It was the following Friday and Louis returned to the room after his PE lesson. His hair was still damp from the shower he had taken in the locker rooms. When he entered the room he greeted by Niall packing his stuff into his suitcases in a haste.
"Niall?" Louis lifted a questioning eyebrow at the boy, placing his training bag down by the door. "What are you doing?"
"I am moving into Zayn and Liam's room," Niall said curtly, throwing a stack of shorts into the suitcase.
Louis stared blankly at the boy. What the actual-"Why?" he asked, perplexed.
"Why?" Niall huffed and straightened his back so he was looking straight at Louis. "Why? Because I can't fucking stand being in my own room! That's why."
"I don't understand-"
"Listen, Louis, I love you-"
"-Weird moment to announce it, but I will take it."
"Shut it." Niall sent him a look that could kill. "I can't stand being in here. Liam and Zayn have an extra bed in their room that they said I could take and don't fucking ask why I am moving out. You and Harry are impossible to be around. As late as last night you almost broke the picture of my family in Ireland-" he gestured toward the picture that was now lying down next to his suitcase, not yet having been put in, "-by throwing a pillow toward Harry, your aim is completely off by the way. And why did you do it? Because he had outdone you in a history test and bragged about it."
"It's not nice to brag," Louis pointed out.
"Like you wouldn't have done that yourself," Niall huffed and threw the last few things into the suitcase. "Really, Louis, I am sorry. But I want to be able to sleep without listening to two people yell each others ears off. It's like a freaking warzone. I will move in again when you can... do not argue anymore."
"Not going to happen." Louis shook his head lightly and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Well," Niall shrugged. "Then enjoy your alone time with your new roommate."
He took a grip on the handle of the suitcase and started strolling toward the door and Louis. It then occurred to Louis that Niall really meant it. Really meant it.
"You can't leave, Niall. Please," he said. "I am not going to survive living with him alone."
"And I can't survive sleeping in the same room as the two of you." Niall shook his head a little. "Relax, Tommo." Louis who had been trying to stop Niall from walking out the door, stopped dead in his tracks. "It's not like we are not going to be-are you all right, Louis?"
"Tommo?" Louis looked weirdly at Niall. Tommo.
"It's a nickname," Niall chuckled and grabbed the doorhandle. "You know, since we are friends. Friends give each other nicknames."
"We are friends?" Louis echoed his words, a questioning tint to his words.
"Of course we are. Even though you are a horrendous roommate," Niall chuckled. "Now, I will head to Zayn and Liam's room. Join us later."
"Um, I... okay." Louis nodded a little to himself. "Yeah, okay, yeah. I will. I just have to work on some history homework first." He nodded his head lightly, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.
"So you can outdo Harry?"
"Why else?"
"Education?"
"Now you just sound stupid, Horan."
"Whatever you say." And with those words he left Louis alone in the room.
It suddenly felt very empty, without Niall's positiveness lightning up the room. He also knew that Harry could arrive from their shared PE lesson in a matter of seconds and he would have to explain the situation to him. Something he would rather not do.
He let out a breath of air and moved toward his bed, throwing himself upon the mattress. This was not how he had expected his day to go. At all. He had hoped he would go and ignore Harry as much as possible, but who else was going to explain to him where Niall had gone?
With a sigh he pulled out his phone from his pocket and saw a notification from none other than his father. Weird. He furrowed his eyebrows and pressed onto the message.
From Mark
Today 12.45
I saw that you only got 95% on your latest
history test. You can do better than
that. You have barely been away a week
and your grades are already sinking. Get
yourself together or I am going to send
you home.
Louis simply typed a quick Okay Father and then putting the phone away. He let out a sigh. He hadn't heard from his parents all week and of course the first thing his father tells him is to better his grades. Louis wouldn't have expected anything else. He did however, wonder how his father knew about his grades. Had he paid the headmaster to send him all his results? It wouldn't come as a surprise if he had done exactly that. He was Mark Tomlinson after all. He could do pretty much anything he wanted.
