Perfect |l.s.|

Guilt

this chapter's song: i did something bad (taylor swift)

~~~

He wanted to kiss him.

They'd had an intimate talk and Harry had told him that he had to be ready. To forget his past with Mike, to stop goddamn flinching, to move on.

So when Niall invited him and the other boys to laser tag...

He came up with an idea.

~~~

It was freezing, to say the least.

Harry was the first one there, and he stood there and twiddled his thumbs for 15 minutes before Niall arrived.

"Mateeee!!" Niall exclaimed, wrapping Harry into a huge hug.

"Hey, Niall..." he pushed him away, smiling at the Irish lad's huge grin. "How are you?"

"Could be better. Liam and Zayn are coming together and... Louis is going to be late." Niall scowled, grumbling as he stumbled away. "Typical."

"Um-" Harry cleared his throat. "What do you mean, typical?"

Niall turned around, shrugging. "He's just... he's... quiet. How's he gonna be in a band? And he's... he's small, I don't-"

"He's... basically your height."

Niall frowned. "I don't- I just- I like him, as a lad, as a mate, but I don't see how he's gonna be in a band."

Harry bit his lip, pulling himself away from the angry emotion and towards the explanatory one. "Niall... he's just shy around me."

Niall rolled his eyes for a brief moment. "What does that mean?"

"He's- we're-" Harry shook his head. "We- I like him. He knows. He... he likes me back. It's mutual. We- yeah."

Niall's eyes widened. "Oh-"

"And if you have anything against gay people, you can walk right out that door."

"No!" Niall yelled, then recomposed himself. "I don't. I really don't. I- I kinda feel bad. I've been treating him-"

"Poorly. Yeah. It's OK," he added when he saw the miserable look on Niall's face, "if you can apologize. Maybe later."

"OK," Niall nodded, shuffling around in a circle. "OK, OK, I will."

"Harryyy!!! Niallll!!!!" Liam came skipping through the door, all smiles. Zayn was behind him, blushing warmly at Liam's childish grins.

Harry looked towards the doors: he could see Louis' car pulling in. When he saw the other people in the lobby rounding up, and noticed a lady walking up with a name tag on, he was forced to look away.

"Hello! Hello! Thank you for joining us today."

Harry nodded.

"Basically, this is an elimination round. If you're shot twice, you're out. That's the end of the line. You can pair up, but I've been tricked, and I've been betrayed. Good luck, enter this room to start."

"What did I miss?!" Louis exclaimed, running up to the other boys. Harry lit up when he saw his flustered face and messy hair, nose red from the chills outdoors.

"Pretty much nothing," Niall sighed, frustrated. Lou nodded, blushing. Harry gave him a glare, and Niall's expression softened up a bit. "Let's go get our suits on."

They went through a large metal door, that almost seems as if it would appear in a dystopian novel, and the lights disappeared as the door slipped shut behind them. Harry felt Louis grab his arm whenever they went blind, and Harry squeezed his arm back.