Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Saturday 11

The warm heat radiated down onto Louis' thin shirted chest as he lay peacefully on the grass. His sunglasses were perched on his nose, his skin not needing to be layered in sun cream, thank God. The stuff was the bane of his life; having to slick up his sisters' skin everyday on holiday was enough to put him off using it ever again, especially when they insisted on squirting it everywhere.It was surprising, the heat, when the days previous had been laden with on and off showers, clouded skies, and the odd spot of rumbling thunder. But Louis decided to embrace it fully and make use of the spontaneous weather flush, by bringing Harry back to the park.It reminded him of the first time they went out, well, bar the gig incident. Their ice creams were finished already and their stomachs were lined with the creamy goodness that made Louis' hands partially sticky. The two couldn't be bothered with making their way up the hill in such, for Britain, sweltering heat, so they decided to claim the spot by the fountain, under the big oak tree which cast a cooling shadow for them to lie under. That didn't stop the sun creeping through, though, to clamber onto Louis' skin, although it didn't seem to take much of a latch onto Harry who was buried back on the tree trunk.Louis looked over at the boy: back propped up on the trunk, legs outstretched and crossed at the ankles, arms folded together. One slice of sun cast through the leaves and shone yellow over a strip of Harry's face, lighting up one side of his sunglasses, a section of his nose and the corner of his lips. His milky skin wasn't radiant; it wasn't blaringly white, but it did have a certain gleaming glow when the sun cast itself over it.His outfit wasn't necessarily the best for the sunny day, but Louis gave him the benefit of the doubt because he had just sprung the idea upon the boy as they lazed in the air conditioned piano room. Secretly, Louis wished that the heat would become almost too much to bear for the boy and he'd so innocently have to peel off that Ramones shirt and reveal that long, very long, enticing, grab-worthy, bruise-worthy, running-hands-over-constantly-worthy, lick-wor- shit, okay, let's pretend that never happened.He looked so at peace, although that makes him sound like he's dead, but he did look so calm. You couldn't tell whether his eyes were shut or wide open due to those Ray Bans which suited him so well. He almost looked like a rock star, lazing in the sun after a heavy gig. The wild hair added to the look, along with the outfit - which now, Louis was rather pleased Harry was wearing. That vision was one Louis liked quite a lot, and suddenly, images of Harry in eyeliner popped into his mind. He liked those images, probably too much. But really, the way the black outlined the bright green of his eyes was something which couldn't be resisted.His cheeks flushed instantly, and his thoughts flushed away with them, as he became aware of how Harry had lifted his sunglasses up and was staring at him warily. Plastering on an overly cheery grin, Louis waved enthusiastically to try and deter Harry's thoughts from the fact Louis had been out rightly checking him out. He scooted up over to Harry's position and settled himself similarly to Harry."So," Louis said, turning his face to Harry whilst he pulled off his sunglasses and shoved them into Harry's satchel.Harry did the same with his sunglasses and nodded with a brief smile, as if saying the same thing in response.Just then, Louis spotted the little cart full of cold drinks, and immediately became aware of how parched he felt. "I'm going to get something to drink, you want anything?"Harry shook his head, rustling around in his satchel and pulling out a half-finished bottle of water. Louis nodded, bidding Harry a quick 'be right back' as he scuttled over to the cart.He returned no longer than a few minutes later, his pocket two pounds lighter but his hand heavy with the ice cold beer. He slumped back down next to the boy, taking a long and well needed sip, sighing in relief as the strong taste washed down his throat. He could feel Harry's eyes directed towards him, and as he took a short swallow, he peeped from the side of his eye to see the boy staring intently at the green bottle that dripped with condensation."Oh, are you okay with me having this? I know you don't drink or anything, so it's alright if you don't want me drinking around you..." Louis asked as the idea for the staring sprung to his mind. Harry, however, denied these thoughts and shook his head firmly. Louis' gaze was curious and interested as he stared Harry down suspiciously, and it made Harry reply with a shrug and a bat of the hand to show that it wasn't that at all."Tell me what you're thinking," Louis urged, producing a notepad from Harry's satchel that he took from the piano room before they left. He pressed that and a pen down on Harry's lap and grinned triumphantly when Harry let out a defeated sigh and reluctantly flipped over the page to write.

