Again, if this makes sense I will throw a party! x
Once Louis had reluctantly returned back to work he’d found the only thing that was putting a smile on his face were the amusing texts Harry would send whenever he had a break. They were about silly little things that had happened at the busy store or some weird and wonderful dreams Harry had dreamt the night before. Of all of them his favourite so far was definitely the most recent one...
‘Almost slipped over with the tattoo gun and branded Niall earlier XD’
Unfortunately for Louis he read it whilst one of his classes was reading in silence and had to cleverly disguise his snort of laughter as a coughing fit. He replied quickly and put his phone down with a small smile on his face. The two boys hadn’t seen each other for over a week and therefore Louis hadn’t seen this ‘horrendous’ essay of Harry’s. It was a good reason for them to meet up when Louis had some time free. Liam had been begging Louis to visit the store again every day buy Louis had insisted he had to finish his work before visiting the place again. Liam didn’t complain too much because he was still buzzing after his ‘date’ with Zayn, the Bradford boy had even given Liam his number. Louis was too busy daydreaming he didn’t notice the bell ringing and the class waiting patiently to be let out.
“Sir, it’s the end of the day can we go?” A boy from the front row called out and snapped Louis out of his daydream.
“Oops, yeah sorry guys,” Louis blushed and dismissed them all before clearing up his equipment. His phone was flashing and buzzing and Louis shoved it in his pocket as he hurried to his form room. He’d have to reply to whoever was texting him after he’d taken form.
After being five minutes late to Form and having to explain to the children who were moaning about missing their buses and needing to be elsewhere, Louis slumped down into his seat and pulled his phone out.
‘I’ve got the afternoon off, do you want to get something 2 eat with me after ur work? ~ H xx’
It came as a bit of a shock for Louis that Harry wanted to see him outside the shop. It was a bit of a mystery to him how they’d even become friends and he almost forgot to reply.
‘Sure! But I might be marking at the same time sorry xx’
Louis realised how sad and boring he must sound but there really wasn’t much he could do about it, he had to mark all the end of term tests before Christmas and he had three classes of around thirty to get through.
‘Don’t worry Mr Tomlinson :P xx’
Louis frowned at the nickname but decided not to reply; he picked his bag up off his desk and locked up the room before striding as quickly as he could to his car. The less time he wasted the less worried he’d be about not finishing all these tests by the end of term. He was about to open his car when he crashed into one of the other teachers.
“Louis? Are you in a rush or do you have a minute?” Louis looked up to see Mr Parkins, one of the PE teachers.
“Uh, I’m just on my way to see a friend...” Louis shrugged, “But let me just put these things in the car and I have literally about five minutes to talk.”
“That’s fine thanks,” Mr Parkins nodded and Louis rushed to his car and opened the boot. He closed the car up again and with a deep breath he turned round to find out what Mr Parkins wanted. “Are you sure you have time?” The other teacher raised an eyebrow at Louis practically jumping up and down on the spot.
“No, sorry it’s just cold out here,” Louis laughed and rubbed his hands together in an attempt to warm them up.
“Well I won’t keep you long. I was just wondering if any of the boys in your form were going to sign up for the football tournament next week?” Mr Parkins smiled hopefully.
“Oh! I’m sorry I completely forgot to ask them about it...” Louis sighed in despair and felt like throwing himself on the ground. “I’ve been all over the place recently, it just slipped my mind.”
“Don’t worry, I was just wondering as usually the boys seemed pretty interested. Well not to worry I will get a letter out to them tomorrow, enjoy your evening Louis,” Mr Parkins smiled sympathetically, most of the teachers tended to let Louis off with things because he was so young.
“Thank you, see you tomorrow.” Louis waved and unlocked his car again.
A lot of thoughts were running through Louis’ head as he drove to the meeting place that Harry had just texted him. He wondered if he was doing the right thing, being a teacher. Before he’d been 100% dedicated to all the marking and planning but now he just couldn’t help but think he was wasting his time. There had been some truth in what Liam had said the other week about Louis being a completely changed person. Sixteen year old Louis wouldn’t have dreamed of sitting in a classroom for any longer than the law said he had to. Louis sighed for what must have been the thousandth time that day and he pulled into the car park of the cafe Harry had chosen. To Louis’ surprise he’d been here a few times with Liam before and he’d enjoyed it every time. If Louis was truthful he was a bit worried that Harry was going to direct him to either a really posh restaurant that there was not a chance he could afford or some pub that Harry and his other tattooed friends hung out at. This was neither and Louis felt a little happier as he walked towards the doors. The menu was pleasant and affordable.
“Louis, there you are. Was beginning to think you were going to stand me up!” Harry grinned and pulled Louis into a hug.
“No, just got held up at the school,” Louis forced a smile and patted Harry’s back awkwardly.
“Tough day?” Harry stood back and looked at Louis thoughtfully, “You look drained mate.”
“Yeah, I am,” Louis laughed humourlessly, “Ah well, let’s not talk about boring old work, I’m here to forget about it for a little while.”
