wheels on the bus ➸ [larry au]

ღ chapter twenty-one ღ

here we go again, i sigh.

"dodging me, now are we?" louis says with a smirk (that honestly seems to be permanently glued on his face).

"no," i lie through my teeth.

he raises his eyebrows, sort of like in a teasing way, and before i know it he has snatched my drink right off the table.

i watch him take a sip, his eyes never leaving mine, sort of like challenging me. like daring me to say something back to him. how had this escalated so quickly?

i cough, taking my eyes off him and notice that the person he had walked in with was ordering drinks. maybe louis would leave soon.

"so how's the boyfriend thing going?" he asks.

"good," i say, "always good."

"then where is he? shouldn't he be here with you? seems like the two of you are glued to the hip," he says, "never imagined you having a thing for clingy."

"michael's not clingy," i quickly defended him, although even a part of me had started to question that.

"whatever you say," he replied, "anyway, whatcha working on?"

he grabs my laptop turning it to face him and he face palms at what he sees.

"this? this is what you're learning? i did this back in england during my first year in england," he amuses, "you struggling with this, mate?"

"we're not mates," i firmly state, "but yes."

"want my help?" why was he offering to help me?

"i think i'd rather fail," i reply-honestly.

"oh c'mon, don't be a wuss," he insists, "i did an excellent job with this assignment."

i really do need the help but as tempting as his offer was, i just knew he had a hidden agenda. he'd do this for me and expect something in exchange or something, i just knew it.

but as high as my pride may go, my will to not fail this class was higher.

"fine," i mutter, giving in to his help.

ღ

"see, it wasn't so hard now was it?" he teases.

the sun had gone down now, it was already eight, and not only had i spent the entire of my saturday afternoon in a starbucks' cafe but i had spent it with louis. granted, he really did save me from failure yet i wouldn't say i had a fun time with him either.

through bickers, i ended up finishing my assignment and i was even surprised by the work ethic that louis had. he wasted no time in explaining to me the basics of what consisted of the assignment and what i had to do in order to finish it.

he seemed to have a touch in teaching, which kinda surprised me, especially because of the type of person he is.

i was kind of surprised he ended up telling the person he came here with that he'd meet them later. because it was later and he had no intention of leaving anytime soon, it seemed.

"i would have eventually figured it out myself," i lied, not wanting to give him the satisfaction that i infact did in fact need him today.

"pfft," he scoffs catching my lie straight away it seems, "you're glad i came here today, even if you're pride won't let you admit that."

i take a deep breath, he wants a thank you? fine, i'll give him one.

"okay louis, thank you," i say and i would have left it at that but my mind i guess had a different idea, "thank you for doing something nice for me for the first time in what, fourteen years?"

"can't you let that go?" louis grunts, his attitude completely changing.

"let what go?" i say innocently.

"i tried to talk things out," he then says, "you're the one playing hide and seek with me ever since. we've grown up, harry! why not act like it?"

"says the grown up who crashed my date with my boyfriend and said vile things about me in front of him," i objected, "but yeah, sure let's act like adults."

i watch him squirm as i mentioned my boyfriend.

"i'm sorry," he then says, "i really don't know why i did that, but i am sorry."

"fine," i say because honestly i was too drained to fight back with him any further.

"do you think," he then says after a moment of silence, "we could ever be friends again?"

i tilted my head. trust him with friendship again? how about no.

"you never stopped being my friend, louis," i confess quietly, "i just stopped being yours."

"well i think.. i think we could be," he responds, "i think so."

-

authors note:

not me teasing about a friendship blossoming between these two...

anyway, i feel like this story is going on forever i just want them to make up and date and have larry chapters so the next few chapters will be important for that.

but yeah that's all.

november 19, 2020
unedited/unrevised

sarah