I just...I was just wondering what it was like, that's all.Louis' brow furrowed a little in confusion. "What, this you mean? Like the taste?" he asked, shaking the bottle a little to gesture to it. "'Coz you can try some if you want, I don't mind." He moved the bottle closer to Harry's face, not realising it was practically touching his lips. Harry scrunched his nose up and pushed the bottle away, reaching for the notepad again.

No, not like that, I mean like drinking in general. Like getting drunk and stuff, that's all."Oh..." Louis said softly, "You've never gotten drunk before have you?" his tone wasn't patronising, more gentle with slight questioning, but more knowledge than pure confusion.Harry looked downwards, biting the inside of his cheek, and shook his head almost solemnly."D'you want me to tell you what it's like? Is that what you were wondering?"Harry lifted the pen and quickly scratched down a word on the paper which lay on his lap, dormant:

PleaseHe looked up from under his eyelashes, bright jade orbs glinting in the sunlight. His smile wasn't sorrowful, but it wasn't happy either. It wasn't like he was ashamed of his lack of drunken times, not at all, but the quaint tug at the corners of his lips showed some slight wish for memories like that. He was vulnerable to the feeling of regret, regret that he didn't try enough to act like a normal teenager would. But Louis didn't like normal: he liked Harry."I...there isn't anything specific you feel, y'know? To be honest, there isn't much good about it. I mean, you forget what you did the night before if you get really mortal, wake up with a banging headache, and some alcohol tastes like absolute shit. But I guess it's just the buzz you get. Maybe it's the fact you know it's not good for you, that you get drunk. Like I know that I'll feel like crap the day after and I know that I'll probably do something stupid, but it's a way to get away from everything neat and orderly and just be reckless for once, so I just keep drinking. If I'm honest, I regret drinking so young. I wasn't abominably young or anything, but I think I wore it out at a young age and now it's not as...well not as exciting. So you aren't really missing much; there's still time anyway. You aren't even legal anyway, so it'll make your first drink at 18 more exciting than mine from the get go."Harry sat in thought for a minute, his eyes trailing down to the paper after listening intently to Louis' speech.

You think I haven't like fucked up my childhood then by not doing normal teenage things? I just...I see all these teenagers living that kind of life, like going to parties every week and getting smashed, and I feel like I should feel like I'm missing out..."Wha- no, Haz, of course you haven't! Don't think like that, okay? Your life is as good as theirs, maybe even better because you don't spend every Sunday cooped up in the bathroom barfing your guts up. Seriously, you've got years and years to experience that, and anyway, they just do it to look cool and half the time they look the opposite. Looking back on it now, at an age where I've been allowed to drink legally for years, I just looked like a wannabe, a really un-cool wannabe."Harry chuckled at the thought of a younger, un-cool Louis acting stupidly drunk, even though his imagination kept the good looks rather than decreasing them to a spotty teenager's adolescent features. He seemed to feel a little more at ease if the pull at his lips, which didn't look like it was about to drop any time soon, was anything to go by. He scribbled on the piece of paper, but as soon as his eyes flashed up to Louis then back over the words, a blush spread over his cheeks."Oi!" Louis protested as Harry went to scratch out the words. His objection stunted Harry's actions as his eyes flickered up to Louis in surprise, and Louis took this lapse in concentration to his advantage. He threw his body over to Harry -thankfully he had put his bottle down beforehand-, and scrambled to get the paper. Harry was quick to act and wrestled with Louis in prevention of the paper being released, but soon enough, Louis' legs were straddling Harry and his fingers were tickling the younger boy until the book dropped from the boy's clutch.Still sitting on Harry, Louis brought the paper up to his face to read it clearer:

