Start of Uni now. Which means new people and new paths, but also old friends?!

What do you expect from the last three chapters of part one?

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A few weeks later

FromJake:

"Good luck on your first day, H. You're gonna rock this".

Taking a deep breath, Harry opened the door to the university building of the University of Domumley. His first day and he was shitting his pants. After getting his paper stuff Harry headed for his first lecture of his Literature studies. He had no clue what to expect but he had worked on his expectation level over the last few weeks and had decided to not expect anything and just let life surprise him.

Today he only had one course and he was thankful for it. This was enough to get into the groove of university life. For the start they were talking about their old schools and some basic information for everyone. Then they went over to the first book they would read pretty soon to work through it.

"A chill beginning, don't you think?" leaned a girl with died purple hair over to him.

"Yeah, I really like that. Makes the start easier" agreed Harry with her.

"But we already need to get a book" chuckled the girl quietly.

"I already have that one. It's good" told Harry her nonchalantly.

"Really? If you read that willingly it can't be that bad. I was afraid it would be boring, to be honest" admitted the purple-headed girl.

"Yeah, same but now I'm relieved. Means more free time for me and less stress. What's your name, by the way? I think I didn't get it yet" asked Harry because he felt weird not knowing who he was talking to.

"I'm Bailey Matthews" introduced the girl herself.

"I'm Harry Styles".

After this lesson, Harry and Bailey kept talking for a bit and walked around the campus. He really liked her and it seemed to be mutual, which was a relief. Making a new friend at the first day was a good sign for the rest of the year. At least, in Harry's eyes.

"Oh, you like music? That's fitting. I had a band in my old school" was Bailey pleased about Harry's love for music.

"That's perfect. My friend had a band, too. Still has as far as I know" rejoiced Harry but felt weird with calling Louis just a normal friend.

"Then I need to meet him or her or whatever they are. If they love music then we can only get along" decided Bailey enthusiastically.

"And with an attitude like this he will love you" giggled Harry happily. "But don't expect anything. He is gay".

"Good to know. Any straight friends in your circle of weirdos?" questioned Bailey funnily. Harry had told her about most of his friends.

"Liam is definitely straight and Sean is bi, I think. Noah said he doesn't care and Louis and I are gay. Aria and Àmber are both into girls but hate the word lesbian, so beware" informed Harry her in a light voice.

"I see why. They all sound lovely, Harry. I really need to meet them soon and find out if everything you said was the truth because damn" laughed Bailey heartfelt.

"Maybe sooner than you think. There are two of them" spotted Harry Noah and Sean close to them. "Ey, you freak. Is that fat ass always so hyper or are you just super-exciting?".

"Yo, Harold. How was your first class and who are you?" approached Noah the two of them chirpy after Harry's weird call for attention.

"My first class was brilliant and this is Bailey" answered Harry with a laugh.

"A pleasure to meet you" kissed Noah her hand exaggeratedly.

"God, Nialler. Don't be such a creep from the start. I'm sorry for my friend. Better talk to me. I'm Sean" slapped Sean Noah against the back of his head.

"Well, they are exactly like you described them" chuckled Bailey amused.

"You talked about us? Aw" cooed Noah dramatically.

"I just told her how annoying you actually are" glared Harry playfully at his friend.

"Whatever. We really need to take him with us now because we're highly expected".

"But seeing you again would be great" added Sean with an eye-roll because Noah was an idiot.

"Nothing I can do about it. See you in class, Harry" waved Bailey at him when she was leaving.

"Bye, Bailey".

Together with Noah and Sean, Harry made his way off campus and over to the bar they would meet up with the rest. Harry was a bit nervous. He hasn't seen Louis since graduation day and that didn't go well. He knew Louis has been gone on that road trip and he was hoping this helped with clearing the air and some minds and maybe they could be friends again. Harry hoped for the best.

"Guys, finally!" cheered Liam rejoiced when he spotted the three of them walking inside of the bar.

"Lima Bean, it's good to see you. Damn, you look different. What did you do?" looked Noah him up and down and yeah, Harry had to agree with that statement.

"He just cut his hair and is trying to be cool with his clothes now. All bad boy like" patted Zayn Liam on the shoulder and then hugged Noah and Sean, nodding at Harry.

"You should have seen this. Once in London and he suddenly decided to be cool. He said he will become a party animal now, so beware" let Louis them know amused.

Automatically, Harry looked at him. Somehow he seemed different. He looked different even though he didn't obviously change anything. His hair was a bit longer and he was wearing a denim jacket with ripped skinny jeans. Nothing new there. But he looked so much more mature. Harry didn't know how to explain it. His arms looked stronger and he looked a lot more tough than before, more grown-up. But his eyes were still the same. Still the same ocean blue eyes with that special and unique sparkle in them.

