Larry Stylinson One Shots II

Pretend Like You Care

"He hasn't even said anything about it today," I grumble, then take a bite of a baby carrot.

"That's stupid," Zayn says with a mouth full of sandwich.

"I know right? Like, I love him and stuff, but the least he could do is say something about it. What if he forgot?"

"I don't think he forgot. If it's important to you, it's important to him. Speaking of..." Zayn trails, then looks to his left. I look to my right and see Louis walking towards us, talking to one of his friends. They part ways, and Louis sits next to me and pats my thigh underneath the table.

"Hi mate," Louis says to Zayn, then drops his backpack to the ground behind his chair.

Zayn has been friends with Louis the same amount of time that he has been friends with me, so essentially third-wheeling at the lunch table doesn't bother him. He actually likes to brag that he set us up, which is partially true.

"Hi," Zayn replies, then looks at me and raises his eyebrows. I give him a look that says "I know", then sink into the cacophonous chatter of the cafeteria and let Louis and Zayn talk.

"Got any weekend plans, bub?" Louis asks me, since our teacher interrupted our conversation earlier.

"Don't know," I simply shrug. My stomach flips and I start to feel upset, because this is the most important day to me, and the one person I care about the most doesn't even know. Maybe he really did forget.

"We should hang out, then," Louis softly says, then moves his chair a couple inches closer to me; he must have picked up on the fact that I'm a little upset.

"Oh, actually, my mum wanted to go see a movie," I lie. Well, it technically isn't a lie, because my mum does want to see a movie that just came out.

"I don't think she would mind if I asked to come along," Louis says.

"I think she just wanted it to be a family thing...sorry," I softly apologize, verbally squirming out of the subject. After that, I put way too much focus on eating my lunch, and I try not to act like I'm listening to Louis and Zayn's conversation.

-

As the final bell of the week rings, I throw my backpack over my shoulder and speed walk to the front doors, along with many other students. After hours of working myself up and convincing myself that Louis doesn't care about me, I am teetering on the edge of an emotional relapse. All I want to do is be alone at home and by myself.

"Harry!" Zayn calls from behind just as I am about to get into my mum's car.

"What?" I stop and say, my fingers wrapped around the cool handle of the car door.

"Aren't you gonna wait for Louis?" He wonders, since Louis and I usually go to each other's houses on Fridays. At the sound of Louis' name, I feel angry and almost disgusted, like I want to distance myself from him.

"No," I scoff, then open the door, throw my backpack in the backseat, and escape the chilly Autumn weather by climbing into the warm car. "Is that it?" I wonder. Zayn looks at me for a couple seconds, then sighs.

"Yeah, I guess so. Well, I hope you have a good rest of your day," Zayn softly sighs before walking away.

"No Louis today?" My mum wonders.

"No," I simply reply, trying to keep my voice calm so I don't have to go through the questions of "are you okay?" or "what's wrong?"

When we get home, I go straight to my room and shut the door. I had a few tests today, which means I don't have any homework. So, I change and walk straight to the gym that is only a few blocks away. Once I get back from the gym and shower and eat dinner, it is almost 6:00 p.m.