december 4 - a snowball fight
1d Fanfic - uni AU-ish
A platonic OT5 thing (with whispers of Narry)
*
Harry was pretty sure this was the worst day of his life. His kettle had broken that morning after a massive all-nighter, so he couldn't have his last cup of tea before he went off to the exam he'd been studying for these last few days. He missed the bus and he had to run the twenty blocks to campus because the next bus would make him late. He was late anyways, bursting into his exam ten minutes after the start time and earning him the scorn of every student in the room. Liam had looked up from where he had been staring blankly at the questions to give him an inquisitive look; Zayn kept plugging through, scrawling out sentences before he lost his train of thought.
When he finally got to a desk, his pen was out of ink and the lead in his pencil kept breaking every time he sharpened it. He'd write about three sentences before the point snapped and he'd have to furiously twist the pencil in the sharpener. By the time he was done, there was a stack of shavings on the desk about 4 inches high. He would have been fine with this if he wasn't panicking, forgetting everything, and resorting to writing furiously every last detail he remembered in an attempt to get marks for effort. When he handed the test in, he was pretty sure he'd only gotten one question right and his hand was cramping furiously.
"I'm just so glad it's done," Liam said as they walked out of the exam room together, Zayn and Harry on either side of him. His head swung back and forth between the two of them, waiting anxiously for their reactions. "What'd you two think?"
"It was alright," Zayn said with a shrug. "A lot of writing, mind, but the questions were fair."
Obviously Harry had been writing another test because he'd found it extremely difficult and thought that questions were ambiguous and poorly worded. Maybe he'd just read them all wrong and answered them incorrectly. There went his mark.
"You studied for weeks, Harry, you must've done just fine." Liam shrugged it off as if it wasn't even a question. It made it feel ten times worse because Harry had worked for weeks preparing for this exam. It was one of his favourite courses and he felt comfortable with the material. That hadn't mattered apparently because he'd completely fucked up the exam.
"You alright, Harry?" Zayn asked from Liam's other side as they stepped out of the exam hall and into the snow that had started falling in the three hours they had been shut into the exam hall. It was heavy, thick snow that was quickly piling onto any available surface, including Zayn's hair and probably also Harry's. His curls were going to go mad if they got wet. Perfect.
"I'm fine," he said, unconvincingly if Liam's frown was anything to go by. "I'm with Liam. I'm just glad it's all over and we can - oh!"
A step from the bottom, Harry's foot caught a slippery patch and flew out from beneath him, sending him flying backwards. He landed hard on his bottom in a pile of fresh snow, soaking through the seat of his trousers immediately and shoving up the back of his shirt, sending freezing cold water dripping down the back of his pants. A couple of kids walking out behind them began to laugh and it became a chorus of chuckles from all directions as more and more people flooded out and noticed the scene he had made.
Harry's cheeks flushed madly, his skin turning bright red. He was humiliated - couldn't even keep his own fucking feet on the ground. Every time he tried to push himself up, sinking his hands into the cold snow at his sides, he just ended up back on his bum. Liam attempted to help him up at one point, shoving his arm under Harry's and trying to pull him up but it ended with Liam sprawled out beside Harry instead.
He sort of felt like crying and he hated himself for it. He wasn't a child. He couldn't just sit and pout because things were difficult. Life was difficult. He would have to get used to it because graduation was right around the corner. That is, if he managed to pass his other courses.
His shoulders sunk down as he curled over himself. He blew out a shaky breath, ignoring Liam's groaning beside him and Zayn's attempts to stop laughing so he could help the two of them. He was on the verge of losing it. No sleep, no proper food in weeks, and all for nothing. His mental state right now was questionable. And the snow leaking into his trousers was making him feel like he'd wet himself.
The snowball connected straight with his face, cold snow and ice exploding against the skin of his right cheek, spreading water over his nose and his mouth and into his eye. It stung like hell and Harry immediately raised his hands defensively unless another was headed his way. When he thought it was safe, he uncovered his face and looked around for the culprit. It didn't take long - standing right across from the entrance to the building was Louis, laughing so hard he was bent at the waist, and Niall who was looking particularly guilty, his hand still raised in the air.
He was incredibly hurt for a moment, his chest tightening so painfully for a moment that it felt like he couldn't breathe. He couldn't understand why Niall would have done something like that, especially considering he had just wiped out painfully on the stairs. It only took a couple of seconds for that hurt to transform into anger that quickly consumed him.
"You son of a bitch!" Harry hollered as he pushed himself to his feet, using Liam as a balance when he nearly slipped again. Once on his feet, he took two long steps forward, and bent to snatch up some snow. Like the pro he didn't know he was, he curled his frozen fingers around the snow, packing it tight, and then launched it in Niall's direction. It was like a fastball as it curved through the air, hitting Niall square in the throat. The blond choked, taking a couple steps back in the snow as he gasped for air. It gave Harry the chance to launch another snowball at him that hit him in the chest.
