me, him, and the moon ☾ l.s.

ten - boyfriends

Harry scrunched his brow in concentration as he guided the water through different patterns. He had spent almost a full hour practicing, and he could feel his wrists starting to tremble with the effort of holding the water in the air. Unfortunately, his intense focus distracted him from noticing as someone approached from behind him, stopping at the edge of the treeline to watch.

"You need to be more careful, sunshine," Louis commented after a minute or so, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning casually against one of the trees beside the river bank.

The water splashed back into the river, and Harry whirled around. The fear and panic fell from his face when he realized it was just Louis, and he exhaled sharply, pressing his palm to his pounding heart. "Don't scare me like that, Lou," he whined, pursing his lips outward into a pout.

"Sorry, love," Louis said, although he grinned cheekily as he walked over to stand beside Harry. His smile faded slightly, and he shot Harry a pointed look, eyebrows raised. "But seriously, just about anyone could walk by and see you, Haz. And besides, no matter what you're doing, you shouldn't be out in the woods alone. It's not safe for so many reasons."

"Yeah, so I've noticed, but it's not like I can practice in the middle of town with the whole pack hanging around to protect me. They'd kill me themselves, probably more painfully than any lone scout would," Harry pointed out, rolling his eyes.

Louis furrowed his brow at the mere thought, the indesirable image striking a sensitive chord in his chest, too close to his heart for comfort. "Tell me the next time you want to practice your magic. I'll watch over you."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course I would," Louis assured him, adding with a laugh, "You should know by now that I'd do just about anything to protect you, sunshine. And even if you weren't actually in danger, I'm completely content to just sit back and admire how special you are."

Harry blushed furiously, ducking his head to avoid intense Louis's gaze. "You're such a charmer, I don't even know how to deal with you." When Louis raised his eyebrows again, amusement clear on his face, Harry added defensively, "You're trouble! Don't even try to deny it."

"I can deny it, and I will," Louis protested firmly, "because it's not like I use my charms on just anybody. In fact, they're pretty much reserved for one person."

Harry just hummed in response, and Louis couldn't tell if he was unconvinced or uncomfortable, so he didn't press the subject. After a few seconds of silence, the older boy cleared his throat, shifting to the real reason he had sought Harry out that afternoon.

"But charms aside, I came to find you to see if you're doing okay. Yesterday was, um, a lot."

Harry shuddered slightly at the memory, wrapping his arms more tightly around his stomach, but he nodded. "I'm okay." When Louis gave him a skeptical look, Harry just laughed. "Really, I'm okay! Yeah, it was really scary. But you found me before anything too terrible could happen."

Louis hummed in agreement, not daring to let himself think about what might have happened if they hadn't found Harry in time.

"Stop worrying," Harry chided him instantly, studying the thoughtful look on Louis's face. "You worry far too much for an eighteen year old."

"I have a lot of things to worry about," Louis responded simply. He paused, stealing a moment to just take in how gorgeous Harry looked with the light reflecting onto his face off of the water, twisting in kaleidoscope patterns over his pale skin and his pink lips. Once he had plucked up the courage, Louis asked hesitantly, "Do you remember what you said last night? After what happened, I mean."