The door into the room opened and Harry stepped inside. His hair was damp, curling around his ears.
"What took you so long, curly?" Louis asked in a taunting voice. Harry hadn't really taken that long, Louis had just left a little early, but he felt like prodding, so he did.
"Why do you care?" Harry bit back and threw his bag atop his bed.
"I don't. Not really, just wondering if the Prince was having a wank in the locker room shower-" Harry threw a pillow at his face. "Hey! What did you do that for, you cunt!"
"I did not fucking wank in the shower. Jesus Christ, there were other people in there," Harry spit.
"Jesus, Harold, take a chill pill," Louis mumbled and hugged the pillow Harry had given him, to his chest. It was soft beneath his fingers.
"Please just shut up, Tom-where is Niall's stuff?"
Louis followed Harry's gaze that was directed toward what had been the lads bed. "He has moved in with Liam and Zayn," Louis shrugged, acting like he didn't care at all.
He did care. A lot.
"And why is that?" Harry asked, now looking at Louis.
"Why don't you ask him?" Louis hissed and hid his face in the pillow. God, so soft. It must have been a pillow Harry had brought from the palace, because Louis' pillows was not nearly as soft. Not at all.
Harry just rolled his eyes and mumbling , "I am going to the bathroom," and then began patting toward the bathroom door, Louis yelling after him, "I don't care!"
***
Louis and Harry did not at all work as roommates. They hadn't done when Niall had been there, but now it was worse than ever. And they hadn't even been at the school for a week.
It showed already the following morning after Niall moved out, Saturday.
Louis woke up around ten to the sound of the shower running in the bathroom and groaned into his pillow. He sat up and looked looked around the room. The curtains were pulled for the window. It did not let any light in, illuminating the room in complete darkness. He could only see the outlines of the beds and dresser. The only visible light was the one that streamed out from beneath the crack beneath the bathroom door.
He slowly stood up on unsteady legs and moved to the bathroom door, knocking on it aggressively.
"Harry!"
There didn't come an answer. The only thing heard was the sound of the water hitting the tiles. Thump, thump, thump. Thumpthumpthump.
"Harry!"
"What!" Harry yelled. He sounded frustrated. Louis smirked.
"Hurry the fuck up! I need to shower before I get breakfast!"
"Have some patience, will you!" Harry said, his voice cracking a little.
"No! Just hurry up!" Louis howled and moved to his dresser. In reality he didn't really need a shower, he just wanted to annoy the other boy. He was still somewhat clean after having showered after PE the day before.
He opened the top drawer and pulled out a pair of sweats, a hoodie and a pair of boxers. The water was still running inside the bathroom, meaning Harry was in no hurry to get out, so he quickly stripped out of his dirty clothes and pulled the clean on. He let out a content sigh, throwing himself upon the sheets.
It wasn't long before Harry stepped out the bathroom, only wearing a towel around his narrow hips.
Louis' eyes lingered on his body for a few seconds. If there was one thing he was jealous about when it came to Harry, it was his body. He had broad shoulders, long limps and was, compared to Louis, much more masculine looking. Every time Louis looked at him he couldn't help but think, That's how should look. Maybe then I could make mother proud to have me as her son.
"You can go in there now," Harry grunted at Louis. "I am finished."
"I actually don't feel like a shower anymore," Louis said, shrugging.
"Wha-I hurried up because you said you needed it!" Harry scowled, a crease forming between his eyebrows. "I didn't even wash my hair properly!"
"Oh, poor you," Louis sarcastically said. "Are your curls ruined now?" He batted his eyelashes at the boy, smirking slightly.
"You disgust me," Harry said and turned away from Louis. He opened his dresser.
"Ditto!"
Harry didn't answer him and Louis counted it as he had won. He got up from the bed and left the room without another word. Only a minute later he stood in front of Zayn and Liam's and well... now Niall's room.
