the spaces between us ➳ larry stylinson

chapter four

published on March 28, 2021

before you read:

-this chapter touches upon Anne and Des' divorce, and how Des can be verbally abusive-

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"H-Harry what time did you s-say that you had to leave a-again?" Louis asked, and Harry thought he could see Louis' cheeks turning red. After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, Harry came to the conclusion that the library had bad lighting or he was going blind. It had to be one or the other.

"Oh umm I think..." Harry looked down at his phone awkwardly. Jesus, it was already 5:30 - school ended at 2:10. "...Erm I should a-actually get going now." Right as he said that he immediately regretted it.

Louis frowned and said "O-oh umm I need to get home too. S-see you Harry!"

"S-see you Louis!" Harry quietly packed up his thing while watching Louis sling his bag over his shoulder, then head out the door. When he reached the door, he turned around and gave Harry the cutest little wave and smile that he had ever seen. The boy looked like an angel and Harry was in awe. Harry finished packing up his things then headed out to his car. He could have sworn that he brought a sweatshirt with him, but it was nowhere to be found. After coming back to his car for the second time from going around the school to look for it, he gave up and decided that it wasn't that important.

Well... that could have gone smoother, but it wasn't that bad after all.  I mean, Harry didn't wake up knowing that he was going to be spending the whole afternoon with Louis Tomlinson, and that LOUIS of all people was his tutor! Woah... he had just spent the whole afternoon with Louis Tomlinson and he somehow managed to do it without Liam by his side. 

Harry was proud of himself.

"How was school honey?" Anne asked as Harry walked through the front door.

"It was good, and this year maybe I won't fail math!" Harry answered.

"Well that is some exciting news dear. May I ask why?"

"Well, you know how I had my first tutoring lesson today?" Harry asked.

"Yes, how did it go?" Anne replied

"Well it went pretty good, and my tutor is really great!" 'I also am in love with him' is what Harry wanted to say, but he knew Gemma would make fun of him if she heard, so he stopped himself.

"I am so glad to hear! Dinner is ready so come eat with me and Gem!" Anne said happily.

He put his bag in his room then headed downstairs for dinner with Anne and Gemma. Tonight his mum made stew with mashed potatoes. Harry loved his mum's cooking, but he wasn't the biggest fan of stew. He forced himself to eat the stew and, well, it wasn't that bad.

After dinner Harry plopped himself down on his bed. Almost exactly at the same time his phone started buzzing. It was Liam.

"Liam, you will never guess what just happened..." and Harry proceeded to tell Liam about his afternoon with Louis.

•••••

The cool breeze felt so good over Harry's sweaty face as he jogged through different neighborhoods. Pink Floyd blasted through his headphones and he focused his eyes on the road ahead of him. Just picking up one foot and putting the other down. Picking up his pace a little bit, he turned down a different street.

His father always told him that he was slow and needed to get faster if he wanted to be good at football. Of course he wanted to get better, but his father just put so much pressure on him. If he missed a shot or two in a game, the whole way home he would tell him how awful he was. Harry would just sit there and listen as his own father would tell him he would never amount to anything, but as soon as they got home Harry would lock himself in his room and cry for hours. Anne would always tell Des to stop but he would never listen and would then start to yell at her too.

Harry felt like his whole family was falling apart and he couldn't help but think that it was his fault. He tried and tried to get better but it was just never enough for his dad. He would go days without sleep, watching videos of himself trying to see where he could improve. Crying himself to sleep the nights he could hear his parents fighting when Liam wasn't around. It got to a point where he would be staying at Liams all week, only going home when when absolutely necessary.

Des would go to every game, and when Harry would meet he eyes from the crowd he would start to shake a little. He knew that he could never live up to his dad's standards, but if he came close then maybe he would accept him and even show in the slightest that he loved him. When he missed a shot he could feel his dad's eyes on him and could basically hear him yelling and screaming at him on the way home. It was very hard for Harry to keep his grades good when his father was always on top of him about sports.

Was it bad that he kinda missed his dad sometimes? When he wasn't screaming at him, he could be a good dad. When he was little he would play with Harry all the time. You could also tell that he loved Anne and Anne loved him back. But I guess that sometimes people do fall out of love, even when you think that you are perfect for each other.

Harry had gone on runs often, but he had never gone down this street before. Why had he never been down here before...? It was very close to his house and the neighborhood had cute little houses in it. The further and further he went down the street, the more and more he began to love it. Harry looked down at his watch and noticed that he had been running for about an hour, and decided that he should start to head back soon.

"Lou, are Z and Ni sleeping over tonight?  Because if so we should all watch a movie." Harry could faintly hear the voice coming from somewhere in front of him. 

Lou. Lou. LOU. 

Wait a minute did Louis Tomlinson live on this unknown street? Harry looked up and saw Louis, Niall, Zayn, and the four girls from Louis wallpaper on his phone walking down the street a couple yards in front of him. 

Louis could not see Harry right now, not like this. Harry was wearing a hoodie and some black running shorts. His curls were pulled back by a white headband and he was all sweaty. Harry started to slow down and wanted to hide. He saw a car parked on the side of a street and ducked behind it.

"Yeah I would love that!" Zayn said

"For sure!" Niall exclaimed

They started to walk up a driveway across the street from where Harry was hiding. That must be Louis house. I was small but everything about Louis was small and Harry loved that. The house looked perfect (just like Louis) and so welcoming. All Harry wanted to do was see what it looked like inside. One day Harry hoped, maybe one day...

The girls went inside, but Zayn, Niall, and Louis stayed on the front porch for a bit longer, chatting. What were they talking about? Louis looked so perfect in his oversized lavender sweatshirt with black jeans - once again, Harry could pick him up and put him in his pocket... he was just so perfect and beautiful. He could hear them laughing. Well, anyone could hear Niall's laugh even if you were a country away. Then Zayn said something that would have caused Harry to probably faint if he wasn't already sitting on the ground.

"Well Louis, we really need to find you a boyfriend."

BOYFRIEND!? Did Harry actually just hear what he thought he heard? Louis likes boys. Louis likes boys. Louis likes boys! It was almost like they knew that Harry was questioning if he heard it right, because just then Louis said, "well no boy will ever like me." What was he talking about? Louis was the definition of perfect. Harry could list off everything that he loved about the blue eyed boy. You would be there for a while though.

"Lad we know that you got your eyes on someone," Niall joked then bursted out laughing.

"Oh shut up!" Louis said then the three boys walked into the house.

Once it was safe, Harry got up and ran home. He should really go on runs more often, because this might be one of the best things that has happened in a while. He got home and showered but could not stop thinking about what Niall said. 

Of course Louis likes somebody... but who? Harry had to know. And that boy probably liked him back, because who wouldn't? Harry had to get closer to Louis. And he had to do fast before Louis starts to date his crush.

Harry could not get this boy off of his mind.

Louis Louis Louis...

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