Song for this chapter: skeletons by JR JR.
"Fucking great, Harry styles ruining my day once again" Louis said as he and Harry climbed the stairs to the headmasters office, Filch himself long gone before them.
"What? You're the one who started that mess in the first place!" Harry replied, rushing to reach Louis who was a few steps ahead of him.
"I wouldn't have had to do that if you hadn't started that ridiculous rumour about me! Victoria's Secret styles? Really?" Louis scoffed, shaking his head at the thought of ever even stepping foot in that damn shop.
"First of all, I wouldn't have started a rumour if you hadn't pulled that pathetic attempt of a prank. Secondly, you could actually be into all that shit and I wouldn't even know" Harry smirked, the face Louis pulled was comical.
"If anyone wants a thong up their ass it's you" Louis stated, "you already wear all them girly suits with the floral patterns, it really wouldn't surprise me if I found your own collection of women's underwear in your drawers"
"The suits aren't girly Tomlinson. It's actually on trend to wear shit like this nowadays, but you wouldn't know that would you" Harry said as he looked down at his suit of choice for the day; Breakfast. "You're so fucking old fashioned"
"I am not old fashioned! Just because my father wants our family to have proper etiquette and wear smart clothes it doesn't mean I'm not up to date with the latest trends" Louis argued, wiping food from his face. "But that also doesn't mean I've got to agree with them"
"You might not agree with it, and that's completely fine. Not everyone's going to like a certain trend, but you can't forget that others do and it's not right to take the piss out of them for it. I think your suits are boring, but I don't mention that every day"
"You just did mention it" Louis rolled his eyes.
"For Christ sake! You completely missed my point Louis"
"I didn't miss your point, I just chose not to speak on it. And quite frankly, I think I'm doing a good thing by telling you the outfits look ridiculous. Isn't that what people are supposed to do? Tell the truth" Louis pointed out.
Harry shook his head. "Sometimes the truth hurts people" he said, his voice becoming small.
Louis hesitated a moment, thinking about what Harry had said.
Am I hurting him? Surely not. He's said much worse than me.
"It does. But wouldn't you rather have me tell you you look awful in them suits than lie to you and watch you go out in front of everyone else wearing something that makes you look bad?" Louis asked, watching Harry out if the corner of his eye.
"You're the only person I've ever met who has disliked what I wear so much. Everyone else compliments me on my fashion sense. That's why I think you're lying when you say I look bad. I think deep down you know they suit me but you're just to proud to admit it" Harry said, but there was no cockiness in his tone, it was sincere. "Besides, no matter how many times you tell me I look bad it's not going to change what I do or what I wear"
By now the boys were nearing the office and Louis was stumped. He didn't know what to say.
No, he looks terrible in them suits. So girly. So weird. He looks bad bad bad. So bad. Freak!
Louis stopped outside the door to the office, harry standing next to him with an expectant look on his face.
"Believe what you want Styles. Your fashion sense is laughable and I'm just glad that's one suit finally gone" he gestured to Harry's food covered suit, there were stains of red, yellow, brown and many more that would take forever to get out.
They held their stare for a beat before Louis turned his head and knocked on the door harshly, a faint "come in" could be heard from inside. Louis pushed open the door and walked inside, not bothering to wait for Harry or hold the door open.
Professor Filch was sat in his chair behind the desk, his eyes narrowing on the two boys as they took their seats in front of him. The atmosphere in the room was tense and silent. Louis and Harry were waiting for something, anything, to happen; it was like waiting for a bomb to explode.
Filch sighed, rubbed his forehead and leaned forward. "So, who started it?" He asked, and immediately Harry and Louis pointed to each other. "Right, stupid question" he looked between them, his eyes lingering on Harry for a moment with a hint of disappointment.
"What on earth were you boys thinking?" He asked, and Louis looked down at the floor whilst Harrys eyes were focused on the book shelf. "You know we don't tolerate that kind of behaviour in our school. It was childish and irresponsible, I would have expected better from our top students but clearly they don't excel in maturity as they do in academics" he insulted, and Louis shook his head at the comment. "You don't agree Mr Tomlinson?"
