best kind of bad something » l.s.

part seven

The cicadas were loud tonight as Louis walked through the empty streets toward Harry's house. They hadn't seen each other since the night before when Louis left to go to the convenience store with Zayn and Niall. Haven't spoken since Louis got home after taking every condom out of the boxes he bought and covering them with lotion and spreading them all around Styles Diner, namely the meats in the fridge and food products in the back kitchen.

It felt satisfying walking out of there if only to know the turmoil Styles senior would face when he woke up to head to work the following morning.

However, Louis did find it strange that Harry didn't reach out once all day. He usually texted Louis, especially when he was going through something. Maybe it wasn't as big of a deal and Harry just got caught up. As Louis rounded the corner, he texted Harry that he was outside. When Louis got to Harry's house, Harry was standing outside. He stepped down the steps of the porch and gave Louis a tired smile. Upon closer look, Louis could see the exhaustion seeping off of his face, eyes sunken and face pale.

"You alright, H?" Louis asked, stroking Harry's cheek with one hand and holding his hand with the other.

"Kind of," Harry replied, leaning into Louis' hand and moving closer. "We had some shit go down at the diner."

Louis raised his eyebrows. "What happened at the diner?"

"The place was completely turned over. Some people came in and ruined everything...the salt and pepper shakers turned over and spilled everywhere, plates and glasses were broken, and whatnot. Worst of all, they put lotion in condoms and laid it out everywhere, on tables, chairs, and counters. Mostly on the food, which is now ruined. Dad was losing his shit."

So it did work. Louis wasn't sure if he felt good about it, or sort of off since it affected Harry as well. He didn't think it would. He thought Harry would get the day off, if anything, which was always good.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," Louis said.

"Thanks," Harry sighed, pulling Louis along and sitting on the porch steps with him. He slumped down and rested his head on Louis' shoulder. "It was a long day. We had to clean and Dad was just so angry. We suffered a really big loss from it."

"I can imagine." Louis wasn't quite sure what to say. He wanted to play it cool so Harry wouldn't suspect him.

Harry snuggled into Louis a bit more, holding his arms and entwining their fingers together. "We cleaned the whole day. And ̶ it's ridiculous because Dad thinks you did it. Like, his first guess was you and I got so mad, Lou."

Louis froze, staring straight ahead, listening as Harry continued.

"He was saying that he couldn't think of anyone else who would do something like this and it had your name all over it. I argued with him, of course. He had no base to blame you like that. I told him off and was livid. Just so shitty of him. It's why I didn't bring you inside. I don't want him to say anything to you."

Louis felt his defenses wear down. Something about this suddenly felt so wrong. It was one thing for Louis to pull the prank on Harry's dad and get back at him for his hurtful words, but it was another to have Harry defend him so passionately, saying that he didn't do it when he actually did. It almost felt like Louis was lying to Harry and the act itself felt unbearable. Louis couldn't lie to Harry. Harry believed in him so much ̶ almost too much.

Mr. Styles' words rang through Louis' head again. Louis knew he was right in some sense. It just didn't feel good for Louis to manage to prove his point that he was never going to be good enough for Harry only a couple hours after the conversation. Harry was the golden boy. Harry deserved better than for Louis to sit there while Harry defended him ̶ trusted him.