The New Roommate - Larry Stylinson AU

Chapter One - The New Roommate

Helloooooo!

So this is my new story and as you have realised, it's Larry Stylinson. I want to point out right now that I although I love Larry as a bromance, and as a romance too, I do not condemn hate being sent to the boys' girlfriends. I do not try and shove the idea of Larry down their throats on social media sites and this story is purely fiction, and only fiction.

If you do not like Larry Stylinson, do not read the story. Hateful comments will be deleted. So just please don't. I've worked on this story for a while now and have only just had the courage to post it.

To put it plainly, if the boys were gay, I'd love them. If the boys say they're straight, I still love them.

And that's that really....

:) Enjoy.

- Laura xo

***


Louis huffed as he ran down the spiralling staircase, his shoes making dull thudding sounds on the carpeted floor.


There was no denying that the boarding school was posh. The stone walls were hung with old tapestries giving a sort of castle-like feel to the school. The ceilings were high and the rooms airy.


But Louis, after attending the school for the past seven years, didn't notice these things. The only thing he was concentrating on now was his anger at the fact that he'd been moved out of his four-person room with his best mates to an attic room, to share with the new kid. Let's just say, he was not too pleased about that.


The first day of school seven years ago, Louis had been placed in a dorm with three boys and they had quickly formed a strong friendship that had easily lasted the years. Liam was the sensible one, the smartest and the one best at comforting if you were sad. Zayn was the creative one, forever scribbling away on a notepad or singing to himself. Last but not least was Niall; he was the loud one, the optimist, the other half of Louis' double act.


The four might have seen an odd bunch but they got on like a house on fire. They were forever pratting around or playing pranks or creating havoc (usually Louis and Niall) in the hallways. This had earned them countless visits to the headmaster's office, but luckily Mr Greyson was a laid back old fella, used to the chaos of living in the same building as four hundred boys. He was firm but fair, characteristics that made him well-liked with the students.


However, as much as Louis liked and respected old Mr Greyson, he wasn't pleased about having to meet him now. The message had come through a few days prior, telling Louis that he would have to share a room with a new student. He had been outraged, mainly because he was devastated that he would have to move out from living with his friends. The other boys had been gutted, too, and Niall had even started a chant at dinner one night, yelling that this was against Louis' human rights. He could be a little over-dramatic.


But still, Mr Greyson had not budged and still demanded that Louis come down to meet the new kid at eight o'clock that night when he arrived so he could show him around and welcome him to the school.


"Welcome him, my arse." Louis grumbled to himself as he padded down the wide corridor leading up to the headmaster's office.


The door swung open just as Louis lifted his hand to knock. He jumped back just in time to prevent being hit and suddenly was face to face with a tall, brown haired boy.


His curly hair was the thing that struck Louis first, and then his striking green eyes that were the colour of vibrant summer grass.


He was attractive, that much was clear to Louis straight away. But the look in the boy's eyes told Louis that he shouldn't get too close. He looked wary, scared even.


"Ah, Mr Tomlinson there you are!" Mr Greyson beamed from his place behind the new boy. He had on his signature maroon woolly jumper and grey cotton trousers that were pulled up so high they may have been touching his nipples. "This," the old man gestured to the young, slim boy in front of him. "Is your new roommate, Harry Styles."


Louis lifted his hand in an awkward waving gesture. "Hi." He smiled a little, but the boy whom Mr Greyson had called Harry just gave Louis an unconvinced look, as if he didn't believe he was trying to be welcoming.


"Well Harry, Louis here'll look after you." Mr Greyson placed his hand on Harry's shoulder in what would have normally been a reassuring gesture, but Harry flinched as if he had been smacked and it didn't escape Louis' notice. He frowned slightly and stuck the fact in the back of his mind to deliberate over later. "Go on now," Mr Greyson closed his office door behind Harry, forcing him into the corridor.


"Um, well yeah, I'm Louis." Louis said, trying to get rid of the uncomfortable silence that filled the room as soon as the headmaster disappeared.


"Harry," the curly haired boy mumbled quietly, so quietly Louis would have missed it if the corridors weren't so deserted.


Louis raised his eyebrows at Harry's timid posture, his shoulders slumped and his eyes refusing to look anywhere but the floor. "Okay well, let's go upstairs..." Louis trailed off, feeling a bit awkward because he didn't understand why Harry was so scared of him. Sure, he wasn't pleased about having to move rooms but he wasn't going to be mean about it. He wanted Harry to like him, because otherwise having to live with the boy was going to be a horrible nuisance.


"Um, well there's the maths classrooms through there," Louis pointed down a corridor leading to the left. "And the dining hall's just further down there." Louis pointed forward. Harry nodded at the directions but remained quiet. Louis decided it must be nerves; it was never nice being the new kid.


