Flashlight (You're Getting Me Through The Night)

Chapter 14

"We'll figure it out...together. But right now we need to get to class." Liam said, and Niall nodded.

"And I've gotta go find Louis and make sure he's alright..." Niall noted, and I bit back a sob that was threatening to escape me. If he had trust issues that were this bad, then what had happened in his past to make him like that? How bad was it? "Don't worry, Harry. He'll be just fine." Niall added, seeing the terrified look on my face. I just nodded numbly and let Liam help me to my feet, and we hurried back across the field to school. This was going to be a long fucking day.

________________

All throughout the day, I sat around in class, not really paying attention. I couldn't have payed attention even if I wanted to, because every single person in school had seen the video by now, and there wasn't a single person not making fun of me for it. Everywhere I went I got jeers and kissy faces made at me and there was a lot of mutters, but I wasn't bothered with them today. I just wanted Louis to believe in me and not hate me for something that I had no part in whatsoever. So that's what I spent the day doing...thinking. It hadn't been me for sure, and Liam had assured me that neither he nor Niall'd had anything to do with it. I hadn't suspected them, but his reassurance was appreciated all the same. Niall had not called or texted, so I could only assume that he was either still looking for Louis or he was with him, neither of which helped with my nerves, but I had to figure this out.

I started making a list of people in my head that would even think to do something like this. Outing someone was not something to take lightly, and a lot of planning would have had to have been involved for someone to get into that staircase without either of us hearing it. Most of the people on that list were eliminated by Liam, because he told me right off that all of them had been in the cafeteria at the time, and in the end, there were only a few names left on the list, one of them being Simon. I wasn't one to place blame on anyone until I had proof, but Liam had said that Simon had disappeared shortly after Louis and I had, and that was proof enough for me. Simon had always been someone to bully me, and now that Louis was hanging out with me and Niall and Liam, he wasn't too big a fan of Louis either.

"But how do I prove it, Li? Louis won't believe anything I say unless I have definite proof!" I said in a harsh whisper to Liam as we made our way to our last class of the day.

"I'm not sure, Haz, but we will find a way. Niall will be able to help with that one, I'm sure of it. I'll text him and see what's going on. Maybe he can meet us at the bakery later and we can discuss it." Liam replied, cutting off his words as Simon passed, going in the opposite direction. He caught my eye and gave me his usual smirk, and I ignored him pointedly, following Liam into the classroom. As we sat down and Liam pulled out his phone to text Niall, I pulled mine out as well. I carefully opened my messages and my thumbs hovered over the screen. Should I try to reach out to Louis? Should I let it be until I had proof that it wasn't me that had posted the video? I made a quick decision and typed a long message, hitting send before I could lose my nerve.

H: I'm sorry about what happened, but I swear to you I didn't do that. I would never out you like that, I wanted to come out together and I know you know that. I also know that you probably won't believe me and that you don't want to hear anything that I have to say, but I figured I'd try anyway. I think I know who did take that video and I'm going to get proof. I hope you will believe me then. I'm sorry, Lou :(

I sighed and pocketed my phone as class began, focusing on the slides I was analyzing and trying to come up with a plan at the same time. I just wanted the day to be over so I could focus solely on getting Louis back. Maybe I was crazy, but I was very much, well, in love with him. He was just so sweet and so perfect and he loved me for who I was, even if I had insecurities, and I had never had that before. I just wanted to see Louis smile again, because he was so beautiful when he smiled.