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It’s been almost half an hour that Harry’s been sitting outside Liam’s class, when the door flies open and a blue-eyed kid with brown hair leaves the room angrily. Harry’s sure it’s one of Liam’s friends, Louis Tomlinson, and even though he’s never spoken to the guy, he really does want to know what had him storming out like that so he waits for Louis to pass him by to ask but to Harry‘s surprise, Louis sits down on the bench next to him instead with a heavy sigh.
Harry moves his head towards the boy who’s now frowning at the opposite wall and before he gets the chance to even open his mouth, Louis turns to him suddenly, an interested look on his face.
"Aren’t you Liam’s boyfriend?" are the first words Louis Tomlinson’s ever spoken to Harry and for the first time, he finds himself completely and utterly speechless. It’s not like he doesn’t want to touch Liam in all the inappropriate places and hug him tight when he feels down or happy or angry or on any occasion really, but he’s known Liam since forever and apart from the fact that they are best friends, yes, it might be a bit weird. Or a lot weird. Most probably the latter.
Luckily, it doesn’t seem like Louis actually wants him to answer because he goes on: "Harry Styles, right?"
"Right," Harry breathes a sigh of relief because answering the first question would really make him uncomfortable.
"I’m Louis."
"Yeah, I know," the curly boy says because honestly, who in this school doesn’t know who Louis is?
"So... you ditching Biology?" Harry asks at last, eager to find out why the boy leaves a class halfway through and instead of going home just sits down right outside the classroom.
Louis half nods and his face suddenly turns to anger again in a matter of seconds. "Just found out I’m flunking the class."
"So you’re boycotting it?" Harry laughs.
"Yeah, you could say that."
"You know," Harry says thoughtfully, "I could help you study. I took Biology last year, got straight A’s."
"Huh," Louis thinks for a while, his glance drops at the classroom door for a second, then back to the boy next to him. "And why would you do that? I could be a mad killer for all you know," he says jokingly.
"I don’t think Liam would befriend a mad killer," Harry shrugs. "I’m serious. I’d be happy to help if you want me to."
Louis leans to Harry as if to tell him a secret. "You’re alright, mate," he says in a quiet voice. "I’ll make sure to tell Liam what a great boyfriend he has."
That word again.
"You know that I’m not actu--" Harry’s cut off by the sound of the bell and Louis raises his eyebrows at him.
"Thank you," the blue-eyed boy pipes up once the ringing stops. "For the offer, I mean. Can I come over to your place tomorrow?"
"Sure!" Harry doesn’t even know why but the fact that he might make friends with one of Liam’s mates makes him really thrilled. "I’m giving Liam rides home since we live close to each other so you could join us tomorrow, what d’ya say?"
The classroom door Louis has stormed out of earlier opens up when two dozens of students head out. Harry’s gaze immediately falls on Liam in the back and when their looks meet, he waves at him and watches as Liam walks towards them.
"Hey, Payno, have you heard the news?" Louis speaks after Liam stops right before the bench the two of them are sitting on.
"What news?"
"Harry’s gonna teach me Biology," the blue-eyed boy’s face lights up with a wide smile while a frown crosses Liam‘s.
"Didn’t know you two knew each other."
"We didn’t. Until like five minutes ago," Harry’s showing off his dimples again with that smile of his, Louis’s arm on his shoulder.
"Now we’re soulmates," he says in a dreamy voice before breaking up into a chuckle. "Alright boys, see you!" Louis grabs his backpack, stands up off the bench and leaves the two of them alone.
"You ready?" Harry asks Liam, shoving his hand in his pocket to pull out the car keys.
"Yeah, let’s roll," Liam nods.
Once in the car, Harry and Liam go through the usual 5 minute argument over which radio station they should listen to. Harry likes to listen to ARfm with classic rock music from the 80’s and 90’s while Liam insists on Capital FM because as he says "their music is hip and current" with emphasis on the current part and moreover, Liam’s a guest in this car and that should mean he always gets his way. But it’s Harry’s car and that means he gets to decide what station’s on.
So as always, instead of the music they only listen to the sound of the engine when Harry encourages Liam to tell him about his day and for the next few minutes, he enjoys the melody of Liam‘s deep voice, only pretending to listen because honestly, that voice is music to his ears and what do you even need the radio for when you have Liam talking right next to you.
"...what do you think?"
"Huh?"
"Should I join the team?"
"What? What team?"
"Were you listening at all?"
"Of course I was!"
"Well what was I talking about then?"
"About whether you should join the team, d’uh."
Harry’s sure Liam will tell him off for not paying attention to him but hears his laughter instead and feels a bit relieved.
"You’re such and idiot, Haz. Coach told me in P.E. today that I could be of great use to the football team as a defender. You know I’m not that big on football but I do have loads of free time on my hands and Louis thinks I should go for it. What do you think?"
Harry tries really hard not to imagine Liam all sweaty in a football jersey, taking it off midway through the game and running around topless but he could as well put a sign on his forehead that says "Do not disturb, thinking of naked Liam" and it would be less obvious.
"Harry?" Liam snaps his fingers before his eyes.
"Sorry, I was just--" Harry clears his throat. "Yeah, you should definitely go for it."
"You’re so weird sometimes," Liam says lovingly before tenderly punching his friend in the shoulder.