"Each year's got their own common room." Louis explained as the padded up the stairs. "That's why this place is so quiet just now because everyone's playing pool or watching TV or whatever on their floor. Wait till the morning though, and this place is like a warzone - so much pushing and shoving." Louis chuckled as he thought about all the times in between lessons when the corridors were jammed full of hurrying students. Niall and Louis used to take turns pinching other boys' bums and then they'd point at someone in the crowd and blame it on a randomer.


Louis stopped laughing at the memories when he noticed how tense Harry had gotten. His shoulders were stiff and his jaw clenched. He looked like he might start to cry.


"Uh, you alright mate?" Louis asked kindly. He took a step closer to Harry but the younger boy jumped back as if he thought Louis was going to hurt him.


Louis backed away slowly, exaggerating his moments to prove that he meant no harm. What a strange kid, Louis thought before shrugging internally and continuing the way to their room.


The attic room was small with a sloping roof and two windows above the beds, perfect for watching the stars as you fell asleep. Liam had given Louis a sympathetic "bad luck, mate" when he mentioned it was an attic room because they were known for leaks and spiders and cold draughts. But Louis secretly loved the room. He wished he were still with his best friends of course, but he really did like it up there. It was small but it made it feel more cosy, and even though it was secluded it kind of made Louis feel safe. It was peaceful and homely and just overall welcoming.


The wooden floorboards were covered with an old fashioned rug in between the two single beds. There was a small ensuite bathroom off to the side closest to the door and two chests of drawers, but that was about it.


"It's not much, but this is home." Louis said brightly, flopping down on the bed closest to the bathroom.


Harry gave another silent nod before shuffling over to the other bed. He sat down on it, and Louis smiled a little as he watched the curly haired boy bounce up and down a bit, checking the mattress' firmness. Harry looked up all of a sudden and blushed bright red as he noticed Louis watching him.


"Want some help unpacking?" Louis asked ten minutes later as Harry was lifting some clothes out of his suitcase. Louis had moved his things up the day before so was already unpacked and sorted.


"No thanks," Harry said quietly. Louis was slightly disappointed that he couldn't seem to get through to his new roommate, but he was quite relieved that he had said something instead of his usual nodding or shaking of the head.


"Okay well... I'm gunna go find my friends, let them know you've arrived." Louis said, standing from the bed.


"You're leaving me here alone?"


Louis turned at the door, stunned to hear Harry's voice so loud. He frowned at the boy's frightened looking eyes and wondered why he was so scared to be alone.


"I can stay, if you'd like." Louis offered, the urge to see his friends reduced by the panic on Harry's face.


But suddenly Harry's cheeks flushed red and he looked more embarrassed than anything. "No no, sorry. It's fine. You should go. I'll be fine." The curly haired boy said hurriedly. "You can go," he repeated, as if he were trying to convince himself more than anything.


"...Okay." Louis said finally after deliberating for a while whether he should stay or not. "I'll only be on the floor below if you need me. I'll be back in a bit, okay?"


Harry looked up at Louis, finally, and gave him a firm nod. He even tried to smile, but it didn't reach his eyes and ended up looking more like a grimace. Louis appreciated the effort, though.


"Thanks Louis." A quiet voice said as Louis pulled open the wooden door.


"No problem, mate." Louis smiled at Harry, before leaving the room.


***


"So what's he like?" Liam asked. Louis was lying on his back on his old bed, staring at the ceiling. Liam was studying at the desk, Niall was perched on his own bed and Zayn was sprawled out on the floor, paper everywhere as he tried to perfect his drawing of the grandfather clock that stood in the school's library.


"Quiet." Louis said after a moment. "I think he's maybe just really shy, but he seems scared. Like he was afraid to be alone." He thought back to the say Harry's eyebrows had crinkled in fear when Louis said he was leaving.


"Then why leave him alone?" Niall grinned cheekily before jumping off his bed.


"Niall, no!" Louis shouted after him but the blonde boy was gone. Louis raced after him, out of the room and up the stairs to the attic


"I just want to meet him!" Niall yelled back to him, still way ahead.


Louis was going to introduce Harry to his friends, of course. Just he knew how excited Niall could get and since Harry seemed like a more reserved person, Louis didn't want the Irish boy to scare him.


He caught up to Niall, managing to enter the bedroom only seconds after his blonde best friend. Harry had backed up to the wall at the sight of Niall entering and was cowering in the corner. He seemed to relax a little when Louis barged in just after, standing up a little taller but not coming forward towards them.


