Pride {l.s.}

3- Don't Let Go

There's one single, small moment before I'm being pulled forward. I walk quickly with my body practically sideways as the boy covered in colors drags me behind him. I try not to focus on his hand in mine or the way his hair flows behind him in the soft breeze. I pardon people as I pass through before all of the sudden Harry stops walking.

I don't notice that he stops walking, and I slam right into his body. Before I can apologize for running into him, the crowd gets louder. They're cheering and chanting. I don't understand a word they're saying. All I know is that this noise and all of these bodies so close to me is a sensory overload. I find my breath quickening again. I slide my body past some people so that I can stand next to him. Being next to him calms me down.

I look up at Harry right as he looks down at me. I barely see the colorful fireworks going off above of as the crowd screams in joy about who they are. I do see a boy looking down at me with those fireworks reflecting in his eyes.

Are eyes normally that bright of a color?

Our bodies are so close that there is literally no gap between us. I see Harry bending down a little bit until his mouth is very close to my ear. His breath on my neck leaves me with goose bumps running down my back.

"You didn't actually have to hold my hand. I just like how it feels in mine," Harry whispers in that slow, deep voice of his that makes words into art.

Even after his words of shameless flirting, I don't pull my hand away like I was taught to do. I don't give his hand a squeeze either in reassurance. I look away from the beautiful boy and glance up at the beauty above us. The colors break the normal landscape of the sky and lets out loud booms that echo across the city. I glance back up at Harry, and I love that natural smile that he has on his face a lot of the time.

The fireworks finally start to calm down and so does the crowd. I know that the party is far from over, but it's a little less crazy now. Harry and I continue on our journey, and I once again am pulled through a crowd by a boy that I met yesterday. The crowd thins until we make it onto a sidewalk with hardly any people on it.

Harry lets go of my hand once we leave the crowd, not the other way around like I expected. I find myself looking out at the crowd, and I'm hit with it just like I am every time I see a large group of people. This is the first time I want to show someone else the feeling I get though.

I cock my head to the side and gesture for Harry to follow me. He gives me a look of confusion, but he doesn't question me. He follows me to an empty bench that sits on the sidewalk facing the crowd. I hop up onto it with ease. I offer my hand to Harry, and I help him up. We stand looking over the crowd. I see Harry glance at me in confusion.

"Sonder."

"What?" Harry asks in confusion at the word.

"Sonder is like the realization that everyone has a story. I get it when I'm looking at large crowds like this," I explain. "Everyone here is different with a different background. Like it just hits you that everyone here has some crazy childhood story, a crush, a lover, a pet, a girlfriend or a boyfriend, a sad story, a happy story, and a-"

"Coming out story," Harry finishes my thought with something different, but I feel a different vibe coming off of him as he stares at me, not the crowd.

"Yeah, that too," I mumble.

"That's cool though," Harry lightens the mood again. "It's crazy to think how different everyone is sometimes, but this is the right place to see how different and the same we are."

"Humans are genetically 99.5% the same in terms of genes, but no two people are the same. Not even twins," I comment randomly.

"Wow. Hot and a nerd. Nice," Harry says with an obvious smirk on his face. I roll my eyes as I watch him hop down from the bench. He offers his hand to me, something that I did to him to get up here. I take his hand and hop down without falling. I don't find either of us dropping hands as we continue walking down the street. Something inside of me makes me want to yell at him for holding my hand, but there's something inside of me that wants me to tell him not to let go. I didn't like the coldness that came in when he let go of my hand. I like the way it makes me feel warm and wanted, even if this hand belongs to a boy who is practically a stranger to me.

"So where to now, pretty boy?" Harry asks. Our hands swing back and forth as we walk. If anyone looked up and saw us walking like this, they would probably think we have known each other for a long time. I just feel comfortable around Harry. I don't know what it is.

"Well I need some groceries," I say,"but you're free to go. Thanks for helping me with the crowd."

I'm somewhat ready to let go of Harry's hand and continue walking on without him, but he's not ready for that at all.

"I don't want to leave you just yet, Louis," Harry replies. I look up to see the laughter is gone from his eyes.

"Why not?" I question.

"I don't like the thought of you walking around at night alone. There's some weird people out there tonight-" Harry tries to explain, but I cut him off.

"And the city is covered in people who live for freedom and love right now with the pride parade going on," I comment. "This is probably the safest time to be out here."

Harry shakes his head. "Please let me come. I've been out in the city on nights like this. With happiness like this comes anger. Sometimes protests pop up, and I don't want you getting hurt. Now I'm coming with you, and that's the end of it."

"Don't you want to party some more?" I ask. Harry is dressed up for a party, but I wonder if he's been here all day already.

"I'm partied out," Harry replies before pulling me forward with my hand still in his.

"Fine, but after we grab groceries, you can go home. It's getting late."

Harry and I walk in silence for awhile. We both scan the different people here, and I wish I could be a part of it. I wish I could walk around being so proud of who I am, but I can't. Not anymore. I see couples kissing and smiling. It makes my heart swell to see so much love at once.

A/N

Yay for pride parades! Image at beginning of chapter is how I imagined this scene looking in my head. The book is partially titled Pride because of their encounter at the parade, but it comes up more often. I hope whoever is reading this is enjoying it. It's quite fluffy, but fluff it good. Don't forget to vote and comment :)

xoxo raindropkiss1