:
Harry has no idea what time it is when the loud sound of his phone buzzing wakes him up. He wipes the sleep out of his eyes, reaches for the phone and unlocks the screen only to find out it’s bloody half past 3 and he’s gotten a text from Liam.
heeey i had a nitemarrrrre :( make me thnk off sumthing diffrenttt please?
Harry feels somewhat glad that he was the first one Liam had thought of to seek comfort in and starts typing frantically.
Did you know that bananas are naturally radioactive? .x
The response comes within a minute.
was tht suppose to mak me feel better
Yes. Yes it was.
He thinks for a moment after sending the text, then opens up a new one and continues typing.
Do you want me to come over? I could tell you fun facts about all kinds of stuff.
I thnk id rathr hav tht nitemare again thn to dream about ur surelyyyy intresting funfacts
That was harsh.
C ya tomoro?
Sure. Goodnight Li. Ice-cream. Puppies. Leona Lewis. Happy thoughts.
Harry doesn’t get a reply after that and goes back to sleep wondering whether his fun facts really are that bad.
The next day Harry’s last class ends at the same time as Louis and Liam’s so they meet up at the lockers after.
"Hey, you got everything?" Harry turns to Louis who just points to his head.
"In here."
The green-eyed boy rolls his eyes. "I meant like, the textbook, workbook, notes, whatever you’ll need to revise for the test. I suppose there will be a test?"
"Yes, of course there will be a test," Louis says in a mocking tone, looking at Liam and ‘inconspicuously‘ pointing at Harry as if to ask him what kind of idiot asks a question like that. "I told you I’m failing the class, so obviously, I will be taking a test in order, you know, not to."
Harry doesn’t know Louis that well but something in his tone tells him that even though he looks serious, he’s actually joking so there’s no need to get defensive.
"Well in that case, bring the books," Harry says for the second time and just smirks at Louis’s grumbling. Reluctantly Louis returns to his locker and retrieves the books they’ll need.
"Can we go now?" Liam asks rolling his eyes after Louis drags himself back to them and the three of them head out of the school.
It seems that Harry and Liam don’t even realize Louis is in the back seat when their usual radio fight breaks out. "Hey, hey, shut up for fuck’s sake. What does it matter whether we listen to some gada-gada-gada or untz-untz-untz?"
"Matters to me," Liam says stubbornly.
"Alright then, let me think... Is there a song that both of you like?"
"Billionaire by Bruno Mars I guess?" Harry looks at Liam for a second before turning back to watch the road but can see Liam’s nod with his peripheral vision.
"Great!" Louis yells victoriously and takes a deep breath. The next second Harry and Liam are forced to listen to Louis’s off key singing and Harry’s sure he’s doing it purposely because nobody can sing that bad. They try to stop him but Louis carries on and only increases the volume with each protest as if his life depended on finishing the song, so there’s nothing better to do than join him and the three of them are all singing the Billionaire chorus at the top of their voices the next minute, Liam beatboxing in the verse parts and Harry adding some background noises to Louis’s bad bad performance.
"We should start a band," Louis says excitedly after they finish the song and the best reaction the two of them are capable of is to laugh because honestly, people would probably pay them to get off the stage.
Harry pulls up to Liam’s house at which point Louis yells "shotgun!" exaggeratedly and drags Liam out of the car himself. After slamming the door in Liam’s face Louis rolls down the window, stupid grin on his face. "Be good, Payno. Don’t miss me too much."
Liam rolls his eyes at Louis and gives a cheerful wave to Harry. "Have fun you two," he says before heading to the house.
"Bye, Li!"
"So," Louis pipes up after Harry moves the car, "do you invite a lot of guys over to your place or should I feel special?"
:
Harry’s got 20 minutes left until his next class starts so he’s spending the time in the library reading Shakespeare because he knows it will be of great use in the second semester when a loud "is being a nerd biologically inhereted or is it something you picked up along the way?" comes from across the table and Harry’s startled because he didn’t even realize there was somebody at his table. He picks his glance up from the book and notices Louis’s innocent grin.
"How long have you been sitting there?!"
"Oh, like 5 minutes or so," Louis shrugs as if it wasn’t a big deal. "Didn’t want to disturb your reading. Looked pretty intense."
Harry just rolls his eyes because he’s pretty sure Louis meant to spook him.
"Why are you not in class?" he asks, then leans across the table and speaks again in a lower, maybe a bit accusing voice. "Are you ditching Biology again?"
Louis copies his move and responds in even quieter voice: "No. I was at the dentist, but thanks for the trust mate!" Then he leans back before casually shrugging his shoulders.
"What are you doing here then?" Harry wonders because aren’t you supposed to return to class right away when you get back from the doctor?
But Louis doesn’t seem to be so bothered. "Didn’t think it was absolutely necessary to go to Math when the class is basically over. Knew you had your free period, figured you’d be cramming away in the library, that’s how I came to be here. But I wouldn’t want to distract you when you could be strengthening your inner nerd instead so I’m gonna find something interesting to read. Like The Book Of Big Breasts. Be right back."
Harry doesn’t even get a chance to speak when Louis disappears behind the nearest book aisle and returns to Hamlet. He reads 6 more pages before realizing Louis’s been gone way too long, considering the fact that books are the least of his interests and picks his glance up to search for him, only to find out he’s already marching back to Harry. Without a book. And without a--
"Shit, I forgot my backpack," Louis cusses before throwing himself on the chair opposite the curly boy.
