SOLITUDE

Chapter Three

As soon as Harry stumbled out of the bathroom, Louis sprung up from his original seat on the sofa.

"Hey, Harry! Have a sit, what do you want to drink? Tea? Coffee?" He rushed towards the younger boy, leading him towards where the Josh guy was seated, and Harry plopped himself down between two cushions, eyeing the dark-haired stranger carefully, before nodding a little towards Niall, and finally setting his green eyes on Louis' face.

Louis let his eyes over the freshly showered boy. His hair was clean and a beautiful brown colour, the damp curls framing his head. His skin was milky white, the shirt he had given him hanging loosely over his shoulders. The sweatpants hung low on his hips, and he looked warm.

"I'll just have some tea, thank you," He mumbled, and both he and Louis blushed, making the Irish boy snort a little, spraying tea all over his polo shirt and cursing loudly - which, continuously made Josh giggle, and before they knew it, all four boys were laughing at Niall's wet top.

So the boys sat, Harry carefully tucked up with a blanket in the corner of the sofa, Louis next to him, his hand absentmindly stroking Harry's knee, Niall on the floor, his head between Louis' knees and his legs spread across Josh's lap, mugs of hot tea in their hands and two boxes of pizza on the coffee table. An hour passed, two, three, then four, and Niall got up from his comfortable position, stretching his limbs.

"Right - um, I suppose I better get going. Josh-"

Josh-guy nodded, yawning loudly and following Niall out of the living room, the two boys shouting goodbyes at their two friends, lazily spread over the sofa.

"See ya tomorrow, Lou," Niall called out, before pulling on his coat, and muffled giggles were heard from the hallway, and then the door slamming shut.

Louis shuffled a little, turning his head to look at Harry, who was already looking back at him, his eyes wide, his curls still a little damp from the shower, his cheeks flushed pink. Must be the temperature, Louis thinks, because it is quite warm, after all. That's what Louis thinks anyway, until Harry's eyes move down to his hands where they rested on his lap.

"Hey, Harry?"

"Mmm?" Harry hummed a little, and when Louis didn''t say anything, he looked up. "I better get going, I suppose. The other two left, and all-"

"You what?" Louis huffed out a little laugh, shaking his head. Then he chuckled nervously. "No way you are going anywhere. Look how cold it is out; and it's the middle of the night - anyway, let me have a look at those ribs. They must be pretty hurt-"

"What? No!" Harry's eyes widen. "Please don't. I'll be okay - I have to go, Louis, and I'm used to the cold - really, don't worry," He said, starting to unwrap the blanket from himself, but failing miserably as Louis pushed him back down onto the sofa and his head landed on the soft cushion with a thud.

"Sorry, I- Sorry," Louis stuttered, before catching his breath. "You're not leaving Harry. No chance."

Harry nodded - because he was scared. Louis cared, didn't he? He seriously, genuinely cared, and Harry had no idea why. He was a stranger. Just a stranger. What would Louis do to him if he didn't obey? Harry scrunched his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head a little. He would hurt him. That's what everyone does.

"Harry, I'm sorry; really, mate, I'm sorry for snapping at you. I just don't want you to leave."

"I've only been here for four hours," Harry breathed in and then sobs out, "Why do you care for me? No one ever cared."

"I care, I do," Louis said, desperation clear in his voice. He scooted over closer to Harry, their thighs pressed now together and a frown plastered on Harry's face. "You're something, Harry Styles."