"No, I don't. My father made sure I was mature by the age of ten, the mishap this morning doesn't change that" Louis replied, now focusing his attention on the Professor.
Harry scoffed besides him, and Louis saw him smiling as he turned to face the boy. "Is that amusing to you styles?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Yes. I find it funny how you speak of being mature and yet you've only shown me the opposite since the moment I met you" Harry said, turning his head to look at Louis.
"You bring out the worst in me" Louis mumbled after a moment, not noticing how Filch looked between them with a knowing glint in his eyes.
"You two clearly don't get along, and I assume it's because of the room mistake?" Filch asked.
"You could say that" Harry replied.
"It certainly doesn't help the situation" Louis added.
Filch nodded slowly. "You clash because you're both strong minded people. Louis, you've been brought up with power and you reflect heavily off your father, and Harry, you don't take well to being pushed around and you've learned to defend yourself. It's no wonder you don't get along. You're both fighting against a friendship because you don't want to stray from what you believe in. But I think if you let down your walls a little, you'd be inseparable. You have a lot more in common than you think" Filch said wisely, his hands locked on the table.
"That's ridiculous! I don't have walls up, I'm not fighting against anything. I'm just being me, a Tomlinson, and clearly Harry can't accept that. We have nothing in common and we will never be friends" Louis replied, his anger flaring up once again as he gripped the chair with white knuckles. "Stop acting like you know either of us personally. You don't, so you can't sit there and pretend to be a bloody therapist!"
Harry looked up and raised his eyebrows at Professor Filch, the headmaster sending back a knowing smirk that Louis didn't catch.
"Harry, what do you think?" Filch asked the boy, his tone softer than when he spoke to Louis.
"I agree, I don't think we can ever be friends because Louis' head is too far stuck up his own ass" Harry said, and Louis was about to interrupt when the headmaster silenced him. "He said it himself, Tomlinson's don't have friends, why would I be the one to change that?" He asked with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Because I think you two would work well together if you'd let a friendship flourish" Louis rolled his eyes at his wording. "I reckon you're both just too stubborn to let go of this grudge you both have with each other, and that's the only thing preventing you from getting along"
"Excuse my language sir but I honestly couldn't give two shits about letting go of a grudge. You can sit here and try persuade us to get along all you'd like, it's never going to happen" Louis replied, leaning back in his chair.
"Well, I can't force a friendship can I. But I'd still like to think that in the future it will happen naturally" Professor Filch accepted with a small smile before he turned serious once again. "Now, you both know the rules. There are consequences for behaviour like that this morning" he looked at Louis who huffed. "It doesn't matter who you are or what family you come from, you still get the same treatment every student does who goes here"
It does matter. I'm a Tomlinson.
"Everyone should be back in class right now, and that means the hall is most likely still a complete mess"
Oh god no.
"Please don't say what I think you're going to say right now" Louis pleaded, his face screwing up with dread.
"I want you both to go back to classes as normal, and at the end of sixth period you're going to finish cleaning up the mess you've made"
"But Andr- sir. You can't possibly think we can clean all that up between the two of us. It'll take hours" Harry said, his eyes going wide as he discreetly looked towards Louis who's brows furrowed in confusion.
Filch gave Harry a pointed look before glancing at Louis. He coughed slightly before sitting up straight and shook his head. "Maybe you should have thought about that before you wasted all that food. I thought you were more mature than this Harry"
Harry bit the inside of his lip and dropped his eyes down to his lap where his hands were fidgeting with his blazer. "I'm sorry" he mumbled.
The headmaster nodded with a tight smile. "The next time you two end up in my office I won't go lightly on the punishment. I hope you two learn to get along. Now go, you don't want to keep your teachers waiting" he dismissed, and the two boys practically shot out of their seats and fled the room.
Louis slammed the door shut and jogged after Harry. The boy in front of him seemed to be trying his hardest to get away from Louis, not looking back even as he shouted his name.
"Styles, fucking slow down would you!"
Harry shook his head and continued jogging down the stairs. Louis clenched his jaw and sped up again, trying his best not to trip down the stairs.
They were nearing the ground floor when Louis finally caught up with him. As harry was about to round the corner, Louis grabbed his arm and pulled him back forcefully. Harry winced as Louis shoved him to the wall and cornered him, not letting him escape.
