Work Text:
This was a bad idea. A really, really bad idea.
How did Zayn even rope him into this? Maybe it's the creepily calm way he proposes his ideas, like nothing could possibly go wrong. Or maybe Louis is just a stupid, gullible bastard who has nothing better to do.
He shakes his spray can anxiously to stall from actually doing the crime, because last he checked — yup, vandalism is a crime. Zayn is already spraying his design across the brick wall, it's the wall that people pass when they're trying to get to the west wing of the school. Which makes their school sound like some fancy rich kid academy but it's actually not, their principal is just pretentious.
Louis sighs and peers across the grassy yard, but he can't see anything with his poor eyesight and how dark it is.
"You gonna do something or what, man? I'm pretty sure the chemicals are mixed up by now," Zayn remarks slightly passive aggressive, taking a sideways glance at him. As if he's the one going a bit bonkers right now, puh-lease. Louis has known for a while now that Zayn likes to spray paint blank walls, acting like they're his personal canvases, but Louis always just supported him from the side. Never actually thought he'd be the one dressed in the black clothes with the gloves on and holding the materials. He's also freezing his ass off, which doesn't ease the stress nausea at all.
Louis has never pegged himself as a "goody two-shoes", but there's nothing shameful about being afraid he might get killed by his mother — who will literally kill him if she finds out about this.
"I'm not that artistic, Z. Can you just draw out the lines for me and I'll fill 'em in?" Louis asks, a hopeful lilt to his voice. He can see Zayn smile behind his white surgical mask, used to avoid inhaling the paint, his eyes crinkling like the too-smug-friend that he is. Louis holds his spray paint can between his thighs so he can rub his hands up and down his arms to warm himself up. How is Zayn not incredibly cold right now?
The suspiciously warm blooded boy takes a step back to admire his work. "Sure. Let's just be quick, the security guards that work in the church across the street switch shifts at eight thirty."
"How the hell do you even know that, dude?" Louis questions incredulously, but Zayn just shrugs like it's normal. Louis stops warming himself up and instead opts to fill in the perfect line work that Zayn created with an ugly yellow color that hurts his eyes. He's not even completely sure what Zayn is spelling out, he'll have to step a couple yards back to read and comprehend the whole thing since he's not fluent in bubble letters.
"Ah, this is gonna be so sick. Can't wait for people to see this on Monday." Zayn continues painting, eyes narrowing in concentration. Despite Louis' nausea and incredible frustration for allowing himself to be included in this, he does admire Zayn's passion for art. It's almost like his outlet, where he expresses himself in a way that he takes satisfaction from. Louis can relate a little bit, he feels a passion for football. But it's a tad bit different considering football isn't a misdemeanor, but that's besides the point.
Louis nods slowly, turning back to his own work. "So what're we spelling, anyway? Or is it a surprise?" He asks amusedly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"Fuck Buford," Zayn answers without missing a beat, and with a smile that Louis can still see behind his mask.
Louis 'ahh's in consideration. Trying to figure out why Zayn would have a personal vendetta against their principal.
"Oh... because of the sexual assault allegations or him taking away our Black History courses to make room for Golf lessons?"
"Both — all of it. God, that guy is a huge douche bag. Like massive."
Louis feels slightly less bad about doing this now and understands why Zayn was so adamant on doing it in the first place. But he also realizes they'll get in even bigger trouble for it, personally attacking the principal. This could be cause for expulsion, right?
But that's not even important right now, he accidentally drifted out of lines and he cringes at his messy work. It's alright, he trusts Zayn to make it look nicer. He's the expert.
"And he always smells like garbage too. Maybe the way you smell directly correlates to how valuable you are as a person? Much to think about right now," Louis muses, taking a step back to see how it looks so far.
Zayn laughs at Louis' mindless rambling, pulling down his mask.
"Thanks for helping me with this, Lou. Best friend bonding is always important."
"Righttt," Louis drags on, unconvinced. "Maybe we should rob a liquor store next?"
Zayn's eyes light up like he just shared the most brilliant plan ever and Louis groans loudly, slumping against the wall.
—
Ever since Saturday night, Louis hasn't heard a peep from anyone at the school. No email regarding the vandalism sent out to all the parents and definitely no call to his mother in case they knew it was Louis specifically. And Louis might know that because all weekend he's been watching his mum's phone like a hawk, waiting to grab it in case it starts ringing.
Just wanted to help you out by answering it, is what he planned on telling his mum if she asked him what the hell he was doing. And if it was the school, he'd just tell them that they had the wrong number. But nothing, absolutely no word from anybody except Zayn who texted to ask if Louis stole his black beanie.
Which he did, obviously. But Zayn doesn't have to know that.
So on Monday, when Louis goes back to school for the week, he feels a little more relaxed. Maybe they got away with it? He chats with Zayn before heading off to their first classes and sits down in his usual chair, everything is normal.
Him and Zayn don't have that many classes together, unlike their first year of high school when they had six classes together and became best friends. Now they just share Calculus and lunch.
Zayn is pretty much Louis' only good friend. Louis has the guys on his football team and a couple people from his other classes, but they're all just his friend because he's well known through out the school. They wanna get invited to the parties or be able to say they slept with the school's football captain, so of course it's all pretty shallow acquaintanceships. And, important to note, he doesn't put out that easy, in spite of what may be written on some of the doors of their toilet stalls.
Okay, one person wrote about him and it might've been Zayn, just because he wanted to spread rumors around about Louis, but it didn't work. Zayn was very disappointed, Louis slightly relieved.
But anyway, it's important to note that many people know his name, because when the Vice Principal calls his and Zayn's full names over the school intercom, calling them down to the office, everybody turns to look at him and let out scandalized ooh's and ahh's. Don't they have lives of their own?
Louis huffs as he gathers his things, not allowing himself to panic until he has stepped out into the hallway.
That's how he found himself about shit his pants in a chair next to Zayn with a scary guidance counselor staring at them firmly behind her burgundy reading glasses. Her wrinkles make her look intimidating, like she wouldn't be scared at all to smack them upside the head in two seconds. Louis is suddenly thankful Zayn is going through this with him, he isn't even sure what he would do if he was all by himself.
He's never gotten in big trouble before. Well, once he dared his friend in primary school to cut off his eyebrows with safety scissors for a bag of skittles, but that was just kid stuff. This is a little more serious.
"The administration has called both of your guardians and they've been informed of your irresponsible actions. And we've already decided on a punishment best fit for this kind of behavior," the counselor informs them, seeming a bit bored with the whole situation but also glaring up at the pair before she reaches for a couple papers next to her arm.
The office they're sitting in is unsettlingly warm and there's too many plants, he feels like he's sitting in a bird sanctuary, except there are no birds and too many stacks of papers. Louis can practically hear Zayn's heart beating out of his chest. They share a worried glance, hoping they don't get expelled from the school but honestly that might be the least of their worries. Principal Buford is strict, and Louis doubts they'll walk out of this office unscathed. Dr. Buford is probably hiding behind one of the filing cabinets with a golf club ready to attack.
"The Principal and Vice Principal have discussed what route best taken for you two and have shown admirable mercy, since you're both seniors and will be graduating at the end of the year. They've decided to sentence you to three hundred hours of volunteer work, as well as a two week suspension from any extra curricular activities, which includes football and the after school photography club."
The tension immediately flows out of both Louis and Zayn's shoulders, reaching over to subtly squeeze each other hand's in moral support. This is much better than expected. Of course Louis is not looking forward to the anger from his mum or volunteering all year, but hey, this is better than expulsion. But also no football for two weeks, which majorly sucks.
The Counselor turns her computer over to face them after clicking a couple keys, and Louis physically cringes at the sight. It's a grainy — yet obvious — video of him and Zayn Saturday night painting the school wall. It catches Louis turning around to see if anybody is watching, completely missing the camera and showing his entire face. God, with how many heist movies he's seen you would think he and Zayn would've considered the possibility of cameras or at least worn masks. This is just embarrassing.
She doesn't say much after that, just lets them wallow in their own humiliation and hands them information on where they will be volunteering. Apparently their school has a volunteer club? Louis has never heard of them, but he thinks they might be the dorky looking kids who wear green t-shirts with cartoon pictures of Earth around the school and hand out flyers. Louis sort of assumed they were apart of theatre doing a skit or something, which he realizes sounds incredibly stupid now.
Once they leave the office, getting sent back to their classes and the door shuts behind them, Zayn speaks.
"I am so, so sorry, man. I swear I would've never dragged you along with me if I knew there were cameras. They must be hidden in the trees or something!" He practically shouts, eyes wide with conviction.
Louis just laughs, reaching up to squeeze Zayn's shoulder. The hallways are completely abandoned, only the distant sound of Teacher's talking in their classrooms. "Relax, mate. I'm capable of making my own decisions and I decided to go with you," he shrugs, putting on a calm face for the sake of Zayn whose face is much paler than normal. "Partners in crime, right? I would never let you go down alone."
Zayn sighs, nodding along. "You're right, I'm glad I don't have to do this volunteer stuff by myself. These three hundred hours are gonna be a pain, but I'll figure out how to join after school."
"Yeah, alright. Just don't sign me up for anything like cleaning up swamps or something." Louis scrunches his nose. Zayn gives him a double thumbs up, but by the look in his eyes Louis thinks he might purposely try to do the opposite. Fabulous.
—
"Lewis William Tomlinson! I cannot believe you right now!" Jay yells over the phone, voice unwavering and firm. Louis winces. If he wasn't going deaf before, he definitely is now.
"I'm so sorry, mum. Me and — "
"I am not done yet!" She shouts, and Louis immediately shuts up. He's currently pulling out of the student parking lot in his beat up Ford. The phone squeezed between his shoulder and ear as he drives.
He's never made his mum this mad. Louis is always on his best behavior, because she already has a lot to deal with regarding his little sisters. And he feels extra guilty since she just had a long shift at the hospital, but maybe if Louis explains how stupid it was and shifts the blame a little bit onto Zayn, it'll be okay. Jay could never stop loving Zayn anyway, he likes to crochet with her on the weekends.
"You wrote profanity on the walls of your school? What kind of behavior is that?! Is that how I taught you to act? Sure as hell not!" Jay sighs loudly in exasperation and Louis just stays silent so he doesn't accidentally interrupt her again. "We'll talk about this immediately when you get home while you help me with dinner."
"Yes, mum." Louis nods, already turning the corner into their neighborhood. She hangs up after she hears his confirmation.
His mum lectures him for an hour after he gets home, but she seems satisfied with what the school has already put on his schedule and doesn't punish him any further. Jay just warns him that if he ever does something like this again, she'll sell his car for parts and that effectively scares him straight. He dips a toe in the pool by holding his arms out for a hug after they've settled everything, an embarrassed smile on his face. She rolls her eyes but still accepts, muttering about her smug children.
But eventually he's allowed upstairs with the promise of never doing that or anything like it again. Phew. Louis has been a little too lucky this week. But maybe luck would've been not getting caught at all.
It's a beautiful day outside, the sky clear and just a gentle breeze. It's a shame he's not allowed to go to practice today, but he'll have to get used to that feeling since he's banned for a couple weeks. Just as he closes the door to his bedroom, his phone starts to ring in his pocket. The only person who calls him while he's home, Zayn.
"Hey man, so I talked to this guy that's apparently apart of the volunteer club and he said we'd have to come in tomorrow during one their meetings to sign up. They meet on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays," Zayn just lays it all out for him. Not even letting Louis say hello, like damn.
"Right, well I wanna get it over with, so let's just go tomorrow. Are you free?" Louis plops down on his bed stomach first, considering a small nap before dinner. But first he has to get Zayn off the phone.
"Yeah, since photography is officially off the table. Just meet me in the commons after last bell?"
"Will do. See ya later." He hangs up after Zayn says goodbye and chucks his phone onto a pile of clothes one the floor, curling up for his nap. He doesn't bother changing out of his school clothes, the weight of today already forcing his eyes closed.
—
The volunteer club member Zayn talked to yesterday is probably the most bubbly and cheery person Louis has ever met, it actually gives him a small headache. He's blond and moves his hands around wildly when he's trying to explain something, but to be honest, Louis sort of likes the energy he radiates. It's a refreshing comparison to the depressing glow high school inevitably carries.
"Oh, I'm Niall by the way," He informs with a grin, sticking his hand out for Louis to shake since Zayn already met him the day before. Niall told them all about what the volunteer club is here for and what they do on a daily basis. He doesn't seem at all put off by or even mention the reason that they want to join, but Louis is pretty sure he knows since the whole school is talking about it. It makes him feel a little self conscious that people are gossiping about them.
It's pretty split between the school, half of the students think Louis and Zayn are hooligans who have ruined the school's spotless reputation and the other half stop Louis and Zayn in the hallways to tell them how awesome it looks and pat them on the back.
"It's nice to meet you, mate. I'm Louis." He smiles back.
"Well, c'mon then, you guys," Niall ushers them out of the commons eagerly. "I'll take you to our meeting room and introduce you to the rest of the team. We have a guy who is basically the organizer for everything and he's the one you have to talk to, to sign up. But he's super nice so there's nothing to worry about."
Louis can't imagine anyone being nicer than Niall, but he'll take his word for it. Niall leads them down a couple hallways and into this room with about eight or nine people in it. The three of them stand in the doorway as Niall allows for Zayn and Louis to take a look around. All the people seem to have their own tasks, but a loud chatter flows around as people discuss and pass around random folders that Louis can't help but to be curious about.
How hilarious would it be if the innocent little volunteer club turned out to be like the head of a huge drug ring or something? The idea is immediately shut down when Louis spots a table of juice boxes and tiny sandwiches, not really what he had in mind when he pictured drug lords.
"Harry! We have some new members," Niall calls over the apparent leader of their group. Louis watches as a tall boy with curly hair turns away from the girls he was listening to and faces them instead.
Wow. He's pretty, like so pretty that Louis might have to check his pulse to make sure he's still alive.
"Ah, that's right. I almost forgot," Harry comments softly as he walks over to them. And oh, his voice is even prettier. Deep and full. Louis might need to take a small breath. "I'll get you guys all sorted out." He gestures for them to follow him and Louis immediately steps forward, tugging Zayn by sleeve to make sure he's coming with him. Zayn looks completely casual being here, but Louis doesn't really know what to do with himself around this many people he's never met before.
Niall walks away to do something else, leaving Harry to deal with them. Louis wonders absently if Harry is into guys. Maybe Louis could ask for his number, or would it be stupid to hit on the guy in charge of all of this? He's never seen Harry around the school at all, or he's pretty sure he'd at least remember him. Harry has colorful eyes and a delicate waist line that Louis glances down at a couple times as they're following him to a row of filing cabinets in the corner of the room.
"Alright, I just need you to fill out these forms with your name, signature and grade level. I'll also need your parents' signatures for permission to leave school grounds with school provided transportation," Harry explains as he lays out the papers for them on a near by table. He talks really slow, and Louis would usually find that annoying but with Harry it's cute. He probably needs to pull himself together, he doesn't even know Harry's last name yet.
"Awesome, thanks," Zayn speaks first, already taking a pen from Harry's outstretched hand and filling out his form.
Harry nods and smiles politely. "You're Zayn, right? I saw your pictures in last months' photography competition, you're really good."
Louis finds himself frowning a little bit, which is childish since all Harry did was talk to Zayn instead of him, but whatever. Louis can take pictures too. Sure, they wouldn't be as good, but if that's all it takes to grab Harry's attention. He just huffs and grabs a pen to fill out his form as well.
"Thanks, man! Are you into photography?" Zayn responds, looking up momentarily from his paper. He speaks with excitement, obviously flattered by the recognition.
Harry nods, leaning his shoulder against the filing cabinet and crossing his arms over his chest. Louis' eyes linger on him a little bit longer than necessary when he sees the gentle outline of muscles on his biceps. Harry doesn't seem to notice, and in fact, he hasn't even so much as glanced at Louis this whole time.
"Yeah, I'm in Mrs. Hannigan's second bell. I didn't enter in the competition though, black and white theme isn't really my thing." Harry shrugs, a faint dimple appearing on his left cheek for a second.
Zayn has finished filling out his form and now completely engrossed in the conversation. Louis has to hold back from rolling his eyes. "Ah, I get it. I placed sixth overall but it was a pretty cool experience, you should enter the new one coming up in December."
"Yeah, I'm excited for it." Harry smiles. "You done? I can get you the parent form now," he offers, already opening the top cabinet and looking through the folders.
Zayn looks over at Louis, oblivious to his friends' annoyance and grinning. "Yeah, and one for my mate here."
Harry nods, handing them another set of papers. "Just bring those back on Thursday and you'll be all set to join. I also have these hour sheets I'll fill out for you at the end of meetings or trips, which I assume is how you'll complete all your hours?"
Harry finally looks over at Louis, their eyes meeting for a moment. Louis' heart beats a little faster, breaking his gaze in embarrassment. Of course the cute volunteer guy knows about what they did, Louis just fiddles with the hem of his shirt to ignore the heat in his face.
"Yeah, hopefully," Zayn responds, glancing over at Louis as well. "That sound good, man?" He checks with him.
"Yep," Louis agrees, voice cracking a bit so he clears his throat. "Um — yeah, great. Thank you." Louis takes the permission slip from Harry, scratching at his short scruff with an awkward shuffle of his feet. Zayn just gives him a weird look and folds his paper up to slide into his pocket.
The next thirty minutes is spent meeting everyone in The Volunteer Club, as they call themselves. It's two guys named Will and Ashton, who are way too smart for Louis to keep up with and stay at the snack table the whole time. There's also three girls named Natalie, Becca and Lynn. They're the girls Louis saw talking to Harry earlier, the sweetest people ever and Becca has definitely taking a liking to Zayn. Which is good for him since he hasn't been out with anybody in months, but when Louis looks over at him to wiggle his eyebrows, Zayn's attention is caught on some muscular guy chatting with Niall on the other side of the room.
"It was really nice meeting you ladies." Louis gives them a friendly smile. "But we have to go for now, we'll see you around." They all make disappointed noises but eventually wave them off with bright smiles as Louis leads Zayn towards Niall and mystery guy.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Zayn panics, planting his feet into the floor so Louis can't pull him any further. "What the hell are we doing?"
"We're gonna go chat up the cute guy you keep staring at like a weirdo," Louis explains, like it's obvious.
Zayn scoffs, pinching Louis' arm. Louis yelps softly and lets go of Zayn in favor of rubbing the pain away from his bicep. "Oh, like you're one to talk. Staring at Harry like he's growing flowers out of his head."
"Hey! I was no — " Louis starts but then he sees the way Zayn is looking at him. "Okay, fine. I was." He sighs. "But c'mon, he's talking to Niall anyways and Niall already likes us."
Before Zayn can protest any longer, they're already approaching the pair and Niall notices them immediately.
"Hey guys! Have you met Liam yet?" Niall questions with a bright grin, pointing to the boy in front of him. Liam looks slightly embarrassed to be the center of attention but still waves in acknowledgement.
"Hi, I'm Liam, in case you haven't heard," he remarks lightly, running a hand through his light brown hair. Zayn laughs a little too hard and Louis finds himself laughing too just to make it less weird.
"Right, it's good to meet ya. I'm Louis and this is Zayn," Louis tells him, nudging his friend beside him gently. Liam nods slowly, offering Zayn a tentative smile.
"You guys are the people who spray painted the school, right?"
Louis and Zayn are both hesitant to answer, sharing a glance, but eventually Louis nods.
"No, don't worry," Liam reassures, waving his hands as if he's worried Louis and Zayn will think he's judging them. "I thought it was cool and it's funny to see Dr. Buford that mad," he offers, chuckling to himself and Niall starts laughing too.
"Hey, Niall," Harry approaches the group with a quiet voice, clearly not trying to interrupt or be noticed but how could Louis possibly not notice him? "Can I get the public library's number? I don't have it written down anywhere." He's talking so quietly you wouldn't be able to hear unless you were trying really hard like Louis. Especially since Zayn and Liam have started up a conversation about superhero comics. Nerds.
After Niall searches for the number in his phone and writes it down for Harry, Harry walks away to go back to this cluttered desk in the corner of the room, weaving through the volunteer members with polite 'excuse me's. Louis finds himself following after Harry, wracking his brain for a conversation starter that will get Harry to look at him for longer than two seconds this time. He wants to be his friend and maybe if Harry takes an interest in him they could go out. Louis hasn't found someone this attractive since his eleventh year when he had a crush on his History teacher. But that's besides the point.
"Hi," Louis grabs Harry's attention once they're at the desk. "It's... Harry, right?" Louis pretends he doesn't know and like he hasn't been repeating the name in his head over and over again for the past forty five minutes.
Harry just spares a quick glance in his direction, before turning to his desk and grabbing a sticky note for what Louis assumes is to transfer the library's number from Niall's messy paper onto it.
"Yeah," He answers. Harry leans over to write on the sticky note, and Louis sort of panics because he hasn't really prepared what to say next. He doesn't remember being this boring, but apparently pretty boys bring that out in him.
"Um — awesome. So I was just wondering what we usually do here, you know? Like is there anything specific I can help out with?" Louis asks hopefully, tilting his head to the side. He's just standing awkwardly next to Harry who is completely distracted by whatever stacks of paper are on his desk.
"All the information is on those papers over there." Harry stops sorting through folders to point to the snack table, which indeed does have a stack of papers that look like the flyers Louis has seen them handing out in the hallway. "But other than that, no. Not much we need you to do right now," he responds shortly.
Louis' stomach churns. He's not really sure why it seems that Harry doesn't like him. He can't remember anything bad he did in the short amount of time he's been here. Is it because he acted like he forgot Harry's name? Because he is fully willing to admit he only did that for conversational purposes.
"I'm sorry, but um — I'm sort of getting the feeling that you don't like me?" Louis admits quietly, comparing how Harry spoke to Zayn and Niall, which was sweet and soft, versus how cold he's being right now in his head. "Which is okay, I mean, I'm not mad about it or anything," He quickly assures. He doesn't want to come off too aggressive.
Harry just looks at him, showing absolutely no emotion except a small flicker of annoyance. Like Louis is a bug that flew into his room that he now has to get rid of.
"I don't really care if you're mad or not, to be honest," Harry tells him, walking right past him and towards the part of the room that nobody is really hanging around, carrying several folders with him. They all have people's names on them, Louis notices as Harry begins lining them up on an empty table. Obviously he followed Harry over here, he doesn't want that to be the end of their conversation.
"Sooo," Louis drags on, his fingers twisting uncomfortably as a distraction in front of him. "You don't like me?"
Harry looks at him again, stopping his task so abruptly with his lips in a thin line that Louis' heart starts thudding in his ears. He suddenly regrets wishing Harry would look at him, because now all he feels is a critical gaze.
"No, Louis. I don't like you. I've heard about your behavior all year. I think you are arrogant and entitled, and quite frankly the only reason you're here right now, snacking on tiny sandwiches, and not at home sitting on your ass looking for a new school is because you're captain of the football team," Harry explains curtly with a tone that has Louis wilting. "And Dr. Buford holds his precious jocks close to his heart. So no, I don't like you. Like at all, and honestly I wish you'd just leave me alone."
Louis processes Harry's words slowly, biting at the inside of his lip. This is obviously super unexpected, he had no idea Harry was bothered by him this much. He sort of just assumed the reason Harry was cold towards him was because he doesn't give a very good first impression. The universe where he gets Harry to go out with him, however, is definitely off the table.
"Oh, and actually, there is something you can do. Be here at eight a.m. on Saturday morning, 'cause the volunteer squad has the honour of cleaning up your little art project." Harry smiles overly sweet, but drops it when he turns back to the table to continue laying out his folders.
Louis huffs a little bit, eyebrows furrowing. "Well, if you're mad about the graffiti, then why are you so buddy buddy with Zayn?" He questions. I mean, yes, he did get away with it because he's on the football team and the fact that Principal Buford favors the school's sports teams over other clubs. But to be honest, Louis doesn't see how that directly correlates back to him. He's sure if Harry benefited from Mr. Buford's favoritism he wouldn't have a problem with it.
