|Chapter 20

Soft notes sounded throughout the music room, the sounds meshing beautifully together as they form a song. Today has been another rest day because of the festival yesterday, so each of the boys were doing their own thing.

Harry and Louis decided to both practise their new song, trying to find the perfect tune for it. Well, truthfully, Harry had to almost beg Louis to join him in practising. It was almost as if Louis didn't want to be around Harry, which the younger boy didn't take to heart. Of course Louis wanted to be around Harry, but ever since Kendall told him to stay away from the boy, he feared that the man could do more than shout at him and did as told. That's why Louis didn't sit next to Harry in the van back home, or sit next to him when all the boys were watching a movie last night. It's silly really, how a twenty-one year old was afraid of someone only four years older than them, but what do you expect from a guy who's too scared to ask for a change of clothing?

Harry tapped the empty page of his journal with the tip of his pen, his eyes trained on the older boy sat at the large piano in front of him. The first thing he noticed was that Louis was wearing dark colours today. Black skinny jeans with a big grey sweater on top. The shades matched the feeling in the boy's face, down and gloomy. He watched as Louis' small hands shifted gracefully from one chord to another effortlessly. 

He stood up, walking towards the boy and carefully, not to startle him, took a seat beside Louis. Soon, as Harry continued to watch, Louis finished the familiar tune on it's final note. Harry realized that it was a piano version of their song 'Happily'. 

"Can you show me how to play that?" Harry asked.

Louis looked up to the younger boy's eyes, looking a bit hesitant. Surely Kendall wouldn't mind him teaching Harry a short bit of the song. The older nodded, shuffling a bit closer to Harry's side so that he could place his smaller hands on top of Harry's larger. He placed the boy's fingers on the right keys, pressing down on the keys gently and singing the words to the chorus softly to himself as they played.

Harry wasn't even glancing towards his hand, but instead kept his gaze flickering over Louis' face and features.

"I know you wanna leave, so come on baby be with me so happily..." They both sang softly, pressing the final chord. Louis looked up to Harry, seeing that he was already looking down at him. It was silent between the two, gazes not breaking until Harry looked away and down to their hands. They were still touching, and he didn't want to move them for some reason.

"Can I ask you a question?" Harry asked. Louis nodded. "Why are you wearing dark clothing? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but..."

Louis shrugged slightly. "Just changing it up a bit. I'm older, so I thought I should show a more mature side to my appearance. That's all.."

Harry nodded, though he didn't fully believe that that was the true answer. He must still be listening to hate even when he told him not to.

"Can I ask you a question too?" Louis asked back. Harry laughed softly and nods. "This is a silly question, but... why did you look to me when you sang 'Love You First' yesterday?" He asked nervously, it sounded sillier to him out loud. 

Harry kept his head down as he thought about the boy's question. Why was he looking towards him while he sang? Because of the lyrics? But the lyrics had nothing to do with Louis, at least he thinks they don't. "I don't know." He looked up again. "I guess it was just a heat of the moment thing. Or maybe I just wanted to sing to you." He smiled slightly.

His eyes then moved to a small red line he noticed at the back of Louis' neck, his brows furrowing. "Did you cut yourself there?" He reached over and traced his finger along the small cut mark. He then noticed how Louis wasn't wearing his necklace like he usually would.

"Oh, uh, must have. I didn't really notice." Except Louis did know how it happened. When Kendall ripped the necklace off of him. "It's not bad is it?" He asked, reaching up to feel the cut himself.

"No... It's fine..." Harry spoke softly.

Before the green eyed boy knew what he was doing, he leaned down and kissed the small cut at the back of Louis' neck, only to quickly pull back in realisation, standing up and moving a little away from him. What the hell was that Harry?

Goosebumps formed on Louis' tan skin at the small action. He was silent, but there was a tiny smile growing on his lips.

"Can I ask you another question?" Louis asks again. Harry stayed quiet, but waited for him to speak. Louis slowly turned around in his seat to face towards the standing boy. "W-Why did you kiss me like that?"

Harry honestly didn't know. He didn't know why a lot of things happened between them. When they would look into each others eyes for a little while, or the small displays of affection he would give like kissing his forehead or cheek, or the occasional hugs they would give each other. He's just been doing it as if it came naturally to him, and it confused him. 

"Kisses heal wounds faster don't they?" It was a stupid excuse, but Louis found it cute in a way.

To move on from the slightly awkward air between them, Louis turned back to the piano, starting to play a new tune he's been working on, humming the nonexisting lyrics. 

Harry turned back to Louis as the music caught his attention. "That sounds nice." He commented, taking steps closer.

"It's just a little thing a came up with. Nothing special."

"All music is special." Harry said, sitting back down next to the shorter boy. "Especially when it's written by the right person." He smiled small.

The boy's found each other once again in a lost stare, locked in each others gazes. Louis' hand twitched a little above the keys, having a want to touch Harry, but he kept still, fearing that he shouldn't. He was also the one to break the stare.

"D-Do you want to go over the song again?" He questioned.

