Stimming

2

Louis' POV
"I'm in." I answer. If Harry's in, I'm in. There's still something about him I just can't figure out. I'm very curious though.
"Perfect. I suggest you all exchange phone numbers and begin thinking of a name for your band. You need a name before next week." one of the people running the auditions says. "You're free to go back into the main room, you five automatically go through so it doesn't matter if you stay or leave as we won't call you on the list."
We start passing our phones around and we make a group chat. Niall names it "potatoes" which gets a laugh out of me a Zayn.
"My mum said it'd be alright if I invited you all over for dinner tonight so we could talk some more." Harry says quietly, not meeting any of our eyes.
"I'll ask my mum. If she's alright with it I'll come." Niall answers.
"Sure." Liam agrees.
"I'll ask my mum if she needs me at home but if not I'll come." I know mum might need help with the girls, but she'll probably let me go. I am 18 after all.
"I'm in." Zayn says.
We all pull out our phones and get an okay from our parents. Harry texts his mum that everyone is coming.
"I drove here so I can just drive you all over." I offer.
"I drove too so we can drive each other." Zayn says.
"Alright." Harry says.
"Sure." Liam replies.
"Fine by me as long as you actually know how to drive." Niall agrees.
"I do, promise." Zayn places a hand on the Irishman's shoulder.
We all go back into the main room. Harry goes back to where he was sat before in the corner. I follow him.
"Is it alright if I still sit here?" I ask
"Yep." He answers, tapping his fingers on the floor.
"Are you nervous?"
"Not really. Why?"
"You're tapping your fingers."
"Oh." he reaches into his backpack and grabbing something out of it.
"So what do you do for fun?"
"I draw." He states, although I'm not sure why. I have a guess that would explain a few things about him, but it's certainly rude to ask him if it's right.
"Other than drawing I mean."
"I read quite a bit."
"What's your favorite book you've ever read?"
"I'm not sure."
"Do you read a lot?"
"You could say that."
"I read to my sisters all the time. Of course it's mostly simpler books and fantasy but it's still fun to hang out with them."
"Must be nice. I haven't seen Gemma since Christmas."
"Why not?" Why wouldn't someone see their sister for so long?
"She's at college. In Australia. And she has a load of summer programs so she can't come home."
"Why'd she go so far away to college?"
"She got a full scholarship to her dream college."
"Which one?"
"University of Melbourne."
"Must be hard not seeing her for so long. Are you close?"
"Kind of. She's very protective of me. Not nearly as close as you are with your sisters. She's beaten a few people up for me and vice versa."
"Why would either of you need people beaten up?"
"She had a really bad ex-boyfriend and I get bullied some."
"Why would anyone bully you?" I ask without even thinking.
"They have a lot of reasons." He says, standing up. "We should get going soon."
"What kind of reasons?" I ask, standing up to follow.
"All sorts. Clothes I wear. Things I say. The fact I have no friends. The fact I have... never mind."
"Keep going." I urge.
"Problems. I don't know you well enough to tell you."
"I don't judge people just to judge them."
"I don't know if you really mean that."
"I do. Promise."
"How am I supposed to trust you when I've known you for three hours?" Everything clicks in my head.
"Autism?" I can't fully read Harry's face because we're walking and he's looking down but from what I can tell he's trying to figure out how I know or how I somehow made it there.
"How did you know that?"
"My mum is a psychiatrist. She's the kind of person that diagnoses people with things like that."
"Oh."
"Like I said, I'm not one to judge."
"Can you promise not to tell anyone?"
"I can't promise I won't tell my mother but I can promise it'll stop there."
"Thank you."
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I'm just gonna leave this here.
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Update (Jan 13 2024) I'm going through and fixing some of these so you're welcome
Update 2 (June 4 2024) haha I have no YouTube channel anymore and I'm updating this again