Harry raises his eyebrows at him. "Why don’t you go get it?"
"Because it’s been a long journey from here to the letter Y and my feet hurt already and please, Harry, could you go get it for me?"
Harry lets out a loud sigh to express his disapproval but does what he’s asked to anyways because that’s just how he is. So he puts his book down and aims for the letter Y as instructed only to find Louis’s bag in the lap of a total stranger. He’s sitting down on the floor, leaning on the book shelf and reading some kind of textbook, clutching to Louis’s backpack with his right hand.
"Excuse me," Harry says pointing at the bag. "Do you mind?"
The boy looks puzzled so Harry reaches down for it, maybe that will make his intentions clear. But the boy’s acting quickly, as soon as he realizes that the curly guy’s trying to steal the backpack, he moves it to his side.
"I’m sorry, is it yours?" Harry asks confusedly.
"No, but a friend of mine told me to look after it until he comes back," the boy speaks in an Irish accent. "He even told me somebody would try to steal it," he adds, suspicion in his voice.
"Wait, what?" Harry doesn’t understand what’s going on, didn’t Louis say he'd forgotten his backpack? "Louis told you that?"
"How do you know his name?" The boy’s suspicion deepens, his eyes narrow when he takes a thorough look at Harry.
"He told me to get his backpack, " Harry explains. "Said that he‘d forgotten it here."
"Huh," the blonde guy utters, closes his book and stands up, still holding onto the bag. "We should go get him."
So Harry leads the way back to Louis who’s exactly where he left him, now reading the Shakespeare book Harry’s been reading two minutes ago. They stop right next to him, each boy from each side of Louis, when Harry clears his throat and the other boy puts Louis’s backpack on the table before him.
Louis looks at the bag, then moves his gaze to Harry, then to the blonde boy on his left side.
"Oh, hi lads," Louis says calmly while the two of them eye him suspiciously.
"What is going on?" Harry asks and Louis stands up from his seat.
"Harry, this is Niall, my mate from football. Niall, Harry is Liam’s boyfriend--"
"Best friend," Harry corrects him but Louis acts as if he didn’t hear him.
"--and my nerd friend," he introduces them rather theatrically. "Now shake hands."
"Wait, you know Liam?" Harry asks Niall, ignoring Louis just a little bit, because he doesn’t remember Liam ever mentioning a Niall.
"Yeah, the coach invited him to our football practice so he can decide whether he wants to join the team or not. He’s been watching us play for the last, what, a week?" Niall turns to Louis for confirmation and Harry thinks Liam must be taking that offer very seriously. Or he just really likes watching football.
"Oh," is all Harry says.
"Yeah, well, thought you two could hit it off," Louis says after a while with a shrug.
And that’s how Harry and Niall become friends.
:
"So I told the coach I’m in," Liam says when they drive in silence yet again. They don’t even have Louis this time to entertain them with his singing because like he told Harry earlier, he has to pick his sister up from school first and he’ll come over to Harry’s in an hour.
"That’s great, Li," Harry smiles and playfully punches his friend in the shoulder. "You’re gonna be great."
"Yeah, I don’t know," Liam doesn’t seem to be as convinced about his abilities as Harry is. "I’ve been watching them play for a while and they are really good, Haz. I mean, like, really good. I only joined because of the boys in the team, they seem very close and friendly. I even became mates with some of them thanks to Louis. Zayn and Niall are my favourite, they--"
"Oh, I know Niall," Harry interrupts him, happy he can contribute to the discussion with something.
"You do?"
"Yeah, met him today. He’s great."
"Yes, he is," Liam says weirdly, giving Harry a feeling like something’s off.
"You okay?" He turns his head for a split second to check on Liam who forces a smile.
"Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be."
"No reason," Harry says but looks at Liam one more time, just in case.
They drive in silence for a while until Liam speaks again. "So do you want to catch a movie later or something?"
"Can’t. Helping Louis with Biology, sorry," Harry reminds Liam who nods quickly.
"I forgot. Well, how about later?"
"Going out with Niall and Louis," the curly boy says carefully because he really doesn’t want to let Liam down.
But Liam seems to be okay. "Oh. S’alright. I’ll call Zayn, see what he’s up to."
"You can come with if you want to," Harry offers but Liam shakes his head adamantly.
"No, I have... a thing. Thank you though."
Harry can’t shake the feeling that something’s not right but his friend doesn’t look like he wants to talk about it so he doesn’t say anything.
:
Harry’s eating lunch with Liam when a very happy Louis barges into the cafeteria and his gaze falls immediately on Harry and Liam. "Lads, lads," he repeats excitedly while making his way all the way to the back where they are sitting. "Hey!"
"What’s going on?" Liam asks as Louis sits down across the table.
"I just spoke to my Biology teacher, Harry, and she thinks I could take the test this Friday."
"Wow, Tommo, that’s great!" Liam says in a cheery voice while Harry nods frantically.
"Yeah, amazing," the curly boy joins with a smile and Louis just shrugs.
"I better not cock this up then."
"You won’t," Liam assures him.
Louis’s facial expression changes completely when he looks at the brown-eyed boy. "Payno, you should have come with us yesterday! It was so much fun, wasn’t it, Harry?" He shares a look with the curly boy before bursting out laughing.
"Yeah, we had tacos but Niall ate ours so... yeah," Harry says which causes Louis to stop laughing at once and give him a weird look.
