Be My Eyes || Larry Stylinson

t h i r t y

chapter thirty

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Louis walked through the complex and an apartment door, his path set for one particular room. He stopped, taking a deep breath and then continued to knock on the wood rather harshly. From behind the door, Louis could hear the sound of things moving around, a voice mumbling to himself. The door opened, revealing a drowsy looking Harry along with his insanely neat room.

"Yes?" Harry asked, his voice filled with an emotion that could only be irritation. Louis felt terrible for waking the lad up, seeing that he wanted - whatever relationship they had - to work; but it was raining, and the thunder and lightning were feeling extra generous today. Now, Louis knew he couldn't go to Niall anymore - that friendship was basically over at this point, and as much as that hurt Louis, he knew he couldn't do anything about it. He'd just live with the fact that Niall Horan might just hate him from now on out. So, now, Louis had Harry and probably only Harry.

"Sorry, were you sleeping?" Louis asked, his voice growing small. "I didn't mean to wake you, I can - "

"Lou, it's alright, I wasn't even fully asleep." Harry said, reassuring the older lad with his words. Louis had taken note of the fact that Harry seemed to be completely fine with almost anything he did, which was something Louis didn't know if he liked or not. "What'd you need, babe?"

Louis smiled a bit at the pet name, even though he vowed long ago to hate them, "Babe?"

Harry frowned, catching onto his slip of words, "I mean - I didn't mean to say that, sorry." He coughed, "What did you need?"

Louis' smile didn't fade, but the unsettled feeling in his stomach returned, "It's raining, and well, I don't really want to be walking around while there's thunder and lightning. And like, I can't go to Niall anymore, so I came to you because, well just because."

Harry stepped to the side, motioning the other boy into the room, "Right, well, looks like the bad ass punk isn't so bad ass anymore, is he?"

Louis rolled his eyes, "I'm still bad ass enough to kick your ass." His words sounded like a joke but they felt like a bullet through Harry's heart while the thunder was the sound of the major gun firing. Louis saw this - Harry's unsettled look on his face - and oh what a face it was. "But I'd never hurt you, Harry."

Harry smiled slightly, shutting the door behind the Doncaster boy, "I still don't have too much space in here, but - "

"It's alright, I'll sleep on the floor like before. I don't want to be a bother, anyways." Louis said, fiddling with his thumbs, every bit of his manly façade fading into oblivion.

Through the window behind Harry's bed, a flash of lightning cracked, igniting the whole sky with a blue-ish silver color while the room turned a frightening white. Louis flinched in his spot, letting a small squeak out. The scared sound didn't go unnoticed by the blind man, his head snapping in the direction of the sound. Before, when Louis last came to him out of his fear of thunderstorms, Harry had stayed awake for a few hours, listening to Louis move around restlessly while trying not to cry out in fear.

And at the moment, Harry wanted nothing more than to make sure that type of thing didn't repeat. So, Harry cautiously wrapped his arms around the other boy's middle, pulling Louis closer to him. "It's alright to be scared of something, Lou."

Louis just about cried when Harry said that to him. He looked at the door, seeing the lock twisted - indicating no one could just walk in. So, Louis flung his arms around the taller boy's neck as another lightning bolt hit the ground and the ground shook from the loud rumble of thunder. His face was hidden beneath Harry's chin, Louis wanting more than to disappear into this boy's warmth when his lower lip trembled with fear, "I don't want to be scared anymore, Harry."

"Then don't be, baby." Harry whispered, letting yet another pet name slip. He was slowly gaining confidence when it came to Louis Tomlinson, realizing the two had been practically an item for the past week since they kissed; and the fact that Louis was willing to act like this with him, knowing the Doncaster boy wouldn't act like this with just anyone, was an amazing fact to know.

"How, though? How do I know that there's nothing to be scared of." Louis choked out, "What if this is something I should be scared about?"

Harry frowned, running his fingers up and down Louis' spine in the most comforting of ways, "And what are you afraid of, Hm?"

"I'm scared of what people will think, I'm scared of the past, I'm scared about the future. What - what if someone hurts you because you're with me?" Louis asked, knowing that Harry getting hurt was a touchy subject but asking anyways.

Harry paused, pondering on the thought. Louis was speaking about his very own fear, Harry's fear, and this time Harry barely knew what to say. "Let them hurt me. What are they gonna do, make me blind? Let people judge, huh? Who cares, I want to be with you and that's the only thing I want to matter." Louis frowned, not liking the attempted joke.

"I'm scared too, Lou. I'm so scared, and for the past 3 years I've let that run my life, and I don't want it to anymore. Babe, as long as we're here together, we can protect each other from things like that. I'm not letting some punks ruin this for me - for us - are you?"

"No," Louis whimpered. This was a first for him - confiding in someone with a secret or two. Although he hadn't fully grown to tell Harry every but of the story, Harry hadn't told his story either. But both boys could tell from the feeling in the room that this was new, it was something they rarely did; but it felt good. Trusting someone felt good; and it felt even better that they were trusting each other.

Louis held Harry close, remembering that this boy was all he had right now; but he didn't seem to mind anymore - that he only had one person. As long as it was Harry, maybe Louis would be perfectly fine.

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Updated from my phone