Red Ramblings

Part One

(HELLO MY CHILDREN. I'm back to the world of fanfiction writing. Maybe. I'm still working on my novel, but I saw a tumblr post and I just had to write it. So here we go. I literally put this together in an hour, so let me know if there's any mistakes.)

Louis walks into his dorm and immediately wants to walk out.

To simply put it, it's his junior year of college. He's not really excited about it. He just wants to be done with it. So he's used to the routine of packing his bags, moving into his dorm with Zayn before the first semester starts, catching up on the usual drama and settling in. But now he's standing here in the doorway, staring down at the boy sitting on his floor that's definitely, definitely not Zayn. This boy has long brown hair that curls up at the edges, flushed cheeks, and popping dimples. He's not even smiling properly and Louis can tell he has dimples. He's sat there on the floor like a toddler put in time out, hands occupied with a dozen photographs spread across the carpet in front of him.

Louis takes a hand and rubs it down his face with a sigh. This isn't how this year's supposed to go.

The noise catches the boy's attention and he looks up at Louis, face breaking out into a smile. And then he looks back down at his photographs.

"Hi," he says, folding his photos into a neat pile and standing up. He brushes off his bottom and offers his hand to Louis.

"Uh.." Louis mumbles. He's still not excited about anything. "Are you sure this is your dorm?"

The boy shrugs, pulling a key from his back pocket and inspecting the number engraved on it. He models it in front of Louis' eyes. Yes, he's in the right spot. Louis still doesn't want him to be here. "I see," Louis says, brushing past him. Their shoulders bump and he mumbles something of an apology. "Well, I'm Louis."

"Harry," the boy replies. He turns around to watch Louis pulling open the drawer of the left nightstand, dump something in it. It's like he's been here before. "Are you new here?"

"Nope," Louis calls over his shoulder. "Junior."

Harry walks over to the bed adjacent Louis' already claimed one. "Oh. I'm a freshman."

Immediately Louis wants him out. He doesn't like freshmen. Admittedly, he didn't even like himself as a freshman. You always make mistakes as a freshman in college, and Louis doesn't want to have to deal with that kind of drama a second time around. He drops his duffle bag on his bed and gives Harry a tired smile.

"Well, Harry, let me tell you. Being an experienced college student, I have three golden rules. One: don't bring any girls home. Two: you're dumbest when you're drunk. And three: if it seems like someone hates you, they probably do."

Harry looks down at his feet, toes at the carpet. "Okay."

Louis makes for the door. His sisters and mother are still waiting for him to come and get his boxes. "Got that?"

"So I'll leave you alone."

Louis pauses in his tracks and swivels around. "What?"

Harry laughs, looking up at Louis and modeling his dimples. He takes a hand and rips the headscarf from his head, running a hand through his hair and fumbling with the scarf in his hands. "I get the feeling you're pretty much fed up with everyone at this school, so I'll give you a break and leave you alone."

Good enough for Louis. Actually, that's great. "Thanks for noticing." He walks out of the door, turns right down the hallway and finds his mother and Lottie carrying boxes in already.

"Lou!" Lottie cheers. "How's Zayn?"

Louis sighs. "Not Zayn."

He follows them down the hallway and leads them into his room, where Harry's bent over tying his hair back up again. He looks up and ties off a final knot, grinning at Louis' mother.