Beanie [Louis/Luke]

Seven

Seven: Haunted?

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Luke.

The blonde closed his eyes, his lips curving up in a smile as his senses took in his surroundings, the soft breeze ruffling his hair, the faint smell of dewy grass, not to mention the characteristic calm this place possessed.

Luke has a knack for wandering when he wasn't upto the things that he usually did with his friends (which mostly included binging on junk food and cursing while playing video games). He actually preferred solitude once in a while, as most people do, and this knackering had led the blue eyed boy here, sitting on the windowsill of an uninhabited rundown house while swinging his long legs back and forth, looking out at the expanse of the yellowish green garden overflowing with wild weeds.

Any normal, sane person would be spooked out while passing through this place let alone stepping foot inside, but not him. The iron gates were twisted around, just beckoning for him to explore. He'd been frequenting this place for a while and so far, no angry spirits had bothered him, despite what Ashton always warned him about. He had tried to persuade the boys to come explore with him, but they were both chicken shits.

Mike and Ashton, his new friends in this country were really cool though, and he was slowly starting to click with them. But both boys were busy with their own stuff today and couldn't hang out. So after school, instead of going back and disturbing the family he was staying with for the duration of the foreign exchange program, Luke decided to just take a walk around the quiet town, snapping a few pictures along the way. Oh, he felt like a right hipster.

The creaking of the old floorboards downstairs made Luke snap his eyes open, his heart rate doubling. Shit. Was this place haunted afterall? Or was he getting busted. What if Ashton had been right?

Luke straightened in shock, swiftly turning around as the crunching grew louder.

He breathed out a sigh of relief that turned into a surprised gasp when he realised it was Louis Tomlinson. Here, prowling inside this abandoned spooky house, the place Luke thought nobody dared to set foot in.

Louis had been looking down at his feet, his chestnut fringe peeking out of his beanie and hanging in front of his eyes, but apparently felt another presence as he looked up, nearly falling flat on his ass with a choked scream when he saw Luke, all gangly limbs and wide eyes, perched on the sill of the broken window, the late evening light casting a halo around him.

"Um, hi," Luke said after a long beat of silence, waving awkwardly as Louis unfroze.

"What the hell are you doing here? You scared me half to death!" The older boy sputtered, his tenory voice reverbrating in the empty house, but then sighed, suddenly sounding drained. "I just want to be alone for a few minutes damn it!"

Luke frowned, lifting himself off the ledge. "Well I'm sorry, I could leave. I just came here for alone time, in case you're wondering, not stalking you," he added snippily. Why did he had to leave?

Louis scoffed, crossing his arms. "How'd you find this place?"

"I was just wondering about. Found this place and broke in and I dunno, it's pretty nice and calm," Luke shrugged, turning away from Louis and facing the garden again.

"Oh no," Louis huffed, walking closer as broken glass crunched under his Vans. "You stole my spot on the play, now you're not stealing my safe haven!"

"Hey it's just a coincidence! How would you feel if I had came here, shooing you away from this place?" Luke asked, crossing his arms as he played the guilt card.

Louis opened his mouth then closed it, grumbling under his breath as he hopped onto the sill beside Luke, scooting farther away and swinging his crossed legs, not saying a word.

Luke assessed the smaller boy's tense posture, his closed eyes and clasped hands and how his teeth were mercilessly chewing down on his bottom lip. He looked pretty tense and yeah, Louis had came here to of course avoid something that's stressing him, but Luke is an idiot, so.

"Uh, you wanna talk--"

Louis opened his eyes. "Shut up. Just. Be quiet. Let me sit in silence. Let me pretend you're not here," Louis said firmly, closing his eyes again as Luke just raised his eyebrows, but kept quiet. Okay, ouch.

A few minutes lasped, and Luke peeked out the corner of his eye, taking in Louis' side profile while fiddling with his bracelets. Louis had a really cute nose, he decided, seeing him so up close for the first time. They were just a foot apart, and Luke realised this scenario could go in so many different ways, and then good thing he realised how desperate he sounded to himself. Alright.

Luke of course couldn't concentrate on the silence now, what with a cute guy sitting few (okay a lot) inches apart from him.

"I like your beanie," Luke said cheekily, breaking the silence, and Louis just looked up at him wearily, his hands gripping the ledge, but a miniscule smile was tugging at the corners of his lips, and Luke felt a weird tugging feeling in his chest, that he has made the boy smile after what felt like a long time.

"I thought I told you shut up."

"But I had to tell you that I really like your beanie," Luke said, full on grinning now.

Louis rolled his eyes, lifting his gaze up to Luke's beanie and narrowing his eyes. "It's almost the same as yours, twat."

"Really? It's such a beautiful coincidence. Even more wonderful than how we both have the same haunted getaway," Luke mused, his dimple deep and visible.

"Yeah, I guess," Louis trailed off, smiling subtly.

"Uh, and okay I'm supposed to keep quiet but I wanted to apologize for um, calling you tiny, ya know, before," Luke said, rubbing the nape of his neck as Louis listened with a raised eyebrow. Now was a good time as any to clear the weird rivalry. Okay, it wasn't a rivalry per se, but bantering friends sounded better than bantering acquaintances.

One step closer to dating Louis Tomlinson.

Okay, too far, Luke decided.

"And we got off on the wrong foot but now we kinda have to be on the same play and I kinda made you laugh when you kinda look sad so I guess, um, what I'm trying to say is that.. Friends?" Luke rambled, letting out a huge breath as he awkwardly thrusted his hand out for a a shake, smiling a smile that was too bright for this place.

After a beat of silence, Louis' thin lips curved up in an amused smile as he absent-mindedly pushed back his navy blue beanie. "Yeah. Alright. Friends," Louis repeated, shaking Luke's outstretched hand.

And while Luke was doing handstands and cartwheels in his head, wondering when the hell sitting next to, being friends with, and making Louis Tomlinson smile started to feel like such bloody huge achievements that counted for a celebration.

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Luke is a smitten kitten!

Oh! Waddup title reference! Now you know why I named the book Beanie *smirks*

Hope you liked this one. Do vote and let me know whatchu thought •3•