Scared (L.S)

six

The next day was Monday and Louis walked up Harry's driveway just as Harry was locking the door. The older boy walked up to Harry and tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump a bit.

"Lou!" Harry exclaimed.

"H," Louis said, "Hi. Walk to school with me?"

"Course," Harry said, shoving his key in his pocket as the two boys walked down Harry's driveway.

They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Harry spoke again. "Why no car today?"

"Mum wanted to get the oil checked or something. Actually, she wanted to do it yesterday but I drove it over to yours instead so now she won't let me drive it 'til it gets done."

"Oh," Harry frowned, "You didn't have to skip out on that just to come see me yesterday, I would have been fine Lou."

Louis slowed down a bit and turned to look at Harry. The boy looked older than usual for some reason. "You're my buddy, H, my best friend. Of course I had to come see you if you were feeling unwell."

Harry just smiled at the boy and they kept on their way to school.

---

Harry paused on his way to the library. Louis had said that they were best friends now and the younger boy truly dreaded sitting all alone with the books for yet another day. Spending all this time with Louis had almost made him regret not having any friends throughout his entire high school career. With these thoughts in mind, Harry turned on his heels and headed instead in the direction of the cafeteria, where he knew that Louis sat with his friends, the other boys on the football team.

Harry pushed past the crowds in the hallways, keeping his backpack close to his side to keep anyone from knocking it, or him. As Harry entered the cafeteria, he quickly spotted Louis, the older boy sitting tall in his seat at the end of one table, surrounded by the laughter and loud conversation of his teammates and the other students at the school that ate in the cafeteria. Harry had hoped to simply catch the boy's eye and avoid going up to him when he was with his friends, but Louis seemed to be deeply invested in whatever was being discussed at the table. So Harry took a deep breath, which sounded more like a sigh, and approached the table, slowly pulling his headphones out of his ears as he did so.

"Lou-" Louis looked up at Harry, a panicked look evident in his blue eyes as another boy from the table interrupted Harry.

"Oi!" A dark-haired boy sounded, "The fuck you think you're doing at our table loser?"

"Uhh," Harry panicked for a moment, looking to Louis for help. The two boys kept eye contact for a second before another one of the football players stood up and shoved Harry, a hard hand right into his shoulder, forcing Harry to look at him.

"You gonna say something or you just gonna stutter, fucking idiot."

Harry looked away from the footballer and, instead, looked at Louis, trying to send a message through his eyes, a plea for help. But instead, Louis broke his heart, shook his head and looked down.

Harry looked back at the football player towering over him to see a fist rising into the air. So Harry turned and scurried out of the cafeteria.

So much for being friends, he thought, and trudged his way, not to the library, but out the side doors of the school.

So yeah then, high schoolers are fucking cruel.

Harry hurried out of the cafeteria. He could almost feel all of the eyes on him as he shoved his headphones in and walked briskly right past the library and out the side doors of the school.

It was mid-September in England so while it was obviously not summer, warmth was still lingering in the air and the sun was shining through the clouds, warming Harry's skin as he walked away from the school, the track and the bleachers. Harry walked to the far-field from the school and lay down, using his backpack as a pillow. Harry lifted his arm to shield his eyes from the sun, sighing loudly as the music blasted in his ears and he tried not to think about Louis.

Harry was just so confused. Just last week Harry had met Louis but he had seemed so great. Louis had been so nice to him. He told him that they were friends and Harry kind of thought that the older boy had been flirting with him. He had kissed the side of his head and hugged him in a way that Harry had deemed to be in no way platonic.

Harry's mind wandered, going over all the interaction he had with Louis. His thoughts, however, were interrupted when he felt a buzz come from his pocket, the volume of his music lowering as a message came through. Strike that, actually. Harry's music stayed lowered as multiple messages came through, prompting him to pull out his phone if only to turn it to silent so his music wouldn't be disrupted any more.

However, Harry lacked quite a bit in self-control and therefore, couldn't help but check his messages.

Louis: Harry

Louis: Where did you go ?

Louis: I looked in the library but you're not there

Louis: I'm really sorry ...

Louis: Just let me explain please

Louis: Harry, please

Harry sighed. As much as he wanted to just text Louis back, he was upset. Harry couldn't think of any explanation that Louis could possibly give him that would make all of this okay. He had essentially just let all those guys torment Harry, which of course he was used to, but to just stand there watching Louis stare at him and not do anything was terrible.

So instead of texting him back, Harry just switched his phone to silent and shoved it back in his pocket, letting his music envelop him as he tried to keep his mind off Louis.

Somewhere in the background, he heard the sound of the bell which caused him to flinch slightly. It was only when Harry felt a shadow blocking the sun that had been shining on him when he opened his eyes. Harry squinted due to the brightness of the day but could tell that it was Louis standing in front of him.

However, Harry stayed lying with his headphones in, music blasting. He knew that Louis was talking, he could see the older boy's lips moving, but he couldn't make out any of the words and, honestly, didn't really care to. Eventually, Louis' lips stopped moving and a frown took over his face as he knelt down on the grass, moving to sit cross-legged, facing Harry. Harry kept his face up, avoiding looking at Louis and instead focusing on a cloud drifting through the sky.

That was until Harry felt an earbud slip out of his ear and looked up to see Louis sitting there with a sheepish smile, holding the earbud in one hand.

"Harry please just listen to me," The older boy begged, "I'm sorry, just, you know how they are, the football guys... I, just, don't know what to say."

Harry sighed, "You know you're kind of an arsehole right?"

Louis chuckled the slightest bit, "I know... But I'm a sorry arsehole?"

Harry rolled his eyes but scooted over the slightest bit to make room for Louis on his pillow-backpack, patting the space next to him to make the gesture clear for the older boy.

Louis raised his eyebrows hesitantly and glanced around for a moment but his budding feelings for the other boy outweighed the shame he felt in the pit of his stomach. So he lay down beside Harry, their hair tangling and the sides of their bodies pressed tightly together as their hands found their way to each other. 

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Hiii

fun fact: the cafeteria scene (highschoolers are fucking cruel) was the first part of the story I wrote

honestly, I hate highschool so much, I don't get why anyone would say its the 'best years of your life.

But i'm done in just a few weeks and hopefully everything will be better then