fighting love » l.s.

forty five - the last party

"Lads, seriously. High school is almost over. This is one of the last parties of the year," Niall complained. He glanced over at Liam, who sat somberly in the passenger seat. "Can we at least act a bit excited about it?"

"We don't exactly have the best track record with parties," Harry admitted honestly, glancing over at Louis as guilt rose into his stomach once again. Louis squeezed his knee gently as a silent reminder to stop tearing himself up about the kiss, but the kind gesture failed to make him feel much better.

"This time will be different," Niall promised.

"Your unwavering positivity is disgusting," Louis replied bluntly.

"I mean it! This party will be nothing but fun, drinking, and picking up girls!" He made eye contact with Harry in the rearview mirror. "Well, Liam and I will pick up girls. You two can just keep rubbing it in our faces how grossly obsessed you are with each other."

Harry blushed fiercely, but still smiled contentedly at the Irish boy's comment.

"Oi," Louis interjected after observing Harry's shyness about their admittedly uncontrollable PDA. "Watch it, mate."

The conversation ended naturally as Niall parked the car down the street from the party. From the outside, the house seemed to be overflowing with people, music vibrating loudly through the open windows. The boys climbed out of the car and headed down the sidewalk toward the house.

"Gonna drink tonight, Haz?" Niall asked, not really caring either way but wanting to break the silence as they walked.

"Uh, I'm not sure," Harry replied uncertainly. He glanced at Liam. "I don't think me and alcohol mix very well."

Louis slung his arm casually around Harry's shoulders. "You should drink if you feel like it. I'll be here if you decide to try anything stupid," he grinned, winking cheekily at Harry.

Smiling gratefully, Harry leaned over and pecked Louis on the cheek, earning a bright smile from his boyfriend. "You're not drinking tonight, then?"

"Not if you want me to take care of you," the older boy replied simply.

"Okay," Harry agreed. "I'll think about it."

As they entered the house, Louis's grip on Harry tightened a bit. He remembered quite clearly the last party he and Harry had both attended, when he had barely intervened before Harry had a full blown panic attack. He knew his boyfriend wasn't a fan of large crowds like this, with random people touching him from all sides. As Harry inhaled deeply beside him, Louis wondered if he was a terrible boyfriend for even bringing Harry to this party in the first place.

Harry felt a bit claustrophobic as they entered the house, but nowhere near the way he felt when he didn't have Louis beside him. Even as people bumped and jostled them as they moved through the crowd, the weight of the older boy's hand on his waist helped him stay grounded.

Finally, Liam found a less-crowded space by the windows and waved the other boys toward him. "Seems like a good spot for breathing."

"A good spot to scope out the scene," Niall winked at Liam.

"You're so annoying," Liam replied, but laughed along with his friend anyway.

"I really hope you finally get some tonight," Louis commented. He leaned back against the windowsill, spreading his legs slightly so that Harry could stand in comfortably between them. Harry complied easily, letting the comforting warmth of Louis's body surround him. Louis propped his chin on Harry's shoulder and called out in Niall's direction, "Bet you can't get three girls' phone numbers tonight."