Smoke || larry

7

Harry of course agrees to the party, but he has one rule: he's not drinking. He wants to feel the way he did on Wednesday - where he was happy without the help of alcohol. So he gets dressed up and his mom doesn't even acknowledge him as he leaves the house and enters the strange car in their drive way. He should be bothered by that, but he's slowly gotten used to the absence of his parents in his life.

Louis is smiling at him as he climbs in and then he's zooming away - his tires screeching and a loud laugh bellowing through the car. Harry clicks on his seat belt and even manages a small laugh to leave his lips. Louis is reckless - even with driving - and it's a rush. Everything with Louis is a rush and it's so different from anything he's ever experienced. It's so new and maybe that's why he forgets when he's with him. He's so different that Harry doesn't feel the same. He feels new and he feels whole.

They're driving down a familiar street and Harry knows it's the university neighborhood. All the students live in the apartments and houses here and it makes him uncomfortable. These people are older - even if just a year - and they're probably not going to enjoy him because he's in high school.

Louis doesn't seem to see a problem with any of this and parks on the side of the road, his smile still on his face. They both get out and Harry walks beside Louis into a house that appears to be pretty quiet. They open the front door and you can now hear the music, but the party is more civilized than Louis' was.

People are greeting Louis left and right, asking him where Matt and Zayn are. He just shrugs and takes a red cup in his hand, drinking it greedily. He introduces Harry with a cheery grin and Harry just awkwardly waves. He gets tired of the whole thing at some point and he starts to wander around. He knows it's stupid to leave Louis, but he needs to move.

His eyes take in the house and it's not very decorated. There's some things on the wall, but for the most part it's just white walls. The house smells like perfume and beer and Harry hopes that it doesn't always smell like this. People are everywhere - some dancing, some talking, others making out. He tries to avoid eye contact, but it's so hard because people are everywhere. He decides to keep his eyes on the floor.

He's walking in some direction when he stumbles over someone's foot. He looks up to apologize, but stops when he sees him.

Chris.

Chris was Gemma's boyfriend and he always told her that they'd get married and live happily ever after. He cried like a baby at the funeral just like Harry did and now he's shirtless with some other girl. Their eyes connect as Chris goes red in the face. The girl is still sprawled across him in the very open room and doesn't seem to care about what is happening.

Harry can feel anger fill him. It's only been two months and he's already seeing other people. He just rolls his eyes and walks away, though his eyes are filling with salty tears. How could Chris move on so quickly? He swore he loved his sister and yet here he is, already happy with someone else.

Harry finds the washroom and locks himself in it, like a cliche movie scene. He sits on the toilet and cries because everyone in this goddamn world is okay now. She's been gone for two months and no one cares anymore. It's like she's a faded memory to everyone and she just doesn't matter. Why can't he move on too? Why does it still hurt him like it did the first night?

There's a loud knock on the door and he stands up and lets himself out, shouldering past the person. He keeps his head down and wipes at his red eyes. He wants Louis right now and he walked away from him and now he's lost. He sees a girl that introduced herself earlier to him and walks over.

"Where's Louis?" he asks and she looks up at him.

"Oh. He's downstairs. He was looking for you," she tells him and Harry just nods and walks to find him. It takes him awhile, but he finally finds the basement stairs and walks down. The smell of perfume and beer leaves and is soon filled with weed. Harry sighs, but continues down and sees Louis sitting in a circle with people - a pretty bong being passed around.