| Mon Narcisse | L•S• #boyxboy

14. TOW The Guitar II

After standing alone in the kitchen for what seemed like millennia, Harry finally stopped staring at the floor and rubbed his face in frustration. The house was quiet, like a tranquil body of water, and Harry's jumbled thoughts were like waves crashing around, disturbing the peace.

He slowly made his way to the living room with a sigh to see Niall sleepily slouched on the sofa, lazily scrolling through his phone with his hand tucked under his chin.

"Where are the rest?" Harry asked as he lay down on the sofa and placed his head on Niall's lap.

Niall looked down at Harry with a small smile, "Zayn took them all to help him clean up the parlour. He's hired a new assistant and needs to set up his place."

"That so?" Harry mumbled absentmindedly.

"Yeah, he said it's hard to keep up with everything and needs an extra hand," Niall continued while stroking Harry's hair, not noticing Harry's frown, "He's been getting a lot more customers than before."

"Mhm," Harry hummed, staring at the ceiling.

"Your hair's getting greasy. Take a shower later." Niall commented, "Anyway, I'm really happy for him. It's great that he's getting bigger. He's worked so hard on this shop and he deserves the best. I'm sure at this rate he's gonna be able to open up his own gallery like he's always-"

"How did you get Louis to trust you?" Harry suddenly interrupted.

"What?" Niall looked down at Harry again.

"Um, I mean how did you get him to open up to you and stuff?" Harry sat up and looked at Niall.

"Why do you wanna know?" Niall raised an eyebrow.

"I was just curious." Harry shrugged, trying to sound casual.

"Well, he's definitely not the easiest person to work with." Niall chuckled, "But he seems to be getting along with you just fine."

"Well, that's what I thought too," Harry frowned, "but he's been acting kinda weird these past days."

"What do you mean weird?"

"I mean he avoids my calls and texts and when I try to talk to him he always seems wired and tries to finish the conversations as soon as possible." Harry explained.

"Are you sure you're not exaggerating, Harry?" Niall asked, "I mean, no offence, but you seem to look into things a bit more than people normally would."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked defensively.

"Nothing, just, um" Niall played with his fingers, "I meant that you overthink things. Like, if I forget to tell you 'goodnight' one night, you won't be able to fall asleep because you think I'm mad at you or something."

"No, I don't!" Harry exclaimed which made Niall deadpan, "Okay, maybe I do overthink a bit but this is different, I promise!"

"How so?"

"You noticed that Louis was snappy all morning today?" Harry asked and Niall hummed, "Well when I went to check up on him because I was worried, he snapped at me for asking too many questions and stormed out of the house."

"Maybe he had a problem with Zayn?" Niall slowly said.

"No I'm sure he has a problem with me because Zayn told me."

"When?"

"Just when Louis left."

"He told you that Louis has a problem with you personally?" Niall frowned. "Are you hungry?" He stood up and walked into the kitchen with Harry following him behind.