liam grabbed his hand and shook it quickly, looking to Harry and seeing him trying to muffle in a laugh, it seeming like these two knew each other. "Well it's uh, it's great to meet you too," he chuckled to himself.

"Can I just say your portrayal of Peter Pan in Once Upon a Time was amazing, fantastic even! You know Peter Pan as a bad guy was really something no one expected and you did it so well, and you looked so young!"

"Just had to shave and do my hair up right," Louis joked as he ran a hand over the stubble covering his cheeks. "Plus I'm a wee bit small, wasn't hard to play a teenager."

At that Liam let out a loud laugh, maybe one that was a tad too loud for the small dining area they were in, but he couldn't help it, Louis Tomlinson was in front of him.

"So uh, I'm just gonna grab some breakfast, but do you guys mind if I join you?" Louis asked, motioning to the buffet behind him before smiling between Nate and Harry.

"Of course not, please, it'd be-"

"Yes!!" Nate interrupted his father. "Go get bekfast but no ketchup on eggs!"

Louis raised his eyebrows as he heard the 3 year old, not even bothering to question him as he laughed to himself, shook his head and walked off to get his food.

"Mate!!" Liam said as soon as Louis wasn't in hearing distance. "What the- where in the hell did you meet Louis Tomlinson and why is he completely smitten with you?"

"Liam," Harry warned with gritted teeth as he glanced to Nate and shook his head. "Can you please, just like, calm down?"

"Calm down?! The famous Louis Tomlinson is giving you heart eyes and you want me to calm down?!"

"Liam for God's sake," Harry groaned, taking Nate from his best mate's arms and asking his son to finish eating, hoping that would distract him. "Him and a couple of his mates were seated with us at dinner last night and we met and I dunno, it was just nice."

"Just nice," Liam scoffed. "It was a hell of a lot more than that if he's looking at you the way he's been since he walked in here."

"What? No, he-" Harry stopped himself, shaking his head and searching for Louis, only to see the other man's eyes already on him from across the room, sending him a quick smile before focusing on gathering the rest of his food.

And Liam just hummed, a smirk coming over him as he saw what Harry did and then seeing his best mate's cheeks go bright red. "So what's the next move H? I mean he's having breakfast with you, maybe invite him to hang with you and Nate today."

Harry opened his mouth, not exactly wanting to tell Liam their exact plans for the day, trying to make something up but before he could Nate beat him.

"Uncle Liam, Peter already come to adventure today!" Nate said excitedly.

Liam looked back at the 3 year old confused, not knowing who Peter was for a second, but then it clicked. "Oh is he now?" he asked, not even trying to hide his teasing smile as he focused his gaze on Harry.

"W-well it's just to get to know him better and ya know like- like Nate invited him and he was free today, so-"

"H please, stop your excuses," Liam scoffed as he rolled his eyes.

"They're not excuses!" Harry whispered shouted, looking at his best mate wide eyed and hoping Louis wasn't anywhere near them to hear this. "I don't know a bloody thing about him! How old he is or even if he's gay! And seriously he's probably just being nice because Nate clearly knows who he is."

Liam pursed his lips, not quite sure about any of that but he didn't want to make the younger lad upset. "Well if that's the case I hope you guys have a fun day and I expect pictures," he smiled at him.

And Harry was quiet for a second, just looking at Liam, letting out a deep breath and offering him a small grin. "Thanks mate," he said softly.

Liam nodded back at him, knowing for a fact they were going to talk about this later tonight once they got back on board. But for now all he did was kiss Nate, say a quick goodbye and smile at Louis as he walked past him to leave the dining room.

"For someone who claims to be shy you seem to make mates rather quickly," Louis said jokingly as he took a seat at the table with his full breakfast plate.

"First of all I never said I was shy, the 3 year old did, and keep in mind, he's a toddler," Harry said teasingly, looking to his son and seeing his cheeks go pink before he giggled to himself. "And second, he's a mate of mine from back home. He's the head of entertainment for the ship and helped me out with the trip."

"Well that was nice of him," Louis smiled back at him. "Nate you must've been excited when your daddy told you about the trip, huh?"

"It present for my birthday!" Nate said excitedly with his mouth full.

Louis looked at the 3 year old shocked, only making him let out a loud giggle. "And when was your birthday?"

Nate had a wide smile on his face, opening his mouth and more than ready to tell the older man before he got stuck. "Uhh... Daddy?"

"July 23rd love," Harry rolled his eyes fondly. "Big guy just turned 3 a week ago," he said proudly, still trying to wrap his head around when his son grew up, figure out when Nate wasn't a baby anymore.

"Wow, well then happy late birthday," Louis chuckled to himself before taking a bite of his food.

"Thank you!" Nate said happily. "And no worry Peter you no have to get me a present."

"Nathaniel!" Harry looked at his son wide eyed as Louis let out a barking laugh.

