Chapter 8 - Louis

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Louis tries to hide the grin that keeps poking out on his face as he walks onto the pitch. The school day felt like it would never end, but now he finally gets to help Coach Duane run football tryouts. They're much more enjoyable now that Louis knows he's made team captain and just has to worry about selecting which boys will actually take them to the championship this year.

He feels like his whole body is buzzing with excitement.

Louis heads over to where the rest of his mates are warming up, passing a ball between themselves or doing some practice shots. He moves to stand where Coach Duane is motioning him over, probably to discuss the plan for today's tryout.

His coach launches into the plan for today and what to look for from the players the second Louis is in good-enough earshot. As much as Louis wants their team to be the best it can possibly be, his focus on listening to Coach Duane keeps slipping due to thoughts of Harry sneaking into the forefront of his brain.

Something most definitely happened between them when Louis had gone to go visit Harry Saturday afternoon. There was this electricity that had passed between them, some kind of connection, and now that he's realised it there's no way he's letting it go. Harry had to have felt it too. Louis can't get the image of the face Harry wore while they stared into each others' souls out of his head.

The sun had been low enough in the sky to shine in through the window and illuminate Harry's face. He had been smiling, his dimple creating a deep indent into his left cheek. Louis had wanted to kiss it so bad, just feel the brush of his lips on the dip. Mainly, he couldn't look away from Harry's gaze. The sun had caused his eyes to glow a shade lighter than normal, almost a moss-green. It had felt like Harry's eyes were locking Louis in place and as long as Louis peered back, Harry wouldn't look away. All Louis could do was stare into the sparkling irises and hope he wouldn't melt simply from all the attention.

"Tomlinson!"

Louis snaps his head up at the sound of Coach Duane yelling his name.

"C'mon don't make me regret choosing you on the first day! Let's go! Split up the boys!"

Louis winces at being called out before quickly rushing to separate the boys into different teams so that they can do some 2 v. 2 drills. He's never been more grateful for his ability to retain information when he's not fully listening, than in this moment right now. He can't even imagine the level of embarrassment he'd peak at if he had to ask what he was supposed to be doing with the boys.

After that, Louis manages to be as attentive as possible for the rest of the tryouts. He takes notes on specifics for each player, detailing their strengths and weaknesses and how they may be able to add to the skill of the team. He even leads the team in a couple of more drills so that he can get a better idea of their individual ball skill.

Still, no matter what Louis tries to distract himself with, it seems like thoughts of Harry always seem to worm their way into his head. Louis knows that he promised himself to start acting relatively normal around Harry, that he's never gonna feel happy if he continues to avoid him, but it's starting to get rough to hang around him. He has all these feelings that he wants so desperately to express, but the fear is too great for him to actually have enough courage to make a move.

Louis sighs and forces his head back to reality. Football now. Harry later.

---

"Louis!!!"

Louis groans, pressing his face further into the mattress. Why does it feel like everyone wants something from him??? He just wants to curl up in his warm, cosy bed and forget the world. Is that too much to ask?!

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