I wasn't really in the mood to do anything anymore, let alone go to school and learn, after my brief encounter with half of The Council of Brothers, but apparently Louis felt differently.
As soon as the menacing pair had left he'd simply turned around, walked back over to the car, got in, and informed me in an eerily calm voice that we were going to be late if we didn't get a move on. The fact that he suddenly cared about being on time for physics of all things didn't really register though since I was unwillingly planted in my spot due to the paralyzing fear brought on by Elijah's words. Unlike mister tough guy over there, I needed a fucking moment.
When I was able to move my limbs again I staggered over to the driver's side, frowning as I slammed the door shut. Now, I might not know them well enough, but I'd like to think that I'm particularly fond of Louis - he is my boyfriend -, so to see him go from extremely uneasy to calm in a matter of seconds was very unsettling...
The drive to school was strangely and uncomfortably silent, to say the least. It kind of reminded me of the first time we had driven together; how stagnant the air had been between us after I'd catechized his past. I didn't like it then, and I most definitely wasn't too partial of it now. Obviously I wanted to discuss what had just happened, but again Louis must've felt otherwise, because every attempt I made at bringing it up was immediately shot down with a vague response of 'relax, everything will be taken care of'.
Right after my fifth try he'd simply shook his head, instructed me to focus on the road, then turned the volume up all the way on the Biffy Clyro CD neither of us was actually listening to. We both knew that it'd make no difference, that we'd still be able to hear each other over the incessant banging of the drums and the wailing of the bagpipes, but the message in that simple gesture was deafeningly loud to me: he didn't want to talk about it. Not even a second later the singer's voice, in a tone that genuinely seemed to be taking the piss, informed me that I should 'grow some balls and speak my mind'. I wanted to, honestly, but instead I remained metaphorically ball-less and bit back my words. And that was that.
♢
"Lou, are we just going to pretend that that didn't happen?" I questioned, tone quiet yet exasperated, as we both slid out of the car. "Is that what you're doing then?" I may have slammed the door shut a lot harder than necessary in the process, causing the window to crack in multiple places, but I paid it no mind. All of my attention was currently focused on a toothy Louis.
"I'm not pretending that it didn't happen," He said through his grin, eyes trained on the asphalt in front of us. "I'm just not very worried is all."
I couldn't help but laugh dryly at that as I held the school's front door open for him. "Yeah, right, nothing to worry about. 'S just a bunch of furious vampire Council leaders that want our heads on a silver platter. No biggie."
His steps faltered for a moment as he turned to stare at me, clearly not amused, before he rolled his eyes and continued down the hall. "You're making it sound way worse than it actually is. Elijah talks a big game Harry, but if he really wanted to kill me he would've done it long ago. He's just trying to scare us," He said, turning to pinch my cheek with a wide smile after. "Especially you."
"Well it worked!" I nearly shrieked, resulting in a few odd looks from passersby.
"Because you let it."
"Oh, my apologies for not taking being told I'm going to die after I was assured that I'd live forever in stride like you," I snapped. It's like this is one big joke to him.
"Whatever," He dismissed lightly with a wave of his hand, pushing the door to the courtyard open with his other. We remained silent as we walked over to the table that had been deemed ours a while ago; me nodding stiffly to Liam, Niall, Perrie, and Zayn as I sat down, whereas Louis actually greeted them all properly for once.
"Lovers quarrel?" Zayn raised a brow in amusement, his question aimed at Louis. I rolled my eyes, scoffing, and ignored the looks Perrie, Liam, and Niall gave me.
"Hardly," Louis chuckled, shaking his head at the same time. I scoffed again, purposely making it louder.
"What's this about, then?" Liam asked, curious eyes darting between Louis and I.
"Yeah Louis, what's this about?" I repeated, crossing my arms over my chest and turning to my left to look pointedly at him.
"Uh," He started, blinking slowly a few times before shooting me a quick glare. "Well, I think it's best that we wait till we're back home to talk about it..."
"Because that's gonna stoke the fire mate," Zayn muttered sarcastically.
Liam's brows furrowed, his features contorting into that of worry. "Again, what is this about?"
"If you don't tell them Lou, I will," I whispered almost harshly, though I knew they'd all hear anyways.
Louis sighed, and I thought that he was finally going to give in and tell them. I was wrong. "Later, yeah?" I also thought that Liam at the very least would try to force it out of him, as he always does, but. I was wrong. Again.