"Because Zayn isn't an entitled jock whose actions don't have consequences. We both know if you weren't involved he would've gotten expelled," Harry retorts quickly, stopping his task once again to address Louis.
"But, I — I know my actions have consequences, I never — "
Harry holds up his hand flat towards Louis for him to stop talking, interrupting his stuttering mess. "I don't really care what you have to say. I'm busy and don't feel like dealing with this right now." And with that, Harry walks away, and this time Louis doesn't follow after him.
—
"He hates me, Zayn! He hates my guts," Louis complains, as Zayn munches casually on his bag of Doritos. Which is a healthy breakfast in his vocabulary.
Louis just picked him up from his house and they're on their way to the school right now to help the club clean up his and Zayn's graffiti. This is going to incredibly awkward, he can only hope everybody doesn't hate them too much for ruining their Saturday mornings. Eight o'clock is an ungodly hour to wake up on the weekend.
"Yeah, he does," Zayn chuckles, like this is amusing and not as if Louis' heart is breaking every time Harry completely ignores him. They went to both Thursday and Friday meetings, which weren't as long as the Tuesday one, and Harry hasn't spoken a word to Louis since their first conversation.
Louis doesn't think anyone has ever hated him this much before. In his entire high school career he's managed to stay out of everybody's way and avoid drama. It's not like Harry is drama, per se, but it's obvious to everyone in the club that Harry has a distaste for Louis. Niall offered the helpful information that he's never seen Harry this mean to anyone before and that even when Harry doesn't like people, he's still civil towards them. Which obviously made Louis feel a lot better.
"Chill, bro, I can hear you're brain working from over here," Zayn muses, reaching a cheese dusted finger to point at Louis' head, but Louis just smacks it away lightly. Focusing on the road. "It's gonna be alright, Lou. He'll get to know you better and realize you aren't some careless jock like he thinks you are."
"But what if I am, Zayn? What if he's completely right about me and all my life I've been acting like some entitled douche and I haven't even realized!" Louis practically shouts in the midst of his identity crisis. Zayn rolls his eyes.
"I wouldn't be friends with you if you acted like that. And I'll try to talk you up to Harry to get him to warm up to you," Zayn offers, crumpling up his chip bag into a ball once he's finished eating. Louis thinks the offer is sweet but honestly it just reminds him how much Harry likes Zayn and doesn't like Louis.
Louis pulls into the school parking lot, shutting off his car. "Thanks, Z. And promise to protect me if Harry tries to kill me with a sponge?"
"Promise." Zayn draws a cross over his heart with his finger, smiling before they both unbuckle their steal belts and step outside. It's extra chilly today. Louis immediately stuffs his hands into his jacket pockets when he feels the cold nip at the tips of his fingers.
They spot everybody gathered near the big 'Fuck Buford' on the wall, chatting idly in little groups. As they get closer, Louis spots Harry grinning as he speaks with Niall. His cheeks and the tip of his nose are pink from the cold, and his pretty curls are pulled back by a small hair clip. He looks beautiful, like the image of delicate and gentle. The sky holds its breath in the presence of him.
After a couple minutes, Harry seems to notice everyone is present and grabs the group's attention, voice carrying through the quiet morning. "Okay, I just wanted to warn everyone that the cleaning products are pretty strong and I ask that you please wear the gloves that me and Niall hand out," Harry explains carefully, tucking a stray curl behind his ear. Louis' knees almost give out. "And I understand that some of you don't wanna take it down, but our club is already struggling with funds and the school won't pay for our Christmas trip if we don't do this."
"So, basically he's saying suck it up, buttercups. 'Cause I wanna go on this trip," Niall elaborates for Harry, grinning from ear to ear as he raises up his box of plastic gloves and begins handing out two to everybody when they gather around him.
Louis watches Harry intently, noticing the way his shoulders drop with relief when the attention isn't on him anymore. His cheeks puff out cutely as he struggles to open his box of gloves, pushing at the intended place to break open with his fingers. Louis approaches the taller boy hesitantly once Zayn leaves with everybody else towards Niall.
"Need any help?" Louis offers softly, pulling his lips up for what he hopes is a smile when Harry looks up at him. But the boy shakes his head either way.
"No, I got it." Harry turns away from Louis, like he doesn't want Louis to watch him open the box. Louis stays silent, waiting patiently as Harry cracks it open and peels off the thin cardboard opening. Harry startles when he turns back around. "Jesus, why are you just standing there?" Harry huffs, pulling out two plastic gloves and then tossing the box to Louis who just barely manages to catch it.
He gives Louis a once over before walking off and Louis' insides tingle at the attention. The idea of Harry looking at him longer than two seconds makes his heart race. Except when he's insulting him, that's not as exciting.
Louis just sighs to himself before taking out a pair of gloves and slipping them on, then passing them over to Lynn. He finds Zayn again talking to Liam, he can see Liam blushing from all the way over here but decides to approach them anyway because he has no one else to talk to that isn't within a two yard radius of Harry.
"Hey guys." Louis smiles tightly, bending down to grab a sponge from the bucket in front of Liam's feet.
"Hey Louis! You're captain of the football team, right? Me and Niall will have to challenge you to a game sometime, he's pretty competitive," Liam tells him like that's what him and Zayn were discussing before he came over. Liam chuckles softly and spares a small glance towards Zayn to see if he's smiling. He is, of course.
"That would be awesome. I must admit that I can get pretty competitive too." Louis raises his eyebrows but Liam just waves it off with a laugh.
"How about tomorrow afternoon? I'm sure Harry would love to come too," Liam suggests, and Zayn is giving him a look that says you better say yes. "He's not great at the football thing, but he likes messing around."
Louis can't imagine Harry liking sports very much, just considering his distaste for athletes and the whole dynamic. But he would love to see Harry in a pair of shorts running around.
"Yeah, sounds great, I'm free tomorrow." Louis nods. "I'm not sure Harry would like to come, though... 'cause, y'know." He shrugs awkwardly, picking at his sponge's material.
Liam waves him off again. "Oh, don't even worry about that. Harry isn't allowed to say no to me," he jokes. "And besides, maybe some friendly competition will loosen up some of the tension." Zayn nods in agreement at Liam's words, but Louis is pretty sure Liam could say sharks are better than puppies and Zayn would agree to that too.
"Alright, yeah. I'll be there."
They spend the whole morning scrubbing at the wall with hot water and paint dissolver until it's just a faded version of what used to be bright and pigmented. Then some guy shows up with a power washer to finish the job. It seems like that could've been the solution this entire time but Louis doesn't dare mention it. Nobody has made a comment or otherwise about the fact that Louis and Zayn are the reason they're here, and he just hopes that means none of them are upset with the both of them or hate him as much as Harry does.
Well, he supposes Harry's reason for hating him is because of other reasons, not specifically the graffiti. Either way, Louis would just prefer no one hate him.
Louis chats with Becca and Ashton while the power washer guy is working. Everybody in the volunteer club are such cool people and really down to earth, he feels sort of bad about saying they looked dorky in their matching t-shirts. Everybody he's talked to has explained that they're in the club because they really just want to help out and make a difference, even if it's small. Sure, some of them also said they're here for something to put on their college applications, but the point still stands. He's not too worried about spending three hundred hours with any of them.
He can practically feel Harry glaring at him every twenty minutes while he's talking to some of the members. It's slightly unsettling and Louis finds himself adjusting his hair just so he doesn't look bad while Harry is trying to explode him with his mind.
Harry dismisses everyone once the worker leaves and the wall is spotless, except for the drying water spots.
"Um — we have to ask him to sign the hour sheets, right?" Louis asks Zayn in a low voice. He feels like he has to ask his mum to let him hang out with a friend after forgetting to do his dishes or something. Maybe that's way too specific but he just feels nervous, okay? He doesn't want to accidentally say something stupid and embarrass himself.
"Oh, that's right." Zayn nods, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his paper. He heads straight for Harry, who is locking up the equipment shed several yards away. Louis can spot headphones in his ears as he bops along cutely to whatever song he's listening to. God, Louis might just be in love with him.
"Wait, we don't want to disturb him, right?" Louis asks shakily as they keep walking. The grass is all muddy from previous rain and he almost slips onto the ground from not paying attention. Zayn laughs and holds out his arm so Louis can hold on, shaking his head with amusement.
"Will you please relax? It's literally just Harry, he's not gonna bite you."
A part of Louis wishes he would. But like, in a sexy way, you know?
"Hey, H!" Zayn calls, catching the boy's attention as he's turning to walk to the parking lot. Harry catches Louis' gaze and then flickers over to Zayn's, smiling softly. Louis' heart starts weeping silently in his chest.
"Need me to sign those?" He asks, already holding out his hand once they're close enough.
"Yes, please," Louis answers, a bit breathlessly, but can you blame him? Harry's hands are so big, with rings littering his slim fingers. Zayn rolls his eyes and hands Harry a pen, Louis doesn't even have enough energy to wonder where the hell Zayn got a pen.
"Two down, two hundred and ninety eight to go," Zayn muses to fill the awkward silence. Well, it's awkward for Louis. Harry just laughs softly, always so polite, even when people don't make funny jokes. Louis wants to die.
"See you tomorrow." Harry waves after signing both of their papers and logging in two hours, handing them back. Louis gets distracted by the tiny freckle on Harry's nose, dotting his smooth skin. Harry turns around to walk back to the student parking lot and sticks his headphones back in his ears. His curls are out of the clip and almost reach his shoulders, the wind ruffling them up messily until he has to pull them back into a hair tie.
Louis watches in fascination.
"See? That wasn't so bad. Now c'mon, I want some food." Zayn drags him away, effectively breaking his love-struck gaze.
—
Okay so, the game goes south very quickly. It was all going great at first, the five of them were getting along very well and Harry hadn't insulted Louis the entire time, instead just ignoring his existence all together. Also Liam and Zayn were being disgustingly sweet to each other the whole afternoon so there wasn't any room for negativity anyway. And Harry was wearing these cute little yellow shorts that showed off his thighs. Louis couldn't stare for too long without blood leaving his head and going straight to his groin, so he opted for avoiding looking in that direction at all.
They used one of the public fields at a park in their town rather than the one at school. Louis didn't think using the field while he was on suspension was a very wise idea.
So the whole day pretty much goes horribly wrong when Louis is about to pass ball to Zayn, He watches as Harry momentarily loses control of his feet as he's running and stretches out to catch himself before he falls, his pale, soft-looking thighs going taut with the effort, and his cute little bum straining against his shorts. Louis gets a little distracted (only a little!). And Harry clearly wasn't expecting it, everybody's hands fly straight up to their mouths when the ball flies way too high and nails Harry right in the face.
Shit.
Liam and Louis go running to him immediately, while Niall and Zayn try to muffle their laughter. Louis could just strangle them right now, but not if Harry strangles him first.
"Oh shit, your nose is bleeding," Liam tells Harry as he examines his face. Harry pulling away his hands long enough for him to look at it, but then they go right back up as he whines, mumbling something incoherent as Liam takes off his shirt to use as a towel for the blood. Liam has worry written all over his face and Louis probably looks the same.
"I'm so sorry, Harry. I swear I didn't mean to — " He begins apologizing but Harry interrupts him, which is probably for the better before he starts rambling aimlessly like an idiot.
"Aren't you supposed to be the pro football player?! What kind of kick was that?" Harry exclaims, incredulous as Liam cleans up his face. Harry winces at the touch, exhaling heavily. "It felt pretty purposeful," He says slightly quieter, not meeting Louis' bright blue, apologetic eyes.
It suddenly feels a lot colder outside. Louis' heart sinks to his stomach. The look in Harry's eyes when he's talking to him is pure hatred, like he wishes Louis would just disappear if he glared at him hard enough. Louis shrinks his shoulders down, watching on helplessly as Liam helps Harry and he wracks his mind for a way he can lend a hand.
"He didn't do it on purpose, H. But we gotta get you some ice — no, don't tip your head back!" Liam shouts hurriedly as Harry goes to do it, one hand now on the back of Harry's head to stop him and the other holding the shirt that's soaking up the blood. "You're supposed to let it all out so you don't swallow any blood," He explains, less freaked out this time.
Zayn and Niall are right next to Louis now, finding the situation a lot less funny when they saw the red all over Liam's shirt and Harry's face.
"There's a Wendy's right across the street, they'll have some ice," Louis tells everybody, but directs his words towards Harry. Harry most definitely thinks he did it on purpose because of how cold Harry has been to him, but honestly Louis would never intentionally hurt him. Sure, he has a motive, but he doesn't have any negative feelings towards Harry at all. The perfect world where Harry eventually warms up to him, though, is ruined.
Harry just nods when Liam looks at him for an answer. "I'll drive!" Niall offers quickly, already running to collect his stuff and grab his car keys.
So everybody piles into Niall's car. Louis sits in the front so Zayn can sit next to a shirtless Liam and also so he doesn't have to feel the wrath of Harry, even though he can still feel his glare from behind his head. He just stares down at his lap.
"'m sorry about your shirt, Liam. It's all ruined," Harry murmurs quietly, pulling the shirt away from his face to look at it. Liam just shushes him, insisting that it's fine and gesturing for him to keep it against his nose incase he's still bleeding.
Louis jogs in and out of the Wendy's quickly. He pays no mind to the weird looks he receives from the cashier as he asked for a bag of ice and from people passing by who are too nosy for their own good. He clambers back into the car.
"Here you go." Louis grins awkwardly. His breathing is labored as he hands Harry the bag of ice, who stays silent and presses it to the bridge of his nose. They must've cleaned up his face while Louis was gone, because he's cleaner now and the messy shirt is in Harry's lap. Louis hopes the blood doesn't get on his little yellow shorts, but that might be for the best. They only bring destruction.
"Let's go back to the field and get the rest of our stuff, and then maybe we could get something to eat?" Zayn suggests, looking around for affirmation. Niall agrees quickly and soon Harry is nodding as well. Louis doesn't really have an appetite after seeing all the blood, but he wants to stay with Harry to make sure everything is still okay. The guilt is gnawing at his bones.
Once they're back at the field, Louis and Harry are left to stand awkwardly as the rest of the boys grab their things. Louis didn't bring anything except his phone and wallet which are already in his pocket.
"I'm sorry again," Louis tells him quietly, turning his head to face Harry and crossing his arms over his chest. He moves just an inch closer to he doesn't have to speak from an uncomfortable distance away. "I would never do that to you on purpose." A short pause while Harry stays silent, Louis can't help but elaborate. "Or not like you specifically, but like in general. I wouldn't do that to someone."
"How do I know that?" Harry asks, removing the ice bag from his nose momentarily so he can face Louis. "I don't even know you and you've already managed to be a complete dick. So sorry to assume if that's something you would do."
Louis can't help but respond back with just as much fervent, frustrated at Harry's words. "Actually, I've been nothing but nice to you since we met. So if anything, you've been the dick. I've been trying to be your friend from day one and get you to like me but you just hate me too much to see that," Louis huffs, shaking his head. It's too easy for him to start rambling dumbly.
"It doesn't take a genius to know all of the sporty guys are the same and you're the perfect picture of how gross they all are — walking around like they can just do anything they want because no one will say anything to them about it," Harry mutters, shaking his head as well. "Because they won't! I swear you guys can just get away with anything and it's so annoying. Not everybody is going to like you, Louis. You just have to accept that." Harry rolls his eyes, pressing the ice back onto his nose and turning to face forward again like the conversation is over. And it is, because the rest of the boys come back and Louis doesn't want to keep bickering while they're here. He feels sick to his stomach, knowing exactly what Harry thinks of him and that what he says is true.
He is entitled. Despite what Zayn says, they got away with the graffiti because he's a senior on the football team. Harry hates douchey jocks and that's what Louis is, a douchey jock that gets away with shit for no reason that he earned. It felt almost frustrating at first to know Harry hated him for absolutely no good reason other than assumptions, but it turns out he was right. No matter how badly Louis doesn't want to be that stereotypical jock that doesn't have to face his own consequences, he still is. And Harry has every right to dislike him, but it's still Louis'
main priority to prove to the boy that he can be a good friend.
He doesn't want anyone to hate him, but especially Harry. Harry is so sweet and such a gentle person with everybody else. It's painful to know he'll never experience that love that Harry radiates so easily. He wonders absently if Harry knows how much he's killing Louis, how hard it is to watch Harry smile at people and hug them warmly, when he's never even given Louis a chance to show him that he can be a good person. He'll just have to try even harder.
—
As Louis is walking to his last class of the day, his coach stops him the hallway, a hand on his shoulder. "Hey Tomlinson, I've been meaning to ask how it's going?"
Louis shrugs. "Could be better. Um — I'm sorry about my suspension, but I'll be back by next week," He assures. It's already been about ten days since he was called to the guidance counselor's office and he's definitely looking forward to getting back on the field. He'll still have to figure out how to juggle football and the volunteer club at the same time.
"That's good to hear, the team has been missing you," Coach tells him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Our last match was pretty brutal, but we're still eligible for the tournament."
"That's awesome." Louis smiles, nodding vigorously. His coach responds well to enthusiasm, and she likes a level headed player. Louis hopes his punishment hasn't made her think about replacing him as captain, because football is basically everything to him. He's just been a little distracted lately.
"Alrighty, see ya next week." His coach walks away with a short nod and heads for her office. Louis exhales softly, putting a little pep in his step as continues making the journey to his next class. That little interaction is already setting him back too long so he needs to speed it up.
Before he can even turn down the hallway though, Zayn is skidding in front of him frantically, his eyes wide. Louis has never seen Zayn show an expression this dramatic, it's a little scary to be completely honest.
"Oh my god, Louis, you'll never guess what just happened," Zayn breathes out, both hands on Louis' shoulders gripping him tight.
"I think I'll need more time to keep guessing because I have to get to class in about two seconds," Louis complains, shoulders slouching.
"Liam asked me out," Zayn rushes, eyes even wider now and his mouth opening like he's still just as surprised as when it first happened.
"Oh my god."
"I know!"
"What the hell?" Louis' mouth drops open.
"I know!" Zayn does a little hop that Louis will have to make fun of later, but now is not the time. "But we have to be quiet, he's right down the hall."
Louis gasps, covering his mouth but then uncovering when he finally finds the words to respond. "You have to tell me everything. And don't summarize, I need actual details," Louis insists, dragging Zayn by the arm towards the common area. If a teacher asks, they'll just say they have a study bell right now.
Once they get to the commons, Louis is practically vibrating with excitement, ready to hear the story. He wasn't expecting this to happen so soon, he could've sworn both of them were too shy to make a move. And Zayn isn't the type of person to have huge crushes anyway, Louis just assumed he thought Liam was hot and that was all. This is much cuter.
"So, you know I'm not one to gossip," Zayn starts, which is a complete lie but whatever. "But basically, Liam called me this morning and said he had to talk to me about something before school and I was sort of thinking what could be so important that he couldn't just say it over the phone?"
Louis nods quickly, urging Zayn to continue. He's never been so invested in a story before.
"So I get to school and once I see him he's like, super nervous and just sort of beating around the bush. But finally, he's like 'would you like to go out with me?' and of course I said yes! And that was that and now we're going out to dinner on Saturday."
Louis gasps again, suddenly feeling gayer than he ever has in his life. This is simply the most adorable story ever. Very classic and sweet. Just like Liam and Zayn.
"Aww, you're gonna have so much fun, mate. I'm really glad he had the nerve ask you out," Louis grins brightly, nudging Zayn's shoulder. Zayn immediately agrees.
"Yeah, I would've asked him but I wasn't really sure if he felt the same." The boy raises his shoulders and drops them, his eyes are warm with glee. Louis is so jealous right now. But also very happy. It's confusing quite honestly.
"Just call me if you need help getting ready, I have nothing to do anyway," Louis offers, nudging Zayn. Not having plans on the weekends makes him a little sad. He's a senior in high school, he should be going to parties and experimenting new drugs. Or something... less illegal.
They spend the rest of the class period talking about Liam or the newest movies coming out once the topic of Liam becomes a little faded. Well, for Louis is does after a while. Even though he could watch Zayn fawn over him all day, it's a pretty new version of him that he's never seen before.
They're both supposed to be heading out to the local library with the volunteer club this afternoon to help sort books and decide which ones are too damaged to keep. Louis enjoys tedious tasks like that, so he's not put off by the idea at all. He used to go with his mum as well when he was younger, he's pretty sure he still has his old library card. It's definitely expired by now, though.
"Hey, Liam told me most people are taking a school bus to the library so I won't need a ride anymore," Zayn tells him, tapping his fingers against the table.
"Oh? Do you think it's mandatory or can I take my car?"
Zayn just shrugs. "No idea, you'd have to ask Harry." Well that's not really an option. Louis will just take his own car, he's pretty sure Harry wouldn't want him riding with them anyway.
Louis has tried to stop thinking about the Harry situation. After spending a couple nights without sleep and only thinking about his interactions with the other boy, it's just become something that is overtaking everything else. Harry literally occupies his mind every second and it's tiring. He's trying to move on from it, because Harry is just one person and his opinion really doesn't matter as much as Louis feels like it does. But despite all of that, It would make his life a whole lot easier if he was on Harry's good side since they have so many mutual friends. They've only known each other less than two weeks, so if it takes Harry a little longer than usual to actually have a civil conversation with him, then Louis will just have to wait.
"C'mon, we should head out before the bell rings." Zayn breaks Louis out of his thoughts, tugging gently on his shirt to get Louis to stand up with him.
They merge with all of the other students bustling through the halls once the bell rings and everybody else is dismissed. Louis hopes he doesn't run into his chemistry teacher, which is the class he was heading to before Zayn intercepted his path.
"Hey, do I need to have a conversation with Liam about making sure he treats you right, or would that be too embarrassing for you?" Louis thinks out loud as he holds the door open for the both of them that leads into the courtyard.
Zayn glowers at him. "Don't you dare."
"So, that's a yes? Liam is a tough guy, he can handle it." Louis smirks.
Zayn just turns around and walks in the other direction as if he doesn't even know where to begin with scolding him. Louis rolls his eyes before following after the boy. Drama queen.
—
That Afternoon, Louis drives up to the local library. It's a small, old building with flower beds lining the front entrance. It's a beautiful place, but doesn't seem to be very popular among the town. The parking lot is almost completely empty and it just has that sort of abandoned feeling. Like a preserved building that has too much history to tear down or turn it into anything else.
As Louis is stepping out of his car he almost climbs right back inside when he sees Harry walking towards him, a deep crease between his brows and his lips pulled downwards.
"What's this?" Harry asks as he's slowing down to stop a few feet away.
"Um..." Louis looks around, not sure what Harry is addressing. "A library?" He tries, but Harry fixes him with a hard gaze.
"I sent out an email to everyone telling them that the bus will be taking us to the library," Harry explains slowly, as if talking to a child. "So, what? You're too good for the bus?"
"No, no, that's not what I think at all," Louis replies earnestly. "I'm sorry, Harry. I just couldn't leave my car in the parking lot at school and I assumed you wouldn't want me riding with you?"
Harry huffs, indignant to Louis' response. He starts talking about the environment and how people like Louis are just contributing to global warming, and Louis tries to listen. He really does. But something about the way Harry talks is really distracting. Louis watches, mesmerized as Harry's pink lips form each word. The taller boy in front of him looks so comfortable, like he's warm in his clothes and doesn't mind the cold biting at his nose and cheeks. His hair is slightly messy, but it curls, boyishly, sweetly, and swoops under his ears.
"Are you even listening to me?"
Louis licks his lips. "Um — yes." He nods. "I will take the bus with the rest of you from now on. Sorry about the mixup." Harry could ask Louis to follow him into oblivion and Louis would probably do that too.
"Okay." Harry pulls his lips into a line, eyes darting back and forth between Louis' own eyes for a moment. It's just about five seconds, but Louis feels a shift in energy. It's over before Louis can even think about it a second time, Harry crosses his arms over his chest and turns around to head back inside. Probably seeking the warmth that only the heated library can provide. Louis just takes a deep breath to prepare himself for the next two to three hours with Harry and follows after him.
