Pretty n' Pastel [l.s.]

❁ twelve ❁

"And I told him that it was old but he wouldn't believe me so I watched him eat it and then I also watched him throw it back up two hours later while I laughed and said 'told you so'"

"From what you've told me, this Niall seems like quite the character."

Harry nods with a 'ya think' look on his face. "Yeah, he is. Do you have a best friend?" he asks.

Louis looks down to his lap and then back up. "It's sad, but not really. I mean of course there's Eliot but like I don't know, I've just never connected with anyone. I had friends in high school and stuff but I was always kinda on the sideline," Louis says, looking over to Harry who's sitting right next to him in a chair he decided to pull up to the table Louis was doing some homework on.

"Oh, well that's okay. You're definitely not the only one in that position," Harry says. Then with an assuring smile he gently nudges Louis' arm with his and says, "I'll be your best friend then."

Louis can't help the blush that creeps on to his cheeks, it seems to happen a lot around Harry. "Okay," he says quietly but happily.

Harry doesn't say anything after that and let's Louis finish his work. At this point, it genuinely is just Harry's routine to come into the studio and he's pretty sure it's Louis' routine to expect him to. Sometimes neither of them really talk because they both have work to get done, but Harry loves that he gets to see Louis almost everyday. He's also happy that they're at a point in their friendship where they can sit quietly and it's not awkward.

Harry still thinks about Eliot a lot, and he still thinks about how he wishes Louis wasn't with him, and yeah, it still hurts, but the pain seems to be dulling down a little. Maybe just being friends with be enough after all.

"Hey, are you good at math?" Louis asks, causing Harry to zone back in. He does that a lot, zoning out.

"Uh, kind of, why do you need help?"

Louis nods and slides his book over to Harry. "I decided to take an extra math class because I needed more credits but I should've done English or something because I'm not as good at it as I thought I was."

Harry chuckles and looks at the problem Louis' struggling with. Harry's always been more of a science and math person rather than  literature so he doesn't have too much of an issue figuring out the answer.

"Here, I think that's right." Harry slides Louis back the book and paper.

"Thanks...um, how did you figure it out?" Louis asks, hoping Harry can teach him so he knows how to do it for next time.

Harry leans over a little and starts explaining the problem to Louis. Louis tries to focus, and he does pick most of it up, but he's also very distracted by how good Harry smells and how pretty his hair is.

"Got it?" Harry asks.

"Uh yeah, I think so. Thanks," Louis says.

Harry nods and gives Louis a small smile. "Yep, no problem."

"Hey I'm gonna go to the bathroom okay?" Harry says, sliding his chair out and standing up.

Louis nods and so Harry walks out of the room and into the men's bathroom that's not that far down the hall. He does his business, washes his hands and then heads back.

When he walks back into the room Louis' leaning to the side of his chair, getting something from his backpack. Harry can see his lower back because his sweater is rising up a little. At first he doesn't notice it because he's too mesmerized by Louis' soft skin, but then he sees the bruise that's on his waist.

He knows Louis said he's clumsy, but how can he be this clumsy? No one bruises that much unless it's a medical thing or they're taking some sort of blood thinner.

Louis sits back up and sees Harry standing at the door. "Oh my god, you scared me," Louis says, putting his hand over his heart.

"Oh, sorry," Harry says, walking back over to his chair. "Did you finish your math?"

Louis nods. "Yeah, finally."

"That's good, if you ever need anymore help, don't be afraid to ask okay?"

Louis smiles. "Okay, thank you I really appreciate it, Harry."

"Of course."

✿ ✿ ✿

"All I'm saying is it's a bit suspicious. I can be oblivious, but this just is just too obvious."

Niall sighs and gives Harry a sympathetic look before looking over to Kendall who's also with them at McDonald's.

"Harry," Kendall starts. "I'm not saying you're wrong, actually it makes a lot of sense and it seems more than likely that you're right."

"Exact-" Harry interrupts.

"But, you can't just storm in and confront Louis about it. Abusive relationships are complicated. A lot of the time the victim doesn't even realize, or want to accept, that they're in one."

"Yeah exactly," Niall agrees. "This is serious and I'm not saying you should just ignore it but I feel like you need to one, be a hundred percent sure, and two, make sure Louis completely trusts you."

Harry throws his hands in the air. "Well what do you want me to do? Just wait until I catch Eliot in the act?! I'm not going to do that. I won't just stand by while Louis gets hurt. He doesn't deserve it. No one does."

"You're right, Harry. We both agree that you need to do something but you need to make sure you're going about it in the smartest way possible. Like I said, if Louis is in an abusive relationship, and you decide to just go and confront him out of no where, it's not going to solve anything. You'll make it worse," Kendall says, really hoping Harry's listening.

"Look, I'm not going to say anything to him right away. You're right, I know for a fact we're not close enough for him to open up to me like that, but I'm also not going to just sit on the sidelines until I feel like we are close enough for me to say something," Harry says, calming down a little.

"What is your plan then?" Niall asks.

Harry shakes his head and shrugs. "I have no clue."

✿ ✿ ✿

✏︎ A/N: So it's a short one but an important one. What's your guy's opinion on what Niall and Kendall said? Would you listen to them?