- 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 !

14. 𝘔𝘈𝘛𝘊𝘏.

"Uh," Henry gulped lightly with a small nervous laugh before letting out a sigh of relief. "Me and Nick are just friends. Best mates." He shrugged his shoulders at Charlie placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Okay?"

"Disappointing, but... okay." Darcy said, giving up while Henry heard someone call Nick's name. His eyes fell to his side where he spotted Nick Nelson leaning against the wooden fence, watching them. He crossed his arms as he watched Nick look toward Harry who called his name.

"Henry!" Louis shouted from the pitch, waving him over. "Come on!"

"Right, I will see you lot later." Henry chuckled before patting Charlie's shoulder and jogging onto the pitch with a smile. In the corner of his eye, he noticed Nick watching him from next to Harry. "Louis!" the boy rushed forward, practically tackling his best friend to the ground.

"Henry!" Louis yelled when he was caught into a head lock. "Not again!" He muttered trying to escape the boy's grip as he messed up his hair. After being shoved, Henry let go revealing the now messy-haired Louis — who looked very unimpressed with his new hair style.

"You know what? I should be a hair stylist." He pointed at him with a smirk.

"No, you'd get sued on your first day." Louis spoke as he fixed his hair. "How would you like it if I did that to you?"

"Well, I wouldn't know but you can't catch me." Henry smirked as he crossed his arms. Spotting the mischievous look in Louis' eyes, Henry pointed at him with a warning. "Don't you even think about it. Every time you try, you lose."

"Wanna bet?" Louis suddenly launched at Henry who broke off into a sprint with a laugh. The two boys chased each other, passing by Harry and Nick, passing by their group of friends before Henry jumped out of the way of Louis' tackle. The boy groaned as he met face to face with the grass. "Ow."

Henry could help the loud laugh that escaped his mouth as he bent over, clutching his stomach. "You should see your face because you look—" suddenly he felt someone collide with his stomach causing him to fall on his back with a groan. "Ridiculous." Louis stood there with a cheer.

"Where's my £5?" Louis cheered as he celebrated. "I finally got you!" Henry glared at him before swiping his feet under Louis' causing the boy to fall sideways. "Fuck you."

The Rugby match started not long after. It continued in the rain, in the thunder and ended with a whole bunch of boys covered in dirt and one blood gushing nose. They lost by a land slide. The other team were a specialist school who were built like fully grown men. Henry sat in the infirmary, a tissue to his nose with a pile of used bloody tissues next to him. A knock on the door echoed as Nick entered the room. "Hey."

"Sup." Henry smiled through the pain.

"Is your nose okay?" Nick asked as he closed the door behind him.

"Pfft. Fine. Just a little scratch." Henry shrugged as he held the tissue up to his nose. He glanced to the tissues beside him. "Ignore those."

Nick shook his head, looking at the boy with slight worry. "Let me see." The boy walked over, sitting next to the other who continued to hold the tissue up to his nose. Carefully, he moved the boys hand to reveal the now less bleeding nose. "It looks... fine."

"Cool." Henry smiled.

"You've got some mud on your face though." Nick told him, looking at him.

"Really?" Henry asked sarcastically. Nick couldn't help but chuckle lightly before picking up a new tissue from the side of the bed. Gently, the boy reached up wiping the dirt off of his left cheek. Butterflies started filling up Henry's gut as he forced himself to look away from him. "Sorry."