It's Complicated || Larry & Ziam [COMPLETED]

seventeen

"Louis!"

Louis couldn't help it as he broke into a grin and turned to face the green-eyed boy. He looked good today, Louis thought off-handedly.

"Oh, hey," he greeted as casually as he could possibly come across. "How's your day going?"

"Good. Great. Um, yeah, really good," Harry stammered, embarrassingly enough. He hadn't meant to sound so stupid after talking to Louis constantly. Louis made him nervous; Harry didn't have to worry about stuttering over text. He would never be nervous over text.

Louis looked really, really good today. Harry had told himself repeatedly that he really shouldn't like Louis after everything he'd said to him so long ago, but he couldn't help it. Louis was gorgeous and funny and, yes, he was smart even if he didn't think so himself, and he was so good at making Harry feel safe that nothing else seemed to matter. Sometimes Harry found himself so overcome with the urge to kiss Louis again that it almost hurt to keep himself from not leaning in.

And then, Louis started rambling about something that wasn't as interesting as watching Louis talk. He was so... himself. Harry couldn't locate the word in his mind, but watching the beautiful boy in front of him talk while gesturing wildly with his free hand and and his eyes shining. The younger boy couldn't help but smile, too overcome with adoration to care if Louis noticed.

If Louis did notice, though, that might not be such a bad thing. If he did, Harry could see if he would be mad at him. If Louis said he was straight, Harry wasn't anyone to tell him he wasn't, and he definitely didn't have the right to try and convince him. All he could do was smile and laugh involuntarily at nearly everything that Louis said.

But that was what liking someone was really about, right?

Maybe he really shouldn't like Louis. Sure, maybe he'd changed, but there was always the possibility that he'd change back and Harry wasn't sure he could handle that. Louis was kind except when he was defensive — and maybe it wasn't fair for Harry to ask him about that kiss when it was obvious that Louis wasn't comfortable with it.

Louis seemed comfortable with it now, though, and also seemed to enjoy talking to Harry, which was all he could ask for.

/ / / \ \ \

Alright, so maybe Louis's been going over to Harry's house a lot lately.

It had only been a couple weeks since he'd not been able to think of anything other than Harry for an entire day, but that didn't really matter.

Harry's family was truly awe-inspiring. Louis found out quickly that they were indeed the family to say "I love you" all the time, and that Harry's older sister Gemma was in Uni but came home to visit often. He'd even met her once, and she had been nice but had no problem standing up for her younger brother, especially with guys.

(She'd said that mostly to Louis, stating that she would easily kick his ass if anything bad happened, and while Harry had blushed prettily and muttered something about telling her to stop, Louis had laughed and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. It had been fun.)

The absolute greatest part was that he and Harry seemed to be making amazing progress at their steadily growing friendship. Louis could even call him when he was at his house and bored and wanted a friend to talk to. Harry had said he didn't mind and he'd be there as much as possible.

Harry was affectionate, too, which was fantastic on Louis's part. He was so touchy and always liked to lean his head on Louis's shoulder or brush his hand against Louis's arm or anything. The blue-eyed boy had slept over a couple more times after the time when he first came over, and they'd had fun. They never seemed to tire of each other, and it was great. Louis had never so easily fit into someone's life and arms before.

At the moment, they were watching a scary movie, which was Louis's idea. Harry seemed to actually be scared, and that was adorable. Louis was laughing — at both the horrible fake-scariness and Harry's wide eyes. He looked gorgeous with his hair messy and unstyled.

When Harry jumped for maybe the tenth time, Louis threw his arm around his shoulders and gave a comforting squeeze.

"It's all fake, you know," he told him with a smile.

"That doesn't make it any less terrifying, but thanks for the effort. You're doing a great job."

"You can't be too scared if you're making sarcastic comments at me."

There was a scream from the movie and Harry hid his face in Louis's shoulder. Louis's huge grin nearly overtook his face. God, Harry was so amazing. He'd definitely have to take him to watch another horror movie again. Maybe even at an actual movie theatre next time, so that it's even easier for Louis to ease into the thought of "dating" a boy.

The thought of that, however simple yet terrifying, made Louis's smile just a little bigger and his reassuring grip on Harry's arm a little tighter.

"We're watching something else this time," Harry told him after the movie ended.

"Whatever you want," Louis said, smiling a little and enjoying the feeling of not being lonely.