temptation

chapter one

Louis has never been a fan of blood or anything else that involves bodily fluid. His stomach is as sensitive as a newborn baby's and he is more than okay with that. Except for the rare case where he needs to torture himself by donating the very thing he is afraid to look at. His own blood. But if it meant skipping Henderson's class and avoiding another awkward run in with Nathan, the teacher's assistant for at least another week, then it's something that he needs to sacrifice himself for.

"See you didn't even feel that did you? Nothing to be worried about." Nora said pulling off her gloves. Louis avoided looking down at the needle sucking out the blood from his veins and gives her a small smile.

"Yeah not so bad at all." He lies, his left eye twitching with nervousness.

"Okay hun, you just rest while this does its job and I'll come back when the bag is filled." The sweet old lady tells Louis, red lipstick staining her teeth that he tried to avoid staring at. He was already getting queasy but it was worth missing Henderson's class for the day.

He risked another glance down and felt his stomach flip. He let out a soft groan and darted his eyes back to the small TV in the corner playing reruns of friends. His mom use to force him to watch episodes with her when he was a kid but it never seemed to stick to him. It was something about Ross that seemed to throw him off.

"You alright man? You don't look too good." A sudden voice questions from the left of Louis, breaking him from his intrusive thoughts. He turns his head to look and locks eyes with vibrant green orbs staring back at him with concern. The man had curly hair that was pulled back with a headband and his face was twisted with a frown that showcased the dimples etched into his cheeks. His lips were a light pink that were glistening as if he was licking them. He was a god.

"Honestly, I get sick at the sight of blood but I'm trying to get out of my biology lab and this was the best excuse." Louis blurts out, his face turning pale when he catches sight of the blood draining from the mystery man's abnormally attractive arm. The frown flipped into a small smile and his eyes filled with amusement. Louis was left speechless, taken back by how a simple smile can make someone even more attractive. Was that even possible?

"You talking about Henderson's class? I came here to skip that too." And wait. Louis tilted his head, confusion masking his face.

"You take Henderson's class? 9:15-10:45 in-"

"In the Kings building, second floor, room 302." The mystery man cut Louis off, his sentence ending in a chuckle. "Yeah, I take that class, every week on Wednesday." He smiled again and Louis felt his cheeks brighten in a blush because how can a smile seem so sensual. "My name is Harry by the way."

"Tomlinson. Eh, Louis Tomlinson." Louis babbled out, mentally hitting himself in the head for his introduction, who did he think he was, James Bond? God, how embarrassing.

Harry chuckled and Louis could feel his skin burst out into goosebumps. He could not get over how attractive this man was. "Well, Louis Tomlinson, what's your reason for skipping?"

Louis grimaced and shook his head," I'm not proud of it..."

"I don't judge."

"Nathan, the assistant teacher asked me out on a date and I impulsively said yes because I was under pressure but I ended up not going and stood him up that night because I spent the two hours it took to get ready convincing myself it was not a good idea and what other people would think if I went on that date. Not that I care but I do to an extent because I don't want to be seen as someone doing it for good grades and so I'm trying to avoid him to skip the awkward questions of why I never showed and yeah..." Louis trailed off, realizing he gave way too much information for a question that could have been answered in five words.

Harry let out a soft laugh, his eyes crinkling at the corner. "I know I said I don't judge, but really? Nathan?"

"I know," Louis groaned, "He asked me on the spot after class last week and he was persistent to get an answer before I left." Thinking back on it, Nathan acted like a real jerk when he asked Louis. Every time he tried come up with an excuse or even delay an answer so he could have time to think about it, Nathan would block him in and demand an answer. Red Flag.

"Yeah, not much of the dating type, that arrogant asshole." Harry said so calmly that Louis was taken back.

"Not a fan of him?" 

"He's maybe two years older than me and I'm twenty-three. He was a junior when I started my freshman year of high school. He was a complete jackass who thought he was better than everybody else. Never liked the kid and now he's my teacher's assistant, imagine my luck." Harry let out another laugh and Louis couldn't help but laugh along. 

"Doesn't seem like you got the best luck, no." Louis cracks a smile and Harry hums in agreement,  his green eyes shining as he looks at Louis. 

"Alright hun, looks like you're all set." Nora's voice suddenly breaks their eye contact as she appears on Harry's right side. "Let me take this out for you, keep the gauze on it for at least an hour, drink some water and eat a small snack, okay?" She informs him with a smile, taping the piece of gauze to the little dot in his inner elbow. Louis couldn't help but feel jealous that Harry was free of the tiny needle. 

"Well, it looks like I'm free to go." Harry says with a smile causing Louis to feel a pang of disappointment. "It was nice meeting you, Tomlinson. Louis Tomlinson." He winked and grabbed his jacket that was hanging on his chair, slipping it on. "If I see Nathan I'll be sure to divert him away from you." 

Louis laughed and watched as Harry started to walk away. "Hey wait! You never said why you skipped today?" He called out after the figure walking away. 

Harry turned to give him a smile, his dimples popping out of his cheeks. "I just felt like it." Those were the words, the five words. 

Louis bit his lip as Harry disappears, his mind running wild with replays of their conversation. "Wow." He mumbles to himself, brushing his hair out of his eye, wincing when he realized he used the arm still being tortured by the needle. He couldn't help but feel excited for class next week.