Scared (L.S)

forty three

 Harry awoke the next morning in pure bliss. His mind in a state of absolute bliss given the way he was warm and had his boyfriendloveofhislifeeverything wrapped tightly around his body.

And then he remembered that it was Saturday, and it was his last full day with Louis. He would have to leave mid-day Sunday to catch his train back to Doncaster. And with that thought, Harry wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. To stay safe and warm in Louis' arms forever and never face the world again.

But he was hungover and felt like he was gonna throw up so he had no choice but to pull himself from Louis' embrace and stumble down the hallway to the communal bathrooms. The sun was just rising so the bathroom was empty, leaving Harry to puke in peace. Harry felt immensely better after emptying his system and he quickly rinsed his mouth out at the sink before heading back to Louis' room.

Jack was still sleeping, just a lump under the covers, but when Harry looked to Louis, the older boy was scrolling through his phone, eyes still blurry with sleep and hair a soft, tangled mess. Harry never wanted to look at anything else.

"Where'd you go?" Louis whispered when he noticed Harry.

"Bathroom," Harry whispered back, crawling back into the bed and plastering himself against Louis' warm skin. Louis wrapped an arm around Harry and pulled him in close before returning to his phone where he was scrolling through his social media. Harry, with his head pressed into Louis' neck, watched as Louis' scrolled, occasionally commenting on the pictures of people he knew.

Stan and Ed were both going to school in Manchester and had posted pictures of their shared dorm. Jade was going up to Edinburgh for school and had posted pictures from her drive there, along with her and her sister in front of her school's sign.

Harry liked talking about their friends but it made him sad to think about having to go to school all alone again. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to sitting by himself and just listening to music all the time.

When he had voiced these concerns to Louis in June the older boy had reassured him that it would be different than before. Sure, Louis wouldn't be there, their friends wouldn't be there, but it's not like they were disappearing. Louis had told him to text or call him whenever Harry needed and that Ed, Stan, and maybe even Jade wouldn't mind talking to him. However, Harry still found the concept weird because, just the year before, he had thought everyone at school hated him.

He knew Louis didn't hate him, he loved him, but he couldn't help but feel like their friends only put up with Harry because of Louis.

Harry tried not to think about that though and, instead, focused his attention on the way that Louis' fingertips grazed his hip, and the tickle of the boy's feathery hair and light stubble on his face, and the way that Louis smelled like everything in the world, all coming at him at once. Louis overwhelmed Harry just by existing and Harry loved it more than anything else in the entire world.

When Louis' dorm room lit up from the sun, Louis pushed Harry out of the bed, urging the younger boy to get dressed.

"Why?" Harry asked as he rifled through his backpack for clean underwear.

"We're going out."

"Where?"

"It's a surprise," Louis said with a grin, pulling his boyfriend close and pressing a chaste kiss to the side of his head.

Harry rolled his eyes but followed Louis to the bathroom anyway. They both got dressed and ready, smiling at the few people who wandered into the bathroom at the same time. Louis didn't actually recognize anyone but he wanted to be friends with everyone so he figured a smile wouldn't hurt.