wheels on the bus ➸ [larry au]

ღ chapter ten ღ

"i like it when 'ou are nice," harry says in the dark.

it was past nine and anne had just put them to bed. harry was laying on his bed and louis was on the floor in his sleeping bag.

"i," louis starts unsure of what to say. what do you say to the kid you've been mean to since the first day you met?

"i like being nice too," was all he said back.

was he lying? no. he actually enjoyed hanging with harry and being nice to him. he never thought he would enjoy it especially since he was younger and he did have a few joys in being mean to him. but he did. which made him wonder why was he mean to him all this time?

"do.. do 'ou think we can be friends?" he hears harry ask quietly. so softly as if he was afraid to ask such question. was he really so mean to him?

questions and doubts circled louis' seven year old brain but the one that wouldn't leave especially: was harry afraid of louis?

he had noticed how cautious harry had been this afternoon. how he thought before he spoke or did anything really. how he had second thoughts when he would ask a question, probably afraid that louis would give him a snarky comment. he noticed all of these things and it just tore his heart.

how had he made a four year old afraid of him?

"yeah, harry," louis' response was, "i think we can be friends."

he waits for harry to say something but it's just silence. he then hears harry's tiny snores leave his mouth and it's when he realizes he had fallen asleep without knowing the answer to his question.

"yes, haribo," louis whispers, "i'll be your friend."

ღ

louis' eyes shot right open when he hears a muffled cry come over from on top. he rubs the sleepiness from his eyes and looks over at harry who was turning around in his sleep with sweat dripping all over his forehead.

"no," he mumbled in his sleep, "no 'ore."

"harry?" louis says sitting up completely, a look of worried came upon his face.

"please," he cries, "i'm 'orry, louis."

louis' body freezes.

he's having a bad dream... about me? he thinks.

he suddenly feels queasy about everything.

"harry, please wake up," louis whispers getting up and heading over to his bed, "i'm sorry...i'm sorry, please wake up."

harry turns around for a few seconds more until he gasps and his eyes open to have louis staring at him worriedly.

"harry?" louis asks him.

"please, no 'ore," he whimpers staring at louis. afraid.

louis made harry feel afraid.

and suddenly louis just knew he had fucked everything. (well maybe he used a more child-friendly word).

he saw the fear in harry's eyes when his green eyes met his blue ones. he saw how much he was trembling with fear as he tried to control his breathing. he saw everything and he just knew how badly he had messed up for being mean to him.

"shh, haribo," louis says trying to soothe him, "it's me....nice louis."

"i'm really sorry for being bad to you," he continues running his fingers through his hair, "i-i never wanted you...you to be scared of me."

harry just stared at him realizing that he was no longer in his dream, and he tilted his head when he noticed how upset louis looked.

"i promise i won't be bad anymore," louis whispers. and then without a second thought, he climbed onto the bed and brought harry towards him.

harry's head falling onto louis' chest, he wrapped his arms around harry's small figure and tried to rub circles on his back like he used to get when he used to cry.

harry's breathing soon went back to its normal state and he just stared at the wall as he felt louis rub circles. he liked this louis. the nice louis.

he didn't like the mean louis.

harry was slowly closing his eyes, sleepiness taking him away when louis began to whisper-sing a song that he had heard harry sang before. (of course, louis being louis had been mean to him when he heard harry sing it but he regrets it now.)

and just like that harry was asleep again. but this time, with louis singing his favorite song while he also held him in his arms.

~

a/n:

this is a shorter chapter only because i wanted to introduce harry's nightmares about louis.

keep in mind that harry's younger than louis so louis can be quite intimidating. especially due to the fact that louis was mean to him so that explains his fear.

not edited/unrevised

july 29, 2020