It was Zayn who opened the door for him. "'Sup, Louis?" he said, smiling gently at him. "Why did you knock, you can just come in."
"Oh, I am not so sure about that," Louis said and stepped in through the door that Zayn now held open for him. "I wouldn't walk in on you and Liam doing the deed." The words was said in a sarcastic manner, but Louis wouldn't be surprised if there was some truth to them. The two of them had some heated staring contests.
"We don't do that now that Niall moved in," Zayn said with a straight face, making Louis stop dead in his tracks.
"Wha-" He had not expected him to say that.
"Louis, I am joking!"
"Yeah, Louis, he is joking," came Liam's voice from where he sat on his bed, typing away on his phone.
Louis turned toward him, walking further into the room. "Whatever you say, big guy." He looked around the room. "Where is the Irish one?"
"He already went for breakfast," Zayn chuckled. "He is waiting for us down in the cafeteria."
"Oh, okay," Louis said. He scratched the edge of his nose.
"Where is Prince Charming?" Liam then questioned. "Did the two of you finally make peace?"
"Nope," Louis said. "And it will never happen, my friend."
"Ugh!" Liam groaned. "This is going to be such a long year. We aren't a week into the year and you are already fighting royalty. Royalty, Louis. Fucking royalty."
"What can I say?" Louis shrugged and sat down on the edge of Niall's bed. "He is an annoying prick."
"I don't think so," Zayn said, sitting down on Liam's bed. "We have talked a little, he seems decent enough."
"Didn't you hear him talk to that girl on the first day?" Louis asked, gaping a little. "He was so rude!"
"He is royalty," Zayn shrugged. "If he wants to be called 'Your Highness' or 'Prince Harry' he has the right to."
"But he said in such a rude manner," Louis said.
"Is that really the only thing you are holding against him?" Liam quirked an eyebrow. "If you ask me, which you are not-but I am going to voice my opinion anyway, so live with it-you are constantly trying to start fights with him."
"I am not," Louis huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Maybe you both do it," Liam shrugged. "But according to Niall you are the one to mostly start the fights."
"Well, Niall know shit about that," Louis said, gritting his teeth. "And now, please no more Harry talk, all right? It's a Saturday. I want to do something fun and he is everything else but fun."
"Fine, whatever," Zayn said. "Let's go get some breakfast then."
Niall was already sat at the one of the tables when they entered through the big doors, waving them over eagerly. They sat down around him and he beamed at them all. "Did you see it?"
"See what?" Zayn questioned, laughing slightly at the boys excited expression. "What got you so excited?"
"You didn't see the it?" Niall questioned. "Damn, you guys are blind. There was a message hanging in the hallway. We are allowed to go into town today! We just have to be back at six and take care of our own transportation."
"Nice," Liam said at the same time as Louis asked, "The town?"
"Yeah," Niall said, taking a bite of the toast on his plate. "The town on the other side of the forest. Thirty minutes away in car. It's just by the water."
"The water?" Louis said. He had never been at the water. "As in, like, the beach?"
"Yes, Louis," Niall chuckled. "The beach."
"Oh." Louis looked down the empty spot on the table in front of him and then let his eyes trace over all three boys faces. "Can we go there?"
"I don't really think it's any interesting," Zayn said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's just a beach."
"Please," Louis said, his cheeks turning pink. He turned his gaze down. "I have never been to a beach before." It felt embarrassing to admit out loud. Everyone had been to a beach before.
Zayn, who sat beside him, looked at him with something that looked a lot like pity and swung his arm around his shoulders. "Of course we can, Lou," he said.
They called a taxi to pick them up, after they had eaten, and it arrived forty minutes later. Niall, Louis and Liam squeezed together on the backseat, Zayn taking the seat beside their driver.
"Just take us to The Town," Niall told the driver when they had all sat down.
"Doesn't this town have a name?" Louis asked as they started driving, his question directed toward Niall.
