Chapter 10

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Harry sits bolt upright in the bed, blush coating his cheeks. He starts stuttering and stammering, trying to get his thoughts in order to provide a suitable lie. He stutters his way through a vague answer, and Louis is about to give him a piece of his mind, when he is interrupted by a sound.

Just then, Louis' phone rang. 

He picked it up. Niall.

"Wot?" Louis asks in exasperation, glaring at Harry, who is about to say something.

"Very pleasant way to greet your best friend, Lewis. Anyway. I'm outside your house. Come let me in." Louis' eyes widened comically, and he looked at Harry. The younger's eyes are equally as wide, yet more questioning, and it seems that he's came to the conclusion that something bad is about to happen.

"Uh- sure, mate. One second." Niall hung up, Louis grabbed Harry, and bodily threw him in the closet. "Make a sound and I'll chop off your dick." When Harry opened his mouth to say something, Louis slammed the door shut. "And I'll fucking shave your head." He threatens, hearing Harry's whimper in reply.

Then, Louis ran downstairs (after hiding the laptop), and opened the front door, finding a grinning Irish man.

"Lewis!!" Niall cheers, entering the house.

"Ni!" The Irish boy hugs him, then races upstairs. 

Louis follows, praying to god that Harry had the sense to stay in the closet. 

Louis fully sees the irony there, yes.

Thankfully, there's no Harry. Niall is sprawled on the bed (thank god Louis had the sense to shove the duvet in with Harry) crisps of some sort in his hand. 

"So, Lewis." Niall says, and Louis sits on the floor. He's sprawled out on the blue rug, legs crossed. "How's life?"

Louis shrugs. "It's- life." He finally replies, after much thought. Niall chuckles, nodding his head. 

"Makes sense." The Irishman says, and Louis realises he's missed Niall.

He's been so busy, what with football, homework, trying (and failing) to get a job, and a Harry to keep content (Louis swears he's almost like a baby sitter for the twat), Niall has became subordinate to everything else. And Louis hates that.

He's about to tell Niall as much, when there's a soft thump behind him. 

He's about to turn around and look, when Niall says something that turns his blood ice cold.

"Why is there an unconscious Harry Styles in your closet, Lou?" Niall asks slowly. "Is that why he's been off school? Cause you kidnapped him?"

"Wait, unconscious?" Louis wheels round, and, sure enough, there's Harry, lying unconscious on his floor, long legs still entangled in the closet. Louis gasps, scrambling to his feet and shakily going over to the boy.

"What the fuck? What is going on?" Niall questions. "Why are you so concerned? You hate him."

Louis turns around, facing Niall, back to the curly haired boy sprawled on his floor. "I do hate him!" Louis tells Niall vehemently, and Niall raises an eyebrow.

"Then why is he in your closet with your duvet wearing your clothes?" Niall asks, unconvinced.

"Because he just forces himself upon me!" Louis lies, saying it with so much anger and annoyance that Niall believes him.

He hears an indignant noise behind him. 

And. 

And.

And.

It's Harry.

Sitting up.

He looks shaky and disorientated, yes, but the pure anger and annoyance and rage sparkling in his big green eyes.

Harry heard what he said.

The boy stands up, "Well I'm sorry for making you feel like you were stuck with me." He says scathingly, pure venom and danger dripping out of his deep, slow voice. He grabs his discarded shoes from the floor, peeling off his hoodie and throwing it at Louis. 

And then he's gone.

Louis hears the front door slam, and runs to the window, watching Harry stalk down the street, seeing his face crumple only briefly before he's out of Louis' view.

Louis can't find it in himself to try and follow the boy, and he realises with a jolt that Harry valued whatever they had more than Louis imagined.

Louis collapses on the bed, Niall now completely  irrelevant (in that moment), and buries his face in the hoodie, still smelling traces of Harry.

He hears Niall shuffle about, and his tentative voice breaks the quiet in the room, the silence yelling a million words. "Lou? What's going on?" Niall asks, voice soft and careful, uncertain and confused.

Louis sits up, and tells Niall everthing, in immense detail, in a dull, flat voice. Niall goes through a range of emotions. Shock, disgust, something that can only be described as 'aww', affectionate, anger, sadness, something which is simply just 'HAHAHAHAHA', confusion, sympathy, and annoyance. 

Louis' emotions don't change once. He feels hollow, empty, depressed. All because Harry's gone. 

"A-and now. And now I've fucked it all up and he's gone-" Louis monotones, getting rather choked up. "AND WHY DO I CARE?" He finishes, broken yell scaring Niall. 

Then Louis breaks down, broken sobs ripping through his chest. He can't breathe, gasping for air desperately. He collapses onto the bed, sobbing brokenly into the hoodie. It smells like Harry, his scent clinging to it, and that just makes Louis cry harder. Niall awkwardly pats his back, trying to comfort Louis, awkwardly cutting himself off when Louis wails.

Lottie walks in, notices his state, and runs out again. Louis can't even bring himself to care, honestly. He just wants Harry back.

Which fucking terrifies him. He didn't realise he relied on Harry so much.

And he didn't pay attention to how much Harry relies- relied- on him.

Louis crys for hours, Niall drifting in and out, Lottie conversing quietly with Niall in the hall, as if Louis can't hear them. As if Louis doesn't know what their talking about.

***

Days pass, Louis' depressive state doesn't pass.

Finally, on Tuesday night, Lottie has had enough. She drags him to the car, a waiting Niall at the wheel.

Louis greets him half-heartedly. Niall starts driving, and Louis wonders where they're going, but- but he doesn't care enough to ask.

They start down a familiar street, to a familiar house.

Harry's house.

Louis jerks up in his seat, noticing Harry's fancy car, a light on in his room.

He ends up at Harry's door. And he knocks.

"Louis?!"

His mouth drops open.

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