Playing House

6

He got to meet Louis' other sisters as they sat down to eat.
"I'm Lottie."

"And I'm Fizzy. Who are you?"

The girls stared at him. It made him uncomfortable.
"I'm Harry."

"How do you know my brother?" Lottie asked.

"Where do you live?" Fizzy asked directly after.

"Come on! Leave him alone. You're interrogating him." Louis said.

"We wanna get to know him." Lottie pouted.

"Maybe you should give me the chance to get to know him first before you scare him away with all your questions?" Louis replied before he mouthed "Sorry" to Harry.

Harry smiled.
"Louis and I go to school together, and I live a couple of streets from here."

"Why haven't you hung out before?" Lottie questioned, and Louis threw a piece of potato at her.

"What? That's not a strange question." Lottie protested.

"Just shut up, Lottie." Louis grunted.

They continued to fire questions at him, and Harry tried to answer them. When dinner was over, Lottie and Fizzy ran to their rooms.

Louis took the twins to the bathroom to wash their faces, and Harry was alone in the kitchen. He got up and began to clear the table. Louis returned.
"You don't have to do that."

"I don't mind." Harry smiled.

Louis put on a Barbie movie for the twins before he returned to the kitchen and helped Harry with the last.
"Tea?"

"Sure." Harry said.

Louis filled the kettle with water.
"I'm sorry about me sisters."

"They're sweet." Harry said. The doll started to scream, and he picked it up and searched the bag for the bottle. He fed it while Louis made them tea.

As soon as it was ready, Louis took a seat opposite him so he could keep an eye on the twins in the living room.
"So, do you still hang out with your old friends? I mean, from your old class before you switched?"

A dreadful question. Now Louis would know that he was a loser without friends.
"Not really. Do you watch your siblings a lot?" Harry asked to change the subject.

"I help out when I can. Mum has a pottery class today, and I encouraged her to take it. As a single parent, she never does anything for herself." Louis answered. He didn't bring up the friend's subject again, and Harry was relieved.

"It must be tough being a single parent. I'm glad you help out." Harry said.

"They see their dad too." Louis replied and took a sip of tea.

"You don't have the same dad?" Harry wondered.

"No, but Mark has been more of a dad to me than me birth father." Louis huffed.

"I'm sorry if I brought up a sensitive subject." Harry apologized.

"Well, I think we're even considering me blunt question earlier. I'm sorry about that." Louis replied softly.

"Skipping grades doesn't exactly make you popular." Harry shrugged.

"And that's bullshit. You're a nice guy." Louis replied.

"Thanks." Harry beamed and blushed.

They continued to talk about all kinds of things while the twins watched tv. Jay arrived back home, and Harry glanced at the clock.
"I should get going. School tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow then." Louis smiled and followed him to the hallway.

"Yeah, thanks for inviting me over." Harry said and returned the smile.

"Thanks for babysitting with me." Louis retorted.

Harry put on his shoes and jacket. He waved goodbye and headed out the door. He almost jumped home. He was happy. He had such an amazing afternoon in Louis' company. He would live on this for a long time. He always thought that school was something he had to endure to get the life he wanted. He had hoped that he would make a friend in college, but maybe Louis wanted to be his friend? He shouldn't get his hopes up. When this month had ended, Louis would probably go back to not talking to him, but he at least had this month!

He noticed a difference the next morning when Louis approached him to leave him the doll. First of all, Louis was smiling. Second of all, he stayed and talked until it was time to head to their classes. Harry had photography in the morning. They got a new assignment. Black and white portraits.

Louis greeted him whenever they passed each other in the hallway and waved at him when they had classes together, and it was a whole new experience for Harry. He had never been seen before. At least not since those first years of school before he excelled.

It continued the same the next day and the day after that. When they dropped off the doll by each other's lockers in the mornings, Louis always stayed and talked. He greeted him throughout the day and smiled at him. It was Harry's turn to have the doll on Saturday. When he bumped into Louis on Friday, he decided to bring it up.
"Louis? It's my turn to have the doll tomorrow. When can I pick it up?"

"Right. I can come over if that's okay?" Louis suggested.

"Okay." Harry agreed.

"Noon?" Louis asked.

"Sure." Harry answered.

Harry smiled for the whole of Friday. He woke up early and cleaned his room. Louis hadn't exactly said that he was staying, but in case he would, he wanted to be prepared.

He ate breakfast before he took a long shower and spent some extra time on his messy hair. The curls were wild, but with some of the hair stuff his sister Gemma had bought him last Christmas, he could at least style them without his hair looking frizzy. He spent a solid twenty minutes staring into his closet. He had never cared much about his clothes before but now all his shirts looked stupid. Once again, Gemma saved him. She had bought him a sweater on his birthday that was kind of cool. He put it on with a pair of jeans and put deodorant under his arms. He glanced at the clock. It was still an hour until Louis would show up.