nobody shines the way you do » l.s.

part fourteen

Hanging out with Greg again was fun and it almost felt like a date. Louis tried not to think too much about it being a date while he was out, though, and focused more on having fun with him. However, there were a few things that made it seem that way. For example, Greg paid for dinner and at some point they even held hands. And a lot of people spoke to them at the concert as if they were a couple, which Louis didn't completely hate. It almost felt okay.

Maybe he was changing his mind about the whole thing, but he didn't want to jinx it and get ahead of himself so he didn't do anything other than hug Greg goodnight at the end of the night.

By the time he got home, it was past midnight, he was exhausted from his day. Louis fished his keys out of his pocket and unlocked his front door before walking in and closing it behind him. As he was slipping his shoes off, he noticed Harry's boots on the floor and looked around curiously. He didn't remember hearing from Harry that day and wondered if he was okay. When he pulled his phone out of his pocket and walked towards the living room, he saw that he had several missed calls from him.

Shit. He never even noticed.

Once he entered the living room, he saw Harry comfortably lying down on the couch and using his phone. He immediately got up and walked over when saw Louis walk in, looking almost frantic. "Where have you been?" he asked.

"I was out," Louis said warily. "I'm sorry, I didn't check my phone. Is everything alright?"

"Why didn't you answer your phone? Who were you with?" Harry asked, ignoring his question. "Zayn let me in hours ago and I waited all this time. Figured you'd be home right after work."

"Geez, Haz," Louis said, laughing nervously. "What's with the third degree?"

Harry frowned and then sighed heavily. Louis watched him, feeling a little confused and a lot endeared because Harry just looked so cute, standing there with his hair all curly and in his face and his plump, pink lips in a pout. How could a pair of lips look so much like a perfect, little heart? Louis wanted to know. "I just wanted to hang out," Harry said. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Louis said to him. "If I would have known then I'd have come back, but I got busy after work, too."

"Then you should have checked your phone," Harry said, voice coming out a lot more frustrated than Louis expected.

He turned to look at the younger boy and touched his arm softly. "Harry, are you alright? What's wrong?"

Harry shrugged before wrapping his arms around Louis in a bone-crushing hug. He almost fell backward a little but kept his feet steady on the ground. Harry nuzzled his nose against his hair and Louis felt him sigh. "I just missed you. Things--have been feeling weird all day."

"Weird, how?"

Harry slowly pulled away and looked at him with his big, green eyes, which looked slightly dilated. "Peter and I had a fight."

"Jesus Christ," Louis groaned upon hearing that, walking away from him with a frown. Was this what Harry came over for? Shit.

"Louis," Harry called, following him.

"You just got back together, didn't you?" Louis asked him, turning to look at him again. "I thought I'd have a few days of peace before he'd send you crying out his front door to mine to pick up the pieces."

Harry looked pained, but he couldn't say anything because it was the truth. "You don't have to say it like that. If I'm a bother then tell me."

"You're not, Harry! It's just that I'm so tired of him constantly doing this to you. You'd think he'd have learned his lesson by now. After everything that's happened, but obviously not."