“Sure, I’ve got a table reserved. It’s just us if you don’t mind? Niall went out with your friend Liam and I think Zayn,” Harry led Louis to a small table in a quiet part of the cafe.
“Zayn again?” Louis’ eyebrows shot up in shock, “He’s been around a lot hasn’t he?”
“It’s definitely because of Liam. Especially with his busy pop star schedule he doesn’t have time to visit me every day. Yet he’s been at the shop without fail!” Harry chuckled, “I don’t know what spell Zayn is under but it’s nice to have him around so I hope it doesn’t wear off anytime soon.”
“Liam can be very enchanting when he wants to be,” Louis laughed and sat down opposite Harry at the table, “So anyway, how are things at the shop? Any famous faces been asking you for tattoos?” Louis smiled across at Harry.
“No one too interesting, apart from this very funny old lady who was asking me to tattoo ‘single and ready to mingle’ on her arm.” Harry laughed at the memory, his eyes dancing gleefully.
“Did you do it?” Louis laughed too with wide eyes.
“Gosh no! I told her I think she’d rather have a nice rose or heart and gently directed her to the design book. Thank goodness she gave in and I ended up giving her a small tulip,” Harry passed a menu over to Louis.
“Sounds like a close one,” Louis smiled and looked at the menu before choosing almost in seconds. He waited for Harry to choose what he was having too.
In the end both boys had chosen sausage, mash and beans and were both eating it quietly when Harry remembered something.
“Oh damn, I’ve forgotten that essay I wrote when I was in year eight,” Harry groaned, annoyed at himself.
“Aw, I was looking forward to seeing it actually,” Louis teased, he didn’t really mind.
“I’m sorry, maybe I can pick it up on the way back?” Harry smiled, “Do you mind popping round mine for a bit or do you have a lot of work?”
“No, I’m OK for tonight actually,” Louis lied and pushed the thoughts of papers and planning to the back of his head. It was the sixteenth and it was about time he got into some Christmas spirit and enjoyed himself without worrying about work.
“Great! Do you want to come round mine for a bit?” Harry looked at Louis. He hoped he wasn’t pushing it too far.
“That would be brilliant,” Louis smiled and put his knife and fork down from where he’d finished the meal, “I don’t need to worry about getting dinner now anyway!” Louis smiled and Harry felt like jumping in excitement. He’d been waiting the whole week to show Louis the essay he’d found. He was certain it would get Louis laughing. Harry liked it when Louis laughed, his eyes crinkled at the edges and Harry got the feeling he didn’t do it enough.
“Thanks for not giving up on me,” Louis spoke quietly as they walked towards Harry’s house from their separate cars. “I know I’m always going on about boring things and I never have any spare time but I really needed this. I needed to get out and make some new friends.” Louis looked across at Harry shyly. He didn’t know why he’d decided to say this he didn’t seem his usual self around the younger boy.
“I don’t know why you think you’re so uninteresting; I promise you I’ve never not enjoyed a conversation with you,” Harry grinned, “Our first conversation was so amazing I got it tattooed on me remember?” Harry laughed and pulled his keys out of his pocket. “Just to warn you, this place is an absolute tip.” Harry opened the door to his huge house and Louis’ jaw dropped open in awe. The place was amazing, canvas’ of tattoos and designs were covering most walls and everything had something that seemed to scream ‘Harry’.
“This place is amazing,” Louis gazed around the hallway with disbelieving eyes.
“Really? It’s OK I guess,” Harry shrugged and looked at Louis.
“OK? OK? If this is only OK, I hate to think what my little old apartment would pass as!” Louis laughed and walked ahead to explore more of the amazing house. He was like a young boy being set loose in a toy store. Harry watched in amusement as Louis’ face continued to light up.
“Do you want to see something pretty cool?” Harry asked after a while.
“Yes! What can be cooler than all this?” Louis pointed to the vending machine fridges.
“This is, I can promise you,” Harry nodded and gestured for Louis to follow him, “You’ve got to close your eyes until I tell you otherwise though.”
“Should I really trust you?” Louis asked unsurely, “You’ll have to steer me so I don’t smash into a wall or something.”
“I know silly, I wasn’t going to leave you to navigate blindly on your own was I?” Harry rolled his eyes and gently pushed Louis in front of him, “Now don’t open your eyes or it will ruin the surprise.”
“Fine,” Louis did as he was told and just hoped that this wasn’t some trick of Harry’s.
“Relax, I promise you’re not going to get hurt,” Harry shook his head with an amused smile, Louis had some trust issues with him.
“I’m trying, I don’t like not being able to see where I am going,” Louis whined as Harry slowly steered them round his house. Harry stopped Louis when he got to big circular hole in the floor of his garage. He helped Louis sit down on the edge and sat down behind him.
“OK, you might want to hold on to my arms, I’m not going to let go of you but just to be sure OK?” Harry grinned at the way Louis frantically grabbed Harry’s arms that were wrapped around Louis’ waist.
“What is happening, why isn’t there any floor beneath my feet?” Louis didn’t want to open his eyes but it was growing increasingly difficult to keep them closed.
