[Harry]

One thing I noticed when it was only a few minutes into the game was that Louis was really damn amazing at football. I didn't want to admit it, but there was literally no denying it. He played like a god, dribbling past player after player until he was close enough to the goal to kick a perfect score. Well, at least it looked pretty great to me.

He wasn't always that selfish, though. Usually (more times than I expected), he passed the ball to his teammates so they could take shots as well. The players that stood out from the rest were Louis, Niall and some blonde guy I had never acknowledged before. Ed was great too, but since he was the goalie it was hard to compare him to the others.

To my surprise, I was quite into the game, which I had not expected I was going to be at all. In all honesty, though, that was most likely because it was so even. The score was 3-2 after halftime, and it honestly couldn't be more nerve-wracking. I was biting my fingernails, and it wasn't even nearing the end yet.

Liam seemed to be as into the game as I was, staring at what was unfolding in front of him with wide, concentrated eyes, following the ball's every movement. I never thought he liked football since he had never told me he did, but apparently, I was wrong about that. I had never seen him this focused on anything that didn't have to do with school before.

I wanted to question him about it but decided I was going to wait until after the game. Right now, I was more interested in watching what was unfolding in front of me. The players were currently jogging out onto the field again after a fifteen minutes break. Ed positioned himself in front of the net while the other players took their own positions.

The referee blew his whistle to signal the opponents to kick off. The first thing that happened was that Louis stole the ball from one of the other team's players and started heading towards the net with Niall running right beside him. I couldn't help but notice the way Louis' flexible legs moved when he ran, so the muscles in them popped out in the sexiest way possible, and the way he so skillfully skipped towards the other side of the field. Woah, I did not just think that, okay?

Louis dribbled past one- two defenders and was just about to aim at the net when he changed his mind and passed the ball to Niall instead, who was already swinging his leg back to kick the ball towards the net. Unfortunately, though, the goalie seemed to be able to read their minds and blocked the ball with his fist at the last second. Many people in the audience who had been ready to celebrate a score, quieted down in disappointment as Louis and Niall jogged back to their half of the field, Niall with a sad expression on his face.

Before I could acknowledge anything else, Niall flicked his gaze in the direction of the bleachers and met my eyes. My first thought was that he was going to glare at me since that was what he always did, so when a weak smile formed on his lips, I was utterly shocked. It was gone within a second, though, so when I blinked to ensure myself that I was seeing what I thought I was, it wasn't there any longer, and he had gone back to focus on the game.

Weird, I thought to myself as I continued following the ball's movements.

The second half of the game was almost as eventful as the first one. The other team was the first to score, so it was 3-3, but Louis was quick to change that when he scored a goal just a minute later. Now, the score was 4-3 with our team winning, and only two minutes remained of the game. The audience was cheering like crazy already even though nothing was set in stone yet. Anything could still happen.

As if reading my mind, a brown-haired player from the other team stole the ball from one of ours and started heading towards Ed at an incredible speed. He dribbled past the defenders and got himself ready to shoot the ball by looking up towards the net. Everyone was holding their breaths, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

Mere seconds were remaining of the game when the guy kicked the ball, sending it flying towards Ed who had to dive to the side to block the ball with his hands. It only brushed his fingertips, but thankfully it was enough to make it go outside the net instead of into it.

The audience erupted with cheers, practically burning holes in my poor ears, but right then I didn't mind it one bit. It was all just so amazing. Happiness and joy literally exploded in my body as a wide smile formed on my lips. I couldn't believe that I was here, at a football game, and actually enjoying myself this much. I never thought this was going to happen, ever.

To my great surprise, Liam turned to me and wrapped his arms around my frame, pulling me into a tight hug. "They made it!" He exclaimed, tensing up a second later when he realized what he was doing. He pulled away with a blush on his face as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I mean, they made it," he repeated, his voice sounding not even half as excited this time.

Rolling my eyes, I let out a chuckle. "You don't have to hide your happiness, I'm just as happy as you are," I reassured him, earning a smile from him.

"Well then," he said, pulling me into his arms again and giving me another tight hug. "I can't believe they actually made it! And they were so great, weren't they? Oh my God, we have to go down there and congratulate Ed on that awesome save he did!" He unwrapped his arms from me again to nod towards the field that many people from the audience were now heading for to congratulate the players.

I made a face, hesitating a little. Going down there meant being even closer to Louis and even risking to make eye contact with him. Eh, what the hell. We were stepbrothers, I was most likely going to make eye contact with him before this day was over anyway.

