Louis sighed as he looked at Catherine who was painting on her canvas with one hand resting on her chin while the other used the paint brush to dip into the blended mess of paint resting beside her.
His grey orbs took in the sight of how she focused so deeply on the canvas. How flawless she looked even though she wasn't even trying.
The flutter of her long eyelashes as they dusted against her cheeks. The pucker of her naturally dark pink lips as she tilted her head to the side in order to really get what she was painting.
"I'm bored." He stated, grimacing at the typical painting of fruit on the canvas. He had given her so many ideas on what to paint and she ends up doing the cliché red apples with bananas and grapes. "Can we go do something?" His grey orbs went from the painting to his friend who rolled her eyes as she sat the brush down.
"What do you want to do?" She breathed, turning to face him. Her expression curious as she looked at him with sincerity. She almost looked normal.
Like a beautiful woman who was merely painting fruits. Not a witch who took the most important feeling away from Louis.
Throughout the year, the two had grown close. She was the one that he ran to after the break up, crying his eyes out. After her it was Niall but the two had kind of distanced due to Niall picking up more shifts at his job.
At first it bothered the grey eyed man that his friend had done such a thing but it gave him more time to focus on himself and get things that he needed since he was starting fresh.
The first thing he did was buy a small apartment in an area that was close to his new job which unfortunately had to be right across the street from Harry's mother's bakery.
Then, he bought a bike because he absolutely hated walking now. Especially now that he was by himself so it was terrifyingly lonely.
After, he bought new clothes and changed his style from sweaters to graphic tees. He grew his hair down to his neck so the strands could dust against his skin because he always wanted to do that.
Lastly, he went to his only friend in this stupid town and ranted his heart out about how hard it was to leave Harry. And to lose his best friends that were supposed to have his back.
So here he was, with the woman who he depended on. You could say the two were what others may call best friends. He tells her everything about his personal life while she listens and reciprocates. Of course, there would be times where he would feel off about her like when she would ask about Harry but maybe she was just curious.
"I don't know but I have to go to work in two hours." He grumbled, rolling around in her unmade sheets from his place on the bed. Her loft was small but she seemed to adjust and become comfortable with the lack of walls between rooms.
At least her's felt like a home.
"Hmmm," she hummed, stroking her imaginary beard as she thought. "We could go to the park and bird watch like couples do." She smiled as Louis rolled his eyes, glancing at his phone that was blowing up with text messages from recent dates he had been on.
"Why cant they just leave me alone." Louis grumbled, shoving his face underneath a pillow because he didn't want to talk to them. All they talked about was sports and how they wanted to have more 'fun'.
"Maybe because they enjoyed you two fucking." Catherine giggled, returning to painting since she was almost done. She knew of Louis' wild nights because he would always run to her to talk about them.
"We didn't just fuck." Louis gushed, removing the pillow from his face before tucking a wayward strand of hair behind his ear. "We talked." He added which earned him an eye roll.
"Yeah, about how great his dick felt in your arse." She hummed, making his face beat red. She bit at her full lips in concentration as she continued, leaving Louis in silence.
He used the silence to meditate since that was what he had been into for the past year. He closed his eyes and thought about how he was feeling because even if its been a year, his feelings were still all over the place.
He wanted to miss Harry. He really did. But now all he could feel was...well nothing.
When the part of his soul was taken from him, it took the ability to love which meant that not only would Harry be effected but his friends as well.
He couldn't feel the attachment he had towards Niall and Zayn. That must be why it didn't bother him when the three of them stopped talking and went their different ways.
"Don't fall asleep on me now." Her sweet voice purred as she glanced towards the bed to see him resting on his back with his hands resting on his chest.
"I'm just thinking." He murmured, looking up towards the ceiling as he continued to disregard the repetitive vibration of his phone alerting him.
It wasn't even like he slept with numerous guys to the point where it was scandalous. He just needed a little pleasure here and there since he made a vow, not only to himself but Catherine as well, that he would stay single.
It couldn't be that hard.
Only that at night when he cried, he was on his own. No one to call when he needed bandages. No one to cuddle next to or wake up in the middle of the night for some ridiculous reason.
Not being with Harry took a toll on him. But he still didn't have the emotions needed to desperately want to be with him. And he was fine with that.
Because he was dependent on Harry. And that's not good. Even for a 26 year old.
"Shit," Catherine mumbled as she smudged a bit of paint onto the wrong area, using her magic to easy wipe the mistake away. "Go out and do something, Lou. I'm gonna be here for a while." She hummed, noticing how he was rubbing at his shoulder with a dreary expression on his face.
"Can't you just use your magic to finish it?" He asked, noticing how she was far from finished. He would have easily just left but who would he be going home to? The only thing he could do was take a stroll down the park and- no.
He couldn't go back there again.