"What? Daddy I say he no have to get me present," Nate huffed, not knowing what he said wrong.

Harry rubbed a hand over his face, his son being something else. "Well can you at least say his real name? We've talked about this, it's Louis buddy, not Peter."

Nate looked over to the blue eyed man, to him still only seeing Peter, but if his daddy was so persistent that wasn't his name he thought maybe he should believe him. "Fine."

Harry breathed out a "thank you" before glancing to Louis and offering him an apologetic look. It seemed as though he didn't even care, instead just smiled back at him before he took another bite of his food.

"So uh, Niall and Zayn didn't want to come down to breakfast?" he asked, trying to start a conversation.

"No they uh... Well let's just say that last night they went a bit overboard at the deck party. Wouldn't be surprised if they didn't get out of bed all day," Louis laughed quietly to himself.

"You didn't go?" Harry asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"No, not my kind of scene," Louis shook his head. "Plus I was a bit busy talking to a certain someone."

Harry hummed and nodded, not thinking much of it until he saw the way Louis was looking at him, and realizing he was talking about him. "Oh, uh- yeah, yeah," he said sheepishly, knowing his cheeks were going red.

Last night was such a blur to him, he barely even remembers what him and Louis talked about. Trying to think back to it Harry really only remembers the blue eyed lad telling him story after ridiculous story, mostly consisting of Zayn and Niall doing something crazy while they were working on a movie, or were just hanging out.

And it was kind of refreshing for Harry to learn that the real life Louis was much like the various characters he's played in movies. He was funny and charming, savvy and spontaneous if the stories he told were anything to go by. And Harry thought that maybe Louis was the kind of person he should keep around, someone to get him out of his shell and maybe force him out of his comfort zone.

"So gents what's the plan for today? Anything I need to pack?" Louis asked as he looked between the two Styles.

"Sunscreen," Nate said immediately, looking to the older man very seriously. "If you no put sunscreen on the sun monster come and burn you. Daddy say it hurt a lot, he scared of sun monster," he whispered to him.

Louis raised his eyebrows as he glanced from Nate to Harry and saw the curly haired lad nodding rather seriously back at him. "Oh yeah, he'll get you alright," he said, almost sounding scared of the monster himself. "Thanks for reminding me buddy, we don't want that evil guy coming anywhere near us."

Nate shook his head, wanting nothing to do with the sun monster and happy he could help Louis keep him away too.

"So other than sunscreen we'll need bathing suits, towels, a couple drinks, maybe some snacks, and a few toys."

"Great, great," Louis nodded back at Harry. "Thanks for getting all that stuff together for me, but what about Nate?" he asked, looking back at him confused.

But it was also at the same time the 3 year old next to him let out a loud laugh, throwing his head back and almost falling out of his seat as he heard Louis. "No! That for me, not you!"

"What?!" Louis asked wide eyed. "Well then who's gonna pack my snacks and toys?!"

"You crazy! You old and no need snacks or toys!"

Louis felt his breath catch, placing a hand on his chest and looking back at the 3 year old like he just broke his heart.

"Uh-oh looks like you hurt his feelings Nate," Harry gasped, seeing the face Louis was making and trying not to laugh at the way his lip was quivering and fake sniffles were coming out of him.

Nate's jaw went slack, looking between his father and Louis, not sure what to do, until one thing came to mind, the one thing that always makes him feel better.

And before anyone knew what was happening Louis had the wind knocked out of him as Nate basically leaped into his lap, wrapped his arms around his neck and hugged him with all his might.

"I no mean hurt feeling, you not old," he said quietly as he pat the back of Louis' head.

Louis was still trying to get his breathing back to normal, but he couldn't help the small laugh that came out of him as he hugged Nate back. "You sure?"

Nate quickly nodded, pulling away slightly and wiping away tears that weren't even on the older man's cheeks. "I sure."

And Louis didn't even try to stop the smile that came over him, seeing Nate so concerned for someone he barely even knew, it just showed how much love he has. But it was also at the time he heard a camera go off, knowing that noise anywhere and looking all over the place for where it came from.

"Daddy," Nate groaned. "Stop it, you no need picture," he said annoyed.

Then Louis saw it, his eyes focusing on Harry and seeing a camera in his hand, not even sure where he pulled the thing out from

"C'mon, you're cute," Harry laughed, turning his camera around and showing his son the picture.

But Nate just rolled his eyes, not even a little bit interested in what his daddy was showing him.

"Alright fine," Harry breathed out, it being clear Nate didn't care. "Can you try to finish your breakfast at least?"

And he was happy that the 3 year old seemed willing to do that, but it was also at the same time he felt someone tapping his foot, looking up and seeing Louis smiling at him.

"Can I?" he asked, motioning to the camera.

"Oh uh, yeah, of course," Harry said a bit surprised, happily turning his camera around for Louis to see. "It's uhm, well you know it's just a quick shot, not my best work but-"

"Hey, c'mon, don't cut yourself short," Louis said softly, his eyes scanning over the picture.

