Harry's Pov.
After the lunch bell rang, I tried to rush out of the cafeteria but I guess Louis figured I'd try that because he grabbed my arm, not hard enough to hurt me but enough to pull me backwards and face him.
I avoided his eyes, looking everywhere but him.
"Harry look at me."
I didn't, I kept my eyes on the ground, hands in my pockets.
"Harry." He had a warning tone to his voice, it wasn't a threatening one though. I didn't really know how to explain it.
I hesitated, before bringing my gaze up to Louis. He gasped when he saw my face.
He stepped forward so we were closer and grabbed my chin in his hand, I flinched back, but didn't pull away from him. He tilted my head around, examining the forming bruise on my jaw and the cut on my lip. He ran his thumb across my lip, I guess to get a better look at the cut, but that's when I decided to push his hand off of my face. I stepped back so there was a good 2 feet of space between us and ran my hands through my hair.
"Harry who did that?" He asked, he had a slight edge of anger to his voice, but he mostly sounded concerned. His eyes on the other hand were not so calm, they were piercing into mine and practically reaching into my brain.
"No one, it doesn't even matter." I shrugged, trying to play it off. He took a step closer to me but I stepped back, trying to keep distance.
He put his hands on my shoulders to hold me in place and peered down into my eyes.
"Harry tell me who did it." He urged more, giving me a hard, yet concerned look.
I didn't, I kept my mouth shut, if I told him and he did something, that would make things worse.
"It was the guy in the hallway from yesterday wasn't it? The one I told you about?" He questioned, but I knew he knew he was right.
"Look, you have to promise not to do anything, it'll make him mad and it's my fault anyway and I-" Louis cut me off by shushing me.
"It's fine Harry, this has only happened once so I wont confront him, I just wanted to know who did it." He assured, giving me a smile.
I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed my shoulders.
"What do you say to skipping the rest of the day and getting something to eat? You didn't eat lunch so what do you say?" Louis offered, making eye contact with me.
That was one thing I liked a lot about talking to him, he made a lot of eye contact and it made you feel important.
"Uh- you know what? Sure, lets do it." I agreed, it wouldn't hurt anyone.
Louis nodded and we grabbed our stuff out of our lockers then left the school, he said he had a car so I followed him to it, climbing inside with him.
"So where do you want to go?" Louis asked, turning his body the way you turn when you're looking behind the car to back out.
I bit mt lip, and averted my gaze, getting a strange feeling. That was weird.
"Harry?" Louis asked, I hadn't answered his question.
"Oh, yeah- umm... I don't care, you pick." I suggested, turning to look at him. He was facing the road while we drove, but he had a small smile on his face. I turned my head and leaned it onto the window, looking outside and watching the trees blur as we drive past them.
Louis drove slightly faster then he probably should have, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me nervous.
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We drove for about 30 minutes before pulling into a small diner looking place, it was cute. We both walked inside and sat at a booth by the window, there were only a few other customers in here.
Me and Louis sat there for a while, not really talking about anything important, we just talked a little bit about school, it was actually really enjoyable honestly.
A few minutes later the waitress came to order for us.
"Hello, welcome to Shelly's Shack, what can i get for you boys?"
Her gaze lingered on my for a moment, and she bite her lip giving me a smile, I decided to smile back at her, nodding my head.
"I'll just have a chocolate milkshake and a large fry, what about you Harry?" Louis stated.
"Um.. I'll have a strawberry milkshake." I said, looking at the waitress and smiling politely.
"Coming right up." She said, giving me a wink before heading back to wherever they make the food.
"She likes you." Louis said once she was out of earshot.
"Nah, shes just being nice and doing her job." I said, rolling my eyes and smiling.
"No, she definitely likes you Harry, you should ask for her number." Louis said, it didn't really sound like he meant it though.
"Not my type." I said simply, shrugging.
"Really? Then what is your type?" He asked, putting air quotes when he said 'type'.
"Uhm, I've never really thought about it, i don't think I've actually had a crush on a girl before." I replied honestly, i just need to meet the right person.
"Never a crush on any girl eh? What about guys?" Louis asked, peering into my eyes.
I swear I almost choked on air at the moment, my eyes widened and a blush formed on my cheeks, but i didn't know why i was blushing.
"What- no. I'm not gay." I replied, laughing nervously, I didn't know why i was so nervous though.
