Quiet, Darling

Chapter 12

(I have absolutely no idea how the law works in England, so I'm making stuff up)

"Louis," Harry said, walking into the classroom that following week. It was lunch time, so Louis was already expecting Harry. The younger lad had a lunch box in his hand and a fancy, thermal pink water bottle in his right hand. Louis looked up from grading papers with a sandwich in his hand.

"Hey, Haz," Harry smiled softly at the name. He pulled a chair over to sit next to Louis' desk.

"Oh! Are you grading our papers? I have mine here, sorry it's late. I just couldn't figure out when to turn it in last week because, you know..." He rambled, quieting down at the end, uncomfortable talking about last week's events.

"Harry, I told you not to worry about it. I told you I extended your paper until Friday, giving you a week just like everyone else,"

"I know, but writing it kept my mind busy," He pulled the paper from his backpack, giving it to Louis. "This is a one draft only essay, right?" Louis nodded, tucking Harry's paper under everyone else's, causing Harry to bite his lip, looking at Louis.

"You want me to read it now? In front of you? Most kids hate that,"

"I like to know," The essay was something easy, basically a free write about a memory they have. Louis liked to have these writing exercises because he knew the boring essays that related to books or articles were a lot and could be stressful. Most of his students really enjoyed the free write assignments, so he tried to do them in-between bigger essays.

It was a normal essay, once again being really good. Harry was really good at writing, so Louis knew the essay was really good. It was the small note that was handwritten at the bottom of the last page. The other part of the essay was typed. It said:

I really want to be with you, Louis, and I know it's selfish of me to keep bothering you about it since you could lose your job if anyone found out. But you're one of the best things to ever happen to me, and you make me happy, Louis. I like you a lot, and I know you have feelings for me. It's going to be impossible waiting seven months to be with you. Can we please make this work?

Louis looked at Harry once he read the short note. Louis let out the deepest breath.

"Harry," He paused. "Do you know how much of my life I'd be jeopardizing for us to be together right now?" Harry frowned lightly, picking at the sleeve of his lavender sweater.

"I know, it's just, June is so far away," he pouted.

"Can we talk about this after school?" Louis asked, his voice giving away that he really didn't want to talk about this. He needed to talk to Harry more about what happened last week with Jacob. Harry just nodded. "So Jacob is really taking you to court?"

"Not him, his mum. He's a minor, so she's forcing him to go even though Jason admitted to everything,"

"Unfortunately, She has the right to. Jason isn't Jacob, they're two people, so they have to treat each person as individuals instead of groups. One person can be more guilty than the other, like Jason for example. He didn't touch you in anyway, but he still took part, though he did stop it from going further than it did,"

"Do you think he'll be guilty?" Harry asked, talking about Jason.

"Yes, but I don't think his punishment will be as severe as Jacob's. Does his mum just not believe what's being said about his actions?"

"That's what my mum told me. His mum had called my mother and yelled at her for accusing her son of such a thing," Louis shook his head in disgust.