With that thought in my head, I followed Liam down the bleachers and onto the pitch where Ed was standing by one of the goalposts, talking to what looked to be some guy our age. He had brown hair and was rather short, but nonetheless, I didn't recognize him.

"Ed!" I yelled when he was within hearing distance.

He looked over the guy's shoulder at the sound of my voice, a wide smile forming on his lips as he caught sight of me and Liam. The guy seemed to understand the situation and walked off to congratulate the other players.

"I can't believe you guys are actually here! I never thought you would show up," Ed grinned, embracing me in a tight and sweaty hug. I scrunched my nose at the smell but reciprocated the hug anyway because I was so proud to be his friend and also so happy for him at this second.

"Of course we are! I would never let you down like that," I said, pulling out of the embrace. "Oh, and by the way, you were absolutely amazing out there. Why have you never told me to come watch you play before? It was awesome!"

Ed laughed, shrugging his shoulders. He went to hug Liam as well, who congratulated him as well. "I guess I didn't want to bother you since I knew you don't like football and all. But, judging by the look in your eye right now, I would say this game changed your mind."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

Ed sent me a teasing look while Liam glanced over to the other people on the field, seeming to search for someone special. I followed his gaze only for my eyes to land on Zayn. He had an arm wrapped around the same blonde girl he'd been with the other week, a smile playing on his lips.

My eyebrows pulled together because this was not the first time I had caught Liam looking at Zayn. It had been going on for at least three weeks now, and I was starting to get really curious as to what the reason behind it was. Maybe Liam fancied Zayn? But, Liam would've told me so if that was the case, right?

"...what do you say?"

I snapped my head to Ed, who apparently had been talking to me - or us, and looked at him confused. "Huh?"

Ed rolled his eyes, running a hand through his sweaty, ginger hair. "I was asking if you wanted to come to the celebration party tonight. Niall is arranging it, so you're most definitely going to have a blast. He always throws the best parties."

Liam reacted at the mention of a party and turned to Ed with lightning speed. "You're inviting us to the party? Man, everyone's been talking about it all day. Harry, please tell me we're going," he pleaded, turning to give me a puppy face.

Since when had Liam been into parties? I mean, as far as I could remember, he had never even been to one before, so where did this come from all of a sudden? "Liam, I thought you didn't like parties," I said suspiciously, guessing that this must have something to do with a certain raven-haired guy.

"What are you talking about? I have never said that. I've just never been to one, is all. Though, I've always wanted to," he said, smiling at Ed, who looked a little suspicious himself.

"Well, okay. So, what do you say?" Ed asked, looking at me hopefully.

Scratching the back of my neck, I turned to give Liam a pointed look, but he just ignored it as if he hadn't even seen it. "Come on, Liam. Please don't do this to me. You know I don't mix well with parties. Besides, Louis is going to be there and I don't want him to humiliate me in front of all those people," I pleaded to the brown-haired boy, jutting out my bottom lip for more effect.

I was quite sure he wasn't even fazed by my attempt at winning him over because the next second, he told Ed we were going to be there. "When does it begin?" He asked excitedly, rolling back and forth on his heels.

Ed seemed just as happy as he did that we were going. "As soon as we have all showered. We're heading there right after." He turned to me with a concerned look on his face. "You don't seem very excited about this, Harry. I promise you're going to enjoy yourself although I know parties are not exactly your thing. Besides, if you don't like it, you can always go home, you know?"

I gave him a timid smile. "I guess," I muttered.

"Is that a yes then?" Liam questioned, almost jumping up and down from how excited he was.

Letting out a sigh, I nodded my head. "Yeah, but if it all goes to hell, I'm never going to forgive you, alright?"

Liam smiled wide. "Alright."

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

_____

When Ed disappeared into the locker room, I pulled out my phone to send mum a text, telling her I wouldn't show up for dinner that night. I then figured Louis probably hadn't informed her or Troy that he wasn't going to be there either, so I sent her another text to tell her that as well. Even if I didn't care about Louis, I thought it was unfair for them if they cooked too much food when he wasn't going to show up anyway.

Liam and I were still standing by the goalpost, waiting for Ed to come back from the locker room so he could show us the way to Niall's house. Neither I nor Liam had been there before, so we needed his help to get to the place.

My back was resting against the pole as I observed my surroundings, noticing that Louis was still out here and not in the showers like almost everybody else on the team was. He was standing a few yards away with his arm wrapped around Eleanor's waist protectively as he talked to his coach. The sight made a large knot form in my stomach, and I had to look away not to throw up for some reason.

I never reacted this way when I saw Louis and Eleanor together, so what was different about this time? The only thing I could come up with was that Louis was my stepbrother now, but that wasn't even relevant for this situation. I had no idea what the reason for it was.