"Hm, you're not? What was that blushing i just saw then huh?" Louis teased, raising an eyebrow at me.
I opened my mouth, but before i could reply the waitress came back with a tray that had our orders on it.
I smiled at her while she sat everything on the table, Louis just looked at her though, there was a look in his eye but I couldn't tell what it was.
She smiled at us both, brushing her hand against my shoulder before leaving.
Me and Louis sat there for a while, drinking our milkshakes and eating the fries, it was quiet and slightly awkward now for some reason.
"Hey Harry, try this." Louis said out of nowhere, he then dipped one of the fries in his milkshake and held it up to my mouth.
"What? I'm not eating that." I said, scrunching my nose up at the fry covered in chocolate milkshake.
"C'mon, just trust me, you gotta try it." He urged jokingly, moving it closer to my face.
I gave him a look, but opened my mouth nonetheless and let him put it in.
I chewed it and scrunched my face up at the taste, gross.
"That's gross." I said, swallowing it the best I could.
"What? No you're lying that's literally the best thing ever invented." Louis argued playfully, kicking my under the table.
"No No, seriously that's terrible." I replied back, taking a drink of my milkshake to get the taste out of my mouth.
"You're incorrect." Louis said, dipping another fry in his milkshake and eating it.
I was about to respond, when once again, the waitress came over and interrupted me.
"How is everything, do you guys want the check?" She asked, a little too happily.
"Uh yeah, the check will be fine, thank you." I replied politely, looking up at her. She nodded and pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and laid it on the table. I reached for my wallet, I had around 20 bucks, but Louis stopped me, saying he would pay.
While he was busy getting the money from his pocket, the waitress girl turned to me, smiling.
"Hey, this may seem a little forward, but could I have your number?" The waitress asked, I instantly panicked, I didn't want to give it to her, but I didn't want to seem rude either. I looked over at Louis asking for help with my eyes. He smirked at me then looked at the waitress.
"I'm sorry, but that's my boyfriend you're flirting with." He said smugly, sending me a smirk.
My eyes widened as soon as he said it and I discretely kicked him under the table.
"Oh- oh my God- I'm so so sorry I didn't know, oh my I'm so sorry." She spattered, embarrassed and blushing a dark red color.
I glared at Louis for making her feel so bad.
"It's fine, don't worry about it." I assured, giving her a sympathetic smile.
She nodded at me and took our payment and tip, heading to the register.
Me and Louis both left the diner and as soon as we were out of the place I shoved him in the side, he stumbled but didn't go far.
"What the hell, did you see how embarrassed she was! That's mean." I scolded, giving him a playful glare.
"Hey you were the one giving me puppy eyes like you were going to die or something, what should I have said?" He laughed at my flustered state, shoving me lightly with his shoulder.
"You literally could have said ANYTHING else." I was laughing now too as we were walking to Louis' car.
"Yeah well it worked didn't it?" He questioned, raising his eyebrows at me in a challenging way.
I just glared at him and got into the car. By the time we actually got to my house, school had been out for about 20 minutes, so I figured that the time would work well and it wouldn't be suspicious.
Me and Louis said our goodbyes. It was nice having him as a friend, even if we weren't super close yet. He was a very bright person.
I jogged up to my door and noticed Louis didn't drive away until I had closed my front door, it made me smile.
When I walked into the living room I was surprised to see my mom standing there, hands on her hips, giving me a stern look.
I didn't know what I did, maybe it was about me going to the party last night? I thought she said I wasn't in trouble. Nerves took over my body as I walked into the living room further.
"So you're home?" I asked, awkwardly scratching my neck.
"The school called Harry, they said you skipped your last 2 classes?" She informed me, cocking an eyebrow.
I didn't even think about the school calling, I was so caught up in hanging out with Louis. I knew how much my mom wanted me and Gemma to be good students, so I knew she was probably going to ground me or at least lecture me.
"I wasn't feeling well..." I said, it wasn't a complete lie, I mean I had just been beaten up, which I was surprised she hadn't noticed yet, I had a cut on my lip and a bruise on my jaw that was pretty noticeable after all.
"No. Don't bullshit your way out of this, you know I don't ask much of you and Gemma, just to stay out of trouble! That's all I ask and you can't even do that the right way!" She said, raising her volume every word she said.
