almost // l.s

nineteen

tightness. harry felt it everywhere. his mind, his throat, his suit. even louis' hand on his knee was uncomfortable. the whole situation was uncomfortable. two weeks ago, on that day, the man who'd made his life a living hell had passed away. when louis had received the phone call from his mother, who'd portrayed mixed feelings herself, the boy had almost breathed a sigh of relief. not a single tear was shed, and louis had basically continued with his life as normal.

however, the revelation had hit harry like a ton of bricks. he wasn't sure why, if it was because his own father had died when he was so young, or because he was worried louis would react later on. whatever it was, harry was scared.

as the celebrant droned on about mr tomlinson's successful life, harry heard louis' breath get shakey.

"baby?" he whispered to not disturb the ceremony.

"yeah," louis replied.

"is it finally hitting you?"

"no," he said confidently, "it's just hearing this man, who had no idea what he was really like, talk about him like that,  makes me so mad. like no one here has any idea what he could do."

harry nodded, "i understand, lou."

"i just wish he'd go for good. i never wanna hear about him again."

the green-eyed boy sat a little to his left and laid his curly mop of a head on louis' shoulder. he felt a pressure on him and knew that the older one had leaned into the touch. that made harry very happy.

"now we'd like to invite his wife up to say a piece."

louis shifted awkwardly as his mother made her way to the front of the room, "first of all," she said, "i'd like to address the fact that i am in fact his ex-wife. we divorced over ten years ago."

that ripped a laugh from the crowd, strange as it may seem, and louis nodded with a small smile. "william tomlinson was a strong man through and through, although, he had an odd way of showing it.

william william william william william. harry's stomach lurched at the thought. that was louis' middle name. his middle name was his father's name. he was stuck with that for life. that made harry even more uneasy.

jay talked for a good five minutes about the man. her whole speech felt scripted and fake. he knew it was, and the funeral became more of a burden than a celebration. as it came to an end, harry and louis felt collectively relieved. 

they didn't attend the burial even after louis had expressed his interest in seeing the man that'd tortured him go. that was the moment that he began to cry, and harry had insisted the pair leave. after a formal goodbye to jay, the two boys were on their way. louis' knuckles began to turn white on his steering wheel, and harry's did the same on his thighs.

"you know what?" the blue-eyed boy questioned.

"hmm?"

"i'm beyond happy, haz, i really am."

"that he's gone?"

"yeah," he breathed, and smiled. harry loved that smile, "now we can do what we like."

harry giggled, "we've still moved away."

"good. gives us a shot at starting a new," his eyes flicked off the road to gaze at harry for a second, "new school, new house, new life."

"we'll be that gross couple at uni that everyone wants to be," the seventeen year old grinned.

"true," louis agreed, "true."

-

"so he's fine?" liam asked quietly. after harry and louis had returned from the funeral, zayn, niall and the eldest friend had escaped to the mall. niall had claimed that they were going to do the grocery shopping, but the remaining lads knee that'd never happen.

"yeah i think so," harry replied meekly.

"and you?" the brown-eyed boy questioned pointedly, eyeing harry in an almost accusing way.

the seventeen year old nodded slowly, "i'm good. just worried about him."

"i see that," he replied, "just think about it positively, harry. no more threats, no more screaming, just," he took an overexaggerated deep breath, "calm."

harry giggled, "okay."

"right!" liam exclaimed loudly, "i'm gonna ring zaynie and see if they've actually done the shopping and, if not, we'll go in like ten minutes."

"alright."

"you might wanna go get ready because what are the chances they've actually been productive?"

"probably close to zero," harry laughed.

"my thoughts exactly."

-

niall, zayn and louis had, in fact, gone ten-pin bowling in the city. liam had shaken his head profusely and told harry "at least we're mildly sensible."

harry couldn't have agreed more.

so the pair had set out, on foot, into town to the nearest supermarket. fortunately, their list wasn't particularly long so the boys wouldn't struggle alone.

"theoretically, we could run this house on our own," harry smiled at his friend.

"someone swallowed a dictionary this morning."

"hey!" the younger boy said defensively, "i'm not as thick as i look, payno."

"i know, styles, i'm just messing with you," liam grinned.

the shopping took about two hours, and harry was sure it would've taken a lot less had the other three boys been there. however, his annoyance faded as soon as he arrived home.

louis was standing at the kitchen bench, tea mug in hand, with a wide smile on his face. harry loved that smile, and he'd missed it.

"glad to see that back on your face again," harry whispered, sneaking behind and wrapping his arms around louis' waist.

"mmm," louis hummed, "kinda wish it was you instead, though."

harry gasped as his boyfriend whipped around and forcefully kissed his lips, hands gripping the curly hairs that were growing longer and longer each day. they kissed in the kitchen, in plain sight, for what felt like hours, before louis pulled back, a satisfied smirk on his lips.

"we haven't done that in days," harry complained in a whiny voice.

his boyfriend hummed again, "i missed you, darling."

"i missed you too, lou."

and harry was safe for the first time in weeks. his tall, thin frame was trapped within louis' shorter, but stronger body, and the boy's breath fanned over his ear. just as harry was about to confess his love for the millionth time that day, niall bounded into the room.

"so h! what'd you buy for dinner?"

♡♡♡

sorry for the slow update! this was a hard chapter to write, with the funeral and all. i had to do some serious thinking about emotions and situations in this one.

hope you enjoyed as much as you could.

thank you. treat people with kindness.

alyssa xx :)