𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐚 𝟐𝟓𝟖 [𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧]

𝟏𝟏. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭

"Hey curly, why so silent? Are you upset because I didn't hug you? What kind of man are you, it's known that boys don't hug!" 'Pfft though you said Josh hugs you.' But I couldn't tell him this, he would understand that I was somehow jealous and then I wasn't mad at him. I was the one who shouldn't have asked him such a stupid thing. So I tried to answer his question with a laugh.

"AHAHAHAH I just wanted to do you a favour, my dear! There are people who pay for my hugs!"

"Oh yes? And how much?"

"£20 a hug."

"Wow, a classy whore!"

"Of course, what did you expect?" I couldn't believe the turn the conversation had taken.

"And besides hugs, do you do anything else?"

"I can do whatever you want," I said ironically, mischievous.

"Mmm... how much does the full service cost?"

"Uh it gets expensive there, Lou..." I tried to continue the comedy we had been enacting, but it really made me nervous. Maybe because deep down I was hoping he was talking seriously. And, frankly speaking, I would have done the service for him for free, whenever he wanted.

"Come on, a little discount for your friends, don't you?"

"You said we weren't friends," I said, seriously this time. He probably noticed the change in my tone because he got serious himself.

"Yes it's true, you're right." The atmosphere froze and for the short part of the journey that remained we were silent, each lost in his own thoughts.

Mine personally were pretty sad. I was hoping he'd changed his mind. I wanted something more when we weren't even friends.

The tension eased when I got out of the car and Lou said to me:

"But you could have given me the discount anyway."

We both burst out laughing and carried on for a while. By the end we were almost rolling on the floor laughing for no real reason.

"Oh come here Hazza!" Louis came up to me and hugged me; a hug that didn't have to wait long to be reciprocated. Finally in his arms I felt safe, complete.

"Oh look at them, are the two little friends back from their romantic getaway?" That voice brutally wrenched me away from the world in which I had taken refuge with Louis. That voice that used to be so friendly to me now scared me and I didn't want to turn around. Unfortunately, however, the boy next to me didn't think like me; he immediately released the embrace, still keeping me close to him and turned towards our interlocutor.

"What do you want, Malik?"

"You know what I want, I want you to stay away from Harry." I was motionless next to the brunette and I couldn't utter a word.

"I think Harry is old enough to decide who to hang out with."

"Yes, but his FRIENDS have the duty to keep him away from bad company."

"That is me?"

"Exactly Tomlinson. You only use him to feel important. Once everyone adored and idolised you, then you lost everything and now Harry's attentions make you believe that you are someone again, that you can win people back. But people don't want you, Tomlinson, nobody wants you. And when you're bored with Harry what are you going to do with him? You're just going to get rid of him."

"I would never hurt him..." His shaking voice was a whisper and I wasn't sure if he was talking to Zayn or himself.

"Oh no? Are you sure you couldn't do it? Think carefully."

I saw the boy beside me trembling, all his vitality from just before was gone and I saw him, I knew he was collapsing and I couldn't bear this.

"Stop it Zayn! I decide who to stay with and you don't have to meddle!" I shouted.

"Harry you don't know him, you don't know anything about him!"

"I know him much better than you!"

"You don't know what you're talking about..."

"I know very well what I'm talking about and now, if you don't mind, Louis and I would like to go to our room!"

I passed him without looking at him and dragging Louis by the wrist, who seemed to have fallen into a kind of trance. I guided him to our room, where I sat him on the bed.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Am I okay? I should ask you instead, Harry!"

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm a little sorry that Zayn is upset, but he'll get over it," I stated with a shrug. In reality, I wasn't at all sure that Zayn would let it go and this worried me a bit, since of the three he was the one with whom I bonded the most.

"So you won't do anything?"

"What should I do?" I didn't understand the question.

"You should listen to him, Harry. I'm dangerous, you should stay away from me. You should only hang out with Liam, Niall and Zayn, they're good people. At least the first two..." He chuckled mirthlessly.

"You're a good person too, Lou."

"Harry...I..."

"Look, I won't abandon you ok?" I said, convinced.

"Harry, you don't have to do me a favour just because you pity me, I've lived all this time without knowing you and I may as well continue to do so!"

"You just don't get it, do you?"

"What?"

"I'm not doing it for you! I'm doing it for me, Lou! I don't want to give up on you because I feel good with you. Yes, it's true, you're stubborn, a little cocky and your mood changes faster than a menstruating woman, but I love you and I won't give up just because Zayn doesn't like you!"

Louis stared at me wide-eyed, certainly not expecting that declaration. As for me, I was afraid of his reaction, but I didn't regret what I said. For once my eyes didn't seek the floor, but stayed fixed on his. It was he who looked away. Then he came up to me and resumed the hug that Zayn had interrupted. But it was no longer a carefree embrace amidst laughter, it was an embrace that both of us needed to keep from falling apart.

"I don't deserve you Harry, I don't deserve you at all."