"It's not like I do his all the time! This was the first time I've ever even skipped school, and I've never been in trouble at school so I don't understand why you're making it such a big deal!" I snapped, raising my volume to match hers, normally I didn't yell back, but I was kinda upset about what happened earlier so I guess that's why I was being so emotional.
"It is a big deal! Next thing you know you're going to be smoking meth with some druggies behind the school or something!" She shouted, walking towards me with a rage fueled fire in her eyes.
"Do you really think that low of me? Wow mom. Are you even going to bother to ask why I skipped? No? Yeah because you don't actually care about what your children are going through, all you care about is our family's image! Ever since dad left-" I shouted back, but was cut off by the sound of a smack, it wasn't until after I heard the sound that I registered she had slapped me, my head was turned to the side and there was a stinging feeling in my cheek.
I turned back to look at her wide-eyed.
"You do NOT bring your father into this, he has nothing to do with how I discipline you guys anymore." She snarled, still looking at me with a enraged look in her eyes.
"You know why I skipped? I had just gotta the crap beat out of me! You don't care about that though! Yeah but guess what, a guy I haven't even known for a week noticed and cared more than you did!" I yelled back, tears were pooling in my eyes and I didn't want her to see them fall, so I squeezed my eyes shut for a second.
There was a shocked look on my moms face, and I didn't even wait for her to respond, I walked around her and trudged into my room. Once I laid down on my bed I tried taking deep breaths so I could calm down, but it didn't work and a quiet sob escaped past my lips. I didn't let anymore sobs out, but tears were streaming down my face and my vision was blurry.
I don't know how long I laid in my bed for, but eventually the tears stopped, I was sure that I looked like a wreck, but I didn't care. A while ago I heard the front door of the house slam shut so I'm assuming my mom went back to work or just left.
I slowly stood up and looked at myself in my body mirror, my hair was disheveled, curls going in all different directions, my eyes were puffy and red from crying and my lips swollen from bitting them so much. To say I looked awful would be an understatement.
I heard my phone ping from my back pocket and took it out. There was a text from Niall that read
'Do you wanna come over?'
I was quick to type a reply,
'Be there in an hour, can't spend the night tho.'
I shoved my phone back in my pocket and walked to the bathroom to wash my face. I splashed cold water on it a few times and it made my eyes a little less puffy, I figured an hour would give me time to get back to normal. I ran my fingers through my hair in order to make it look somewhat normal and changed my shirt.
I walked into the kitchen and saw Gemma sitting at the table. She looked up at me when I walked in.
"Hey, I heard you and mom fighting again.." She said softly, giving my arm a small squeeze as i walked past her and got the cereal out of the cabinets.
"Its fine, it happens all the time, nothing I cant handle." I shrugged, thinking back to when she slapped me, I was just glad it wasn't hard enough to leave a bruise.
"So I heard you got into a fight?" Gemma asked, letting a sympathetic smile fall onto he fall.
"Got in a fight? More like got my ass kicked, they grabbed me and put me in a headlock, I literally couldn't move." I spat, not really at Gemma, more just at the memory of what those guys did.
She let out a sad sigh, getting up and grabbing two bowls and two spoons out of the drawers I was walking towards. I gave her a questioning glance but she just let her lips curl into a small smile. She motioned towards the bowls and I walked over, pouring the cereal into both bowls. She finished by pouring the milk in them and then we sat across from each other at the table.
"So who did it?" She asked curiously, shoving a spoonful or cereal into her mouth.
"It was just some guys, apparently they are known for messing with people, at least that's what a friend told me." I shrugged and began eating my cereal.
"I'm sure I could call and say something to the school ab-"
"No, please don't Gemma, I appreciate the offer but doing that will only make it worse, besides I doubt it'll happen again."
"Why do you think it won't happen again?"
"Because, apparently the girl I made out with at the party yesterday was his girlfriend and he got mad because I was talking to her today in class." I explained, running a hand through my curls.
He mouth made the shape of an 'o' and she nodded her head.
"So you made out with someone eh?" She said trying to lighten the mood, she wiggled her eyebrows at me. I groaned and ran my hands over my face.
"First of all," I began, "I didn't even want to kiss her, I was shit-faced and hardly even remember it, and Second, she is taken." I explained, giving Gemma the 'I'm done talking about this now' look. She understood, nodding and taking our bowls to the sink.
