you make me strong

chapter four

bootcamp. the word had been running through louis' head for a whole two weeks, and now the day was finally here. he was sitting in his assigned waiting area to find out what would be happening. he had already made a few friends, given his loud mouth when he got nervous. "alright. boys, right? yeah, okay, the lot of you come with me," an official looking person with short black hair mumbled quickly. louis assumed he was a producer or something of the sort.

the other boys sitting around him stood up and followed behind the worker. louis wondered about harry. he surely got in, right? they couldn't have turned someone like him down. just as he was thinking about him, harry popped up beside louis, startling him. "louis!" harry began. "i didn't see you earlier. mind if we go in together?"

"not at all," louis quietly replied. "are you nervous, harry?" harry stopped for a moment. "well, it's good to have some nerves, keeps you attentive, i suppose," he mused. "guess so," louis murmured. "i'm just praying i get in, don't want to let down the family, got four little sisters and my mum watchin'."

harry widened his eyes and blinked a few times and whistled. he was always one to over-exaggerate. "i've only brought my mum and sister along," he said. he couldn't help but to scan his eyes up and down louis once. he looked good, his slim body adorned in loose blue jeans and a red tee shirt. he wore a dark blue beanie atop his head, covering his light brown feathery hair.

louis glanced at harry, not noticing his small once-over. subtlety, his eyes traveled from harry's face, down to his collared green shirt, down to his dark khakis, to his brown flip flops and back up to his bright green eyes. his mop of dark curly hair slightly matted and wild, making it look like he jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes, not bothering to comb his hair properly.

after a few more seconds of walking, the group of boys stopped in front of a small set of stairs leading up to the stage, similar to the setting they originally auditioned in. the same worker that led them in here turned around to face them. "okay. last names "a" through "n", come to this side of the room. "o" through "z", over here, right then. we'll call you all up on stage alphabetically, few of you at a time, and you know the drill, you'll have to face the judges again, yeah yeah yeah, all that jazz, great," the worker stalked off, mumbling something into his headset.

louis looked at harry. harry looked at louis. they both grinned. "still together, eh? might be a special sign," louis joked. harry's breath hitched in his throat a bit. he thought louis was kind of breathtakingly beautiful. kind of. well, okay. very. very breathtakingly beautiful.

"erm, yeah," harry laughed, scratching the back of his head. "if you believe in that kind of thing." louis looked at him for a moment. "do you believe in love, harry? like, sort of like love at first sight? because i do."