can't you see? {completed}

thirty four

-last day of school-

**louis' POV**

sitting in my last maths lesson I'll ever have to go to in this school, is oddly sad. this is the class I properly met harry in and this is the class that birthed my beautiful relationship with him. as we all sit back and relax for the last day and last lesson, my hand is held in harry's that is swung over my shoulder.

I had my last exam a week ago and harry's last one was yesterday. we technically don't need to be in school today, but we thought one last day in the school together, ending our secondary education with a maths lesson would be a great way to go.

mr. richards is fully aware that we don't have any exams left, and he knows we definitely don't need to be taught more, so he lets us sit back and do what we want while he works on the younger years summer homework. it may be our last lesson, but there are still two more lessons left in the school day that we just don't attend.

zayn has joined us and we're all talking about our summer plans before we're shipped off to university. I know deep down I want to take a gap year with harry, and he does too, but we're still looking into universities for next year.

"so what you thinking zayn?" I ask, holding harry's hand in mine while zayn scribbles some drawings on a piece of scrap paper. he looks up at us with a large smile. "well I'm waiting on a scholarship letter into the Royal College of Art in London, it should be at home right now. I don't know if I've got in or not, but I'm really hoping I have. if not I've got a few other uni's to fall back on" he nods at us, scrunching up the paper and throwing it in the bin at the front of the class.

"what about gigi?" harry asks and zayn's face goes bright red. "uh she has tried with a few uni's in south england, so hoping we both get in to one we won't be too far apart. we're willing to do long distance. I really love her" he fiddles with his fingers and I can't help but swoon at how whipped he is. I've never seen zayn happier than when he's with gigi and it truly warms my heart.

"so? what are you two doing?" he pushes, shifting in his seat excitedly and looking at us. I glance up at harry and place a kiss on his neck, letting him tell zayn our idea. "we both want to take a gap year, just to relax and spend time together before throwing ourselves into uni" harry stops, nudging me to carry on because he knows I'm excited about this. "we're going to drive through europe, working in random places and just live off whatever we can for a while" I let a huge smile plaster onto my face as I let go of harry's hand and lean forward to zayn, quietly explaining everything while harry's hand moves up and down my back.

"our plan is to drive to dover, get the ferry to calais and then just drive through as many countries as we can, sometimes staying in the car, or in shitty hostels. we're gonna help people and work odd jobs and just explore" I chuckle, zayn looking just as excited as me. "you better take loads of pictures and call me lou" he laughs and I shove his arm. "obviously" I tell him as I slump back onto harry.

we spend the next half an hour talking about uni and gap years and school and just everything we haven't had a second of experience with yet. it feels freeing to know that we have some control over what we want to do. I know my mum is alright with this, because heck, she's the one who suggested it. she got married recently, daniel finally moving into our house so she has someone else to help with the girls. he's a great guy and all the girls took to him well, still knowing that their real dad, mark, loves them. I drive the girls to mark's whenever they want and he's allowed over whenever he likes as long as we get a call in advance, so everything is perfect.

anne and robin said they're going to love some time to themselves and they're going to enjoy the empty house, but we all know they'll miss harry. gemma pops down all the time and we will call at every chance we get. my mum and anne have become quite the best friends recently, so anne is like an aunt to the girls, offering to take care of them if my mum ever needs.

everything is really perfect.

when the bell goes, we get up from our seats, not having any bags or belongings with us because we purely came in just to say goodbye to the school and teachers. I say a last goodbye to mr. richards, honestly going to miss the man because he is a good teacher. we flood out the room walking down to where the corridor opens out a little and stopping there. "so you guys going?" zayn asks and we nod our heads, hands still held between us.

once james was expelled, we never got another homophobic comment thrown at us, not at school anyway. mrs. joseph has been an absolute godsend with us, checking we're alright and making sure the whole school knows homophobia and any sorts of bullying is not tolerated.

harry and I have stepped in to stop a few others who chose to use slurs and disgusting words against someone in our community. effectively becoming the ones people come to if they hear it. it's rewarding to help other people who could have gone through such a battle as I have and I hope I've stopped people from feeling the ways I have over the years.

"yep going home to pack up a few more things then spend the next three days with our families before heading off" harry says, pulling me impossibly closer to him. "you?" I ask and zayn nods his head. "getting the letter that can either change my life or ruin it I suppose" he says with a dry chuckle and I sympathise with him knowing that that's what harry and I will be feeling next year.

I lean up to harry's ear, lowering my voice for a moment. "hey, can I have a minute with zayn?" I gently ask, kissing his ear as he pulls away. he nods his head and kisses mine, leaning in to give zayn a hug and whispering something that I barely catch before walking away.

I embrace zayn in a hug, bringing him down to my level so I can nuzzle my face in the crook of his neck. "I love you zayn, thank you" I whisper, holding him tighter because I won't be seeing him in person for a while. "I love you too lou" he says and I let tears pool at my eyes. we pull apart and I look at him, letting out a wet laugh as I see tears over his face. "please don't cry, if you cry I'm gonna cry" I chuckle and he just pulls me in for another hug. "I'll miss you lou, but I know you'll have fun with haz" he says and I nod my head against his skin. "I'll miss you so much" I let out one sob, not wanting to cause too much attention.

"I'm proud of you" he pulls away, looking into my eyes and patting my back. "you got yourself a boyfriend who loves you and I already know you're going to pass everything" he says, smiling really bright at me. "thank you, for protecting me and looking after me all this time. and I'm so, so proud of you, you're going to a fancy ass university for something you're so talented in, and you got easily the most beautiful girl in school to fall for you" I say, letting the tears leak through. "don't know how" I mutter under my breath and zayn slaps my arm. "oi" he says and I chuckle. "I'm just kidding" I add on, giving him a smile.

zayn looks behind me and I turn to see harry hugging niall and liam before pulling back and winking at me. "he really loves you" zayn whispers, making my head whip around to him. "he thanked me" he continues and I quirk my head. "he thanked me for looking after you and caring for you. he is so in love with you lou, don't fuck it up" he chuckles and I join in. I look back at harry laughing so hard his head is thrown back and his hands are over his mouth.

"I don't plan to"

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A/N
oop- catch me proper sobbing as I write this. I can't believe it's almost the end. I've been writing this for just over a month, wanting to make sure no updates are missed or no one has to wait too long. hell I'm writing this and only chapter nine is going out today. I love you all so much and thank you to those who read these as soon as updates go out, and to those who comment like there's no tomorrow. I love you all and I hope you're all well <3
- S