his reign and his fall | larry stylinson

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"You win again." Harry leans back, his palms flat on the carpet as he rests his body weight against them. Louis picks up the chess pieces and puts them back into the kit. The sound of the pieces clashing together fills the silence of the room, along with the small humming from the space heaters that sit in the corner.

"Are you getting warm yet?" Louis asks. Harry thinks for a second but shakes his head.

"No, it's still freezing."

"I'm sorry. I can call a cab back to the hotel." Louis leaves the rest of the pieces on the table as he goes to stand, placing his hands on the coffee table.

"Wait." Harry stops him, reaching over across the table to grab Louis' hand. Louis' jaw slightly drops as he stares at their hands. Harry's hand fully engulfs his, and the touch sends the butterflies in his stomach into a tantrum. They flutter like they're trying to escape, and Louis is with them on that. He slides his hand out of Harry's grasp.

He knows his attraction toward Harry is everything from a storybook that he'd read to his little sisters. He's not in love with a dreamy prince by any means, but he knows he's not far from it. It's cliché, but Harry feeling the same towards him is not on the list of things for Louis to expect. It's an impossible scenario. For him and a prince to be together? Impossible, it will never happen. Louis lowers back down to his knees, telling himself that he is just friends with Harry. That the touch was nothing more than an action to add to Harry's request to stay.

"Wait?" Louis asks.

"You know they say the knight is the most useless piece on the board." Harry returns his hand to his lap. Louis can't read his emotions, something he's usually good at. He can always tell what Zayn or Niall are thinking or feeling just from looking into their eyes. But with Harry, he's completely clueless. He doesn't know where this conversation is heading, he can't read it like usual. It's strange, and he's not used to it. He doesn't know how to react, so he just sits there and waits for Harry to keep going. "The knight can't check the king. He can't ever be the one to win the game, to please the rest of the pieces of a victory. He relies on the others." He looks devastated when he says it.

"But you're not looking within the piece. What else it can do." Louis sets the board back up, arranging the pieces at random. He picks up the white chess piece and hands it to Harry. "What can this piece do that none of the others can."

"Check the king?" Harry places the knight on the board, on the perimeter of the checkered board.

"No. It can jump over other pieces." Louis moves Harry's hand, with the knight over a pawn, moving it closer to the center of the board. "He's more powerful in the middle. Surrounded by his teammates, you could say."

"His teammates," Harry repeats, releasing the knight. "What if he's one of the last ones left? What if he has no teammates?" Harry removes the surrounding white queen and pawn pieces, knocking the rook and bishop off the board. It leaves the knight alone. Louis knows this would be a rare outcome in an actual game. He knows there is more to what Harry is saying, there's something deeper that lies beneath the surface of his question.

Louis frowns, squeezing Harry's hand before letting it go. He grabs the black knight piece and places it next to the white one that sits in the middle of the board so that they're sided by side. In a way, it looks like the knights are about to go head to head in battle, the white piece surrounded by its opponents. It's an unfair battle, but the black knight piece is there to warn off the others. It's an unfair battle.

"He does now."

Impossible.

***

After returning to the Malison, Louis and Harry went their separate ways.