Dare To Love

23 - The Perfect Date

When Monday morning dawned, Louis knew that he didn't want to wait any longer. He'd spent the entirety of the day before going over and over what he wanted to say, though he still hadn't settled on any particular wording. He was not about to spend another day beating himself up over not being direct about what he wanted. If Harry didn't want to go on a date with him, then he'd deal with it.

At least he would have given it a shot.

Louis knew Harry had a class at eight-thirty on Monday mornings, he'd had heard him complain about it multiple Sunday evenings over supper. So at eight, Louis got up, dressed and made his way down to Niall and Harry's building.

He'd considered waiting outside Harry's room, but that seemed like the kind of thing a crazy person would do. And he wasn't about to knock, Niall would obviously know that something was up, and Louis still wasn't ready to let the others know.

So, Louis waited in the small lounge area instead. He looked down at his phone multiple times.

Eight o'Five.

Twenty more minutes and the class would start. Students filed past, and Louis was surprised to see that Harry hadn't left yet. His knee bounced rapidly as he waited, fingers drumming against his thighs before he looked back down at his phone.

Eight o'Ten.

He frowned. If there's something he knew Harry hated, was the lack of punctuality. He should be leaving by now. His watch read 8:10. He drummed his fingers on the arm of the seat as people chatted about their day and walking off towards their classes.

Then it was 8:15 and Louis noticed a flow of curls protruding from a tight knit hat, and Harry stepped off the elevator. He had his backpack on, coat zipped up, and white scarf covering half his face. He looked pretty sleepy, and he didn't even notice Louis as he made for the front door.

"Harry," he called, voice scratchy from lack of sleep, and watched Harry stutter to a halt just as his hand made contact with the door knob.

Head turning, he blinked as Louis made his way over to him — seeming like his sleep-addled brain was trying to process the situation. It was probably not every Monday morning he was talked to before he could even get outside.

"Can I walk with you to class?" Louis asked, and Harry nodded, slow and then fast, as he suddenly seemed to register that Louis was standing in front of him.

"Yeah," he cleared his throat, green eyes wide. "Yeah! Of course!"

Following Harry outside, Louis winced at the chill of the air against his cheeks. He reached up and tugged his beanie down further over his ears before glancing over at Harry, who quickly glanced away when he'd been caught — cheeks pink from the cold or from embarrassment, Louis couldn't say for sure.

Actually, he couldn't say much of anything. Now that it was just him and Harry, only a few students passing them now and again on their way to class or the cafeteria and definitely not paying them any mind, he didn't know how to start.

Harry swallowed noisily beside him, their boots scuffing along on the pavement and seeming to make even more sound with the obvious lack of conversation. Louis took a breath, gearing himself up but before he could say anything, Harry interjected.

"Did you know that people call pigeons rats with wings?" Harry asked with a snicker to fill in the silence settling between them. "And seagulls are sea rats."

Louis had heard that before, but he liked how entertained Harry was by it.

"Imagine an actual rat with wings," Harry said, hands moving animatedly as he talked. "Imagine the tail just flapping in the wind as it flies around!"