Rivals |l.s|

Twelve

Usually on a bright Saturday morning, people feel rejoiced and grateful especially when they have nothing to do on that particular day but that wasn't the case with Harry. Despite his "relationship" with Louis proceeding perfectly well and the support from Gemma being a really nice morale booster, he still couldn't shake the feeling off that something terrible was going to happen.

With every passing day, they were getting closer and closer to the final match. Normal high school football matches aren't anything peculiar. Two teams arrive, have a friendly match, one emerges a victor and the other a loser but still, there are no harsh feelings but just a bitter jealousy which is really easy to get over with. But in Montague and Capulet matches, bloodshed was guaranteed. Harry had noticed Niall going for extra football field practice and banning all oily foods from his life until the final day. His cousin's excitement and motivation to win the match were over the top but Harry was certain that this was the case with every single student studying in the two high schools.

It didn't matter whether you were even a player or not because the rivalry went way beyond the football field. Harry shivered, not wanting to think about how he would play against the man he was hopelessly falling in love with.

He quickly rushed inside the bathroom, leaving his bed a complete mess for the maids to take care of . He wasn't being a pampered brat but the weekends were the days when he just couldn't be bothered with anything . These were the lazy days when even Harry Edward Styles enjoyed being messy and careless.

After taking a nice, long, warm shower, he quickly dressed himself up in a plan white t-shirt with loose sweatpants that hung on his hips in a careless 'i'm-about-to-fall-please-lift-me' fashion before brushing his hair to the side and marching downstairs.

"Hey little frog." Niall's heavily accented voice made him pause in his mission to raid the kitchen for some Chocolate flakes and cold milk. Quickly turning on his feet, Harry squinted his eyes in Niall's direction. Even though his cousin spent most of his time in his house, it was just rare for Niall to have breakfast here. Lunch and dinner was common, but breakfast was something that Niall always as a rule had with his parents or outside with his fling of the day. The thought made Harry automatically think of the scene he had witnessed during his date with Louis. Unconsciously, his squint turned into a full fledged glare, making Niall frown cutely in his place and tilt his head to the side as if trying to read Harry's mind.

"What are you doing here?Don't you have somewhere to be?" Maybe with Zayn fucking Malik, Harry thought to himself, not hiding the bitter undertone. He wasn't bothered with the knowledge of something going on between the two boys but rather the realization that Niall kept secrets from him despite calling him his best friend and his favorite cousin, ticked Harry off.But then again, even he was keeping things from Niall. Though his reasons were definitely more genuine and understandable, Harry still had no rights to judge Niall.

"I actually came here to talk to you." Niall gulped down the last bite of extra green salad before cringing and getting up from his seat to walk towards the kitchen counter where Harry was pouring himself some cold milk in a bowl. "I made some really strange discoveries yesterday."

"Oh, like what?" Harry gulped a spoonful of cereal down, eyeing Niall closely. There was no threat in the manner the boy was speaking and acting so Harry was certain that the issue had nothing to do with his date with Louis Tomlinson.

"I found out that somebody has got a little crush on you." Niall grinned widely, patting Harry on the shoulders a bit too sharply that had the taller lad wheezing and coughing.

"W-what the fuck!" Harry glared, chugging down the milk from the jug to stop the coughing . He scratched against his throat, shaking his head at Niall before resuming to munch on his cereal. It tasted heavenly with the cold milk.