A Rose By Another Name

Chapter Seven

Unedited
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   Louis couldn't stop staring at Harry in his tiny, yellow swim trunks and pretty much everyone except for Harry noticed how much Louis was fawning.

   "You're not very subtle," said Zayn, kicking the football across the beach to Niall and he ran to catch the ball with his foot.

   Harry was laying on a beach towel with his arms behind his head, curly hair flying in the wind. His ankles were crossed and his sunglasses clung to the bridge of his nose perfectly, in Louis's opinion.

   "Maybe I'm not trying to be," Louis spoke back, catching Liam off guard as he attempted to kick the ball toward Louis, but he overstepped and fell in the sand.

   "You want him to figure it out? I thought you said you'd rather have him as a friend rather than not."

   "I'm just trying to get a reaction out of him," chuckled Louis, juggling the ball with his knees before kicking it Niall's way, attempting to break the pattern they had been kicking in. "It's not like I'm confessing my undying love for him. I'm just trying to see if I can make him flustered before I even think about admitting anything. Do you know how embarrassing it would be to ask him out and for him to reply that he's straight?"

   "And you're sure he's not?" asked Zayn, solemnly. Louis had since come out to all of the boys, except for Harry, and Zayn was very supportive, but he didn't want Louis getting his hopes up. Last he knew, Harry had been with Taylor Swift. Even if the two had been broken up by now, Zayn had been told they were together. That didn't scream gay to him.

   "There's more than just being gay and straight you know," replied Niall, for Louis. "Harry could be bisexual or pansexual or whatever else there is. If he wasn't so much of a fucking sex addict, I'd even put asexual on the table."

   "Thank you, Niall," added Louis, but soon he grew confused. "Since when did you know so much about all of this?"

   "Close friend of mine in school was pan, I think, and after you officially came out to me, I wanted to know more about everything, so I wouldn't be confused if you ever wanted to talk about stuff."

   "You sound like such a girl, Niall," joked Liam, but Niall didn't laugh like Liam had intended for him to do.

   "Well I'm not a girl," said Niall. "I'm just a decent human being that takes the time to learn more about my friends. Being a girl doesn't automatically make you a shoo-in for being sensitive. I've met plenty of girls who don't like a bunch of emotions. Hell, I've met plenty of guys who do like emotions. Have you ever been around Harry when he's drunk?"

   "Have you ever been around him general?" joked Zayn.

   "Hey, that's not nice," whined Louis. "Harry's fine the way he is. It's not his fault he's sensitive."

   "Stop being in love," laughed Zayn, throwing the football at Louis, who caught it before he was hit with it.

   "I think it's cute when he wants to watch The Notebook for the fifth time in a day. He gets cuddly." Louis kicked the ball to Liam.

   "Yeah, you'd be the one to enjoy his cuddles," scoffed Niall, with a small laugh.

   "Eh, Harry does give great hugs," admitted Liam. "Not to mention he's bloody hot."

   The boys raised their eyebrows at Liam, who only threw his hands up in surrender.

   "Come on, Harry is hot. I don't have to be gay to admit that. All I'm saying is I can see why Louis likes him so much. If I played for that team, I'd be all over him."