Amaryllis

23

"You're a fucking arsehole."

"I know—"

"No, seriously. What the fuck where you thinking?"

"Zayn," Louis butts in, finally.

As expected, the lights inside were on when they'd gotten back to the house. Zayn and Liam had been awake, sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea, and when Harry stepped foot in the kitchen, all hell broke loose.

Which brings Harry to the current situation, in which Zayn has surpassed every shade of red and is going straight for purple as he yells and doesn't stop to catch his breath.

"Louis," says Zayn. His jaw is clenched, tendons jumping in anger. "What the fuck is he doing here. And where have you been."

Louis sighs and moves closer to Harry. Harry is infinitely grateful; as mellow and easygoing as Zayn usually is, seeing him truly angry is terrifying. Harry thinks his protectiveness over Louis and his loyalty to him is absolutely wonderful, but he's currently standing on the wrong side of it, and he feels like small prey about to get eaten.

"He's here because he came to apologise," Louis says, calm. Harry's heard him use the tone of voice before; it's soothing and soft like silk, weaving its way through Harry's panic and Zayn's rage and tethering them back to reality. Even Liam, who has only been standing and glaring at Harry menacingly, relaxes a little.

Zayn doesn't seem surprised to hear the news, but none of the hard lines disappear from his face. "And I suppose you forgave him. Just like that."

"Yes," Louis says simply, voice firm enough to stand his ground. "And it was my decision to make, not yours."

"Bullshit," Zayn spits. "You made it my decision when you started moping around the house and acting like a little brat."

"Zayn," Liam says from the back, quietly.

"No, Li. We all complained about him, don't you dare throw me under the bus."

Louis shakes his head, frowning. "Look. I know I’m…not the easiest person to deal with, yeah? And I'm sorry. But Harry ran out because of me," Harry physically flinches. His hands immediately itch to touch Louis. "And I'm the one who gets to take him back."

Zayn softens a fraction. He looks tired and sad, underneath the angry façade. "You know how much I hate to see you get hurt," he says, turning to Louis. They smile at each other. "And I don't want it to happen again if you make a mistake," he looks at Harry, face gone steely again.

Harry hangs his head, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the tile floor. His cheeks are burning with shame, the word mistake running on a tireless loop inside his head. "He's not," he manages to speak up, raising his head to look Zayn in the eye sheepishly. "Making a mistake, I mean."

Zayn, for once, looks taken aback. "You're awfully sure of that."

"Harry," Liam says, abandoning his mug in the sink and coming forward to stand next to Zayn as a disgruntled Loki jumps off his lap. He, too, looks drained of energy, with hunched shoulders and purple bruises underneath his eyes. "I'm sure you've explained yourself to Louis."

Harry nods silently. Behind his back, Louis strokes his wrist.

"And if he thinks you deserve his forgiveness, then you do. But it was…difficult for us, too, to see him like that. You know how protective we are."

Harry nods again, and fights the painful lurch of his heart. Right now, he's not a part of the 'we' Liam is talking about, and it's his own fault, and it hurts.