"You must be Harry," Niall smiled, walking toward the curly haired boy with his hand extended. Harry suddenly looked up to meet Louis' gaze, and he seemed to be looking for reassurance so Louis gave an encouraging nod and watched as Harry reluctantly shook Niall's hand. "I'm Niall, and this is Liam," Niall said, pointing at Liam who had just burst through the door.


"Nice to meet you," Liam said politely, waving at Harry instead of approaching him, since he still looked pretty terrified with all the newcomers. "Niall, how about a Mario Kart competition? Zayn's gone to set the wii up in the common room," Liam asked and Niall nodded, finally backing away from Harry who relaxed visibly with each step away Niall took.


"Meet you there," Louis mumbled to his friends as they walked out of the bedroom. When the door shut behind them, Louis turned to see Harry sigh in relief and collapse on his bed. "Hey, you alright?" Louis asked the curly haired boy, who turned his face quickly towards the sound as if he'd forgotten Louis was still there.


"Y-yeah, I'm okay." Harry mumbled, blushing a little. Louis thought it was cute the way his cheeks flushed pink, but shook himself because he had to stop that. Developing feelings for the incredibly shy boy who also happened to be his roommate would surely be a recipe for disaster.


"I was going to go down and play Mario Kart with the boys. D'you want to join?" Louis asked, toeing off his shoes and leaving them beside his bed since he didn't need them on for the trip down the hall to the common room.


Harry sat up on his bed but crossed his legs instead of getting up. "No, I'll stay here I think."


Louis felt kind of proud of himself, that was the longest sentence he had managed to get Harry to say.


He wasn't going to let Harry stay here alone again, though. He wanted to get to know the confusing curly-haired boy. He wanted to get rid of the shyness and the way he looked so lost and see the real boy behind that mask that he knew was hiding there.


"Then I'll stay with you." Louis said, perching on the edge of his mattress, facing Harry.


"No... I don't want you to miss out with your friends," Harry mumbled, staring down at the wooden floorboards. Louis was glad he could get Harry to speak but he hadn't met his eyes once.


"Then come with me." Louis smirked in celebration when Harry's gorgeous green eyes darted up to look at Louis' face for a second. They remained there, staring at Louis in confusion.


"W-why do you want me with you?" Harry stuttered.


"Because we're roommates now. We're friends. And friends hang out." Louis said firmly, standing up to prove to Harry that they should go downstairs. Louis was surprised when Harry stood up, too. He had at least expected a bit more resistance. He could see the corner of Harry's mouth tugging up a little, not quite a smile but at least not a frown.


"Okay," Harry said softly, a sparkle appearing in his eyes because he didn't know the last time he had had a friend.






***


"Boys, back to your rooms!" The head of year shouted into the common room at eleven that night.


The five boys had been crowded round the television for the past two hours. Liam and Zayn were sat on the floor, Louis and Harry sat on the leather sofa behind them and Niall had been darting about to the kitchen and back.


The boys had been playing one-on-one, but Harry had refused each time the boys offered him the remote. Louis watched him out of the corner of his eye when he wasn't playing, and he couldn't ignore the fact that Harry flinched every time one of the other boys in the large room laughed raucously or dropped something or made a loud noise.


Louis and Harry trudged up the stairs to their attic room after bidding goodnight to Niall, Liam and Zayn. Well, Louis said goodnight, Harry just stood a few steps back and remained silent.


And Louis didn't like the silence. He was beginning to wonder if Harry was really just that shy or I there was something else bothering him. He seemed alright when he was around just Louis though; his shoulders lost their tense stiffness and the little crease in between his eyebrows disappeared.


"Night Harry," Louis mumbled, half-asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.


"G'night Louis." Harry said, his voice just a whisper in the dark room. "And thankyou."


Louis wasn't sure if he had imagined the last part. After all, what did he have to thank Louis for? All Louis had done was talk to him a bit and let him hang out with his friends. Little did he know that that meant more to Harry than anything for a long time.


***


Louis was awoken in the night by some unfamiliar sounds. He forced his eyes open and rolled on to his right side to find the source of the sobbing.


Harry was curled up in a ball, his back to Louis. But in the moonlight streaming through from the skylights, Louis could make out the wracks that were shaking Harry's entire body. The sounds that had woken Louis were the sniffing and the shaky breathing as Harry cried.


The older boy suddenly felt terrible that Harry was this upset. He couldn't help the pang of pain he felt himself as the younger big cried and cried. He felt somewhat protective, even though Harry had been there what - three hours? But instead of Louis going over to comfort him, he remained silent. He knew how Harry responded to contact and he didn't want to push him over the edge.


So Louis rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. His last thought being that he would find out what was wrong with Harry and he would fix it.


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