Burning Skies » larry

Chapter 11 (Part II)

They were driving to Harry's hometown.

They took Niall's car since Niall was driving. He dropped Louis off at his flat to pick up some extra clothes in case they needed to stay there for a few days. Afterwards, the first few hours of the drive was quite uneventful. Louis sent a few messages to Zayn and Katrina regarding the situation. Niall seemed satisfied enough to flick through radio stations as he drove.

It was when night time came upon them that they decided to stop for dinner. They bought a few burgers and drinks through a drive through and ate their food on the hood of Niall's car in the parking lot, neither of them feeling like dealing with people inside the shop.

Louis was busy staring off into the dark skyline, the lights and stars quite impossible to tell apart when Niall broke the peaceful silence they'd found.

"This happened before, you know." Niall mused. He was leaning against the other side of the car, his gaze set toward the same direction Louis was looking at.

"Harry disappearing?" Louis asked.

"Yeah." Niall crumpled the burger wrapper, tossing it to the nearby trash bin a few feet away. He missed. "It happened a few months into our odd little friendship. I just woke up one day, and all there was a note on the kitchen table with his handwriting on it. He said something like, 'thanks for being nice to me, but I don't want to hurt you'. Luckily, I remembered him telling me about his hometown then, so I dropped everything and drove all the way there. When I did find him, I asked him why he thought he'd hurt me."

Niall took a sip from his drink, staring off into the sky. He continued, "He said he had a dream. A dream that he froze my heart and that he didn't realize it because I looked like I was just sleeping. That freaked him out enough to send him packing and running out of the city."

"How did you convince him to come back?" Louis asked, imagining a younger, terrified Harry with wide, glassy eyes.

"I told him I loved him." Niall said. When he saw Louis' expression, he added quickly, "Like a brother. I said I wouldn't leave until he came back with me, and that he wasn't a monster. It took a lot more effort, but eventually, he caved. When we got back, he wouldn't stop apologizing because I missed two days of school."

Louis laughed despite himself. "It definitely sounds like something he would apologize for."

Louis still wondered how exactly Niall and Harry's friendship started, especially how Niall found out about Harry's powers, but he guessed that was a conversation for another day. Right now, the thing he needed the most was to find Harry and see for himself that he was safe and unhurt.

"I think we should get back on the road," Niall said eventually, tossing their wrappers and paper cups into the bin. They both climbed into the car. Niall wordlessly put on the radio again and pulled out of the parking lot.

"You're a great friend to Harry." Louis said out of the blue after a few minutes of silence.

"I try." Niall said quietly.

Louis couldn't help the yawn that escaped his mouth. Niall raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry. Had trouble sleeping last night."

"I could imagine." Niall said, laughing a bit. "Take a nap, yeah? I'll wake you up when it's your turn to take the wheel."

Louis didn't need much persuasion and immediately sunk back into his seat, resting the side of his head on the car window. He was out like a light.

When he woke up again, the sky wasn't as dark anymore and was tinged with a shade of light blue. Niall left his phone on so Louis could use the GPS before exchanging seats so Niall could sleep.