"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" Louis shouted, curling his hands around his mouth to amplify the sound. There was a resounding cheer in response and then the quad was filled with people dressed inappropriately for the weather, sending snowballs sailing through the air at each other.
Louis got into it whole-heartedly, crouching to pack together a whole armful of snowballs before jetting off with them cradled against his chest, pausing to launch one off every now and then. Liam threw a couple, immediately apologizing if he hit someone he didn't know personally and getting hit in the process because he wasn't defending himself. Zayn walked down the rest of the stairs, brushing snow from his jacket and seeming to walk in between the snowballs, missing every single one as he walked straight toward the bus stop.
Harry had one singular mission and he stomped across the quad to where Niall was still trying to catch his breath. With a primal sound of rage, Harry began running, bending to catch Niall in the stomach with his shoulder and send him flying to the ground. Niall landed face first in the white fluff, Harry on top of his back, and Harry pressed his hand against Niall's cheek to push his face into the snow.
"Gerroff me!" Niall yelled, his voice muffled by the wet ground. "Harry, fuck off!"
"You wanker, why did you throw a snowball at me!" Harry shouted at him as he used his free hand to pile snow down the back of Niall's coat, making the blond keen as wet snow sunk down his spine. "Did you want to make me cry, hmm? Did you think, oh Harry looks like he's having a shit day, let's make it a hundred time worse?"
"Harry, stop," Niall whined, his body going limp beneath Harry's as he lost the will to fight. "Please get off me. I'm fucking freezing."
"You're a shit," Harry spat at his best mate as he released Niall's face, punching the snow instead because he was feeling so goddamn frustrated and he didn't think it was fair to take it all out on Niall. "You're complete and utter shit."
Niall rolled over beneath Harry so that he was lying on his back, looking up at Harry with confused and concerned eyes. Harry looked away because he felt stupid and he didn't want Niall to be looking at him anymore, not like that. He crossed his arms with a huff and sunk down so he was sitting back on Niall's thighs, trapping Niall beneath him.
"Harry, don't be like that."
"Like what?" Harry grumbled, trying to ignore the disappointment in Niall's tone.
"Don't be all mopey and upset. And don't make assumptions." Harry squinted down in Niall's direction, his lips turning up into a sneer automatically, and it made Niall sigh a heavy, forlorn sort of sigh. The blond patted his hand on Harry's thigh gently. "C'mon, get off. We need a chat."
Harry rolled over onto his bum in the snow because his trousers were already soaked through anyway. Niall sat up and then maneuvered so him and Harry were sitting side by side. He shook the snow out of his coat first and Harry felt an awful crunch of guilt in the pit of his stomach. "Sorry," he mumbled in Niall's direction. "I don't know why I got so mad."
"Bad day?" Niall asked.
Harry didn't want to touch that one with a ten foot pole so he shrugged and then muttered, "why did you throw that snowball?"
Niall cleared his throat uncomfortably and when Harry glanced over he was playing with the snow at his side. "It's just... I saw you about to cry -"
"I wasn't about to cry!" Harry hollered defensively even though he was, in all fairness, fighting back the urge to cry at the moment just before impact.
"Yes you were," Niall snapped back childishly, pointing his finger at Harry aggressively, his blue eyes lighting up with frustration, "and I didn't want you to cry. I panicked and I was sort of throwing the snowball before I realized. I didn't mean to hit you in the face." His voice dropped off and sounded so terribly guilty that it made Harry feel bad for making it like that. He sighed heavily, his shoulders sinking forward, and then he nudged Niall with his elbow.
The blond looked over warily with a strange sort of expression on his face. Harry elbowed him again, and then again and again until Niall cracked a smile and then he was cackling that familiar, bright laugh of his that echoed through the entire quad. "Remind me never to cry in front of you," Harry said pointedly. "Apparently its hazardous to my health."
Niall snorted as he shook his head, shoving Harry hard in the arm, nearly sending him sideways into the snow. Harry just managed to catch himself. "D'you want to talk about why you were so upset?" Niall asked.
"No," Harry said right away, his voice quiet. "I just want to forget about it, I think."
"Lucky for you, we've got a manmade distraction right here," Niall pointed out as he waved his arm dramatically to the scene in front of them. "If there's anyone who deserves a snowball to the face today, it's Louis."
Their mate was running around like a man possessed, launching snowballs from his pile rapid fire. His arm was like a repeating rifle and no one was safe from his attacks. Harry and Niall watched as Louis ducked behind a tree for safety and rolled a new armful of snowballs in record time, launching himself back into the fray. "I think he needs to be taught a lesson," Harry agreed.
"Then what are we waiting for," Niall said as he pushed himself up, clambering to his feet. He took off running before he was fully upright, limping a bit because his knee always acted up when it was really cold but not letting that stop him from scooping up snowballs and throwing them at unsuspecting bystanders. "Get up, lazy!" he called back at Harry, who immediately obliged and got to his feet. Within seconds, he was jogging over to Niall's side and the two of them were planning their attack.
Two minutes later, Harry was on Louis' back pushing his face in the snow while Niall piled the fluffy stuff down his collar.