The Pizza Boy- Larry Au

Phone Call

Harry peered at the shiny chiseled body tangled in his bed sheets. He didn't even know the man's name and frankly he didn't care. He just needed to shut out Louis from his mind and forget the way that he had been manipulated and used. Harry had truly believed that Louis could love him and now he felt like a blithering idiot for it. The pain so torturous that Harry had just had sex with a random man he found on tinder just to get those evil blue eyes out of his head.

It didn't work though. Harry thought that it was sex that made him feel the way he felt about Louis but he was proven wrong when he gazed into the man's eyes and felt absolutely nothing. Sure the sex felt nice and the man had a killer body but Harry remained heartbroken. He just felt so used and dirty, yet he missed Louis so much and even though he wanted to believe Louis was nothing but a manipulating man whore he just couldn't because something in his eyes proved he cared and that's what hurt the most. He would never be in Louis' arms again when he had that warm safe feeling running throughout his entire body.

"You ready for round two, love?" the naked man asked with a smirk. His smirk wasn't enticing like Louis' was, it just made Harry want to gag. It wasn't that the man was gross or anything, he just wasn't Louis. Harry began to feel like he'd never be able to replace him. Like that night would be the closest he'd ever come to love.

"I cant, I've got to go to work" Harry said with a sigh, faking disappointment on his face. He was actually relieved to go to work because it would take his mind off of everything and give him a temporary purpose.

"oh bummer" The man said, sticking out his bottom lip like he were a little kid. Harry rolled his eyes by accident, annoyed that the man showed no intention of leaving.

"where you work at love? maybe I'll swing by later" He said in a seductive manner that Harry found appalling. He didn't want to see him anymore he just wanted to be alone.

"erm a pizza place but I'm going to be late so I've really got to get going" Harry said impatiently just praying that man would leave. He soon caught on to Harry's disinterest and parted ways with a huff.

As his front door shut and Harry was finally left alone, he let out a massive relieving sigh and ran his fingers through his curls in distress.

Harry had never felt heartbreak before. He was gay and he had known it for a while but he had never acted on his urges until Louis. He was only 17 and his heart felt like it had been struck by lightning and he'd never recover from the pain. He felt so fucking foolish and pathetic, letting a practical stranger turn his world entirely upside down.

Harry's unpleasant thoughts were interrupted by an alarm on his phone, indicating it was 30 minutes until his shift at 'Neil's Pizza' began.

"Bloody hell" Harry cursed, kicking the side of his couch in anger. Louis had painted pizza in a horrifying light in his mind. The thought of working made him want to puke because he knew every time he rang a doorbell, it would take him back to that magical night and stain his mind with bitter memories of that blue eyed bastard.

As Harry entered the building he was welcomed by Perrie's warm smile.

"How are you doing love?" She asked with a thick accent. Perrie and Harry had been close friends ever since he started working there nearly a year prior. She was like a mother figure to him and was always looking out for him. Being around her made Harry feel safe and cared about and he often longed for that feeling. His birth mother had given him up for adoption as soon as he was born and Harry spent half of his life in foster care going from home to home never feeling like he was truly loved by anyone. It wasn't until Harry was about 8 that his now father adopted him. He was an extremely generous man with the kindest eyes and Harry could tell that he truly cared for him but still it would never replace the lack of a mother figure in his life. Perrie and his sister Gemma were the closest things he had to that and he was extremely grateful for all they had done for him.

"I'm well, you?" harry asked softly, his fake smile fooling no one.

"Oh ain't that just a load of bullocks, tell me whats up right this instant Harold" she scolded, crossing her delicate arms to indicate her seriousness.

'Its that boy I told you about...he..wasn't the one after all I guess" Harry said so quietly it could almost be considered a whisper. He was looking down at the floor, an embarrassed blush coating his soft cheeks. He felt so utterly pathetic but every mention of Louis made Harry want to bang his head against the wall. His heart was stained with rejection and the feeling of being unloved. A single tear drop formed in his left eye and Harry quickly brushed it away but Perrie had spotted it.

"Oh Honey" Perrie gasped, running around the counter so that she could wrap the young boy in a sympathetic embrace. Harry could feel the pity radiating off of her and he didn't appreciate it. He didn't want to be some stupid naive kid who got played and heartbroken by some 24 year old asshole but he couldn't help that he just was. So he accepted the hug and clocked on to his shift.

Harry loaded the two large pepperoni pizza's into the company prius and climbed into the drivers seat, repeating the address in is mind. The house was nearly 30 minutes away, and was about the farthest north employees of Neil's Pizza were allowed to deliver to.

Traffic was pretty rough and Harry cranked the heater up, hoping it would keep the pizzas warm. He blasted music and fiddled with the steering wheel hoping to distract himself from the pit of loneliness aching in his chest. It was hard for him to ever really believe that anyone cared about him. He never trusted easily but for some reason he trusted Louis. He didn't know why he agreed to enter his flat and watch a movie with him. That's something he would have never done if he were thinking but the thing about Louis was he stripped away all reason and logic from Harry's brain like a giant magnet.

There wasn't anything about himself he understood when he was with Louis. He couldn't comprehend why he cared so much about someone he knew such little about. He couldn't explain how even though he felt so betrayed by him he still longed to be in his arms. Harry was sucked into deep thought like a vacuum as soon as he allowed his mind to wander to the subject of Louis for a split second.

Maybe Louis truly didn't mean to stand him up. Maybe Louis truly had good intentions but Harry wouldn't allow himself to be naive anymore. He was too broken and lacking in trust to ever believe Louis could've actually cared for him. The only reasonable explanation was that he manipulated and used him for fun because he was bored. But even to Harry's skewed mind he knew that wasn't true. Those feelings were too real for it to all be fake. Harry felt himself open his mind up to Louis. Maybe he should give him a call and agree to hear him out. No he couldn't. Harry's mind and heart battled inside of him throwing hurtful daggers at each other causing Harry to swirl into a fit of anxiety.

His heart raced and his eyes couldn't focus on the road so he decided to pull to the side and collect himself. He placed his head in his hands and breathed in deeply, trying to calm his racing thoughts. He has to call. His heart had won the fight and his brain surrendered. He just needed to know if Louis truly cared about him.

Harry dialed Louis' cell and it began ringing. There was no answer. Reasonable Harry would've stopped there, accepting the fact that it wasn't meant to be but reasonable Harry didn't exist when Louis was on his mind so Harry dialed Louis' home phone.

It rang a few time but eventually it picked up.

"Hello?" Harry immediately knew it wasn't Louis' voice. It was Zayn's but his voice was much softer and depressed sounding.

"um hello is uh Louis there" Harry asked timidly. He had never enjoyed speaking on the phone. He was always too aware of his own voice and quite self conscious.

"Harry?" Zayn asked a surprised and hopeful tone of voice present in the call.

"yeah" Harry replied, his hands fidgeting in impatience.

"Lou is in the hospital...he was in a car accident last ni-"

"He what?!" Harry interrupted, his heartbeat speeding up with anxiety.

"he um got in a car accident and he's at the Scatterbrink hospital right now. I was just visiting but the doctors wont let me see him for a few hours"

Harry blocked out Zayn's words and the thought of Louis being in the hospital took over his mind. Suddenly he didn't care about his job anymore he didn't care about the phone call either, he just needed to see Louis. So he put the car in drive and headed toward Scatterbrink hospital with a painful knot in his chest