Notice Me (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter 9-Louis

(OH HAI! Sorry about the wait, people, but college is a time consuming thing, especially when your teachers decide to give you ten times more work than usual two weeks before the semester is over. But now I am on VACATION, so hopefully I'll be able to update more, even with job stuff.

Anywhores, ONWARD!)

Louis sat in the practice room, in front of the piano, chin in hand, randomly hitting the same key over and over. Harry had gone to the bathroom, and the moment he left, the magic in the room had died.

In the span of two weeks that Harry and Louis had been working on their duet, he had gotten to know the boy better. As far as he could tell, Harry was still going out with Niall, and although that bothered him, it rarely came up when they were here. They would practice, tweak sections, and run it again and again, talking throughout the entirety. They had just performed, and now had the rest of the class to do what they wanted.

But now that Louis was alone, waiting on Harry, the class became dull and boring. The way it had been before Louis had started hanging with his curly-haired classmate. Harry made Louis happy, and despite Lou's crush on his new companion, he wished he had gotten to know the boy sooner. Even though they were both juniors, Louis felt like life would have been easier freshman year if Harry had been his friend then. He winced as he thought of the way he spent his days alone, with no friends and trying to blend in with the bricks, just like Harry. Once he joined football his sophomore year, and people saw how good he was, Louis' popularity exploded overnight. He already had Zayn and Liam at that point, but they weren't as close as Harry had become so quickly.

Glancing at the clock, Louis frowned. What was taking Harry so long? He stood and marched off, going to see if Harry was okay. Just as he turned the corner, he screeched to a silent halt.

Because there was Harry, pinned against the wall by Niall, who was all but shoving his tongue down Harry's larynx. But Harry didn't seem to mind, leaning his head down and getting more into the kiss.

And Louis temper shot to an eleven. He knew that Niall and Harry were and item, and that it wasn't wrong for this to be happening, especially since Louis had given up on the flower idea since hanging with Harry, but this still made him so upset and mad he couldn't see straight. He was about to go over there, break it up, yell, do something to stop the display of affection in front of his eyes, when a familiar pair of hands restrained him. He found himself glaring into a pair of swirly gray eyes. Kadyn. Christ, could she teleport or something? She was everywhere, all the time. He ignored her, breaking out of her grip, when eight other hands restrained him. She saw a blob of pink out of the corner of his eye and realized that it was Michael and his buddies. The blonde with the lip ring-Luke, Louis remembered-shook his head. "Don't, bud, this is not the way to go." Louis mentally facepalmed, remembering that Michael had eavesdropped on his first conversation with Kadyn, and had told his friends.

Once it was made clear that Louis wasn't going to break up the somehow still-going, tongue-twisting saliva exchange between Harry and Niall, Calum Luke and Ashton all left. Kadyn stayed, which meant Michael stayed, an arm wrapped around Kadyn's waist. They both studied Louis, Michael's eyes curious, Kadyn's weary. Louis knew she was getting sick of having to save Louis' ass every time he was about to do something irrational, but he couldn't always help it. This time though, she didn't lecture him or tell him to get a grip on his emotions. She just pointed towards the music room, shook her head, and walked away. Michael clapped him on the shoulder and followed, grabbing Kadyn's hand and twining his fingers with hers. Their relationship was so simple, so easy, so freaking perfect that it would make Louis sick if he wasn't already rife with jealousy. To avoid using the nearest row of lockers as a headache inducer, he instead ran back to the music room, back into the practice room.

Louis rubbed his temples, trying to breathe normally, and was still barely maintaining control when Harry finally walked back into the room. It was impossible not to notice that his lips were swollen, or the hickey that was only partially hidden by his collar.

"Hey Lou, sorry that took so long, I-"

"I saw you."

Harry stopped midsentence at Louis' interruption, blushing. He dug the toe of his shoe into the carpet and nodded, biting his lower lip.

"Haz, I'm not one to step in and try to tell you what to do, but not during practice time, alright?" Louis did his best to calm down, even though he wanted to throw the piano out the window.

Harry's brow furrowed. "Niall is my boyfriend, Louis. I understand that you want to get this duet over with because I'm your partner instead of Zayn or Liam or pretty much anyone else, but Niall actually cares about me. Besides, I don't really think it's in your rights to rag on me for kissing my boyfriend. You probably do the same with all the girls who throw themselves at you, like that brunette in the yellow."

"Eleanor isn't my girlfriend, she's not even my type. No one I've met is," Louis explained impatiently. Except you, he silently tacked on.

"Well whatever. It shouldn't matter to you what Niall and I do." Harry folded his arms.

"That's not why I'm mad." Entirely.

"Then what?"

"It's nothing." Except that I have a massive crush on you and hate seeing you with someone who isn't me.

"It's obviously something, Lou-Lou! You wouldn't have that sour look on your face if it was nothing!"

"I can't tell you, Haz! At least not all of it! But part of the reason I'm pissed is because you said I was mad that we're partners! I like that we're partners, and I like hanging out with you! I like that we've become friends! What I don't like is the fact that you think our hanging out, talking in class, all my friendly gestures toward you-that they're out of pity! Because they're not! I like you, Harry, I want to be your friend, and the fact that you think I'm not sincere makes me feel terrible about not reaching out to you sooner, and then some!"

"Well that's obviously not the whole reason you're mad! Because you wouldn't have brought up me and Niall if something about that wasn't bothering you!"

Louis cursed under his breath, hating that Harry had him figured out so well. "It's-it's-it's none of your business what I think!" Louis sputtered lamely, hating himself for not coming up with a better excuse.

"Actually it is, Louis, because you brought it up, and since you're my friend and it's bugging you, tell me what you think, so I can try and fix this tension." Harry was relaxed, speaking in a calm voice, and that just made Louis boil with rage.

Louis slammed his fists against the piano, creating a loud, ringing, off-key crash. "I can't handle it!" he yelled, unable to keep it in. "He took you away from me! I know that's stupid, because you had him before we became friends, but the day I notice you is the day he has to waltz in and whisk you away before I can even think of a plan to get your genuine attention!" He paced the small room, tugging at his hair. He stomped towards the door, and before he ran off, he looked Harry dead in the eye, "he has what I want."

Louis bolted, deciding that the rest of the day wasn't that important. He stopped at his locker, picked up his pack, and just walked out the door.