troublesome

{12}

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Harry's POV:

I waited in the school car park for Louis to come out. I watched as the huge mob of kids rushed to get onto buses and into cars to get out of the cold weather.

Glancing at the small clock in the car I saw Louis was a few minutes later than normal. I sighed and turned up the heat in my car, rubbing my hands together.

I finally saw Louis' small figure walk out of the school. My eyes widened when I saw he was wearing a short sleeved shirt. I immediately got out of the car and jogged over to him, taking off my suit jacket and wrapping it around the boy, ignoring the freezing temperature.

"What the hell? I'm literally three steps from the car!" He shouted, looking around the car park and at the buses, his cheeks getting even more red than they were from the cold.

"It's freezing out, Lou, I'm not going to let you catch a cold."

He went to take off the jacket that he was practically drowning in, but I put my hands on his shoulders, not letting him. We walked the short distance to the car together, Louis constantly looking around every few seconds.

We both climbed in the car, and I started the heat up again before turning to Louis. He was staring the opposite way, my jacket still wrapped around him.

"How was your day?" I asked him. He didn't even bother to shrug. "Lou, I know you're not exactly happy with me—"

"Not exactly happy?" He laughed bitterly.

"Louis. Look at me please." I knew if he looked me in the eyes I would not be able to get angry at him. He turned to me with his head down and looked up and me through his eyelashes, arms crossed over his chest.

"Listen, I know you didn't want me to do anything, but something had to change, Louis. Now that I know this—"

"This is your change, not mine." He muttered.

"What?" I questioned, confusion clear in my tone. He looked up at me all the way, his blue eyes filled with emotion.

"I've known, and lived with what happened my whole life, okay? Nothing on my part is different. This is all you— just fucking around because you're shocked." His voice was shaking, which was not normal for him.

"Lou, you did make a huge change, by telling me. And now that I know, I have to do something. I can't just keep doing what we were doing, because it obviously wasn't working." I explained. "You really don't need to come, Lou, you know that."

"I need to make sure you don't say something stupid." He mumbled, leaning back in the seat, my jacket burying him, but he didn't seem to mind as much as before.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay in the car?" I asked him. He shook his head while biting his lip.

"I'm okay." He mumbled. "I'm not afraid of her." He added defensively.

Ever since he opened up to me so much yesterday night, Louis has been super defensive. Even at the smallest things, like when I tried to carry his backpack for him to the car, he told me off, saying he didn't need any help.

I understand that he's not used to being vulnerable and he was embarrassed after crying yesterday. Nothing I say, no matter how sincere, can make him less stubborn.

He's overcorrecting by trying to seem excessively tough, to make up for "looking weak" in his mind.

I pulled into the driveway where I had seen Louis reading on the front step, and couldn't help but think how much this kid has changed my life.