It's a two story library and Harry starts walking up the stairs so Louis assumes he probably should too. Once they walk down a long, narrow hallway with small lights flickering above them, he finally starts to hear the chatter of his friends distantly in one of the rooms they're heading towards. The whole building smells like this rustic woods candle Louis has on his nightstand. It's weirdly calming.
"Right now, we're just putting stickers on new and donated books to organize them by category. And then we'll shelve them," Harry explains, but Louis doesn't have time to reply because once they make it into the room with everyone else, Harry is breaking off and joining Becca at the table she's sorting through.
"Tommo! Over here."
Louis turns to see Niall waving him over and then once he gets there, he's handed a large roll of green stickers in the shape of circles.
"You're in charge of sci-fi and fantasy books," Zayn specifies, already putting yellow stickers on his own stack of books. It looks like he was assigned romance novels. How fitting.
Speaking of. "Where's Liam?"
"Downstairs helping the librarians carry in boxes, since he's the strongest apparently." Niall rolls his eyes and Louis has to stifle a laugh.
It's pretty easy to put stickers on all the books in his genres, he gets a rhythm going and it's silent between the three of them at their table as they focus on the task at hand. Louis does break focus to look over at Harry a couple times, but he's always talking to Becca. She must be saying something hilarious because the boy is always laughing or smiling, his dimples permanently planted into his cheeks. Something uncomfortable curls deep in Louis' gut and pulls at his heart.
He supposes Harry is straight, after all. As are most of the guys at their school. That's why he naturally drifted towards Zayn in the beginning, because there's just an unspoken understanding that he can't really explain and he didn't feel with anybody else. Becca is pretty, and smart, and just an overall nice person to be around. She's just the kind of girl Harry would like, even though Louis isn't really sure what his type is. An educated guess would be Harry likes tall, bright and funny girls. So, she's perfect basically.
After maybe a moment, Louis must've been staring for too long, because Harry glances over at him as well. It's scary for a second, when Louis really doesn't know what to do. He just offers Harry a tight smile, hoping that eases the awkward tension he created in the distance between them by making it completely obvious he was staring at Harry. Admiring him.
Nothing changes in Harry's expression even slightly, he just turns back to Becca and focuses his attention back on her as if it was never gone in the first place. Louis kind wants to cry or move to a different continent. But for now he should probably just keep placing stickers onto these books. He'll buy a ticket to Australia later.
Louis feels a tentative tap on his shoulder, and turns around to find Ashton behind him carrying a box of large books. "Wanna go down to shelve these with me? I don't want to go alone."
"Yeah, 'course." Louis quickly loads all his books into his own box and follows Ashton back out of the room. He's only had a couple conversations with the guy, but he's pretty cool. He usually has Will right beside him at all times, so Louis can only assume his friend couldn't make it today.
They go down to the first floor and start with the farthest wall of shelves. Louis is a little confused by their organization process but he assumes the stickers are only for showing what genre the book is in and from there everything is sorted alphabetically. Ashton starts making small talk about football, which is a pretty easy route to take when you're trying to make conversation with Louis. He's not afraid to admit he's a very simple person. Football is what he talks about pretty much half of the time, it would be more if Zayn didn't groan every time he talked about it for more than a couple minutes.
They make a lot of progress with their books and even have to take a second trip upstairs to grab more. Louis ends up taking Niall's pile, because he was very willing for it to be off his hands.
Louis is just talking about the latest England match against some crummy team, when Harry comes around the corner and he finds his words trailing off. Head clearing and images of Harry's gorgeous thighs replacing any coherent thoughts he might've had before. The pretty boy has a box of his own, lips pulled to the side in thought as he observes the shelves.
"You okay?" Ashton asks, turning away from his books when he hears Louis stop mid-sentence.
"Yes — yeah." Louis looks down at the box next to his feet on the floor. "I just have a lot of books in the J section, so I'll be right back after I put these away."
Ashton simply nods and turns back to his work. So Louis picks up his box and ducks his head slightly as he walks past Harry and turns into another aisle. Maybe he's a coward for avoiding the boy, but there's nothing wrong with leaving an uncomfortable situation. It's just the mature thing to do, everybody knows that.
Louis curses internally when Harry comes around the corner again, once he set down his box. He would think Harry is following him, but he has his headphones in so he's probably not even aware of anything or anyone around him. Let alone Louis, who he purposely avoids most of the time anyway.
So he just continues with what he planned to do all along when he came over here, and tries to block Harry out. He has a very healthy amount of self control, his eyes stay to the objects in front of him and his mind doesn't drift off to thoughts about Harry's eyes. Louis just hopes Harry notices his presence before he knocks into him, since he's sliding down the aisle gracefully, stacking books alphabetically like this is nothing to him. He's heading right in Louis' direction, eyes still focused forward. Louis stops looking at him again when he realizes that he's staring. It seems to happen without him even realizing. Harry is just so distracting. So easy to get lost in.
The books are a little messy so Louis straightens them out, ignoring Harry who is softly humming along to whatever song he's listening to. He will not be distracted. Louis' eyes catch on a Jane Austen novel, it's an old version with pretty floral detailing. He reaches out to run his fingers along the spine. Just to see if the detailing has texture. But then Louis feels his knuckles brush softly against a hand suddenly reaching out from his right, and pulls back with slight hurry.
Harry jumps back like he's been shocked.
"Oh my god, I didn't see you there," Harry rushes out, taking a few steps back and tucking the last two books he's holding underneath his arm. His bright eyes are blazing so green that Louis almost wants to look away.
"Yeah," Louis murmurs, at a loss for anything else to say. He stretches out his fingers slowly when the sensation of Harry's touch starts to linger for a little too long. Harry tugs out his earbuds, looking around as if he's making sure no one else is here either. Louis just watches, unmoving, as Harry gives him one more emotionless glance and then walks off. Like nothing even happened.
—
"You're going back to practice this afternoon, right?" His mum asks from across their small kitchen table. Louis takes a sip of his tea, leg shaking up and down beneath the table mindlessly. He was watching out of the window at the birds in his mum's garden, chirping away once the sun is out and breaking out past the trees. His eyes travel back to his mum, who is reading the paper but still has her eyebrows raised expectantly for Louis' answer.
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it." Louis nods, picking up his spoon that was left forgotten and poking at the tiny bowl of oatmeal beside his tea mug. It's filling but light on your stomach, his mother always tells him when he scrunches up his nose at the bowl of plain mush. He supposes food is food, though, and sometimes she adds brown sugar which makes it a little better.
"And how's the volunteer club?" She questions. There's no bite in her tone or any passive aggressiveness, she seems to have let go of what him and Zayn did. Which is a relief, because Louis is just miserable when his mum is mad at him.
Louis listens as the birds begin chirping again. It's always so easy to hear when his sisters aren't awake yet. "Good. I've got about six hours done so far, which is barely a dent but it's something," Louis divulges. "And we're going to a nursing home on Thursday so that should be a couple more hours as well."
"That's lovely, hun." His mum smiles.
Louis kisses his mum on the cheek goodbye when he sees what time it is. He grabs a coat and his keys, ready to make the small drive to Zayn's house to pick him. He doesn't pick him up every morning, just when Zayn is too lazy to wake up early for the bus.
The school day goes by pretty slow, since Louis is so eager to get back to football practice again. He missed it a lot. The most football he's played the past couple of weeks is when he kicked the ball into Harry's face. So, needless to say, he wants to get back on the field and redeem himself as a somewhat good player.
When he arrives with the rest of the team, there are a lot of pats on the back and more talk about the stuff with the spray paint, as some guys refer to it ever so kindly. But it's a pretty warm welcome back and Louis is very much ready to get back on the field. When he gets out there, it's pretty cold but there's nothing like a couple laps around the field to warm him up. He smiles politely when Nick, one of his teammates comes running up beside him. He finds it a little awkward when people run right next to him, but then he realizes Nick wants to talk to him.
"I should've told you earlier, but I'm having a party tonight at my place. You're welcome to come and invite anybody you want," Nick proposes. "It's gonna be pretty chill since it's a school night."
"Oh, alright. That sounds fun," Louis considers, slowing down once they reach one lap. He starts to stretch out his legs and Nick follows lead. "Are your parents outta town or somethin'?"
He nods. "Yup. I got the place all to myself. And besides, you should celebrate being back with the team," Nick grins, patting Louis' shoulder.
So Louis agrees to go, and then soon after calls Zayn to beg him to come with him. There's nothing worse than going to a party without a close friend. And Louis knows if Zayn comes, then Liam will want to as well and then eventually Niall and Harry will be there too. So Louis can just leave whenever he wants and nobody will even notice.
When Louis actually gets to the party, he realizes it's not as 'chill' as Nick confidently claimed it would be. He can't even turn onto Nick's street without almost crashing into a whole line of cars trying to beat the traffic or find a parking spot.
"Holy shit," Liam murmurs from the back seat. Niall ended up taking Harry, Becca and Ashton in his own car. Louis was worried he invited too many people, but he supposes it doesn't matter now.
"You guys can go walk up to the house and I'll find a parking spot," Louis offers, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel.
"You sure?" Zayn raises his eyebrows.
"Yeah, 'course. It won't take long."
Both Liam and Zayn smile at him before opening their doors and stepping out. Louis watches them hold hands as they walk down the sidewalk. He just sighs and lets his head fall back against the head rest, waiting for the cars in front of him to at least move an inch so he can pull forward into a parking lot within the next ten years.
Once he makes it inside, there's practically a wall of people dancing and yelling. Well, not really dancing, more like throwing themselves around drunkly. Louis squeezes his way through groups of people in search for his friends. It's no surprise when he finds Harry first, staring down at his Pepsi as Niall and some girl talk in front of him. Louis' eyes trail down his body, wondering what he did to deserve skinny jeans in this universe because Harry looks absolutely stunning. He also wonders if Harry dressed up on purpose and can't help but be curious about what Harry thinks looks good on him. Because in Louis' personal opinion, he thinks Harry would look amazing in another pair of shorts and maybe something that shows off his biceps.
Despite the urge to head straight for Harry, Louis starts looking for Zayn again. It's hard to see anything when there's people pushing past him every two seconds and obscuring his view. Finally, he finds the kitchen, which is a museum level of quietness compared to the living room.
"Oh, thank god I found you guys." Louis exhales a sigh of relief when he finds Liam and Zayn cuddled up in the corner talking quietly to each other. He doesn't really care if he interrupted, if he doesn't get to have a boyfriend no else does either.
"Hey!" Liam smiles. "We were worried you gave up and went home," He chuckles.
"Nah, it wasn't too difficult," Louis assures. "So where're the drinks?"
"Over here."
Zayn opens the cooler for him and Louis grabs a drink. He never really knows what to do with himself at parties. Go socialize or just relax and hang out with his friends? Maybe there's a third option where Louis gets to go home.
"Did you see Harry?" Zayn asks, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Um — yeah, why?"
"I dunno, just thought you might've liked what he was wearing." Zayn smirks. Liam looks confusedly between Louis and Zayn, his arm draping casually around Zayn's shoulders.
"You're into Harry?" Liam questions with his eyebrows raised high. Louis feels his chest tighten nervously, Liam better not go telling anybody that Louis has some crush on Harry. He doesn't even like him, like, at all. He just happens to find him attractive and doesn't mind staring every once in a while. And he also admires his personality and wants to run his fingers through his hair. But that's doesn't mean he likes him.
Louis scoffs, a bit loudly. "No, don't listen to Zayn. He's drunk."
"I'm drinking a Sprite." Zayn rolls his eyes.
Liam eyes go wide, like he can't believe the news. That's slightly relieving, if Liam hasn't noticed then Harry definitely hasn't either. "Oh my god, you totally like Harry!"
Louis cringes, shaking his head and holding out his hand to Liam. "Say it louder, I don't think the people all the way down the street heard you," he remarks.
"Sorry," Liam chuckles. "That was just unexpected, I mean, he totally hates you. Or is that like a kink you have or something?" Zayn laughs until his face is red and Louis really isn't having a good time. It wasn't even that funny, Liam and Zayn are just at that stage where they're trying to make each other laugh as hard as possible. And suddenly Louis is obligated to be the butt of the jokes.
"That is not a kink I have, gosh Liam." Louis sighs. He lowers his voice when a couple people that he doesn't recognize clamber into the kitchen, giggling and completely absorbed in their own conversation. "Just don't tell him anything, please? It would be so embarrassing if he found out. He'd probably file a restraining order at this point."
Liam makes a show of zipping his lips and throwing away the "key" with his fingers. All Louis can do is sigh when Zayn cackles like it's the funniest thing in the world.
The next couple of hours is a cycle of hanging out with Zayn and Liam in the kitchen, humoring a wasted Nick telling him he's having a blast, and then awkwardly standing there while Harry and Niall chat about some reality show they both watch religiously. It's funny to see them get so heated over their own opinions cause they don't ever seem to agree with each other. But then again, Louis doesn't even know what they're really talking about so he wouldn't know. Some of his football buddies come up to him while Harry and Niall are next to him at about eleven when the party is staring to die down. Louis can see the both of his friends tense up when his teammates address them.
"Oh! Y'all are in that club, am I right?" Patrick, their goalie, asks. He's slurring his words and talking way louder than necessary. Louis just wants to walk away, but he can't leave his friends alone with these drunk people that he's sort of friends with too. They're kind of boring and only talk about girls they've slept with, so obviously Louis isn't really their biggest fan but coach is pretty adamant on everybody within the team being close.
Niall nods, scratching at his chin. "Yup, that's us."
"I would've guessed y'all are in theatre. Isn't that what the gay guys are into these days?"
"Alright." Louis shoves Patrick's shoulder. "Fuck off or we're gonna have a problem, man."
"Lou, it's okay, not a big deal." Louis can hear Niall talking to him, but Patrick has this look in his eyes like he's not sorry for what he said, like who the hell does he think he is?
"Chill, bro. It was just a joke," Patrick scoffs, quickly recovering from Louis' shove but still backing away a little. Louis' other teammate left, like he didn't want to be apart of this and Louis doesn't want to either but what kind of comment was that? He just completely insulted Niall and Harry in the first ten seconds of a conversation.
"Well, I don't see anybody laughing. Do you?" Louis asks, but it's redundant because Patrick just pushes past him without an answer, mumbling something under his breath. Louis doesn't even have the energy to give him more attention. He turns back to Niall and Harry, ready to apologize until his throat is dry but he stops when he sees Harry whisper something until Niall's ear and then walk off, expression as neutral and blank as ever.
"Where's he going?" Louis' eyebrows furrow, trying to look for Harry but he disappeared behind all the people remaining.
Niall shrugs. "Said he wanted to get a drink."
"I'm sorry about that, Niall. I swear I never would have told you it was a good idea to come here if I knew — "
"C'mon, Lou — stop. It's seriously not a big deal, you think that's the first time someone's said something like that? We're in a small town and we go to public high school. It's totally fine, and besides, you stuck up for us, so I should be thanking you," Niall finishes, and then gives Louis a look like that's the end of this conversation. So Louis shuts up.
But then he realizes that's not the only person he should be apologizing to. "Okay, I'm gonna go find Harry. Do you mind taking Zayn and Liam home with you? I don't think they want to leave yet, but they're in the kitchen if you need to find them."
"Yeah, no problem." Niall smiles and pats him on the back.
Louis wiggles his way through all the friend groups until he finds the front door. The second he opens it, he's immediately hit with the sound of rain pelting down on the pathway leading to the street and onto the street itself. A flash of lightning strikes through the air just as Louis closes the door behind him. He searches around for Harry, but his eyesight is poor in the dark and the rain makes it even worse. He needs to start carrying a flashlight with him or something.
He searches all around the front of the house and even in the backyard, but he can't find Harry anywhere. After a good ten minutes of searching, he gives up. Harry must've went back inside and got lost in the sea of people again. Louis will never be able to find him if that's the case. He'll just have to apologize tomorrow, which reminds him that they still have school the next morning and he lets out a groan. He's absolutely soaked from the rain, his heart is aching at the thought of Harry hating him even more now, and on top of all that, he'll only be getting a maximum of six hours of sleep tonight. Louis just can't wait to curl up in bed and let his eyes close. Hopefully he'll dream of something peaceful.
After texting Zayn with a brief explanation and telling him that Niall will take them home, he takes out his keys to get into his car and drive back to his house. He also turns his headlights on as bright as they go, because of the whole can't see in the dark thing. Good thing there's no one on the roads at this time anyway.
He shivers the first five minutes of his drive, not wanting to turn on the heat incase that uses up some of his gas. He's a little cheap when it comes to that, but gas is ridiculously overpriced anyway. His window shield wipers slide across his window for the hundredth time, effectively clearing the rain droplets. Louis turns the radio up a little bit, humming along once he stops at a red light. His eyes catch on a tall figure walking down the sidewalk and he observes them a little more. He's thankful for the light turning green once Louis sees them, because he's able to follow and figure out if it is who he thinks it is.
The person reaches up to run a hand through their hair and Louis catches sight of dark wet curls being pushed back. He almost gasps, slowing down and turning his wheel a little to get closer to the sidewalk. He rolls his passenger side window down, going about four kilometers per hour to match the pace of the person.
"Harry!" He shouts loudly, trying to break past the sound of the rain. It works, because Harry startles, turning to look at the car that just pulled up beside him. He rolls his eyes when he sees that it's Louis and keeps walking. Louis ducks down to see him better, waving quickly for Harry to get inside but Harry isn't even looking. The rain is dripping into his car and he doesn't want someone to get stuck behind him on the road.
A rumble of thunder starts to crash and explode in the sky. Louis' heart beats faster, and he watches as Harry jumps like he's scared. Louis could feel his own panic crawl up his throat. There was no way he could let Harry walk home alone in this kind of weather. And Harry looked like he was ready to hide under someone's bushes, but keeps walking determinedly even as Louis slowly drove right next to him.
"Harry! Please get in!" Louis practically begs.
Harry just turns to glare at him and starts walking faster, as if Louis couldn't match his pace. But then another roar of thunder sounds through the sky and Harry falters, lips tugging downward as he steals another glance at Louis' car. He looked like he was considering it this time. Louis sighs heavily, pressing on his breaks and putting his car in park. He can see the annoyance in Harry's expression when he steps out of the car.
"C'mon, I'm not letting you walk home in the rain. Please, just get in!" Louis shouts over the noise, trying to convince him. But Harry stays still, arms crossed over his chest stubbornly. At least Louis got him to stop walking. He frowns as he watches the way Harry's damp clothes cling to his body. In any other context this would be the sight of his dreams, but Harry looks cold, scared, and maybe a little drunk on something from the party. Louis doesn't have it in him to leave him here alone, despite Harry's protests. "I'm not leaving without you! So I guess we'll both just let our clothes soak through." Louis leans against the hood of his car to prove his point, as the rain pelts down hard onto him, Harry, and the ground beneath them. It's cold and sharp on his skin, but he doesn't care. He knows Harry will break before him.
They just stare at each other for a long moment, challenging the other to give up first. Louis can only raise his eyebrows expectantly, his throat is tired from yelling.
Harry gives in first. "Fine," He mumbles, so quietly Louis almost doesn't hear him over the rain. The boy wipes off the water dripping down his face with his palm, taking small steps towards the passenger side door of Louis' car. They both get inside and shut their doors, while Louis is mentally patting himself on the back.
"Thank you, Harry," Louis murmurs sincerely, talking with a soft voice incase his words change Harry's mind. They don't. Louis reaches to turn the heat on all the way up when he sees Harry shivering, before putting the car in drive and going the actual speed limit now. "Where do you live?"
Harry mumbles out his address to him, still wiping his face when water droplets fall from his hair onto his cheeks or down his forehead. He holds his hands against the heating vents and Louis grins to himself, satisfied.
It's a quiet drive for the most part, he doesn't want to annoy Harry and he's focusing on the road anyway. Well, that's a lie. His attention is on every little move Harry makes next to him. To Louis, Harry had always been a distant, intimidating person. But now it was different, he looked small. He's soaking wet, still brushing his curls away from his face that are matted with rain water but any other time his hands are folded politely in his lap. Louis glances over at him quickly, not caring if Harry could see him. He watches as a tiny water droplet slips down the slope of his nose, gentle. All Louis wanted to do was wrap him in a blanket and make him tea until he was warm again.
"His name is Ernie."
Harry looks over at him, nose scrunched slightly like he's confused. "What?" His voice is hoarse and as deep as ever. Something in Louis' gut feels tingly at the sound.
"My car. His name is Ernie."
"Oh," Harry mutters, looking down at his lap again. He's stopped shivering, but Louis keeps the heat on because he can still see goosebumps on his arms. He probably shouldn't be looking that closely at him, but the street lights highlight all the pretty angles of his face. He can't help it.
Louis doesn't have a lot of time to feel embarrassed over Harry's lack of response, because soon he's pulling into Harry's driveway. Louis looks over to confirm that this is the right place, and he assumes it is by the way Harry unbuckles his seatbelt.
"Hey, can I just talk to you real quick?" Louis asks, reaching over and gently curling his fingers over Harry's forearm to stop him from reaching for the door. It works, and Harry looks over at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "I um — I just wanted to apologize for what Patrick said to you. He's a dick and you didn't deserve that. And now I understand more why you have such a bad feeling about athletes. You were right."
Harry just stares at him for an analyzing moment, eyelashes clumped together with water and shiny but showing no real emotion. Like they usually are in the presence of Louis.
"That's okay, Louis. Sometimes people are dicks." He shrugs, pulling his wet shirt away from his stomach like it's uncomfortable.
Louis nods, taking a deep breath. "So, you're not mad at me?"
The length of time it takes Harry to answer his question makes him sweat, but eventually he's shaking his head, eyes wandering outside where the rain still pours. "No," He answers simply. "And thank you — for the ride."
Louis can't even respond before Harry is climbing out of Ernie and jogging up to his front door. All he can do is sigh, and daydream about a world where Harry and him are friends. In this world, he gets to hug Harry and play with his curls. So, it's clearly unrealistic. But that's what daydreams are for.
—
It's the second week of December and it's freezing. It's the kind of cold that makes your skin itch. Louis and Liam have to sit outside of the animal shelter trying to get people to donate money while the others get to pet kittens and play with puppies. This isn't really how he wanted to spend his Saturday, but he supposes it's for a good cause. He wraps his jacket tighter around himself and watches as people avoid eye contact with Liam who is trying to grab their attention and holding out flyers. Louis had to do the same thing about ten minutes ago, it's a little funnier to watch it second hand.
Their fold out table almost flips over because of the wind, and Louis rushes to catch it, holding it down with a sigh of relief.
"This sucks," Liam groans, dropping the stack of flyers onto the table and sitting back down in his own chair. "Everyone is ignoring us."
"Yeah, I know. But at least Niall is going to get us hot chocolate." Louis grins, trying to lighten the mood. Liam just shrugs, like that's the not the great news that Louis is trying to act like it is. They both sigh.
It's another five minutes out in the cold before Niall comes back with their hot chocolate, all bright smiles and messy blond hair.
"Thanks, mate." Louis accepts it immediately and takes a long sip, he hums as the cup starts to warm up his previously numb fingers. Niall just smirks at him like he knows something that Louis doesn't, and Louis just squints his eyes suspiciously. "Um — is there something I can help you with, Niall?"
"I heard from Zayn that you drove Harry home after the party," Niall explains, tone suggestive. Of course Zayn would tell Niall, and he probably told Liam too. Louis only told him because he wanted to vent to Zayn about his lingering crush on Harry, and now he officially has to find somebody else to rant to.
"Nothing happened," Louis states firmly, leaning back in his seat. "Why would you think that anyway?"
Niall nervously spares a glance towards Liam and Louis gasps, his back straightening out. "You told him!" He points an accusing finger towards Liam, who looks guiltier than ever. Traitor.
