Bruises

Chapter 1

Harry was not having a good day. His car had broken down so he'd had to walk to college. Then, naturally, it had started raining so he'd arrived 10 minutes late and soaking wet only to then realise he had forgotten an important essay due today. Finally, to top it all off, his boyfriend-more of a fuck buddy-had dumped him; by text.

And now, he was standing in the pouring rain, holding, what felt like, the entire stock of Sainsbury's while trying to input four numbers into a little metal machine that kept beeping for no apparent reason.

Finally, the door swung open and Harry made his way over to the lift. 'Out of Order' Of fucking course the lift was broken. As he looked up at the 10 flights if stairs he had to climb to reach his flat, Harry could've cried.

About two thirds of the way up, a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "Excuse me? Would you like help with those?" Harry looked up to notice a boy, about his age standing a few steps above him. The boy had feathery caramel hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to have something dark and sad hidden in them. To be honest the boy was quite fit. Oh yes, Harry was gay. He considered his options quickly. Option 1: politely refuse the strangers offer and drag the bags up the remainder of the stairs which could possibly result in injury or, Option 2: accept the boy's offer despite having no clue who he was and that he could turn out to be a raging psychopath.

Harry was interrupted by one of his bags splitting and dumping its contents on the steps around him. He sighed. Option 2: it was then.

As the stranger scurried around, picking up Harry's shopping, Harry examined him. The boy had light tan skin and was shorter than him. If the stranger turned out to be a raging psychopath, Harry thought, he could probably overpower him. "I'm Louis by the way." The boy, Louis, had his arms full of Harry's shopping and was now smiling brightly at him. "I'm Harry," he hesitantly smiled back. "Thanks for doing that. You didn't have to."

"Aw, it was no problem. Especially for a cutie like you." Louis winked at him and bounded up the last few steps and stood at the top, looking expectantly at Harry as he struggled up the remaining steps.

Harry opened his flat door and gestured for Louis to follow him. He led Louis to the kitchen and dropped the bags onto the table before collapsing into a chair. He suddenly remembered Louis, who was standing in the doorway, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. "Oh, sorry. Come in. Just dump those on the table" he gestured to the items in Louis' arms. "Tea?" He asked, switching on the kettle.

"Oh, um, I wouldn't want to get in the way."

"No. Honestly its fine. Anyway its the least I could do to say thanks for helping me." Louis smiled.

"Ok then, if you're sure. Tea would be lovely, thanks."