Bound by Pages | larry

twelve

Harry woke up grumpy. That's what Thursdays did to him. He knew he could finally talk to Louis today, and the thought pushed him out of bed. Louis was his greatest motivation, but the boy himself had no idea.

The faint voice of his father could be heard as Harry stepped into the carpeted hallway. His bare feet felt the little bristles of the woven fabric as they did every morning. Harry frowned when he heard his father. The man always had to go and ruin his day.

On this morning in particular, Harry took an unusually long time to get ready. He wasn't running late for school or anything, Harry just enjoyed getting there early. Also, the soccer list was supposed to be posted today. He made a mental note to look for that paper when he got to school.

Harry's hurried run down the stairs was going pretty smoothly until the bottom step rudely tripped him. His body flung forwards with his feet not far behind. His hands desperately gripped onto the glass table while his feet slid from under him, leaving him in a kind of pathetic plank-like position.

"Ow," Harry's strained his voice and pouted at himself. He walked his feet back to where they belonged, and let go of the table. He noticed his smudged fingermarks on the pristine glass surface, four smeared lines serving as evidence of his almost falling over.

"Did I hear you, Harry?" A loud, deep voice echoed through the empty corridor. Harry could imagine his father sitting at the end of the marble table, waiting for his son to show up just to get him down. No thank you.

"Nope!" Harry shouted back. The next thing his father heard was probably the door being slammed.

~

It was getting colder outside as it approached November. It was evident to Harry on his walk to school. His face was cold and numb. The colour red littered his cheeks with the air that hit them. His hoodie sleeves hardly covered his hands, leaving his fingertips exposed and freezing. Harry shivered as he brushed his hair back with the little icicles he called his fingers. 

The warm air was a relief to Harry's face when he walked into the heated school. He liked cold weather and such, but he also enjoyed not freezing to death.

Harry frowned when he saw that the soccer list had not been posted. He didn't really have anything to do at the moment, seeing that it was extremely early. He had actually planned to grab something to eat before he left, but his father was in the way.

The door creaked behind him causing Harry to quickly turn around to investigate the noise. Walking through the door was Louis with his head down and his headphones in. The small boy was wearing a large black hoodie that fit so poorly on the boy, it was adorable. Of course, he also had a grey beanie sitting atop his head to protect his precious ears from the chilly weather.

Harry walked behind Louis for a few seconds, stopping by Louis' locker without him realizing. Harry just stood behind Louis with a huge goofy smile on his face, hoping the other boy would turn around and realize.

"Harry." Louis sighed out, clearly not impressed.

"What?" Harry frowned. Louis hadn't even turned around. He was hoping his stupid smile would at least force a smile out of the younger one.

"What are you doing?" Harry was suddenly facing him as he turned around rapidly.

"Nothing." He couldn't hide his guilty smile, but there was no way he could ignore the distance between them... or the lack thereof.

"Are you sure?"

"Yea."

"I hate you." Louis turned back around to sort out his books and bag, but Harry didn't mind.