"Stop running for fuck sake" Louis growled, panting to catch his breath.
"Stop chasing then" Harry replied, shoving Louis away from him by his chest, however he didn't move to run again.
"I wouldn't have to chase you if you would just talk to me"
"What the fuck is there to talk about? We got in trouble and now we're going to class. It happened, it's done with"
"It's not bloody done with. You need to tell everyone that rumour is fake" Louis demanded, looking around to make sure there were no teachers.
"Oh fuck off I don't have time for this. Not my fault your knickers are in a twist; no pun intended" Harry smirked.
"For the last time, I don't wear women's underwear and you know that! Just tell them it was a joke"
"Why do you care so much? If it wasn't true surely you wouldn't be so bothered" Harry said with a grin, tilting his head to the side. "Maybe there is some truth in it after all, Tomlinson's got a dirty little secret"
"If I had a secret I sure as fuck wouldn't tell you. And I'm bothered because I can't have absurd rumours like that going around about me, wether they're fake or not. I've got a reputation to uphold so can you stop being a prick and clear it up"
"I don't get why you care about your reputation so damn much. You're in school Louis, not at home anymore, most kids our age aren't thinking about keeping up their image of some posh business man who doesn't give a shit about having some fun once in a while" Harry replied, his tone suggesting he was trying hard to understand his room mate.
"I'm not like most kids, I never will be. You wouldn't understand so don't try" Louis said, getting defensive.
"No you just don't want to be, because you care more about pleasing your father than your own happiness"
Louis looked up at Harry for a moment before adverting his eyes to the floor. He gulped as it went silent, trying to gather his thoughts.
He can read you too well. No he can't. He can, he can see right through you. No. He already knows too much. He doesn't!
"Stop acting like you know anything about me. You don't! You don't know what I care about, what I prioritise. Why I am the way I am or how I got here, you know nothing! Stop being a nosy little shit and stop assuming everything" He shouted, and he was surely going to draw attention to them but he couldn't see past his rage. "I'm going to classes now and by sixth period I want this rumour gone"
Louis didn't wait for a response, he glared at harry before shoving past him and turned the corner to rush off to class.
"We're in the same class Louis" Harry called, his footsteps following behind him slowly.
"Just fuck off!"
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For the remainder of the day, Louis noticed he was still getting stares and whispers directed towards him. People pointing with amused expressions and the words "Tomlinson" and "panties" floating around the school like a game of Chinese whispers.
It made it hard for him to concentrate on anything other than his thoughts and the nagging feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. He had excused himself from classes multiple times throughout the day with the feeling of behind sick rising up his throat; only when he sank to the floor each time in the bathroom stalls nothing came out except shaky breaths as panic rushed over him continuously.
What would father think if he heard about this? Everyone else thinks you're a joke. A pathetic excuse of a Tomlinson.
He ignored it as best he could, sneering at anyone who so much as looked his way. He barely spoke to Liam and Zayn, who were persistent in asking him if he was okay, if he needed some water, food, a hug. All he really wanted was to go to his room and fall asleep as if nothing had ever happened.
But he couldn't, because now that his final class of the day had finished he still had work to do. And a lot of it. As he had passed the hall throughout the day, which had now been closed off by the teachers, he groaned each time just looking at the copious amounts of
food scattered around the room.
Louis sighed as he pushed open the large doors to the hall, leaving his bag in the hallway so it wouldn't get ruined. He saw Harry was already in there, waiting besides a few buckets of soapy water, brushes, mops, cloths and bin bags along with rubber gloves. His nose wrinkled at the smell of the room and his lip turned up at the food he was stepping on.
"Took your time" Harry said, his hand resting on his hip as he watched Louis walk towards him.
"I'm seriously not in the fucking mood for your snarky comments right now styles. Let just get this shit over with" he replied as he picked up a pair of rubber gloves and put them on.
"Ah, should have guessed you'd be pissy about cleaning" Harry quipped, putting his own gloves on.
"Anyone would be pissy about cleaning this shit up. Looks like the other participants didn't get far with it" Louis scoffed, seeing that less than a quarter of the room had been cleaned.