"Alright. Later, then."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I was outraged, yes. Could you blame me? I focused my gaze on Niall, who had been silent the entire time, and saw that he was staring at Louis and I with narrowed eyes. He looked confused and slightly agitated about something. What that was, though, I had no clue. "Alright," I placed both of my hands on the table, using them to lift myself up till I was standing, jaw tight as I fumed. "We'll just talk about our little run in with Elijah and Lewis later, then." With that I headed back inside the school, ignoring all of their shocked gasps and Louis' muttered curse words, along with his shouts of my name.
♢
~Louis' Point of View~
Earlier....
Despite what Harry might think, I needed a fucking moment too.
Actually, I needed more like a day or twenty.
But I couldn't let him see that. I needed to be strong for him, because he was still pretty new to this life, and he didn't know The Council's ways. He especially didn't know how Elijah and Lewis were. Not like I did. So I pasted on a smile that I hoped was convincing, but if anything it worried him more.
I'll admit that it was a bit peculiar for me to want to get to school so fast, but the long drive was sort of what I needed to clear my head and get it back on straight. I just needed time, which is completely reasonable right? Not to Harry, it seems, because a majority of the ride was spent avoiding ridiculous questions that were continuously spewed. Normally that would've been fine since he asks the most stupid, adorable things, but in this case it was anything but since he chose to pester me about the one subject that was touchy. So I told him to shut up as nicely as I could. And yeah, we both knew that we'd still be able to hear each other over the boisterous music, but turning the volume up seemed to get my point across since he remained silent after that. I did not want to talk about it. Not right now. And that was that.
♢
Once we were parked I was hoping for a pleasantly silent walk over to an unpleasant place, otherwise known as school, but of course that was completely out of the question. How the thought even managed to successfully cross my mind was a wonder.
"Lou, are we just going to pretend that that didn't happen?" He demanded as we both exited his car. "Is that what you're doing then?" He slammed his door roughly, and I inwardly winced at the sound of glass cracking. That poor window.
"I'm not pretending that it didn't happen," I explained, still grinning as I kept my eyes off of him and on the ground. "I'm just not very worried is all."
He let out a harsh laugh, holding the door open for me. "Yeah, right, nothing to worry about. 'S just a bunch of furious vampire Council leaders that want our heads on a silver platter. No biggie."
My pace slowed then and I turned to stare at him, less than pleased with his words, before I rolled my eyes and continued. "You're making it sound way worse than it actually is. Elijah talks a big game Harry, but if he really wanted to kill me, he would've done it long ago. He's just trying to scare us," I spoke, turning to face him so I could pinch his cheek. "Especially you."
"Well it worked!"
"Because you let it," I replied simply. Again, I was trying to remain calm for the both of us, and so far I thought I was doing a damn good job, even if he was a little mad.
"Oh, my apologies for not taking being told I'm going to die after I was assured that I'd live forever in stride like you," He snarled. Down kitty.
"Whatever," I brushed him off with a wave of my hand, using my other to push the door to the courtyard open. It was quiet as we made our way over to the stone table that had been deemed ours, by yours truly, but when we reached Zayn, Perrie, Niall, and Liam I opted for actually greeting them. Harry, though, merely nodded his head, too busy pouting. I hope he figures out, sooner rather than later, that I'm doing this to protect him. He doesn't need a burden this big on his back, especially when I'm the reason he's even got it in the first place...
"Lovers quarrel?" Zayn inquired, amused gaze on me. Beside me Harry scoffed, but I ignored it.
"Hardly," I chortled, shaking my head as well. Harry scoffed, loudly, again.
"What's this about then?" Liam wondered, his brown eyes moving from Harry to me repeatedly. I could feel Niall's eyes on me as well, but I made it a mission to avoid his gaze. If I failed, then he'd know something was up, and I was doing such a good job at keeping earlier events from him. It also helped immensely that The Council's blocking was so powerful that it messed with his ability to 'see' anything.
"Yeah Louis, what's this about?" Harry's tone was snarky as he twisted in his seat to face me.
"Uh," I racked my brain for an answer that would hold them off for a while longer, shooting Harry a quick glare for putting me on the spot like this before I answered, "Well, I think it's best that we wait till we're back home to talk about it..."
"Because that's gonna stoke the fire mate." Zayn's sarcasm wasn't helping at all.
Liam, unfortunately, had that worried look on his face. Great. "Again, what is this about?"
"If you don't tell them Lou, I will," Harry muttered sharply. We both knew that they'd all heard anyways. Thanks for that Harry.
