the spaces between us ➳ larry stylinson

chapter thirteen

published on march 30, 2021

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Harry jumped at the sudden sound of Niall's loud voice. 

Harry had nothing against him, but damn was Niall loud. 

And he had just interrupted one of the most intimate moments Harry had ever had the pleasure of experiencing with Louis. Harry silently cursed Niall and scooted away from Louis so the boys wouldn't be suspicious as to why they were so close. 

Harry ran his hands through his curls, and shot a glance at Louis. Harry's heart immediately melted when he saw him. Louis' cheeks were tinted a bright pink color, and he was fiddling with the strings on his hoodie. Every once in a while he would look at his hands and then look up at Harry, then look right back down at his hands, smiling wide, cheeks even more pink.

After a few moments of possibly the most awkward silence Harry had ever gone through, Niall cleared his throat. "Do you lads just not want pizza? I mean more for me and Zayn I guess..." He was now smirking at Louis and Harry, eyes flicking between the two of them. Jesus, could this get any more awkward?

Harry fluffed his curls one last time. "I'll have a slice Niall. Sorry, I know you were hoping that you could eat the whole thing by yourself."

Niall laughed at Harry. "Ah, don't worry Harry," he said in his thick Irish accent. "I already ordered myself a whole pizza for later...ALRIGHT GOING ONCE GOING TWICE WHO WANTS PIZZA?"

The boys laughed at Niall and his love for anything edible, and Louis and Harry got up from the couch and entered the dining room. Harry made sure to not sit next to Louis, but in a chair that he could successfully stare at Louis the whole time without being seen. Niall was sitting at the head of the table, and Louis was sitting next to him, on the left of the table. So, Harry thought he would sit diagonally across from Louis, so he could achieve the perfect view for staring without being judged. As he was making his way to his chair though, Niall abruptly stood from his chair and scanned the room until he found his backpack slumped against a chair. He sprinted over to grab it, and then threw it on top of the exact chair Harry was just about to place his bum on.

Zayn stifled a laugh as Niall looked up at Harry, acting all innocent. "What? Had to put my backpack somewhere." He ran back to his seat and plopped down, smiling at Harry. "Go ahead Harry, take a seat."

Harry looked at the table. Great. Louis and Niall were still in their same spots, but Zayn was sitting directly across from Louis, and the backpack was occupying the seat next to him, so Harry literally had no choice but to sit next to Louis. 

Damn Niall and his stupid backpack.

Harry nervously laughed, tousled his hair, pushed out the chair next to Louis, and sat down. Niall was smiling like a fool, but hiding it behind an open pizza box lid. Zayn was trying, and failing, not to laugh by turning his laughs into coughs. And sweet little Louis, Harry noticed, was blushing so hard and fiddling with his sweatshirt strings again. He had covered his hands with his oversized sweatshirt and it made it look like he had little baby paws. Harry literally had to look away to keep himself from 'awwwww'-ing out loud.

Finally, Zayn broke the tension and opened a pizza box, offering cheese pizza slices to anyone that wanted one. After that, everything was much less awkward and Harry felt more comfortable.

"Guys," Harry said, grinning.

"What?" They all asked, looking at Harry. Although Louis was still looking down at his lap, cheeks seeming to be stained pink at this point.

"Why did the baboon ask the giraffe 'why the long face?'" Harry asked, trying not to laugh.

"Huh?"

"Wot?"

"Why?" Louis said softly, finally looking at Harry.

"Because," Harry snorted. "Because he thought his neck was his face." He burst out laughing.

The other boys looked quizzically at Harry and then joined Harry in laughing hysterically. Harry looked over at Louis and was filled with happiness when he saw Louis was laughing along with them.

"God Harry, that's gotta be one of the worst jokes I've ever heard, hate to break it t'ya mate," Zayn said, still giggling.

"Hey gimme a break, I was like, uh, seven when I came up with it," Harry defended himself, but still laughing at the stupidness of the joke.

"I liked it," Louis said softly, so that no one but the person sitting directly beside him could hear...

•••••

It was moments like these that Harry wished Liam was there with him. But obviously that was impossible, since they were still fighting, and Harry wasn't ready to forgive Liam for tolerating Nick's behavior to poor Louis.

The four boys were sprawled out on Niall's couch, watching a random Irish movie that Niall insisted they saw. They were laughing and chatting and just having a great time. Liam would be proud of Harry for not being a complete idiot in front of Louis. Harry missed Liam. Even though he could be a pain in the arse, he was still a great friend to Harry. He would always calm Harry down when he was panicking about Louis. He would make Harry more confident when he had his tutor sessions with Louis. He would give Harry advice when he needed to go talk to Louis. 

Okay, Harry could see a pattern here. He just might have understood why Liam was mad in the first place. Did he really talk about Louis all that much..?

Pushing those thoughts aside, Harry forced himself to live in the moment, because surely another event like this wouldn't happen again. 

Zayn and Niall were chatting up a storm on the other side of the couch, because somehow Harry had gotten stuck sitting next to Louis again (he blamed it on Niall). No one had noticed that Louis was starting to get sleepy during the movie except Harry, and he didn't know what to do. Should he wake Louis up? Cover him in a blanket? Get Zayn or Niall? He just tried to ignore the fact that Louis had fallen asleep, in hopes that he would just wake himself up. But the thing was, Louis had fell asleep with his head using Harry's leg as a pillow. It was quite possibly the most adorable thing Harry had ever witnessed. Watching Louis sleep was like watching an angel sleep. His eyes slightly fluttered and his lips were parted, making them look even tinier than they were. His chest was rising and falling, and he was breathing in and out softly.

If only Harry could take a picture and frame it. 

Wait, no. He thinks about framing/taking pictures of Louis too much.  Well, he thinks about Louis in general too much.

Harry didn't know what to do. He didn't want Niall and Zayn to see, so what was he supposed to do, cover Louis' face with a blanket? Then he'd surely suffocate. Should he wake Louis up? No, definitely not. He didn't want to disturb Louis' natural beauty and if he awoke only to find out that he was sleeping on Harry's leg - well Harry would surely die of embarrassment. Harry couldn't help but just stare at this beautiful boy. His hair was all messy and tousled, and all Harry wanted to do was run his hands through it. He shook his head. Why was he such a creep?

Harry noticed that he himself was starting to get a little drowsy, and tried to stifle a yawn. Niall's house was so warm, and the comforting weight of Louis beside him was all that Harry needed to start to nod off to sleep.

What if Zayn and Niall saw him and Louis? What would they think? Harry could vaguely hear their conversation in the background. He tried to fight off sleep, but it was no use. He was so tired and warm and everything else was fading around him, except for the sounds of Louis' quiet snores.

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