Star Crossed: Forbidden [larry]

Chapter XXX: Temerity

It wasn’t raining today. But it wasn’t sunny either. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, neither was there a sun. The sky was a grey color that made you think rain was on the way but it never came. It was windy but the hot kind of wind that made you dread going outside. It was the kind of day, you spent in the air conditioning, not even going outside to get the mail. But I went outside that day. My parents were working full time at the bakery now that I refused to work there and Louis had ‘quit’. I decided it was time to see Gemma and catch up. I saw her at church but we never really got to talk. I got in my car, cranking the air conditioning as high as possible and drove to a local diner. I pulled up to the diner, seeing Gemma’s car in the parking lot. The heat was so unbearable, there wasn’t a single person outside. Everyone would dart from air conditioned building to building with their shorts, hats, and sunglasses on. I entered the diner, spotting Gemma in a booth near the back. I recognized a couple people from church in the diner, who gave me weird looks. I slide into the booth and took my sunglasses off.

“Sure is hot out today,” Gemma remarked. I nodded my head, looking at all the people that surrounded us with their ears wide open.

“Can we talk somewhere else?” I whispered to her. She nodded her head and we darted from the diner. Once outside, we both went to my car.

“Do you wanna just go back to the house?” I asked her. She nodded her head as I began to drive. I tapped my hands on the steering wheels as my nerves built up inside of me. I was nervous to tell her about Louis and I. But I had to, the truth was going to come out soon and I’d rather she hear it from me first. I parked the car and we walked inside.

“Mum told me that you haven’t worked at the bakery for a couple weeks now,” Gemma said as she took a seat on the couch. I took a seat on the other side of the couch and looked into her green eyes that resembled mine.

“Yeah, I haven’t been out of the house much,” I admitted. She sent me a concerned glance.

“What’s been going on, Harry? What was pastor Tomlinson talking about?” Her eyes showed she was only curious because she cared about me.

“Remember the day you moved out? How you told me you loved a girl once?” I said in a quiet voice. She nodded her head. I took a deep breath.

“I love Louis, Gemma. I love him.” Her mouth gaped open as she covered her mouth with her hand.

“And he loves me too, we’ve been seeing each other in secret for a while. I wasn’t planning on telling you, or anybody for that matter until a couple of weeks ago.” My hands began to sweat as I tried to focus on picking lint off my shorts.

“I went over to Louis’ house one day after we finished up at the bakery, I stayed for dinner. Then after, we went to Louis’ room where we made out. Pastor Tomlinson walked in on us.” I paused before going on shuddering at the memory.

“He was so angry, he looked at us like we were criminals, like we had murdered his mother. He yelled and yelled at both of us, telling Louis that he could never see me again nor work at the bakery anymore. He then told me to leave as he dragged Louis to the basement. But I didn’t leave. I followed them into the basement. He beat him up, Gem. He punched him, and kicked him and hit him again and again.” Tears had gathered in Gemma’s eyes, her hand was still over her mouth as tears began to pull down her face.

“Oh Harry,” was all she could say as she pulled me into her embrace. We both sobbed into each others arms. I wasn’t exactly sure why she was crying but then it clicked, she had loved a girl too, but she never got caught. The realization that her little brother got caught and not her was overwhelming to her. The what if scenarios filled her head along with the it should have been me scenarios. We pulled away from the hug after a few moments.

“I still see him, just in places no one can see us. The thing is, Gem, I’m not scared of them finding out who I am, I’m scared for Louis. I don’t care what people think of me, but if, if Louis is sent to the gallows because of me…” Tears poured down my face without permission. Gemma’s eyes read into mine, understanding.

“You’re so much braver than I ever was, Harry.” She smiled softly as she placed one of my curls behind my ear.

“Do you want to hear some good news?” she asked, trying to cheer me up. I nodded my head.

“James purposed,” she said with a small smile as she showed me her diamond ring. I smiled and hugged her again.

“I’m so happy for you,” I told her. We pulled back from the hug, wiping away the tears with our hands. Seeing at how happy she was, reminded that sometimes, in rare occasions, there are happy endings. Sometimes, the good people fall in love with someone who deserves their love. That there is good in this horrible world. That their infinity would be bigger than our infinity. As selfish as it is, I wished the roles were reversed. But she deserved that happy ending. Gemma left not too long after. After she left, I got in my car with a cardboard box in the back and drove off. I pulled into the familiar dirt road and parked the car. The scent of the forest I had grown to love consumed me. I smiled remembering the first time Louis and I kissed, as well as the blow job he gave me by the pond. I grabbed the box and carried it through the forest until I reached the pond. I sat down on the dirt and opened the box. I lifted out the items inside the box and put them in numerous places all over the forest. Now anyone who entered the forest, would know our little secret. I had put a copy of the only photo of Louis and I together in a tree. I put the ticket from the Coldplay concert in a smaller tree that looked like the ones that were chopped down around christmas time. I hung the necklace Louis gave me on a tree and put the carabear on a rock. Lastly, I put my copy of Romeo and Juliet sticking out of a bush.

When I had emptied the box, I went out to the field far out just beyond the trees from Hogwarts. I lied myself in the tall grass and just stared up at the cloudless sky, smiling. All the memories of Louis and I ran through my mind as I watched birds fly in the sky. The world could sure be cruel at times, hell at times it made you feel like leaving it, like ending the pain for good. But the world could also be amazing at times, it could be beautiful and magical. In the midst of this mess, I had forgotten that. I had focused on the bad instead of the good. The good was right in front of me. And even though, I knew the good wouldn’t stay forever, it was enough just to have it. You cannot have the good without the bad. In all bad there is good and in all good there is bad. In the dark there is lightness, in the light there is darkness. I forgot to thank the world for giving me the good. For giving me Louis. Rethinking things now, made me realized that I wouldn’t change a single thing about Louis and I, not even his dad finding out. Cause you know what, having his dad find out brought out this incredible strength in me that I didn’t even know I had. It made me not take things for granted, it made me realize how incredibly strong Louis is. How even in the darkest hours, he manages to smile and not a fake smile. How even when his own dad turned on him, he still managed to see the good in the world. And that itself showed how selfless he was, how undeniably beautiful he was. And I was incredibly lucky to be able to call him mine. I wanted to shout it from the tallest building with the loudest microphone that he was mine cause I didn’t give a damn what people said or claimed. Because, I love him and that is all that matters.