“You’ll see in a second don’t worry!” Harry giggled and pushed the pair of them off the edge of the floor. Louis gasped when he felt the wind rushing past them as they both hurtled down a long slide that was taking them down under the ground.
“What the hell?!” Louis gasped as they landed on a big squishy surface at the bottom.
“Welcome to my room!” Harry let go of Louis and walked over to his light switch. Louis looked around with wide eyes to see where they had just come from.
“You have a slide going down into your underground bedroom?!” Louis shook his head in shock, he was feeling a bit weak with relief he wasn’t injured from this whole experience.
“Cool huh?” Harry nodded and sat down beside Louis on his bed.
“And you just land straight onto your bed?” Louis was baffled and wondered if this was a dream and he’d fallen asleep attempting to teach.
“Precisely, is that not the coolest thing you’ve ever seen?” Harry jumped up on his bed excitedly.
“Well, I didn’t exactly see it did I?” Louis processed all this slowly, “So this is real?”
“Yes you idiot, do you want to have another go?” Harry opened a door on the other side of the room revealing a staircase.
“Yes. Who thought of this? It’s amazing, can I go on it three times! Where does the slide start! Have you ever fallen down it? How long have you lived here? This is amazing!” Louis jumped up and ran past Harry and began to climb up the stairs as fast as he could.
“Whoa, slow down there Lou,” Harry laughed and didn’t even bother catching up with him, “It starts in the garage, I will be waiting down here...”
“OK!” Louis called and Harry heard the other boys footsteps fade. Harry decided to find the essay that had been hidden under a pile of sketches and new tattoo ideas.
Over an hour later, when Louis was exhausted from running up the stairs again and again just to slide down onto Harry’s bed and start over again, Louis finally decided to sit down and look at the essay.
“Is this your actual room you sleep in?” Louis asked curiously before he opened the green history exercise book that Harry had placed on his lap.
“No, it’s a bit dangerous to be underground in case of a fire or an emergency so this is the place I hang out with my friends
“It’s epic, I wish I had a bedroom like this,” Louis laughed and opened the book to its first page.
“Skip the first few pages, I wrote it around March time,” Harry flicked the pages over and settled next to Louis on the bed.
“You have very neat handwriting,” Louis noted and found the pages with the date ‘March’ on the top right hand corner.
“Thank you, I just had an interest in History. You should see my Maths book, it’s atrocious!” Harry grinned and flicked the page over again, “Ah there it is!” Harry laughed even at the title of the piece. Louis curled his legs up underneath him and began to read Harry’s neat handwriting, it all seemed to start off OK and he was wondering whether Harry was only messing with him and he had written a perfectly good essay back in year eight. However, by the second paragraph he could see that was unfortunately not the case for Harry. Louis’ eyes grew increasingly wider as he read on and he found himself swallowing laughter at some of the points Harry had included in the essay.
“This is... interesting,” Louis noted around half way through, “You obviously have a very colourful mind up there.”
“Stop being so worried about my feelings and feel free to laugh, I almost wet myself when I first read it,” Harry pushed Louis gently on the arm and watched his expression change from confusion to amusement and back to confusion. He was almost finished when he let out a weird laugh and then burst into a fit of giggles straight after.
“This is priceless Harry, you should be writing comedy sketches or something!” Louis almost fell backwards from laughing too much and had to grab Harry to steady himself, “My favourite line has got to be ‘Roman soldiers were often buried in a sarcophagus with the blessing from Henry the Eight’” Louis was laughing so much tears were pouring down his cheeks. “Was this actually an essay you wrote in Year Eight? Or are you pulling my leg?”
“I swear my life I wrote that in Year Eight,” Harry chuckled and wished he could freeze Louis’ laughter forever. His eyes were bright in amusement and his cheeks were flushed red from laughing so much.
“Oh Harry! What did your teacher say?” Louis looked down at the bottom of the page and read the comments in green. “’Nice try Harry, although I’m not too sure what text book you’ve been revising from...’” Louis burst into another fit of giggles and gripped his sides, “I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much in my life!”
“I’m glad you find it funny, because I didn’t when my parents questioned me about it at the time,” Harry smiled, “And I seem to remember being really confused about why I hadn’t got a good grade! I don’t know what was going through my head. Whatever it was really wasn’t normal!” Harry took the book and placed it back where he’d got it and smirked, “What would you grade me?”
“I’d give you an F definitely, but an A for making my day,” Louis didn’t even need to think and he laughed at Harry’s mock hurt face.
“An F?” Harry pouted, “Surely I deserve at least a D?”
“Nope, not even a D,” Louis chuckled but his face fell when he caught the time on Harry’s digital clock on the wall. “Shit!” He swore and jumped up, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise it was so late,” Louis turned to look at Harry, “I’ve got to go, thank you so much for inviting me out and having me round. Your house is amazing! I promise you that you’ll have to come round sometime over Christmas, I will text you later!” Louis pulled Harry into a short hug and ran towards the stairs. Harry didn’t have much time to process what was going on but decided not to think about it too much, Louis was very busy after all...