Will you buy me my first legal drink?Harry was blushing furiously under Louis, bright scarlet lighting up his cheeks. Maybe that was because of their position and the fact that Louis was on top of him, or maybe it was because he was embarrassed by the words he scrawled on the lines."Haz," Louis said, not with mocking in his tone, but with a smudge of disbelief and joy. "You really want that?"Harry looked indecisive in whether to own up and tell the truth or not. His eyes flickered around the leaf canopy above them, searching for the right answer. A shrug was all the leaves offered, so that was all Harry answered with. It was neither saying yes or no, so either way, Harry thought he'd covered all bases. He hoped his face didn't give away that his mind was chanting yesyesyes."Well...if it is what you want, then I'd be honoured to," Louis said diplomatically, not letting Harry know that he could see what the boy really wanted buried in his eyes.Those eyes betrayed him once again, even though Louis still wasn't looking directly into them, when they lit up with pure joy and enthusiasm. The smile which broke through on his lips even parted a little into a half grin, revealing a little of those pearly whites which Louis wanted to run his tongue ov- God, not again, it's like my thoughts aren't even controllable any more.It was then that Louis remembered he was straddling Harry. Not wanting to overstay his welcome on the boy's hips and make him uncomfortable, and not wanting to become uncomfortable himself with a certain type of problem, Louis clambered off the boy and sat himself down cross-legged to the side of him.He didn't notice the dip in Harry's features as he did so, the tiny furrow in his brow and twitch of his fingers to pull the older boy over again."C'mon, sit up," Louis ordered, grabbing Harry's hand to pull him into a seated position. This time, Louis didn't miss the flare up of another blush on the boy's features, but he pretended to miss it nonetheless, even though internally he couldn't suppress the smirk of accomplishment."Tell me what you want to know," he said, handing the paper back over to Harry.Harry accepted the stationary and pondered upon a question for a little, the end of the pen caught between his lips thoughtfully.

Tell me about your 18th?"My 18th? It was pretty uneventful, really. Because my birthday is Christmas Eve, my Mum literally like forced it down my throat that I wasn't allowed to get drunk. So it was only one or two drinks down the pub with Zayn, but it didn't feel anything different than usual. The barmaid let us drink there since we were early 17 so it wasn't anything special."

Oh...well your 19th then?Louis' face lit up with a smirk, "well my 19th was much better, believe me. It wasn't on my actual birthday; it was just around New Years when we celebrated it. Me, Zayn, Liam and Niall all went to Magaluf, and my God, it was the best time I've had like ever. It was totally random, like I had no clue it was going to happen until the day we went. To be honest, I was kinda bitter with them because they made out they had forgotten my birthday all together, but then they gave me the tickets and it was just so good. It was full of drinking, getting smashed every night, dancing, skinny dipping-"Harry's eyes widened comically and his jaw dropped in shock.

Skinny dipping?!Louis laughed, "I know right? I was totally off my face, but somehow I can still remember it. It was hilarious. I don't know why I did it, it was just me and Zayn who did it, so it wasn't like all of us did it, which is weird, but it was so...fun. Like it was so freezing the pool that I swear I like numbed my cock or something, but it was just such a thrill doing it."Harry burst out laughing just as Louis' finished, and Louis couldn't help but laugh along at the memory. Harry's head was thrown back and his mouth was parted in a huge grin, chiming out that gorgeous laugh of his. He continued to bubble out little snorts of laughter after he'd calmed down, obviously not being able to get the image out of his mind."So, let's just move on from that," Louis chuckled, swerving the subject and more potential breakouts in booming laughter at his expense -not that he minded when it was Harry's laugh that was directed at him.

What else did you do there? Other than skinny dipping that is..."Hmm...let me think...I don't think anything major happened. Oh! I did have a bit of a holiday romance," Louis winked.

Oh yeh? Tell me about him!"He was actually pretty boring, if I'm honest. But I mean, at the time, all I wanted was a good fuck so I didn't really give a shit whether he held a good conversation. We just met up every night at the club and took things from there. I guess it wasn't really a holiday romance come to think about it, more like a holiday fuck-buddy. That doesn't sound as good, does it?"Harry wasn't blushing, as such, as he wrote his next reply; there was only a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. His bottom lip was caught between his teeth and he shyly showed Louis his notepad.

I'd like a holiday romance, I think they're sweet.Louis wanted to 'aw' aloud, but he didn't and kept it restrained in his throat. "Mine wasn't really that sweet though, was it? A quick shag on the deck chair isn't really the most romantic thing ever," Harry chuckled a little, along with Louis.