Louis had been playing piano for over two hours, so Harry thought it was a good idea to take a break.

"Honest opinion, okay?"

"Okay?" Louis turned his body to face Harry.

"Do you like my bun?" Harry asked, tilting his head down so that Louis could see it better.

Louis grinned, chuckling a little. "I love it, Haz." He reached out and tucked a stray hair behind Harry's ear. "Do you know what would be even better?" Louis traced his finger down the sides of Harry's head. "If you had braids along here and here."

"Braides?" Harry raised a brow, cocking his head in suspicion. 

"Yeah! Your hair would be long enough to do that. And it'd look cute."

Harry pouted. "What about sexy?"

Louis rolled his eyes. "As sexy as braids in a man's hair can get." He laughed, covering his mouth with his sweater paw as he giggled.

Harry smiled softly, looking at Louis with fond eyes. "I like hearing you laugh." 

At Harry's words, Louis blushed and looked down shyly, fiddling with his sleeves.

"It makes you look happier, and I like seeing you happy. Your eyes seem brighter than before, a pretty blue that somehow sparkle on their own. And the little crinkles by your eyes show, only when you're truly smiling though. I like that smile the best, even when you cover it when you laugh sometimes. It makes me smile... And-"

"Harry?"

Harry get's cut off from his own little world when the sound of Liam's voice is heard from the door. Louis was as red as a blushing tomato. Do tomatoes even blush? When Harry is finally back in reality, he realizes what he was just saying, and fear built up inside of him. Did he really just admit all that aloud?

Not a second later, Harry stood up from beside Louis and walked out of the room with Liam trailing behind him, leaving Louis alone. But the older boy didn't miss Liam faintly saying,

"Kendall's here."

Louis sighed to himself. What just happened? He tugged at his hair for a moment, his brain muddled up with questions and thoughts. He needed to talk to someone and get some air.

+

Louis ended up asking Niall if they could talk for a moment and go for a walk, to nowhere particular. Niall of course agreed, knowing from past times when Louis needed to talk was when he needed to vent or get some advice. 

"So, what's going on Tommo?" Niall asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets as the afternoon air grew colder.

Louis thought about what he was actually going to say. "I guess I'm... confused."

"What do you mean?"

The older boy shrugged, thinking that this was all so silly. He knew it sounded crazy, but he told him. "About Harry."

"Well isn't practically everyone confused about him? His tweets, his fashion choices, the way he acts sometimes." Niall pointed out.

"I'm not referring to his tweets or clothing Nialler... but the way he acts actually... around me."

Niall smirked, nudging his friend's side. "Has he finally made a move on ya?" He cackled.

Louis nudged him back. "No! Why would he anyway? He has Kendall..." He mumbled, looking down to his feet.

The Irish boy looked down at his best friend, observing him with a sorry look. 

 "But, he keeps doing these things. Small, silly things. Like.. when he'll grab a glass for me because I'm too embarrassingly short, or when he'll comfort me sometimes when I panic before going on stage, or he'll kiss my face somehow, or tell me I'm amazing and that I sound good when I don't think that I'm singing that nicely, or he'll make me laugh, or hug me from behind tightly, or tell me not to listen to bad comments. ." Even though he still does. "And sometimes, a few times actually, we would fall into this silence where we kinda just look at each other in the eye, or he would just hold me close for a moment. Like the world was gone... and it was just us for a while..."  

There was silence in the air, before Niall quietly said, "Wow."

Louis' eyes widened and his cheeks turned bright red. "Did I really just say that all aloud?" He groaned in embarrassment, covering his red face with his hands.

"He obviously likes you." Niall stated like it was an official fact.

Louis moved his hands away, looking to the blonde with a raised eyebrow. "W-What? Niall, of course he doesn't! He's just being friendly."

"Lou, come on, listen to yourself. We've been best mates since primary school and we don't look at each other like that. You and Harry have personally known each other what, two months? And you two look and act together like it's only you two lovebirds in the room!" Niall expressed.

"We're not lovebirds... B-But, you think he actually likes me?" Louis asked shyly, looking down to his hands.

Niall gave a cheeky smile. "Who wouldn't?"

Any fan of One Direction...

"But what about Kendall?"

Niall shrugged, not knowing the answer himself. "I don't know, Lou."

Suddenly, the sound of Louis' phone rang, pulling out the vibrating device from his back pocket. Reading the name of the caller, Louis started to think of all the things that he might have done wrong.

It was management.

Louis answered the call and listened carefully as he heard Marco talking to him down the line. When the man hung up, Louis put his phone back in his pocket. 

"Marco said he wanted to see me as soon as possible."

___________________________________________________________________________

Because /Larry-Love26 asked so kindly for an update, I did just that, but also for everyone else :)

Niall is me. I am Niall. I love Niall. #CIALL (chloe and niall, not creepy at all, haha)

So, what do you think management want to talk to Louis about?

Your thoughts on Harry at the moment?

Exams are starting in two days >.< great... wish me luck. I'll update soon :)

-Chloe x