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Harry had been waiting months for June to finally arrive. He had been saving half of his paychecks and all his vacation days for this moment. It was finally Pride month. Harry was going to be meeting a few of his online friends.
They had all agreed on splitting the hotel cost between the four of them. The curly haired male was beyond excited about it. It was going to be amazing. He was meeting one of his best friends for the first time and finally being reunited with the other two.
The barista kept looking at the clock. He still had fifteen minutes before he could clock out of work. He was getting anxious. He wanted to be free so he could go two cities over to finally be with his friends.
Harry worked at a cute little music cafe. They’d have open mic nights, trivia nights, they sold music, and they sold drinks and food as well. He absolutely loved working there, but he hated how closed minded everyone seemed to be.
He still remembers his first day of work and he had five people complain within the first two hours of his shift about the makeup and nail polish he had been wearing. Since then he had to be pretty conservative with his makeup and his clothes.
The town he lived in was extremely homophobic. They weren't very open minded about things. A lot of the people there were rude and weren't accepting of things or people that were different.
The barista had thought about moving cities. Hell, even moving states. He had some people he cared about and his family, but he hated the majority of the town.
“Okay, Harry, you’re good to go. Have a nice little vacation. Stay safe!” His co-worker Abigail said as she got to work with restocking their little pastry shelf.
“Are you sure? I don’t mind helping you restock," he said as he smiled at her.
“I’m sure, now go before you get stuck here,” she laughed and shooed him away.
Days later, Harry found himself a few cities over. He was excited to finally be free. He was in the middle of checking in when he felt arms wrapped around him. He gasped before turning around and seeing Lukas. He smiled widely and wrapped his arms around him.
"Lukas!" He squealed as he held onto the other tightly. "So nice to see you again," he said before turning back around to finish signing in.
"Can we get four key cards?" he asked as he finished signing some paperwork. He thanked the hotel receptionist.
He handed Lukas a key card.
"Here you go, peasant. Are you the first to arrive? I haven't seen Nicolas or Aimes,"he said as he wrapped his arm around the others.
"Not yet, no. I know Nicolas has about another hour before they're here. Aimes .. I think her flight was landing soon. I don't know to be honest," he said with a small shrug.
"What do you know?" Harry asked the red haired male.
Lukas shrugged. "I don't know shit," he teased as he nudged the other.
Harry laughed and led the other to the elevator. This weekend was going to be amazing. He just knew it.
Later that night the four friends were finally together and were having the time of their life. They were enjoying each other's company and catching up. Harry was glad to finally see Lukas and Aimes again. He also enjoyed meeting Nicolas for the first time as well. He could already see the chemistry between Nicolas and Lukas and he kept sending Lukas looks, which the redhead simply would flip Harry off.
That night they ended up ordering fast food before getting drunk off their asses. Harry was definitely going to be having the time of his life this weekend. He just knew it.
The following two days had been crazy. On the second day they woke up early to start getting ready for the pride parade. Harry was excited, beyond excited. He couldn't wait to meet new people and make new friends.
One of the things he loved about these things was making new friends. He always felt safe and happy. He knew he could be himself and not be judged for who he is.
The music, the cheering, the sun, it all was amazing. Harry was having the time of his life. Lukas and Nicolas had run off somewhere in the crowd and Aimes had found a cute girl to talk to. So Harry was heading off on his own enjoying the moment.
The curly haired male hadn't been paying attention when he tripped after bumping into someone. He gasped as he waited for the impact of the cement. Which luckily never came.
The person he had bumped into luckily caught him.
"Fuck, I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was."
"Harry?" The person cut him off in surprise.
Harry raised a brow and finally looked at who he had bumped into.
It was Louis mother fucking Tomlinson.
Why was Louis Tomlinson here? Out of everyone he possibly could have run into, it had to be this asshole?
Harry stumbled back as he looked at the other wide eyed.
"What.. Louis.. what the fuck are you doing here?" he questioned as he stared at the other.
Louis had his hair of course tied back in a hat, he looked really good. Harry shook his head to get rid of those thoughts.
Louis swallowed nervously as he reached back to rub the back of his neck some.
"I'm here for pride of course," he said as if that was the most obvious thing.
Harry scoffed some as he stared at the other in disbelief.
"You're here willingly?" he asked as he stared at him. "You have to be kidding me. You... you're here to celebrate pride?" he asked sternly as he glared at him.
"Yeah, I am. Believe it or not, I am here to celebrate," Louis said as he watched the other slightly amused.
"I'm sorry but I find that hard to believe. You used to beat the shit out of me because I was gay. You still hang out with Greg and them back home. Like..I.. this makes no sense Louis," Harry said as he took a few steps back.
The brunette sighed as he reached up to scratch at his jaw lightly.
"Well.. I.. I'm not out. I'm.. you know how back home is, Harry. We're not.. we're not welcomed there. Everyone isn't accepting and I," he sucked in a breath. "Look.. I'm sorry for how I treated you, okay? I'm sorry for the shit I did back in school. I never... I never meant to hurt you or say any of the things I had said. If I could take it all back I would. I am sorry. I truly am."
