Pretty n' Pastel [l.s.]

❁ thirty ❁

Louis had practically forgotten about Eliot at this point. He was so caught up in Harry that every other aspect of his life seemed dull. It seemed like nothing could ever be as exciting as being with Harry was.

He had no more bruises on his body, he was eating enough, he felt great. All thanks to Harry. School was becoming a bit easier too. He had always thought that he was just behind but really, it was simply all the stress and distractions in his life that were preventing him from doing his best.

As great as everything else was though, Eliot was still there. He was still trying to get ahold of Louis. Even after blocking him on everything, he decided to create more accounts on social media. It was all quite overwhelming.

Living in such a small area didn't help much either. It was hard for Eliot to find him, especially now that he knows him and Harry are together. His worst fear is that Eliot will go after him too.

Maybe he will. Then what? Could Harry take Eliot in a fight? Possibly. Harry's fit, but so is Eliot. Louis knows for a fact that Eliot works out regularly, Harry does not.

It's not what truly matters right now though. Staying at Lottie's has seemed to keep them safe for this long. Everywhere that Eliot could find Louis is in a public place so the odds of him trying anything besides verbal threats, are slim.

"You ready?"

Louis nods as he grabs his school bag from the couch and follows Harry out the door. Its been nice spending his mornings and nights with Harry. Lottie too. They're both very good company.

"You know, I think I'm gonna start applying for jobs," Harry says as he puts the car in gear and backs out of the parking space.

"Yeah? I should too. I think having one would benefit me a lot. I am a bit worried though, I do still have a lot of social anxiety," Louis admits.

Harry hums. "Reasonably. Don't push yourself too far, it's okay to take baby steps. You've already come so far, you need to be able to take time to heal yourself too."

Louis sighs and looks out the window as the cars driving next to them pass. "Yeah I guess, but I don't even know where I would start 'healing.' I know things are broken, I just don't exactly know where to look."

"Well that's because you never have had to before. Just gotta pop the hood and go from there I guess. I don't know much about cars but I'll be here to help as best as I can."

Louis chuckles. "I think I get the metaphor, but I'm not quite sure. Either way I'm very grateful for your support."

Harry smiles. "I'm not the best at like—words? I don't know."

Louis let's out a deep breath. A breath of relief, of comfort.

The rest of the ride to school was quiet apart from the radio. It was a nice quiet though. A very relaxing quiet.

"Right, so I'll see you at the usual time. If you need anything, text me but call me if it's an emergency," Harry tells Louis as they walk into the school.

"Okay, same for you."

As they part ways, each going to their own classes, Harry runs into Niall who is carrying a few books with wrinkled and worn down notebook paper sticking out of one, and a pencil in his mouth. He seemed quite disorganized.

"You need some help there bud?" Harry asks with an amused look on his face.

Niall nods and Harry grabs a few books and helps him get situated. They walk together to their classes, both heading in the same direction.