I exhaled, "Later, yeah?"
"Alright. Later, then," Liam, surprisingly, agreed.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Harry seethed. My eyes widened, because I'd only seen him this angry once before, when he was about to beat that Carson kid to a pulp, and that seemed like ages ago. "Alright," He stood up, and I noticed that his hands were clenching and un-clenching into fists. I knew what he was about to say, and unluckily for me he managed to get it out before I could interrupt. "We'll just talk about our little run in with Elijah and Lewis later, then." He immediately took off towards the school, and I grimaced as everyone inhaled a shocked breath, clearly not expecting that.
"Shit," I muttered. "Fuck... Harry!" He ignored me. "Harry!" Again he ignored me, but his pace quickened until he was completely out of sight.
"Louis," Liam spoke slowly. "You've got an awful lot of explaining to do."
♢
Thanks to Harry, I reluctantly told them what had happened. They all reacted exactly how I knew they would, which was why I wanted to wait till we were in the privacy of our own home to do this. But, nothing ever goes my way does it.
Liam was angry, but he tried to keep a lid on it, though that didn't last very long. Zayn was also furious, but he was more concerned if anything, as was Niall. The three of them ended up lasting a total of half of first period before bunking off to go talk battle strategies and possible plans. Perrie wasn't any better, so she was more than willing to join them when Zayn had informed her of the change of plans. I was also willing to join, but I needed to stay here with Harry. He hadn't shown up to his first two classes, but I knew that he was still in the building. He was just avoiding me. He did show up at lunch though, much to my amazement. I'll admit that I was slightly disappointed when he chose to sit across from me instead of next to me, but. Beggars can't be choosers.
The air around us was reticent as we drank our lunch, and he hadn't even looked at me once since arriving. His gaze stayed glued to his phone, so mine reluctantly stayed on the book that I was attempting to read. It was in vain though, because every word was forgotten as soon as it had been viewed. I'm pretty sure I've read the same paragraph at least a dozen times already.
"So," He started, voice low. I was surprised, but quick to focus on him, book abandoned in my hands. "Where is everyone?" He had yet to actually look my way, eyes still staring intently at his phone, but it'd do.
"They bunked off during first period. I told them what had happened this morning, so they're coming up with plans and all that."
"Oh. Why didn't you go with them?" He asked in a monotone, tapping away.
"Someone needed to stay here with you," I responded, though the last word came out slightly strangled. "Besides, that's not my main area of expertise, so I'll just leave them to it for now."
"Ah." He put his phone back in his pocket and stood up, green eyes finally flicking towards me before going to survey the cafeteria. "Bell's about to ring. We should start making our way to class."
"Ok." I wasn't about to protest since he said we, which gave me hope, so I quickly stood up and gathered my things, exiting the crowded room with him once I was done. He mumbled something along the lines of 'need to get something from my locker', so I nodded my head and silently followed him to it. He grabbed a few books, and just as he closed it a voice shouted his name. We both turned to see Aaron jogging up to us, coming to a stop beside Harry.
"This morning was a right laugh man," He grinned, completely disregarding me. "You do realize that we're gonna have to do it again right?"
"Yeah. Looking forward to it," Harry smirked. "I'll see you and Sam later?" He added. When Aaron confirmed they did some weird handshake, and with that he was off.
"You were hanging out with them earlier?" I questioned, trying to sound unfazed. Those two weren't good people, and we both knew it.
"I was," He affirmed just as the bell rang. "Come on, let's get to class." I watched as he traipsed off without me and I couldn't help but wonder, why is he acting like this; like the fake Harry he supposedly despised?
♢
The next few days were not fun at all.
Liam, Niall, Zayn, and Perrie were too busy preparing for whenever it was The Council decided to attack, and I contributed every now and then - though I wasn't very good at these types of things -, so they hardly showed up to school. I still went frequently, much to my dismay, to watch over Harry. He didn't seem to be mad at me anymore, but things hadn't gone back to the way they were like I was hoping, and it didn't look like it'd be happening any time soon. We were still sitting as far apart as possible from each other at lunch and now in the library during study hall, and in a way it felt like we were that couple that was no longer in their honeymoon phase.
"Could you hand me that pencil?" I asked, motioning to the one that had rolled over to his side - no I hadn't purposely pushed it; that's just needy - of the table.
"Sure," He said, handing it to me without looking up from his own work.