"Keep your apologies. They mean shit to me. I can't. Fuck you," Harry spat before he shoved past Louis.
So much for having a good weekend. So much for leaving his home life well at home. He couldn't believe that Louis out of everyone was there. He had no idea Louis was even gay.
Harry sucked in a sharp breath as he tried to find his best friends. He didn't need this. He didn't need to let this ruin his weekend. He couldn't. He was here to get away from all of the hate and to be surrounded by people who accepted him.
As the barista was shoving through the crowd he ended up getting pulled back.
"Watch where you are going, faggot. No one wants to catch aids," A brown haired male spat at him.
Harry swallowed hard as he tried to pull his arm free.
"Look, I didn't mean any harm. I'm just trying to get to my friends," he tried to explain.
"No, you're trying to spread your fairy dust on others. You're here to shove this shit in our faces," the male spat out again as his hold on Harry's arm tightened.
"Oh I can tell you I'm not. But since you're being a homophobic piece of shit, maybe you shouldn't have to came to an event for my fairy ass," Harry spat out as he got his arm free finally.
Before the curly haired male could turn away he was being shoved to the ground as a fist came out to meet his face. Harry gasped as his ass landed on the cement beneath him. Everything that happened afterwards was a blur.
"HEY!" He heard someone shout out as they rushed over. Everything after that was a blur of fists being thrown and people shouting.
Harry was helped up and was taken off to the side to a bench.
"Hey, careful. Your head was hit pretty hard. A paramedic is on the way to look you over. Cops are talking to the attackers then they're coming over here for questioning. Are you okay?" The person was very gentle and soft with Harry.
The curly haired male slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, my head hurts, and my side. But I'm okay. Thank you.." his voice died down when he saw who had helped him.
Harry could have laughed at the situation he was in.
Of course Louis fucking Tomlinson was the one to save him. Harry ended up laughing anyway.
"Fuck me. Of course," he said as he rolled his eyes softly.
"Look.. I know I treated you like shit years ago. I am sorry for that. But can you put your dislike for me on the back burner and let me help you right now. You took a pretty good beating.. and I want to make sure you're going to be okay," Louis rushed out as he stepped back from the other.
Harry sighed and nodded. He gestured for Louis to sit down next to him.
"Sorry. I just.. you made my life hell for a while, Louis," he admitted as he reached up to rub at his head lightly. "So.. you can't expect me to run into your arms and thank you," he said as he looked at the other.
Louis nodded his head as he carefully sat beside him. "No, I know. That makes sense. Again, I really am sorry for how I treated you. I'm sorry," he said once more.
"Yeah. I'm sure you are. So.. when did you realize you weren't straight?" Harry questioned.
Louis laughed and raised a brow.
"Straight to the point aren't you?" he hummed lightly before continuing. "Well, I think it was my sophomore year of high school. I realized I didn't just like girls. I experimented a lot that year. The following year I realized I was bisexual. I liked both men and women," he explained. "It's why I backed off from beating you and the others. It's why I didn't.. really participate in the bullying anymore."
"Why did you stay friends with them?" Harry asked as he watched him.
"Cause, I had no one else. It's not like I could have come up to you asking to be friends. Not after everything I had put you through the two years previous."
"You have a point. I still would have listened though. I might have given you a chance." Harry explained as he shrugged lightly.
"Still.. it didn't help that I was practically in love with you as well."
"You were what now?"
"Yeah, junior year, I realized I was head over heels for you."
Harry laughed and shook his head. "No. There's no way."
"I'm being honest. I was in love with you. I had such a huge crush on you. I almost asked you out one time. I put secret notes in your locker and everything. I chickened out and stopped the whole thing when Troy almost caught me putting a note in your locker," Louis admitted as he smiled at him.
"Fuck off! You were the one sending me those notes? I thought it was Andi," Harry admitted.
"Yeah, it was me," Louis said as he smiled a little at the other.
Later that evening after Harry had spoken with the cops and had to get pictures taken of his bruises, he was walking back to the hotel with Lukas, Nicolas, and Aimes.
"Harry why the fuck didn't you tell us sooner?" Lukas exclaimed.
"Because, I was catching up with an old friend," Harry said softly. "Besides, I didn't die or end up in the hospital. I'm fine really."
"Still, you should have told us sooner, or called us after it happened. I'm sorry we weren't there for you," Aimes exclaimed as she reached out to wrap her arm around the curly haired males waist.
"It's fine, babes. I was okay, I am okay. I was fine. Besides, I was able to catch up with my friend and all. Things are good."
And Harry meant every word he said too as they walked into the hotel. He glanced up and spotted the male from earlier. He gave the male a shy smile when he had sent a wink his way.
Yeah, things were definitely good now. Who knew that this time he was going to end up finding his soulmate. It's funny how life works.