Chapter 1

Chapter 1Saturday 1Louis slipped his light jacket off of his shoulders as he strode through the heavy doors. It hung loosely over his shoulder, batting off his back as he made his way through the modern building. He needn't wear a jacket at all: the golden sun in the sky and his undeniably stylish fashion etiquette led him to only wearing a light scarf around his slim neck. His bright blue eyes danced over his surroundings, peering at the unusually busy reception area with suspicion. A crowd had gathered around the café area, a small one if honest, but more than there usually would be. That café was not renowned for the sweetest of treats; of that was true.Shrugging nonchalantly as he caught the eye of Brenda -the building advisor-, he stalked off down the first left hand corridor in search of his destination. He batted away the blush that spread over Brenda's cheeks in his mind, pushing out the panic of the obvious crush she had on him, regardless of her forty years of age and his blatant attraction to the same sex.Louis Tomlinson, you see, was gay: very much so. He didn't hide the fact that he was attracted to men, and he pranced around with no more than a smidgen of heterosexuality. His voice was sweet and his movements flowed with such grace that it was impossible not to throw him under the typical 'gay' stereotype. Add that to the fact he was a student at Manchester University for Music and Arts, studying in Musical Performance consisting of singing, dancing and acting; he was just a very typical gay.Due to his camp streak only growing over time, he'd never received any outright hate over his sexuality. Most people were used to his vibrant and confident ways, as he'd always been the centre of attention. But as time went on, he'd had the odd comment which bruised his ego a little. He didn't take hate very well; if he was brutally honest with himself, he never had the experience beforehand to know how to cope with it. With his acceptance came lack of knowledge on how to deal with it. So when it did come, he usually put on a brave face to cover the cracks in his heart. That all normally came to a halt when he'd over thought the matter too much, and he eventually broke down on the dance floor with over excessive routines which strained his muscles and caught his breath until he couldn't move anymore.That being said, Louis was a generally cheery and joyful lad. His beaming smile was rarely wiped off his face, those perfectly straightened, glistening pearly whites all on show for the majority of the day. His loud laugh boomed loudly throughout the studios more times than able to be counted, and his eyes never lost that glint of joy. Overall, Louis Tomlinson was just happy.His feet danced through the doorway as his nimble hands pushed open an entrance. His body spun around with his arms poised around him, and the hallway whirled into the music room: his music room. His mind was concentrating on his Tom clad toes and the music tinkling in his head, the soft keys of the piano chiming through his mind in the newest tune he'd learnt for his exam piece. Swiftly, the notes in his mind conformed to a heavier beat, the low and dulcet notes breaking his floating movements. His spinning motion halted quickly and his cerulean eyes shone out in shock.They latched onto an unknown figure curled over the piano keys. Louis was immediately alert; the imposter was playing on his piano, in his music room. Okay, so it wasn't actually his room or his piano, but he was the only one who used it as it was just routine that it was where he played. But here was an intruder prodding the keys to make a, strangely beautiful, dark tune.The 21 year old coughed for attention, gaining nothing but a continual of the music in response. As the heavy song plonked along, Louis crept closer to the hunched being."Excuse me?" his high tone laced through the air. The music stopped and a pair of green eyes swiped their way to Louis' interruption. The eyes crashed to the floor to break all contact, and awkwardly shifted their way around the carpet. The boy's hands were still hovering on the precious keys of the piano, as if attached by glue. Louis studied the, he guessed, young lad, taking in the messy mop of curls that wound masterfully around each other, the smooth and pale skin stretching over a perfectly featured face, running past those downcast greens, and pink rosy lips. His face spoke a thousand words of beauty; any phrase of the sort could be evoked from the wary face."Are you supposed to be in here?" Louis asked the boy, trying to hide the patronising tone that tended to seethe through his voice at times; blame his mother for that trait.Silence."Okay then..." Louis thought. "Can I help you?" he asked more cheerily.Silence."Okay....well, do you know where my sheet music is? I just popped in to get it now."Silence."It's a Beethoven piece, fairly long; it should've been on the stand..."Silence.Louis was starting to get annoyed at the blatant ignorance of the boy. His eyes were still rooted to the floor, and his expression was blank. Louis wasn't one to get easily annoyed, but with the audacity the boy had to play on his piano and then not even answer him, the boy was grating on him."Look, all I want is my music so if you could please just give it to me then I'll be on my way," he snapped. The boy silently swivelled in his seat and picked up a pile of sheets, quivering as he handed them back to Louis who grabbed them hastily."God, it's not that hard to speak," he muttered as he stalked