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Chapter 7

"It's like I'm finally awake and you're just a beautiful mistake."

-Taken, One Direction

Chapter 7

Harry came waltzing down the stairs at about eleven o'clock the next morning, wearing only a pair of boxer shorts with his tattoos on full display. He was still half asleep, so jumped so comically that I laughed when he saw me sitting on top of his dining room table, as casual as ever. I knew I was supposed to feeling at least the tiniest bit guilty for being as rude to sit on top of a table, but honestly, I didn't really care, because I left no marks or germs, therefore it didn't exactly matter where I sat, in the end.

"Jesus, Josie, you scared the hell out of me," Harry muttered, mostly to himself, as he stumbled into the kitchen. It was strange, because Harry had that tall, lean body shape that made him clumsy and caused him to trip over his own feet, yet at the same time, he could look so careful and smooth with his movements. It hurt my brain just trying to figure out the logic of it.

"Anywhere I sat would result in you getting frightened, so I may as well have revealed myself sooner to get it over and done with," I joked, but his back was to me as he started to grab things out of his cupboard, so I wasn't sure whether or not he smiled. When he didn't respond, my facial expression and tone became more serious, remembering the events of the previous night. "I went into Louis' room last night," I began, as casual as I could. I didn't want to dump the news on him all at once, because I wasn't sure whether or not he was aware of Louis' problems or not.

"Yeah? That's a little stalker-like, don't you think?" At first I thought he actually meant it, until he turned around and I caught him grinning. I was slowly becoming used to the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt and that the tattoos were everywhere, up to the point where I could blissfully ignore it.

"I was bored. I'm sorry," I apologised, because despite the fact that he was joking, he was right. I had gone into Louis' private space (his bed, even!) without his permission. It was rude, and very wrong of me. "My actions were not acceptable. It won't happen again," I added, nodding at him with a thin-lipped frown. He laughed a little.

"Jeez, Josie, you didn't have to take me seriously. It's not like Louis knows that you were in his room. It's alright," he said, shaking his head, a faint smile still on his face.

"More about that, actually," I said, mostly ignoring his statement and trying to think of a good way to word what had happened last night. Harry's eyebrows furrowed together as he stopped what he was doing and watched me.

"He was probably snoring or something. I dunno why you would want to go in there in the first place."

"I honestly wasn't planning on staying long- "

"Please don't tell me he was naked and you couldn't help but stare. That would be awkward not only for you, but for me, too.

"Harry! That's...that's...disgusting! I'm trying to be serious here!"

"Sorry."

"No, he wasn't snoring. He was on his phone," I mumbled, suddenly scared to tell Harry about his best friend. Was it really any of my business to say anything? No, it wasn't. But what if something was seriously wrong with Louis? What if he was so sad inside that he stopped leaving his room, or didn't want to be part of the band anymore? No, it wouldn't come to that. Maybe it was a one time thing? People have bad nights all the time, and after Louis' bad day, it was only natural that he might have needed to cry a little. But that crying wasn't just a little-

"And?" Harry's bored voice broke me out of my trail of thought about right and wrong, and my eyes snapped up from the floor to meet his.

"He was crying," I said softly, making the decision to tell Harry, my business or not. Louis' overwhelmingly sad eyes were pictured in my mind, and that wasn't something I could just ignore.