Here In The Afterglow

Chapter 1.5

Once school starts up again, it doesn't take long for rumours to spread through the tiny town like wildfire. They're not exactly bad rumours, but Post Falls is dull at the best of times, so a sudden, unexplained population growth becomes a topic of discussion all too easily.

He overhears a group of sophomore's by the bike shed speculating wildly that Harry is running from a gang of some kind, that he speaks funny because he's trying to hide his true identity or something. Louis takes it into his own hands to remind them that people from different areas develop different accents. They respond with a grumble and a promise to prove their theory. Louis rolls his eyes at it all.

Still, the speculation continues through those first few weeks, ridiculous accusations about this boy that nobody really knows. Hell, Louis doesn't know him at all. That doesn't stop his hackles rising when he hears people slagging him off, or spreading another dumb rumour.

It's the mystery of Harry Styles, is what it is, a bi-product of a town too small for the personalities it holds. And Louis, though he only knows him incrementally, perhaps knows more than he thinks he should. He knows what Harry looks like under the soft glow of a bonfire, knows how his cheeks look when they hollow out around a joint, the pucker of his lips, the delicacy of his lashes. His long fingers. His jaw.

Louis is deathly, desperately, afraid of him.

Eventually, Harry starts to say hello to Louis in the hallways, in passing, or even if it's entirely out of his way. When Harry had approached their table at lunch a few days ago, Louis had held his breath the entire time. Jimmy had looked less than pleased, but Harry was a senior, and Jimmy was always too hesitant to fuck with the seniors, no matter who they were.

Louis finds the GMC rumour debunked when Harry rides a bike in to school on that first day back from break. Nobody yet knows where he lives in town, exactly, despite the steady stream of girls that try their best to be discreet when they follow him around.

Even though they rarely see each other at school, sometimes, on the odd occasion, they'll pedal out together in silence before they split.

"Hey, Lou," Harry says today as he passes him in the hall, a flash of a smile and a nod of his head before he's swept up by another conversation. Louis doesn't have a chance to respond.

Stan is, immediately, as he usually is when it comes to Harry, suspicious. "I don't like his vibe."

"We've established that," Louis says nonchalantly. He doesn't look over his shoulder. He doesn't.

"I was so close to going around with Jen, man," Stan grumbles. "Like, this close. Then Harry swept her up."

"Oh?" Louis questions.

"Well, that's what I heard, anyway," Stan grumbles. "It's annoying."

"Plenty of other pretty girls out there," Liam chirps, ever the enthusiast.

"I don't see why he's gotta go after mine," Stan huffs. She's not a thing, Louis wants to bite out.

"It's all rumours, anyway," he says instead.

"I heard a rumour," Stan says haughtily.

Louis raises an eyebrow and looks at him. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Stan says, narrowing his eyes slightly. "I heard that you and Styles were hanging out on New Years, after you ditched Shelley and kept acting like a complete ass."

Louis breath gets clogged in his throat, just for a moment. "Yeah, what of it?"

Stan looks unimpressed.