"Harry, geez, your storytelling abilities are awful, mate!" he informs Harry with a disgusted look before turning his head back to Liam and nodding. "But yeah, that’s basically what happened."
"Sounds like you had fun," Liam agrees although he doesn’t sound so convinced but the other two boys are not paying any attention to him anymore, one’s shouting over the other, competing in which one can point out a funnier memory from yesterday.
After a few minutes Harry wants to ask Liam whether he’ll join them next time but to his surprise, Liam’s gone. He didn’t even notice him leaving.
They meet him in the parking lot waiting beside Harry’s car ten minutes later.
"Hey," Harry says before unlocking the car. "Where did you disappear back at lunch?"
"Had to go to the bathroom," Liam says, frowning.
"Why didn’t you say anything?" Louis asks opening the back door and throwing himself across the seat.
"Um, I did. Twice," the brown-eyed boy admits, buckling his seatbelt while Harry’s starting the engine.
"Oops," Louis lets out a laugh. "Sorry, mate. Things got a bit out of hand I s’pose."
Harry laughs too but Liam doesn’t. Liam’s gaze is fixed on the road and his expression is unreadable.
:
Harry‘s playing with his phone for a little while before he finally decides to do it. First he looks at the clock to make sure Liam isn’t sleeping yet and finding out he’s still got at least an hour till Liam will go to sleep, he starts writing a new message.
Hey Li, you alright?
The response is tardier than usually but Harry’s glad there is one.
yeh y
He thinks for a bit whether to be serious or turn it into a joke. But serious is so... serious and Harry avoids serious untill it’s absolutely necessary.
Just making sure you can handle my fun fact.
pls dont
But Harry has already hit "send".
Did you know that the brain itself can’t feel pain? Isn’t that like the coolest thing you’ve ever heard?
ur such a doooork
And proud.
im gunna b honest i do hav a little bit of a tummy ache
Aw poor Li, have you eaten something bad?
no dont ask questions its akwardddd
And Harry does exactly what Liam wants him to – doesn’t ask anything, just grabs his coat instead and leaves his house after explaining to his mum he’s going to see Liam for a little bit and will be back in an hour or so.
When he knocks on Liam‘s door, Mrs. Payne answers and gives Harry a moved look. "You’ve come to comfort Liam? Has he told you he has a trapped wind?"
This Harry didn’t expect and although he knows it can be really painful, he tries really hard not to laugh. "Yes, is it okay if I--"
"Of course!" Liam’s mum interrupts him mid-sentence and lets him go up to Liam’s room.
Harry knocks on the door softly first and opens it after he hears a moan. Liam’s outspread across the bed, face down, clutching onto his belly, his head buried in the cushion. Harry walks over to his bed and sits down while Liam doesn’t even move to find out who it is.
"A trapped wind you say?" Harry finally speaks and although there’s a trace of pity in his voice, he can’t help grinning.
Liam picks his head up as soon as he recognizes Harry’s voice. "You didn’t!" he shouts accusingly while turning to lie on his back so that he can face his friend.
Harry moves on the bed a little closer to Liam and even though the boy’s frowning at him, he puts his hand on Liam’s belly and starts to massage it softly. "It’s gonna be alright, Li. All it takes is one little fart."
"Do you realize how embarrassing this is," Liam mutters and reaches for the cushion to hide his blushing face under it but Harry stops him because to be honest, he likes it when Liam’s blushing.
"What’s a little fart between friends, huh?" He would force one out right now if he knew how, just to encourage Liam. Or maybe stun him, just a little bit. "We’re guys after all. We’re supposed to do that stuff."
"Maybe that’s why I’m embarrassed. Because I temporarily lost this ability," Liam jokes and moves his head to look at Harry who’s already looking at him.
"Is this why you were acting so weird today?" Harry dares ask, causing Liam to dart away his gaze again.
"Yeah, partly," he admits in a quiet voice.
"Partly? What has the other part in it?"
"I don’t want to talk about it, Harry," Liam’s frowning now and looks really uncomfortable and who is Harry to torture him with questions when he’s ill? So he amuses Liam with his fun facts and lame stories for the next few minutes until he feels he has to let one out and does it with fashion. "There. You might want to hold your breath now."
"Show off," Liam says grumpily although he can’t help but laugh.
:
Harry’s eating lunch with Louis, explaining fission to him, when Liam joins them and Harry stops midway through the sentence. "Oh, Li, hi. Are you alright now?"
"Now? Has he not been alright?" Louis asks curiously and turns to Liam.
"He--" Harry notices Liam’s giving him a look of warning and shrugs quickly, "--was sick yesterday," he finishes the sentence quickly while Liam nods approvingly.
"Yes, I’m okay, thanks for asking. What are you two up to?"
"Louis’s test is tomorrow so we’re cramming," Harry explains as Liam takes a seat across the table and even though he thinks what they’re talking about must be boring Liam to death, he doesn’t look bored, kind of the opposite. It’s like what’s coming out of Harry’s mouth is the most important stuff Liam will ever hear and it does make him a bit uncomfortable, not because Louis should be the one paying attention to him and is playing with food instead, but because Liam’s eyes are fixated on his mouth and suddenly he’s so self-conscious, wondering what to do with hands and whether he doesn’t have anything on his face and fuck, Liam is the most adorable thing in the world right now.
