Green ~ Larry Stylinson

~ Eight ~

A little bit later, Harry found himself in a stairwell, pounding on a familiar wooden door. He kept hitting it with his fist until he heard the lock twist and the door swung open, revealing Liam in only his sweets. The annoyance on his face fell the second his eyes met Harry's. The boy looked absolutely crushed.

"Harry?" He asked carefully. "You okay?"

Harry only shook his head and Liam moved to the side to let him in. Without a word they walked over to the kitchen. Liam started making tea as Harry leaned against the counter, not saying a word. Liam was quiet as he worked on their drinks.

When he finished he turned, handing Harry his cup. Harry tried to smile as he took it, but it turned out more like a grimace.

"So, what happened?"

Harry looked up and met with his friend's concerned eyes as he sipped on his tea. He sighed quietly as he realized that he had no clue where to start.

"I don't know..." His voice was so hoarse that he scared himself.

"Okay..." Liam thought. It's hard to help someone when you don't know what's wrong. "When did it start?" Harry shrugged, looking down on his feet.

"The minute he walked inside the office..."

"Louis?" And Harry nodded. Liam nodded as well, but he didn't understand what possible could have happened during the date that would upset Harry that much. Slowly he remembered how Harry had struggled when he was looking for a partner for the boy and came to the conclusion that it had something to do with Harry's reputation as a matchmaker. After all, he did have a perfect 'score', and if Louis was to destroy that, he could understand if Harry was upset...

"The date went bad?"

"It was terrible..." Harry chuckled, but it was far from a happy chuckle.

"So you have to find someone else?"

"You could say that..."

"You can do that, Haz, come on! You're the best. We'll fix this"

"No one is good enough for him..." Liam furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding. It didn't sound like anything Louis would say, that someone wasn't good enough, but then again he didn't know the lad very well.

"Did he say that?"

"No, he's way too nice to say anything like that. He's impossible!" Harry muttered in frustration.

"...Maybe you should date him!" Liam said with a chuckle, then Liam realized what he had just said.

When the pieces fell into place he understood exactly what was going on. That's when Liam realized. It hit him so hard that his cup of tea fell through his hands, crashing by his bare feet but the boy didn't even blink. He didn't care for the shattered cup and hot liquid on the floor as his eyes landed on his friend who stared at the pieces on the floor.

"You ok-" Harry didn't get to finish his sentence before Liam spoke again.

"Oh my god, that's it!" He exclaimed, raising his voice. "You're in love with him!"

As soon as the words left Liam's lips, the cup Harry was holding fell out of his grip, and crashed against the floor. The two boys both froze as they just stood there. No one moving. They barely even noticed the blonde boy that entered with sleepy eyes.

"What's going on?" Niall asked and scanned the kitchen. His eyes widened as he saw the chattered china on the floor. He turned to his boyfriend for an explanation, but when Liam started to twist in his spot, trying to come up with a good explanation, Niall shook his head. "You know what, never mind. Don't wanna know!" And with that, the blonde walked out of the kitchen again, heading back to bed.

"You're crazy, I'm not in love with him! I've only known him a few weeks!" Harry whisper-yelled at his friend. Liam was still surprised by his own discovery but snorted.

"I know you're scared to fall in love Harry, but-"

"You can't fall in love with someone! You grow in love!" Liam sighted at Harry's stupid beliefs.

"You know that's not true. You know I fell in love with Niall. Love at first sight, then it just grows deeper. But it was love at first sight." Harry just shook his head, tear threatening to be spilled again.

"I kissed him." Harry admitted, ashamed, and he saw that shock once again covered Liam's face.

"Okay?"

"I kissed him, he kissed back..." Harry smiled as he remembered the taste of Louis lips, but it fell just as fast as he remembered the rest. "...and then I kicked him out..."

"Harry..." Liam sighted.

"I don't wanna fall in love...Things that fall, break" Harry whispered and Liam went over and wrapped him in a big hug, avoiding the shattered china.

"I know Hazza, I know. It's scary, but Louis isn't Nick." Harry flinched at the name of his first love and high school sweetheart that had left him. When Nick left Harry, Harry had a hard time to accept it. He chased after Nick for way to long after their break up, and he didn't want to feel that way again. He didn't want to depend on anyone. He was happy on his own, on his own with his cats... "Louis is awesome, okay? He's a really great guy, as great as they get."

"We don't match... We have nothing in common" Harry tried. He was still fighting his tears, but he could control his voice.

"Harry, that doesn't matter if you love him. If he makes you happy, then that's enough." Liam tried to explain as he still held his friend.

"What if it isn't?" Harry asked, feeling small. He felt like a child, throwing all his problem on his friend cause he couldn't deal with them on his own.

"Now you sound like me, you know when I was going to ask Niall out the first time... 'what if he says no?' 'What if I screw it up...' 'What if...' Well I'm gonna tell you the exact same thing you told me! 'What if he is the one?'" Liam chuckled, and Harry couldn't help but to join him as he remembered how nervous Liam had been before he asked the Irish lad out.

He slowly backed away from Liam's embrace and once again leaned against the kitchen counter. He chewed on his bottom lip as his mind worked full speed.

"He isn't... I know that, we have nothing in common." Harry repeated, making Liam's face fall.

"That doesn't matter Harry! You make him happy, he makes you happy. Hell, I've never seen you this happy as you've been the last couple of weeks, I just didn't realized it was because of him... But Harry, that's enough!" But Harry shook his head.

"It's not." With that, Harry decided that it was time for him to leave, and if he maybe passed Louis house on his way home, to see if the light was still on, no one had to know...

***

After Harry told him to leave, Louis went straight home. By the time he got inside his own door the tears had stopped running. He went up the stairs and into his workshop, flickering the light on and breathed in the smell of the colors.

He walked over to the big closet, digging for some color. He sighted when he didn't found what he was looking for, sitting down on the floor, leaning back against the wall. He didn't even want to think about what had happened, he just wanted to forget it. He just wanted to be happy.