"Where's the fun in that?" She smirked, waving goodbye to him as he stood up from the bed, tottering to the door with a sigh because he didn't want to go home.
He never liked to go home after spending time with Catherine because what was he to do?
He didn't have Niall or Zayn anymore. The bar was a no-go.
And Harry...
Harry was done.
But he did have one person who conveniently lived close by to his new best friend's place. So with a smile on his face he made his way to the building that was just across the street from Catherine's, buzzing the button with the piece of white tape labeled 'Hemmings'.
Luckily, he has been in contact with Luke through his year of finding himself, keeping some connection to the bar since he was never the type of person to step away from his old stomping grounds without a care in the world.
He smiled when he heard the buzzing sound that meant the door was open, causing him to grab the handle with a sense of relief because he most definitely didn't want to go back to his lonely apartment and watch another damn lifetime movie.
He knew his way after the black gated door. Go right up to the elevator, wait a second, enter the metal contraption that always reeked of bleach and cheap perfume, press the silver button with the number five. And wait.
One thing Louis absolutely hated about elevators was that it was always dead quiet and the moments inside the dimly lit place was like hell because the walls felt like they were closing in on him, suffocating him until there's a ding. Then the doors open and he can breathe.
He blinked rapidly, taking a deep breath as he stepped out through the thick doors, looking right and then left. Even though he knew he was turning right.
The door was all the way at the end and the only way he could tell a difference between all the other chilled forrest green doors was the bold letters that read, 'LH' next to the door frame on yet another piece of white tape.
Louis didn't even have to knock to know that the door would open to reveal a pair of lively blue eyes that always made him envious. His lip ring still rested on his dark pink lips while his skin had actually gained a bit of color from the sun.
"Hey, Lou." Luke's strong accent greeted as he embraced him into a hug that was reciprocated, the smaller man's arms going around his slim waist while the blonde's wrapped around his neck.
"Hey, Luke." He smiled, chuckling when he felt the blonde shake him playfully to the point where the two had almost fell. "Let go," he groaned when the two had stumbled into his apartment, almost crashing into the coffee table just like every time Louis came to visit.
"I can't help it," Luke grumbled, pouting as he pressed his cheek against Louis' forehead due to the height difference. He scrunched his nose up at the smell of nicotine that reeked off of his friend's shirt, deciding not to say anything because that might kill the mood.
"How have you been?" Louis asked since he knew that the blonde would comply with his request for personal space soon. He smiled when he felt his arms retract, revealing his beaming facial features that showed glowing eyes and a wide smile.
"I'm fine," he hummed, leaving the living room to go into the kitchen that was just a few steps away. He bent down to open the fridge, grabbing two water bottles since he knew that Louis would want one. "Ashton and I are doing good again. Especially after that whole Harry thing."
With his back facing towards his guest, it gave Louis the chance to roll his eyes and plop down onto the light brown couch that matched the dark wood coffee table and tan wooding on the floors.
Luke's apartment was small but perfect since it was only him and Ashton. With one room, bathroom, and kitchen that was in the same room as the living room; Luke could never be happier.
And the environment was absolutely cozy with the few throw pillows on the couch along with paintings that decorated the creme colored walls. It was so warm and welcoming. Something Louis needed desperately.
Of course, Louis knew about 'the Harry thing' since Luke had told him about how the brunette had a stern talking to with Ashton that was most likely filled with threats and death stares.
"How are you? It's been a while since we talked." Luke asked, pulling Louis from his pouting to smile slightly at the offering of a water bottle as the blonde took a seat beside his mate.
His voice was soft as he smiled at his friend, showing absolute adoration with each flutter of his long eyelashes. He had begun to grow his hair out, changing the usual quiff to a now more flattened 'I just got out of bed' look which actually wasn't that bad.
Luke had changed throughout the year. Not only were his looks evolving but his compassion as well. He always wanted to know what was wrong with Louis. No matter how bad it was.
It was obvious that something was bothering Louis. Whether it be the fact that he couldn't be with the love of his life, the fact that his best friend is a witch who was in some part involved in that, losing his best friends, losing his stable job at the bar, having no one to fall back on again, and his depression.
Behind his grey eyes, Louis desperately wanted to cry. Cry until his eyes were dry and he had nothing else to scream about. To punch at something until his knuckles were bleeding.
But of course, he had to hold back on all of that and simply put on a smile because that's what he was best at. Putting on a mask and pushing back the matters that were circling around his head until they were locked in a tight little box in his head.
Almost like a chest. Like the one that-no.
With a shake of his head to clear his thoughts, Louis straightened in his seat, fixing his posture as if he were being judged. One hand in a tight fist while the other clung onto the water bottle as if it would slip from his shaking fingers.
"Oh, I'm great." He grinned, making sure that his smile was believable since he didn't want the blonde to worry and he definitely didn't want to explain what the hell happened in his life that made him like this.