"And um, what was I saying?" Harry realizes he might have gotten lost in his thoughts for a second there.
"Doesn’t matter because I forgot to tell you," Louis’s attention is suddenly taken from the food back to Harry and his eyes show a lot of excitement. "I met that brunette again, you know, the one we met at the taco place?"
"How could I forget," Harry rolls his eyes at Louis who spends the next 5 minutes yapping about the mysterious brunette and Harry wants to go back to Biology, he really does, but there’s something so entertaining about the way Louis talks about anything and he can’t help it but finds himself getting lured into the discussion about Louis’s non-existent lovelife.
"I should go," Liam pipes up all of a sudden and leaves abruptly, Harry shooting a bewildered look after him but it’s late because Liam’s already gone.
"Oh, crap," Louis seems to be looking for something that isn’t there, not a sign he’s noticed Liam leaving, shoving his hands in all of his pockets.
"What is it?"
"I just realized I forgot my phone in the men’s room," he looks up at the curly boy and Harry knows what he’s about to say before he actually opens his mouth.
"No. Na-ah. Forget about it," Harry says because honestly, he’s not in the mood for another awkward encounter the matchmaker Louis has come up with. "You’re not fooling me this time."
"I’m not even trying, I swear!" Louis really looks innocent but who knowswith Louis, right?
"Why can’t you go get it yourself?" Harry asks suspiciously but there isn’t a question in the world that might catch Louis off guard.
"Because I stabbed my toe today and it hurts when I walk. Honest. Please, Harry, it’s in the toilet next to the gym. No funny business."
"Alright, alright," Harry thinks to himself how bloody needy that boy is and heads for the restroom, hoping he won’t have to take it out of the toilet with his bare hands.
His surprise isn’t so big when he gets there and sees a very good-looking boy with a black quiff leaning against the wall and holding a phone in his hand, obviously waiting for someone.
"You waiting for Louis Tomlinson?" Harry asks the boy, knowing the answer before the boy even speaks.
"Yeah, why?"
"Because he sent me to get his phone for him. Have you been waiting for long?" he asks after realizing he’s been at lunch with Louis for the past 20 minutes and if this poor boy has been here the whole time, Louis is definitely gonna get scolded.
"Nope, not really. He lent it to me over P.E. class, said to meet him here at 2, so it’s been," the boy looks at an expensively looking watch on his wrist, "exactly four minutes."
"I’m not gonna tell him off then," Harry says even though now that he thinks about it, he might tell him off for fooling him again despite the fact he‘d promised there would be no funny business. "I’m Harry, by the way, and Louis is playing matchmaker."
"Huh?" The dark haired boy raises his eyebrows at him so Harry proceeds to explain exactly the situation with Niall, "and now with you, uh--"
"Zayn," he offers him a hand and Harry shakes it gladly.
"Nice to meet you, Zayn. Have you got a class or do you want to come with me and cuss at Louis?"
"The cuss at Louis part sounds appealing to be honest," Zayn laughs, hands Harry Louis’s phone and together they walk back to the cafeteria.
:
There is nobody except for Harry on the benches on the school football pitch. It’s Liam’s first practice and Harry wanted to be there for support because he knows how scary it can be for Liam to try new things. So he’s clapping for Liam, shouting "good work" everytime he gets the ball and giving him thumbs up everytime he runs past and his gaze happens to fall on Harry. He can’t help but cheer for Niall and Zayn as well because they are his friends now too, but Harry does try to make it obvious he’s there for Liam and Liam only. Louis had to miss the practice today because of the Biology test and Harry hopes it goes well because he’s done everything he could and if it wasn’t enough, then he’s not sure there’s anything else he could do for Louis. But he’s sure Louis will try his best and he’ll be proud of him even if he fails.
"Looking good, Li!" Harry shouts when Liam’s running towards the benches, chasing the ball and when he gets it and passes it to his teammate, Harry gives him a round of applause.
A few minutes before the end of the practice, Louis throws himself down on the bench next to Harry with a sad look on his face.
"Was it so bad?" Harry asks as soon as he notices the not so pleased expression of his friend and readies himself to give Louis a speech about how everything will be okay and it’s not the end of the world, when Louis’s frown turns upside down all of a sudden.
"I got B on the test, Harry!" he exclaims enthusiastically. "B! I mean, that’s kind of a big deal, isn’t it? I should legally change my name to Biology Man."
"Oh crap, Louis!" A smile on Harry’s face couldn’t be bigger. "This calls for a party!"
"Yeah, you and I should go and grab a beer or something, exchange our knowledge on... plant tissues and... stuff."
"Sounds like a deal," Harry nods, reaches for his backpack and follows Louis to the parking lot.
They are at their second drink when Harry’s phone beeps.
hey wer did u dissapear?
"Shit," he curses, smacking his head with his left hand.
"Shit, what?"
"I completely forgot about Liam. I was supposed to give him a ride home."
"I’m sure he can take care of himself," Louis says reassuringly before taking a big gulp of his beer.
I’m so sorry Li, Louis passed the test so we went to the pub to celebrate. I would come and pick you up but I’ve had two beers. Sorryyyy!
no biggie
"See? Told you," Louis takes his gaze away from Harry’s phone. "Now, do you think I can score that blonde at the bar?"
