Artwork [h.s]

fifty-six

I didn't ask him what he was doing that day at the cafe, and he never told me.

When I arrived at school he was already there, sitting next to Niall on their usual bench, the black car back into the car park telling enough.

I bit my lower lip as I slowly approached him, feeling it slightly weird considering that we'd argued just some days before. Harry looked up from the phone he always seemed to be looking at as soon as I was close enough for him to notice that I was walking towards him, quickly locking the screen and sliding the device back into the pocket of his black coat. He slightly shifted to the side until he was sitting in the middle, closer to Niall, freeing up the right side of the bench for me to sit on.

"Hi" I said quietly, sitting down next to him, appreciating the way people had stopped finding the fact that I was hanging out with them so interesting.

"Hey!" Niall said excitedly before Harry could even open his mouth, making it clear that they'd sorted out the New Year's Eve issue.

Completely ignoring the little glare Harry sent his way, he started talking about our maths class, keeping Harry and I from interacting until it was time for us to get into the building as our first class would've started soon.

"Do you actually want to go in?" Harry asked all of sudden just as I was about to stand up to follow Niall and the flow of the students inside the building.

I turned my head to look at him, sitting back down next to him, giving him a confused glance. "What?" I asked him while trying to understand if he'd really said what I thought he'd said - not that it would've been surprising if he had, just unexpected.

Harry's green gaze landed on me, an unimpressed glance quickly finding its way into his eyes. "You heard me" he simply said, his voice low, before shooting Niall, that was still standing in front of us a quick look.

"I mean, isn't that what we're supposed to do?" I asked again, trying to figure out why he'd asked such a thing. What was it with him and always finding a reason to skip our classes? Not that I minded of course - after all, it'd happened not more than five times since the start of the year, and despite it being probably way more times than anybody should be allowed to, they still weren't enough to actually become a problem. Just like everything else about him, that too seemed perfectly calculated, as if he enjoyed walking on that thin line between what should and shouldn't happen.

Harry's stare focused back on me as soon as the shaky question left my lips, his eyebrows raising slightly as he gave me a painfully obvious glance. "I never liked to do what's expected of me" he replied, and suddenly everything started to make a little more sense. Was it really about us doing something else together, or was it about him once again finding a way to prove to himself that he could still bend the rules around him for his own enjoyment? Truth be told, I didn't really care about what was the reason why he'd asked that question in that moment, I was intrigued either way.

"I know" I said, suddenly unaware of the presence of Niall in front of us. Everyone else had already gone inside, but he was still standing there, silently watching the conversation unfold. "Are you saying we shouldn't go in?"

"You definitely should go in. Mum and dad will freak out if you skip" Niall said all of sudden, sliding into the conversation quickly when he understood where it was going, a worried look in his blue eyes.

Harry sent him a sharp glance from where he was sitting on the bench, not needing to stand up to be mildly threatening. "Then don't tell them" he replied quickly, the tone of his voice low.

The blonde boy sighed, the decision of covering for him clear in his eyes, but glazed over by a hint of insecurity. "I don't know..." he said quietly, turning his head towards the entrance of the building as he debated what to do.