this side of paradise l.s.

chapter ii.

“Who pissed on your muffin, then?” Niall amended, turning back to the telly. “You look like you want to murder someone with the way you’re staring.”

Harry wrinkled his nose. “Murder is bad. And illegal. I would never murder someone.”

“That’s exactly what a murderer would say.”

Before Harry could respond, Louis’ bright laugh caught his attention, and like a moth to a flame, he snapped his eyes back towards the three. Was it his imagination or were the girls a lot closer to Louis then before?

“Your performances were amazing,” Louis was gushing to them, cheeks rosy. Even in the shitty indoor lighting, he looked beautiful.  “You two smashed it. Voices like angels, I swear.”

They giggled and blushed. Harry couldn’t really blame them. He turned into a gooey mess when Louis complimented him, too. “It was alright,” the brunette replied, shrugging a bit. “Wish we could’ve seen yours, though, I think we missed it by chance.”

“It was nothing to write home about,” Louis smiled self-deprecatingly. “Not as great as yours.”

Harry wanted to interrupt them and slap some sense (gently) into Louis, but not before aggressively showering him with compliments about his audition, but he couldn’t. He had also missed it, and he wasn’t sure how that happened because if he wasn’t going to see the cute boy he pissed on in the bathroom ever again, he at least wanted to hear his angelic voice. But Harry didn’t see Louis come up at all, and soon it was his turn to sing and after all his yesses, Harry was too dazed and surprised to look for Louis. It was only by chance that they both made it through, and when their eyes connected across the sea of the other contestants, Harry swore the entire world could hear his heart pound. Unfortunately, Louis didn’t push through the crowd to jump into Harry’s arms and profess his love. Instead, once there was some free time to mingle, Louis came up to him with a blinding smile, punched him softly on the shoulder, and said, “Well hello there, Curly. Looks like I was right, you made it.”

Harry couldn’t help but blush at the nickname. “You made it too.”

Louis smiled so wide his eyes crinkled at the sides. It was starting to become his favorite sight. “Then I guess we both made it. See you later, Rockstar.”

He melted into the crowd before Harry could say something stupid, like “The way your hair falls into your eyes makes my heart flutter” or “I wish you were my soulmate instead.” 

He shouldn’t think about things like that. It was dangerous. No matter how dainty Louis was when he perched on the couch or how pretty his voice was, he wasn’t Harry’s soulmate. Wishing he was someone he wasn’t would only make it harder when he woke up from this dream. Because how long could this last? Being put in a band on X Factor with your crush and a chance of winning a record deal? Things like that didn’t happen to people like Harry. 

He shook himself out of those thoughts. It was better to live in the moment than to wonder when it’ll end. 

“Niall,” he groaned, just because he wanted something to distract him from the sight of someone else making Louis smile. “What am I doing wrong?”

“Well, for one, those shoes.” 

Harry frowned, offended. He didn’t actually expect a response. “What’s wrong with my trainers?”

Niall snorted. “They’re purple and ugly. And you wear it everywhere.”

He pouted. “What does that have to do with Louis not giving me attention?”

Niall squinted his eyes, looking at Harry and then at Louis. “We were talking about him? I thought you meant, like, in general.”

Harry sighed, slouching deeper in the couch. He wished it could swallow him whole. “He’s been talking to those girls all day. It’s not fair, I’ve barely had any alone time with him.”