"I am not sure," Niall answered and then turned so he was looking at their driver. "Does the town have a name, sir?"
The drive-ra man in his mid thirties, with a thick, black mustache-looked in the rearview mirror, his eyes catching onto Louis for a second. Louis saw how recognition washed over him and he for a moment looked flustered over having a Tomlinson in his car, but he was quick to move his eyes to Niall, and answered his question. "No, we just call it The Town," he said. "There doesn't live a lot of people there, it's mostly shops and cafés."
"There you have your answer, Tommo," Niall grinned at Louis. "Just The Town."
Louis mumbled a low "How weird," and then turned so he was looking out the window, the scenario slowly going from fields to trees.
They drove past the train station that was placed in the middle of the forest, and through the rest of the it, until they finally could see the outlines of a small town and... the water. The ocean. Louis couldn't help but look at it in awe as they slowly neared. He had seen it in movies, on pictures, but he had only ever swam in their pool at home. His whole body was buzzing with the need to get there.
"Can you drop us off at the beach?" Louis asked the driver as they passed by the city sign. If you even could call it that. It simply said: Welcome to The Town. Louis again thought to himself it was a weird choice to name a city, but who was he to judge?
"Of course," the man said, nodding as he took a turn, driving down a small street. He took a few other turns until he was on the outskirts of The Town and stopped the car. "This is as close as you a going to get."
"Thanks," Liam said and pulled some money out of his wallet, giving it to the man. "Keep the change."
They stepped out the car, the warm September air hitting them. Louis let out a breath, letting his eyes skim over the ocean in front of them. It was beautiful. The waves came in slowly, bringing white foam with them.
"It's... wow," he whispered.
"It's a sight, yeah," Liam said, taking it in. "Come on." He gestured for them to start walking. They all followed, Liam taking the lead and it wasn't long before concrete beneath Louis' shoes was replaced by soft, white sand.
"Do you want to swim?" Niall asked Louis as they got closer to the water. "It's warm enough for it."
"I would love to," Louis said, smiling slightly. "But I don't have anything to swim in."
"We could go up and buy some trunks," Niall shrugged.
Louis was just about to say yes, but stopped himself. Trunks. As in he would be half naked. He had so far managed to not be undressed in front of anyone-not even in the changing rooms during PE (he had excused himself to the teacher and said he just needed to go to the bathroom, when the class had been close to an end. But in reality it was just an excuse to shower alone.)
He shook his head slightly. "No, it's fine."
"You sure?" Zayn asked.
"Yeah," Louis said, nodding. "I just want to... see."
They walked closer to where the water splashed over the sand and Louis looked over it. It was beautiful. A whole new world.
"I have never seen anyone so fascinated by the water before," Liam chuckled as the him and the other boys watched Louis.
"What can I say," Louis shrugged and turned to him. "I never got out and see these kind of things as a kid."
"For real?" Niall asked, looking at him disbelievingly. "Not even when driving past in a car?"
Louis let out a low chuckle. "Niall, I think the amount of times I have been out of my house could be counted on my hands."
"Oh."
Louis looked over the water one more time, before turning back to the boys. "Well, shall we go see what this town offers?"
The other boys dragged Louis into an Adidas store, all shocked about the fact that Louis had never shopped in a real life store before.
"Online shopping works too," he had shrugged, but followed them inside nonetheless.
The lights inside the shop shone bright over them, blinding Louis a little as he stepped inside the building. Rows of racks was spread over the room, displaying hoodies and tee's. And there was at least five tables full of different kinds of pants.
It was a rather big shop, considering the size of the town, but it gave them a lot to look at.
"Something specific we are looking for?" Louis asked as they walked down the aisle between racks.
"I need new hoodies," Niall said, stopping by one of the racks, pulling a blue hoodie from it. "What do guys think?" He held it up in front of him.
"Looks nice," Zayn commented from where he was standing at another rack, looking at tee's. "Try it on."
"I will," Niall said, nodding. "You finding anything, Tommo?" He looked at Louis with a smile. "We can go try it on together if you like."
