One Of Her Students.

Chapter Four

Eleanor woke up at a normal time that morning. Everything seemed normal until she realized that Louis wasn’t in the bed next to her, like usual. She glanced around the room, maybe he was in the bathroom. She looked towards the bathroom & found it empty with the lights turned off. What the? She sat up and got out of bed, walking down the stairs.

To her surprise, she found Louis sleeping with his mouth wide open. He was fast asleep next to ..Harry. She raised her eyebrows at the young boy sleeping on her couch. His eyelids fluttered softly— dreaming. Harry was laying at one end of the couch and Louis was at the other end. Their legs were pressing against each other’s so that they could both fit on the couch at the same time. After a few more moments, she walked back upstairs to get ready for work.

Before she left, she left a note for Louis.

Lou, call me when you get this. we need to talk xx ~ El

~*~*~

About an hour after Eleanor left, Louis woke up. He glanced around the room for a second, not used to waking up in his living room. He could feel someone near his feet, he glanced down and saw Harry. He remembered all of last night after a few seconds of his thoughts rushing back into his sleepy mind. Harry cried. He didn’t just cry though—he basically sobbed. His eyes watched Harry as he slept peacefully. He looked at the scabs that were starting to form on his cuts and he saw the purple-blue bruising that was starting to form over his delicate face. He wanted to lean over and just make all the pain that was probably going to come when he woke up go away. Harry began to stir next to him, soft moans escaped his mouth. He could see his eyes moving underneath his sleeping lids. It creeped him out to be honest. Louis got off the couch slowly and poked Harry softy, “Harry..” He laid his hand on his chest and shook him gently. He could feel Harry’s heart racing underneath his fingertips. He shook him again before speaking, “Harry, it’s just a dream. Wake up.”

A few more seconds passed of Louis, who was now on his knees next to the sleeping Harry on the couch, trying to wake him up. A few more minutes passed when finally Harry’s eyes shot open and he stared at Louis. His eyes were wide and shocked, he could feel tears burn in them but he quickly swallowed them away and blinked. His face turned a light shade of pink. He hated when people saw this side of him.

"You okay..?" Louis asked quietly, keeping their eyes locked.

"Uh.. y-yeah." Harry said, he felt the tears wanting to come again. He turned his eyes away and stared at his own fingers.

Louis slowly moved his fingers towards Harry’s face, catching a few tears that already escaped from his eyes. Harry froze at the touch, glancing back up at Louis. No one has ever been this gentle with him in what seemed like forever. Harry just wanted to melt at his touch, but he kept himself steady.

"Does this happen a lot?" Louis murmured, stroking his hair & trying to comforting him.

"Yes." Harry said quickly, his voice barely audible. "I usually scream, so this time it wasn’t that bad.." He finished honestly.

"What do you dream about?" Louis asked curiously, his fingers still running through Harry’s soft curls.

Harry closed his eyes as Louis kept massaging his fingers into his hair, “Just stuff I’m afraid of.. Being alone.. Sometimes it’s just endless darkness.” He said quietly with his eyes still closed.

Louis paused for a minute, not knowing if he should say what he was about to. But he said it anyway. “I don’t want you to be afraid Harry..” Louis whispered staring at Harry’s eyelids.

Harry opened his eyes slowly and stared right back at Louis. it was odd for him to feel such a connection with someone that he knew for such a short time. It usually took ages to gain his trust and get him to start talking to them. He never told anyone about the nightmares that he had. He hated talking about it, but for some reason he was comfortable talking about them with Louis. He felt like Louis honestly wanted to be his friend. That he could actually have another friend because Niall was his best friend— his only friend. The only one he could trust besides his sister. He hated it. He hated the way that it was so hard for other people to gain his trust. He’s just been fucked over one too many times. Staring into the deep blue orbs in front of him made him feel happy. He had a feeling in his stomach that he hasn’t had in God knows how long. His eyes flickered from Louis’ eyes to his lips quickly before he looked back into Louis’ eyes. He felt his cheeks burn at the thoughts of him giving Louis a quick kiss. 

