I Know You, Lou // l.s.

6.

"But..." Harry trailed off as Niall waited for an answer that he didn't have. He rose an eyebrow as Harry let out a sigh of defeat.

"Okay." Niall smiled. "Then-"

"Hey!"

Both Harry's and Niall's heads shot up when they heard the all too familiar voice, cutting Niall off. From across the green, Louis was waving to them.

For a second, Harry was frozen in fear, not knowing what to do or say. But then Louis started laughing when one of his mates said something in his ear, making Harry blush a deep red.

"Get the ball, would ya?" Louis yelled out again, pointing towards their soccer ball that had rolled onto the path in front of them.

Harry didn't budge though. He was terrible at football, and therefore didn't want to go near the ball, afraid he would make a fool of himself if he tried to kick, or even throw it back.

So Niall stepped forward and kicked it, sending it flying through the air before it bounced a few times and stopped right in front of Louis.

His friends stopped laughing, and even looked slightly impressed as they all murmured amongst each other, and Louis began to jog over to the other two.

Niall shoved his hands in his pockets as he waited for the boy to reach them, whereas Harry simply stood there frozen, his breath caught in his throat.

"Didn't know you could play." Louis said with a smile as he came to a halt in front of them.

Niall simply shrugged. "A little, I guess." He said with a smile. "Same goes to you."

"Yeah," Louis chuckled. "Well, I'm here on a scholarship. The team is quite nice."

"Oh nice!" Niall answered as he looked where Louis had pointed back at the guys he had been with. "Hey, um, so we were thinking of going to the water park this weekend, want to come?"

Louis looked at Harry, who smiled a little before he looked away.

"Sure." Louis answered. "Who's going?"

"Well, Harry's going to ask Liam and Zayn too, so that'll make 5 of us." Niall replied.

"Okay." Louis shrugged, before he smiled and took a step back. "I'll see you later then."

"Bye." Niall waved, before Louis turned to Harry, expecting him to also say goodbye or something.

But the curly haired boy gulped and when he opened his mouth to say the farewell, his voice was raspy and almost a whisper.

"S-See ya." He stuttered, his voice very quiet. Louis simply shook his head and laughed humorlessly, before he turned and jogged back to the rest of the boys, leaving Harry an embarrassed mess.

"That went well!" Niall exclaimed as they continued their walk out of the park and towards the buildings. "He's coming! Who knows, maybe you two can catch up too."

"Yeah." Harry answered, staring at the ground. "Maybe."

"This is going to be fun, I know it." Niall cheered. "Have you asked Liam and Zayn?"

"I texted them both." He nodded. "I really hope they can make it..."

As they approached the cluster of buildings, Niall patted Harry's shoulder and smiled.

"Alright, well I'm this way." He pointed to a building before he stepped backwards. "I'll see you later, okay!"

"Bye." Harry waved back before they parted ways and headed to class.

As he walked, his phone buzzed.

Liam said that it was a great idea, and that he could drive them all to the park, but Zayn had said that he was spending the weekend with his girlfriend, Perrie, making four of them all ready to have some fun, Harry hoped.

He wasn't scared of Louis, because he knew how Louis used to be, and that deep down, he was still the sweet kid he had been all those years ago.

He was just terrified of what he might do or say, now that he had this new demeanor on show.

Harry sighed, hoping that Louis wouldn't trigger anything. His old friend didn't know about his anxiety, and he didn't want him to know, it would only make him seem even weirder to the boy.

So he just closed his eyes and hoped that nothing bad would happen between them, because the Louis who had written 'Hary Stiles' on the inside of his book was his best friend and even though all evidence was pointing to the contrary, he wished that the boy he remembered was somewhere inside the man that Louis had become.

.

.

.

hiiiiiii, how are we all?

sorry its been a bit since I updated, i just had a lot going on this past week and a bit :)

thoughts on the chapter? x