Homophobic (l.s)

Chapter 30

The cold air causes Harry to shiver violently as he walks up the front porch, and he watches as his outward breaths causes fog in the air. He doesn't know how the boys will react to him moving, in fact, he's petrified of their reaction.  He takes a minute to collect his thoughts and muster up the courage.

"Coward. It is what it is, just get it over with," He scrunches his eyes tight and shakes his head, mentally counting down before he knocks swiftly.

There's a few moments of silence but then he hears footsteps quickly making their way down the stairs and towards the front door. There's no denying that it's Niall because he always sounds like an elephant when running through the house. There are also approximately 10 more seconds before the door swings open and he's face to face with Niall.

"Harry! I was beginning to think you died. Get inside! Ed's upstairs too on the play station. Let's have a game," He smiles widely.

"Good to see you too Niall," Harry smiles back politely before making his way past Niall.

He makes a quick move up the stairs and he can hear Niall closely behind him. He focuses on Niall's ranting about Ed's ridiculous abilities on Fifa and he can help but laugh. There was always too much competitiveness between the two.

"It's completely unfair, it's like he was blessed with the ability to win every game," Niall huffs as the two near the bedroom.

The first thing Harry notices is the way Ed's comfortably slouched in the beanbag and his hair looks like it hadn't been brushed today. It wasn't anything new for Ed though. As he locks eyes with him, Ed smiles widely and forces himself to stand up.

"It's been a minute," He says cheerfully as he pulls Harry into a giant hug.

"Hey, not without me you don't," Niall suddenly interjects, and Harry feels a second set of arms wrapping around him. He'll miss this.

"You're both acting like I've been away for a year," Harry frowns at the both of them as they pull away and start going about their business. Niall lays back down on his bed, eyes surveying the television screen.

"A few days may as well be a year with you," Ed plops back down into the beanbag and reaches for the controller.  "Another round, Niall?" He asks, with a smug smirk on his face. Harry's sure that Niall will knock that smile off his face soon.

"No. Thanks, Ed. How about you? You want a go against this machine?" Niall looks over to Harry, who vehemently refuses to attempt a game against Ed.

Harry doesn't know how to bring this up, it's not like it's the easiest subject to just drop on them. Just a quick "Hey guys, I'm moving," wouldn't work in this scenario. He brings his nails up to his mouth and anxiously chews. This was a bad habit that was worsening over time.

"You're chewing your nails. You only do that when you're on the verge of a breakdown," Niall suddenly forces Harry out of his mental downwards spiral. He feels the boy shuffle closer to him, and then there's a comforting arm around his shoulder.

"If it's about Louis, don't even let him get to you. He's a bit of a jerk, yeah?"

Harry closes his eyes and slowly exhales. A bit of a jerk. That's the understatement of the year right there. When he feels Niall squeeze his shoulder in assurance Harry decides to just speak now. Or else he'll just not say anything at all.

"Speaking of not seeing me for a year. What would you guys do?" He says carefully, his eyes flicking between both Ed and Niall.

Ed fumbles for a second and drops the controller into his lap, his whole body suddenly snapping towards Harry. The same Harry who's brought his knees to his chest in an attempt to keep himself together. Niall leans away from Harry for a moment, his blue eyes studying him cautiously. There's a small chuckle that escapes his mouth as if to dismiss the question.