When Louis glanced his way, Harry offered him a tiny smile and Louis nodded at him in greeting. So, no talking. Okay. But also no ignoring. That was at least something. Still, Harry had hoped for more because the whole afternoon over they were talking about their break and the start of Uni but Harry and Louis never talked a word. They just acknowledged that they had listened to what the other had said. They sat there until it started to get dark outside. Promising they would go partying this weekend, they parted ways and went home alone.

Back in his room, Harry was staring at his ceiling. He felt alone and knew it was because of Louis. He really missed the way they were before all of this happened. Before Harry had to ruin everything. But now he couldn't change it anymore and had moved on. And still, he was alone without his best friend and the weather outside fitted his mood. It was storming and Harry couldn't stop thinking about Louis.

Since Harry could remember, Louis has always been afraid of thunderstorms. None of them knew why. It was just a simple given fact. Right now, Harry was wondering how Louis was dealing with the storm. In earlier days, Harry would have called him to calm him down. The one and only time Harry did that instead of Louis. The only time Louis was vulnerable and couldn't hide it but Harry was the only one who knew about this. Well, probably not anymore. He was sure Zayn knew about this fear and was calming him down right now. Or Louis had grown out of this during their road trip because he was too old for this now and more mature than ever before. Maybe that was it.

On Saturday, they all met up in a club like promised. To his great joy, Aria and Àmber were with them and now Harry had the chance to make up with them finally. At the bar, they ordered some drinks and got in the mood for dancing. All together they barked onto the dance floor and freely, jumped around to the music, just forgetting about every bit of stress, drama or fear of the future.

When Harry saw Aria walking back over to the bar Harry followed her inconspicuously. He really wanted his friend back and hoped she wasn't still mad at him for how he had treated Louis. Carefully, he sat down next to her and ordered another drink. He felt Aria glancing at him and saw this as his cue to speak.

"I'm not gonna talk around the bush. I'm very sorry for everything and I really hope we can be friends again. I know why you were mad at me but I can make up for it again" blurted Harry out directly.

To his big surprise, she started to laugh under her breath. "Don't worry, Hazza. I'm not mad at you anymore. I was when it happened but Louis is over it. We all moved on. It's still a bit tense but that isn't necessarily your fault. We all have to get used to this again".

"Really? We're friends again?" checked Harry overwhelmed.

"Sure thing. I missed you but I also really hated you. Let's forget about it. New beginnings, right? Just don't make me hate you again" winked Aria playfully at him.

"Definitely not. Never again. I wish everyone would see it like you. I don't think Zayn and Àmber will ever talk normally to me again. Not that Zayn and I ever talked normally but you get what I mean. And Louis ..." trailed Harry off unsurely.

"I don't know about Zayn but Àmber misses you, too. Yes, she was really mad at you, even more than me but it's in the past. We had time to calm down and let it rest. Believe me, she loves you and could never hate you forever" reassured Aria him gently.

"That's such a relief" sighed Harry out in pure relief.

"C'mon, we should go back to the others. Jouis is getting too much into this" laughed Aria and pointed at their two friends dancing on the dance floor like crazy.

While Aria was walking back to their friends Harry stayed behind and kept a close eye on Zayn and Louis. They were not doing anything wrong but seeing them still like this made Harry feel weird. Maybe they weren't a thing before the road trip but now everything was possible. After weeks in such a small space together ... Well, Liam has been there too but was that reason enough not to cross some lines?

Suddenly, he noticed how Louis was distancing himself from Zayn and came over to Harry at the bar. His heartbeat picked up and he felt his throat getting dry. How was he supposed to act now? Were they good or still at odds? Would it be weird between them?

"Hey, familiar stranger" offered Louis him an open smile, that warmed Harry's nervous heart.

"Hi, Lou – is" greeted Harry back and had a hard time not calling him Lou.

"Why are you sitting here all alone?" sat Louis down next to him.

"I needed a break and had a talk with Aria. Cleared some things up" reported Harry shortly.

"That's good. She was whining to me about how much she was missing you but didn't know what to do. Same goes for me though" chuckled Louis lightly.

"Really?" snapped Harry's head into Louis' direction at those words hopefully.

"Of course. How could I not miss you, Harry?" tilted Louis his head aside cutely.

"I thought you would ... well, um ..." blushed Harry at his own awkwardness.

"I understand but no. No bad feelings left. I really want to let the past rest and reactivate our friend group for real. Without someone feeling uncomfortable. Just us eight and no tension. You think we can do this?" looked Louis questioningly at him with so much hope in his beautiful blue eyes.

So, Louis wanted to bring their group back and forget about everything that happened between them. Harry could live with this. And Louis had admitted that he had missed him, which made Harry very happy because he had missed Louis like crazy. But nowhere in his statement did he say they would be best friends again. Maybe that wasn't in the cards yet.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you want, Louis".

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Just a short one to get into Uni life. Harry and Louis are okay now. What does that even mean?