BEYOND THE BOOK

four; discovery is key

"and you're sure about this?" harry asks as louis gets dressed the next morning. he's about to text niall about it but he's hesitating. he had quite the shock yesterday and he doesn't want it to happen again. but if louis is sure, then harry will without hesitation. louis is a strong person, he knows this. he was just shaken. and harry had been a bit iffy about what would happen when the two met, because they came from the same place. who knows if they would remember anything from the past, before the book was opened?

"yeah," he says, breathing deeply, pulling on one of harry's shirts. "i just had a bit of a shock yesterday, that's all." he smiles at harry, and it's reassuring, yes, but all the same he could never really understand what happened yesterday. or what would go on between liam and louis, especially where they come from. 

"okay, i'll let niall know." harry smiles and louis walks to him and kisses his forehead. 

"thank you so much for understanding, i need to do this." his voice sounds almost wet with sadness but harry chooses to ignore it and tell niall instead. 

to: niall !!!

hi mate, lou says he needs to talk to liam, could we hop over for a bit?

a few minutes pass, and harry fixes his hair till it's almost perfect and he finally hears the small ding of a notification on his phone.

from: niall !!!

hiya! and yeh, li is sayin the same thing, was gonna ask if we could come over, guess 's better this way aha. 'll have some tea ready for them and us, they'll probably want to be alone when they talk or whatevr, see ya soon mate ! x

harry doesn't really bother to reply other than to call louis to him. louis smiles as he approaches. 

"is it okay?" he asks tentatively. 

"yeah... niall said liam was saying something along the lines of the same thing." harry says. 

"i figured as much, i saw the color drain from his face too..." louis' voice trails off, like he's unsure if he's supposed to mention it or not. and harry don't question it. harry didn't want to bring it up too much, louis was going to get into that with liam, he supposes. they need to talk it out if they're going to be around for a while. 

they walk over to niall's, and now liam's flat and knock on the door, it's niall who answers, and very quickly the two other boys lock themselves into niall and liam's shared bedroom. niall sighs. 

"he's been sort of distant ever since yesterday, but also kind of clingy, i don't get it." he says, pouring two cups of steaming tea and offering harry one, he never gets sick of tea. tea and a good book were always his favorite. now, tea with louis was his favorite. 

"yeah, something definitely happened when they made eye contact." harry says. "and the same thing happened, louis wasn't distant, but he hasn't talked about it, i'm not going to press him to, either." harry sips his tea, sweet on his tongue. it reminds him of louis. 

"li was off the wall, he was just silent with tears runnin' down his face and i had no idea what to do, i just held him, that's all i could do." niall says, and he looks sad about it too. and harry felt his pain, he did. 

"louis was crying too, we just kind of slept it off, took a little nap together and had tea afterwards, kind of a lazy day, if you will." a smile forms on his lips as he says it. those were his favorite kind of days. 

there are a few moments of silence that weren't uncomfortable but not tension free. obviously there were a lot of thoughts on both of their minds. harry didn't pry though, he didn't really want to talk about it himself. 

"i didn't tell you something..." niall admits quietly, his finger stirring his tea around. 

"what was that, exactly?" harry asks, his curiosity spiking. 

"well, um," niall doesn't really finish, he just walks to the small living room and looks into one of the drawers. he pulls out the book. he then walks back over to harry, and he opens to the last page, the words are covered with a cloth, like it shouldn't be read again. 

"s'just the back cover, innit?" harry asks, looking back up at niall, and then back down at the book. 

"no, um, well, when i read it, reached the last page i noticed that it wasn't actually the last." niall says carefully. "there were pages, uh, ripped out." harry glances back down at the book.

"doesn't look like it's ripped though, you're sure?" harry runs his finger along the middle of the pages. 

"i made it look like there wasn't a rip." niall says casually. "it's my job to sell books, you know? can't have them looking like that." harry nods in understanding.

"well, then what does that mean?" harry asks. and niall shakes his head in return. 

"'ve got no idea, honestly." niall says. 

a few moments later, niall puts the book away and harry assumes they're about to discuss it but the bedroom door then opens. 

harry looks up, noticing louis' eyes are red and puffy, as are liam's. 

"i'm ready to head home now, h." louis says with a tiny smile. liam nods, a sad look on his face. 

"alright then, c'mon lou." he smiles and louis walks over to him. "thanks again niall, catch up soon, yeah?" niall and harry hug briefly and louis and harry leave the flat hand in hand. 

"did it go okay?" harry asks as they step out into the late afternoon breeze. 

"well enough, i suppose." 

they don't say anything else on the way to their own flat. 

and louis' silence worries him.