nothing worsens, nothing grows (l.s)

0.2

san francisco --> los angeles --> vegas

Harry

The first time Liam and Niall came to him with their idea for a big summer road trip, Harry'd turned them down. That was around the anniversary of his step father's passing, and the absolute last thing he wanted was to be locked inside of a van with Louis Tomlinson. Now, six months later, here he is, running frantically around their shared hotel room looking for his other sock before they get back on the road to their second stop.

It isn't really that Harry has an issue with him, in fact it's the complete opposite. He'd been trying for a few years now to be as kind as humanly possible to Louis, and he's gotten nothing but sarcasm and brattiness in return. Harry figures it'd be a lot easier to deal with if he actually knew why he was being treated that way, but he isn't willing to say anything to Louis' face. Not quite yet, at least.

To be fair, he'd expected much worse. He can handle a little snark from the smaller man, so long as he doesn't bite too hard. He'd meant it when he asked Louis if they could be friends the day before. He was raised to kill people with kindness, and it's always worked for him in the past. He's fairly certain that Louis thinks Harry has no idea of his dislike for him, but he's not surprised - Louis rarely pays attention to anyone but himself.

Harry doesn't have time to ponder when he's hit in the back of the head by a shoe, letting out a very manly squeak. He reaches up to rub the spot, turning over his shoulder to glare at Niall.

"We were supposed to be on the road fifteen minutes ago! Liam is going to kill us if we don't get down there." Niall slides on his jacket and heads for the door. "He's already pulled the car 'round."

Huffing, he jogs down to the lift and Niall taps his foot impatiently while they wait for it. Harry smirks. He's been waiting to get a moment to talk to Niall.

"I think the Louis thing is going well."

Niall freezes as Harry turns to him inside the lift, his face turning red and looking straight ahead at the doors. He often does that when Harry brings up Louis to him. Harry thinks maybe Niall knows why, and if he's lucky and plays his cards right on this trip, there's a chance he can get it out of him and finally have an answer. Niall and Louis have always been close.

He hums in agreement but won't meet his eyes, "Yeah, I guess."

Harry nods as the doors slide open and they walk out to the car. He'd take that for right now. It would probably take a bit for Niall to open up to him the way he did with Louis, even though Niall was awful at keeping secrets. This could work in his favor, if he stepped carefully.

Niall knows that Harry wants to get closer to Louis in their friend group, he'd told him as much every time he got the chance. That dream slowly faded over the years, but Harry still has a little bit of hope left.

Liam had always been his closest friend, stuck by him for all of the years since they'd met without fail. Harry thought of him like a brother. Niall was great, too, and they got along splendidly, but they just hadn't clicked as well as him and Liam and Harry often got a sinking feeling that it was all because of Louis. He finds it incredibly frustrating to not be able to apologize or rectify whatever made someone hate him - he's never done well with conflict.

"It's about time," Liam shouts back at him as Harry swings open his door, "we've been waiting on you two for a good twenty minutes now."

"Sorry, sorry. It was my bad, I couldn't find my other sock."

He hears Louis scoff behind his head and thinks for a moment about turning around to ask him what his issue is, but takes a calming breath instead, buckling his seat belt and reaching for the bag that had his headphones. He'd have to get down here first tomorrow and take Niall's seat in the front.