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Him

Louis p.o.v.

Three weeks had past since we'd come home for our trip. The rest of our break had felt so magical like straight out of a movie. We had celebrated my birthday, had a cute little friend's Christmas together, everything had been great. I felt as if my life had finally fallen into place; I had a great school, friend, family, and boyfriend balance. Harry and I were so happy. We were seeing each other almost everyday and not just because school had started again, but because we genuinely just wanted to be around each other. But as the saying goes, "all good things must come to an end," and, boy, did they.

It was a slow decay. One that you don't notice until it seems too late. It began with Harry telling me he couldn't come to lunch to work on an art project, then him taking hours to answer, then he was missing days of school; Harry had lost what felt like the very essence of him. At first, I had just told myself I was being silly and overthinking like I always did. I had no idea what was going on. Every time I asked him, he brushed it off and told me he was fine. It was a constant cycle I wasn't sure how we got stuck in. I started to worry that I was the problem, but the moment I let him know I was feeling that way, he found his little ways to reassure my I wasn't the problem. I began getting flowers and coffee at my doorstep, he brought me portraits he had painted of me, and he always made sure that I knew he loved me. It's one of the things I love most about him; he never made anyone feel at fault for his own struggles. I just wish he would talk to me.

It was Wednesday and I haven't seen Harry since Thursday of last week when he had come to school. I was consumed in my own puddle of worry because I know Harry loves school. Why would he ditch 4 days worth. I at least knew he was alive because him and I had been texting but every time I brought up any questions about how he is, where he's been, or if he wanted to see me, he'd just change the subject and pretend I hadn't said anything. It felt as if he was holding onto what our relationship had been a few weeks prior even though he was the one changing what it was now. It hurt a lot, and all I wanted was some form of communication.

I walked through the halls with my shoulders slumped and my face etched with a pout. It was finally lunch so I would at least be with the lads.

"Tommo!" I heard Liam shout. I looked up to see Liam with Zayn's hand glued to his. After Paris, Liam and Zayn finally decided to admit they were not only into men, but very into each other. At least something positive has happened within this time.

"Hey Li and Z," I sighed.

I wish I could've said things more enthusiastic but I just missed my boyfriend. They looked at me with a sympathetic smile and Zayn hugged me tight. I choked back tears as I embraced the raven haired boy. Niall had finally met up with us while Zayn and I hugged. Liam gave him a look and he caught on quickly to the atmosphere.

"Maybe we should leave and go have a lads day. We haven't had an authentic one in forever, with just the four of us." Zayn suggested. Both Niall and Liam nodded with excitement waiting for me to respond.

If I was being honest, all I wanted to do in that moment was go home. I wanted to sit with my sisters, eat ice cream, and watch romantic movies while I cried about how men are the worst, but I knew that the lads were really just trying to help me. I weighed my options in my head but decided to agree. All the lads tackled me in a hug as they jumped up in excitement. It was the first time in awhile that I had felt a small rush of joy. I was extremely lucky that I had the people in my life that I did.

We rushed out of the school and headed straight to my car. I texted my mom to let her know that I was seriously in need of the rest of the day off. A year ago she would have killed me, but since she had really grown to love Harry and had seen how hard this had been on me, she just told me she loved me and would be at home if I needed her. My mom had grown really fond of Harry and I think this has been really hard on her too. Partially because her son was in pain, but also because Harry had unintentionally caused the pain.

"Where should we head to first?" I asked.

"The answer is always food." Niall quickly responded making us all laugh.

We all settled on Nando's because it was always our lad spot to go. The car ride there was full of laughs and I was finally starting to allow myself to focus on what I had control over: me. I couldn't force Harry to talk to me and there was nothing I could do to help him till he did. I wasn't giving up on him but I needed to remember to take care of myself. I love Harry but until he's ready for me, I can't do anything and that was just something I would have to accept that for what it was.

I parked my car as we arrived and we all got out. Zayn and Liam naturally were attached at the hip and it made me smile. Usually it would remind me what I was missing but I was truly so happy for them. Niall linked arms with me giggling.

"Since they get to be all lovey dovey," he joked. "Let's go enjoy some food." We all chuckled at how obnoxious Niall was while we were heading in.

We all ordered and found a table.

"Thank you guys. I know this has all be kind of crazy and I haven't been my usual self but you guys have been the greatest," I told them. They all smiled big.

"We wouldn't imagine being anywhere else but by your side through this." Liam said.

"Hell, I miss Harry! I can't even imagine how you're feeling through this all. No matter what, we've got your back. Always have and always will," Zayn added.

I was so grateful for them. We enjoyed our food talking about all our memories in this little place. We had so much history together. I had never realized how rare a connection like ours was until I had met Harry. We always knew that no matter what we could get on our bikes and meet up at this place, eat, and make everything alright again. Harry never had that until us. I'm just glad that this was always what I had known.

After lunch, we all decided we should all head to get a caffeine fix, so we all quickly headed to our favorite little coffee shop we go to every morning. We all were laughing as we walked in. Liam and Zayn walked in front of us and instantly they stopped laughing as they stopped half way in the building. Niall and I both gave each other extremely confused looks. When we looked back at Zayn and Liam, Zayn was holding Liam back while his fists were bawled.

"Liam. Stop it. We should just go," Zayn whispered trying to make it inaudible to Niall and I.

"We should try a new coffee shop," Liam said through gritted teeth as he started to walk out the door.

I was so confused as to what was going on that I barged through Zayn and Liam's hands. The both shouted a 'no' trying to stop me, but it was too late. I had never began to run so quick in my life. My eyes quickly blurred as the tears swelled in my eyes, but what I had seen was forever engraved in my mind.

Harry was sat in the coffee shop, but to my surprise he wasn't alone. He was sat across from him.

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a/n: hi lovelies! i hope you all are well! i'm so sorry for my absence! i am going to try and update a little bit more frequently even though i have school! who do you think the him in question is? let me know your thoughts! if you can, please vote, comment, and share! thank you for reading and thank you for supporting me! sending all my love! as always, tpwk! ☆༄
~ruth ♡