Walk on Water or Drown

Chapter Four

It took Harry five hours, two bags of flour, six cans of walnuts, and eight small packages of raisins to get it right. The Cheshire lad didn't even want to look at another carrot again, let alone a block of cream cheese. Who knew baking could be so difficult?

His mother had screamed when she saw the state of the kitchen; but Harry was quick to pacify her, claiming that he would clean it up while his monstrous creation was baking in the oven. When the timer had dinged and each of the counters were spotless, Harry hesitantly pulled the small five inch square pan out of the oven, letting the sweet aroma of freshly baked cake fill the air. While he waited for it to cool, he worked on his homework. By the end of the evening, the curly haired boy had finished both his homework and his masterpiece.

A home made carrot cake was the perfect way to make it up to Louis.

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"Okay Louis!" Harry smiled, placing his backpack and a small cardboard box on the bleacher as he stripped from his school clothing. "I've some incentive for you today." The older boy looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean, incentive? Incentive for what?!" Louis was confused, what was Harry planning?

"I want you to sit on the steps today." The curly haired boy smiled triumphantly, tossing his pants and shirt on top of his backpack and picking up the cardboard box. "If you can, then I'll let you have the extremely delicious treat that is sitting comfortably within these cardboard walls." Harry wasn't going to tell Louis that even if he couldn't sit on the step, he was still going to get the cake. He just wanted to see what happened.

"This is bribery." The feather-y haired boy replied in meek protest, already getting up from his seat on the bleachers and walking towards the stairs to the pool.

"You'll be fine, don't you worry. I'll be right here!" The green eyed boy called, hopping into the pool with a massive splash and swimming towards the shallow end.

"But.. What if I freak out?" Louis half-whispered, stepping down onto the first step so that only the tops of his feet were submerged within the clear liquid. "Haz, I don't think I can do this."

"You can, it'll be okay. I'm going to be right here, love. Everything is fine." The younger boy climbed from the water, positioning himself so that he was standing next to Louis, his hand moving to hold the other boy's. "Ready?" He asked, looking to Louis for a sign that he was okay. The blue eyed boy nodded.

Together, they stepped off the precipice and into the water.

When Louis realized that he was standing on the second step with the water up to just below his knees, he smiled, looking at Harry with the most beautiful expression the younger boy had ever seen. His blue eyes were sparkling; Harry didn't know whether it was the reflection of the water intensifying their colour, or if Louis was just that beautiful. He was convinced it was the latter. Hands still clasped together tightly, Harry pulled Louis down so that they were sitting side by side on the stair.

The older boy, comforted by Harry's close proximity and loving gestures, completely forgot about the water and began to lose himself in the depths of Harry's beautiful green eyes. They looked familiar, though the memories were fuzzy. Suddenly, it was happening again. A string of horrible memories flashed before his eyes, rendering Louis a shaking mess of skin and bones, mind consumed by the terrors.