"Harry, Ed's coming," Liam suddenly spoke up, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I looked up to see Ed indeed walking in our direction, a sports bag thrown over his shoulder and his wet, ginger hair standing in all directions after the shower he had taken. "You guys ready to party?" He asked, winking at me since he knew I wasn't really into this.

"Of course," Liam answered while I just hummed a reply.

Together, we walked to the bus stop on the other side of the school and waited for the next bus to show up. To kill time, we talked about everything and nothing, really. It was everything from school to memories the three of us shared, and it wasn't actually boring at all. To be honest, it was probably the most fun I'd ever had while waiting for a bus to show up.

Fifteen minutes later, the vehicle pulled over in front of us and its doors opened to let us all in. Since the entire team and many more people were going to the same place, it didn't take long until the bus was filled. Luckily, Ed, Liam and I managed to get seats even if Ed had to sit beside some old lady who whined about it being too noisy in the small space.

Eventually, we finally got to Niall's place, and to my surprise, it was located just a few blocks away from my own. I recognized the area, but I had never really acknowledged his house before. Not that it was bad-looking (it was really beautiful) but because all of the houses in this area looked pretty much the same. It was one of those luxurious homes where the walls were covered in white and the rooms decorated with expensive furniture, which made me wonder if Niall had asked his parents for permission to arrange this party, or if they simply were out and he took the opportunity.

Nonetheless, the party was on full blast within just a few minutes since Niall had apparently prepared everything before he went to the game earlier today. All of the people helped him getting the alcohol out and turning on the music. Liam, Ed and I settled down on a couch in the living room, observing the people who were now dancing with each other like maniacs. Well, as I said before; parties and I didn't mix well together, at all.

Letting out a sigh, I turned to Liam and Ed and raised an eyebrow. "Is this the reason you wanted to go here? So we could sit on a couch and stare at everybody else in here letting loose? If so, I'm out of here. I don't want to spend my Friday night in a house I've never been before to look at people getting drunk off their asses."

Ed rolled his eyes, hooking one of his legs over the other. "Chill, Harry. The party is just getting started. Before you know it, you'll be out there dancing along to the music too," he joked, earning a glare from me.

"That's not what I meant. I couldn't care less about dancing. I just don't want to sit here all night long and stare at people. I've got better things to do than that."

"Like what?" Liam asked, turning to me.

"Look who finally figured out how to use their mouth."

He rolled his eyes, nudging me in the side gently. "Come on, mate, don't be so grumpy. We'll find something better to do. Just like Ed here said; the party is just getting started. It's not like we're going to sit here all night."

I muttered something inaudible as I crossed my arms over my chest, staring ahead of me. Something better to do? Like what? The best thing I could think of was to go home, but I doubted that was what he was getting at. What he meant probably involved a lot more dancing and alcohol than walking.

"Come on," Ed said after five minutes, standing up from the couch. "I'll show you something."

Suspicious, I slowly got up and followed him and Liam through the crowd of people, bumping into people I was sure I had never seen before and also some students I recognized from school. It was not the most pleasant sight I had seen, if I may say so. The party had only been going on for about half an hour, yet some of them were already drunk, and if there was one thing I found uncomfortable, it was being around intoxicated people.

"Here, have a beer," Ed said, handing me and Liam each a can of the brownish liquid.

Scrunching my nose up, I gave it back to him. "I think I'll stay away from alcohol tonight. One of us has to stay sober if we want to get home safely."

Liam shrugged his shoulders, taking a sip of his beer. "Since this is my first party ever, I might as well enjoy it," he reasoned, downing the whole thing.

Ed chuckled and drank from his can as well, making me roll my eyes. Three beers and four shots later, we were seated at a table in the kitchen, talking and laughing with each other. Ed and Liam were slowly losing control of their bodies by the alcohol that was now running through their systems, but for some reason, I didn't have anything against it. I usually disliked being around drunk people, but the two of them were actually quite funny when they were intoxicated. They were laughing and enjoying themselves more than I had ever seen them do before, which was definitely a sight.

"...and then I told him no way! You can't possibly have three feet, that is just impossible," Ed laughed, slamming his hand against the table, Liam joining him right away.

I smiled at my two friends, finding their jokes so bad that I couldn't help but laugh at them. Actually, I had never seen the two of them get along this well before. Ed was more a friend of mine than Liam's, but I guess with a little alcohol, a lot of things could change.

On another note, the need for leaving was slowly fading away from my body. Witnessing my friends having fun with each other and finally warming up to the party myself, I had actually started enjoying myself a little. Sure, I wasn't drinking nor dancing, but who says you can't have fun anyway?

