𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐚 𝟐𝟓𝟖 [𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧]

𝟒𝟔. 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬?

"Niall, is there something you haven't told me?" I asked him instinctively.

"Of course" he replied "I didn't tell you what I had for dinner last night, but I didn't think you were interested."

I shook my head in disbelief at that answer so... Niall. "That's not what I mean," I tried again.

He raised a confused eyebrow. "What I ate the day before yesterday?"

I rolled my eyes. Sometimes that boy was really impossible.

"Nothing, never mind" I said, accentuating the answer with a wave of the hand. He just laughed.

I spent the whole afternoon like that, just laughing and joking with my best friend, talking about stupid and ephemeral subjects with a solemnity worthy of the pope.

Neither Liam or Zayn showed up for dinner. My friend and I exchanged a worried look at the former's absence, but hoped that the latter's absence also meant they were together.

We then decided to eat with Louis and Josh. When the blond saw the latter, he ran towards him and the two embraced in a breathless hug. They got several puzzled looks from people in the cafeteria, including Louis who was just behind Josh. I approached him, smiling at him.

"You didn't greet me like that, I feel offended" I told him.

He squinted at them once more. "Yeah, me neither Josh."

"Oh no?" I asked him. Then I walked over and whispered in his ear "You know, I actually prefer it this way." He pushed me away, rolling his eyes, but smiling.

"Idiot" he said to me, but still with a smile on his lips and I chuckled.

At that moment Niall and Josh finally gave us some of their attention.

"Hi, my best friend's boyfriend! How are you?" a cheerful Niall asked Louis. I slapped my forehead because, come on, he couldn't say certain things. I was afraid of Louis's reaction, but the latter limited himself to answering him calmly: "Hello, I'm-not-sure-what-you-are of my best friend. I'm quite well, are you?" My friend threw his head back, bursting out laughing.

"Pretty good, come on. Shall we go get some food?" Before we could give him an answer he was already gone.

That evening, after a shower, I put on clean boxers and then went to bed, where Louis was already waiting for me. Classes would start again the next day and I really wasn't in the mood. Once under the covers I approached Louis, who hugged me.

"It's everything ok?" he asked me "At dinner I saw you thoughtful." I sighed heavily.

"It's for Liam... Today when he arrived at school he had some bruises and scratches. Some of them were really bad and they also looked quite recent. I'm worried" I admitted in a whisper. Louis stroked my hair softly.

"And you know what happened to him?" he asked worried too, even though it seemed to be more for me than for Liam.

"No, he didn't want to tell us. I have suspicions and I'm afraid I'm right. The worst part is that I'm afraid it will push him away from us,"

I confessed. Talking to Louis was getting really easy, even though I was constantly afraid of bothering him with my problems. He probably didn't want to be with someone who kept complaining and because of that I always tried to hold back a bit.

"Don't you miss him? When it was just the four of you with no one else

concern?" he asked me and I was a bit taken aback by the question. Slowly I shook my head.

"No, because I didn't have you" I told him and he stopped looking at me. I could read in his eyes how he still didn't quite like that I cared so much for him. It was as if he kept hoping that at any moment I'd tell him I wasn't in love with him anymore. Maybe I should have warned him that it wasn't expected to happen at the moment or even in the foreseeable future.