almost // l.s

four

harry woke up the next morning in louis' arms. he had no idea how they'd manoeuvred themselves into that position, but it wasn't unwelcome to the curly haired boy. as he stirred in the soft morning light, harry raised his head - which had been resting on louis' chest - to look at his friend.

louis' eyes were closed and his cheeks were tinted red from heat, his long eyelashes were fluttering and he looked peaceful. beautiful was the word harry thought of, but he quickly waved it away. he couldn't think of louis like that. louis was straight. he said so himself.

the older boy's facial expression changed significantly as he woke, his brow furrowing in a way harry didn't like. he wanted louis to return to his previous, tranquil state. somehow, he knew that wouldn't happen when he rolled the two of them over so harry was underneath him. the younger one's heart rate sped up, but slowed when louis shook his head and stood up.

"what happened?" he asked, pulling at his hair in clear frustration.

"nothing," harry whispered, intimidated by louis' brash tone, "don't think so any-"

"you can't let me do that," he nearly shouted, turning around to face harry quickly, "as soon as i start doing something silly, h, you have to stop me."

harry nodded slowly, confused and sad, "ok." louis' whole face was now red and it was certainly not from the heat swirling around the boys. he was mad, at harry or himself? the younger boy didn't know. what he did know, however, was he wasn't fond of it and he wanted him to calm down.

then it happened again, the words slipped from the brunette's mouth once more, "i'm straight."

harry began to cry, silently, tears falling fast down his face as louis repeated the phrase over and over again, "i'm straight, i'm straight, i'm straight," and then he was gone. 

-

when harry said louis was gone he hadn't anticipated the boy to actully leave leave. as the remaining four lads sat eating their breakfast, an awkward silence fell upon them.

"where's lou?" zayn asked after a while, a lazy yawn taking over his face. this caused liam to watch his every move, each detail that made up zayn suddenly very interesting to him. niall snickered knowingly.

"no idea," harry shrugged, "one minute we were fine, the next he was running away."

niall looked confused, "scare him off did ya, mate? too sexy?" 

"guess he just decided he hates me," harry shrugged. 

"no way, h!" liam seemed astounded, "maybe blabbermouth horan over here let something slip about... yknow," he raised his eyebrows.

"hey!" niall yelled, "i would never out my best friend liam, that's ridiculous."

"first of all, you told me before harry had the chance to," liam reasoned, "and i'm pretty sure zayn didn't know until right now-"

"no you're right, i didn't," zayn chuckled as harry smacked the back of niall's head, "but good on ya haz."

harry laid his head in his hands, now everyone knew. he made a mental note to not tell niall anything ever again, "did you tell him?"

"course not," he rubbed harry's back soothingly.

"ok, and by the way, ni," harry smiled, "i don't care that liam and zayn know now so you're off the hook."

"phew!" niall mimed wiping sweat off his forehead, then he leaned in to whisper in harry's ear, "they're probably secretly together anyway." harry burst out laughing and niall seemed smug that he'd lightened the mood. you could always count on him for that. usually, louis would assist him in the process, the thought brought harry right back down.

"speak of the devil," liam pointed over his shoulder and the other three looked to see what he'd found. it was louis, still in his pajamas, walking towards them. he looked rough, like he'd been crying and beating himself up in pain, harry wanted to help him but he knew that wasn't possible.

"alright, lads?" he said as he took a seat beside zayn on the ground. they'd prepared a meal of sandwiches for breakfast, which the new addition didn't seem to want.

"we're fine," zayn looked him up and down, "but are you?"

"just a little stressed is all," louis smiled but it looked forced and those eye crinkles harry loved so much were nowhere to be seen.

"wanna talk about it?" liam posed the question timidly, like the older boy would possibly lash out.

"wish i could, payno," louis shrugged, "not really sure what there is to tell."

harry looked down as louis' blue eyes met his own green ones, becoming rather infatuated with his lap all of a sudden. he wanted, so badly, to know what it was that his friend was hiding, but louis was like a closed book. one that would only open at a certain time for a certain person. harry knew it wouldn't be him.

-

harry and niall joined liam and zayn playing mario kart for the first time that night, leaving louis alone and at war with his thoughts. niall won almost every race, as usual, and zayn made it quite clear that that was the reason he was never invited to their late-night gaming parties. niall's reaction, "well i'm just gonna crash 'em from now on."

"this is too fun," zayn mused, even after being beaten by niall on the 'electrodrome' for the fifth time that night, "tell me again, harry, why we came up with the no devices rule."

"so our mums couldn't get hold of us," he joked.

"could've just lied about there being no reception," liam said.

"yeah, but then we'd have to either put up with their whinging or block them, and i know how mad my mum would be if she found out i'd purposely been ignoring her," niall added while selecting their next rack. harry told the others he was getting tired and wanted to go back to his tent soon.

"wanna stay with me tonight so you don't have to put up with the grouch over there?" the blond boy suggested.

"i'm ok," harry shook his head, "maybe i'll get a word out of him."

after one more race, a horrendous battle on 'cheese land,' in which niall crushed - or aNIALLated, in his words - harry, they took themselves off to bed. harry found louis half-asleep when he entered, playing with his own fingers. the curly one didn't understand how his energetic friend had been reduced to this.

"harry," he said quickly, standing up as soon as they faced each other. the younger boy merely nodded, not sure what to say. louis took a step forward and whispered something nearly inaudible, harry prayed to god it wasn't the phrase he'd heard so many times escape louis' mouth the past few days. the phrase he dreaded so much.

"sleep with me again?" louis asked quietly, "i won't leave you this time."

harry was unsure how to react, "you said to stop you whenever something like this comes up, lou, i-"

"no please, harry. please," he took a deep breath and shuddered, "just give me this one last time."

the older boy's hand ghosted over harry's cheek, and who was he to resist? his nod was slow and uncertain, but soon louis was pulling him onto the air mattress. warmth was the last thing that engulfed harry before sleep took its place.