"Yeahhh," Liam drags out. "I might've told him while he was driving us home on Tuesday that you sort of have a crush on — "
"Oh my god, don't say it!"
Niall chimes in. "For what it's worth, I think this is really cute. I mean, sure, Harry isn't your biggest fan. But that'll change." He shrugs.
"That's what Zayn said about three weeks ago and look where we are still." Louis takes another sip of his hot chocolate, but it just tastes like betrayal. Honestly, the more people that know about his stupid crush, the more likely Harry will find out. And he doesn't get why everyone is so excited about it, they just want to see him land on his face if Harry ever rejects him. Which he will if Harry ever finds out.
Speaking of the devil.
"Hey guys, Will and Ashton are gonna take over for you," Harry informs as he pushes open the entrance of the animal shelter, Will and Ashton following behind him. "Niall, aren't you supposed to be in there feeding the bunnies?"
Niall's eyes widen and he runs inside, Harry shaking his head but Louis can still see his smile. Him and Liam stand up, eagerly allowing Will and Ashton to take their places. The quality time he thought he's be spending with Liam quickly turned into checking if he had frostbite every two minutes, so he's pretty glad that it's over.
"Hey." Harry frowns. "Where'd you guys get hot chocolate?"
"Um — Niall got it for us down the street," Louis explains, looking down at his drink. He would offer it to Harry in a heartbeat, but he's already drank almost half of it.
"Oh." Harry just nods.
"C'mon, let's go in. I wanna see the kittens," Liam urges impatiently, waving the other two back inside with him following behind.
Their trip to the animal shelter turns out to be a pretty successful one. Apparently Ashton and Will are experts at getting people to donate money, which Louis tries not to let hurt his ego. The owners are pretty nice as well, and they teach the volunteer members all about the animals and what kind of situation they were in before they rescued them. Apparently Harry has a soft spot for elderly cats, because he spends almost an hour petting the two with their own room and sneaking them treats. Louis will admit that he was staring this time, for about twenty minutes he was trying to hype himself up to go initiate conversation with Harry, but inevitably he didn't. Besides, there's this one golden retriever that feel asleep in his lap so he couldn't get up anyway.
Louis feels even more confused about Harry than when he first met him. Their situation really isn't that complicated, but Louis feels like he's lost control over it. A part of him thought they'd be closer to each other by now, that spending four days a week together with the volunteer club would spark some kind of friendship. He doesn't even want something romantic or sexual with Harry at this point, he just wants to get to know him better and show that he's not as bad of a person as Harry thinks he is. But that's not really his choice to make. Harry has every right to distance himself from Louis if he dislikes him. He thinks that maybe all of his friends knowing about his crush has made things worse, they've given him a false hope that Harry will eventually come around. Even though it'll have been four weeks that they've known each other by next Tuesday and Harry still hasn't so much as spoken a full sentence to Louis without adding an insult. So, it's not looking great for him.
The sunsets at around five that evening, an orange glow shining through the windows before it's just faintly light outside and the sun is gone behind the horizon. Harry sorts everything out with the animal shelter on the school's behalf while the rest of them file onto the bus, quiet conversations flitting through the seats while Louis goes all the way to the back.
Louis eyebrows furrow when he sees Zayn walking over to him with glassy eyes like they're about to spill over with tears. "What's wrong?" He asks in a hushed voice, tugging Zayn down into the seat next to him. Zayn shakes his head.
"I don't even know. I was just talking to Liam and — and we were talking about Uni and stuff." Zayn pauses, swallowing like his throat hurts too much to talk. "Apparently he doesn't want us to get too serious if we're gonna be moving to completely different cities by next summer."
"So... what? He broke up with you?"
Zayn just nods, staring down at his shoes. "I don't wanna talk about it anymore."
"It's okay, babe. You wanna stay the night at my house tonight? We can watch movies or just sleep, whatever you want."
"Yeah." Zayn leans his head on Louis' shoulder right as tears start to fall and Louis stomach turns unpleasantly. He doesn't understand why Liam would just break up with Zayn like that out of nowhere, and university is almost a year away. Why not just figure things out another time and be together now while they still have time? Liam seemed completely fine while they were hanging out earlier today, he was kind of in a bad mood but Louis just assumed it was because of the weather. He would've never expected this from him, he thought Liam was perfect for Zayn.
They get back to Louis' house and his mum makes them tea. She doesn't ask any questions about why Zayn is upset, just gives him a hug and lets them borrow her DVD player to watch all the 2000's comedies they could find. Zayn doesn't say anything else about Liam, which just leaves Louis to draw his own conclusions. He hopes this is just a bump in the road, because even though he's extremely jealous of their relationship, they are perfect for each other. And Zayn deserves to be happy.
So he has to push back the urge to punch Liam right in the nuts, and instead, next week he will do everything in his power to get these crazy kids back together. He's now realizing that his life should've been a 2000's movie hit. They would make millions. Probably.
—
Louis doesn't see Liam until their next volunteer club meeting, which Zayn refused to go to because he didn't want to face the boy who broke his heart. Liam looks even worse than Zayn with the dirty clothes and puffy eyes. Liam's hair has been clearly neglected of styling and there's dark circles under his eyes like he's been up for days. Louis doesn't have time to feel bad for him right now, his best friend is his only priority right now.
So when Louis catches sight of him at the snack table munching on three cookies at once, he grabs his arm and drags him out into the hallway. Liam is freakishly strong, but he doesn't put up much of a fight once it's clear that Louis isn't backing down.
The loud chatter of their friends is completely silenced once the door shuts behind them and they're out in the hallway. Louis crosses his arms over his chest.
"We need to talk," Louis states with a hard gaze. He snatches away the cookies when Liam continues biting at them. "Okay, that's enough, the cookies are not important right now."
"'Orry," Liam mumbles behind a mouth full of cookie crumbs. Louis is not equipped to deal with two heartbroken teenage boys, he's barely equipped to deal with one. "Is this about Zayn?"
"Obviously, Liam. I'm here to ask why the hell you broke up with him? College is so far away, so can you just — "
"What's going on?"
Both Liam and Louis turn to see Harry poking his head out of the door tentatively, like he doesn't want to interrupt but is too curious to do anything else. Liam sighs. Louis watches carefully as Harry steps out into the hallway with them, his colorful eyes filled with concern as he briefly studies Liam's messy state.
"Louis was just about to yell at me for the breakup with Zayn," Liam explains sheepishly and maybe a little too honest. Louis was going to yell or maybe just speak sternly, but something about Harry's presence makes all his anger dissipate.
Harry's eyes bug out, surprise replacing his concern. "You broke up with Zayn?! Why the hell would you do that? Did something happen?" It's like he switches from being incredulous, to confused and then to pitiful in the matter of seconds. Louis would really like to kiss him right now.
Both Louis and Harry stare at Liam, waiting for answers, and he shrinks under their gaze. "Um — well, we were talking about college and Zayn told me that he wanted to go to London for Uni," he explains slowly. "And I wanna stay here. I just don't want to get attached to him — right before our lives are about to take a huge step in the future. It just... seems reckless to both me and Zayn's feelings."
Liam's perspective is making a little more sense now, but there's still a million solutions running through Louis' head. The number one solution being that they just go to Universities close to each other. There are tons of art programs that Zayn could apply to near their town and he's completely sure that there's a college that would fit both of their requirements.
"I think you need to talk to Zayn. Maybe if you discuss what both of you want, it'll help you figure out how to stay together," Louis tells him softly. But Liam shakes his head, not even taking a second to think about it.
"He doesn't want to talk to me. I've called him seven times, I don't want him to get annoyed." Liam scratches at the back his neck, eyes lowered. "Can I go now? Niall needs my help with his computer."
Louis just nods, stepping out of the way so Liam can go back into the meeting room. His heart hurts for both of his friends, they're so worried about the technicalities that they aren't even realizing how much better it would be just to figure things out when the time comes.
"Will you help me?" Louis asks hurriedly as Harry tries to open the door and go back inside too. Thankfully, he stops, turning back to Louis with his eyes narrowed.
"With what?"
"We need to get them to just have a conversation about all of this, it's the only way to get rid of the depression stink out of both of their three-day-old-clothes."
"That was Liam? I thought that smell was coming from you." Harry smirks, likes he's trying not to laugh at his own joke. Louis just stares. He's actually very serious about his hygiene, so it's hard to find the humor. And he's still resisting the urge to kiss Harry like his life depends on it.
"You're not funny."
Harry just rolls his eyes, his typical frown returning to his face. "I'm not helping you." He tries to turn back around, but Louis reaches out for his arm desperately.
"Please, Harry. I don't even have Liam's number or anything, and I just need you to help me get them in the same room." He lets go of Harry's arm when it's clear that he's not trying to escape anymore. Harry's skin is soft, but Louis can see goosebumps on his arm when he pulls away.
The boy just stands there, mulling over it as Louis watches. Harry is always hesitant to associate himself with Louis, like Louis is bad news or something. But Louis is at a point where any time spent with Harry is like fireworks. So a little reluctancy is better than nothing.
"Fine, but we're doing it tomorrow, 'cause I'm busy Thursday and Friday."
"Awesome." Louis smiles. "Just meet me by my car after school. You remember what Ernie looks like, right?"
"Yeah." Harry murmurs, clearing his throat. Louis just gives him a double thumbs up and opens the door back open for him. He grins brightly just to receive a blank stare in return. Lovely as always.
The next day during school couldn't pass by any slower. Louis is shaking his leg anxiously the entire time. He realized soon after their conversation that he really doesn't have much to talk about with Harry. Of course, he wants to ask him questions about himself and learn every little detail, but he has to keep it casual. He can't come on too strong and scare Harry away. This is his chance to show Harry that he is totally not the asshole that Harry thinks he is.
It was also a startling realization that Harry is going to be in his car for a second time. Louis cleaned every inch of it before school this morning. The last thing he needs is for Harry to turn up his nose to Ernie, and Louis has also noticed that Harry can be a little bit of a 'clean freak'. Which is a harsh term but Louis isn't sure how else to describe it. He saw Harry force himself to take a deep breath the other day when the volunteer club members made a huge mess of the snack table for the second day in a row. Louis doesn't blame him, sometimes they can be a little careless, but he doesn't mind a mess every once in a while. Hence, the reason he has to thoroughly clean his car.
Louis heads straight for the parking lot once the last bell rings, digging his keys out of his pocket as he pushes open the doors that lead outside. There's always a huge crowd of cars at the end of the day, a bunch of inexperienced drivers trying to pull out of the parking lot at the same time can get pretty insane and stressful. So Louis is thankful for a reason to wait out all the craziness and time to calm himself down before seeing Harry.
A nervous excitement simmers through him when he spots a familiar curly headed boy walking in his direction, as pretty as ever with the sun casting down on his face and just emphasizing the glow that radiates around him. Louis offers a small smile, his skin prickling under Harry's stare. He suddenly regrets putting on his oldest t-shirt this morning. Harry waves shortly once he's close enough.
"You ready to go?"
Louis stands up straight from leaning against his car and nods quickly. "Yeah, yeah. I'm ready."
The excitement just intensifies once they're in his car and Harry's arm is so close to his that he can practically feel a sense of warmth. Louis wonders if his eagerness is written all over his face, obvious to anyone who looks at him. Harry fiddles with one of the rings on his fingers and looks out of the window, so he supposes he doesn't have to worry about that at the moment.
"It's pretty crazy at this time in the parking lot," Louis remarks offhandedly, putting his car in reverse so he can pull out. He spares a glance towards Harry, who is biting at his bottom lip. Louis wonders if it's safe to drive while someone as gorgeous as Harry is sitting next to him. That's gotta be a safety hazard or something, right?
Harry hums, observing the chaos around them. Lots of honking and brake lights. "Yeah, I suppose."
"Do you ride the bus?" Louis asks, eyes forward on the car in front of them to avoid seeming like he's interrogating Harry. He reaches over to turn on the heat a little bit, in case Harry is cold but doesn't want to mention it, because Louis is getting a bit cold himself.
Harry shakes his head, lip now red and irritated as he releases it to speak. "No, my mum or stepdad pick me up. Or I walk if they're busy."
Louis nods thoughtfully, getting behind about four cars in the line waiting to pull onto the road. His hands are sweating a bit so he wipes them on his thighs, taking a slow breath through his nose. "I could always take you home if you need a ride, I drive Zayn most of the time anyway," He offers, trying to seem super casual and cool about it.
There's a short silence that Louis could probably cut the awkwardness with a knife. "Um — so what's the plan?" Harry questions, changing the subject. Louis' heart sinks a bit. "With Liam and Zayn, I mean."
"Well, I was thinking we could just invite both of them out to lunch with us without telling them that the other is joining. And then, like, leave them alone," Louis shares, looking over for Harry's reaction. Harry is so smart and he doesn't want his plan to sound stupid to him. And he also doesn't want Harry to notice that this plan could've easily been done individually, like Louis didn't need Harry to be in his car or drive together at all.
"Why don't we invite them to your house? 'Cause couldn't they just leave if we went to a restaurant?"
"Well, I didn't plan on holding them hostage to work things out. But if that's really what you want to do..." Louis trails off, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel.
Harry laughs softly, dimples caving in as Louis glances over at him. "Yeah, you're right."
Louis just made Harry laugh and his heart beats a little faster in his chest. It's only been about five minutes and things are going pretty smoothly for the most part. He wracks his brain for something more to say so they don't lose this little spark of fire they have going.
He can't think of anything, he just smiles privately to himself and fails at trying not to look too pleased. "Um — so text Liam to meet us at that taco place on Little Creek Road, okay?"
Harry nods, pulling out his phone and typing away. It's nice to be with Harry without any bickering or angry scowls thrown in his direction. It's nice to just sit in a car with him and embrace the periodic silences that only have a tiny drop of uncomfortable energy. He hopes that this might clear some of the air between them. That maybe Harry will realize Louis is nice to be around too.
Once both Zayn and Liam have been texted and they get responses back confirming that they'll meet them there, Louis drives him and Harry up to the taco place. There's no more words shared between them after that, since Louis doesn't try to initiate anymore conversation ands Harry seems to avoid doing that ever. He just wants to appreciate the comfortable quietness while he has it, and not ruin it by asking too many questions or making a stupid joke. He's limited himself to one question per thirty minutes.
"Oh shit, he's already here. C'mon." Louis taps Harry's arm gently, turning to him when he spots Zayn pulling up in his mum's car. Harry unbuckles his seat belt and climbs out so Louis does as well, waving to grab Zayn's attention once he spots him walking up to the restaurant.
Zayn smiles, but it fades a little when he sees who Louis is approaching with, confusion causing his forehead to crease. "Um — you two are hanging out? Without any bruises or scrapes?"
Louis should've expected that but he still feels his face heat up. He's not sure why this is embarrassing, but just the acknowledgment of how much Harry dislikes him makes him feel like he's being centered out as the easily dislikable jock. Harry just waves it off though, like he was prepared for this question.
"Yeah, I'm hungry and Louis kidnapped me from the side of the road, so." The boy shrugs, running his fingers through his hair. Harry's sense of humor is very dry and Louis finds himself laughing more than necessary, despite the very weird looks he receives from Zayn.
"Okay, anyways. Let's just go inside," Zayn suggests after a beat, walking to the entrance and holding the door open for the other two.
They all walk inside and find a table to sit at. Louis lets Zayn sit on the side with his back to the doors, so Zayn won't see when Liam comes in and Harry and Louis can just make a quick exit without either of them noticing. A waiter comes by to take their order right as Liam walks in, approaching the table with a careful smile. Louis almost feels bad for setting them up like this, but it's for the best.
"Hey, Liam," Harry greets, and Zayn's head snaps towards the pair.
"Liam?"
Both Zayn and Liam notice each other at the same time, their lips parting slightly in shock as they take sight of each other. Louis is immediately nudging Harry to get out of the booth so Liam can sit down where they are.
"You know what? We'll just let you guys talk," he mumbles, forcing a laugh to ease the tension. "Have fun." Louis waves, squeezing Zayn's shoulder in support as Harry practically pushes Liam into the spot across from Zayn.
"What are you guys doing?" Zayn asks, even more confused than before.
"We um — " Louis looks to Harry for an answer.
"We thought you guys needed an opportunity to talk," Harry takes over. "And if either of you get angry, I would just like you to know that this was Louis' plan." Harry points at him in accusation. Louis guffaws, turning back to the pair and shaking his head. Even though he knows technically this was his idea.
"Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you, Z," Liam says, disregarding Harry and Louis' childish behavior. Zayn nods guiltily and Louis takes this as their cue to leave them alone.
So, Louis carefully grabs Harry's elbow, pulling him away and towards the exit. Not as smooth or sneaky as he planned this to go, but it still worked, judging by the way Liam and Zayn are still sitting down and not trying to run away.
"C'mon, let's go."
"But I'm hungry," Harry pouts gently as they get far enough from Zayn and Liam's table. It almost makes Louis give in, but he has to stay strong. "Can't we order something to go?"
"We can find somewhere else to eat," Louis promises, letting go of Harry's arm when he realizes he's been holding on for too long. He seems to do that a lot, actually.
Harry sighs but still follows him out of the restaurant and they get back into Ernie. Harry is picking at this hole in his jeans mindlessly as Louis tries to think of what places there are to eat near here that isn't as close as the taco place right next to them.
"What're you in the mood for?" Louis asks, fixing his slightly ruffled hair with his hand that he isn't using to drive. They deserve some victory food, as they were pretty successful with their plan and got their friends to talk things out.
Harry pauses for a moment as if to think about it. "I could go for a cheeseburger and a soda," He tells Louis with a soft voice that makes Louis' stomach flip pleasantly. He could listen to Harry talk for hours.
"Okay."
So Louis drives them to burger place that isn't McDonald's, because according to Harry, their chips aren't salty enough. Whatever that means. They eventually order their food and Louis starts eating once they get it, since he mastered the art of eating while driving when him and Zayn went on a road trip last summer. But Harry waits to eat until Louis finds somewhere to park. He's shaking his leg impatiently, and Louis finds it kind of amusing to see Harry all antsy like this.
"You know," Louis starts. "We're kind of like Hallie and Annie from The Parent Trap," he shares out loud. Munching on his burger. Harry gives him a sideways glance.
"We are not like Hallie and Annie." He rolls his eyes. "And please stop chewing so loudly before I throw that burger out of the window."
"Wow, you're pretty mean when you're hungry," Louis huffs, exaggerating a frown for comedic purposes. Even though Harry doesn't look amused. "Want some?" He holds out his burger, but Harry doesn't even warrant that with a response and instead unwraps his own food once Louis finds a place to stop.
Louis can't help but feel giddy at this point, he feels like him and Harry are friends. Like real ones who get food together and make plans to hang out. Maybe they could start solving crimes next. Louis could be the detective that works too hard, but it all pays off when he falls in love with his partner. Louis should write a book.
"Thank you." Harry interrupts his thoughts and they make eye contact. Louis could swear his heart was on fire. "For the food, I mean," He elaborates, nodding as if affirming his words.
"You're welcome." Louis grins. "I knew you'd warm up to me eventually, mate. See how nice it is when we're sweet to each other?"
"No."
"Yep... typical Harry thing to say," Louis muses, taking another bite of his burger. He needs to look away from Harry before he licks off the ketchup in the corner of his mouth. Damn him and his stupid pink lips.
—
Zayn calls Louis later that night after Louis drops Harry off his house. Louis answers the call with his eyes clenched, prepared for the sound of screaming on the other side, but Zayn just talks normally, and Louis is lets out a sigh of relief. Zayn tells him all about his and Liam's conversation, and even thanks him for pushing them together. Louis is just grateful that his plan worked and things are going to work out between both of his friends. They're literally perfect for each other and Louis has been feeling particularly romantic the past several weeks.
A couple days after the parent trap activities, on Friday night, Louis has his first football match of the season at their school. He's shocked to see how many people there are out on the stands when he walks onto the field with his teammates. Louis can't really spot anyone that he knows, squinting his eyes, but honestly he does not know a single person out there. He sets down the equipment bag with a huff onto the metal bench. None of his family could come today so that's a bit disappointing, but Zayn and Liam said they would try to make it after the volunteer club meeting and he's hoping Harry lets them out early.
Everybody on the team starts warming up or doing their stretches. The other team hasn't shown up yet so they have a lot of time to kill. The team they're playing against is supposedly not very good, but Louis always gets the same pre-game jitters when his hands won't stop shaking.
"Louis!"
Louis turns around, facing the other side of the crowd. His face stretches into a huge smile before he can help it, spotting Zayn, Liam and Niall all in the front row. Waving at him widely like Louis won't be able to see them when they're only four yards away. He jogs up to them after checking to see that his coach isn't watching. She's distracted with Nick's swollen ankle.
"Hey, guys! So glad you could make it! Harry let you out early?"
"Yeah, of course. He's getting us all hotdogs right now," Niall tells him, nodding confidently and leaning against the metal railing in front of him. He has some ridiculous face paint of their school colors on his cheeks, but Louis loves it. He's just so glad they're all here, and he can't believe Harry is here too.
He didn't think Harry would be caught dead at a sports game, let alone one of Louis' football matches. It's most likely that his friends convinced him to come and he didn't actually want to, so Louis doesn't allow himself to dwell on the thought.
Eventually he has to leave them once the other team arrives, stretching out his legs and sliding on a headband so his hair stays out of his face. He's in desperate need of a haircut, but sometimes he likes when his hair is a bit longer than usual. There's a slight chill in the air since it's the middle of December, but it's still warmer than it has been lately. The clouds are blocking the sun and the grass is freshly cut but still dewy. It's a beautiful day, and even more beautiful when he catches sight of Harry. Harry with sunglasses pulling his hair back and a small smile as he's talking to Liam about something. He has these little creases right by his lips when he smiles, and Louis can't bear it.
The game goes by exactly like a first game should, it's smooth paced and Louis gets a lot of time on the field. At first it's a pretty close tie, he gets a little jittery again when he realizes how aggressive the other team starts to get, but he scores twice and that's enough for him to relax. Knowing that he's doing good. And the fact that he knows Harry could be watching him at any moment, just leaves this stomach doing twists and turns in his gut. He feels like he knows when Harry's eyes are on him, he can feel the hard gaze on the back of his head. All he can do is hope that Harry cares enough to pay attention, and if he's not, at least he still has his other friends.
The sun peaks out as the game goes on and Louis can feel himself sweating more and more. His breath is ragged during the second half of the match but his coach doesn't pull him out of the game, he already knows that she wants to him to play until the end to make sure they win. Their score is pretty hard to beat, eight to three. Especially with how close they are to the end.
When the whistle blows, his entire team goes into one giant, a little aggressive, group hug. Louis stays a bit off to the side, cause his chest is burning and he needs water. He just hugs Nick and a couple other guys before jogging back off to the side. Their coach lets them all drink water before gathering them in a huddle to talk about the game. This isn't Louis' favorite part, because his coach is very critical and mostly of Louis because he's the captain. He supposes that's what comes with the position, but when he's been running around for an hour, he's really just not in the mood for it. Coach lets them go with a wave of her hand, congratulating them on the win.
Louis immediately heads for his friends, letting his teammates gather the equipment since he brought it out. They've stepped off the bleachers and meet him on the field. Niall's face paint is smudged and Zayn looks sleepy, but overall they look happy for him.
"You did great, Lou!" Liam gives him a big teddy bear hug and Louis laughs into his shoulder.
"'M all sweaty," He mumbles as Liam pulls away. Liam just nods regretfully, like he didn't fully think though the hug. Niall breaks out into a fit of laughter. "So, how was I, Harry? Want me to sign something for you?" Louis teases, a hand on his hip and the other holding his water bottle. Zayn has his head resting on Liam's shoulder now and Niall's face is red, not from the face paint but from laughter.
Harry rolls his eyes. All Louis wants is to make him smile, his heart aches for it. "Shut up," Harry mumbles. So Louis just grins instead.
