Bonded

Chapter Eighteen

Harry gripped the straps on his backpack a little harder as he paced up and down the hall. He had inconveniently trapped himself in the office corridor by his lack of thinking and over excitement.

Despite his current predicament, the morning had started out good. He managed to wake up and get ready on time to leave with Isaac, and Isaac even escorted him all the way to his office, which was more then Harry had expected. But as Harry started to make the short trip from Isaac's office to Mr. Wilson's he recalled how Mr. Wilson told him to come in at his regular time.

He wasn't just a little early, he was a couple hours early. There was no way he could show up and knock on Mr Wilson's door now. The problem was though, that in order to wait anywhere other then this little hallway, he would have to walk past Isaac's office. He didn't want Isaac to see him leaving and think it was because he didn't want to be there. He did want to hang out with Louis, he just made a stupid mistake.

At the very least, Harry was grateful that Mr. Wilson chose a secluded area to house his office for the week. At least this way, none of his co-workers could see him frantically pacing the hall, in a mini, melodramatic freakout. He had been there only about fifteen minutes and there was still way over an hour left till he normally started work. He didn't have any faith that he wasn't going to get caught and he was panicking slightly at the thought of how he would be stuck awkwardly explaining his situation. With nothing else to do, Harry just continued to shuffle back and forth, minding his own internal meltdown.

Not even five minutes had past when Noah came, and stood at one end of the hall. He watched Harry walk down the stretch, the latter being too immersed in his own anxiety to even notice. Noah folded his arms infront of him, trying to decide whether using his voice or pheromones to draw attention from Harry would be the least scary. Recalling how terrified Harry was when he first met James, Noah figured simply calling out to him would be best if he didn't want Harry to run away.

Noah lifted a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. "Harry," he called, lowering his hand to his hips. Harry was a good twenty feet away but he still startled nonetheless. Seeing Harry look up at him with petrified eyes, Noah immediately lowered his arms to clasp his hands behind his back, in a non threatening manner. "James will see you now," he let him know, really hoping Harry would just follow along on his own.

Harry didn't though. Shaking his head in fright, he actually took one step back. "I can't see Mr. Wilson," he said in a shaky voice. "I'm too early."

Noah lifted his hands in an attempt to calm him. "James already knows you're here. He was waiting for you but sent me when you didn't show up." This information seemed to make things worse, causing Noah to wince and try again. "Louis also arrived early, but he went out to buy a gaming console for the room upstairs. They should be back any moment. We should wait for him with James."

Noah wasn't sure if it was the fact that Louis also showed up early or just simply the mention of the O's name that caused it, but Harry seemed to calm a bit at his words. He nodded his head and shuffled over to where Noah was standing, keeping his eyes on the floor. Noah raised his hand that was closer to Harry, wondering if he should hold onto Harry's arm again, in a guided escort. It was intrusive so he didn't want to if he didn't have to and since Harry seemed to be following well today, Noah decided against it and placed his hand behind his back again. He struggled with knowing how to respond to the smaller guy who always seemed to be ready to run. He wasn't an Elite and, unlike James, he couldn't tell what Harry was actually feeling. He really just hoped that Harry wouldn't freak out at the door like yesterday, he didn't want to have to chase him down.

But Harry wasn't planning on running. He had spent most of his life being anxious and, in a way, learned to live with it. He was generally able to do the things he needed to do, even if he was scared.