Scared (L.S)

thirty six

Louis had skipped all his morning classes but ten minutes before the lunch bell was due, Louis got out of his car and walked to the classroom he knew Harry would be in. When the bell rang, he stood up straight, knowing that Harry would likely be one of the first students out the door, he always was.

"Harry!" He called, as soon as he saw him. Harry's eyes widened and a frown graced his face as he made eye contact with Louis.

"Why are you here?" Harry asked, pulling Louis to the side of the hallway.

Louis smiled at him, "You're so pretty."

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "What are you doing?"

Louis ignored him, instead taking his hand and intertwining their fingers.

Harry quickly tried to pull his hand away, a habit more than a desire, but Louis held on tightly.

"Louis?" Harry questioned.

"I want to," Louis said assuredly.

Harry couldn't hold back the small smile that adorned his face. "Are you sure?"

Louis let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding, "Yeah."

Harry let Louis lead him through the first floor and into the cafeteria, bringing Harry to the table where Louis always sat with his football buddies.

Louis sat down on the bench, pulling Harry down to sit next to him. The table was only half full, given that people were still making their way from their classes, but Louis proudly wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulders and let his hand hang in the air. Harry leaned into him the slightest bit, taking a sandwich from his bag and offering half to Louis. Louis gladly took it given that he had been so devastated that morning, he had forgotten to pack himself any food.

Louis took a bite before glancing at the table, avoiding eye contact with everyone until his gaze landed on Stan and Jade. Jade smiled at him while Stan gave him a thumbs up. Louis just smiled back and tightened his grip on Harry's shoulders.

Louis was nervous. Really fucking nervous. No one had said anything yet but he had been building this moment up in his head for weeks, if not months. Each and every version his mind had come up with had ended in disaster.

But lunch went fine. Sure, no one said anything to Louis at all, except for Harry. In fact, with the exception of a few players, it seemed almost as though they were ignoring Louis. But with the way Harry kept turning his head to gaze at the older boy, Louis couldn't find himself to care.

When the warning bell rang, everyone scrambled from the table, Louis following Harry to his third period class like a puppy.

"Louis," Harry said while they waited by the door for the teacher.

"Yes, love," Louis replied sweetly.

Harry smiled and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to Louis' cheek, "Thanks for doing this. I love you and it means the world to me."

"Love you too," Louis whispered back quietly before pulling Harry into his arms. The two boys held each other close even as the teacher unlocked the door and the halls cleared.

"You should go to class," Harry said, after a while.

"One more minute," Louis replied, finally feeling the sense of relief he had been craving for so many months.

And everything was perfect, for a few days at least. Sure, some of Louis' team seemed to be avoiding him, but he also started to do some avoiding too.