He knows Harry isn't as annoyed as he tries to pretend he is. Or as Louis hopes he isn't. He has imagined plenty of ways he thought Harry would warm up to him and how that would make him feel, but none of those thoughts compare to how he feels now. There's just something about Harry that's so addicting, staring into his eyes and never wanting to look away. He melts at the idea that Harry was here to watch him play. Louis has never felt so special in his entire life, to know that he could possibly become important to someone like Harry. He wants to make Harry feel just as special.
"Wanna get some celebration food?" Liam proposes, eyebrows raised.
"I gotta take a quick shower," Louis chuckles. "I'll be out in a couple minutes and then we can go."
"Um — I gotta get home, but congrats on your win," Harry says, interrupting Louis before he walks off to the lockers rooms.
"What? — Why?" A crease forms between Louis' eyebrows. He can't help but think Harry is bailing because he doesn't want to spend time with him. He can't just watch his budding friendship with Harry slip through his fingers like sand.
Harry seems to shrink when everybody stares at him, waiting for an answer and just as curious as Louis.
"Well, I have a ton of homework and..." he trails off, like they're supposed to finish the sentence for him.
"H, it's Friday!" Niall insists. "You have to go."
Harry's lips twist, like he's still unsure.
"Please, Harry? It's just some food, go be a nerd on your own time," Louis attempts to persuade him but Harry looks unimpressed at the nerd comment.
"Fine, I'll join. Just go shower."
Louis cheers, nudging Harry's shoulder appreciatively before jogging away towards the locker rooms where the rest of his team has disappeared. He needs to shower quick before Harry runs off without telling him. He strips off his clothes, grateful that there's not many other guys showering at the moment because that can always be a little awkward.
He washes all the sweat off his body and his hair too, just ruffling it up with his fingers and hoping that's presentable enough. After putting the clothes back on that he had before he changed into his uniform, he runs back outside with his bag swung over his shoulder. Louis practically sighs with relief when he sees that Harry is still with the other guys, hanging around Niall's car and all listening as Niall gestures about something wildly with his hands.
"Finally, you're back," Niall says, sighing dramatically.
"Chill, mate. It was, like, five minutes," Louis laughs. He can feel Harry looking at him from the corner of his eye.
"Alright, let's go guys." Zayn waves his hand for them all to get into Niall's car, sliding into the passenger seat. Louis asks Niall to pop open his trunk before tossing his bag inside and shutting it closed again. The warmth from his shower is already slipping away so he's eager to get into the car, where he knows Niall will crank up the heat.
"Oh — sorry," Harry mumbles as he slides into the spot next to Louis and accidentally touches his knee. It's kind of a tight fit with all three of them back here, and of course Louis has to be right in the middle. Harry is all gangly limbs and his thigh is pressing right up against Louis'. His cheeks burn when he can feel himself getting all squirmy. God, he really needs to chill. He cannot get hard in a car full of his friends and a pretty boy next to him. He refuses.
After fifteen minutes of driving around aimlessly they finally decide on a place to eat. Louis can't wait to get out of the car and put as much space between him and Harry as soon possible. Harry and his stupid thighs and his stupid delicate fingers that are always folded in his lap like he's scared of taking up too much space. Louis wants to paint his nails and tell him how beautiful he is.
The place is pretty much empty when they walk in, Liam and Zayn go to save them a table while the rest of them order the food.
"What would you like, Harry?" Louis asks, turning back to the boy when its his turn to order. The cashier just stares at them with a bored expression while Niall rocks awkwardly back and forth on his feet.
"A number three, please," He murmurs after a moment of thinking.
So Louis orders him a number three and a coke, checking to see if that's the soda that he wanted even after he already ordered it. Harry just nods. They carry all the food back to the table once it's brought out to them, and by this time a couple of people have entered the place as well.
'Thank you's are mumbled around the table as everybody passes each other's food around. Louis hasn't had anything to eat all day except an apple before the game, so he's pretty pumped. Harry sits down next to him even though Liam has an open seat beside him and Louis can feel his heart soar out of his chest. But he stays calm. He bites into his sandwich and hums, chewing as his friends spark up a conversation around him.
"So, how many hours do you guys have so far?" Niall asks curiously, glancing between Zayn and Louis.
Zayn starts counting on his fingers and Louis can't help but laugh. "Thirty-seven I think," Louis tells them, taking another bite of his sandwich. He hopes the topic of the reason they are volunteering doesn't put him in a negative light once again for Harry. A part of him is still embarrassed, even though he's had a while to get over it. Harry just makes him nervous, and his palms are starting to sweat a little before he just wipes them on the rough material of his pants.
"Well, at this rate you'll be done in like ten years." Liam laughs at his own joke and Louis can't help but roll his eyes. He's right though, they need to start volunteering for at least five hours at a time or they'll never get it done.
Louis' head turns attentively when he hears Harry chime in. "You don't have to worry, the Christmas trip will be accounted for the whole three days that you'll be there," He explains softly. "That is... like, only if you're going," He continues, shrugging.
"Yeah, that sounds fun," Zayn agrees easily. "What will we be doing, though? Like charity-wise?"
"We're going to a ski-lodge, so from nine to three during the day we'll be working the holiday center but the rest of the time we get to do whatever," Harry continues, scratching at his nose. Louis loves watching him talk. "But like, you'll get seventy two hours since it's a trip with the volunteer club, if that makes sense?"
"Oh, that's awesome." Louis smiles, squeezing Harry's arm before he can stop himself. He pulls back when Harry looks into his eyes. "When will that be?"
"Like a week from now, the three days before Christmas Eve."
"Oh, that's Louis' birthday!" Liam says, like it's a fun fact that everyone had to know.
Niall's eyebrows shoot up, mouth filled with food. "ther'ioufly?" He asks. Louis assumes he meant to say seriously? He wrinkles his nose with a laugh when food drops from Niall's mouth. So gross.
"Yep, he's a gift from Santa," Zayn teases, smirking over at Louis.
"Ha ha — that joke never gets old," He remarks and smiles sarcastically.
—
Louis picks Zayn up from his house on a Wednesday morning. Today they get to skip classes, completely authorized by the school because they'll be cleaning up local parks. Not the most fun thing to do during the winter but it's better than classes and preparing for semester exams. Zayn comes clambering into Ernie, clearly haven woken up late this morning. He brought a can of hairspray with him, spraying it all over his head and Louis starts choking on the smell while rolling down his windows.
"Jesus, Z. Your hair is gonna shatter if you spray any more on," He complains, cringing at the taste in his mouth. That stuff is definitely toxic. Louis makes a loud sound of shock when Zayn just chucks the can into Louis' backseat. Once things get tossed back there it never comes back, everything down there is none of Louis' business, he never sits back there anyway.
"Whoops." Zayn shrugs, like he didn't just intentionally do that. Louis turns on the radio and ignores Zayn for the rest of the ride. It's too early in the morning for this, the sun is barely even out yet.
They get to the first park of the day, a grassy open one with nothing but benches and trees surrounding. He parks his car and they get out. Today Harry allowed him to drive himself since the buses don't stop near his neighborhood. Speaking of the boy...
"Hiya, Harry." Louis smiles brightly, standing maybe a little too close as he approaches. Harry has a cute little crease between his brows as he writes something on his clipboard. But he looks up when he hears a sudden voice. "I like your shirt." He gestures to the bright green long sleeve Harry has on with the words 'clean up crew' printed to surround a little doodle of Earth. So cute.
Harry smiles, a little bit evil if you ask Louis. "Good, because you get to wear one too." Louis' bright expression falters a little bit.
"Y'know what?"
"Hm?" Harry raises an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side with fake interest and something smug in his eyes. Louis does not like him in this moment.
"I think it looks better on you and I wouldn't want to draw attention away from that," Louis says, a hand over his heart to express his sincerity. He absolutely cannot put on a shirt that's blinding like that. He'll just look stupid, he's not like Harry who could literally pull off anything if he wanted to.
"Are you a medium?" Harry looks Louis up and down, tucking his clipboard under his arm. Louis' belly flips at the sudden attention and he chews on the inside of his cheek. All he can do is nod and then Harry is walking away.
Louis shakes himself out of his haze and finally takes a moment to observe whoever else has shown up this morning as well. He spots all the girls in the club already grabbing trash bags and sliding on gloves. Liam and Niall are the ones handing out shirts over near the bus and Harry is chatting with them easily. That's when Louis notices Zayn heading in his direction, stopping once he's close.
"What the hell was that?"
Louis' eyebrows scrunch together, confused. "What was... what?"
"You and Harry are friends now?" Zayn questions, eyes shining like he just won the lottery.
Louis is excited too. It's kind of stupid, but if that's what Zayn thinks, then he and Harry must really be getting along. But Louis isn't sure how reliable his opinion is, since he sometimes just likes to tease Louis about guys that he likes.
Instead of jumping up and down with joy, Louis just shrugs. "Yeah, I suppose. He's stopped calling me names so that's a start." His cheeks start to hurt with how hard he's trying not to smile.
Just the idea of him and Harry being friends gets him all giddy like he's five years old.
"Here you go." Harry comes back up to Louis, but with two shirts in hand. "Got one for Zayn too."
"Oh, thanks, man!" Zayn slips it on easily when Harry hands it over. And Louis is immediately nodding in approval, loving how the bright green really brings out the geeky side of Zayn. A rare pleasure Louis gets to see.
"You look great, dude."
"Your turn." Zayn nudges him. So, Louis finally slips the shirt over his head, thankful that he wore a short sleeve shirt so it's not too many layers. Both of the boys in front of him watch intently, like they weren't expecting Louis to give in that easily. The shirts really aren't that bad, and it's not like anyone but the club members are around anyway. "Fantastic," Zayn chuckles.
Harry is smiling at Louis softly, his dimples out like he's amused. And now Louis has an urge to put on more ridiculous clothes just to get Harry to stare at him like that forever. His mind is fuzzy and he loves these shirts now.
Niall interrupts the moment as he raises his voice so everyone can hear as he gives instructions about how their day is going proceed. They'll be going to three parks in total, they have to just grab a trash bag and some little poker thing that Louis sees him hold up and pick up any trash they see. Some people are assigned to pick up things that can be recycled and others pick up the rest. Louis gets the awesome job of picking up the rest. Niall also explains how some foods are good for the soil so just leave banana peels and apple cores on the ground.
Louis grabs his own trash bag once they begin and slips on a pair of rubber gloves. His hair starts to fall into his eyes and he wishes he had brought a headband, running his fingers through it to push it back. Louis' gaze falls onto Harry somewhat far away, he physically cannot help it. He sighs to himself and starts cleaning up instead of walking over to talk to Harry. Louis definitely has some self control, and he doesn't want Harry to get annoyed by him. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say. Even though it's an absence from... fifteen yards away.
Their trip to the first park goes by the slowest, but once Louis gets the hang of it he ends up filling his whole bag. It's a pretty huge field and his back is starting to cramp up from bending over, so he takes a little break. Letting out a loud huff as he sits with his back against the trunk of a tree. He could've easily sat down on one of the benches around but it's just too far right now. The sun is thankfully blocked by rows of trees and he gets to relax in the shade. Louis sometimes thinks he needs to spend more time outside. Of course, he's outside during football season, but he means like taking walks and enjoying the fresh air. He's sure that there's some psychological advance in people who get more time out in the sun or laying down on grassy fields. Louis wouldn't mind coming out here for a picnic every once in a while. He'd have to convince Zayn to come with him.
Eventually the group clears the majority of the park, not one piece of trash in sight. Louis drives him and Niall to the next one of the day, since Zayn wanted to ride with Liam on the bus. He's still so relieved they worked things out, he knows that people say high school relationships never last. But something about those two together is just perfect.
The second park is smaller, but there are more benches and this one at least has trash cans. It doesn't take long for everybody to start cleaning again. They had a total of seven and a half bags filled last time and Harry told them the goal was fifteen, so they're definitely on the right track. Louis takes one of stick-poker-thingies — that he still doesn't know the name of — since his back is still aching, and stabs at a small empty milk carton in the grass.
"Louis?"
He turns around, his lips pulling up into a smile when he sees Harry coming up beside him. "Hey, mate."
"Hey." Harry nods, switching his trash bag from hand to the other. He looks a little nervous about something, like he has something to say.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, of course, I just — I was just wondering if we could talk later? It's nothing bad."
Louis shrugs, biting at the inside of his cheek. "Yeah, sure. We can't just talk right now?"
Harry shakes his head. "I'd rather talk later?" He says, as more of a question. "It's not super serious, I wanna clear the air, you know?"
Louis honestly has no idea what he's talking about and it sort of feels like this is a joke that Harry is playing on him, by making him wait to find out what he wants to say. It's extremely nerve wracking. Harry either wants to talk about how their relationship to each other has kind of shifted from uncomfortable to friends. Or, he's noticed Louis' feelings for him and wants to let him down easy. Both are very unsettling to think about.
"Okay, yeah. We'll talk later," Louis accepts, running his fingers through his hair. He immediately regrets it when he realizes he's been touching trash all day, and resists the urge to scrunch up his face.
Harry smiles, shoulders dropping like he's relieved. "Awesome, I'll see you later."
Then he's walking away and Louis is helpless to watch him. But turns away when the panic sets in. What could Harry possibly want to talk about? He feels like it should be obvious, but he really doesn't know. He'll just have to wait, and try not to cry when Harry inevitably tells him he finds Louis repulsive and never wants to be his friend. He needs to start mentally preparing right now.
The next three hours are absolute torture for Louis. He spends the whole time picking up trash and thinking about Harry, not a second goes by where his heart isn't thudding loudly in his chest. Zayn keeps him company for a while, talking on and on about his mum and how she won't let him borrow her car anymore. Louis wasn't really listening long enough to find out why. It's a good distraction, though. And he figures he shouldn't tell Zayn about Harry wanting to talk to him until after he figures out why, because Zayn is even more impatient than he is.
The third park is probably the biggest one, but the cleanest as well. Their team has split in half number-wise as more people leave, probably wanting to get out of the bright sun as it shines directly above them or they have a job that they have to get to. By the time they're finished and they toss all their bags into a dumpster near by, it's just Lynn, Becca, Harry, Zayn and Liam left with Louis. Niall had to leave to pick his nephew up from school. Louis wishes he could've escaped with him. At first he wanted to talk to Harry as soon as possible, but it's getting closer to the end of their work day and he's scared for what Harry might bring up.
"You want me to drive you home? We can talk on the way there." Louis approaches Harry before he gets onto the bus. He doesn't feel like driving all the way to the school pointlessly and then driving home, and he'd like to give Harry a ride. He enjoys spending time alone with him, even if it means having mysterious uncomfortable conversations.
Harry's brows raise but he ends up nodding and following Louis to his car. "I can sign your hour sheet too," He offers as they slide into their seats and shut the doors. Harry is a little sweaty from the bright sun still shining outside and moving around so much today, Louis almost gets too distracted to respond when he sees how Harry is breathing a little rougher than usual.
"Yeah... yeah, thank you." Louis reaches back into his school bag that's hanging off the back of his headrest, digging through it until he find his paper and a pen. It takes him about a minute and Harry waits patiently. They've both still got these bright green shirts on and Louis can feel the collar starting to itch against his throat the more his anticipation builds.
"'Ere you go," Louis murmurs, handing Harry the paper and then grabbing his keys so he can finally start to drive them home. Harry writes on it silently, tongue poking out in concentration. Louis is glad today's trip is over, and now he's got at least five hours down which takes a small chip out of the goal.
Even after Harry is done filling out the chart, he doesn't say anything. Louis might just explode. Did Harry change his mind about talking to him? He doesn't want to bring it up and seem like he's been thinking about it the whole time, even though it hasn't left his mind. So he reaches to turn on the radio, wondering if it would be better if Harry forgot whatever he was going to say or if they actually had the conversation. All while Adele plays on the radio, down to a comfortable volume.
It's an excruciating ten minute car ride to Harry's house. Louis' brain is tired from worrying so much by the time he parks beside the curb of his lawn. Harry looks over at him.
"So...listen," He starts, and Louis holds his breath. "This is, like, kind of embarrassing, but I just wanted to talk to you about our dynamic and everything." Louis exhales, rubbing his hands up and down his thighs with anxiety as Harry continues. At least this isn't an intervention for Louis' insistent staring. "I was just super mean, and I definitely judged you too quickly, you know? So, I'm sorry for that."
Well, this is absolutely not what Louis was expecting. He never really thought Harry owed him an apology. If anything, he's kind of disappointed by it. Harry is strong and not afraid to stand up for himself, Louis doesn't want him to feel like that's ever something he should be apologetic for. The insults weren't Louis' favorite thing in the world, though. And it seems like Harry just wants forgiveness, and he can definitely give him that.
"So, would it be weird to ask if we could be friends?" Harry twists his fingers in his lap, tilting his head to the side cautiously.
Louis can't help the nervous laughter that escapes, but also a bit of relief. "Of course, Harry. Of course we can be friends. I'm just happy that you don't hate me anymore." Louis shoves his shoulder in the most gentle and delicate way that Louis isn't even sure if it qualifies as a shove and more life a comforting touch.
Harry grins, dimples popping. Louis wants to kiss him. "Yeah, I suppose I don't hate you anymore. And this'll make it easier on the guys too, y'know? They want us to be friends."
Right. That's why Harry saying all this. The floaty feeling in Louis' head hardens and the butterflies float away. At least Harry wants to be his friend, he can definitely work with that. Pushing aside his romantic and sexual attraction seems easy enough, especially if it means he gets be Harry's friend. This is literally all he's wanted for the past month.
"Yeah, you're right." Louis gives him a small smirk, brushing his hair away from his face. "This isn't an evil plan to gain my trust and then get rid of me, though, is it?"
Harry simply rolls his eyes like usual, but there's a grin on his lips. "You're stupid." Harry reaches down to grab his bag that Louis hadn't even realized he brought with him, but he watches as Harry picks it up and curls his hand around one of the straps. "Thanks for the ride, Louis. And please put some gas into Ernie before he breaks down on the side of the road." Harry gestures to the dashboard, Louis' gas meter pointing dangerously close to the E.
"Hey! You're not supposed to look at that!" Louis shouts rights before Harry closes the door and waves, turning around on his heels to walk up to his house. Louis waits for him to make it inside before driving off. That soft feeling in his chest seems to be there permanently.
—
It's a couple days before they leave for their Christmas trip, and Zayn calls Louis to make sure he's still coming down to the art show across town. Louis is already half way there while they're on the phone, and hangs up on Zayn before his friend starts talking non-stop about everybody else in the competition. People from every school in their town are entering their pieces and Zayn is extremely competitive, if he doesn't make at least top ten, then Louis will hear about it for the next month.
Immediately when he arrives, he knows he's going to be talking to most insufferable people all night. Louis hopes that some of his friends come as well, so he doesn't have to make conversation about the unspoken metaphors in acrylic colors. He will literally go insane.
"Thank god you're here, man," Zayn says immediately when he spots Louis walking in. "They ran out of cheese." He sounds devastated and Louis just stares.
"You're vegan."
"People are getting cranky, Lou. If the judges are hungry, they're gonna give a lower rating on my work," Zayn sighs, finger pinching the bridge of his nose momentarily.
Louis' eyes scan over Zayn's artwork while he continues to have a panic attack. "It's going to be okay, Zayn. This looks awesome," He assures, squeezing his friend's shoulder. Zayn's art is clearly better than everybody else's, he notices as he looks around. Louis doesn't know much about art, but he knows Zayn is the best. And all these other people are obviously inferior.
"Will you stay with me for a bit before going over to Harry? I want someone to talk to but Niall and Liam don't get here for another couple of minutes."
Louis' eyebrows raise, taking his eyes away from Zayn's painting. "Harry is here?"
"Yeah, he's over at the photography section a couple hallways down," Zayn explains, taking a deep breath. The gallery they're in is so crowded and nobody is modest enough to keep their voices at an inside level. Louis can understand why Zayn is so stressed now.
"Of course, I'll stay with you." Louis folds his hands together, glancing around another time. "But can we talk about the amount of people in here with denim shorts on?"
Him and Zayn talk for a while before Niall and Liam finally show up, giving Zayn hugs and complimenting his work. Liam seems to know a lot more about art than Louis thought he did, him and Niall just stand off to the side, trying to make sense of the code they're speaking in. Louis' eyes search the room, vaguely wondering if Harry has anybody keeping him company, or if he feels sad that no one is with him.
"I'll be right back," Louis says to no one in particular. He runs his hands through his hair as he tries to navigate his way to the photography section of the gallery. There are no sign indicators on the walls, but Louis ends up follows this guy with a huge poster of a photograph and that leads him directly to Harry.
He's standing all alone, leaning on the wall next to his row of pictures. His hair is pulled back with a hair tie, soft curls framing his face and swooping under his ears.
Louis walks over, nodding politely at the other contestants but otherwise completely avoiding their pictures. He really only cares about Harry's. He's thankful that Zayn and Harry are competing in different subjects because then he'd have the awkward responsibility of making sure Zayn knows he'd choose him over Harry.
"Hey."
Harry turns his head, eyes brightening. It's a refreshing comparison to the kind of reactions he used to get, and his heart swells two times its normal size in his chest. He's never experienced a feeling so pure in his entire life, to just want, and want, and want. Louis isn't even sure what he wants exactly, just to receive this welcome over and over again until it becomes faded and something normal.
"Louis. Hello," Harry greets, folding his arms over his stomach. His dimples cave in. "I'm glad you made it. I've been standing here like an idiot for about an hour without anybody to talk to," he chuckles. Louis watches as Harry wipes the hair out of his face, pink cheeks growing as he smiles.
"I'm sorry, I was just chatting with Zayn, but Liam and Niall will probably be over here soon." Harry nods at his words, looking even more relieved. Louis finally takes a look at Harry's pictures. They're all posed images of a woman that Louis doesn't recognize, but she's very pretty and the pictures show her surrounded by piles upon piles of books. "Wow, so who is this?"
"Her name is Gemma — "
"Your girlfriend?" Louis can't help but ask, interrupting Harry but all he hears is this ringing in his ears. Please, don't say yes.
"No," Harry laughs, immediately brushing him off. "My sister. First of all, ew." He wrinkles his nose and Louis wants to kiss him. "And also, do I look straight to you?"
Louis splutters, caught off guard by the question. The ringing has just intensified and he doesn't really know what to think other than to ask himself if Harry is seriously telling him he's not straight right now? And if he doesn't like women, that either means he's attracted to guys or not attracted to anybody at all. Louis doubts it's the latter, since he specifically said 'straight', which doesn't imply an absence of attraction fully? Okay, Louis doesn't even know what he's saying anymore.
In the back of his mind, he hopes Harry knows Louis is also gay and very much attracted to men. It's not like it's a secret, he makes it pretty obvious with all the posters of David Beckham in his room, but Harry has never been in there before. He's pretty sure Zayn mentioned one of his exes while they were all hanging out together, using he and him to refer to them. So maybe that made it obvious.
"How was I supposed to know?" Louis tries to play it off like his heart isn't beating at an irregular rate. "It's not like we've had a lot of time to talk about stuff like that." He laughs.
Harry seems to shrink at that last statement, like he's still embarrassed about how he treated Louis. "Yeah, I s'pose you're right."
"But anyway," Louis switches topics blatantly after a small pause. "Can I get a story behind these? Or do you just live in a library?"
Harry grins, shaking his head and stepping only about an inch closer to Louis. But he notices it.
"Nah, I just borrowed a bunch of used books from the library we went to last month. The theme is supposed to be 'my perspective on knowledge'," He puts in air quotes. "So, I decided to put a twist on how people say knowledge is infinite with the internet. And basically show that books have always been the most reliable source. Documents and stuff, you know."
Louis stares at the pictures for a little longer, the piles of books grow larger as the series goes on.
"Wow, Styles. Who knew you were such an artistic genius?" Louis praises, but pats his back briefly to show his sincerity. "Seriously, though, have you spoken to the judges yet? You're gonna get that gold medal."
