Burning Skies » larry

Chapter 12

If Harry were a stronger person, he would've kept his distance. He would've yelled at Louis to leave him be the moment he saw him. He would've made sure that they wouldn't find him in the first place. As it was, he was currently nestled into Louis' chest, two strong arms wrapped around him. Harry's loud, pathetic sobs had been reduced to quiet hiccups and watery eyes. Louis' hands were firm and warm, caressing his back like he really did care for him.

Except, he obviously didn't. They just needed Harry to come back with them, so of course Louis would coax him into doing so by giving him whatever he needed, which in this case was comfort.

Harry hastily pulled away from his embrace, ignoring how much more effort it took to do it. He immediately turned his back to him, pulling his knees to his chest and staring into the clump of trees next to them.

"Harry?" Louis said, sounding confused and concerned.

"Niall brought you here." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah. I asked him to." Louis said softly. 

Harry sniffed. "I want to talk to him."

There was a moment of silence, and then he heard Louis shuffle around behind him. "I'll text him right now."

Harry just stared ahead, ignoring the urge to turn around and fall into Louis' embrace again. It had been dumb and careless of him to do so anyway. He stared at his gloves—ripped and still slightly stiff. It was good enough of a reminder that things wouldn't ever go back to normal.

"Harry," Louis said a few moments later, sounding much closer to him than he was earlier. Harry moved away from his voice. 

He heard Louis take a deep breath, saying, "Are you still mad at me?"

Harry bit his lip. "I don't want to talk right now."

He could almost imagine the way Louis' face fell at that. He stared intently at the small flower by his feet. 

"Okay. I'm sorry." Louis said quietly. Harry didn't respond.

Just then, he heard footsteps approaching them, and then someone was crouching in front of him. Harry saw Niall's face and then he was jumping up to embrace him. Niall made a surprised sound but hugged him back immediately.

It was odd. Harry wasn't a tactile person. He was most touchy with Niall, of course, but even they didn't hug like this. 

"You okay, Haz?" Niall whispered into his ear.

Harry nodded, holding back tears. "I'm sorry for running away again."

"Hey, don't apologize. I'm just fucking relieved you're safe, alright?" Niall said, pressing him closer into his body. "Please tell me you're coming back home with us?"

Harry hesitated. When he ran away yesterday, he'd been so certain of his decision to run away for good, to leave behind the life he'd known for a while because he'd been found out and now there were more people who could get dragged into his mess. He'd felt confident because he had his first paycheck from Judy and he convinced himself that it was enough to last him for the meantime until he found another job and his own place. He was willing to turn his back on Abbington University despite how much he enjoyed going there, to leave behind all the people he'd become close to, simply because. Running was all Harry knew, it was all he'd been doing for all his life.

For some reason, though, it seemed impossible to run away this time. 

Maybe it was because of Niall who he found a family in. Maybe it was because of school. Maybe it was because of Louis who made him feel things he never felt around other people before. He didn't know and he would rather not find out. While running away might be the easiest thing to do and the safest way to make sure the people he cared about were safe and away from him, it seemed like his heart had its objections.