out the room, unaware of the boy who was gulping heavily with fear, a shake in hold over his hands slightly, and blushing fiercely with embarrassment.Saturday 2As Louis bustled into the studio, hopping on one foot to pull on his ballet shoe, he pushed his feathered fringe from his face and breathed out a sigh of relief. He reached the studio with two minutes to spare, thanks to his wandering mind keeping him from leaving the coffee shop early enough. He couldn't be late for another lesson or else Mr. Harbour would give him a right bollocking. It would've been the fifth consecutive time, so he was glad his athletic build streamed him to the building quickly.The reason he had to rush through the city was because of that curly haired lad who sat in his piano seat one week ago. When he was ordering his morning coffee from the local Starbucks, a flash of curly hair rushed past the window, causing Louis' thoughts to return once more to the silent boy.Many times during the week had his thoughts filed back to the boy and he had no idea why. He couldn't help the drifting thoughts, even when he was supposed to be annoyed with him. He was captured by those green orbs and melted into a pool of curiosity at the thought of those soft lips. He felt slightly perverted thinking of his lips on the other boy's, especially when he didn't even know his name, but those lips were just too enticing. Louis didn't know why the boy was there; he definitely wasn't a student there or else Louis would have known him, and also he wouldn't have acted so oblivious to the performer and would've embraced his presence fully.Louis wasn't boastful of his popularity, but everyone did know who he was and everyone did like him, regardless of their jealousy over his many perfected talents. He was just so likeable that nobody could bear to break that perfect smile, and they had no choice but to return it, as it was so infectious. In his three years of studying, he'd no doubt been the star student. His abilities only got better over his stay, causing him to grasp the lead role in most of the plays the University put on. He looked so comfortable on stage, so graceful as he danced over the raised floor, so pitch-perfect as he belted out the song, and so emotionally involved as he read the memorized script with no mistakes whatsoever.Back to the present, Louis ignored the judgemental glare from his teacher and shuffled into position by the bar to stretch out his muscles. As he bent and stretched his legs until he could feel the pull, Mr. Harbour pottered around the studio in search of something unbeknownst to Louis so he would be ready to start the lesson. Louis had private lessons from the rest of the students as Harbour's teaching to the others was too easy for Louis. He needed a more advanced study and Harbour agreed to provide him with that."Louis, do you fancy running into your piano room and grabbing that CD? I think you took it away with you..." Mr. Harbour mused.With a swift nod, Louis trundled out of the room to his piano room, through the thin crowds to the familiar room. His eye caught a small sign situated by one of the doors reading "Rays of Sunshine charity event". It clicked in Louis' mind that that must've been the reason for the busyness last week and the continuation this week. He'd heard through the mill about it but thought nothing of it, but seeing the beaming faces of the students involved and the workers, he realised how good a cause it was and a small smile tugged at his lips.As he entered the room, his eyes cast over the memorable hunched body and mass of curls. He was eager for the boy to warm up to him, for some strange reason. The same tune was being played again, the same dreary tune. Louis slid over to the piano. The boy must've noticed Louis' arrival as his fingers clanged against the keys to make an atrocious mess of notes. The boy's cheeks flushed hot pink and his lip drew between his teeth. His eyes shut tight as if willing himself to keep his emotions at bay. His head dipped and his fingers clenched together into a fist.Louis didn't know what to do. All over that one mistake, the boy seemed to be breaking down in front of his eyes, but Louis knew nothing about him as to know how to help him. Awkwardly, an emotion Louis didn't often feel, he lifted his hand and placed it on the boy's shoulder; but as soon as the light touch graced the jumper clad shoulder, the boy jumped back in shock and fell to the ground. He scuffled backwards to the corner of the room and hugged himself with fear. His green eyes were wide from the contact, scoping out the room with a fidgeting glare.Once again, Louis stood there bewildered. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly to try and console the boy but nothing flowed from his mouth, because he didn't even know what to say."Are you alright?" he said cautiously.Silence. The boy's expression subdued to the blankness it exploited the week before, his lips clamped shut."Okay...well I'm just going to get my CD and like leave," he said uncomfortably. His shining eyes walked around the room in search of the missing disc, taking a while to find it. The suffocating tension in the room collapsed over Louis' body as he rushed to find the CD. Finally finding it, he grasped it and ran out the room away from the breaking boy.As he stepped out the room and leant against the cool white wall, he sucked in a well needed breath to replace the gripping hold the atmosphere of the room had on him, and he let it out shakily.What the hell even was that?