"Actually, they don't really hand out medals at this kind of place. Just a cash prize for top three," Harry tells, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Whatever, you're gonna win is what I'm trying to say," Louis laughs, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets. He can feel his face warming as he turns away, embarrassed by the way a simple conversation has his heart singing. "So um — "
Louis doesn't even get to finish his sentence before Niall and Liam are cutting in, greeting Harry a little too loudly and pulling him in for hugs. Louis takes a step back, just standing there watching as his friends talk about Harry's photos and he explains it all over again. Harry seems to like the attention, and Louis just loves the way he radiates under it. He watches the way Harry's jaw moves as he talks, wondering if that's the kind of place he likes to be kissed, or if he's ever been kissed there at all.
He doesn't really get to talk to Harry very much after that before he decides to go back to Zayn. Who immediately hands him a tiny sandwich.
"Here. Eat it."
Louis just eats it whole, it's practically bite sized. He chews and swallows. "Why?"
"It was gross, wasn't it?" Zayn asks, like he already tried one. Louis sighs, scratching at his chin.
"Kind of." He shrugs. "But anyway, guess who's friends with me now."
Zayn ponders over it, hands on his hips. "David Bowie?"
"It's Harry! There are no time for jokes right now, Zayn." Louis glares, voice getting embarrassingly high and squeaky. "He said he wanted to be friends and now he's all nice to me. And this might be worse than when he hated me, because..."
Zayn's eyebrows raise expectantly when Louis suddenly trails off, waiting for him to continue. "Because...?"
Louis lowers his voice, leaning a little bit in case anyone cares enough to eavesdrop. "Because he's hot."
"Oh my god, you took a huge pause just to tell me something you've already said a thousand times before?" Zayn groans, tilting his head back dramatically. Louis is in distress right now and Zayn is not helping at all. He needs to figure out how to be Harry's friend and not literally reach over to pet his curls. Unless Harry would like that? There's a lot to consider, so many new possibilities. He knows for a fact, though, that he cannot kiss him. Which is frustrating on so many levels.
Louis is once again interrupted. This time it's because Liam wants to give his boyfriend a kiss. Stupid lovebirds, completely raining on his unrequited love pity party. He just makes his way back to Harry, because what else is he supposed to do? His legs make the decision to visit him again before his brain can even catch up.
He spends the next two hours at the gallery either talking to Harry or awkwardly staying by his side while he talks to other people. He also gets to talk to Niall, who knows even less than Louis about art, which he didn't think was possible. Harry tells him that they won't get the results until another day, and Louis has to refrain from asking why they even stayed here for so long? But it doesn't matter, because he gets to leave after eating one more tiny sandwich and then saying goodbye to Harry.
—
"Lou?! Are you ready, yet?" Zayn calls up the stairs impatiently, voice shrill like he's his mother or something. Louis rolls his eyes and slings his bag over his shoulder, looking down to make sure his clothes are alright one more time before bounding down the stairs and greeting Zayn with a saccharine smile.
"I'm ready to go, darling," he teases. But stops in his tracks once his feet hit the floor of his foyer.
Harry, Niall, and Liam are all in his house, staring at baby pictures of him and his family. Louis is officially disowning Zayn as a friend and has to find a new one. There is an embarrassing picture of him bare ass naked on one of those walls and there's no way he's letting Harry look at them any longer. He can't believe Zayn allowed this.
"Alright, alright, let's go," Louis insists, tugging on the back of Harry's shirt to grab his attention. Niall and Liam start sliding their coats on and Zayn checks his hair in the mirror by the coat hanger.
Harry turns around, lip bitten between his teeth. "You were cute as a kid," is what Harry decides to say to him.
"You don't think I'm cute anymore?" Louis scrunches his eyebrows together for effect and tilts his head to the side. But Harry doesn't fall for it, simply just shakes his head and picks his bag up from the floor.
"Nah, you've definitely let yourself go."
"Oh, shut up. Such a mean person," Louis complains softly as he ushers Harry towards the front door. Their friends follow behind the pair, and Louis is met with the sight of a huge bus parked on the side of his street. Rumbling loudly as the bus driver notices them approaching and turns the engine on.
"Niall, you wanna sit with me?"
Louis can't help but overhear Harry talking to the blond boy on his left, and his stomach fills with disappointment. He steps onto the bus and searches for a seat. He supposes there's no reason to be upset, since it's an hour long drive and he doesn't expect Harry to want to sit with him anyway. It's still sad, and it gets even sadder when he ends up sitting alone for the entire ride. Only the occasional acknowledgement from Zayn and Liam in the seats right in front of him, who turn sometimes to include him in their conversation. But they fall asleep about half way through, which is ridiculous since it's such a short ride. Louis just lets his head fall back against the seat and watches the trees zoom by.
The mountains grow larger as they get closer to the ski lodge, and Louis has never seen so much snow in his entire life. He absently wonders if he packed enough coats, or if he even owns that many big coats to begin with. The excitement is evident through out the bus, all the girls are talking animatedly in the front of the bus while Niall's face is practically pressed against one of the windows and Zayn is climbing over Liam to look outside as well.
The bus driver announces their arrival and they all stand up to get off, expressing their appreciation to the driver with smiles and small thank you's. They lug their bags on their shoulders, walking carefully across the snow to make it to the main lodge. Harry is off to the side with a comically large map unfolded in his hands, telling the group where to go. They follow him all the way to the lobby like little ducklings to their mother, and stand by as Harry sorts out all the rooms and their key cards.
"Okay, Lynn and Becca, you'll be in room two 'o three. Zayn and Liam, you'll be in room two 'o seven..." Harry continues handing people their room keys and listing off the pairs. Louis' eyebrows furrow when Niall gets paired with Natalie. If Harry isn't in a room with Niall, that means... "Ashton and Will, room two thirteen. And Lou, you'll be with me."
Everybody starts splitting up to head to their rooms or walk around the lodge a little bit. Louis approaches Harry as the boy is sorting through something in his bag.
"I hope you don't snore." Louis isn't sure why that's the first thing he says. He easily could've said something flirty or even something that's mildly polite. But no, he decided to bring up the least attractive thing someone can do while sleeping. Louis is actually pretty sure he snores sometimes, when he shared a room with his sister she would go over to his side of the room and pinch his nose until he woke up. Brutal stuff.
Harry doesn't seem all that put off by it, though. He looks up from his bag with a small smile. "It depends," He answers easily. Then stands up straight and holds his bag by his side. "You don't mind sharing a room with me, right? Niall told me once that he pees in the shower, so I thought you'd be the better option." Harry's lips pull into a grin, but he still stares as if he's waiting for assurance from Louis.
"Yeah, of course not. I just hope you know that I never stop talking, like... ever." Louis refrains from giving suggestions on what would shut him up, most of them are probably too sexual.
Harry shrugs, turning to make his way to one of the elevators so Louis follows after him. "I don't mind."
And that's the end of their conversation. Apparently Louis can stop talking, because the nerves he's feeling about sleeping in the same room as Harry is unmatched. It really shouldn't be a big deal, since him and Harry are friends now. He's not really worried about being strangled in his sleep like he would've been four weeks ago. But this is three nights and about four days he'll be spending with Harry. Like, never leaving his side. Unless they volunteer in different places around the resort. Which is pretty likely and eases his anxiety a little.
It's about four in the afternoon at this point and they don't have to work today. Everybody gathers into Will and Ashton's room to talk about what the plans for tonight are. Lots of suggestions for a party are thrown out there, mainly by Niall. But eventually they decide to go down to get dinner at five after unpacking and then go to Niall and Natalie's room to watch a movie. Since, for some reason, Niall brought the first and second Pitch Perfect movies on DVD.
"Did you bring toothpaste? Forgot mine," Harry tells him while they're unpacking. Louis doesn't see the point of unpacking all of his stuff, so he's mainly just trying to decide which bed he wants. The one next to the window looks good, but maybe he should get the one closest to the bathroom so he can pee without worrying that Harry will be bothered.
Eventually he decides on the one next to the window, because it has an outlet where he can charge his phone. "Yeah, there's a tube in the side pocket of my bag," Louis mumbles as he plops down onto his twin sized bed. It's a lot softer than he was expecting and he curls up into a ball, allowing himself to close his eyes for a moment. He can hear Harry unzipping the pocket he told him about, and hopes that Harry doesn't mind that his toothpaste has stripes in it. Some people don't like that.
"Thank you," he hears Harry mumble, going back to rummaging through the bathroom and taking stuff from his own bag. "You can take a nap if you'd like, we've still got an hour."
Louis hums, easily accepting any reason for him to fall asleep. He just lazily kicks off his shoes and doesn't bother pulling the covers over himself, falling asleep too quickly to care.
—
A loud knocking on the door wakes him from his nap and he groans, stretching out his back as he checks the alarm clock on the night stand by his bed and sees that it's been about forty five minutes. That's such an awkward amount of sleep and he feels just as tired, if not more, as he was when they arrived.
Harry gives him an apologetic look before he stands up to answer the door, as if it's his fault at all. Louis sits up, rubbing at his eyes and letting them focus on the small television. He finds himself smiling, knowing that Harry likes to watch Golden Girls. He bends forward to peer over the side of his bed so he can slip his shoes back on, but they're not there anymore. He takes a quick look around and sees them lined up along the wall with another pair of shoes. Oh, he forgot how clean Harry is. He needs to keep that in mind.
Zayn, Niall and Liam all come traipsing in after telling Harry why they're here, but Louis didn't catch it. Zayn sits down right next to Louis, the bed bouncing from the new weight. He's definitely hungry now, and hopes they all came into their room to figure out what they're going to do for food. Harry pauses the TV after closing the door, and Louis listens to his friends as they discuss who the best Golden Girl is.
It's obviously Rose, aka Betty White. No competition.
"I'm hungry," Louis says roughly, not realizing how scratchy his voice is and attempting to clear his throat. It's too dry.
"Everybody else is down at the dining hall. You wanna go down?" Liam asks, rubbing his hands together like he's been waiting for this as well.
Louis just nods. He realizes his hair must look a mess and reaches up to smooth it down a little bit, he hopes he didn't look too unappealing while he was sleeping and Harry was awake. It's a good day not to be a mouth breather. Everybody exits the room when Liam insists that they get up and go eat. He's never been more thankful for Liam's bossiness.
His and Harry's shoulders brush as they step into the elevator, and Louis would be lying if he said he didn't lean into it as they waited to get down to the first floor. They meet up with the rest of the group, it's a buffet style restaurant so Louis piles his plate with as much as he can. He's a little sad when Harry decides to sit next to Becca and Natalie instead of him but learns to appreciate it when he scarfs down his food, in a slightly unattractive and possibly repulsive way.
The whole dining hall is pretty empty for the most part, so they don't hold back from having lively conversation with each other. Somehow most of the table gets into an argument about what reality show is the best. Louis says it's The Real Housewives of Atlanta, but Liam and Zayn both think it's Gogglebox. Not only are they completely wrong, but Gogglebox isn't even top five.
He gets Harry to side with him, though, and they effectively end the conversation when Liam and Zayn are tired of arguing. Louis cheers and high fives Harry in victory, practically having to stretch across the table, but it's worth it. Zayn gives him an unimpressed look, and Louis doesn't care.
After everybody is finished eating, they head to Niall and Natalie's room just like they planned. Some people drag blankets and pillows along with them, cramming themselves into the tiny room so everybody can see the TV and also get comfortable. Harry finally decides to sit down next to Louis, their thighs brushing together as they sit with their backs against the front of one of the beds. Louis wants to cross his legs, but refrains because then they wouldn't be touching at all. And a part of him finds comfort in being able to be this close to Harry without feeling awkward.
They all take a moment once the movie starts to laugh about how Becca and the main character of the movie, Beca, have the same name. But eventually she shushes them and they focus back on the movie. Louis doesn't think twice when it starts raining outside, the drops pelting against the window but not loud enough to disturb their movie.
He only takes notice when there's a rumble of thunder that crackles through the sky and is completely palpable to anyone in the room. Harry flinches beside him, but otherwise stays calm and focuses back on the movie. The storm only gets worse, though, lightening flashing through the window and a quiet murmur flitting through the group. Nobody seems to care, other than Harry, who picks a hole into his thin t-shirt while the thunder rages on.
Louis nudges him softly, leaning closer to whisper in his ear as to not draw attention to them. "You alright?"
Harry nods immediately, sparing a quick glance in Louis' direction. It's obvious that he's lying, but Louis doesn't push any further. He didn't realize Harry was actually this scared of thunderstorms. He only remembers how terrified Harry was when he picked him up from the sidewalk that night after the party, practically shaking every time the loud sounds picked up, but he sort of just assumed it was because he was walking alone and the rain was so cold. Louis places a comforting hand on his forearm as Harry continues to pick at his shirt relentlessly, the boy next to him just sighs and stops his movements.
They manage to sit together the entire movie, but once it ends, Harry stands up and just walks out while everyone is too distracted trying to play the second movie that no one notices. Louis chases after him, his legs sore from sitting for so long. He closes the door quietly behind him. "Harry!" He calls, trying to get the boy to slow down before he gets to there room and jogs to catch up.
"What?" Harry asks, turning around swiftly. It's not unkind, but it's not gentle either. Louis takes his key card out of his pocket as they approach their room.
"Are you sure you're okay? You seem a bit frightened," Louis tells him, keeping his voice low even though no one's around. They step back inside their room but neither switch on the light, just bask in the darkness. A glow flits in through the window from the lights that keep the ski slopes bright, and that's enough to be able to walk around without tripping over anything. And Louis can see the expressions on Harry's face.
"I'm not scared of thunder," Harry denies firmly, slipping off his shoes and lining them up neatly against the wall. Louis does the same.
He's not really sure how to respond, since it's so obvious that Harry isn't being truthful. He just goes along with it. "I know, Harold. But maybe we should just take a deep breath, yeah? Relax and go to sleep?" He suggests softly. He goes to his bag to pull out some pajamas. Usually he sleeps shirtless or just in briefs, but there's no way he's doing that tonight with Harry around.
"'M not a baby," Harry mumbles stubbornly, sliding off his shirt and his pants as he gets ready for bed. Louis hurriedly averts his eyes, heart rabbiting against his chest. The image of Harry's smooth, milky skin will forever be ingrained into his mind. He takes a harsh breath through his nose to ignore the arousal shooting through him. This is absolutely not the time to ogle Harry. Not when Harry trusted him enough to share a room.
Once Louis changes into more comfortable closes, he turns back around and almost cries with relief to see Harry is in bed and covered by his sheets. He walks around to switch on the lamp, looking to see if Harry has any objections, but he doesn't. Louis just wants to go over and give him a tight hug, run his fingers through his hair until the crease between Harry's eyebrows smooths out and he's able to fall asleep.
"I know, love. But you don't have to put up a front with me, it's okay if you don't like the noise. I'm not particularly fond of it myself." He's lying. Louis actually kind of finds rain and thunder comforting, especially when he's about to go to sleep. But Harry doesn't have to know that.
"Really?" He asks, eyeing Louis suspiciously. Louis nods.
"Really. And if you need a cuddle just tell me, alright?" Louis would probably run to ends of the earth if it meant making Harry feel better, but he supposes just offering comfort is enough.
Harry nods slowly, chewing on his bottom lip. "Goodnight, Lou."
"Goodnight, Harry."
Silence falls between them as they both sink into their beds and close their eyes. Or at least, Louis does. The storm continues but Louis isn't sure what else to do to help Harry, so he allows sleep to fall over him. It takes a little longer than usual to fall asleep, since the amount of clothes he has on is uncomfortably warm. But he manages.
"Lou."
Louis doesn't wake up, only his legs shifting.
"Lou," Harry tries again, a strike of lightening lighting up their room.
Louis blinks his eyes open, turning over to face Harry. The boy's eyebrows are knit together as if permanently, blankets pulled all the way up to his neck. He doesn't look like he's gotten a second of sleep, which immediately floods Louis with guilt knowing it's been at least an hour.
"Can I come over?"
Louis is too sleepy to respond or even fully comprehend what's happening, so he just pulls his arm from under the blanket and lifts it up invitingly for Harry to slip in. His vision is a little blurry as he watches a half naked Harry tiptoe over to his bed and slide in. His body is warm and presses right up against him, Louis' stomach is unrelentingly buzzing with adrenaline. Definitely more awake now with Harry's bare legs tangling in his own and his head tucking into the curve of his shoulder.
"Comfy?" Louis teases gently, voice shaky with exhaustion. He brings his arm up to wrap around Harry's middle. The warmth is better now, it's something pleasurable compared to his clothes.
"Yeah, sorry," Harry whispers. Louis shivers when he feels Harry's soft lips moving against the base of his neck. A heat swirls in his belly and all he can do is try to think of something non-arousing. But Harry's hands are searching around his back as if looking for something to hold onto, curling his fists into the fabric of his shirt tightly and pressing them even closer together. Louis lets out a small exhale. "Is this okay?" Harry asks, unsure.
"Yeah, yeah," Louis rushes out, trying to reassure so he doesn't pull away. The scent of Harry is completely overwhelming, like strawberries and fresh laundry. Maybe he wants Harry to pull away, so he doesn't have to know what he's missing out on every night after this one. Doesn't have to experience something only once and then have it ripped away in the morning. "Is this better?"
Harry just nods against him, eyes closed and Louis only knows that because he can feel his eyelashes flutter against his skin. Louis isn't even sure if he has a single thought until Harry's breathing evens out and his muscles relax, all his weight holding onto Louis and keeping him close. Louis allows himself to fall asleep too once he knows that Harry is. The thunder continues to explode and the lightening flashes across the sky, but Harry doesn't flinch once throughout the night.
—
Waking up the next morning isn't as awkward as Louis assumed it would be. He didn't really have time to think about the fact that he was pressed against Harry all night while he had barely any clothes on. Louis woke up before Harry, but didn't want to move until Harry was up too to let him get as much sleep as he needed. Harry had mumbled a small morning. The sound made Louis feel all fuzzy inside, he doesn't think he ever had to know that Harry's voice in the morning is hoarse and gravely, but he does now.
Louis sits up, untangling his arms from the warmth of Harry's skin reluctantly and rubbing the heel of his palm against his itchy nose. He turns his head to observe Harry, who has his cheek still resting on the pillow case, curious eyes peering up at Louis. His lips are puffy and pink, Louis notices, and his curls are sticking in every direction. Louis wants to kiss him so bad his body aches for it.
"I didn't bother you too much, did I?" Harry questions quietly, fingers tracing patterns mindlessly into the sheets where Louis once laid.
"No, not at all. I slept like a baby," Louis tells him honestly, offering a tender smile. He knows the fondness in his eyes is evident, he just hopes Harry's eyes are too bleary to see it.
They eventually leave the comfort of Louis' bed and get dressed for the day. Louis dresses in the bathroom while Harry dresses by his bed. He washes his face and brushes his teeth while he's in there, also peeing a once he realizes he has to. Harry looks as beautiful as ever once he steps back into the room, watching as Harry tries to fix his curls in the body length mirror on their wall, a frustrated frown on his face.
"Stop stressing, you'll get wrinkles," Louis mocks lightly, brushing his hand along Harry's back as he passes by to get to his bag. Harry glares at him, somehow becoming grumpy in the small amount of time that they left Louis' bed and Louis was in the bathroom.
"I forgot my hair oil and I can't fix the frizziness," He complains, turning back to the mirror. Louis walks back up to him after putting his toiletries back, almost sliding his hand onto the curve of Harry's waist but then pulling back once he realizes that's completely not a normal thing to do. He sighs.
"You look fine, Harry. But can you please get ready before Niall comes barging in?"
"I only look fine?" Harry challenges, facing Louis with his arms crosses. Louis knows he's being baited right now, and he has to figure out how to play this cool. This is not the time to admit that he thinks Harry is possibly the most beautiful and gentle person he's ever met.
"Okay, you look good," Louis gives in, rolling his eyes. A part of him is scared Harry knows how attracted Louis is too him and is for some reason teasing him about it.
"Just good?" Harry places a hand on his chest as if personally offended.
"Oh my god, Harry. You're ready for the runway, okay? You look perfect. Flawless if you must," Louis huffs out, tugging Harry's hand away from his chest to stop him from looking so cute when he puts on a sad show.
Harry smiles, clearly pleased. "Thank you."
"Whatever, go brush your teeth," Louis urges, waving him away.
After getting ready and they head down to the lobby, Harry tells him that he has to help out at the shopping center while Louis gets to hand out ski equipment with Zayn. He's kind of sad to be separating from Harry for six hours, but he gets to see him this afternoon, so he should survive for that little amount of time. Harry makes a sound of realization and his eyes widen when they step into the lobby, muttering curses and explaining that he didn't tell everybody else what their job was. Louis watches with a small laugh as Harry quickly slides back into the elevator and clicks the button. All he gets is a quick glimpse of Harry waving goodbye before the elevator doors shut.
So Louis is left to find the equipment lodge all by himself, after searching around for twenty minutes inside and outside, he asks someone at the front desk and is finally able to find it. He walks down a path cleared of snow outside and mentally pats himself on the back when he sees a large building with the words skis, snowboards, boots, etc. painted onto it.
"Hey, how'd you get here so fast?" Louis asks with a pout when he finds Zayn leaning against the wall typing away on his phone. He looks up, eyebrows raised.
"You have a horrible sense of direction, I'm actually surprised it only took you thirty minutes."
"Damn, no need to be rude," Louis playfully punches him in the stomach, so light that Zayn doesn't even react.
A timid woman approaches them, middle aged with wavy brown hair. "Hello, are you two Zayn and Lewis?"
They both nod, smiling politely. "That's us, yes. But sorry, it's pronounced Lou-ee," He tells her, always embarrassed to correct people. He feels so rude but he supposes it's better than them finding out he let them pronounce his name wrong.
"Oh! My apologies, I only read your name through the email. Follow me, I'll show you guys what to do," She waves for them to follow her. She has a long sleeved shirt on with the Ski Resort's logo and skinny jeans. "My name is Liz, by the way."
Liz explains to them the entire process of having people sign rental forms and giving them the right sizes after taking them to the back office. She also gives them shirts exactly like hers, which they slip on easily. It's getting a little chilly so he's thankful for the extra layer.
"But you guys are lucky. Because of the storm last night, barely anybody will be on the slopes. It's like slush out there," She tells them, leaning against the counter that separates them from the customers.
"Oh, that's good," Zayn grins, seeming genuinely relieved. They make conversation with Liz for a while before she has to go do something else.
Louis loves to look at all the Christmas decorations littering the resort. It's gorgeous and makes him feel like it's actually the holidays. He's never been a huge Christmas fan himself but he likes the festivities of it all.
"So, how was sharing a room with Harry?" Zayn asks, pulling himself up and sitting down on the counter. Louis doesn't bother telling him to get down in case someone walks in, he wouldn't listen to him anyway. "You guys disappeared during movie time last night." Zayn wiggles his eyebrows.
Louis doesn't want to tell Zayn that Harry was afraid of the thunder, he doesn't think it would be right considering Harry is clearly embarrassed by it. "Yeah, well... he was kinda tired and I wanted to spend more time with him." Louis shrugs, avoiding eye contact cause he knows Zayn's expression is smug. "But we ended up falling asleep — and by the way, he sleeps practically naked, so that wasn't fun."
Zayn cackles loudly, head thrown back. "Oh my god, I can't imagine you surviving that. Glad you didn't have a heart attack."
"Oh, whatever. I was perfectly fine, actually." Louis narrows his eyes, offended that Zayn thinks he's so obsessed with Harry. He's not. He just likes him a lot and wants nothing more than to hold him in his arms forever. Definitely not obsessed in an unhealthy way, at least.
He tries not to think about Harry for the rest of the time that he's working in the equipment building. Liz was definitely right, there was barely anybody coming in and out. Louis has only been skiing once before, so he had no idea rain could put a damper on it so easily. He sort of assumed ski lodges would have a solution to that, considering it happens so often.
