The Boy With The Flowers >>Larry Stylinson Mini-Fic<<

Chapter Twelve

HAPPY EARLY HALLOWEEN! *Streamers and candy go everywhere* :3 Only a few chapters left! This is longer than usual, but I hope you like it. It took forever to write.

It was hard to believe that it was almost November already. The leaves had changed color and were falling off the trees quite rapidly, the temperature was getting colder and colder, and the days were turning into nights before seven. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but winter was coming so quickly it almost seemed like fall was nothing but a blink.

Harry was someone who hadn't changed with the weather. He had returned to school after the trial, but instead of trying to be the happy lad he had been before, he just let life push him along. His grades had gone from some of the highest marks in the class to barely average. He didn't spend much time with Louis anymore because he felt as if he was bothering him. His boyfriend had so many friends, but he... he just felt out of place. He held Louis' hand and walked with him in the mornings, but in the afternoons, he disappeared before they could see each other.

Louis didn't know what to do about any of it. He wanted to enjoy the holidays that were coming up, but he was too worried about Harry and what was going on in his poor boyfriend's head. He rarely ever smiled. He missed the beautiful teeth that would show when he giggled and the adorable dimples that would always pop out. Without those things, it was hard to get through every day, but he managed somehow.

"Harry!" Zayn called, huffing as he looked around downstairs. He knew that Gemma was out with her friends and Anne had gone to the store, so he wasn't surprised when he didn't hear a response. He pounded his way up the stairs, not bothering to knock once he got to Harry's room. He really wasn't surprised to find his cousin dead asleep, one foot hanging off the bed and an arm lazily strewn over his eyes.

It didn't occur to him how much Harry had really changed until then. With the small amount of light coming in from a crack between the curtains, he could see how pale Harry was. He had always been light anyway, but now he had that translucence that made it look like he had been sick in the hospital for months on end. He had lost weight - at least ten pounds, but it could have been more - and there were dark circles under each of his eyes that didn't seem to go away no matter how much he slept. All in all, he didn't look like the Harry that he had grown up with.

After a few minutes of deciding whether he should actually wake him up or not, he finally huffed and grabbed the blankets, pushing them to the side. Harry stirred a little, but then he went straight back into the bliss that was sleep. Zayn made a face and went to open the curtains as well. The sunlight was strong, seeing as it was noon, and Harry finally let out a whine of protest and fluttered his eyes open. "What the hell?"

"Good afternoon to you too." Zayn rolled his eyes. Harry did the same, choosing to roll over back onto his stomach instead of speak to Zayn about whatever he was going on about. Before he could get comfortable, Zayn grabbed him and pulled him to his feet. Harry staggered for a second, but eventually he regained his balance and rubbed at his eyes.

"Seriously, Zayn. What are you doing here? It's early!"

"It's almost one, Haz."

Harry blinked, looking toward the windows and then back at his cousin. He hadn't realized that he had been sleeping for so long. "Oh."

Instead of continuing to go on like he probably would have before, Zayn only shook his head. "Never mind. What are you doing tonight?"

Harry snorted. "Having tea with the queen. What do you think?"

"Seriously."

He pretended to think about it, but just as Zayn knew he would, he shook his head. "Nothing. Probably staying at home and watching movies by myself all night. Why?"