in the dark

1

Note: this is set in the states. Louis goes to a private school
—-

It's too bright.

That's what I decided when I took the first step outside. I held back a groan and adjusted my tie as I made my way off of the porch and heading in the direction of school. It's days like today that I wished I had my own car.

"Louis!" Someone called out behind me. I turned and spotted Harry standing on his porch, dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans. "Do you want a ride?"

"My mommy told me not to get in cars with strangers," I teased, laughing when he put a hand to his chest, acting like I actually hurt him.

"After all that we've been through? A stranger."

"Shut up Curly and start the car."

He quirked an eyebrow up when the nickname slipped off of my tongue. Too late to take it back now. I followed him to a vintage  baby blue mustang, sliding in the passenger seat as he held the door open for me. He shut the door behind me and made his way around, shooting me a cheeky smile as he slid in next to me and started up the car.

It's been a week since our first encounter and we've been chatting every night since— this was actually the first time I've seen Harry in the daytime. Conversation began to flow easily between us, even though I could tell he was still hiding some things from me.

"Why are you up so early?" I asked as he turned into my school's parking lot.

"I'm always up around this time," he chuckled, pulling into a spot away from everyone else. "But the reason that I'm out of my house and being productive is because I officially start today."

"Oh yes. Your secret job that you don't want me to know about."

"I know I'm horrible... I just don't want you to freak out when I eventually tell you what I do."

"You're making it seem like you're some kind of sex worker."

Harry let out a loud laugh at that. "Trust me... if I was a sex worker you would know because I would not be ashamed of it."

"So you're still not going to tell me what you do."

"Correct."

"Jerk."

"I'll make it up to you... I'll pick you up after school and we can go get like... ice cream or something. What time do you get out?"

"Like... 3ish."

"Perfect. It's a date."

My jaw dropped at how casual he was asking me out on a date, and his little smirk didn't hide the fact that he knew what he was doing. I shook my head at him, getting out of the car and flipping him off as I walked towards the campus.

I can not believe him.

—-

When I told my friends about my upcoming date with Harry they all rolled their eyes at me. Something about not believing that he was real, saying that I was becoming one of those "my girlfriend that goes to a different school" guys. Whatever. I'll prove them wrong when Harry picks me up today. Zayn came over and joined us, greeting us all with a quiet hello, blushing furiously as Liam interlocked their fingers.

"Have any of you guys seen Eleanor?" Zayn asked, but clearly directing his question to me. "We have a presentation in class today and last night she was supposed to send me her part of the project so that I could put it on the PowerPoint but I haven't gotten anything yet. And I went to wait for her at her locker but she hasn't shown up yet."