Eccedentesiast || Larry

24. Hurt

H

Louis was right; he doesn't belong here.

He likes to pretend that he does, that he's some badass who parties all night and skips school everyday, but that's just not who he is.

Some—not all, but most—girls are wearing skimpy dresses with at least reasonable shoes, guys are eyeing those girls rather hungrily, and couples are pressed up against each other in the living room, grinding to the beat of the music. He saw Liam when he first arrived about an hour ago, but that was it. And quite frankly, he doesn't want to see him. Liam crossed the line.

Harry scrunches up his nose as he watches a girl that's way too drunk. Her skirt is hiked up lot as she dances, banging her head and fucking twerking. Some people join her just for the heck of it, and others stare at her like she's from some planet. But then she turns toward him, and Harry starts to laugh.

"Harry!" Kelsey calls, jogging happily over to him.

"Are you drunk?" Harry asks, because he might as well.

"What? No! I'm allergic to alcohol, I just really love dancing."

And then she's grabbing his hand and pulling him into the massive group of people. Immediately, she starts to dance again, and people are right by her side, so she involves them in it as well. Harry laughs with them, crossing his arms over his chest as he just stands there.

"C'mon, dance with us!" Kelsey yells over the music, grabbing his shoulders and twisting them from side to side.

"I don't dance."

"I know you can," Kelsey giggles.

Harry decides to continue on with their little game. "Not a chance, no!"

"If I can do this, then you can..." Kelsey breaks off into fits of laughter. She disregards Harry with a wave, hunching over as she hiccups uncontrollably.

And so Harry leaves her there and walks into the kitchen. There aren't many people in the space, but the people that are there are casually chatting with a red solo cup in their hands. Everyone's kind of shouting, actually, because the music is blasting and it's practically shaking the floor.

Harry pulls out his phone and texts—believe it or not—Louis.

Hey, party is boring.

Louis responds a mere minute later: You should have stayed home with me. I'm much more entertaining.

Harry bites his lip, because now the idea of going over to Louis' place again sounds very appealing. But, unfortunately, he walked here, and there's no way he's asking Louis to go out of his way and pick him up. He has got to get his license soon. And a car.

"Hey Newbie," a voice says from behind him, stopping him from replying to Louis. He slides his phone back into his pocket and looks up to find the culprit.

It's only Annie. Her hair is pulled up and she's wearing probably the skimpiest little black dress Harry's ever seen.

"Oh. Hi. Um, why am I a Newbie?" Harry raises one eyebrow.

"You are new to the group, aren't you?" She mimics his expression with an added smirk.

Harry nods. Annie steps closer to him, and he instinctively takes a rather large step back, then another, but he bumps into the counter. Annie moves even closer, but Harry breathes a little easier when she stands next to him and reaches for the many bottles of alcohol, grabs a plastic cup, and expertly makes a concoction.

"Whiskey sour mix, want some?"

Harry ponders over her question for a minute (not because this is the first time she's really spoken to him). Should I really? His mom and Gem and even Louis would probably scold him for drinking underage, but everyone else is doing it and seems perfectly fine. What could possibly happen?

"Y-yes."

Annie smiles as she grabs another cup. Harry focuses his attention on the people around him, all with cups in their hands, even the ones that are practically having sex on the couches. He wouldn't be surprised if the people in the upstairs bedrooms were drinking while they actually are having sex.

His thoughts are interrupted when Annie shoves a drink into his hand. It's a weird yellow color and it smells strongly of lemons.

"It's good, don't worry." Her tone is encouraging and inviting, so Harry slowly brings the cup up to his lips and takes a sip.

It has a slight sour taste to it, but that's it. He likes it. So he tilts it back and takes a large gulp as Annie smiles again. The aftertaste is almost salty, which is odd, but it's still good all the same.

"Drink up."

-

Four drinks later and the room is spinning. It's only been an hour and a half, which is probably too short of a time to have had that many, but he doesn't care. Everything is extremely fuzzy and he can't quite make out faces, but he knows Annie is in front of him from her florescent hair. Was it always that bright?

"Follow me," Annie whispers into his ear, grabbing his wrist tightly and tugging him over to the staircase. She only had a few sips of her drink before setting it down somewhere.

Harry just giggles as he stumbles up the stairs. His legs are starting to feel numb and he can't feel Annie's small hand anymore, but he thinks she's still there. When he's brought into a dark, empty room, he's still laughing, because everything is too funny to him right now.

Even when he's thrown onto a bed and his vision goes almost completely black, he's laughing.

It's only when he can't move his legs or arms or head or anything, and Annie is climbing on top of him with a devious look on her pierced face, that his laughter subsides.

"Sleep tight, darling."

-

(WHAT.

quick poll: sequel or no sequel? i have an idea for it if i decide to write one, but i don't know. thoughts?

FIREPROOF IS SO GOOD AND IT'S SUCH A LARRY SONG JFC I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE NEW ALBUM)

(p.s. i so forgot to update yesterday, so here it is on a wednesday. sorry. next update will be saturday and then back to normal after that.)