Beauty In Numbers

4

Harry showed up at 12 o'clock sharp, knowing that Louis liked punctuality. Louis was sitting on the stairs waiting for him. His face lit up in a smile.
"Hi, Harry! You came!"

"Hi, Louis, of course. I said I would. Are you ready?" Harry smiled.

"Yes, I'm just gonna tell my mum that I'm leaving." Louis said and got up. He opened the front door and shouted: "Mum! I'm going to Harry's."

Jay came hurrying to the front door.
"Hi, Harry. Where do you live?"

"Just two blocks from here. Don't worry. I'll bring him home after dinner." Harry said and turned to Louis. "My mum invited you to eat with us."

"Okay." Louis agreed.

They started to walk down the street.
"My mum is a bit overprotective." Louis said and rolled his eyes.

"Mums usually are." Harry replied.

Ten minutes later they had reached Harry's house. Louis gasped in surprise.
"Sunflowers!"

"Yeah, they were here when we bought the house." Harry said.

"I love sunflowers. They're a perfect example of the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio. Look, if you count the spirals going clockwise and counterclockwise." Louis said excitedly and pointed at the flowers.

"I didn't know that." Harry smiled. Louis was so cute when he talked about his thing.

"Yeah, too bad they will freeze and die soon. Winters are the worst even if snowflakes are interesting." Louis said.

They walked inside. Louis greeted Harry's family shyly before they headed to Harry's room. Louis stopped in the doorway.
"It's messy."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I have too many pictures laying around." Harry apologized.

"It's okay. You can be messy. Can I look at the pictures?" Louis requested.

"Sure." Harry smiled.

They walked up to his desk where most of his pictures were scattered. Louis picked them up one by one and examined them.
"They're great! You see the beauty in the world too but through a lens. A lot of your objects are Fibonacci objects. I love it, but you should really sort these."

"I'll think about it." Harry chuckled.

He showed him his darkroom before they headed outside. Harry brought his camera. They went for a walk. Harry took a few pictures before he turned the camera on Louis.
"What are you doing?" Louis giggled.

"Capturing beauty." Harry smiled.

"Don't be silly." Louis said but he stood still and let Harry take his picture.

They ate a light lunch and headed outside again. This time they ended up on a playground and Harry pushed Louis on a swing, making him laugh loudly. They spent most of the day outside and returned to Harry's home to eat dinner with his family. Louis was shy but they were all nice to him. Harry's older Gemma especially. Harry followed him home after that and he couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the evening. He was happy that he had made a friend.

He went to school on Monday. He didn't see Harry until lunch when he was sitting alone at his usual table. Harry walked up to him with three other boys.
"Hi Louis, can we join you?"

Louis looked up in surprise.
"Uhm, sure."

They took a seat and Harry introduced his friends.
"Louis, this is Liam, Zayn, and Niall."

He just nodded a shy greeting. The boys greeted him back. They ate their lunches and talked. Harry included him in the conversation. At first, he just mumbled but the three other boys started to talk to him too and it didn't sound like they were making fun of him so he talked back.

It became a recurrent event. He never sat alone at lunch again. Harry always sat next to him and Liam, Zayn and Niall joined them. He and Harry hung out after school too, most days and always on the weekends. He wasn't bound to a schedule anymore. Harry was more spontaneous but that was okay. It didn't stress him out and if it did Harry always noticed and made sure that he was okay. He even let him hug him sometimes even if hugs never had been his thing but with Harry, it felt okay, good even. Harry treated him like an equal and he always told him funny jokes, making him laugh until his stomach hurt.

Christmas was at the door and with that his birthday. Niall asked him if he wanted to go Christmas shopping and he immediately agreed. He wanted to buy a Christmas present for Harry but he couldn't bring him along to do it. He took the bus into town despite his mum's protests. He assured her that he was perfectly capable of riding a bus. She just smiled. He realized that he had allowed her to pamper him too long. He was almost out of high school and sent his applications to high-tech universities around the country. It was time for him to grow up.

He found his way into town and Niall was waiting for him at the bus stop. He liked the Irish lad. He wasn't exactly a golden ratio but he was beautiful on the inside.
"Hi mate!" Niall greeted with a smile.

"Hi." Louis greeted back.

"So, Christmas shopping. Do you know what you want to buy?" Niall asked as they walked to the mall.

"Yes, I've made a list." Louis said and showed it to him.

"You're buying Harry a present? That's sweet." Niall said.

"Yeah, is that inappropriate?" Louis wondered and blushed.

"Absolutely not! He'll love it!" Niall grinned.

"Do you think so? Should I buy him something else?" Louis wondered.

"That's perfect!" Niall reassured him and Louis relaxed.

They spent the day in the mall. Louis bought gifts for his family and Harry and Niall found something for his parents and brother. They ate lunch together at a fast-food court.
"Thanks for allowing me to come to the mall with you." Louis said.

"Allowing...we're friends Louis." Niall said.

"We are? That's great. I've never had friends before." Louis beamed.

Niall seemed touched by that.
"Everyone deserves friends. I'm glad Harry was the smartest one of us and got to know you so we got a chance to."

"Harry is perfect. On the outside and on the inside." Louis stated as if it was a common fact.

Niall smirked.
"I guess."

"He's a perfect example of the Golden ratio." Louis answered.

"Does that mean that he's pretty?" Niall asked in amusement.

"No, he's beautiful." Louis corrected him and drank from his coke.

"Right, I don't really see it but I'll take your word for it." Niall chuckled.

Louis stared at him in surprise.
"How can you not see that? You just have to look at his face."

"I'm not attracted to guys, Louis." Niall smiled.

Louis blushed.
"Oh."

"But I mean, sure, he's good-looking and...you know that it's okay if you find him attractive, right?" Niall tried to smooth things over.

He hadn't really thought about it or sexuality in general. He had never felt the need to label himself, but then again, he never thought that he would fall in love with someone. Did he find Harry attractive? Absolutely. He decided to leave it at that.
"Yeah, uhm, is he okay with that?"

"Harry? In general?" Niall wondered.

"Yeah." Louis said.

"Harry is very open-minded. Yes." Niall smiled. It looked like he found something funny. Was it something he had said? He didn't want to ask.

"Good."

They went home after that and Louis hid his Christmas gift for Harry underneath his bed. He hoped that he would like it.