Bound by Pages | larry

six

Harry was over at Liam's place once again. He was still trying to distract himself from Jaqueline's words from yesterday. It wasn't working too well, for Harry kept thinking about the girl. His thoughts would immediately go back to his parents, and then about how the two were connected. That would circle him back to Jaqueline.

The cycle repeated itself once again as Liam obtained another headshot against the thinking boy. Harry didn't really respond to what was happening on the screen in front of him, he just acknowledged the death and sighed. 

In the corner of his eye, the boy saw his best friend give him a worried look, but his lips stayed shut. Harry could see the look in his eyes, but he wasn't able to describe it. There wasn't a word in the English language that existed for the look. Liam just looked so... Harry couldn't describe it. He just couldn't.

Instead of pressing the button that would allow him to respawn, Harry decided that he was sick of playing games. He let his finger hover over the smooth power button on his controller before pushing down to turn it off. 

"Were done then?" Liam pushed the same button on his controller, then went to turn off the console. He placed the two objects in a bin, causing Harry to cringe as the wires intertwined.  Liam could always untangle them so easily, but Harry never managed to. 

"So what's going on with you? I heard Jaqs stopped by yesterday." Even Liam had a nickname for Harry's girlfriend. Liam probably realized that the other boy wasn't going to talk much, so he started some small conversation. Much to the surprise of Liam, Harry actually flinched a little at the sound of her name. 

"Everythings going pretty well actually," Harry mumbled and tried his best to pull off a half-believable smile. Harry examined the face of his younger best friend and frowned when Liam didn't seem convinced.

"Come on Harry, what's going on between you and Jaqueline?" The brunet urged on. A bit of relief actually surged through Harry. Liam thought this was all about Jaqueline, and Harry was pretty okay with that. His relationship with Jaqueline wasn't the best, he must admit, but it was normal right?

"Seriously Liam, I would tell you if anything was going on." Harry laughed to seem that much more convincing. "Everythings okay! I'll tell you later okay?"

Once again, Harry wasn't telling a complete lie. Everything was fine between him and Jaqueline. Well, everything was almost okay with him and Jacqueline. If what happened yesterday was ignored, it was basically the perfect relationship. Harry's parents loved her, she had a good relationship with his friends, and she obviously cared about him. She told Harry to leave Louis for his own good. It would be so selfish if Harry couldn't appreciate the good that Jaqueline was doing.

Of course, Harry was going to tell his best friend eventually. Good friends told each other the truth, and Harry liked to think that he always tried his best to be supportive toward Liam. Even if Harry wasn't being the most honest in this exact moment of sitting on Liam's couch and picking at the blue strands, he was still Liam's best friend. To be fair, Liam was also keeping secrets from him. 

"So you haven't told me your English topic yet." Harry's voice sounded strong, though there had been quite a long bit of silence. It was honestly meant to be a teasing tone, and Harry thought he pulled it off well. He watched as Liam didn't form a smile, but bit his lip a little, clenching the armrest with his knuckles.

"I swear I did." Liam laughed nervously. No, Harry thought, no he definitely did not. He didn't mean to make his best friend uncomfortable, so the goofy boy just raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Oh Liam maybe we're getting old or something and our memory's going all wacko." Harry bubbled up into more laughter, and he stuck out his tongue at his unimpressed friend. As Liam's soft eyes widened, and he suddenly began laughing, Harry felt accomplished for the weirdest reason.