Coffee Boy

Chapter 2

As Louis' hand touched Harry's, he froze, looking into his eyes, and Louis was looking right back. They stood like this for a while, just staring at each other. Then, Louis looked down and traced his finger on a scar on Harry's knuckle. "What happened here?" he asked nonchalantly. Harry sighed, rather upset that their moment had ended. "It's just a scratch," replied Harry, bringing his hand to his side. But Louis pulled Harry's hand back towards him and looked at the scar. "It looks a lot worse than a simple scratch."

Harry once again looked into those bright blue eyes and knew Louis wouldn't give this up. "It's going to sound really stupid but I had a cat who hated my guts!" Louis laughed after hearing this. Gosh, Harry loved his laugh. "You're telling me a cat gave you this ghastly scar?" questioned Louis. Harry nodded a little sheepishly, blush springing into his cheeks. "Check out the one I've got," Louis said. "I was volunteering at an animal shelter and this stray pitbull bit right into my side." Harry smiled at the thought of Louis volunteering at an animal shelter and winced when thinking of a pitbull biting into him. He sucked in a breath as Louis lifted his shirt to show him the scar. It was way worse than his but made him look rugged, in a good way.

Harry couldn't remember how it had happened, maybe it was the drinks, but suddenly they were both sitting on the beer pong table and telling each other a ton of stories. Louis talked about how he used to travel a lot and went to places like Australia, India, Canada, and Brazil. He said it was his goal to visit all the seven continents, and Harry couldn't help but think maybe one day they could go traveling together. He also talked about his five other siblings and what it was like being from a big family. This got Harry talking about his own family. Since he was an only child, his cousins were the closest thing he had to siblings growing up. He talked about how his one cousin, Julia, loved to paint his nails. He saw how happy it made her so he was always willing to let her design and decorate them however she pleased.

Later, though, they got into some deeper conversations. Louis explained how his parents were always arguing, especially with a lot of kids to deal with. He never wanted to be a burden to them and tried everything he could to be helpful. At the time, he blamed himself for their divorce, saying that he should've done more to keep them together. He realized, now, that it was foolish of him to think that way, but the pain of his parent's split still hurt. Then Harry went on about his mother and her difficulties getting pregnant. Harry had been premature and suffered many illnesses as a newborn. When his mum tried for another baby, he was too young to understand what a miscarriage really meant, but seeing his mother sad made him sad. He couldn't bear the thought of her being unhappy but didn't know what to do about it.

Abruptly, Oliver came running to the table, breathless. He looked disheveled and his hair was splayed out over his head. "What took you so long?!" he exclaimed to Louis, "It's been hours and you never even came to look for me!" Louis looked at his watch and was shocked to see it was almost 12:30. Then Oliver turned to Harry. "You have got to get your girlfriend in check. She's mental, I'm telling you! Dragging me here and there, pulling my arms, stepping on my feet. I think I've got bruises now!"

"Oh calm down," replied Louis, who, Harry noticed, was slightly annoyed and embarrassed.

"Well you're not the one that had to occupy her for hours, were you?" Oliver looked expectantly at Harry, thinking he was going to defend her. But Harry just stared at him blankly, internally agreeing with everything he had said. "I think it's about time to go," Oliver finished, looping his arm around Louis' shoulder and walking him out the club. As he spun around, he eyed Harry carefully, unknown thoughts whirling through his mind. But Harry didn't pay it much attention, because as they left, Louis turned to get one final look at him, smiling. Harry smiled back dreamily, watching him until he walked out the door.

He was still sitting on the table with that goofy look on his face when Norah came marching up to him. She yanked him down, pulling Harry through the crowd and out the door. Huffing and puffing until they got in the car. "Everything okay?" he asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"No! Everything is certainly not okay!" she said, half screaming. She didn't continue explaining, however, and for this, Harry was grateful. He drove, thinking of Louis the entire time. All the things he had learned about him, things he never would have guessed. Twice, Harry had to slam on the brakes, nearly hitting the cars in front of him, too busy thinking about the one person on his mind. He finally made it to Norah's flat, ready to drop her off. But before leaving, she gave him a peck on the lips, flashing him a vibrant smile (how quickly her moods changed!). Harry cringed slightly when her back was turned, wishing those lips had been someone else's.

But other people were in the way of that. For heaven's sake, he was dating someone! And he knew there would be no chance of a relationship happening if he didn't break it off.

Harry considered his options, unsure of what his next move would be. Breaking up with Norah meant he was a little closer to being with Louis. But if he did break up with her, if he did start dating Louis, what would that mean for his reputation? All these people expected so much from him, he didn't know what to do.