"I'm going to Niall's for a little bit, so if mum asks tell her that's where I am, I won't be spending the night though." I said in a rushed manner, I was actually kinda looking forward to hanging out with Niall.
Just as I was about to put my shoes on I heard a ping from my pocket, I grabbed my phone and read the message on the screen from Niall.
'Liam and Zayn will be here too just a warning.'
I typed a simple 'alright' in reply and stuffed my phone back into my pocket.
I slipped my boots on then said goodbye to Gemma, I put my jacket on and walked out of the house, locking the door behind me.
I began my walk to Niall's house but I didn't like the silence, so I put my earbuds in and started playing some music.
A short 10 minute walk later and I was walking up the front steps of Niall's house, not bothering knocking, I never did anyway, his parents were like my second family anyway.
Speaking of his parents, they both heard me open the door and rushed over, giving me smiles and his mom even gave me a hug.
Then his dad pointed at my jaw.
"What happened there Harry? Not getting into trouble right?" His dad asked, slight concern lacing his voice. That's what I loved about Niall's parents so much, they were so nice and caring and just generally good people.
"Oh, no it was just a really big misunderstanding on the other guys part." I assured, giving them both a tight smile and small nod.
"Alright Harry, but if there's anything you want to talk about feel free to come to us, or Niall I'm sure he would be delighted to help." His mom offered me, a smile gracing her features gently.
I nodded in response and gave them a small wave before heading upstairs to where I knew Niall's room was.
I could already hear him and Zayn talking when I was outside the door. When I opened the door they all looked over at me, a crease appeared between Niall's brows.
"What happened to your face?" He asked, motioning towards his own jaw in reference.
I think I was tired of explaining what happened to everyone by now.
"I just got punched, I really don't want to make a big deal about it I've already explained it so many times." I let out an exasperated sigh as I explained, running a hand over my face.
They all just nodded silently, turning their facial expressions into smiles and beckoning me over to the bed they were all sitting on. I didn't know if all four of us would fit on there.
Even with that thought in my head, I made my way over to the bed as they scooted over, making room for me at the edge, surprisingly I was able to lay on it without feeling like I was going to fall off. I was laying beside Liam and Niall was between him and Zayn. Niall and Zayn both had controllers in their hands, so I looked up to see they were playing some soccer video game on the Xbox
Liam turned to me.
"Hey mate, it's fine if you don't want to talk about it, but just know we will all happily beat anyone up for you." He said, cracking a smile and nudging me in the side lightly.
"Thank you, but I think I'll be fine." I assured, my own lips curling into a smile.
It felt nice hanging out with them all together, I hadn't even known Liam and Zayn for a week but we all just clicked so well together and it felt really natural to be around them.
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I don't know how, but a few hours later we had all ended up just wrestling around with each other, Liam and Zayn were currently rolling around at the foot of the bed and me and Niall were swatting at each other playfully, both of us trying to get the upper hand.
Niall's dad walked in and saw me pressed to the headboard of the bed, as far from Niall as possible with my foot against his chest, him grabbing at me, and Zayn on top of Liam laughing hysterically.
He shook his head as a smile fell onto his face, wrinkles appearing by his mouth and eyes.
"Are you boys staying for dinner?" Niall's dad asked, we had all separated and were sitting some what normally now.
"Sure, yeah I'll stay." I heard Zayn say.
"I'll stay too." Liam announced, giving Niall's dad a smile.
I thought about it but decided I should walk home before it got too late, it was already dark outside.
"Sorry, but I think I'm going to go home, it's a school night and I don't want to be home to late." I stated, starting to get up.
"You need a ride?" Niall's mom peeked in the doorway, smiling at us all.
"No, I don't live far so I can walk, but thank you." I smiled gratefully.
"Alright hun, have a goodnight." She replied, letting a smile of her own become visible.
I said my goodbyes to everyone and then walked out of the house, heading home.
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What do you guys think of this chapter? I decided to make this one a little longer being that the last 2 were kinda short.
Tell me what you think is going to start happening next in the comments!
Love you all!
"Love can't be heard, seen, touched or smelled, but it can be felt, and i feel it when I hear your voice, when I see your face, when I touch your skin and when i smell your sent on my bed in the morning..."
~unknown