But still, I mean, I'd pick a guy who isn't as boring as yours though, obviously.Louis' eyes skimmed the sentence a few times, but kept getting caught on that one word: guy. He couldn't stop the words flowing from his mouth, "Guy?"Harry definitely blushed this time. His cheeks flared bright pink and it looked as if he wanted to hide his face in his hands in embarrassment. He nodded in admittance, and Louis smiled reassuringly at him as if to say that it was okay. It was always going to be okay with Louis; he was probably the gayest person Harry had met, so there wasn't a chance in hell that the boy would treat him any differently.He obviously wasn't meaning to let it slip, but he did. Louis was kind of glad, shocked, but glad. This situation was calm and not overly pressurising at all. It didn't make the confession too big and heavy, it just slipped -hypothetically- through Harry's lips as if it were a normal confession about nothing in particular. It must've been easier for Harry than telling him in a conversation solely for that, so Louis was glad it was out in the open. Plus, it meant that Louis' crush on the boy wasn't wasted on someone who was as straight as a ruler; he was a flexi ruler now.

So, moving on from that, is Magaluf the furthest you've been? Like clubbing wise, I mean."Oh yeh, that's the only time I've been; I can't afford to go now. I'm surprised the boys could afford it, like it was pretty expensive being there, what with all the drinks and stuff, but they paid for my ticket and all that so it must've been pricey for them. I'd travel to London and stuff, I can scrape that, but not out the country. Do you think you would? Like travel out to go clubbing, if you drank that is."

Nah, probably not. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love travelling to other countries on holiday and stuff, but not for one thing in particular. But I don't know the difference between clubbing here, and clubbing in other countries....is there any difference actually?"Not really. Probably just the weather difference and maybe that it's cheaper. Everyone's there just for clubbing, so I guess that's what changes the atmosphere a bit, but around here it's still just as good. If you're going there with the intention of getting drunk, you can do that in the club down the road just as easily. Clubbing is just clubbing, basically; you drink, dance, and drink some more," Louis shrugged nonchalantly.

Is that why you like it? The dancing and stuff? Is the feeling when you dance the thing that you like?Louis thought for a few seconds upon his answer. The dancing wasn't proper dancing, regardless of the show he put on last time; he didn't normally do that. "Well I suppose it is, but it isn't at the same time; does that make sense? Like dancing on the stage is different: that's proper routines, where you put your whole heart into it, whereas in clubs it's just more like...it sounds crude, but grinding and stuff. You don't have to put much effort in; it's the alcohol that gives you that buzz rather than the dancing. It's fun, something to do, but it isn't the same, y'know?"

Like how I get a different feeling when I play your piano, to my piano at home? On your piano it feels right, whole, but on my one at home it doesn't flow as well.Harry's eyes were wide and innocent as they stared up at Louis, trying to help Louis to explain with a connection of his own."Yeh, I suppose, just like that," Louis offered with a smile and an encouraging nod. Harry smiled happily when he understood, it made Louis' heart beat quickly. "It just depends on the situation, yeh?"Harry nodded eagerly in agreement. It was as if Harry's ears pricked up at the moment, and his attention was diverted to the little band busking by the fountain. They'd been playing classic tunes in the background, taking advantage of the popular park and good weather. There was a guitarist, a bassist, a singer who had a keyboard in front of him, and two people playing trumpets. They hadn't been too bad, to Louis' recollection, but he hadn't really taken notice of them that much except from when they first came into the park.Harry's face lit up in recognition as he seemingly worked what the singer was saying. A grin stretched over his face as he saw the musicians prepare their instruments and music for this song which Harry was so excited about.Just as Louis was about to ask what was happening, Harry wrote on the paper quickly and showed it to Louis:

They're going to play Stevie Wonder! My favourite one as well!Louis looked at Harry's brightened expression, scoping out how happy and thrilled he was just because the band were playing his favourite song by his favourite artist. Music meant a lot to Harry, of that was obvious, but Stevie Wonder meant a whole lot more. Louis hadn't heard someone babble on as much about how amazing a person was since he lived at home with his sisters, and they chuntered on a lot about Justin Bieber. Louis didn't mind it though; he loved it in fact. Harry adored the man; he was in such awe of him it was unexplainable. It seemed to put him at ease, the soothing tone of his voice. Even if the song was upbeat, Harry relaxed into a state of calm and bliss. His music meant the world to Harry.So as soon as Louis saw those words combined with that beautiful expression, he grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him up from the ground with a heave. He wasted no time in dragging -although there was little resistance on the other end- the younger boy over to the small crowd that was gathered around the band. They reached there just as the first note was played, and Harry's smile instantly grew into the biggest grin Louis thought he'd ever seen.Louis loved it when Harry smiled, so much. It didn't ever look strained or out of place, too large or too small; it was always just right. It was when he wore a toothy grin that Louis' heart fluttered the most. It showed ultimate happiness, ultimate joy. To think that all those weeks ago, just seeing him bear a closed-lip smile was a huge achievement, it astounded him how things had changed. It was bittersweet; Louis didn't want anything to change from now on. Harry seemed truly happy and that was all that mattered, but a small part of him kept tugging at his heart and reminding him of those feeling he didn't want to scare Harry away with.The music was infectious in itself, but Harry's beaming smile was even more. Louis was smiling so hard his cheeks were aching almost straight away, but that didn't deter him from expressing his happiness. He stood behind Harry, who was lost in the music even though the man's voice wasn't up to Stevie-standard -but then again, who even was up to his standard?- and wrapped his arms around the boy's waist.Harry didn't tense much, maybe a little at the shock, but as soon as he felt Louis' chin on his shoulder and could hear his voice singing the words in his ear, he relaxed into the hold. His hands crossed over to hold onto Louis' arms as Louis swayed them from side to side, dancing a little to the music.They were oblivious to their surroundings. They were lost in the joyful tune and the feel of the other's head resting on their own. They were trapped in a bubble of happiness.It was just their luck that someone was insistent on coming along to burst that bubble.Louis' phone buzzed and blared out obnoxiously in his pocket, thankfully, when the song had finished and they were waiting for the next song; but still, it pulled the two from their indulgent trance. Louis fished it from his pocket and pressed answer straight away, not bothering to check the caller ID. All he wanted to do was get the call over and done with so he could get back to Harry and spend the rest of the afternoon in peace."Hello?" He asked. The band seemed to be playing an unknown song to both Harry and Louis so with a nod of his head, Louis gestured for them to return back to their spot."Hey mate."Zayn.Well, shit.Louis spied over at Harry who was walking slowly a little in front of him, not taking notice at all. Louis really didn't want to talk to Zayn at that exact second; it really wasn't the time. What with all that happened last time, he didn't want a repeat experience. Of course he promised himself he'd never do anything of the similar again, so he wasn't going to do it again, but he had no clue what he'd say instead. He'd gone over the situation a million times in his head, coming up with many different ways he could've changed what he'd said, but now they were all blank."O-oh Zayn- uhm hey, what's up?" He stuttered before composing himself to act nonchalant."Not much, just wondering what you were up to that's all," there was something behind Zayn's tone that Louis couldn't distinguish; he wasn't actually sure whether he wanted to find out what it was or not, it'd be safer not to."Erm- nothing much, just...chilling," Louis winced at how awkward he sounded, and really, who even says 'chilling' anymore?"Really? Chilling are you? Are you 'chilling' anywhere nice?" Louis could practically feel Zayn's judgement through the phone, could practically see the inverted commas he would be doing over his random words."Uh no, not really, just at the park, nothing special," Louis kept his eyes trained on Harry who was closing in on the tree.As he watched, the younger boy took a stumble over his own feet and Louis had to clamp his hand over his mouth to suppress the laughter that was about to burst out. Harry straightened himself out and looked around to check if anyone had noticed, and nobody had, until his eyes landed on Louis who was trembling with silent laughter. He blushed and flipped him the middle finger, which just made Louis want to laugh even harder. He slumped down by the tree, pretending to sulk, but the smirk-like smile on his lips made his act unconvincing."Louis? You there?" He heard through the phone. Louis remembered the boy on the line and coughed