"Um." Louis looked around himself, nervously biting his lips. He didn't want to turn Niall down, but he wasn't sure if Niall meant they would just walk to the changing rooms together or change in the same room. He ended up letting out a small "Fine. Just let me find something I like, okay?"
He ended up finding a hoodie that was exactly like Niall's blue, just green.
They walked to the end of the room where the changing rooms were. Louis opened the door to one of them, hoping Niall would walk into his own room, but of course he didn't. He instead followed Louis into the crowded space of the small room, grinning slightly. "Cozy," he said.
"Cozy, yeah," Louis chuckled slightly, but he felt like throwing up. There suddenly seemed to be much less air around him.
Niall pulled off his sweatshirt, leaving him without anything to cover his upper half. Louis scolded himself for not wearing a tee under his hoodie; he should have, even though the weather was hot today.
Niall quickly pulled on the blue hoodie, making a small turn for Louis. "What do you think, Tommo?"
Louis eyed him up and down. It was a good fit for him. A little long in the sleeves, but in a fashionable way. "It looks really good," he answered, smiling. "I think you should buy it."
"Nice," Niall grinned. "Now, let's see yours on."
Louis could feel his own body stiffen as he looked down the hoodie in his hands. He couldn't see a way out of this, but he also didn't want Niall to see what he looked like underneath the layers. What wouldn't he think? For God's sake, Louis' own mother couldn't even stand looking at him.
"Um-" Louis fiddled with the hem of the shirt, not looking Niall in the eyes, not daring too, "-could you maybe... turn around?"
"Turn around?" Niall asked in confusion.
"Please," Louis said on a whisper and lifted his eyes slightly so he could look Niall in the eyes.
He could see the precise moment realization washed over Niall's features and it was almost magical how quickly his expression changed from questioning to understanding. "Of course," he said softly and turned around, his back to Louis.
Louis let out a breath of air and quickly pulled of his hoodie-a black Prada hoodie-and pulled on the new one. He let out a breath of air and looked in the body-length mirror hanging on the wall behind him. He could see Niall's back in it, still facing him and let out a small chuckle. "You can turn around now, Horan."
Niall turned around slowly and beamed when he saw Louis. "Louis! It looks amazing on you."
"You think?" Louis asked nervously, fidgeting with the hem of it. It looked okay. The sleeves were slightly long, just as Niall's had been, but unlike with Niall, he didn't think it looked just as good. "I don't think it's that good."
"Hey." Niall put a securing arm around Louis' shoulders, squeezing. "You look amazing. Believe me."
Louis tried to.
***
Louis had in a short amount of time, while they were out, forgotten that there was a Prince. And that prince was Harry. And that he shared a room with Harry, but he quickly remembered when he entered their room again that night after dinner.
Harry was sat on his bed, only wearing a pair of gray sweatpants, reading a book. Louis rolled his eyes and moved to his own bed. He wasn't going to say anything, Liam's words from earlier echoing in his head.
"Is that really the only thing you are holding against him?" Liam quirked an eyebrow. "If you ask me, which you are not-but I am going to voice my opinion anyway, so live with it-you are constantly trying to start fights with him."
Louis, of course, knew this statement was wrong, but he didn't want to do anything to prove it true. So he didn't tell him anything. Instead, he just dropped his back with new clothing on his bed-he had ended up buying the hoodie and two pair of sweats. It had come as a surprise to him that, even though it wasn't as expensive as the clothes he normally wore, it was just as comfy.
He grabbed the hoodie and a pair of sweats from the bag and started walking to the bathroom, still not saying a word to Harry. Something the boy seemed to find odd.
"Are you just going to ignore me?"
Louis stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Harry. He was still looking down at the pages before him. "Yes." He then added, "From now on."
"No insults?" Harry looked up from his book, quirking an eyebrow. "That's new."
