Collision; Larry

21.

Harry and Zayn are gone, and Louis has some business to take care of.

Come on. His plan may be logical and brilliant, but it's not a complete coincidence that he came up with a way to get Harry out of the house while he stays behind with Niall. Louis is smarter than that, more layered than that, thank you very much, and while it is very nice to send Zayn and Harry away together as a push towards their hopefully blossoming friendship... He has an underlying motive with this arrangement.

He's going to talk today. A sleepless night later with his messy, intruding thoughts filling his defiant head, thoughts he can no longer control, thoughts about Harry and his soft hair and his plush mouth, it's clear to Louis that something must be done.

And since he so fortunately holds the company of a cupid, it's not more than right of him to take advantage of that. Niall will know what to do. Niall will know what to say to make Louis calm down. Maybe to make the thoughts go away, even. Niall has seen a lot of love, and Louis is sure he'll be able to put out the hot worry in Louis' stomach, sure he can confirm that no, Louis, you're just being silly.

For that talk to happen, though, Harry must be absent, partly because Louis and Harry seem to be attached at the hip nowadays whether they like it or not, and partly because it'd look a little weird for Louis to just out of nowhere lock himself somewhere private with Niall for no apparent reason.

He's going to deal with his Harry problem today. He's tired of walking around in a constant state of confusion. It's time to make sense of things.

So that's why, as soon as they've said goodbye to Harry and Zayn and they're all inside again, Louis grabs onto Niall's arm and pulls him aside.

"We need to talk. Right now. In private."

Niall raises an eyebrow, but shrugs complyingly.

"Alright. Sure."

That's all the confirmation Louis needs, before he drags the cupid up the stairs and into the closest empty room he can find. (He's too lazy to search the whole castle for their bedrooms, okay. He's just not feeling that kind of treasure hunt right now.)

"You think we're allowed to be in here?" Niall asks when Louis shuts the door behind them. They're in some kind of salon this time, with big, red curtains cladding the walls and spacious, plush couches to match, and bookshelves reaching all the way up to the ceiling. A common room, Louis assumes. A nice one at that, comfortable and cozy, very compatible with his whole deep-love-talk mood.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," he says dismissively and sits down in one of the two seat couches, gesturing for Niall to do the same. "This shouldn't take... Too long. I hope."

"Okay," Niall hums, taking a seat beside Louis. "The suspense is killing me. What's on your mind?"

Louis just looks at Niall's earnest face for a moment, not sure where he should start.

"It's... It's Harry," he allows at last. "I'm confused."

"Ah," Niall drags out the word, tone nothing but understanding and not even a hint of surprise, and his position shifts into something more eager. As if he's waited for this to happen for a long time. "Of course. What's confusing you?"

"Well." Louis scratches his neck. "As you might know... We've gotten kind of close lately. And like, I don't know why that keeps happening in the first place because-I hate him, right? Or like. Well. I don't like him like that, at least."

Niall's face manages to stay completely neutral, nodding encouragingly for Louis to continue, so he does.

"Right. But recently I've kind of had these... Feelings? You know, not. No big deal, really but they're still there. Like, I just get urges to kiss him or hold him and when he's sad I just feel-I feel like something is going to burst. So I'm a bit-lost, if you will. About what those feelings mean."