The Perfect Mistake (Larry Stylinson)

24. As the Friendship Goes, Resentment Grows

I wasn't really in the mood to do anything anymore, let alone go to school and learn, after my brief encounter with half of The Council of Brothers, but apparently Louis felt differently.

As soon as the menacing pair had left he'd simply turned around, walked back over to the car, got in, and informed me in an eerily calm voice that we were going to be late if we didn't get a move on. The fact that he suddenly cared about being on time for physics of all things didn't really register though since I was unwillingly planted in my spot due to the paralyzing fear brought on by Elijah's words. Unlike mister tough guy over there, I needed a fucking moment.

When I was able to move my limbs again I staggered over to the driver's side, frowning as I slammed the door shut. Now, I might not know them well enough, but I'd like to think that I'm particularly fond of Louis - he is my boyfriend -, so to see him go from extremely uneasy to calm in a matter of seconds was very unsettling...

The drive to school was strangely and uncomfortably silent, to say the least. It kind of reminded me of the first time we had driven together; how stagnant the air had been between us after I'd catechized his past. I didn't like it then, and I most definitely wasn't too partial of it now. Obviously I wanted to discuss what had just happened, but again Louis must've felt otherwise, because every attempt I made at bringing it up was immediately shot down with a vague response of 'relax, everything will be taken care of'.

Right after my fifth try he'd simply shook his head, instructed me to focus on the road, then turned the volume up all the way on the Biffy Clyro CD neither of us was actually listening to. We both knew that it'd make no difference, that we'd still be able to hear each other over the incessant banging of the drums and the wailing of the bagpipes, but the message in that simple gesture was deafeningly loud to me: he didn't want to talk about it. Not even a second later the singer's voice, in a tone that genuinely seemed to be taking the piss, informed me that I should 'grow some balls and speak my mind'. I wanted to, honestly, but instead I remained metaphorically ball-less and bit back my words. And that was that.

♢

"Lou, are we just going to pretend that that didn't happen?" I questioned, tone quiet yet exasperated, as we both slid out of the car. "Is that what you're doing then?" I may have slammed the door shut a lot harder than necessary in the process, causing the window to crack in multiple places, but I paid it no mind. All of my attention was currently focused on a toothy Louis.

"I'm not pretending that it didn't happen," He said through his grin, eyes trained on the asphalt in front of us. "I'm just not very worried is all."

I couldn't help but laugh dryly at that as I held the school's front door open for him. "Yeah, right, nothing to worry about. 'S just a bunch of furious vampire Council leaders that want our heads on a silver platter. No biggie."

His steps faltered for a moment as he turned to stare at me, clearly not amused, before he rolled his eyes and continued down the hall. "You're making it sound way worse than it actually is. Elijah talks a big game Harry, but if he really wanted to kill me he would've done it long ago. He's just trying to scare us," He said, turning to pinch my cheek with a wide smile after. "Especially you."

"Well it worked!" I nearly shrieked, resulting in a few odd looks from passersby.

"Because you let it."

"Oh, my apologies for not taking being told I'm going to die after I was assured that I'd live forever in stride like you," I snapped. It's like this is one big joke to him.

"Whatever," He dismissed lightly with a wave of his hand, pushing the door to the courtyard open with his other. We remained silent as we walked over to the table that had been deemed ours a while ago; me nodding stiffly to Liam, Niall, Perrie, and Zayn as I sat down, whereas Louis actually greeted them all properly for once.