It's Difficult || Larry & Ziam - Book Two

fourteen

Louis was about to turn nineteen.

He and Harry were doing great, and so were Liam and Zayn. After the spectacle of his eighteenth birthday party and with the knowledge that he had nowhere to throw a party, he decided just to have the five of them go out to a restaurant near the campus.

"You don't have any family plans?" Niall asked curiously when Louis hadn't brought them up.

"Nope," Louis answered simply. For the most part, he and Niall were fine, but Louis still felt a tiny bit of awkwardness whenever they were alone. Harry never found out, so that ended up happening much more than Louis would like. But they were still friends, and Louis still wanted the blond boy there.

"Why not?" Clearly, Niall couldn't take the hint.

"Parents are a pain in the ass."

"But still, don't—"

Louis sighed as Harry cut off the other boy with a dumb topic of conversation, something about Uni. He tried to smile appreciatively to his boyfriend, but it mostly looked like a weird grimace. His parents weren't really a sensitive subject, but it was hard to explain to people as close to their parents as Niall was.

The topic changed to something that had nothing to do with Louis's parents, and for that, Louis was glad. The original four of them exchanged a few uneasy glances, and Louis just shrugged.

"Hey, uh, I know you and Harry are closer to Niall than we are, but should we be worried? At all?" Zayn asked once the two of them were separated from the rest. Liam was having a conversation with Niall, and Harry was in the restroom. Louis wondered how easy it was for Zayn to sense that.

"No, he just doesn't know about my parents, and he's close to his like you are, so he just doesn't get it. It's fine."

"Is there something... wrong?" Zayn asked. "If there is, you know I won't tell Li unless you want me to."

"Harry doesn't even know," Louis admitted, feeling guilty. It wasn't Niall's fault that he'd liked someone who wasn't available. That had been Louis at one point. Why was it such a big deal?

"He doesn't? You guys tell each other everything."

"Not this. I wanted to protect them both. They're roommates, and good friends, and I just don't want to ruin that." Louis felt horrible. He hadn't even told Zayn what even happened and he already felt horrible. But he also felt like he just needed to say it, to be able to tell someone if he caught Niall looking at him just a little too long or even a look when Louis hugged or kissed Harry in front of him. Why did he have to be put in this position? Niall knew that Louis wouldn't break up with Harry to be with him. So why was he suddenly acting like he could just be blatant about how he liked Louis when they both knew the story behind it?

"He basically did what I did with Harry, only I'm not single, so it's worse. Okay, so, the three of us were going to see a movie so that Niall wouldn't feel like the constant third wheel, but then Harry couldn't go because of schoolwork. He told us that we should go, though, so we did. And I had had the nagging little thought that Niall had some kind of thing for one of us, but I figured that was some kind of paranoia, right? Well, when the movie was over, he kissed me, and that was when it started. I pretty much avoided him except to go get Harry for something every once in a while. Harry could tell what was going on, that I was avoiding Niall, and he told me, but he said I didn't have to tell him if I didn't want to. I said that I didn't tell him because it would hurt his friendship with Niall, and he understood and made sure that I knew I could tell him whatever I needed to. I knew that already, but I couldn't do that to either of them. I mean, I love Harry, of course, and Niall just did what I did with Harry. But if Harry and I hadn't gotten together after what I did, I probably would have acted like it never happened and never talked to him again. Only Niall can't do that, because he's Harry's roommate. And I'm worried that he still likes me, and he doesn't seem to care whether I know it or not. What do I do, Z?"