Before, I would've just reached for it myself, attempting to hold in a laugh when Harry's hand would dart out and trap mine. He would grin that wonderful grin of his and gently bite the side of my hand - he had a thing for biting me, or used to - and then he'd let go and we'd spend the rest of the period giggling like idiots as our legs became entangled under the table. And that was only if he wasn't sitting next to me, which was rare.
There was a lot less talking, a lot less making out, and a lot less anything involving communication in general. Though we were still constantly together, we would never do the same thing. If I were reading he wouldn't be looking over my shoulder like he used to, he'd be playing on the Xbox or browsing the internet. If I were playing video games then he'd either lie there and listen to music or do homework, which he no longer required my assistance for. It wasn't like we were at that stage when all that mattered was their very presence, which we kind of were a few days ago, but for some reason we remained that way. I tried to do anything that would move us back in the direction of where we used to be, but nothing worked. I don't know if it's because I wasn't trying hard enough, or if it wasn't even me in the first place that needed to be doing this. Either way, the end result was always the same.
I hated it. I hated this. And in a way, I hated us. I hated what we were becoming, and I hated that there appeared to be nothing I could do about it.
♢
I thought that the last few days had been bad, but I was terribly wrong.
The next week and a half was filled with a tension that grew to be so thick, so palpable, that it made doing even the simplest of things difficult and tedious.
Harry was no longer staying over as often, suddenly preferring to be at his own house with his mum and step dad, and when he did bother to come over a majority of his time was spent with Niall or Liam when they weren't busy. If they were then he'd run off to the backyard and practice his abilities. And if he wasn't doing that, then he was hanging out with Perrie, Leigh-Anne, and Jesy (who had been somewhat forgiven), cutting up old clothes that would then be turned into weird headbands or doing who knows what. He even acknowledged Zayn more often than me. He'd also gone back to those friends he had said he hated so much, and he was going off to parties practically every night with Nick and all of his other secret friends.
I'll be honest; it hurt. I wasn't about to show it though, so I remained falsely happy and unperturbed. I kept telling myself that it was for both of our sake's, but I had become very unsure of that a while ago. We couldn't entirely avoid each other though, and after every awkward encounter we seemed to grow further and further apart. I wasn't even certain if I could call him my boyfriend anymore.
Eventually I just stopped trying to hold on to whatever it was we had, because, to me, that seems to be what Harry had done.
Before I knew it we were right back where we started.
Neither of us could stand to be in the same place as the other for long periods of time, and we more or less ended up having arguments or fights about anything and everything.
I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen, about to get a drink, when Harry was suddenly standing in front of the fridge.
"I know you saw me," I said through clenched teeth, already feeling my temperature rising.
"And?" He shrugged, reaching in and grabbing a drink.
"Fuck you," I muttered when he moved off to the side, smirking.
"Bite me," He retorted before laughing humorlessly. "Oh wait, you already did."
"And I've regretted it ever since," I shot back.
"Cheers," He raised his cup, taking a large gulp. "That makes two of us."
I rolled my eyes, grabbing a bottle then heading back to my room.
Once in my sanctuary, which had been cleared of all things Harry, I sighed loudly.
I was just trying to protect him, and he didn't see that. If he did, he was refusing to recognize it. Because of that, because of the fact that we were both too proud to admit our faults, we'd lost a friend. We'd lost a lover.
And I fucking hated it. I hated this. I hated him. I especially hated us, or the lack thereof. I hated what we became, and I hated that neither of us tried hard enough to stop it.
Mostly, though, I hated myself for causing all of this in the first place.
Harry was a mistake.
+ + + +
A/N: Thoughts? I'm stoked for the next chapter. It's gonna be good. Hopefully. I'm thinking that there are about 2 more chapters left. Eep. / Seems like a lot of major people are going on a permanent hiatus or deactivating their accounts as of late... I knew this day was coming man. I. Knew. It.
So, I've posted the prologue for a new Larry story... It's called That's The Way& it's based in 1975. Give it a read if you'd like...
This chapter's dedicated to the awesome hipstarocklarry who guessed correctly first. It was Your Body Is a Weapon by The Wombats! Thanks for playing guys. Guess again & get the next chapter dedicated to you!
Guess the Song/Artist:
"Chasing, always chasing dreams. Why'd you stick around? Why'd you stay with me? Why'd you fake it? Hesitation, is killing me too. But I couldn't save it, I couldn't save it. I hope you find a way to be yourself someday. In weakness or in strength, change can be amazing. So I pray for the best, I pray for the best for you..."
<3