Harry is strange, but Louis likes a bit of strange
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"He's quite an odd one." Comes the warm chuckle behind Louis' ears. The rumble almost startled him, almost. "He is, isn't he." There's a sense of fondness to his voice, laced with a tinge of amusement.
Outside, in the drenched downfall stands an absolutely crazy boy, just standing as the storm brews. Louis is basking in the warmth of the bookstore, nose shoved in a once interesting book. By once he means the boy outside has completely absorbed his attention and now Louis can't seem to pry his eyes from the sight.
The librarian pushes her glasses further up the bridge of her nose, taking a sip from her tea. "You'd better come drag the lad inside, he'll be nursing a cold tomorrow at this rate." Linda nudges Louis arm, then busies herself with more book stamping. Louis is supposed to be helping. He comes in on weekdays after his college lectures, offering help to the lovely ladies who run the store. In exchange, he gets warm tea and lovely company.
"He seems pretty content." Louis argues back. The stranger hasn't moved in the past two minutes, and Louis is sure the rain against the window is growing louder. "Content or not, he'll be regretting his decision later." She giggles, shutting and piling the books to the side of the desk then leaning closer towards Louis. "Never seen him round here." Louis uselessly states, turning his head towards the woman, yet his eyes still fixed on the boy outside.
"Hmm, I see him around. Only been in here once or twice, bought some strange books." Linda says. "As a matter of fact, he surprisingly borrowed a book about rain, who would have guessed?" She snorted, flashing a smile at Louis. "Someone seems interested." She teases, which gathers Louis' attention immediately. "Am not—" he mutters out, though his cheeks have betrayed him and given into the rosy blush that is now tinting across his face. Is it fondness or embarrassment? Maybe a mix of both.
"But seriously Louis, maybe invite him inside? He might be going through something." And of course she's immediately switched to her motherly character, which Louis doesn't actually despise. The boy sighs, rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "Well why don't you go ask him?" He starts, taking another sip from his now luke-warm tea. "As a matter of fact, I'm rather comfortable and do not fancy going to fetch a psycho in the midst of a storm."
—
The whole ordeal ends with Louis tightly folding his arms across his chest, dressed in a large puffer jacket that's somewhat protecting him from the dreadful drench of rainfall. And as you could guess, the stranger hasn't even moved. Louis is starting to think this might be a newly installed statue, or maybe someone still stuck in the 2016 mannequin challenge. Either way, he finds himself approaching the boy cautiously.
He's suddenly nervous, that maybe this boy is aggressive, not right in the head, though he managed to shake those thoughts away as he nears. Upon further inspection, Louis can make out a mop of curls, that are now stuck to the boy's forehead, tangled and messy. Arms outstretched, palms facing the heavens like he's attempting to gather the water and soak it in. Strange- he thinks. He's wearing a lavender knit, the jumper moulding to his noticeably broad shoulders and Louis is baffled to how this boy isn't cold. He's wearing jeans much like Louis', straight-legged blue and cuffed of course.
Louis shakes his head and blinks. The stranger hasn't even noticed him, when he's standing just 2 meters away.
"Hello?"
He calls out. There's no response and so he tries again. "Hello?"
The boy's eyes suddenly snap open, he gasps and turns his head to Louis quickly. Frightened by the sudden movement, Louis takes a few steps back, this time throwing his hands into his pockets. "You must be freezing, please come inside." Louis attempts to shout over the sound of the droplets smacking against the concrete. The other looks at him, almost with a quizzical expression. One of confusion.
