The Boy in the Bookstore | l.s ✔

Fourteen

The other boys arrived for the party at 6pm. It was early, but they had all planned to go out trick or treating around Holmes Chapel later that night. Zayn was the first to arrive, his face covered in white face paint with a small red drip coming from the corner of his lip. He wore long, black robes and a white shirt. Niall and Liam were the next to come, Niall wrapped in bandages and Liam wearing rags and dark green body paint. Louis' costume was definitely Harry's favourite. Spiders had never been so cute before.

'Harry! Love the costume, mate!' Liam said, whilst a defeated Zayn handed Niall a five pound note. Harry gave them a confused look, not knowing what they were doing.

'Me and Niall had a bet over what Louis would choose your costume to be, I lost.' said Zayn, shrugging his shoulders. Niall was already hyperactive and over enthusiastic, it was infectious. He began to do a little dance, obviously playfully bragging over the fact that he had won and Zayn had lost. Liam and Harry just stood back and laughed, loving to watch their friends enjoy themselves.

'We're gonna order pizza, want some?' Louis asked, walking out of the kitchen and into the hall in order to greet everyone.

'Is that even a question?' Niall asked, buzzing from a sugar rush.

'Oh God, who let Niall near the sweets already?' Louis said, rolling his eyes as Niall stuck out his tongue at the older boy, pretending to be a dumb toddler. Niall really was the human version of a puppy - overactive, loveable and loved food more than anything.

'What kind of pizza, then? Hawaiian is banned, pineapple on pizza is wrong and no one can change my mind.' Harry rolled his eyes at this, if he had to listen to Louis whine about pineapple on pizza one more time he would explode.

'Should we just go basic? Like one peperoni, one mozzarella and one meat feast?' Niall said, listing off all the types of pizza he could think off, making everyone laugh again.

'Sounds good.' Liam said, Zayn and Louis nodding in agreement. Harry was looking down, he had only just started eating in front of people again. He was nervous, and he knew he could trust his friends not to laugh at him or make remarks about his weight. He still felt guilty about the amount of calories he would consume. He pushed all the bad thoughts to the back of his mind and concentrated on not being sensitive, calorie-counting, anxious Harry. He forced a smile, and looked at Louis, who gave him the thumbs up. The cheesy action made Harry's fake smile turn into a smaller, yet real smile. He loved the effect that Louis' little actions had on him. 

'How about plain garlic bread as well? Just in case these toppings don't work for anyone.' Louis added, hoping to make Harry feel like he was included. Harry nodded, liking the idea. Pizza wasn't exactly his favourite, but he would eat it because everyone else would.

'Whilst we wait, should we watch a scary movie?' Zayn suggested. Harry felt his stomach drop, he hated scary movies. Rather than complaining, he decided to use the opportunity to bury his head into Louis' chest and to let himself be held and feel safe in his boyfriend's small arms. They decided on the movie Halloween, and it terrified Harry. The whole time, he was nestled into Louis' chest, trying to block the screaming out. They ate pizza midway through, and Harry only managed a few slices due to feeling slightly sick due to all the food he had eaten and the amount of sugar he had consumed beforehand. He was really not enjoying himself, and he just wanted to go to bed. Disregarding his feelings, he suggested after the movie had finished, they should go trick or treating. Harry had been very quiet the whole night, and he had begun to whisper and stutter again. Louis had noticed everything.

'Harry, can you help me clean up please darlin?' Louis asked, which was code for wanting to have a private talk with his boyfriend. Quickly standing and nodding, he followers Louis out of the room.