Hollow - LS

20| Found

20| Found

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"I'd never leave. In a million lifetimes, I've already stayed."

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Found

Adjective

Having been discovered by chance or unexpectedly.

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It isn't until they are almost completely out of his neighborhood that the panic starts to settle in.

He left his house with nothing. No clothes, no money, no transportation, and no idea of where he was going.

How could he have been so stupid? How could he have thought his mother would be fine with what he said? How stupid could he have been that he actually thought talking to his mother would have helped more than hurt? Maybe she was right with what she said the other night. Maybe he was just stupid.

"You are not stupid." Harry said, shaking him out of his thoughts. He gets confused for a second before realizing that he must have said the last part out loud.

"But how could I not be?" Louis says, panic starting to rise in his voice. "I just left my house like a madman, and I have no idea where I'm going to go."

"First, we are going to my house. So you know where you're going." He says, "And after that, you'll figure it out."

"But what if I don't?" His voice takes a softer tone.

"You will." He promises. "You'll see."

They walk the rest of the way to his house in complete silence. Louis couldn't even talk if he wanted to, and at that moment, he wasn't sure he wanted to hear from Harry. He just felt too panicked and in his own head about what was going to happen next and the what ifs.

Like what if he did stay home instead of leaving with Harry? What if he chose not to say anything at all? How would his mother react then? How would Harry react? And more importantly, how would he feel?

In all honesty, he didn't regret what he said towards his mother. Thinking it over, he knew that what he said wasn't much and probably wouldn't mean much if others had heard it because it wasn't some big ordeal where he completely broke down and there wasn't any yelling or tears streaming down his face, but he felt good. That even saying that little bit made him feel good about himself. But the way his mother reacted wasn't. And maybe he will never know how she was truly going to react. And maybe he didn't want to.

Harry's house came into view, and this time there were lights already on inside.

"I think my mom is home." He mumbled.

Louis didn't say anything as he opened the door and they walked in together, with his mom looking up at them as they walked in. In the dim lighting provided from the overhead light, he could barely make out her features in the living room, but he could tell where Harry got his looks from. The same green eyes, and same small smile. The only difference was the noticeable wrinkles his mother had around her eyes and mouth.

"Hi, honey." She gave him a small smile. "Who's your friend?"

"Louis." Harry says.

Louis smiles, and her smile widens on her face. "You guys know each from -?"

"Support group." Harry says.

"It's nice to meet you, Louis." She holds out her hand.

"You too, Miss. Styles." He shakes her hand with a small smile.

"Please." She says, "Call me Anne."

"Is it okay if Louis stays the night?" He looks over at his mom as she slowly nods.

"Of course!" She gushes.

Harry tells Louis that he can already go upstairs while he gets some stuff from downstairs. Fortunately, Louis remembers the way like last time and is in his room in no time. He gets himself situated on the corner of his bed like last time and waits. As he waits, he realizes the book that Louis noticed he was reading the last time is moved and in its place is a Stephen King novel.

Louis is about to pick it up to read what it's about but the bedroom door opens and in comes Harry. In his hands are what Louis hopes are pop tarts and some extra pieces of clothing. Louis looks up at him in confusion.

"I thought you might like to change." Harry suggests.

Louis looks down at his clothes, and realizes how comfortable he might be if he changed. He softly thanks Harry and then walks into the bathroom to change. The sweatpants that Harry provided are too long for him so he bunches them up at the bottom, and the hoodie provided is also too big so Louis folds the sleeves before walking back out. He folds what he was previously wearing and places them on the ground next to his shoes.

When he's done, he goes to sit back on the corner of the bed like before. "What are you doing?" Harry asks.

"Sitting."

"You look uncomfortable." Harry says. "You can move closer up if you want."

Louis turns and moves until he is lying further up on the comforter and one of his arms is on the pillow. "Is this okay?"

"If you're comfortable it is." He hands Louis a pop tart and they silently eat.

After the last remains of the pop tarts are gone, they both lean against the headboard. Louis silently looks over at Harry. After a few seconds, Harry looks over at him. "What?"

"Thank you." Louis says quietly.

A blush creeps up on Harry's face. "I didn't really do much."

"You did enough." Louis replies. "And I'm really grateful that I met you."

"Me too." Harry whispers looking down at Louis's mouth for a second. His hand lifts up and brushes something off Louis's face. "Pop tart." He softly chuckles.

But his hand doesn't move from his face and Louis can feel his face getting hot as Harry gently cups the side of his cheek. Louis leans into it and accepts the touch that he knew he would have once thought over and questioned if it was okay or if he was allowed to accept it.

Louis closes his eyes and then opens them to find Harry watching intently. Louis's eyes drift down to Harry's mouth and then back up toward his intense green eyes. There is a silent invitation there that both the boys here without it needing to be said out loud.

Slowly, Harry leans his forehead but takes pauses like he is expecting Louis to either stop him or wants to make sure that what he is doing is okay. But when Louis doesn't say anything but wait, Harry continues to lean forward until they are inches apart. Louis sucks in a breath.

It's slow at first, but as soon as Louis can taste the pop tart, all thoughts of everything else go out the window as he wants more of that taste. Their lips brush against each other and then they move slowly in sync. Harry used both hands at this time to hold Louis in place as Harry kissed his mouth, then nipped at it, and then kissed both his cheeks.

They both pull apart from each other with red cheeks.

And as they pull apart, everything that happened that night comes rushing back to him.

"What am I going to do?" Louis closes his eyes, feeling how tired they are.

But Harry grabs his chin, forcing them open. "We are going to figure it out."

He doesn't get to say anything as Harry places a soft kiss on his forehead and gently ushers them to bed. And right before Louis drifts off, he feels another arm go around him and pull him in closer.

And this time, he doesn't feel himself panicking or overthinking.

***

Authors note: 

One more chapter after this! ((: