Harry rocked back on his heels and tried to look like he fit in. He was at the art show, dressed smartly in a blazer and tan pants. He wished Liam had come with him - he always felt better with his friend at his side - but Liam had a family party to go to. So Harry was alone.
“This is really good you know.” Harry felt a small smile gracing his face as he turned towards the now familiar accent. Niall was standing there, head cocked to the side and eyes trained on Harry’s empty self-portrait. “It makes complete sense. It’s perfect.”
“Thank you,” Harry pushed a few curls away from his forehead. He wanted to talk to Niall, really talk to him, but he wasn’t quite sure how. What would he say? “I ummm…” he trailed off. He didn’t actually have anything in mind to say. He just felt the need to say something, to tell Niall, in more words that he had yesterday, that he liked the blonde boy. But just saying ‘I like you’ seemed strange.
Niall gave him an encouraging smile, his eyes soft as he waited for the words to find their way to Harry’s mouth. But Harry had clasped his lips shut and was looking down at the ground with an embarrassed blush. “What are you doing here?” he finally muttered.
“I like art,” Niall grinned. “Not as much as you, but I dabble.”
“What do you do?” this opened a whole new world for Harry. Now he could talk to the other boy.
“3D stuff mostly,” Niall shrugged. “I like sculpting.”
“Really?” Harry was intrigued. He’d never tried that before. He stuck to paper. And his wall of course. “What’s that like?”
“It’s awesome,” Niall’s hand was suddenly in his and Harry felt himself being dragged across the crowded studio. “I’ll show you.”
Harry allowed himself to be tugged along, enjoying the warmth of Niall’s hand as the blonde boy chatted amiably about the different kinds of sculpting clay. Every few seconds Niall would glance up at him and smile and Harry couldn’t help but smile back. Harry’s smiles just made Niall’s even brighter. And Harry liked Niall’s smile. So he kept smiling.
“See?” Niall skidded to a stop in front of a small sculpture of a gently curled hand. Harry found reassurance in this. Hands were his favorite body part too.
“I like it,” Harry pursed his lips as he studied it. “It’s fluid, yet still, just like a hand should be. It’s great.”
Harry wasn’t expecting Niall to throw his arms around him and hug him tightly, so he stumbled back a bit as the other boy latched himself onto Harry’s torso. He reflectively threw his hands up, landing them on Niall’s chest and the blonde pulled away suddenly, a blush coloring his cheek and embarrassment pooling in his eyes. He thought Harry had pushed him off.
“I’m sorry,” Niall scratched the back of his neck, refusing to meet Harry’s gaze. “I didn’t mean to…”
“No it’s okay,” Harry was still trying to process what happened, but he could see he had made the other boy sad. He wasn’t sure why though, Niall had been the one to pull away. Harry decided that the best way to make it better was to do what Niall had been attempting to do, so he hesitantly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the other boy. Niall hugged him back immediately, burying his face in Harry’s shoulder as he snuggled closer.
“You smell good,” Harry surprised himself with the spontaneous compliment. He hadn’t even thought it, just spoke it. He blushed, sure he had just said something embarrassing.
“You think so?” Niall nuzzled Harry’s neck with his face as he hugged him even closer. He could feel Harry beginning to get stiff in his arms as the hug crossed from friendly to a bit more and Niall was sure the other boy was about to pull away. He squeezed him one more time, not wanting it to end, before pulling back with a smile. “You smell good too.”
“Thank you,” Harry was back to thinking, and his response was the stuffy and formal one Niall was used to. Niall wondered what it would take for the other boy to really let go, to stop thinking so much and just act. He had seen a hint of it when the unprecedented compliment had slipped from his lips into Niall’s ear.
“What are you learning now?” Harry asked to fill the awkward silence. “In art class?”
“Oh,” Niall’s eyes fell to his feet and he looked a little bit shameful. “I’m not.”
“You’re not?” Harry was a bit confused.
“I can’t afford class,” Niall mumbled softly. The art classes were not associated with the university in town, though they were housed in the art building and held in semesters. Two semesters a year. Harry took both. He didn’t do much else. “I got to take class last semester for free in exchange for modeling for you guys this semester,” Niall admitted, his cheeks pink from embarrassment.
Harry didn’t know what to say, which wasn’t unusual for him, but he knew he needed to say something now. He needed to make Niall smile again. He liked Niall’s smile.
“You can come over to my house and do art whenever you want,” Harry offered. “I don’t have sculpting stuff but I can get it. Or you could draw.” Harry shrugged, “You might like drawing.”
There was the smile he had been looking for. Harry relaxed, feeling better now that Niall was happy again. “You’re sweet,” Niall reached out and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “Thanks Harry.”
Harry took a deep breath, “To me, art is everything. I don’t know what I would do without it. I don’t know who I would be without it. I know I’m weird and hard to talk to and I don’t know why Liam puts up with me sometimes, but when I’m drawing I forget those things. That’s why I bring my sketchbook everywhere. Art helps me show how I feel, because I don’t know how to do the same with words like Liam does. I know that if I had art taken away from me, I would be lost. I don’t want that to happen to you. So you can come over whenever.” He finished his little speech and glanced up through dusty lashes to gauge Niall’s reaction.
Niall’s smile was soft and small and absolutely breathtaking. His hand gripped Harry’s tightly as he murmured, “You used words beautifully right there.”
Harry was about to ask Niall if he was allowed to hug him again when he decided to just do it. He didn’t think the other boy would mind. And he was right, Niall didn’t mind at all. He hugged him back, his face in Harry’s neck again, and sighed contently.
Harry had been in luck so far, so he decided to take another chance.
He remembered what Liam had told him the other day as he muttered to Niall, “Do you want to maybe get coffee or something? It’s okay if you don’t want to.”
“Harry,” Niall pulled back slightly, keeping his arms tight around Harry’s waist, and beamed. “I’d love to.”