:
It’s a calm and maybe a bit boring Saturday for Harry. He’s finished the Shakespear book, tidied his room, vacuumed the house and done all of his homework and now he feels like there‘s absolutely nothing left to do. He thinks he might call Liam and see if he doesn’t want to hang out or something, but as soon as he grabs his phone, it starts ringing in his hand. Liam, he thinks, they’re reading each others minds. But when Harry’s gaze falls on the name on the display, it’s not Liam.
"Hello, Zayn, what’s up?" Harry asks after receiving the call.
"Hey," Zayn’s velvet voice sounds on the other end. "What’cha doing?"
"Well, nothing actually. Wanted to--"
"Awesome!" Zayn interrupts him with an enthusiastic shout. "What do you say that you come over? We could play video games, order some pizza and stay up all night beating each other in Super Mario."
Harry’s pretty sure Zayn has already called Louis, Niall and probably even Liam and they all had turned him down and he doesn’t want to disappoint him as well, so he agrees and writes down Zayn’s home address.
"I’ll be there in an hour," he says and hangs up, reaching for his laptop to look up the address so he knows how to get there.
After he memorizes the route, Harry starts packing. Although Zayn’s invitation wasn’t really clear, the staying up all night part did sound like he was inviting him for a sleepover, so he grabs his toothbrush and a clean underwear and socks, steals mum’s chocolate so he can give to Mrs. Malik as a thanks for having him, explains to his parents where he’s headed and leaves the house.
As he unlocks the car, his phone starts ringing again and he hopes it’s not Zayn to cancel on him because he’s really starting to get excited, but when he takes the phone out of his pocket he can see it’s not Zayn. It’s Liam.
He answers the call. "Hi, Li! How are you?"
"Fine, how are you?" Liam returns the courtesy question.
"Good, good."
"That’s great. Listen, wondered if you wanted to play some ball?"
Shit, Harry thinks. "I’m actually, um... I’m on my way to Zayn’s."
"I see," Liam sounds a bit disappointed and Harry wants to tell him he’ll stop by tomorrow to make it up to him, but Liam speaks again before he can even open his mouth. "Okay then, see you on Monday."
Harry’s cut off by the beeping sound before he gets the chance to say goodbye.
:
On Monday, leaning against the wall and playing on his phone, Harry waits for Liam outside his class. As soon as the bell rings, the door opens and students start coming out of the room. Harry sees Liam walking beside Louis and waves at him after their glances meet, but Liam immediately darts his gaze away and keeps on walking as if he didn’t even notice Harry. The curly boy’s confused by Liam’s behaviour but catches up to him and Louis with a smile on his face.
"Hey, didn’t you see me waving at you?" Harry asks Liam, who doesn’t seem to have heard him, so Harry speaks up. "Liam?"
Now he’s got Liam’s attention but his face doesn’t look friendly at all. He’s not giving him the usual warm smile, just looking at him expressionlessly. "No, I saw you. I just decided not to stop by."
"What? Why?" Harry’s puzzled by the way Liam’s acting and seems like Louis is, too, because he gives Harry a confused shrug.
"You don’t need to give me rides home anymore, Harry. I can take the bus. You don’t need to do anything for me anymore," his tone is cold and Harry feels like he might start crying if Liam doesn’t say he’s just joking or something.
"What? Liam, what’s going on?" Harry’s voice is shaking now and what the hell is happening?! "Why wouldn’t I give you a ride home, we’re basically neighbours."
"Because I don’t want you to," Liam answers simply. "I don’t want anything from you. Just leave me alone, Harry."
Those are the last words Liam tells him before he walks away with Louis. Those are the words that make Harry stop chasing after him. Those are the words that have Harry’s world shattering.
There is silence in the car as Harry drives home. He’s alone and he could be listening to ARfm right now because there isn’t anybody to keep convincing him to play their favourite radio station, but for the first time in months, Harry doesn’t want to listen to ARfm. And he wonders whether it’s because he just isn’t in the mood for music or maybe if it wasn’t just a matter of habit to fight Liam about it and not even realizing that he doesn’t really care what station they have on.
When he arrives home, he just throws himself across the bed, moaning loudly every once in a while to let out some of the pain Liam’s words left in him but who is he kidding, it’s not like those groans can actually help.
After almost an hour of quiet sobbing, Harry takes his phone out of his pocket to write a text message to Liam.
Li, what have I done? Why do you hate me?
He hypnotizes the phone screen for good twenty minutes until he fully accepts the fact that there won’t be any answer and angrily throws the phone on the cushions.
The next day, Louis comes to Harry’s classroom and Harry’s happy to see him for a minute because what if he’s got good news, maybe he wants to tell him that Liam’s not mad at him anymore or maybe he’ll tell him how to undo whatever he’s done, but Louis’s desperate sigh changes Harry’s thinking.
"I’m sorry, man," Louis says when he stops at Harry’s desk, "but I have no idea what’s gotten into him. I’ve tried to ask, tried to knock some sense into him, but he won’t change his mind. Won’t even tell me why he’s pushing you away like that."
That isn’t exactly what Harry wanted to hear but he’s glad that at least Louis cares enough to talk to Liam about it.
"Thank you, Lou," he gives him a sad smile as Louis shrugs.
"Sorry, mate," Louis says before walking away and Harry thinks that nobody in the world could be more sorry than he is right now.
