You Think I Hate You? (Larry Stylinson AU) Stepbrothers

Chapter 30

[Harry]

An entire week went by, and I had still not found the guts to tell Niall that I couldn't keep dating him. Other than that, nothing new had really happened. Louis and Eleanor were still hanging out at school as expected, but as promised, no kissing occurred, just the occasional hand-holding and hugs.

At home, we had kept being careful too, only showing affection towards each other when we knew there was no one around. Those times unfortunately rarely occurred, though, because when we got home after school, Gemma was usually there, and then both mum and Troy got home later in the afternoon as well. Sure, we did spend some time in each other's rooms sometimes when we were certain no one would come and interrupt us, but Louis was usually afraid they would hear us or something, so we barely hung out with each other at all, which was really sad.

It was like he was so close, yet so far away. I mean, there was only a room separating us, but it felt like he lived across the town just because we couldn't be near each other even in our own house.

I enjoyed the mornings when Gemma started school early or slept over at Devon's, though. That was when Louis and I could really act on our feelings and enjoy each other's company. Sometimes I made breakfast for him (when I woke up early), and sometimes we made it together. It was so nice and everything just felt so perfect. I wished we could have more times like those, I really did.

I was currently lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was bedtime and I should have fallen asleep a long time ago considering I had school tomorrow, but I just couldn't bring myself to relax. Thoughts were spinning like crazy in my head, which made it impossible for me to sleep.

I didn't know how long I had been lying there, doing practically nothing but toss and turn while trying to make myself comfortable with no success whatsoever. It was probably past midnight now, and that made me even more stressed about falling asleep. If I didn't sleep long enough, I knew I would be dead the day after.

I was suddenly pulled out of my thoughts when a knock was heard on my door. It made my heart skip a beat, and it wasn't because the knock scared me, but because it was coming from the bathroom door and not the regular one. That could only mean one thing.

It was Louis.

A second later, the door swung open, and through the darkness of the room, I could see how his head appeared in the gap. His eyes immediately found mine, and he looked a bit surprised. It was probably because he didn't expect me to be awake.

"Aren't you sleeping?"

I shook my head. "No, can't."

He let out a sigh, running a hand through his tousled, brown hair. "Me neither."

Biting my bottom lip, I looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to say or do something since he was the one who had come to me. When he didn't do anything, though, I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "Did you want anything specific?" I asked.

He looked down at his feet, shrugging his shoulders. "No, just... Well, since I can't sleep and you don't seem to either, maybe you want to come sleep with me?"

My eyes widened at his request, not expecting him to ask that. He was so careful around our family these days that I never thought those words would leave his mouth. It made me nothing but happy, though, because this was what I had been wanting to happen for a week now, so there was no way I was going to decline his offer.

However, the fact that he was so shy about it made me want to laugh. Louis was not the shy type of person, so it always amused me when he seemed so vulnerable, but it was nice to see this side of him too.