Happy Thoughts

Chapter 10

"So... that's not very good," Louis commented blankly, staring after the door that had long since swung shut. His hand was still braced against the wall, though, and Harry had made no move to remove his arms from around the older boy's waist. "I don't suppose there's any chance it was just Desiree, and she'll give me a discrete congratulations later on tonight?"

He really shouldn't have, but Harry laughed. "There's some chance," he said truthfully.

"Was that even a man or a woman?"

"I don't know," Harry replied, and then leaned forward to rest his forehead against Louis' temporarily. "It was probably just one of the guests looking for the loo, or something. Did you see the crowd out there? They're not exactly going to run to the press and tell everyone that two very shadowy people were snogging in the back rooms at a charity function." He almost tried to find the older boy's lips again, but Louis drew back with a dubious look.

"Really, Harry?" he asked sceptically. "I had a ten minute long conversation with my lovely cougar back in there, and in that time I found exactly how many people were having an affair in that hall alone, and how many more she had heard rumours about. Half of those guests are only there because they have nothing better to do than drink champagne, dress up and gossip."

"Then, we tell them they were wrong," the younger boy suggested with a shrug. "We tell them we were looking for the loo, and they must have seen it wrong. It'll blow over."

That actually brought a genuine smile to Louis' lips as he said, "Right, I'll tell them I tripped and fell on you by accident." A new thought visibly crossed his mind and, much to Harry's disappointment, he suddenly moved back out of the way. "Either way, I'm not going back in that room now; since the only options are being bored again or watching word of our little tryst run through the geriatric crowd. How do you feel about abandoning our obligations for a little while? And our friends," he tacked on as an afterthought, tilting his head calmly.

"I feel terrible. That is a bad idea that we should definitely not do that."

"Glad you agree," Louis said brightly, and then seized Harry's shoulder so he could begin physically shoving the other boy down the hallway ahead of him. He pushed him all the way down the corridor until they made it to the next function room and, after some waggling of the handle they burst into the next darkened hall in the building, staggering and stumbling over each other's feet in the dark.

"You know, they should really put better locks on their doors," Harry said, laughing. "I'm not even sure they bothered really trying to lock that one."

"Maybe they're just being really polite to all those people trying to escape," Louis commented, by his voice was lost in the shadows as they moved further into the hall, and Harry could no longer make out his friend's form in the darkness.

"Louis," he hissed, following it with a little giggle. "Where the hell did you go?"

Louis' reply was very quiet, and it sounded as if he were moving around Harry's in circles. "I'm right here, can't you see me? You know, I'm starting to think all of those carrots I got have actually done me some good, because I can see almost perfectly right -"

Harry stuck out his foot as Louis' taunting voice came around again, and then he only heard his friend's startled cry before the other boy was sent sprawling in the dark. Harry had only a brief moment to start cracking up with laughter before a hand shot out and seized his ankle, jerking his foot out from beneath him. The wooden floorboards resounded with the sound of his fall, and both of their laughs echoed up to the high, invisible ceiling above their heads.

"Ow," Harry groaned weakly, and he could hear some quiet scuffling noises nearby as Louis scrambled to his feet. "What are you doing, you idiot?"

"I'm bailing out through the window while you're sad and blind," Louis hissed back, his voice getting further and further away by the second.