"Hm, I guess they spent more time cleaning themselves up, what with us being the only students still covered in food all day" Harry pointed out "god I bet we stunk the classrooms out"
"You already do that on a daily basis" Louis grinned, taking the mop and soaking it in the hot water.
"Do you have to be a prick about literally everything? I was just trying to make conversation" Harry replied, grabbing a bin bag forcefully.
"I do actually, I often find it hard to restrain myself from insulting you. You make it too easy" Louis sarcastically said, giving Harry a fake smile.
"I make it too easy? I don't even give you reasons to dislike me so much"
"You do many things to make me dislike you. Just your presence is annoying"
"Ok what kind of things do I do that are annoying then?" Harry asked as he started sweeping food from the tables into his bin bag.
"You really wanna know? This could take a while styles, but if you insist" He lent against the mop and began counting on his fingers. "You practice meditation at ungodly hours of the morning, you play awful music whilst you do said meditation. You threw my clothes out the window, you left my room a mess after the prank, when you eat you do that weird thing with your tongue-
"Heyy, I do not!"
"Yes you do, you look like a fucking llama when you eat. You wear weird clothes and you take the piss out of me any chance you get. You speak so slowly that it's hard to not fall asleep listening to you. You started that fucking rumour about me! Need I go on?" Louis finished, and there were a lot more things he could have mentioned if he had wanted to.
"Have you not noticed that the majority of those things you just listed are things I've done in retaliation to you being a dickhead?" Harry replied, quirking an eyebrow at him.
"I'm only a dickhead when I need to be, that seems to be all the time when I'm around you" Louis said, getting back to work as he mopped the floor.
"You're so weird. I can't understand you"
"I'm not the one with four nipples" Louis mumbled, rolling his eyes.
Harry stopped completely, turning round to look at Louis with his eyebrows raised. "And how exactly do you know I've got four nipples?" He asked with a grin.
Louis froze. Shit!
"They weren't exactly hard to miss in the changing rooms" he shrugged, busying himself with cleaning.
"Why were you watching me get changed then?" Harry pressed, an expectant look on his face.
"I wasn't! I just happened to turn around at the wrong time" Louis stuttered, his cheeks growing red.
"You sure Tomlinson? Hey, I won't judge you for looking, I know I've got a great figure" Harry gloated, his hands gesturing down his body.
"Oh please, you've still got baby fat and love handles. Don't be too impressed with yourself"
"Don't lie to me Louis, you wish you had a body like mine, with the extra nipples and all"
"Ew, no. Just no. I prefer my body without the deformities thank you very much" Louis said before pretending to gag.
"They're not deformities. I think they might come in handy in the future actually" Harry smirked. "Oh, and you're doing it wrong by the way" pointing to Louis' mop. "You're meant to move the food before you mop the floor"
"I am not doing it wrong! How the fuck will I move the food anyway? And why would extra nipples come in handy? They don't bloody do anything"
"You either pick it up and put it in a bin bag, or you brush it into a dust pan. It's not rocket science" Harry pointed to the brush and dust pan. "And google it, clearly you've never learnt anything in that 'field' before"
Louis sighed and threw the mop down before grabbing the dust pan. "What field? Why can't you just explain it?"
"Because I highly doubt you would want to have that conversation with me of all people"
"What fucking conversation? You're not making any sense!" Louis asked as he began sweeping the food up.
"Oh god, you really don't know anything do you?" Harry said with a laugh.
"What do you expect? You're being so- so cryptic! I have no clue what you're talking about because all you're doing is hinting at shit. What conversation could we possible have that's related to nipples?"
"All I'm going to say is there can be a purpose for nipples, but it might be too outrageous for your type to handle"
"My type? What exactly is my type?"
"The fact that you don't even know what I'm talking about shows you're too, proper, shall I say for a conversation about that. I'm guessing Tomlinson's don't speak about anything scandalous in public"
"Scandalous? Why would nipples be scandalous?"
"For gods sake Louis, just google it!" Harry shouted in amusement. "I'm not talking to you about nipples, we're supposed to be cleaning"
"Fine! I will!"