Louis sent him a fake smile. "Go fuck yourself, Your Highness." And then opening the door to the bathroom. Just before he closed it, he vaguely heard Harry answer with a, "I would if I could." Louis rolled his eyes in annoyance.
Later when he himself sat reading in his bed, Harry seemed to start getting bored. Louis normally wouldn't care if it wasn't for the fact that, Harry in his boredom, threw a pillow at Louis' face. Louis sputtered and dropped his book-The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
"What the fuck, Harold!" he yelled and looked at the boy.
"I am bored," Harry pouted. Fucking pouted.
"That sounds like a you problem," Louis scoffed and picked up his book again. "Now, leave me alone."
"You are a boring roommate."
"Piss off."
"I miss Niall."
"Can't hear you."
"Can you at least yell of me or something. It's more fun than this!" Harry groaned.
"Jesus Christ, you really are used to everyone sucking up to you, aren't you?" Louis sighed. "Go get your attention from one of your girls instead."
Harry looked weirdly at him. "I don't have any girls."
"Sure," Louis scoffed, looking down at the pages in front of him, but not registering a word.
"Fuck sake, Tomlinson," Harry growled and got up from his bed. "I was trying to make conversation." He walked to Louis' bed, his shadow hovering over Louis. Louis had to fight every urge he had to look up.
"By throwing a pillow at me?"
"Well... yes."
"Fuck off."
"Fine! I will."
Harry moved from his spot and began stomping to the door.
"Remember a shirt!" Louis called out to him, his tone mocking.
"Won't need it!" Harry angrily yelled back.
"Right," Louis mumbled and returned to a book. "Forgot some of us looks like supermodels."
***
Two weeks into the school year Louis was so close to beg his father to bring him home as he had threatened in his text that first weekend. Harry was insufferable, his mere presence annoying and he was always there. When they were not allowed to go out of their rooms at night Harry and Louis were forced to be stuck in the same room constantly. Harry often liked to draw at night, the sound of his pencil across the paper annoyed Louis, but even Louis knew that would be a idiotic thing to complain about; so he didn't. Instead, he just tensed his jaw and kept his words in.
But drawing was the only thing Harry did that Louis didn't comment on. The Sunday after Louis and the other boys trip to The Town, Louis woke up to Harry doing yoga on the floor, with music in the back ground. At seven in the morning. Louis had started yelling at Harry, which resulted in Harry yelling at Louis, which resulted in their history teacher, James Corden, had come into the room to see what was going on. Louis would almost had laughed at the face he had made when he caught Louis Tomlinson and The Prince of England yelling each others ears off, if it wasn't for the fact he had been busy with in that moment throwing a pillow at Harry's face. Pillow throwing had a that point become their thing.
That was how Louis had gotten his first detention ever and he of course had to spend it in company with Harry of all people, sitting in a class room and doing math. In silence. Next to each other. Pure hell.
And then there was the record player Harry had bought in town. He played it constantly. He had apparently brought a ton of records from home, but hadn't been able to bring his record player-something Louis was grateful for-but he had just bought a new one instead.
It wasn't that the music was bad, but it was there constantly and Harry never asked if Louis would mind if he started playing something.
But there was three main reasons he didn't want to leave the school. Yes, Harry was an utter prick, but then there was Liam. And Niall. And Zayn.
Their friendship with each other had grown a lot during the two weeks, Louis spending as much time as possible in their room to avoid Harry. Liam had set an old Samsung tv up in their room, together with an old Playstation 3 that he had bought in the thrift store and they spent their afternoons playing games, such as Sly Cooper, Band of Thieves-a game Louis was rather fond of. Unfortunately they couldn't play it together, but lucky for them they also had some Harry Potter games where you could play up to four people, together with Fifa.
They also went for walks around the school, they spent breakfast, lunch and dinner together. They were their own little group and Louis wouldn't be without it again.
Louis had never had friends before and he wouldn't give them up just because he had an awful roommate.
Somehow, despite it all, Louis felt happy.