awkwardly, trying to rid himself of the sight of Harry falling and the laughter that followed."Yeh, sure, sorry. What were you saying?""I was saying that I'm near the park, I could come meet you if you like?" Zayn offered, that tone still loitering in his voice."No!" Louis burst out, but coughed to correct himself quickly. "I mean, no there's no need. I'm leaving anyway so there's not much point...""Surely you can stay a little longer, just to see your best mate? I haven't seen you in ages; you never come and see us boys anymore on a Saturday...""Uhm I've just been busy with Uni, that's all; Saturday's are the best day to get stuff done..." Louis lied, well, kind of. Technically he was normally in the Uni ground, he just wasn't doing work."But you have time to go to the park? Yeh right," Zayn retorted sarcastically."I'm...I'm doing work! Yeh, I'm getting an essay done. Making use of the sun and stuff, y'know?"Louis heard some muttering in the background, he wasn't sure who it was from but it didn't sound like they were too happy."So you aren't with someone right this second?" Zayn probed.Louis froze. What was he supposed to say? He was itching to just admit it, but something was holding him back, maybe the harsh tone in Zayn's voice that scared him to lack of admittance. "Umm...I...well...""Oh for fucks sake, Lou," Zayn growled before hanging up abruptly. Louis pulled the phone from his ear and stared at it in somewhat surprise. Well, that was unexpected. Zayn wasn't a one to hang up on someone all too often; he was more of someone to tell the other this thoughts. Especially with Louis, he'd tell the lad whether he was pissed off at him and tell him why, straight and simple. There weren't many times where he'd be angry at the flamboyant boy; he was usually quite tolerant with him, but there had been times where he just couldn't put a lid on it and he had to tell the boy to just fuck off.So that was why this time was shocking for Louis; the boy just hung up, leaving Louis on edge and totally bemused.As he was making his was over to the lazing boy, a furrow still in his brow as the phone call didn't seem to want to budge from his mind any time soon, he heard someone fast approaching behind him. Deeming it just to be a child chasing a ball or something, Louis kept padding his way over to Harry who had spotted his return and sent him a smile and a wave."Hey, Haz, dyou fanc-" Louis started to call over to the boy, but he was interrupted quickly by a familiar voice behind him; the sound freezing his speech and actions to a stop."Haz?" The voice was firm, harsh and vindictive; not similar to how it usually sounded. It was said like the face behind it would have a questioning, judgemental expression spread across it, finding no need to hide the dismay the person felt."Fuck," Louis muttered under his breath, squeezing his eyes tightly shut and lifting his hand to rub it over his face in anguish. Of course this was going to happen; he couldn't have one nice day without something going wrong.He swivelled around on the balls of his feet to come face to face with the voice.Zayn.Niall and Liam were hovering behind, but it was obvious that Zayn was the one with the strongest feelings about the situation as he stood tall in front.Louis rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uh h-hey mate, you alright?" His tone was cautious because God knows how malicious Zayn could be in a state like this."Haz?" He repeated again, almost spitting the words at him."Look, Zayn, I can expla-""So we're on a nickname basis are we? Haz is short for Harry I presume, yeh?""So what if it is? What difference does that make to you?" Louis quipped defensively."It makes a difference to me when you're lying to me!""C'mon, mate, don't get pissed over something like this. I wasn't even really lying to you, you didn't give me the chance to explain," Louis tried to reason."I'll get pissed if I want to! Fuck, Lou, you were never going to explain. I gave you a million chances to and you didn't take any of them.""I didn't know you were here! I would've told you if I knew!""What, so you would've told me that you were here with fuckface?" Zayn retorted quickly, stepping forwardIt was like there was a volcano in Louis' chest that was triggered off with that one word insult, erupting anger through his veins, speeding through him rapidly and feeding through his words."Don't call him that," he growled lowly. His posture was defensive, his hands balled in fists by his sides. Of course he wasn't going to turn to violence, not with his best mate, but he had to physically hold his anger back somehow."But that's what he is, isn't he? This is the lad who can't speak, right? I don't see how he can be anything other than a fucked up twat," Zayn said it like it was the only possible name Harry could be called, like his opinion was clearly the one that everyone else must've had too."He's my friend, that's what he is. He's far from...that."Louis words seem to shock Zayn. They stumped him a little. His eyes widened comically, eyebrows shooting up his forehead. Maybe his reaction was enough to show the judgement he was drenching Louis in in that moment, but Louis took no notice. Behind, Niall and Liam seemed shocked too, shooting Louis odd and surprised glances."He's your...friend?" Zayn said, some disgust laced through his tone."Yeh he is, what's wrong with that?" Louis shot back confidently, tipping his head back in a way one would do