He didn't know what it was about it that captured his attention so quickly. Maybe it was Nate looking at him so softly or the way he was grinning back at the 3 year old as he held him in his arms. There was an innocence about it, how two people who were almost complete strangers were so comfortable with one another.

"It's great Harry, really..."

Harry could see how genuine Louis seemed and he himself was a bit surprised at the reaction, but he definitely appreciated it. "Thank you Louis, at least someone likes it," he said, side eyeing his son playfully, only to see him shrug and take another bite of his breakfast.

Harry really didn't expect Nate to say anything, him always being a bit funny when pictures were involved or whenever he talked about his studio. He had an idea as to why though, but there was nothing he could do to change it.

Maybe he could talk to the 3 year old at some point about it, but now wasn't the time, especially with Louis here.

"Daddy can we go?" Nate asked, finishing the last of his breakfast and moving from his seat to his father's lap.

"Yeah, we can get ready to go in a little bit," Harry nodded, almost done with his own food as he wrapped an around his son. "Louis will it uhm, will it take you long to get ready?"

"Not at all," Louis shook his head. "Just have to get me trunks and pack a bag for the day."

Harry hummed, saying a quiet "perfect" before he his cleaned his plate, knowing he should take Nate to their room and get him ready since it takes the 3 year old a good 10 minutes just to change into swimming trunks.

"I'll meet you at your room?" Louis asked, seeing the two get up from the table.

Harry nodded and smiled back at the blue eyed lad, shifting Nate in his arms and assuring his son that they were finally going, him clearly more than ready to get their day of adventures started.

*~*

Harry held onto Nate's hand tightly, the 3 year old skipping down the dock, looking all over the place amazed and almost squealing just at the sight of palm trees. He had to admit it though, even just getting off the boat he could see this place was beautiful

"Wow..."

And when Harry looked over to Louis he could see him in awe, his eyes locked on the beach in front of him and seeming more than ready to just sit back and relax in the sand.

Next to him Nate seemed to want to do anything but relax, pulling on his daddy's hand and successfully making him trip over his own feet.

And Harry swears he was a second away from falling just before he felt a strong hand grab his arm and helped him stand back up, only to look over and see Louis trying to hold in a laugh.

"You good?" he smiled at the green eyed lad, carefully adjusting his grip on him, wrapping his other arm around Harry gently and helping him fully stand.

Harry went wide eyed, his mouth opening but absolutely no words coming out. His voice felt numb, body almost unable to move in Louis' arms. The only thing bringing him out of his small trance was Nate tugging on him again and the blue eyed lad squeezing his hip gently, clearly trying to bring him back to earth.

"Y-yeah, yeah, I-I'm fine," he stuttered out, clearing his throat and trying to get his heart beating again.

"Daddy come on! We gots to go swimming!" Nate groaned, trying to pull his father to the beach.

"Maybe give your dad a second there buddy, he looks a bit dazed," Louis said, not even trying to hide his teasing smirk as he winked at Harry, still refusing to take his hands off him.

"N-no I-I- I'm-" Harry wasn't even sure words could come out at this point, he probably seemed like a right mess. "W-we can go, come on."

The look Louis was giving him wasn't helping anyone though, neither was the hand that refused to leave his hip even after they started walking towards the beach again.

Harry felt like he couldn't move, but somehow his feet managed to shuffle forward thanks to Nate tugging on his hand and Louis kind of pulling him along as well with his arm wrapped around him.

Luckily it seemed as though that neither of them noticed how dazed he was, Louis too busy pointing things out to Nate, like a boat or windsurfers, and the 3 year old was in awe of it all.

And Harry really did try to distract himself as they walked. Being outside for only minutes and already the blazing sun was making him sweat, but luckily the tropical breeze was just enough so he wouldn't look disgusting. And just from listening to the waves in the distance already he could feel himself relaxing.

Sand was finding its way between his toes, and truth be told it was exactly what Harry needed. What he didn't need was Louis' hand going from his hip to his lower back as they walked, almost like he was trying to guide him along the way and make sure he didn't trip on anything else, like he wanted to protect him.

Harry didn't need it, but he would be lying to himself if he said he didn't want Louis' hand to stay right where it was on him, for any more room to be created between them as they walked down to the beach.

"What do we think boys? Here good?" Louis asked, pulling his sunglasses down from his hair to his nose, seemingly finding a decent spot to set themselves up.

"I wanna go swimming!" Nate said excitedly, being so close to the water and just itching to go in.

Harry opened his mouth, wanting to tell his son that of course they would go swimming just as soon as they set all of their stuff up but with Louis taking one his bags off his shoulder and smiling at him he felt himself still. Even behind his sunglasses he could see the crinkles by his eyes and God Harry didn't know how he was going to last all