Chapter 2

I walked the short walk home after I'd changed back into my clothes with a wide smile on my lips. Never before had Harry uttered a word to me, and now, here I was, on cloud nine just because he spoke to me. He didn't even look at me the whole time, but it didn't matter.

As I stepped through the door to my house, I heard a cupboard being shut in the kitchen. "Boobear, is that you?" my mother called, coming out of the kitchen and leaning against the doorframe.

God. I hated that nickname. She had called me that ever since I was a kid, and the only reason why she still did was because she loved it.

"Yeah," I smiled as I kicked off my TOMS and hung my jacket on the hanger.

"Why the wide smile, Boo? Happy to see your mother?" She said teasingly.

I chuckled, shaking my head. "No, it's just..."

Mum didn't know that I had a crush on Harry. I was too insecure to tell her, even though we told each other everything. She knew I was gay, for example.

I could still remember the day I had come out to her. She had kissed my forehead, looked me deep in the eyes, and told me she already knew and that she still loved me for who I was. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders since I had waited such a long time to tell her, thinking about how she would react.

My dad had left us when I was just a kid to start a new life. It would be a lie to say that I didn't miss him because I did. We'd had the perfect father-and-son relationship until he left, which left me wondering if I knew him as well as I thought.

A few years later, my mum found the love of her life, Mark. They now had four daughters together, my four younger sisters. Just like my mum, Mark had taken my coming out well. He had just ruffled my hair and smiled at me.

"Louis!" My mum was standing in front of me now, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I looked at her in confusion.

She sighed. "You started talking but trailed off, so what were you going to say?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, I just... I didn't fall as much as I usually do when I played football today," I lied.

She narrowed her eyes and looked at me suspiciously. "Hmm, fine." It didn't sound like she totally believed me, and I couldn't blame her. It was a pathetic lie.

I started heading towards my room upstairs when she stopped me. "Lou?"

I turned around. "Yeah?"

"Dinner's ready in half an hour."

I smiled with a nod before finally heading to my room, shutting the door behind me as I walked in.

The first thing I did was throw myself onto my bed. Looking at the ceiling with the smile still prominent on my lips, my thoughts wandered to Harry, as usual.

His perfect curls, which I just wanted to tangle my fingers in, his green eyes that I could stare into for hours because of how pretty they were, his dimples that made me want to pull my hair out of its roots, his lips that I wanted to touch with my fingers, or even better...my lips. They were just so pink and pouty, and don't even get me started on his body. Oh, it was just pure perfection, all of it. His long torso, his skinny legs.

I could go on all day.

"Lou, dinner's ready!"

-----

The next day, I walked to school with quick strides. I didn't want to miss a moment of seeing Harry. That was why I always walked to school as fast as possible every day. It was a wonder how my legs were still intact with my body.

I strolled through the crowded hallway, not trying to get anyone's attention as I slipped past person after person. Eventually, I reached my locker and opened it to scan through the books I would need for my first period. I still wondered which ones I would need when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to come face-to-face with Niall.

"Mornin' mate," he greeted.

I flashed him a smile before turning back to my locker. "Morning, Nialler. We've got Science first, right?"

"Yeah, we do, but since when are you uncertain of which lesson you're about to have?"

I grabbed my science books from my locker and shut it to turn to my best friend again. "Since now."

He chuckled as I sneaked a quick peek to my right, where Harry was standing in front of his locker by himself for once. A smile made its way to my lips when I saw his flawless curls brush his cheek gently. My heart picked up its pace, and I felt myself melt on the spot. He was like an angel who had fallen from the sky to brighten my days. At least, that's what it felt like.

"Dude, why are you drooling?" Niall asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. I didn't know I was such an obvious daydreamer.

Turning to him, I raised my eyebrows, playing dumb. "What? I'm not drooling."

He just chuckled and shook his head. "We both know you have a huge crush on Harry." He motioned towards the living angel I had been staring at just a few seconds ago.

