The Admiration Project

Chapter 6

The Arctic Monkeys playlist had ended on Liam's phone, and he must have switched it to his sad playlist because multiple songs in a row began with the same slow, resonant piano keys. Every time Louis attended a concert, his emotions were especially fragile afterward.

The streetlights were bright and the moon was full, which illuminated the inside of the car in faded blue light. He looked over at Harry, who was watching through the front windshield as Liam navigated down the highway. His eyes were reflecting their surroundings, shiny and emerald. His lips were set in a content line and his cheekbones stood high on his side profile. He looked young.

Feeling Louis staring, he turned his head. Louis could feel that his own lips were parted, so he shut his mouth. The corners of Harry's lips quirked up innocently, and Louis mirrored his expression. They watched each other watching each other for another few moments before Louis turned to look back out the window. He felt Harry's knee press against his, and he left them to rest there.

When they got back to Louisville, Liam dropped the boys off one at a time. He reached Louis' house first, so Louis thanked him and said his goodbyes to the boys.

He looked at Harry one last time and gave him a private smile before hopping out of the car.

***

The rest of the winter breezed by in a flurry of pet names and more Burger Girl hangouts. More often than not, it had been the whole group of them at Burger Girl every Friday night as opposed to just Louis and Liam.

Niall and Harry had somehow wedged themselves into the group after the concert, and Louis was surprisingly alright with it. They seemed to fit in just fine.

In fact, Liam had been the one getting on Louis' nerves as of late rather than Harry.

Liam had had a stick up his ass for the past month for more reasons than one. First off, his parents were fighting again.

His parents went through a stage the year prior where they fought everyday, bringing Liam into it as often as possible. Louis disliked them for that, but Liam had always told him not to worry. This time, though, Louis was worrying. He was annoyed with Liam's almost constant attitude and grumpiness, but he was worried.

"Li," he said over the phone one night. "How are you really? Because you say you're fine over and over again but I know you're not. Talk to me, man."

Liam had groaned for a solid seven seconds straight before letting his walls down. Walls that Louis hadn't even noticed him building.

He admitted to being upset. He was angry at his parents for pulling him into their issues and making him feel guilty. Louis had never agreed with him more.

After that, Louis had made Liam promise to talk to him whenever he was feeling down. Liam's smile was a tad bit more genuine the day after.

What made Louis grumpy, though, was the fact that Harry was more of a delight than a burden. Well... scratch that. Louis was not grumpy. That was the problem. He was glowing.

Harry laughed at all of Louis' jokes. Jokes that Zayn and Liam would normally roll their eyes at or ignore entirely. Harry also blushed when Louis called him 'babycakes,' so he made sure to do that as often as possible.

Now, they were sitting around their stationary booth in the corner of Burger Girl, Niall loudly telling a story about his father fixing a car, Zayn sketching in his notebook, and Harry folding his napkin into an origami boat.

Liam was to the right of Louis, the only one paying full attention to Niall's tale, and Louis... well. Louis was watching Harry fold his napkin into an origami boat.