Things Have Gotten Closer To The Sun -starseas on ao3

Thirteen

"Oh, and the crowd goes wild!" Niall shouts with a laugh.

He smacks the end of a frosted branch against the ice, skating in circles around the pond, his pale face dusted pink from the cold. They've been playing for the last half hour, and Harry can't feel his legs.

"Good one, mate." He grins, wiping snow away from his eyelashes.

"Thanks, Styles." Niall says, winking as he skates over to where Louis is standing on the other side of the pond, a boot laid out on either side of him as a sort of make-shift goalie's net. He's bundled up in a scarf and beanie, his red jacket looking like a small sun.

Harry tries not to look for too long or pay too much attention, but it's quite hard because Louis is right there and Harry's still not used to it-it's hard because Louis is right there, where he hasn't been for so long.

Both of them seem bright against the blue of the evening sky.

Harry watches as Louis laughs, picking up the stone that Niall managed to get past him. "Here, you little shit." He says, passing it over to Niall. "When did you even learn to play hockey?"

Niall shrugs. "You're looking at a natural, man."

Louis rolls his eyes but he's smiling, cupping his gloved hands around his mouth and breathing out warmth.

"Ah, whatever." Niall grins. He glances towards the trees, and Harry follows his gaze. Through the gaps, the lights turned on in Louis' house are shining like little stars. "I think I'm gonna head back." Niall says, bringing Harry's attention back to the pond. "Feel like my toes are about to fall off. You boys coming?"

"No, I think I'll stay here." Harry says, skating out into the middle of the pond. "You two go ahead, I'll be there in a bit." Without waiting for an answer, he lays himself down onto the ice, cringing slightly against the wet coldness that seeps past the fabric of his jeans.

"Alright, mate. See you." Niall says.

And then Harry's listening to the sound of booted feet crunching over snow, the noise echoing like static. Niall and Louis fade off into the trees, and even when the world becomes hushed around him, Harry keeps his eyes on the sky.

It's a blue so dark that it's almost black-it's almost endless, stretching on and on and on. It's empty of stars, though, which makes Harry think about the end of the world. Do the stars know what's coming?

No. Probably not. The stars don't have a clue.

In the silence, Harry watches his breath. It leaves his mouth and rises up like smoke, white against the blue sky, frozen with winter.

He can't feel his bloody body because it's freezing and he's cold, but he can't even bring himself to move, either-it's like gravity is keeping stuck in this place, in this moment, right here, but he can almost feel time pushing him forward still-it's like the moon, full and white above him, is a ticking clock, dipping lower and lower, getting ready for a new day.

But see, Harry doesn't want a new day. Not yet, not when it means that they're closer to running out of them.
Harry shuts his eyes, huffing out a small laugh. He can't even help it.

"What are you doing?"

Harry's eye fly open at the sound of the voice, and he has to blink a few times to bring everything into focus because it's Louis standing over him. It's Louis, right there, the details of his face ignited by the moon.

Light against dark. Light coming forward. Harry wonders what that means.

It's a moment before he can answer.