Not Again? || l.s

t w e n t y - o n e

twenty-one | princess with the tiara

I see you thinking but there's just one thing clear 
You think you know but you don't have no idea 
Think you know me but there's more to see my love 

~ 'you don't know me' by ariana grande

ツ

Being at home, for Harry, was like being able to breathe again. Even if the ride home hadn't been exactly pleasant. Four hours alone in a car with Gemma and her shitty music and her texting so much that Harry confiscated her phone because that's illegal and dangerous wasn't ideal for anyone. But as soon as he's home, his mother hugged him and it made up for the rest of it.

He also got to sleep. No matter how comfortable he got in his dorm room, it's just not the same as being in his bed, having an entire room to himself. No Louis snoring beside him. Blissfully, happily, wonderfully, completely alone. He couldn't imagine anything better.

That's what he told himself, at least. But that first night, even though he didn't get home until about one in the morning, he laid awake for what felt like hours, the silence in the room unbearable.

"How did your exams go?" his mother asked at breakfast.

Harry yawned and sips his coffee, infinitely better than the stuff they served at the coffee shop on campus, "Better than I thought. Still stressed over them, but I think I did alright."

"Of course you did," she said, with the kind of proud, sincere conviction that only a mother can manage. "And how are your friends? The two you told me about."

"Crazy," Harry said, smiling into his coffee. "But good. Maybe they'll come to visit this summer."

"I'd love that." 

Probably because Harry had never really brought anyone home, ever. Except for Jace, once or twice, but they always sneaked in, and he never wanted to meet Harry's family, no matter how many times Harry begged him —which, looking back on it, wasn't all that surprising.

Just as he always did, Harry refused to allow that train of thought to go any farther. He cut off the tracks, hit the breaks on it, and forgot that Jace ever flitted across his mind.

"And what about your roommate?" his mother continued. "Are you two finally settling your differences?"

If settling their differences meant fucking the hatred out of each other until Harry accidentally started to develop feelings for Louis, feelings that he still didn't want to dwell on because they made him sick to his stomach, then yeah. They settled their differences, all right. 

"Something like that," Harry muttered.

"I'm glad to hear it," his mom said. "And I'm glad you're home."

"Me too," Harry admitted. "Really glad."

He and his mom were always the first up, but it isn't long before his sister is trampling down the stairs, rubbing sleep from her bleary eyes. His father was already at work, but he'd be back later in the day. And the four of them spent the morning and afternoon first eating breakfast, then doing a bit of grocery shopping —Harry offered to go, just to get out of the house and have something to do— and then Gemma dragged him away to experiment something with his hair.

The night was spent in the kitchen, helping his mom cook, and then at the table, having a nice family dinner the way they always did. Afterward, Harry's dad invited him to watch sports, and Harry asked him to explain football to him —which he did, but Harry's still mostly lost.