Him and Zayn just talked about everything they could possibly think of, until they got so bored out of their minds that they just fell silent. This is probably the first time being in the volunteer club actually felt like the punishment it was supposed to be. Six hours of doing absolutely nothing except listening to Zayn talk about Liam and occasionally handing out ski boots or snowboards is not the most fun activity in the world. Just the thought of seeing Harry after this, and wondering if he'd smile when they first saw each other again, gives him the energy to power through it.
And there he goes thinking about Harry again.
Liz comes back right at three o'clock when their shift is over, chuckling when she sees how tired and bored the boys look. "Having fun?"
Zayn lifts his head off the counter, looking once again relieved. "Oh, thank god, you're back. No one has come in here in the last two hours," He practically whines and Liz just shakes her head amusedly.
"Told you nobody would want to ski today. But you guys are free to go, I'm gonna close up shop soon anyway since we need time to break up the ice," She tells them, pointing towards the door. Insisting when Zayn and Louis stay in place. "Out you go."
They jump into action, not having to be told a third time to leave. They give her polite hugs and then hurriedly make their way out of the building. The cold hits Louis like a ton of bricks, he hadn't even realized how warm it was inside until he lost it.
"Holy shit," Louis grunts, wrapping his arms around himself. "Let's get back to the lobby."
They pretty much run back to the hotel and Louis' eyes start to get dry from the chilly wind. He rubs his hands together to create some heat as they step back into the building he came from this morning. He looks around for anybody else from the volunteer club, but doesn't see anybody. They either still must be coming back, or are already in their rooms again.
"Oh, Liam wanted me to invite you and Harry to come to find somewhere to eat dinner tonight. We kind of want to hang out without everybody else. Niall is coming too," Zayn tells him as they ride the elevator back up their floor. Louis is starting to feel the tips of his fingers again. He needs to remember a coat next time he goes outside.
"Yeah, that sounds fun. I'll tell him," He nods. He can't help but feel like this is what it would be like if he were Harry's boyfriend. Being the one to tell if someone ever needs to get a message to him. It's stupid, but it makes his heart soar.
Zayn says goodbye when they get to his room first and Louis offers a wave, still breathing into his hands because hates the tingly feeling when his body temperature switches from super cold to warm in seconds. He pulls out his key card and steps into their room, it's like coming home after a long day of school. Louis is a little disappointed not to find Harry inside when he gets there, but takes it as an opportunity to get into something more comfortable but still presentable.
He considers showering as well, but right as he is about to check if there's towels in the bathroom, the door pushes open and Harry clambers through. Louis rushes over when he almost drops what's in his hands.
"Oops," Harry giggles, cheeks coloring when he sees Louis approaching. "Sorry, I got us hot chocolate."
"That's alright, love." Louis grabs one of the cups from his hands. He closes the door with his foot and places a hand on Harry's shoulder, squeezing. "Thank you."
"No problem." Harry takes a sip of his own drink, gaze towards the ceiling instead of Louis. "They were selling it right outside of the store that I was working in, I've been wanting to try it all day."
"Oh, how was working?"
Harry sets down his drink on their nightstand and shrugs off his coat, his long and delicate arms revealed. "It was okay. I was working with Becca, and she's pretty good with customers."
"Ah," Louis hums, watching as Harry unties his shoes. "That's good."
"How about you?"
Louis' mind blanks for a moment when Harry looks up at him through his eyelashes, face slightly pink from the cold and lips bright red. "Um — pretty boring. Nobody was really skiing today because of the storm last night," He explains, his mouth must be on autopilot mode because his brain can only focus on Harry's lips. They're so plump and he's always biting his bottom one, which irritates it until it's bright red. Louis wants to soothe the pain away.
Harry laughs at whatever Louis said, standing up once his shoes are off and stretching out his back. He must be trying to kill Louis, because his shirt rides up, showing off the line of hair he has trailing down from his belly button into the waist of his pants. "Lucky. That must be why the stores were so busy, nobody had anything to do."
Louis forces out a chuckle, trying to relax. He finally takes a sip of the hot chocolate Harry brought for him, and it's just as delicious as he thought it would be. "Yeah, must be."
There's a small silence as Louis looks through his phone to see if he has any texts, only two. One from his youngest sister about the Christmas present all his siblings are getting for their mum and one from his mum telling him that they don't need to get her a present. Louis smiles to himself, he would probably feel homesick if it wasn't barely a day that he's been here. And he'll see them soon.
It's only when he can feel Harry staring at him through the corner of his eye that he remembers he was supposed to tell him something. Louis stuffs his phone into his pocket and turns back to the boy, who quickly averts his gaze as if trying to act like he wasn't looking. A smile eases its way onto Louis' face.
"You wanna go to dinner with the rest of the guys tonight?" Louis asks, sitting on the edge of Harry's bed. Harry has his back against the headboard, legs stretched out enough that it's easy for Louis to curl his fingers around Harry's ankle. Harry meets his eyes again. "Zayn said him and Liam want to hang out — without everybody else around," he adds.
"Okay." Harry nods, brushing fingers through his hair. "There should be a list of places to eat on the resort's website, do you want me to look?"
"We can decide on that later with the other guys. Wanna watch TV instead?" Louis raises his eyebrows hopefully.
"Only if you let me choose," Harry states, already reaching to grab the remote. Louis chuckles, moving over to his own bed.
"Sure, love."
He can feel Harry looking at him again as he's pulling down his blankets so he can slide under them. "What?" He asks, suddenly self conscious. Harry just shrugs, facing the TV and switching through the different channels.
"I don't know. Do you call people love a lot?" Harry asks, still not looking at him. Louis feels his face heat up with embarrassment. It seems like Harry is about two seconds away from calling him out on his crush.
"Um — sometimes, why?"
"Just a little weird s'all," Harry murmurs, crossing his legs when he finally decides on some show Louis has never seen before.
Louis presses his lips together. He didn't realize that pet names were weird, he calls his sisters and friends love all the time. Maybe it makes Harry uncomfortable? That thought alone makes something unpleasant curl in Louis' gut. "Sorry," he responds cautiously. He wants to leave or possibly cry alone in a corner somewhere.
"No, Lou. I like it," Harry says immediately when he hears Louis' tone.
"But you just said it was weird?"
"I mean like — good weird," Harry retorts, as if that makes any sense at all. "I'm not used to people being so easily affectionate like that." He shrugs simply, but his eyes are sincere. Louis' heart starts to piece itself back together after that short emotional roller coaster.
"Oh... okay. So, you want me to call you that?" Louis asks tentatively.
Harry gives him a dimpled smile. He looks at Louis like he's something special, and he's not sure how to feel. "Yeah, I like it much better than Harold."
"That's not your name?" Louis pretends to be surprised, letting his jaw drop.
"You're stupid." Harry bites his lip to stop from grinning and tosses one of his pillows at Louis, completely missing him as the pillow drops right next to his thigh.
—
After choosing a place to eat outside of the resort, they take slight advantage of the bar close to their table. It's Niall's fault, really, for insisting they just get one beer and then that turns into three beers which somehow turns into shots. The food was better the more Louis drank, he got a huge burger and a side of nachos. By the time their check comes, everybody is pretty much swaying in their seats, except for Niall who can hold his alcohol suspiciously well.
Louis struggles to get both of his arms through the sleeves of his coat, but Zayn helps him out and as they exit he holds onto Louis for balance. Louis has definitely been more drunk before, but something about Niall's choice of alcohol makes his brain feel like mush.
"Jesus Christ, how did it get dark so quickly?" Liam mutters, squinting his eyes as he looks around.
"Come onnn," Harry drags out, already ten steps ahead of them and making his way back to the resort. It should be a short walk, but Louis doesn't really remember since he was just talking to Niall as the other guys led them to the restaurant.
Louis follows Harry, trusting his sense of direction. He has to manually make his legs take one step after the other and it's pretty difficult with Zayn hanging onto his arm. The cold doesn't bite at him as much as it would if he were sober, the alcohol soothes away any chills trying to seep into his skin.
"How much farther?" Zayn complains, speaking slow and careful like he's trying not to slur his words. Louis looks over to Harry for an answer, his back is faced to him so he can't really make out Harry's expression.
Harry coughs into the inside of his elbow, stopping to turn around and make sure the rest of the guys are still following. "It's right over there," Harry points. He must have magical powers, because Louis could've sworn the hotel wasn't there two seconds ago.
They all pick up their pace to get back inside. Niall keeps laughing at their inebriated state and Liam tries to punch him in the arm but misses by an entire six inches. Once they reach the hotel, Louis feels like one of those people in a marathon whose body completely shuts down once they reach the finish line. Zayn finally lets go of him and Louis has to hold onto the sleeve of Harry's coat to stay upright.
"Heyy." Harry frowns over at him, seemingly offended by the pull on his jacket. Louis just shrugs like he's not the culprit and holds onto Harry as they ride up the elevator.
The three of their friends say goodbye when they make it to their rooms first. Everybody is too tired or drunk to give an actual goodbye, so they just mumble incoherently and Louis pulls Harry back to their room. He watches as Harry slides out his key card and swipes it against the door handle. There's a little beep of confirmation and then Harry is pushing it open. Louis follows behind.
It's very easy to fall into his bed, still fully clothed and just barely still conscious. He can hear Harry moving stuff around and ruffling through his bag around him, but his eyelids are too heavy to open and look for himself.
"Lou, drink this."
Harry is closer now, his voice ringing in his ears like music. Louis loves listening to him. He peaks one of his eyes open and sees the foggy image of Harry standing by his bed holding out a glass of water.
"'Kay," Louis answers simply. He uses all his strength to sit up and takes the glass from Harry, pressing the rim of the cup against his lips. Harry watches him until half of the glass is empty. "What time 's it?"
Harry furrows his eyebrows, patting aimlessly around his bed as if searching for something. "Seven fifteen," He says once he finds his phone.
"I gotta pee," Louis mumbles, standing up and walking to the bathroom. He closes the door behind him, switching on the light with a small groan when it hits his eyes. Louis twists one of the sink handles and runs his hands under the cold water, for some reason that has always cleared his head a little bit. Maybe it's the placebo effect, because he heard it once from a teammate and now it works like a charm.
He finally does pee, washing his hands one more time and then stepping back out into the room. Louis can't believe he drank this much when it's barely eight o'clock, he's never drinking with Niall again or he might actually die.
"You okay?" He asks Harry when he finds the boy sprawled out on his bed. Not in his own, but in Louis'. Curled up like he plans on sleeping there. He somehow changed into something more comfortable while Louis was in the bathroom, he doesn't understand how Harry is coherent enough to find the right clothes. Maybe Harry has a better tolerance than him.
"Do you remember what Zayn was talking about at dinner?"
Louis thinks about it for a moment, considering Harry's question. He grabs a box of crackers off of the TV stand, hoping it soaks up some of alcohol from earlier. "Um — about the art show or Liam's family?"
Harry shakes his head, pushing himself up and leaning against Louis' head board. "No, like, talking about how many people he's kissed," Harry explains, twisting the string of his pajama pants around his finger and not looking into Louis' eyes.
"Oh." Louis nods to show Harry he knows what he's talking about now. He remembers Zayn being the first one to actually be drunk, and then asking everybody how many people they've kissed. It seemed like a stupid middle school question to Louis, so he didn't answer. And Zayn already knows his number anyway. "What about it?" Louis can't help but be curious.
"I dunno." Harry shrugs, he seems to do that a lot when he's trying to stall from talking. "How many people have you kissed?"
Louis stuffs a cracker into his mouth. He's definitely not sober enough to be having a conversation about kissing with Harry. Knowing himself, he'd just do something impulsive and/or stupid. He doesn't want to know Harry's number. No matter what it is he'll just be wondering who? or why?
"Uh... I think, like — four, maybe? Are we talking serious kisses or can we include kisses that were just for fun?" Louis narrows his eyes, wondering what Harry considers to be a real kiss. Because he's kissed a weird amount of people just as a dare or because he was drunk. Which is exactly the reason he shouldn't be having this conversation.
"Serious," Harry responds. He meets Louis' gaze and it feels like he's staring right through him, Louis just stuffs another cracker in his mouth and chews quickly. Crumbs start to pile too far on the back of his throat and he coughs, swallowing down everything that's in his mouth. Harry waits patiently as Louis takes another sip of water, and sits down on the edge of Harry's bed. Since Harry is taking up his own.
"Then I'm gonna stick with four," He states, setting his box of crackers down on the floor.
He looks over at Harry when the boy just stays silent. He's afraid his number is too high, or maybe it's too low? How many people has Harry kissed? At first he didn't want to know but now Harry is being too quiet and the curiosity is killing him.
"What about you?"
Harry focuses back on the string of his pants, tying it in knots and then undoing it. "Two."
Okay. That's a solid number. Louis can't really be jealous if it's just two. He'd bet good money that he's a better kisser than both of them. Even if it's not true, it still puts his racing heart at ease.
"Were they any good?" Louis is asking the question before his mind can even keep up. He should immediately have his speaking privileges taken away for a question like that. Apparently he's in middle school too.
Harry laughs, though, like the memories of his kisses were funny. "I was young the first time, so, that was pretty awkward, and the second time it was some guy I barely knew," He tells him honestly, letting his head rest against the head board behind him. Louis admires the curve of his throat and the curly strands of hair swooping under his ears.
"So... you haven't kissed anyone in a while, then?" Louis is fully invested in the conversation now, there's no going back. He criss-crosses his legs as he moves his body to face Harry. Something about this feels like they're preteens at a slumber party sharing their deepest darkest secrets. It's probably because this is Harry, and Harry makes everything feel special.
"It was last summer," He explains, shrugging. "But I don't know, it's not like I've wanted to kiss anyone since then."
Louis nods slowly, looking down at his lap. He doesn't know how sober he is at this point, but something about the way the lamp in their room shines prettily on Harry's features and how the boy isn't looking at him, it makes him feel like everything in the world is spinning but the only thing staying still is Harry. "So, like, if someone asked to kiss you right now... me, for instance," He waves his hand around like that was just an out of the blue example. "You would say no?"
He watches Harry carefully, but this is just one of those times he can't tell what he's thinking. And that's so frustrating.
"Well, I wouldn't be opposed to it."
"Opposed to kissing someone?" Louis questions, tilting his head to the side as Harry meets his gaze.
"Opposed to kissing you." Harry's eyes are blazed so green that Louis almost wants to look away. His heart starts thudding loudly until it's the only thing Louis can hear.
"Oh."
Yeah, oh. That's all Louis can say. Harry basically just admitted that he wouldn't mind kissing Louis and all Louis can think about is how wrong this is. Harry is drunk, and tired, and probably just wants to kiss Louis because he's the only person available. And it's so painstakingly obvious that Louis has a huge crush on him.
"Right, well. We should go to sleep." Louis stands up quickly to switch off the lamp before he changes his mind, grateful for the darkness so he can't gouge Harry's reaction.
Harry stutters, and Louis can hear his voice right next to him as he slides into Harry's bed. "But I'm — are you not sleeping over here?"
"But... you're in my bed," Louis says, even though that's entirely obvious to both of them. He doesn't understand what's going on. One day Harry doesn't even want to sit next to him on the bus and how he's drunk and saying he'd kiss Louis if he asked. This is all Louis has wanted for the past month and a half but it's just completely out of order. That's the most annoying thing of it all. Getting what you want but in the wrong way.
"Yeah, you're right — we can switch, if you want?"
"No, that's okay, H. You like that one better," Louis says quietly. He doesn't have any time to change out of his clothes any more, so he just slides off his trousers under the sheets and lays down like that.
Harry doesn't respond and Louis isn't sure what to take his silence as. He can only see the outline of his body facing the other way, the curve of his hip and his shoulder. Louis faces away too, taking a deep breath and trying to think about something else. Football. All he does is think about football until he's able to swallow down the lump in his throat and fall asleep.
—
Louis avoids Harry the whole next day. If there's one word to describe him that Wednesday, it's cowardly. He wakes up extra early and immediately gets ready when he sees that Harry is still passed out, there's no way he can face him after making things so awkward. Why did he have to ask so many damn questions? He practically interrogated Harry about whether or not he would kiss him and that memory alone makes him nauseous. It might also be the hangover. After realizing that Harry will have a hangover too, he leaves a glass of water and an ibuprofen on the nightstand for him, but then leaves to go to Zayn's room right after.
He gives no explanation as to why he's there, just sits on the bed that him and Liam aren't using and watches TV with them as they wait for their shifts to start.
Harry started sending out emails after almost forgetting to tell everyone yesterday morning, so he doesn't have to talk to him in person to find out where he's working. He scrolls through his emails, feeling relieved when he sees that he's working with Niall at the gift shop. Louis is just glad that he doesn't have to make small talk with Ashton and Will or one of the girls that he doesn't know that well.
A part of Louis is worried that Harry will go back to being cold and distant with Louis. What if he's mad that Louis basically dismissed him? Or what if Louis just took it too seriously and Harry really didn't want to kiss him? There's so many unanswered questions but there's no way Louis can ask any of them. His stupid crush on Harry is so obvious at this point. So clear to anyone who cares to look long enough and he's embarrassed. Embarrassed for being too interested in who Harry has kissed and embarrassed for being too scared when Harry said he wanted to kiss him.
Harry probably woke up that morning regretting what he said, cringing at the thought that Louis thinks he wants to kiss him. But good for Harry, because Louis knows that couldn't be true. It just couldn't. Harry hated him for so long and yes, they've been friends for a couple weeks now, but Harry probably wants someone handsome and kind and funny and not a wimp. Louis learned a long time ago that the universe where Harry reciprocates his feelings is completely out of reach.
Working with Niall that day is just as easy as he thought it would be. Niall doesn't mind when Louis is quiet and either fills the silence with his own topics or lets it wash over them. And the customers keep them busy most of the time, anyway. Louis likes to think he's pretty good with people, especially with Mr. Charming by his side with the bright smile. They learn the ropes from an older man that's been running the shop for almost a decade now, and after explaining how the register works he just disappears somewhere.
After working the whole shift, Niall suggests that they get some food and Louis eagerly agrees. He's hungry and also needs a reason to avoid going back to his and Harry's room. So they grab some pizza and sodas, walking around the resort as they eat. Louis was smart enough to bring a coat with him today, thankfully. So he's able to enjoy the nice snowy scenery without wanting to get inside immediately.
The plan doesn't work for long, because after they're done with their pizza, Niall says he wants to go back up to his room. So distracting himself with Niall isn't a solution anymore, after walking aimlessly around the lobby he decides to just go back to Zayn and Liam's room. They're not allowed to kick him out because they're friends and that would be betrayal. That's what he plans on telling them if they get annoyed.
"Hey, mate." Louis grins innocently when Liam answers the door. "Can I hang out with you guys?"
"You're such a cockblocker!"
He can hear Zayn shout from further inside the room and Liam's cheeks flame dark red. "Uh — yeah, come in."
Zayn glares at him when he walks in and Louis can't help but laugh, jumping onto the bed next to Zayn and ruffling up his hair. "Just wanted to spend some quality time with my mates."
Liam closes the door and sits down on the bed that Louis and Zayn aren't taking up. Zayn narrows his eyes in Louis' direction, but Louis ignores it and focuses on the show playing on the television.
"Why don't you wanna go back to your room? Did something happen with Harry?" His friend asks suspiciously. Louis curses internally, Zayn knows him too well. It's annoying actually. He'd rather grieve this dying friendship with Harry in peace.
So Louis just shakes his head. "No, nothing happened," he lies. He turns to see both Liam and Zayn staring at him, and Louis gives in. "Okay. Fine. He was drunk last night and we were talking about how many people we've kissed and he said he wouldn't be opposed to kissing me," Louis explains curtly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Wait, wait, wait." Liam holds up his hand. "I feel like we're missing some context here. Why did he just randomly say he wouldn't be opposed to kissing you? And how did you react afterwards?"
They're both looking at him again and Louis is very weak when it comes to intense eye contact.
"Um — I might've asked him what he would say I someone asked to kiss him since he hasn't kissed anybody in months. And he said... he told me he wouldn't mind kissing me if I asked," Louis shrugs, scared to share this information. He knows he's the stupid one in this situation, and he also knows Zayn is judging him hard right now.
"Okay, but what happened after that?"
Louis pauses, he's not really sure if he should tell them the honest answer, but what other choice does he have? "Well, I sort of said we should go to sleep," Louis mumbles, scratching at his neck awkwardly.
Liam sighs with his head in his hand and Zayn's eyes widen. "Go to sleep?!" He exclaims, tossing his hands up. "The love of your life says he wants to kiss you and you just make him go to sleep?! This is ridiculous," Zayn huffs, shaking his head with disappointment.
"First of all, he's not the love of my life, don't exaggerate." Louis points his finger. "And second, he was drunk, Zayn. What was I supposed to do? And he said he wasn't opposed to it. That's barely agreeing, let alone a yes."
"Louis is right, both of them were drunk so it wouldn't have been right." Zayn gasps at Liam's betrayal but Liam holds up his hand like he still has more to say. "But Louis is an idiot for avoiding him. He's gonna think you're weirded out, Lou. Just go talk to him," Liam urges, eyebrows raising earnestly.
He knows Liam is right, but he still doesn't want to face Harry. He'll crumble under the gaze of his colorful eyes and his dimpled smile.
"Well, you're leaving our room either way," Zayn states, already nudging Louis out of his bed. Louis makes a small noise of protest but still complies.
"Fine, but just know that you're both on my revenge list." Is the last thing he says before walking out and shutting the door behind him. Louis definitely just got kicked out because they wanted to have sex and he rolls his eyes at the thought.
It takes him about ten minutes to gain the courage to even walk back to his room and about five more minutes to open the door. Louis cringes at the loud noise he makes as he's opening it, wondering if Harry is inside and if he decided to take a nap. He sees the TV on as he's slipping off his shoes right by the entrance, but doesn't have a view of the beds.
"Hey," Louis greets softly when he finally acknowledges his new presence, offering a tight lipped smile. The boy is dressed in one of the resort's long sleeved t-shirts and a pair of baggy joggers, looking as beautiful as ever.
"Hi." Harry sits up, his focus leaving the TV and instead settling on Louis. "You were gone when I woke up," He says, not an accusation just a statement.
"Yeah..." Louis doesn't really know what to say, he just walks over to his bag and pretends to rifle through it. There's a lingering tension in the air, clearly both thinking about what happened last night. "I was just hanging out with Zayn and Liam before my shift."
He knows Harry deserves a better explanation, something to reassure him that Louis isn't weirded out like Liam said Harry would think he was. But there's no way to explain without completely admitting his feelings for Harry. All he would be able to say is he couldn't stand being around Harry after discussing the possibility of them kissing, and then not go for it.
"Thanks for the medicine and the water, by the way. That was sweet."
He can feel Harry's gaze on his back and his hand tightens around the fabric of one of his jumpers, something to distract himself from the gnawing feeling in his gut. "Of course." He turns back around, hesitant to meet Harry's eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"Um — " Harry looks down at his lap. "Fine... but I'd like to talk about last night."
Louis opens his mouth to talk but Harry interrupts him, lifting his head.
"It was stupid," He says quickly, like he's afraid Louis is gonna say it first. "I was so drunk and I really didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I swear," Harry tells him, hand on his heart. "I just talk too much shit when I've had a lot to drink," He chuckles awkwardly. "Can we please just forget about it?"
Harry is looking at him with hopeful eyes and Louis doesn't have the balls to tell him that he doesn't want to forget about it. And actually he'd like to revisit the topic and ask Harry to elaborate on what he meant by wouldn't be opposed.
But he doesn't. Instead he just nods, embracing the part of him that's relieved they're moving on. He looks out of their window, noticing that the sun has started to set. "Yeah — yeah, of course, Harry. Let's just forget about it."
Harry smiles, looking relieved as well. "Awesome." He sighs, tucking his hair behind his ears. "Wanna watch golden girls?" Harry asks, scooting over a little bit as if expecting Louis to sit next to him.