"Fine"
For the next 20 minutes the boys worked in silence, ignoring one another as they cleaned. Harry focused on the tables, clearing off all the food before wiping them down with anti bacterial spray. As he worked, he hummed songs to himself that Louis didn't recognise and he had to bite his tongue to not tell him to shut up every five minutes. Louis focused on the floor, sweeping up the food so he could then mop it later on and he cursed under his breath every time some food would fall out the dust bin and back onto the floor.
Louis sat down on a now clean bench and wiped his forehead. "We're getting fucking nowhere! I'm tired already and we've only managed to get one table clean and a small section of the floor. What about the walls, the paintings, the windows. How the fuck will we clean the damn ceiling!" Louis groaned, his back slouching as it ached.
"Complaining isn't going to get us anywhere for a start and- Louis! Stand the fuck up I just cleaned that!" Harry suddenly realised, noticing that Louis was sat on the bench with his food covered clothes.
"Maybe you should have cleaned the benches last then!"
"Maybe you shouldn't sit on them at all"
"Maybe i don't want to get scoliosis from standing and bending for so long"
"Stop being a drama queen, that's not how it works"
"I'm not a drama queen! I've had a shit day all because of your stupid rumour and now I'm stuck in here cleaning with you when I could be in bed right now relaxing. I'm bored out of my mind" Louis shot back, his hands on his knees.
Harry thought for a moment and placed his cloth down. "Why don't we play 20 questions, but like, the getting to know each other version"
"Why on earth would we play that? One, we're not friends and therefore I don't want to get to know you. Two, it's childish"
"Oh come on Tomlinson. We're both bored so we might as well. It'll distract us from the cleaning" Harry persuaded.
"20 questions is just as boring as the cleaning it's self" Louis argued back.
"Ohh, I get it" Harry said with a smirk, wiping down the table.
"Get what?"
"You're a Tomlinson, so you're too pussy to let anyone know anything about you. I understand"
"What? I'm not too pussy, it's got nothing to do with me being a Tomlinson. It's just a shitty game. I mean, it's not even a game. We're just asking each other questions" Louis defended, crossing his arms.
"Well, I just thought, you know. Seeming as cleaning is soo boring you would want to do something in the mean time. But no, the world would obviously end if you so much as told me when your birthday is!" Harry replied, sarcasm thick in his tone.
"Oh my fucking god, fine! I'll play your dumb game. Just so you'll stop being a sarcastic bitch" Louis gave in, standing up to continue sweeping the floor.
"Wow, Louis Tomlinson actually agreeing to one of my ideas for once. Who would've seen that coming"
"Do you want me to play the fucking game or not? Drop the attitude, it's not cute"
"Awh, you think I can be cute without the attitude! God I'm overwhelmed with compliments today" Harry replied giddily, fluttering his eye lashes.
"Shut up curly, start the game"
"And a new nickname too! Just propose already" Harry said loudly, holding out his hand as if Louis were to put a ring on it.
"What has gotten into you? Stop being a freak. As if I'd ever want to marry you" He grimaced, looking utterly disgusted.
"Anyone would be lucky to marry me" is all harry said, over exaggerating his smile.
"Fuck it! I'll start. What's your full name?" He asked with a bored tone.
"I really thought these would be more exciting questions but I guess we can work up to that" he shrugged teasingly. "Harry Edward Styles"
"Sounds posh I guess. Never heard of your family though so I'm sure you're not that important"
Harry frowned a little before he masked it with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yeah, right. Um, when is your birthday?"
"And you insulted my question" he rolled his eyes once again. "Christmas Eve"
"Wow, seriously?"
"Yup" he popped the p.
"There always seems to be mixed opinions with Christmas birthdays. Is it good or bad?" Harry asked curiously.
"I don't know. Both? I get lots of presents which is nice, but we don't really celebrate much in our family. We do a gala or ball type thing every Christmas Eve wether it's my birthday or not, so it kind of gets forgotten about by the time it's mid day" Louis explained, and he couldn't quite keep his mask on as his lips turned downwards and his voice grew quieter.
Harry frowned at his sad expression and explanation. How could anyone forget about their sons birthday? Or, not care about it.
"Forget?" He questioned, watching Louis closely.
