Artwork [h.s]

forty-two

I widened my eyes at his words.

"Like, a date?" I asked him quietly, feeling the need to get him to clarify what he meant before considering internally freaking out.

He pursed his lips, lowering his gaze to the table as he tapped his fingers on the surface for a couple of seconds. "I don't do dates" he replied, a thoughtfulness etched in his voice. "Will you?" He looked up as soon as the question left his lips.

I did my best to get the disappointment that washed over me as his cryptic answer not to show on my face, and nodded. "Sure" I replied quietly. It wasn't that his words took anything away from the fact that he'd asked me out of course, because I was happy he had. I'd just hoped he'd somehow clarify what we were doing, because I had no idea at all. I wondered if he did, or if he was just as lost as I was in that situation. I didn't even know if we could consider each other friends, let alone anything else. "When?" I asked, trying to fill the awkward silence that came over us after my short reply.

He shrugged, something in the way his gaze drifted to the wall behind me telling me that he hadn't expected to get that far at all. "Tonight" he said in the end.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Tonight?" I said questioningly. "Are you sure?" I couldn't help but ask, wondering why he'd want to go out while he wasn't feeling well.

"I'm fine" he replied, somehow managing to understand where I was coming from without me directly telling him. "So?"

I nodded. "Alright" I said, sitting back on the chair and glancing at him as he touched the side of the cup in front of him again, gently picking it up and sipping his coffee when he deemed it had cooled down enough.

I almost jumped on the spot when I suddenly heard the bell ring, not having expected time to fly that fast. I shook my head and made my attention go back to Harry, observing him as he finished drinking his coffee and put the cup down, slightly moving it to the side, to be returned later.

He sighed, his gaze moving to the entrance of the cafeteria. "Niall" he murmured. "I can't stand him like this."

I followed his gaze, discovering that the blue-eyed boy was marching in our direction, despite having a class he had to go to. I looked down when I saw the way he was glaring at Harry, immediately torn between finding a reason to leave the table before he arrived and staying right where I was to show support or anything like that.

I flinched again when Niall reached our table and slapped his hand on it hard, catching the attention of everyone around.

"How could you be so fucking reckless again!" He hissed, lowering his head so that we would be the only ones to hear what he was saying. "Mum was freaking out when you didn't come home! And I was that fucking naïve to believe you'd just gone to a friend's instead and now I find out you got fucking drunk again!"

Harry looked down, glaring at the plastic surface of the table, at his words, seeming to have no interest in starting an argument with the other boy.

"Why are you like this?! Don't you think of our family, how badly your behaviour reflects on all of us?!" Niall spat angrily. "Mum will end you, you know she will this time. I wouldn't be surprised if she forbid you from going outside or some shit."

Harry raised an eyebrow, finally looking up at the other boy. "Won't be an option, I'm going out with Sierra tonight" he replied calmly, in strong contrast to his friend, that was literally seething.