My eyes darted to the floor, heat rushing to my cheeks. Niall was the only one who knew about my crush on Harry. Long story short, we had been in the locker room when Niall had caught me staring at Harry while he was getting changed, and I couldn't deny it when he interrogated me about it after school. I hadn't given in too quickly, but when Niall was sure about something you were hiding, he could get it out of you with ease.

"Shut up." I swatted him on the arm before walking to my lesson with a laughing Niall following behind me.

-----

"But you have to do something! You can't just stare at him every second of every day and think that he will fall into your arms sometime. You should make the first move," Niall suggested when we were in our second period, Civics.

I sent him a glare. "Niall, please don't tell me what to do. I'm fine with how it is now, thank you very much."

He sighed, turning to face the whiteboard. "Well, I'm just trying to help you."

My face softened at his words. "I know, and I'm happy you care about me, but I just don't want any help with this." I frowned, staring at the desk.

"I get it, Lou. Just remember that I'll be here if you want any help, okay?" He looked at me sympathetically. I hated when people pitied me, especially when it was about something I could cope with, but I didn't want to let Niall down even more, so I just nodded.

Throughout the rest of the lesson, I focused on Mrs. Pearson and wrote down everything she told us to.

-----

At lunch, Niall and I walked to the cafeteria and sat down at a table with the other outcasts. I knew a few of them; Danielle, Ed, Hannah, Andy, and Will. There were about fifteen of us in total, and they were all friendly.

The popular students had their own table, and part of that group was Liam, Zayn, Ben, Josh, Harry and two girls, Perrie and Eleanor.

At the moment, rumors had it that Zayn and Perrie had a thing going on, but they hadn't made anything official yet. Ben and Eleanor were official, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't last long. She was like the girl version of Harry when it came to dating different people. I didn't know anything for sure, but she had probably been with everyone at the table.

The girl Harry was currently dating — even thinking about her made my heart drop to my stomach — was a year older than us. I knew this because she and her friends were the most dramatic people in the entire school. They made a fuss about everything. If someone just accidentally touched their arm, they would tell the person to fuck off.

I wondered how anyone wanted to be with someone like her, and I wasn't saying that just because Harry was with her. She wasn't someone I would ever consider dating, even if she were a guy, and I hoped Harry would realize that soon too.

Speaking of the devil, Ashley — which was her name — entered the room and sat down on the chair next to Harry's. She immediately wrapped an arm around him and leaned in to kiss him.

I averted my gaze and focused on what the people around my table were discussing.

"There's this huge party at Ben's place on Friday. I wonder how drunk people will be this time," Ed chuckled.

I didn't care for parties at all. I heard of them but usually shrugged them off. I had never been a party guy and would most likely never be either. In fact, none of us outcasts really went to parties. We always thought that we weren't welcome, which we probably weren't, but for the most part, the majority of us weren't bothered.

I felt someone nudge my side and looked up to meet a pair of happy, blue eyes.

"Please, please, please, Lou, can we go? Just for once? Please, please, please," Niall begged, his eyes now pleading. He made a puppy face, and I almost fell for it... almost.

I shook my head. "No, Niall, what the fuck?"

"Please, Louis. I won't ever ask again, I promise. Just please."

I shook my head again. "No, and we won't talk about it anymore."

He sighed in defeat, turning to face the others. I smiled, knowing I had won. It turned out I spoke too soon, though.

Niall suddenly turned to me again, leaning in to whisper in my ear. "I'll tell everyone that you have a crush on the school's most popular guy if you don't come with me."

I gulped. "You wouldn't."

He leaned back and smiled at me. "You won't have to find out if you go with me."

Looks like I'm going to a party on Friday then...

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Another chapter!! I really hope you're liking this story as much as I do :)

Thank you for reading, love you all .xxx

Pauline .xx

Edited by: TailorMade_Rose