almost // l.s

twenty one

"so zayn and liam aren't a thing?" stan said, bewildered, at break. stan was in three of louis' classes and they'd become quite good friends over the course of two weeks. harry was just minorly jealous.

"no they're not," louis replied in an amused tone, "as hard to believe as it is."

the youngest of the three grinned, "yeah, apparently liam likes that sophia girl."

stan and louis both looked shocked, "really?"

"i think so. niall told me, that boy lives for gossip."

"he's spreading it about his own best friend?" stan gasped, "that's low, even for horan."

harry shrugged, "i guess." he didn't know why this stan kid had suddenly decided he was a part of their friend group, he even talked about the lads like he'd known them for years. another bonus was the fact that liam, zayn and, of course, niall had indulged in clubs which had meetings nearly every break. it was extremely disappointing, having to hang out with your boyfriend and his new other half, yet, harry had to much pride to find any new mates. he truly believed that louis would pay attention to him more than stan after the initial craze of a new friend died off.

"so louis," stan exclaimed in his obnoxiously loud voice, "you got any plans tonight?"

"not that i know of."

"wanna come out with me?" he smirked, "just to like... the bar or something?"

louis shifted in his seat, "i don't drink, stan."

"that's ok. we'll have a good time anyway!"

"sounds like a plan then," the blue eyed boy grinned, but harry saw right through stan's charming smile and dashing personality. he knew what he was doing, despite niall telling him he was seeing too deep into things, stan was trying to steal louis away from him. away from his boyfriend who he loved. 

in more than a few ways, stan was perfect. he had louis' exact taste in music, loved football and always knew how to crack a good joke. harry knew that he couldn't live up to him in any of those categories, and was worried that louis would oversee all his positive traits. the boy genuinely wished he could have the same interest as his boyfriend, but it just didn't happen. 

next thing he knew, harry was standing up and turning to leave.

"hazzy?" louis grabbed his wrist, "where're you going, baby?"

"just didn't want to intrude on your conversation any longer," he desperately wanted to sound annoyed, but the break in his voice stopped that immediately. 

"you're not intruding, darling," the overuse of pet names said otherwise, "are you sure you're good?"

"yeah," and harry was off, planning to sit, alone, outside the class he's have his next lecture in. one could say that he highly disliked stan.

-

12:04 am. louis wasn't home. harry was freaking out. 

he'd called, texted, cried and even tried to find louis' location before throwing his phone at the wall and curling up into himself. usually, is he wasn't up and watching tv, harry would be safely lying on louis' chest at this hour. tonight, however, he was anxious and alone. two of his least favourite things to experience. 

harry scrambled under the covers when he heard a noise from downstairs. it sounded like a door opening and closing in a short term. maybe louis was home? maybe he wasn't off his face!

the seventeen year old hastily removed the duvet from his long limbs and traipsed out of the room. he could see a faint light as he entered the hallway, and harry wondered what louis was doing down there.