"So explain to me again who this 'friend' of yours is again, lads," Louis spoke as he allowed Niall and Liam to guide him through the familiar path he always walked in the woods.
Niall and Liam decided to invite Louis to dinner at Harry's house, which is part of their plan to help Harry and Louis get acquainted. It's been about a week since Liam and Niall agreed to help Harry with this and they were probably just as nervous as Harry was (if not more). They do feel slightly wrong for basically setting Louis up on a date but they feel like this could work out really well. Plus, Harry has access to all of the things in life that Louis has ever dreamed of and they could both benefit from this potential relationship.
"Oh he's just an old mate of ours. We've known him before we met you," Liam explained, not wanting to dwell on the subject that long.
"Alright, I suppose. What is his name?" Louis asked, seemingly okay with Liam's response.
Niall and Liam exchanged silent, panicked looks. They knew how Louis has been obsessed over finding out about Harry's disappearance and they knew that Harry would have them by their balls if his secret was revealed at all so they had to improvise.
"U-um..." Liam stuttered, panic laced through his voice.
Louis looked at them both with a weird gaze. "What?"
"It's...Harold!" Niall quickly said, but instantly regretting it because what? Seriously, Niall. You fucking idiot! By the way Liam was looking at him, Niall could tell he was thinking the same thing.
"Oh...Harold. Sounds very posh. What, is your mate rich or something?" Louis giggled under his breath. But it was short lived when he noticed that Niall and Liam hadn't responded to his joke. "Wait...he's rich?"
"Well um...yeah," Niall said, scratching the back of his head. "In fact, so rich he could probably buy our small town."
That stopped Louis in his tracks. "Are you bloody serious, mates?! You're taking me to some stuffy guy's place for dinner?"
"Lou, calm down. He's not at all 'stuffy'. He's a really sweet guy, c'mon. You know we wouldn't be around him if he was an arsehole," Liam assured.
"I mean...sometimes he can be an arse," Niall blurted out, but quickly regreting it.
Liam sighed heavily and rubbed his face. "Niall, do me a favor and shut up for the rest of the day."
Niall nodded in understanding and continued to walk down the dirt path to Harry's house, Louis and Liam following.
"I don't understand, Li. Since when were you two going to introduce me to your friend?" Louis asked.
"Well, we had to get his consent first. He's a very reserved person, Lou. He likes to keep to himself. He never goes into town."
"Well that explains why his place is so far away," Louis mumbled.
No one said anything else for the rest of the walk there. Louis hadn't quite realized where they were until he saw the bridge he always visit about 20 feet away from where they were. Looking around, Louis quickly knew where they were and he abruptly stopped in his tracks. "Wait! Why are we here?"
"This is where Harr-um...Harold lives," Liam explained, quickly correcting himself in the process. Niall nodded his head wordlessly to confirm Liam's response.
"But where is his house?"
"Well, if you would have continued to follow us, you would have known by now," Liam chuckled. He grabbed Louis' hand and guided him through the little trail that cut through the darker part of the dead trees, a trail that Louis was suddenly familiar with.
