Sing Us a Song, You're the Piano Man

Chapter 10

A/N: it is 12:30 am right now, and I am utterly exhausted, but I promised you guys two chapters so here you go.  enjoy it :) oh, and Happy Easter to all who celebrate.  All the love as always xx

~L

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Harry POV:

Turns out we were hungrier than we thought, because all four pizzas were polished off in under 30 minutes. Guess that's what you get when you put pizza and four hungry teenage boys in a room together. All we could talk about was the game, and how amazing it had been. Niall and Liam kept bringing up how perfect it was that I was back on the team, and I smiled and went with it, but inside I was terrified. Sure, I loved football. It had been my life for a long time. But now I had to play with Nick after what had happened, and it was scary. It was clear he didn't want me on the team, which was quite understandable, but I was afraid he would do something to sabotage me. Not that he didn't do enough to punish me already, but he was the type to go for big revenge.

I gathered the empty boxes and plates and headed out of the room, not able to listen to another word about football. I just needed to get away. I tip-toed down the stairs so as not to wake my mum, and entered the kitchen, putting the boxes by the door and dumping the glass cups in the sink. I sighed, realizing that I had to wash them now. I pulled out soap and a rag, and as I leaned over to turn on the sink, someone touched my shoulder.

I let out a strangely high pitched squeak and jumped, whirling around, but it was just Louis, who had his hand over his mouth to cover up his snickering.

“Sorry, Haz, didn't mean to scare you. What are you doing?” He asked, gesturing at the items in my hands.

“Oh, umm...just, you know, washing dishes.” I kept my eyes trained on the steady stream of water pouring from the tap, and then I couldn't hold it in anymore, and I just said it. “How do you know about Nick?” His face fell and a crease appeared between his eyebrows.

“I...well, yesterday, right before I found you, I heard him yelling at you. I didn't recognize the voice at first, but by the time I got to you, he was gone. Later in practice I heard him talking to Coach and I knew.”

My heart literally stopped beating. He had heard. How much had he heard?

“Oh...umm, how much of it did you hear?” I asked, fearing the answer.

“Just something about staying away from someone...and he...he called you a fag.” Louis looked up at me and I quickly turned around, not wanting him to see my tears. He knew. Fuck. I felt a hand on my arm, and turned my head only slightly, so that he could hear me, because I was pretty sure my voice was not going above a whisper.

“He's not wrong...I...I'm gay.”

He didn't say a word. I bit down hard on my lip to keep from crying and scrubbed the glasses harder than was necessary. “Y-you don't have to stay. I know you're disgusted. Everyone is.”

“No. Harry, why would I be disgusted? I don't care if you're gay, you're still the same person.” One tear slipped down my cheek and I gripped the glass in my hand hard.

“Nick. He...he was talking about you. He didn't want me to be near you because I might 'turn you gay'.” To my very great surprise, Louis chuckled. When I looked around at him in confusion, he smiled at me.

“Bit too late for that, mate.” My mouth threatened to drop open, but I kept it closed. He just told me he was gay. Nope. Must have misheard. “Yes, Harry, I am gay. Don't look so shocked, love, I mean, look at me!” I blushed. He had taken to calling me 'love' lately, and it made me feel...different. In a good way.