we'll live to tell the tale (l.s.)

from the beginning, i guess

tw// check tags. stay safe please xx

this chapter should be kinda safe, i will warn you when it gets really bad. my dms are open, my twitter is linked in my profile. enjoy!

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meeting his eyes for the first time was like suddenly being engulfed by high tide. a very simple moment, the way he was slightly timid, looking away before looking back—though it seems cheesy, harry could sense something about the boy right away. they met in the bathroom of a shitty fast food place that smelled of urine and smoke.

the boy, whose name harry would find out weeks later, had stuck in the back of harry's mind. even though they had never spoken, never interacted before or after that sole incident, for some reason, harry could not erase the memory of those eyes that reminded him of the salty seaside breeze.

harry and the ocean boy (whom harry had named in his head after the color of his eyes, specifically after the beaches he had seen in italy) crossed paths again in the bathroom of a nearby bar. except this time the ocean boy's eyes were red and swollen, and he couldn't breathe.

even as he was hyperventilating, harry took a split second extra before rushing to his side because he was so captured by the boy's beauty. there was something so tragic, so perfect, so gut-wrenchingly painful about the boy in front of him. something so obviously broken.

"hey, mate, are you okay? shit, probably not the right thing to say because obviously not..." harry stuttered, struggling to find the right words, "is there anything i can do? water? may i come closer to you, or would that be too overwhelming? fuck, can you even hear me?"

much to harry's dismay, the ocean boy was unresponsive. lost in his breathing, lost in his head, lost in what seemed like his own corner of the universe that he had conjured up just for himself, a universe with no oxygen, no water, no joy.

it wasn't until harry had no choice but to wrap his arms around this stranger at a bar to keep him from hitting his head when he blacked out when the boy looked back up at him. and once again, harry found himself lost in blueblueblue.

but this revelation was short-lived as the boy's eyes fluttered shut and his entire weight (which was not much at all) fell into harry's arms. it was then when harry noticed that shivers were still racking the boy's body, despite his unconsciousness. his originally feathery hair was matted down into something much more messy, sticky, and greasy. but he still looked like an angel. to harry, at least.

only a couple minutes had passed before the boy came to, still in harry's arms, bewildered at the situation he had found himself in.

"holy shit, you scared me," harry whispered, as his voice had failed him from all the alcohol and nervousness that had come as a side effect of this odd night. "are you okay?"

the ocean boy took a deep, shaky breath as he stood up, smoothing himself out, and gave harry a sarcastic chuckle. "buzzing, lad. sorry you had to see me like that. pretty rude of me to do something like that in such a public place."

"no. don't apologize, i understand. are you feeling better though, really? be honest with me. i did just hold you until it felt like my arms were gonna fall off after all. might as well tell the truth."

the boy's expression flashed a bit of hurt, almost unnoticeable, completely so to the normal eye, but harry had caught it (later on he would call this his loubear-mood-senser).

"you didn't have to. no one asked you to do anything," he boy snapped as he turned around. "now bugger off, will ya? i'm getting out of here." a few steps following this statement, though, he wobbled and had to lean against the tile wall for stability.