They were ROOMMATES

13

Louis and Harry do not make it to their morning classes.

Harry tries to make himself go, but every time he tries to get up out of bed Louis grabs him by the waist and drags him back under the soft, warm covers, peppering quick, ticklish kisses all over his abdomen. It's intoxicatingly adorable, and Harry hopes if he stays in this morning and wishes really hard, maybe at some point Louis will kiss him for real.

But after spending the morning snuggling and drifting in and out of much needed sleep, Harry begrudgingly has to untangle himself from Louis and the blankets to get ready for his afternoon class. It's his business management class, and they're supposed to be getting important instructions today about the big project for the semester.

"Sounds boring. Tell Niall I say hi." Louis gets up when Harry does. He jumps up to sit on the counter like a total menace, grabbing a fistful of bbq chips out of the back propped up beside him against the blue tile backsplash. "I'll be here when you get back."

"You don't have class?" Harry doubts that's true. Louis usually leaves for a class the same time as Harry on Wednesday afternoons.

"Don't worry about it."

"But Louis-"

"I said don't worry about it!" He flashes a deflective smile, grabbing the bag of snacks and holding it out to Harry as a peace offering. "Chips for the road?"

"I'm good."

Harry's sock feet pad across the floor as he made his way to the bathroom. It's cold in there, the air raising chill bumps on his bare arms, and he makes a mental note to throw on a jumper when he's done washing up (preferably one of Louis). He washes his face, brushes his teeth, and drags a comb through his dark, unruly curls in a haphazard attempt to tame them.

He's worried about Louis, and turns out rightfully so. As he strains to listen through the heavy wooden bathroom door, he hears the older boy talking on the phone with a hushed, worried voice.

"I never want to go to class again." His voice is thick with shame, and Harry immediately wonders if he's on the phone with a parent. It's presumptuous, sure. But it's a tone of voice Harry is all too familiar with coming out of his own mouth when he still spoke to his family, like when you know they're disappointed in you which means you're the most disappointed with yourself.

"I don't know, Mum. I'll figure something out, I just need time... okay... love you too... bye."

It's the last part that soothes Harry, allowing his shoulders to relax a little. Louis didn't just say "I love you." He said, "I love you too," that last crucial word signifying that Louis' mum still loves him.

Harry isn't jealous. Nope not at all.

****

"Psst! Over here!" Niall hits Harry in the head with a crumpled up piece of notebook paper to grab his attention. It works as intended. "Sit with me! Sit next to me!"

"Christ, Niall, you don't need to yell. I'm standing three feet away," the younger boy complains, but can't help smiling at his idiot friend as he sits down in the empty seat next to him towards the back of the classroom. "You better not distract me though."

Niall wiggles his eyebrows. "No promises."

Growing up he was always a bit of a teacher's pet. He rarely received praise from the adults in his own home, and looking back figures that's why maybe he always was an over achiever in school. This also left him isolated from his own peers and often he was often made fun of. He was the nerdy, gay kid with crazy curly hair and a clumsy disposition who nobody wanted to sit with at lunch.

Business Management 1 is taught by Mrs. Wren, a short, smartly dressed woman with neat silver hair, who frowns more often than she smiles. She's stern and hard to impress, which only makes Harry all the more eager to do so.

Mrs. Wren jumps right into the lecture, spending almost the entire period going over expectations for their project that will stand as a final for the semester, accounting for the majority of their end grade.

It's daunting to say the least. With a sharp voice, frequently tapping the whiteboard with a capped marker like it's a pointer stick, she explains how each student will be creating a module of their own business. Then the last week on campus before break, they will each be required to set up a booth in a class-hosted business fair, where they will be expected to pitch their business not just to other students on campus, but to people in the community, as it is an open event.

Choosing a business idea for the module isn't the hard part. Harry has known what his business is going to be from the second he first heard about this assignment. He's just worried about how he's going to pull his elaborate idea together financially.

He's interrupted from his thoughts by Niall tapping on his shoulder, then sliding a note in front of him.

Is Tommo okay?

Harry thinks back to the other night. The circulation of the video, followed by Louis breaking down and having to shoo away their well intentioned, confused friends. And If Louis was okay he'd be in class right now, but he isn't.

He suddenly feels bad for Niall and Liam. They've known Louis way longer than him, yet their the ones being left in the dark. Harry doesn't know what his place is, doesn't know how much is too much information to give away, but still feels obligated to give Niall something.

He reads the note again.

Is Tommo okay?

His foot taps against the metal rungs at the bottom of the desk in an anxious pattern as he trues to come up with a viable response. Finally, he finds himself writing at the bottom of the original note:

Not yet, but he's got us. He will be.

He passes the note back to Niall, carefully watching his reaction. His blue eyes flitted across the paper, then look back up at Harry as he gives a determined nod. Then he's writing again, and hands the note back to Harry.

Zayn and his art friends are having a bonfire tonight starting around 8. He invited Liam (ooooooh) and said he could invite a few friends. You should try to get Louis to come with you, it's supposed to be real lowkey.

It's a rather brilliant idea. A small, in intimidating crowd of people in a relaxed setting to help Louis squelch his anxieties of showing his face around campus. And these were Zayn's friends, and Liam trusted Zayn; Louis trusted Liam. It was unlikely the topic of the video would even be brought up.

Harry passes one final note:

We're in. I'll talk him into it.