"Well, by the time I've finished opening my last present, then it's all about preparing for the ball. It's not about me anymore, it's about impressing the guests and remembering my manners and decorating the house and- it's just not my birthday then. It's Christmas Eve"
Stop talking about it.
"Doesn't that upset you?"
"No. You get used to it" he breathed out heavily. "Anyway, um, what's your biggest fear?"
"I'm scared of a lot of things actually, but I guess my biggest is being completely alone"
"Why?" Louis asked. He had never felt that before. Or, maybe once, in his head. But in reality Louis had always been surrounded by multiple people. He had a large family and there were always his fathers work colleagues or maids and chefs around the house.
"Why wouldn't that be scary? Just, the idea of losing everyone, not having any friends or family; it's terrifying" Harry replied, not knowing exactly how to word it.
"Not if you don't get attached to people in the first place. If you don't have friends you can't lose them"
Shut up! You shouldn't even be playing this.
"Is that why you won't make friends? You don't want to lose any"
"No. I just don't need them, it's all I've ever known, I've never had a friend and I've been just fine without any. There's no unnecessary drama, or arguments, and they can't turn their back on you. People want to be my friend, they'll always be fighting for that, but I'll never give them that title so that they can't fuck me over"
"But if people want to be friends with you so badly why do you believe they will fuck you over?"
"Because that's just how people are. Everyone is fake these days, you never know who's being genuine and they can turn on you at any moment. Plus, I'm sure people only want to be friends with me for my surname, I won't give them that satisfaction"
"But-"
"Can we move on, I'm done talking about this" Louis interrupted before Harry could question him further. He didn't like talking about these type things. Why he is the way he is or what his intentions are. All he ever tried to do was respect his fathers wishes and do as he was told. If having no friends was an order, then so be it.
"Okay. What's your favourite memory?" Harry asked whilst spraying down another table.
Louis thought for a moment before answering, a smile on his face. "I um, I guess Uh-" he shook his head, trying to push the words from his mouth. "One time, my father was hosting this big meal at my house with a lot of important people. Many I think we're his work colleagues, some famous people, I can't remember it all too well. I was only 10, and my siblings were even younger. We were bored, as most children are at important events, but my father wouldn't excuse us from the table to go play upstairs. He was always so focused on our image, still is, but my mum was a whole different story. She was the kindest person I've ever known, she was selfless and loving, she put us first before everything" he paused with a frown, noticing harry had stopped cleaning and was listening with full focus on him. "She managed to persuade my father somehow and we finally left, she came with us. We ended up playing board games by the fireplace in our sitting room for hours, she gave us sweets and chocolate which we weren't usually allowed. Then at the end of the night she read us all bed time stories and tucked us in. That's my favourite memory"
It went silent again as Harry took in the information and Louis replayed the memory over and over in his head. He wished he still had that. A loving mother, childhood memories, board games, sweets. Freedom. It was different now. His mother was replaced by a stone with her name on it and paintings on the walls. Childhood memories were now his dreams. Sweets were a poison that would make him unattractive and freedom was a myth.
"She sounds amazing" Harry said, cutting through the silence with a small voice, barely above a whisper.
"She was" Louis replied, his face stoic and his mind hazy as he blindly began cleaning again.
"How. Um, how did she-"
"Stop. Don't even ask" Louis snapped, clenching the brush in his hands till his knuckles were white and his veins were strained.
You said too much! Too much too much too much. You're so stupid. He shouldn't know that. He shouldn't know anything. This is private. Stop letting him in!
"I'm sorry I-"
"Just shut the fuck up. Stop being a pest and get on with your work. I'm done with this game" Louis interrupted again, his voice laced with venom and his eyes turning to slits.
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Author notes:
I was planning on making this chapter longer but I think this is long enough and it was a good point to stop at haha.
Sorry this took a while to put out, I've had my nails done for the first time and I've been finding it hard to type lmao. It's also been a little crazy with the 1D anniversary so I've been busy with that.
So, that was their first proper conversation! The game didn't last long but Louis put a stop to it as soon as he realised he was revealing too much. What are your thoughts so far?
Hope you enjoyed, don't forget to comment and vote!
I love you all xxx