flight ; l.s

two.

"Just sit here," Louis said after he unlocked the door and led an unwilling Harry to the tiny living room where a single, worn out green couch stood in all its hand-me-down glory in front of the smallest TV ever. The house had a sort of cozy homey feeling that reminded Harry of his own home, where ever that was. "Just..." Harry started to repeat, sitting down on the soft cushions and wrapping the blanket tighter around his bare body.

"I'll get you some clothes, and start up a shower, yeah? Then we'll get some food and call someone," Louis stated the plan, hurrying down the hallway and out of sight.

"Uh," Harry started helplessly, not wanting to be left to his own devices. This house was strange. He glanced at the walls, where there were framed photos of Louis and another boy with olive skin and a nicely sculpted face. They were both smiling crazy grins and Louis had his eyes crossed. There were other photos of Louis with a bunch of little girls, all grinning with their tongues out.

There were other pictures, but Louis wasn't in them. Instead, it was a boy with brown eyes and different hairstyles in every shot. There was one of the two of them together, and Harry wondered if this was the one who lived with him.

The sound of the front door opening startled Harry from his daze. He craned his neck, as if to see down the slight hallway.

"Weird, thought I locked it," a voice mumbled, a boy around Louis' age appearing around the corner. It was the one from the pictures, and Harry watched him intently. "Lou, I'm home-"

He caught sight of Harry and froze, his mouth forming a tiny 'o' shape and his eyes widening. His brow then furrowed and he noticed Harry was naked.

"Louis, why is there a naked man sat on our couch?!" he shouted in exasperation, like Louis usually brought home naked boys. Harry retreated deeper into the quilt.

"What are you going on about?" Louis snapped, coming from down the hall with a pile of Liam's clothes in his arms.

"Hey, what're you-?"

"Liam, please. I found a homeless boy with amnesia and decided to balance out my mischief I would help him," Louis shrugged. "Like good karma."

"Louis!" Liam sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. Harry suspected he did that a lot living with Louis.

"Uh, what?" Louis asked impatiently, his face contorting into one of impatience.

"I...I am Harry," he offered, and Liam turned his attention to him.

"Um, Liam. Hi." his voice was tight and irritated. "Look, I just finished, like, three finals, so I'm going to bed."

"Not my fault your classes are at the ass crack of dawn," Louis shrugged, heading towards the couch to retrieve Harry.

"Because I'm not an idiot who does night classes and wants to spend all night at university," Liam replied with an eye roll and headed down the hallway Louis had just appeared from to his own bedroom.

"Right, ignore him," Louis offered a kind smile, eyes darting to the exposed scars on Harry's left shoulder for a split second. He stared at Harry's face for a moment, as well. Harry's green eyes were like a crystal, the depth clear and an infinite green.

Harry tilted his head to the side slightly in curiosity, "Louis?"

"Clothes," he deadpanned, holding them out for Harry to take. He gulped when Harry's intense gaze didn't leave his for a moment longer than necessary before he accepted the articles of clothing.

"Oh."

"Yes, uh, those go on your body," Louis explained in a sarcastic tone of voice, but his features softened when he noticed the lost look on Harry's face. "You...you don't need help or anything, do you?" he asked nervously.

"Oh, uh..." Harry bit his bottom lip with his top teeth as if contemplating while he looked at the clothes still clutched in his white knuckle grip. A blue t-shirt and a pair of grey sweats.

"I don't know if they'll fit, but..." Louis shrugged, pursing his lips and gesturing to the clothes again, "Go ahead and try them on. Bathroom's down the hall to the left. Don't worry about waking up Liam, no one cares about his feelings, he's no lad," his tone of voice suggested humor and a joke that was shared between the two, but to Harry the words meant nothing.

"Okay," he replied, just to say something. "Okay, I..."

Louis took hold of Harry's wrist and hauled him to his feet, the latter towering over him. He led him down the hall while Harry clutched desperately to the soft quilt draping around him like an elegant, wool dress and the clothes in his grip. Louis stopped at the bathroom, pushing open the door and leading the way into the small room.

"So, the shower," Louis nodded towards the white shower curtain with little cartoon sail boats decorating it. "Don't take the piss, it was a gift from my mum."

"Oh."

Louis gave Harry an incredulous look before continuing, "So, you just turn the knob right for cold, left for hot, middle for off. Yeah? I'll grab you a towel, and when you get out I'll have tea and a phone ready for you to make a call."

Louis offered a thumbs up and left the bathroom. Harry turned back to face the casual shower curtain with an anxious feeling he had never experienced before. It was ugly the way it sat burrowed in his chest. Feelings in general felt odd to Harry, and he desperately wanted them to stop.

"I'm back, here's the towel," Louis said, hanging the fluffy, green towel on the hook next to the shower and left quickly after shutting the door.

"Okay," Harry mumbled, his lips barely moving. Harry slowly and carefully turned the knob Louis had been gesturing to, and startled backwards when a stream of water burst from the shower head. Harry put his hand under the flow, but winced and yanked his hand away, seeing as the water was searing hot to the touch.

He let out a whimper and started to feel that ugly ball of anxiety escalate into something more sinister like the overwhelming emotion that consumed him when Louis almost ran him over with his car.

Panic.

He didn't remember sitting on the ground or curling in on himself while lying on his side, but soon there was a concerned, "Harry?" from the doorway and gentle hands touching his bare shoulder.

He let the feeling wash over him, cave his chest in, and blur his eyes.

"Harry, mate, calm down, you're safe-"

It's not safe, Harry, you have to leave!

"Harry-!"

Harry squeezed his eyes shut.

[sorry if that triggered you it triggered me writing it tbh. wow i've had this draft for a whole year and just went through it and 90% of it is still original content and cringey lmao. sorry for rejecting this work so much and everything else. school and applying for college and all that haha :))) it's Fine™!! thanks for reading i love you!!]