Don't know yet

Chapter 32

Louis steps into the locker room, his heart pumping out of his chest and his adrenaline slithering through his body. He's the most nervous he's ever been and judging by the charged atmosphere of the room he's not the only one. He starts organizing his stuff and putting on his shoes while he observes the rest of his team; some of them are changing, some stretching and some talking to each other, but who catches his eye (even though he doesn't really want to) is Harry. He's just sitting there, his head hung low and his gaze lost in a blank spot on the floor. They start hearing the crowd outside, a sign that the match is about to begin. They all get up and start to form a circle, all but one of them.

"Harry, mate, you all right?"

Harry lifts his head and quickly gets up, joining the rest of the group as he sighs a "sorry" that is too quiet for most to hear, but Louis hears it and it sounds too broken. Louis tells himself that he only cares because of the game, can't have the captain distracted on the final and all that. It's just about the game, he's not worried about how he's feeling or if he's distracted because of his mother. Nope, he's definitely not worried about that. That would mean that Louis actually cares about him and he doesn't, not after what's happened, not after everything, he can't let himself care so he doesn't. They all huddle up right as the coach is walking into the room.

"Right. This is it guys. I know we've had a great season so far but let's not be too cocky about it. I want each and everyone of you to give the absolute best of you out there and pour all your effort into this match. Now look at each other." They all do as they're told, all with confusion written on their faces. "This is one heck of a team you've made right here and the only way we're going to win today is if you act like one. Trust each other and help each other and most importantly show the others what we're made of!"

With those last words, the team runs to the fields as they shout and pat each other in the back. Louis runs alongside them smiling wide and cheering. As soon as they get out, the roaring of the crowd intensifies as their voices ricochet in their ears, magnifying their cheers. The team starts to run laps around the field to warm up as Harry lays back to talk to the coach and even though Louis' curiosity could very well kill him right now he shakes his head free of it and continues running with the team.

As soon as they are all warmed up and ready they go to the benches where both their coach and their captain await for them. They all do one last cheer before a bell is heard in the field, announcing that the game is starting and giving Louis what he can only assume is a heart attack. Ok, so Louis might be acting a little dramatic right now but, can you blame him? This is potentially the most important moment of his life.

The team starts running towards the centre of the field and Louis follows them until a hand pulling him back stops him from doing so. He turns around expecting it to be Coach Higgins wishing him good luck, but instead he sees Harry standing there, a troubled look on his face and the captain's wrist band in his hand. Louis throws him a questioning look, expectantly waiting for the reason he has stopped him from going into the field.

"You should have this." Harry says as he pushes the wrist band toward Louis.

"Wha..."

"I talked it over with the coach and he agreed with me. Have it." Louis stares at him, mouth agape and he averts his gaze not being able to stand eye contact with him. Which is a really bad idea because he looks over to the bleechers where he finds Harry's father, looking down at his phone with a bored expression.

"What about your father?" He finds himself asking because maybe, just maybe, he cares a tiny bit.

"I won't be at school next year so he wasn't going to sponsor the football team anyways. If he gets mad it won't affect the team anymore, don't worry."

Those words send a weird feeling through Louis' body, the implication that Louis only asked selfishly, making him quite unsettled. He wants to tell Harry that he's actually worried about what his father will do to him but if he says it outloud then it's real, and Louis can't let it be real, not right now. So instead he takes a deep breath and lifts his head up again.

"You know this won't fix anything between us, right?"

"I'm not trying to fix anything, I know what I did is wrong and it can't be fixed with this. I'm simply trying to do what is fair, something I should've done from the beginning." And with that Harry pushes the wrist band one more time towards Louis, who finally accepts it with a small "thank you".

They both run to the rest of the team, Harry joining them in a huddle and Louis going straight to the centre where the other team captain and the referee stand. And just like that the match starts and the adrenaline fills the stadium.

***

Eighty-nine minutes later the team is already exhausted, the crowd has died down and the score is tied. Tied! One minute left and they are tied! Louis can barely feel his legs anymore, too tired to even comprehend what's happening around him. The referee blows the whistle and the ball starts moving again, passing from feet to feet, rolling on the ground as every player focuses all his attention on it.

Stan makes it past midfield with the ball securely in his feet before he passes to Louis, who runs just a few feet ahead of him. With the ball in his possession he trudges forward assessing the situation. He's got two players ahead of him and he knows that if he wasn't so tired he would be able to avoid them easily, but he is. He looks to his right and finds Harry running beside him, shouting at him and before he can change his mind he nods at him and passes the ball to him right before he reaches the two opposing players.

Harry runs towards the goal as fast as he can and soon enough he's shouting the ball right into it. The referee blows his whistle announcing the end of the match just as the ball hits the net and that's when they all realize; they've won. Suddenly Louis feels energetic again and just like that he finds himself shouting, running and jumping with the rest of the team.

They've won the final.