Floating in The Water

Chapter 13

On Monday morning, there's a crowd outside the door to the dining room. Harry frowns and pushes through the crowd, trying to see what's going on, while Liam holds back a bit. Or tries to, but then Harry's arm shoots out and he grabs Liam's wrist and pulls him forward.

"Meeting," Harry explains once they're through the door. "After breakfast, in the banquet hall."

"For everyone?" Liam asks. He heads over to the food table and grabs a bagel for himself, pausing to add a bit of jam to it. He takes a large bite before asking, "Think someone's in trouble?"

Harry shifts on his feet and he reaches for a muffin, which he promptly drops on the ground. He tosses it in the garbage before grabbing a second one and heading to their table. Liam watches as he takes off the wrapper and then pulls the muffin apart, using his long finger to rip it into tiny, crumbly pieces.

"You're worried," Liam guesses. "What did you do?"

Harry looks up at him and smiles weakly, but the smile falls off his face almost instantly. He rubs his hands on his pants and then messes up his hair and fixes it, something he does often, but usually only when he's thinking long and hard about something.

"I may have made out with Louis up against a tree during my hike on Friday," Harry admits.

Liam nearly chokes on his bagel. He swallows and then snorts out a laugh. "Against a tree?"

Harry glares at him. "It's not funny. Someone could have seen, and I could be getting fired, and--,"

"You're fine," Liam says, rolling his eyes. "I doubt anyone is actually in trouble."

Harry nods and swallows. "You're right. It's just-- this kind of puts things into perspective, right? I mean, obviously it was a mistake and I shouldn't do it again. I can't risk my job, no matter how good Louis kisses, or how nice he was during the hike. It's not going to last, and I'm not giving my job up for something temporary."

"You really like him," Liam states.

Harry throws a piece of muffin at him. "Shut up. I'm still figuring this out, okay. I kind of went from wanting to stab him to wanting to kiss him like, all the time. It's a little jarring."

Liam's shoulders slump as he nods. "Trust me, I get what you mean."

"Oh no," Harry says, shaking his head. "Please tell me this doesn't have to do with the cuddling thing."

Liam looks at him sharply. "We discussed this on Saturday. It wasn't cuddling."

"It was cuddling."

Liam stands up and tosses the rest of his bagel in the garbage. He's not hungry anymore. "I hope you get fired," he adds to Harry as they exit the dining room to head over to the banquet hall.

Eleanor and Niall are already seated at the back, and Liam notices that their hands are entwined. He grins and sits down heavily in the chair next to Niall, and Niall jumps before slapping his shoulder in retaliation.

"What's going on?" Liam asks El.

She shrugs. "I don't know. They don't actually tell me everything."

Harry leans over Liam to ask her something, but Zayn's parents come into the room, followed by Zayn. Everyone sits up a bit straighter, and whatever conversations had been going on suddenly halted.

Zayn's parents head to the front of the room, but Zayn sinks into the seat next to Harry. Harry looks apprehensive for a moment before asking, "What's going on?"

Zayn shrugs a shoulder. "I don't know."

"I'm sure you're all wondering what's going on here," Zayn's father starts, and Liam returns his attention to the front of the room. "There's two reasons I've called you all in here today, and while I wish I could assure you that it's completely on good terms, I can't." He pauses as the room all shifts restlessly. "Bad news first, then?" No one answers. "It's recently been brought to my attention that the 'No Dating Guests' rule is apparently not being followed by all members of staff."