The Bet

9

Another week was almost over. Louis woke up on Friday morning with a headache. Harry hadn't broken things off no matter how hard he had tried to scare him away. His plan was clearly not working.

After the matching outfits on Monday, he had bought a goldfish telling Harry that they shared a pet together. Harry just smiled and named it Rudolph. Louis had to go up to the attic to find his sister Lottie's old aquarium and Rudolph was now placed on his desk.

He had called him every pet name he could think of but Harry just started to call him things like Boobear and sweetcheeks in return. It made him all warm and fuzzy inside.

A display of affection at school didn't help either. Harry just kissed him and held his hand and Louis really liked it if he would be honest. He didn't even manage to throw him off by calling him boyfriend!

They had gone to Harry's house on Wednesday when he had suggested that it was time for him to meet the family which had resulted in a pretty steamy make-out session in Harry's room after he had been introduced to Harry's mum, stepdad, and sister. He didn't know what he was doing anymore and the situation was completely out of hand.

He was experiencing a roller coaster of emotions and he felt confused most of the time. If he didn't know better he had fallen in love with Harry. That hadn't exactly been a part of the plan but Harry was absolutely amazing. He didn't know how he would get out of this. He had to tell the boys that the bet was off.

He got up and got ready for school. In a bed, on the other side of town, Harry laid awake thinking about the situation he had put himself in. After his best friend died he had put up a wall and he had promised himself that he would never fall in love with someone ever again.

Dating Louis had been mindblowing. It was like someone had pulled away a rug under his feet and he had helplessly fallen in love despite his effort not to. After the second week, he had thought that maybe, just maybe he would give it a chance but then Louis had started to act crazy! Everything was going way too fast and he was panicking most of the time but he tried to hang in there. Now he wasn't so sure that he could do it. Matching outfits, a pet fish, introducing him to his family. It was too much, too fast. He was absolutely overwhelmed. He didn't know what to do really. One thing he did know was that he had to tell Zayn that the bet was off. He also needed to talk to Louis even if that scared the shit out of him.

With newfound determination, Harry got up from bed to get ready for school. He met up with Louis by his locker which had become an occurring event. Louis didn't throw himself at him this morning which took him by surprise. Instead, he smiled shyly.
"Hi, Hazza."

He just had to kiss him for being so cute. They were interrupted by Niall.
"Aaaaaaw, it's my favorite couple!"

They said good morning and Louis giggled adorably. Harry grunted internally. He got it bad!

He didn't get a chance to talk to Louis in private and soon they were going in different directions to their first class of the day. When it was time for lunch he and Zayn joined the boys at their table as usual. He liked Louis's friends and he was glad to see that Zayn had come out of his shell around them. Louis didn't sit in his lap today and that both disappointed him and made him feel relieved that he seemed more like himself, like the boy he had gotten to know before he started to act crazy. He couldn't help but stare fondly at him and Louis blushed when their eyes met.

"So I'm having a party on Saturday. You should all come." Zayn said.

"Really? You're inviting us?" Niall asked, sounding surprised.

Zayn rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Horan."

Liam, Louis, and Niall looked between each other for confirmation.
"We'll be there!" Liam finally answered.

"I need to talk to you. Can we meet up after school?" Harry asked in a low voice, looking directly at Louis.

"Uhm, yeah, of course. My house?" Louis answered. He became nervous. What did Harry want to talk about? Had he finally succeeded to drive him away?

"Sure. I'll drive us." Harry smiled.

He stood up and Zayn came with him. They had a shorter lunch break than the rest of the guys on Friday. They said goodbye and walked away. As soon as they had left the cafeteria Louis turned to his friends.
"The bet is off."

"We win?" Liam asked with a grin.

"No, it's off. We're not doing some stupid bet." Louis huffed.

"You like him." Niall stated with a smile.

"Well, yeah." Louis admitted with rosy cheeks.

Liam was still skeptical.
"How can you be sure? The only reason we started this bet was because of you and the fact that you get together with everyone you date without being in love."

"Geeesh Li, cut me some slack. It's different this time." Louis muttered. 

"Different how?" Liam questioned and crossed his arms over his chest.

Louis rubbed his neck and looked embarrassed.
"I don't know, like, I really like his company and I guess he gives me butterflies."

"Aaaaw." Niall worded.

Liam smiled widely.
"I'm glad to hear so. The bet is off!"

On the other end of the school, Harry was having a similar conversation with Zayn. 
"Why is it off?" Zayn questioned.

"Because I like him, that's why!" Harry half-shouted.

"Yes! Finally! I'm glad to hear that. Louis' great!" Zayn smiled.

"Yeah, but he has been so weird lately. It's going too fast." Harry sighed.

"Just talk to him." Zayn said and clasped a hand on Harry's shoulder and squeezed it.

"Yeah." Harry agreed.