Falling

Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE

(LOUIS POV)

I loved the Christmas markets. Secretly, I was glad Harry had decided to come here. I say ‘secretly’ because I didn’t tell him how much I liked this place. And I was really enjoying myself. We had talked about so many things and I finally felt like I was getting to know him better. It’s like how when you first make friends with someone and you’re getting to know one another there are just so many things to share.

But if you ask me, I think there’s this invisible boundary about the things you should tell a person you’ve only known for about a month. Things such as, ‘you’re the most beautiful guy I’ve ever seen’.

So first he tells me I’m the most beautiful guy he’s ever laid eyes on, and barely two seconds later, he tells me he likes me. I must look like a terrified rabbit now, because I really wanted to run or hide in my ‘burrow’. And Harry’s expression seemed to mirror mine perfectly. Say something, hurry up! Uh…

 

“Uh, thanks?” I squeaked out. “Of course you like me, right? Or else you wouldn’t be my friend, unless you were pretending.” I watched the emotions flicker across Harry’s face curiously. He was getting hard to read, but I saw one emotion I could read for sure. Disappointment.

“Yeah, of course, of course I like you. I just thought you ought to know, maybe, that I really like you as a friend, and I just wanted to tell you…so, yeah.” Harry was rambling now, and fidgeting nervously. When I didn’t reply, he seemed to find it necessary to add on further. “I just thought that maybe you thought I didn’t like you that much as a friend, and well…” He was getting flustered now, and I actually found it kind of cute.

Harry didn’t realize how much he was contradicting himself, though. He was the one who had asked me out tonight, not the other way around. The fact that I had accepted his offer showed that I did like him to a certain extent. If he had been bold enough to ask me out at my workplace and even ask my ‘boss’ for a day off showed that he was confident that I would agree.

At least, he must have known that I liked him enough to be willing to go out with him and talk to him. He was really confused now, that’s for sure, and it further confirmed the disappointment I saw earlier.

Why? Why would be possibly be disappointed? Was he expecting me to say ‘I like you back’?  That thought wormed its way into my head, refusing to get out. It scared me a bit to know that Harry could possibly like me. I could admit it now, I wasn’t in denial about my feelings anymore, I just wanted to explore. But he knew full well that I was with Niall, and yet he asks me out, telling me he likes me?

I noticed Harry staring at me. Again. I’m sure he thinks I don’t, or at least hopes I don’t, but I do. I see him doing it all the time. I turned to face him, and he looked back at his food quickly. I saw him turn his head back just a split second after I turned mine. I couldn’t help but smirk. Caught in the act. “Are you looking at something, Harry?” I asked, innocently.

“Oh, uh, no, nothing.” He replied, speeding up to walk ahead of me. Trying to hide something, eh? I wanted to know the truth today, and I would stop at nothing. I wanted to know what he really meant when he told me he liked me. I was sure I could take the truth.