to start a fight. He wasn't doing that, obviously, but he was almost gambling for an answer."Everything!" Zayn's reply was exasperated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. His hands were in front of him, gesturing to the surroundings as if they were 'everything'.Niall stepped forward, unsurprisingly, his Irish accent thick with taunt, "well surely if he's your friend, we can meet him then?"Louis' lips were shut in a thin, tight line. He knew what they were doing; he knew they were ridiculing his defence over the boy. They wanted him to react; they wanted him to fall down again and admit that it was all a joke.But Louis couldn't do that anymore, he didn't want to. The two parts of his life were to stay separate; he'd decided that a while ago. Harry was one part of his life, the lads were the other. They weren't supposed to merge into one. If they went over to Harry, he knew the line would be broken and he knew it wouldn't bode well in Harry's case. It would overwhelm him, confuse him and stun him. The approach of such angered people would put him into shock, and he knew Zayn would probably jeer at him to talk.They were all nice lads, he wouldn't be friends with them if they weren't, but they were teenage lads. They held grudges against people who didn't have the need to be discriminated against and they had a black and white view on life. Louis guessed that it was his open life which meant he was different; from the get-go he was vulnerable to a whole different life to them because of his sexuality. He'd seen the workings of people who weren't classed as 'normal' and he was used to them; he preferred them -to the exception of the three lads in front of him.He was drawn to Harry because Harry wasn't the type of person who only thought and that was all. He delved into the depths of his mind and pulled out random theories and ideas which people like Zayn wouldn't do. He was open to different things.He wanted them to get along, of course he did, but he knew it wasn't going to happen, especially if they met him like they were now. They were tetchy and frustrated and he knew Harry wouldn't be able to communicate with people of such a mood. He just wanted to protect the boy, to put it simply. He wanted to protect him from the thoughts he'd probably feel after the meeting. Zayn wouldn't hide his dislike for the boy, not in this state anyway, so Louis knew that Harry would constantly think afterwards about why they didn't like him and what he'd done wrong. Harry was happy; he didn't want to threaten that."No," Louis began. "You can't. I can't risk you hurting him, because I know you and I know you will. I'm not allowing you to do that. He's my friend, okay? I'm not going to stop being friends with him because you can't get your head around why I'd like him. You don't have to know him or pretend to be pally with him, so you can just drop it and forget that I even know him. Alright?"Louis' words weren't particularly forceful or harsh, but they were stern and telling. It was obvious that Zayn was taken aback; Louis wasn't normally so passionate about a person. He could tell that Louis was being serious and he was on the edge of getting angry if Zayn took another step forward. Angry Louis was sassy, and nobody could ever really compete with the sassy remarks that would fly at them. Zayn would admit that he almost wanted to push Louis over the edge, but he knew it wasn't for the best. He was angry himself, more so at Louis lying to him than the fact he was friends with someone like Harry, but like Louis said, it wasn't his business. Zayn was only looking out for his best friend, but he knew that it was best he stayed clear of the situation for the time being."Fine, fine," he surrendered, holding up his hands and stepping backwards. Louis seemed to deflate in a sigh of relief as Zayn cast him a fleeting, half-hearted goodbye before turning away and walking off with his two other best friends.Louis rubbed his hands over his face, threading his fingers through his hair. It went better than he'd thought. Zayn knew when to stop -Louis could give him that- when it concerned Louis. Louis knew that sometime he'd probably have to talk it out with the three of them, but at that moment he couldn't care less about that.He swivelled on his feet, back around to Harry who was watching intently. His gaze was somewhat curious, but the frown on his face was evidence that he knew an argument had occurred. As Louis got closer, he didn't seem to have hurt on his features, and that factor made Louis feel a little lighter. Harry obviously hadn't heard the conversation, and Louis wanted to thank God for that. All he knew was that something wasn't right between Louis and the boy, but he didn't know what or why.Louis slouched by the tree, seating himself close to the boy. Harry's face was turned to him, eyes asking what was wrong. Louis shook his head, telling him that it was nothing but also telling him not to bother asking, that he didn't want to delve into it. Harry's questioning gaze didn't cease though. It wasn't like he was desperate to know what had happened, he was just worried about the older boy and wanted to make sure he was okay.

Are you okay?Harry scribbled down messily, showing Louis with concern in his eyes.Louis smiled, throwing his arm over Harry's shoulder and letting Harry's head of curls rest in the crook of his neck. "You're here, aren't you? Of course I'm okay; I'm better than okay."