:
Three days without Liam have Harry looking like a corpse and it’s kind of weird how strong an effect he has on Harry. Or the lack of him. He’s been so used to having Liam by his side, knowing he can turn to him whenever, knowing Liam will always have his back and won’t ever let him down and now that he’s not there for Harry, he feels Liam’s abscence with every fiber of his being. He’s sent him exactly 7 more texts but none of them was worth a reply, apparently. He’s even tried to pretend he’s sick so his mum would let him stay home and he wouldn’t have to face Liam’s avoiding him, but she didn’t buy it and dropped him at school herself. Harry walked home that day and it did took him almost an hour but he just couldn’t take the chance of running into Liam at the bus station.
After a week of not talking or even looking at Liam, and having just brief conversations with Louis because after all, he’s been Liam’s friend first and it was no place for Harry to want Louis to stand by him, Harry and Niall walk into the school cafeteria that’s unusually full. All of the tables are taken and the only one that’s got two seats next to each other left is occupied by Liam and Louis.
"Let’s just come back when there’s less people, okay?" Harry’s literally begging Niall with his eyes but seems like the blonde boy doesn’t pick it up.
"Oh, come on, there’s room at Louis and Liam’s table," Niall says cheerfully, probably glad he doesn’t have to postpone lunch and before Harry can try and stop him, he’s already walking towards the table and there’s nothing left to do but follow.
As soon as Harry sits down, Liam picks his tray up and without giving any sort of sign he’s noticed Harry, heads for the trash can to throw the leftovers away. Louis follows his example but instead of giving Harry cold shoulder like Liam, he says bye to both him and Niall.
Harry keeps on eating, trying to pretend like nothing’s happened, nodding occasionally to what Niall’s saying, when his gaze falls on a wallet in front of him that’s certainly not his nor Niall’s and thanks to the ID he finds inside he learns it’s Louis’s.
"Louis," the curly boy turns around on his chair but Louis and Liam are already walking out the door. Harry grabs the wallet and starts chasing after them to return it to Louis and even though on one hand he doesn’t really want to catch up to them and have Liam ignore him for the millionth time this week, on the other he really wants to be in Liam’s presence and who knows, maybe he’ll think of Harry as a savior, a wallet-returning knight in the shining armor and make up with him?
But as Harry’s about to turn the corner, Louis’s voice makes him stop. "--get it for me?"
And that’s when Harry realizes what this really is about. That the full sentence most probably was ‘fuck, I forgot my wallet, could you please get it for me?‘ and that he’s just let Louis fool him again. But that’s not the worst part, the worst part is only about to come when Liam responds.
"No, Louis, I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not gonna work. I’m not making up with Harry."
"Oh, come on, Payno! You’ve been ignoring him for the whole week, don’t you think it’s time to give it a rest?"
Harry holds on tight to the wallet because what Liam says now might change things for the better again and he really hopes that Liam will sigh and admit Louis is right and things will get back to normal. But that doesn’t happen.
"No, please, just stop making it your business, Louis."
"Look, I let the two of you sort your stuff out on your own but looks like you two idiots need help. You were best friends, basically boyfriends a few days ago, what so horrible could have possibly happened?"
There’s silence for a while and Harry’s really anxious for Liam to answer, to finally find out what he’s done to make Liam hate him all of a sudden.
"Well, we’re not best friends anymore. Things change," he says at last and there isn’t even the tiniest bit of regret in his tone. Harry wants to leave, hide under his blankets and never have to see Liam’s face again but Louis does need his wallet so he steps out of the corner and tries really hard to play it cool.
"Lou, you forgot this," Harry says in a calm voice and when Louis looks at him, there’s worry in his face but Harry’s not going to show how hurt he is, he’s not going to give Liam the pleasure. He can’t resist to glance at him though, even if it is only for a split second, and when he does, he can clearly see Liam’s tense expression but maybe he’s just imagining things because Liam doesn’t care one bit about him now, does he?
"Thank you," Louis says carefully and takes the wallet from Harry.
"Yeah, no worries," as soon as Louis holding the wallet, Harry turns around and walks away, taking refuge in the nearest restroom. Only after he’s locked inside the toilet cubicle, he lets the tears stream down his face.
It’s the next day that his mum finally lets him stay home. He probably does look sick now, after hearing Liam talk about them not being friends anymore so calmly, so matter-of-factly as if Harry doesn’t and never did matter anything to him, he probably finally looks just like he feels inside – empty.
It takes him two days of sobbing, but after that he realizes he mustn’t let Liam have this much control over him. He’s better than that. He’s stronger than that. So he gets out of bed in the morning and even though his mum protests for a while, Harry convinces her he’s okay now, that he doesn’t feel so sick anymore and after feeling his forehead she lets him go.
And Harry’s glad. He’s glad because he decided to finally confront Liam and he feels like he can finally do it without breaking down in tears. He’s standing on the parking lot because in order for Liam to get to the bus station, he needs to cross the parking lot first, so he’s leaning against his car, eyes fixed on the school exit.
When Liam finally walks out the door, Harry thanks God he’s alone and starts making his way towards him.
"Hey," he says and Liam turns his head to where the voice came from but as soon as he recognizes Harry, he changes his direction a little. Harry doesn’t let that discourage him and speeds up his step.
"Liam, please, quit acting like a child and talk to me," Harry pleads, grabbing the brown-eyed boy by the shoulder. Liam pulls his arm from Harry’s grip, frowning.
"There’s nothing to talk about."