But when he saw Louis mimic him, staring at Harry’s lips, he felt a warm rush take over his chest. They both sat and just stared at each other for a few minutes. They didn’t even realize how long it was, they just kept staring. It was more of a curious look— absorbed in the sweetness in front of them. Louis was confused though, he never had any feelings like this over a boy. He would get them when he was around girls, or Eleanor, but never with a boy. Harry made him feel warm and fluffy. He felt like he was responsible for Harry, like he was supposed to protect this fragile boy in front of him. He loved it though. He wanted to take care of him, even in the short amount of time that they knew each other.

Their stare was broken when Louis’ phone began to ring loudly on the floor right next to the both of them, causing Louis to gasp sharply and jump back away from Harry quickly. Glancing over to read who was on the screen he read: Eleanor.

Louis stood up and answered it, walking out of the room. He gave Harry a quick glance before walking into the kitchen, “Hello?”

“Louis, what the fuck was that this morning?” Eleanor almost screamed into the phone, “Harry was on my fucking couch. I could lose my job if they found out that one of my students slept at my house! He cannot stay there any longer—”

"Excuse me, it’s my house too. He’s staying here for as long as he needs to. Whether you like it or not, so I’d get used to it."

"Are you serious, Lou? What is seriously wrong with you? The other day you were telling me he was weird. He comes over for a few tutoring sessions and you want him to stay at our house?"

"He’s my friend. I’m being a good friend. He needs us— me. Go back to work and we can talk about this when you get home."

"Yes Louis, we will—"

Louis hung up and rolled his eyes. He tossed the phone onto the counter and walked back into the livingroom. Harry’s eyes were locked onto the TV until he heard Louis re-enter the room. He felt his face become hot as thought about the way that he and Louis had been watching each other just minutes before.

"Sorry about that." Louis murmured, taking his place back onto the couch. 

~

Both Louis Harry knew that once Eleanor got home, it would be weird. Louis had told Harry about how she was scared she was going to lose her job because of this. He had told him that he could leave and it really wasn’t a big deal. He had to go back to his mum sometime but Louis wouldn’t let him. He didn’t care what Eleanor thought, he couldn’t just let Harry leave with the thought that he could get physically hurt. They both sat on the couch, where they had been basically the whole day. Harry didn’t go to school and he most likely wouldn’t go for a few days or until he felt better. They sat in silence as they heard the door open and watched as Eleanor walked into the room with them. Eleanor gave Harry a small nod. She then looked at Louis and pointed into the kitchen. Louis stood up and gave Harry a reassuring smile before following Eleanor into the kitchen. As soon as they were alone, Eleanor began to speak.

"I’m not going to let him stay here Lou. I know that sounds harsh but he isn’t worth ruing my job for."

"Eleanor, my dad owns that fucking school. You know he wouldn’t let anyone fire you."

"He would too, Lou! And you know he would! He’s professional and he isn’t going to favor me because I’m dating his son!" Louis rolled his eyes, but Eleanor continued yelling. "If he isn’t out tomorrow morning, I’m staying at a hotel until he does! I’m not going to ruin my future for one of my students Lou. I care about him, he’s sweet, but I don’t know him! And neither do you. I probably know him more than you do, I see him every single day. Did you ever think if he could be using us?!”

"Whatever. Leave. I’m not going to ask him to leave. I feel like he might actually trust me. It seems like it’s hard to gain his trust so I’m not going to waste it because I have a selfish girlfriend."

Eleanor stared at Louis with disbelief. “You’re really going to just let go of all the hard work that we’ve worked for for the past year for this boy— Kid? He’s a kid Louis!” She cried, giving him another harsh glare.

Louis sighed, “I’m not letting go of anything, Eleanor. You’re turning this into something that it’s not!” He shook his head and walked out of the room.

When he returned back into the living room, it was empty. All that was left was a simple note that read:

Don’t worry about me. focus on your own life. thanks for the help .x ~ Harry

~~~