Louis just nods and smiles, slipping off his shoes before going over to sit down next to Harry. He will never understand why Harry always wants to act like they only have one bed when there's clearly two, but he won't complain. The uncomfortable tension seems to be gone for the most part, their arms brush together and Louis feels that familiar tingle in his bones. Things are good. He can definitely pretend like nothing happened. He's okay with just being Harry's friend, no matter how miserable that makes him. Louis just wants Harry to be happy, and if forgetting about last night makes him happy, then he can do that.
Somehow they spend their entire evening watching reruns of Golden Girls. They both just laugh when they realize how long its been and that it's well into the night. When Harry starts yawning, Louis suggests they go to sleep, but Harry insists that he's not tired and wants to stay up. That's how Louis finds himself laying down with a sleeping Harry stuck to his side and the volume for the TV on low as he struggles to keep his own eyes open, watching as Dorothy and Sophia argue about something he can't remember.
Harry is drooling against his shirt but Louis really doesn't mind. If anything it's cute, the way Harry pushes his head against him like a cat and wraps his arms tightly around Louis' middle. The knowledge that Harry is a big fan of cuddling just makes Louis fall deeper and deeper into his sad little love puddle.
—
The rest of the trip is what Louis likes to call what it would be like to live with Harry.
Every morning after that he wakes up with Harry cuddled into his side and one time with his messy curls in his mouth. Harry always manages to fall asleep in the bed that Louis is in, right on top of him or attached to him so Louis can't get up. Louis doesn't put up much of a fight, or a fight at all if he's being honest. He'll gladly cuddle with Harry any time he wants and he actually gets a little sad when they wake up on their last day, realizing that this might be the last time he wakes up with a warm and sleepy Harry tangled up with him.
They don't really have a fun last day at the ski resort because Harry stresses about making sure their room is spotless, while Louis stays in bed because it was nine in the morning and there was absolutely no reason to be up at that time if they had no responsibilities. That is, until Harry is shirtless and standing in front of Louis trying to get him to pack his stuff. His crotch was like, right in front of his face, there was no possible way he could say no. He's really not strong enough for that.
So Louis gives in to Harry's persistent nagging and cleans up all of his stuff, eyes barely open. He probably looks like a complete mess, but Harry is smiling at him gratefully and squeezing his shoulders and he's still shirtless, so it's not a bad morning.
Harry's attention is pulled away from him when he starts getting several calls, one from his mum, others from the school and some from the bus driver that's supposed to pick them up at noon. Louis tries not to pout, because Harry isn't his boyfriend who owes him affection. So instead he pokes at Harry's stomach until Harry is laughing and has to end the call quickly. Louis fist pumps in victory, plopping down on the bed they woke up from less than two hours ago. Everything smells like Harry, so strong and so overwhelming. He's going to miss that.
"You're such an idiot," Harry groans, but he's still laughing even though Louis isn't tickling him anymore, his cheeks a pleasant shade of pink. "That was my mum, you butthead."
"Butthead?" Louis gasps dramatically, sitting up on his elbows. "How scandalous of you, Harold. You know what? Let's call your mother again and tell her about your foul language," He teases, kicking Harry lightly in the thigh because that's all he can reach.
Harry chuckles, voice still hoarse from sleep. He reaches down and wraps his soft hands around Louis' ankles, and Louis' heart races at the touch. A thrill runs up his spine when Harry tugs on his legs to pull him forward, still amused and not even aware of how hard Louis is about to get if Harry keeps touching him like this.
"C'mon, get dressed, the bus will be here in five minutes." Harry smiles, squeezing Louis' ankles once before letting go. Louis bites his lip and refrains from screaming at the top of his lungs out of sexual frustration and the normal kind. Harry and his stupid need to be half naked all the time will literally haunt him.
After getting dressed and Harry triple checking that they didn't leave anything behind, they go down to the lobby and meet everyone else at the bus parked out front. Harry places his bags in the vehicle and then runs back inside to make sure everybody is all checked out and they're good to leave.
Louis finds a seat in the back, ready to sit alone again. But after a few minutes, Harry pops up beside him, headphones tangled in his hand and a small smile on his face. "Hey," he says a bit breathlessly from running back and forth. "Can I sit with you?"
"Yeah." Louis grins, reaching to pull Harry into the seat with him. Maybe he sits a little closer than necessary, but Harry's doesn't acknowledge it. He's not sure why he's surprised that Harry still wants to hang out with him even after spending the whole four days together, but it makes his head feel all floaty. They don't really talk, Harry just plugs in his headphones and scrolls through stuff on his phone for most of the ride, and Louis does the same. But it's nice.
It makes it a little more difficult to leave after that. They get to Louis' house first and Louis has to shuffle out of the seat in between Harry's ridiculously long legs. He just gives him a hesitant hug and a small goodbye, ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach when he steps off the bus and it drives away. He'll see Harry again once the holidays are over and the new semester starts. There's no reason to be sad, but he still is.
—
Louis wakes up on his birthday to his sisters jumping on his bed, yelling loudly about getting up and something about breakfast. Louis is groaning too much and covering his head with his pillow to actually catch the entirety of what they're saying. They don't tolerate it though, and drag Louis out of bed by his hands and feet. He tries to be as heavy as he can but it's five against one and he quickly loses the battle.
His mum gives him a huge hug and he spends the morning in the kitchen drinking tea while his family tries to make them all breakfast. It gets way too chaotic, but Louis watches the garden they have outside from the window like he always does.
Relatives start showing up to the house one by one after they eat and Louis is forced to go up to his room and change into something more presentable. His family members bring presents upon presents for not only Louis' birthday but also for his siblings, because Christmas is tomorrow. For some reason his mum decided to host a barbecue even though it's freezing outside, he can only assume it's so everybody doesn't completely turn their house upside down, their family can definitely get a little bit messy.
It's late into the afternoon, after everybody has already eaten and people are just talking amongst themselves and the children are running around playing, that Jay walks up to Louis with a small smile.
"There's a cute boy at the door for you." She wiggles her eyebrows and Louis would laugh if he wasn't so confused.
"Okay, be right back." He hands her his drink, because he's not really sure what else to do with it and jogs inside. The house is much quieter than their backyard, and Louis feels like he can take a deep breath. He walks all the way to their foyer and pulls the door open, not sure what to expect.
"Hey," Harry breathes, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as their eyes meet. "Can we talk?" He asks, his fingers wringing together anxiously as he stands there on Louis' porch. He's dressed in a dark blue sweater that really brings out the color of his eyes, and Louis sort of just stands there staring at him in admiration until he realizes what Harry said and shakes himself out of it.
"Of course, love. C'mon in." Louis practically pulls him inside by the front of his jumper and Harry blushes. "My family is out back, so I don't have a lot of time. You can join if you'd like, though?"
Harry shakes his head, face suddenly pale when Louis says there's a time limit. "No, that's okay. Just wanted to talk."
"Okay, what's up?"
"I'm sorry for interrupting your birthday like this, but I just — couldn't stop thinking about what we said the other day."
Louis moves to shut the door behind Harry, chewing on the inside of his cheek. He doesn't really know where Harry is going with this and it puts him on edge.
"I just — " Harry starts, seeming to try and gather his thoughts. "I just can't forget about what happened that night, Lou. I don't wanna forget what I said," He states firmly, as if standing his ground. It's cute, to see him all confident and determined. Louis hasn't seen this side of him in a while. "I meant what I said. I wanted to kiss you that night and every night after that. And several days before it too."
Louis opens his mouth to speak, but Harry keeps talking.
"I know," Harry takes a deep breath, swallowing like he's nervous. "I know you made it very clear that you don't want to kiss me and you're not interested. Which is fine, I understand. I mean — I was mean to you for so long and now I'm just springing all these feelings onto you — " his words are giving the impression that he rehearsed this and Louis has never felt so fond. " — but I needed you to know, because I couldn't just look at you any longer and not..." he trails off.
Louis stays silent even longer as Harry tries to find the words to continue, but his heart is thudding against his ribs. Ready to explode with anticipation.
"I couldn't not kiss you, Louis," Harry sighs out, shaking his head like he can't even believe it himself. "I hated you for so long and then you just had to prove me fucking wrong by being the sweetest guy ever, it's actually really annoying how much I like you now."
Louis lets out a startled laugh, unable to contain his joy any longer. "You like me?" Louis asks. He just has to make sure. There's no way Harry is saying all of this right now, but he is. And Louis' heart has grown too large for his chest.
Harry rolls his eyes, acting exasperated but there's still an embarrassed red coloring his cheeks. "Did you even listen to anything I said?"
"Harry — of course I wanna kiss you," Louis admits gently. He can't even believe those words are leaving his mouth, but Harry has been completely open and honest with him this whole conversation and there's no reason for him to keep his feelings a secret any longer. "I might actually die if we don't kiss right now."
Harry snorts out a laugh and reaches up to cup Louis' cheeks, his laughter ceasing long enough for their lips to connect and press together warmly. Louis immediately leans into the embrace, looping his arms around Harry's pretty little waist and pulling him closer and closer until their torsos are pressed together. Louis kisses Harry slow and soft, not wanting to act as desperate as he feels. He wants to savor it, savor the tangy taste of coffee on Harry's lips and the way Harry's palms hold his jaw so carefully as if he's delicate china that might break.
Louis makes a soft noise when Harry pulls away to take a breath, their noses bumping. Louis doesn't even have time to express how perfect that was before Harry is kissing him again and deeper, fingers sliding through Louis' hair and lips pressing more earnestly this time against his own, more insistent. Louis can't help the soft moan he lets out, maneuvering Harry towards the wall so they're completely out of sight if someone walks in from outside. His hands slide lower on Harry's back, tracing along his spine.
Harry kisses him and that feeling seeps all the way into Louis' bones, inhaling through his nose as Harry pulls on his hair and lets Louis' tongue slip past his lips. They get closer and closer and closer, until Louis can feel Harry's eyelashes fluttering across his cheeks and every other thought he might've had completely floats away.
Harry pulls away with a sharp inhale, letting his head fall back against the wall as he catches his breath and Louis leans in to press wet, gentle kisses along the expanse of his neck. He just does it to do it, not out of passion or lust, but just because he wants to press his lips against Harry's skin knowing that he'll like it.
When Louis finally pulls away, whole body feeling like it won't stop buzzing, he observes the way Harry's eyes are still closed, his wet and shiny pink lips parted slightly as he continues to take deep breathes.
"Love," Louis murmurs, lips brushing against Harry's jaw. Harry makes a small noise, licking his lips and finally opening his eyes.
"Don't want to leave," He whispers, fingers untangling from Louis' hair and sliding down the back of his neck. "But my mum will kill me if I'm not home soon for dinner." Harry sighs, movements slow as he brushes his hair away from his face.
"We'll see each other soon," Louis promises, squeezing his hips as he moves away just slightly. Every cell in his body is screaming at him not to pull away from Harry, but he has to get back to his family and Harry does as well.
"We better." Harry grins lazily, eyes bright as he hooks his finger into the collar of Louis' shirt so he doesn't move any further. "Happy birthday, by the way. Can't believe I haven't told you that yet."
Louis smirks, feeling absolutely high off of the sensation and memory of Harry's lips on his own. "Was that my birthday present, then?"
"And you're Christmas present too," Harry muses, subtly trailing his eyes back to Louis' lips.
"Damn, Styles, you think very highly of your kissing skills."
Harry gasps, a wide smile breaking onto his face. "Wow, consider yourself lucky to even receive another one from me after that comment," He threatens, chuckling as he finally lets go of Louis and allows there to be at least six inches of space between them.
"No kiss goodbye?" Louis pouts, leaning in and sliding a hand onto Harry's waist. The boy doesn't take long at all to give in, giggling against Louis' mouth as they kiss chastely once more.
"Okay, okay. I really have to go now. See you later." Harry presses a soft kiss to his cheek, smiling one more time before opening up the door right behind him and stepping outside. Louis watches him get into a car he's never seen before and drive off before closing the door again, head fuzzy as he makes his way back to his birthday party. Best birthday ever.
—
The next time Louis sees Harry in person is at Ashton's New Year's Eve party. It's been over a week since he's seen the boy and he's absolutely melting the second he lays his eyes on him. They were only ever able to call and text each other, since Harry had visited relatives for Christmas and wasn't able to come over. The last time he saw the boy at a party he was so closed off and distant, and now he was all smiles as Zayn and Louis approached the small group they had formed in the sitting room.
It's basically everybody from the volunteer club, while other large friend groups are littered through out the rest of the house. Zayn nudges him not-so-subtly when Harry waves them over, and Louis instantly regrets telling him about the kiss. Zayn can never keep his cool.
"Hey, love." Louis presses a small kiss to Harry's forehead and sits down next to him. He's not really sure if that's the right thing to do, since him and Harry haven't discussed what they are yet. But he hasn't seen him in a week, Harry deserves some kisses. Louis can feel their friends looking at them, but doesn't pay any of them mind as he leans into Harry's ear so other people can't hear. "Missed you," He whispers.
Harry blushes, trying to cover it by taking a sip of whatever is in his cup. He never fails to smell like strawberries and something else familiar, Louis stays close, allowing himself to enjoy the presence of Harry again after being away from it for so long.
"You two are cute," Niall announces happily before Harry can even swallow his sip and respond to Louis.
Liam chuckles. "Stop watching them, you perv."
The whole group seems to laugh at once, and Louis would feel sympathy if Niall weren't laughing the hardest out of everybody. It's so plainly obvious that everybody is already wasted, even though it's barely ten o'clock yet.
"C'mon." Harry grabs his hand. "Wanna get you a drink."
"Trying to get me drunk?" Louis teases as Harry pulls him up and out of the room. The blasting music makes it almost hard to think as Harry tugs him through the crowds of people and towards the kitchen.
Harry smiles back at him, dimples carving into his cheeks. "No, Lou, just want you to try this drink Niall taught me to make." He looks so excited that Louis doesn't want to say no, even though the thought of having something Niall created makes him feel a hangover he doesn't even have yet.
So Harry makes him a drink, and then a different one after he drinks the first one, and then another. And while he's making all these drinks for him he's also making them for himself. Louis stops them from drinking any more when he's bordering on tipsy to drunk, wanting to enjoy and remember this night with Harry. Harry seems very much willing to do whatever Louis wants, and doesn't stop pressing kisses to his cheeks. Inching closer to Louis' mouth, hands gripping Louis' hips.
"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Louis murmurs when Harry has resolved to just burrowing his face into Louis' neck.
Harry just humphs in acknowledgement, breath tickling Louis' skin.
"You said you liked me last week..." Louis starts, staring up at the ceiling since Harry's head is blocking him from lowering his chin. "How long has it been? Like, since you thought I was hot and had a massive crush on me," He elaborates, a humorous tone to his voice, so his question seems less weird.
Harry just laughs against him, snorting like Louis is the funniest person in the world. "Well, those are two different things," He states confidently, pulling himself from Louis' body to look at him. Louis' face goes warm when Harry starts running his fingers through his messy hair. "I couldn't tell you when I started liking you, cause I'm not even sure myself." He shrugs. "You've always been hot, though, no denying that."
Louis' brows raise, a gleam to his eyes. "Ohh, so you hated me in a sexy kind of way?"
Harry cackles, tilting his head back. Louis likes this moment with Harry, a small amount alcohol buzzing through their veins and only the distant sound of people partying outside of the kitchen. "No, Lou. I hated you in the normal way. But hate is a strong word, let's just say strongly disliked," He suggests kindly, booping Louis' nose.
"But you like me now," Louis reminds him, a smirk adorning his face.
Harry nods resolutely, his previously playful eyes turning sincere. "Of course, I do."
Louis leans in for a kiss and Harry melts against him, letting all his weight press into Louis and he can't help but smile against Harry's lips. It doesn't take long for them to sink into a little bit too much, breathing through their noses as they kiss with a desperation sizzling under the surface of their touches. Harry moans lowly, hands searching over Louis' body looking for nothing in particular except warm skin and gentle curves.
Harry breaks away, wet lips sliding against Louis'. "Can we... go somewhere private?"
"Such a cheesy line," Louis laughs.
But still he rushes them off to go upstairs and find a room that isn't occupied by drunk people trying not to throw up. Louis can barely shut the door before Harry is on him again and kissing his neck. Harry's much taller like this, pushing him up against the wall but he has his head ducked down to attach his mouth to the skin below Louis' ear. Louis is so hyper aware to every little noise Harry makes, the sound of his breathing, the squeak of his shoes against the tiled floor, and the sound of his lips sucking and kissing lovebites into Louis' neck.
"God, Harry," Louis exhales, eyes fluttering shut as Harry puts all of his energy into creating a mark that will be there for at least three days. Louis feels like he's practically floating off the ground right now.
"Wanna suck you off," Harry whispers against his ear, hands trailing dangerously low down Louis' stomach and towards the button of his trousers.
Louis looks up at Harry, only having to lift his chin slightly. He can feel his own heart beating heavily and he's sure that Harry can feel it too. "You want to?"
Harry's smile is easy, licking his lips like he's waiting for an actual answer. "Yeah, Lou. You want me to?" He quirks an eyebrow and Louis wants to kiss him for looking so smug. It's like all the blood in his body rushes to his cock all at once and he's helpless to do anything but nod. He always imagined this the other way around, giving instead of receiving. So it's a little bit of a rush when he realizes Harry is sinking to the floor on his knees, pulling the bath at over to them so he can push it under his legs.
"Have you done this before?"
Harry unbuttons Louis' pants and yanks down the zipper eagerly, looking up with his bright green eyes. "No. Does that change your mind?" A brief flash of insecurity waves through Harry's expression, but it's gone just as quick when Louis shakes his head.
"No, no — not at all, just wondering," He explains sheepishly. A part of him is relieved, which is a bit selfish in hindsight, but the thought of Harry doing this with anyone else would make him sick to his stomach. Anybody else but him getting to see this side of Harry.
Harry's tongue sticks out of the corner of his mouth in concentration as he examines the situation in front of him. Louis gets a little squirmy, it's definitely not the ideal scenario of Harry just staring at his erection practically tenting his briefs.
"Should I just...?" Harry leaves the question up in the air as he hooks his fingers into the band of Louis' underwear.
"Only if you're comfortable, love," He tells him, reaching down and petting Harry's curls soothingly, pushing his hair away from his face. He's so pretty, like a sunflower or maybe a daisy. Harry bites his lip, dimples showing as he nods.
"Just tell me what you like as I'm doing it, okay?" He looks up at Louis seriously so Louis nods just as serious, his pulse running rampant as Harry tugs down his briefs. The cold air hits his crotch suddenly and his hips twitch, as if trying to move away from it. Harry hums, licking his lips, sliding his hands around Louis' hips and pressing them firmly against the wall to keep him still. An embarrassed flush coats Louis' cheeks all the way down to his neck.
And then Harry's mouth is on tip sooner than expected, everything is warm, and wet, and soft — and tight as Harry slides his mouth over him slowly. Louis can't help but ramble, his abdomen clenching as Harry's tongue laps over his cock. "Oh god, yeah — love, that's good. That's good." He chokes on absolutely nothing, desperately reaching out to grab something but only finding a towel rack next to him. He grips it tightly and Harry's hands are strong against his hips, still keeping him in place.
Harry takes him further, eyes closing gently and moaning as if this is turning him on, sucking Louis off like this. The vibration sends waves of pleasure up Louis' groin and all the way to his spine, crying out quietly and wishing he had something to bite down on so he wasn't so god damn loud. He's never felt something quite as good as this, nothing so delicate and soft, or something so intimate. Harry's brows furrow when he gets as far as he can, tongue sliding relentlessly against the underside of Louis' cock and taking one of his hands off of Louis' hip to wrap around the base. Suddenly it's getting a lot tighter and Harry is paying special attention to his tip as he catches his breath through his nose.
"Harry," Louis cries out weakly, clenching his eyes shut so he doesn't have to look at Harry anymore. He's going to come if he has to watch him any longer, watching him lick and suck at his cock like finishing Louis off is his only goal. Harry's lips are puffy and red from being stretched out, Louis notices, as he can do nothing but peer down at him again.
Harry's gaze lifts, letting his mouth fall off Louis' cock to grin up Louis cheekily. Louis feels like his seams are coming undone and he's about to implode. "Does that feel okay?"
Louis nods lazily, huffing out a short breath. Okay, doesn't even begin to describe it. "Perfect, Harry. You're perfect." Harry's lip pressed together, clearly pleased at the praise and taking Louis back into his mouth. Warm and wet again, so wet, it surrounds Louis like a blanket and he wants to push further and further and further. Harry's hand once again wraps around whatever he can't reach with his mouth, Louis' cock sliding down the back of his tongue as he matches Louis' stare and looks straight at him with his colorfully green eyes. Exactly two seconds later and Louis is coming, his back arching with a loud, strained moan, Harry sucking him down deliciously as he rides him through his orgasm.
Harry swallows it down, licking the rest of his lips with a blush gracing his features as he pulls away. Louis is still trying to catch his breath as Harry tucks him back into his pants carefully and zips him back up. Louis tries to wiggle away at the sensitive touch, but Harry stands up and slides an arm around his torso, pulling him in for kiss. It's salty and a bit lazy since neither of them have the energy to focus on the calculated press of their lips, Louis lets out one final, weak whimper and Harry just kisses him harder.
"I like you so much," Harry whispers, lips just ghosting over Louis' cheek and pressing a small kiss to the curve of his jaw. "So, so, so, so, much," He repeats like a mantra, practically purring into Louis' ear as he occasionally presses more kisses onto Louis, showering him with them.
Clarity comes back to Louis like a wave when he feels something against his hip and realizes Harry is practically straining against his jeans. Louis reaches down, pressing his palm firmly against the bulge of his cock. Harry has almost a complete body reaction, hands coming up to hold himself steady on Louis' shoulders and his eyes closing tightly.
"Louis, god, give a guy a warning first," Harry chuckles tiredly, nose bumping Louis' cheek as he pushes into Louis' palm.
"Want me to suck you off?" Louis asks, voice low as to not disturb the peaceful atmosphere. He definitely has this post-orgasm haze, his mind is fuzzy and all he wants to do is get his hand on Harry's cock.
Harry lets out a desperate noise at Louis' question, practically humping against his firm hand. "I'm so close, Lou," He admits, brushing his slightly sweaty curls out of his face, voice carrying through the small room and echoing off the walls. "Please, just touch me," Harry begs. And who is Louis to deny him?
Harry's fingers find their way into Louis' hair when Louis unbuttons his skinny jeans and easily slides his hand down the front of them, wrapping his hand around Harry's erection. He was absolutely not expecting Harry to be this vocal during times like these, not that he thought about it too much, but he always expected Harry to be the quiet but sure type. These thoughts run through his head as Harry whispers into his ear, hot lips pressing right against his earlobe so he basically gets every little sound that escapes his throat.
Louis begins stroking him slowly, but Harry is tensing up and he definitely wasn't lying when he said he was close. So Louis goes faster, giving every inch of Harry the same amount of attention. His breath catches when Harry's lips suck more marks into his neck, practically biting him. Louis jacks him off even faster then, appreciating the noises he gets in return.
"You're doing so good, love. So good."
Harry's face is flushed bright pink, whimpering and moaning. His blunt nails slide across Louis' scalp as he pulls on Louis' hair. "Lou, oh god." And he comes, eyes squeezing shut tightly as he lets out a loud, raspy moan and tries to muffle it with the curve of Louis' neck.
Louis eases him through it, whispering more words of encouragement as Harry's chest heaves and he pushes further into Louis' embrace. Louis wants to hold him like this forever, both completely unraveled and exposed at their most vulnerable moments.
"You're so beautiful," Louis whispers, rubbing his hand up and down Harry's back, rubbing lightly with his fingers. Harry just holds him tighter, and Louis can feel his smile pressing against his skin.
—
It takes less than a day for Louis to ask Harry if he can be his boyfriend, and about two seconds for Harry to accept. It all just feels so right, like this is who Louis should've been hugging and kissing his entire life. Like Harry is just the answer to everything. The because, to every question why. It's stupid and cheesy, and Louis never really pegged himself as the romantic type. But he can only suppose that Harry just brings that out in him, among other things.