"Well I think there is. I figured out why you’re acting funny."
"I’m not acting funny but do go on," looks like Liam’s amused or maybe it’s just defense mechanism, either way, Harry’s getting more and more hurt by the way Liam’s acting towards him.
"Is it because I befriended Louis? And Niall? And Zayn? Is it because they were your friends first and you felt like I was stealing them away from you?"
Liam’s staring blankly at him and Harry’s sure he’s guessed it right until Liam lets out a laugh. "Really, Harry? Is this really what you think this is all about? Oh my God, you really don’t get it, do you?"
Liam’s walking away again, not only from Harry but from his life and Harry’s not ready to lose him, even though he did, two weeks ago but if this is his only chance to make things right then he can‘t let him get away.
"What is it about then?" he shouts after Liam and when that doesn’t make him stop, he takes a few steps forward and increases the volume of his voice. "Please, tell me, because I’m out of ideas. And I’m sick of not having you around. Liam!"
After yelling out his name, Liam does turn around and Harry can see there are tears in his eyes and why is he crying? He’s the one that should be crying and he feels a wet streak on his cheek right then.
"It’s because of you, Harry!" Liam’s shouting at him but Harry can feel the hurt in his voice. "You found new friends and started replacing me with them slowly, it was only a matter of time before you’d realize they’re so much better than me and leave me for good, so I had to pull away to take the situation under control. I had to pretend like it was me calling the shots because I couldn’t handle you cutting me off completely!"
Liam’s panting now and Harry just keeps staring at him, trying to make sense of what he’s just found out. "What?" he finally manages to say, confusedly blinking at Liam. "Li, what are you talking about?"
"At first it was Louis, then Niall, then Zayn. I never understood what you and Louis were talking about but that was okay, so long as you didn’t start acting as if I wasn’t there. I never felt so redundant in my life, Harry. You always rather found something to do with one of them than to spend your time with me. And I get it, honestly, I do. I know how boring I am, there’s literally nothing you can get out of being friends with me. I can’t say I didn’t see it coming. You’re so interesting and fun to be around, it’s no wonder you’re drawn towards people like you because what can I possibly offer you? I’m--"
"Stop. Just stop," Harry interrupts him because he can’t listen to this, he can’t believe Liam would think like that. "Seriously, Liam, do you hear yourself? I’m interesting and fun to be around? Let me remind you that 40% of stuff that comes out of my mouth is either a fun fact or some other complete crap. I can’t tell stories, as Louis was so kind to point out. I’m a bookworm and a nerd. Whereas you, Liam, you’ve been asked to join the football team. It’s not like you wanted to, the coach noticed how good you were and asked you to join. And he was right to, I mean, you’re so muscular and fuck, you can really play, I mean, I saw you out there on the pitch, you were better than half of those guys. And you’re nice and helpful and responsible and I feel safe when I’m with you and you blush when you’re embarrassed and don’t you think I haven’t noticed how cute your bum is."
"You think my bum is cute?" Liam asks and he’s blushing again and fuck, that’s cute.
"Really? I say all those things about how awesome you are and that’s what gets your attention?"
Liam laughs for a second before moving his gaze towards the ground. "I’m sorry, Harry."
"No, I’m sorry for making you think you’re not good enough. Because you are, Liam. I’m so lost without you," Harry takes another step forward and Liam’s only a few feet away now, he could reach out and hug him tight, if only he had the guts. "And I promise we can listen to Capital FM for the rest of our lives if it means you’ll be my friend again."
"I don’t care what we listen to as long as we do it together." Liam looks up and into Harry’s eyes. "But I don’t want to be your friend."
"What?" Harry’s confused again because wasn’t all this supposed to get them back together? "I thought we--" But he understands as soon as Liam cuts him off in the most beautiful way there is. He puts his hands on the sides of Harry’s face and looks at him tenderly and Harry can feel the butterflies in his stomach and thinks to himself that this must be the most wonderful way to feel, right until Liam leans closer and his soft lips rub against his. Harry entangles his fingers in Liam’s hair, pulling him closer, wanting to get more and he licks Liam’s bottom lip seeking entrance, which Liam gives him gladly and they’re both moaning the next second and mapping each other’s bodies out, only making them more needy of each other.
"Fuck, I had no idea how much I wanted to do that," Liam says, panting, when he pulls away at last.
"Same," Harry admits, looking at Liam with an adoring smile because he is blushing again and there’s nothing Harry loves more than when Liam’s blushing and he can’t resist a blushing Liam, so he grabs him by the waist and pulls him in another kiss.
:
They walk hand in hand into the school the next day, wide smiles on both of their faces, when a very surprised Louis notices them.
"Does this mean what I think it does?" he points at their entwined hands and looks at them expectantly.
"I think it does," Liam nods and pulls Harry closer.
Louis’s surprised face changes to smug one in a matter of seconds. "No need to thank me, lads. I mean, I think we all know this is all thanks to my wallet move but seriously, I’m not much on getting praised."
"Yeah, right," Harry chuckles before ruffling Louis’s hair. He then turns his attention back to Liam and can’t help it, when he sees that innocent smile of his, he has to give him a little kiss on the cheek.
And when that beautiful smile widens and Harry knows he’s the reason behind it and everything in the world seems a little brighter now that Liam is his. His boyfriend. Oh, that word again. That beautiful, beautiful word.