"Hey, Harry. Co-ould you please go get me-e and Ed another dri-ink?" Liam giggled, and I just nodded with a smile on my face, happy that I finally had something to do. Even if they were a lot of fun, it was always nice to take a break and stretch your bones after sitting on a chair for so long. Besides, I was a little curious as to what was happening in the living room, where the party was on full blast.

So, I made my way into the living room and over to the table where the alcohol was being served and grabbed two glasses of some drink I didn't know the name of. I was just about to turn around and go back to Liam and Ed when I felt myself being splashed with some sort of liquid.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" A male voice spoke from beside me, sounding truly apologetic.

I opened my mouth to say that it was no big deal when I saw who the guy was. It was Niall. He was dressed in a black t-shirt with a pair of black, skinny jeans. His hair looked a little messy, which I assumed was due to the party, and his eyes were a little unfocused, a sign that he was drunk. Nonetheless, they were still an ocean blue color, sparkling from the little light in the room.

"Harry?" He said in shock, his eyes widening at the sight of me.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Why in the world would he greet me like that? He hated me, just like all of his friends did, which included Louis. There was just no way he was in his right mind right now.

Speaking of the feathery-haired boy, by the way, I hadn't seen him here all night. Though, I was almost sure he was busy making out with his girlfriend in the bathroom or something similar to it. I didn't want to think it could be worse than that since it only gave me uncomfortable chills.

"Yeah?"

Niall scratched the back of his neck, wobbling a little but managing to catch himself on the table before falling. "Oh, nothing. J-just didn't expect you to be here, i-is all."

"Um, no. I usually don't go to parties," I said, finding it weird that he for the first time wasn't rudely talking to me. Maybe it was because of the alcohol, but right now, I didn't care. This Niall was much better than the other one, even if he was drunk off his ass at the moment.

"Well, that's too ba-ad. You should come mo-ore often, yeah? Think about it," he slurred, and I just inwardly chuckled at his behavior. This was so far from the Niall I usually witnessed that I almost didn't believe my eyes. Was he actually the same person? I doubted it.

When I didn't reply, he went to open his mouth again. "Lo-ok, I'm sorry I spilled my dri-ink on you. Maybe I could make up for it so-omehow?" He smiled suggestively, leaning forward a little to run his hand along my arm.

My eyes widened at his touch, and I instantly pulled away, suddenly feeling really uncomfortable. "Um, no, that won't be necessary. I... I have to go. See you later," I said hurriedly, quickly walking away from him.

I didn't look back when I began making my way back to Liam and Ed, who were probably getting impatient that I hadn't come back with their drinks yet, I was too afraid to see if Niall was following me. This was exactly what I meant when I said I didn't like being around drunk people. Things could get really damn uncomfortable if you weren't intoxicated yourself.

To get to the kitchen, I had to walk by the bathroom, and what I heard on the other side of the door made me furrow my eyebrows together. Was that the sound of someone throwing up?

Contemplating whether to do something about the situation or not, I bit my bottom lip. It could be anybody in there, but what were the odds that it was someone who wouldn't like my help? Probably zero, so I sat the two drinks on a table nearby before walking over to the door and knocking on it gently. "Hello? Are you okay?" I asked hesitantly, waiting for some kind of answer.

It took at least half a minute until I could hear a familiar voice on the other side of the door, and the sound of it made the muscles in my body freeze to ice. "Harry?" Louis whispered in reply, and a second later the door opened in front of me.

The sight of the feathery-haired boy made my eyes widen. His hair looked disheveled, as if he had run his hands through it several times, and his eyes were bloodshot. But it wasn't any of those things that told me he wasn't feeling well. It was the fact that his face was as pale as snow. How much had he had to drink tonight? He literally looked ready to pass out any second.

"Oh my God," I gasped, reaching up to cover my wide-opened mouth.

He checked our surroundings before pulling me into the bathroom and locking the door behind us. "Harry, what are you doing here?" He asked, sitting down on the toilet seat while running a hand over his face.

"I'm here with Liam and Ed, but that doesn't matter right now. What the hell? How much have you had tonight?" I walked over to him, bending down in front of him to get a better view of his pale face.

Don't ask me why I suddenly cared, I just didn't like the sight of anyone looking like this. It had nothing to do with the fact that this was Louis out of all people. It could've been anyone and I would've cared just as much about them.

When I reached up to pull his hand away from his face, he snatched it away, sending me an angry look. "What do you think you're doing?" He snapped, suddenly sounding a lot more sober.

I gulped, looking away from his intense glare. "Nothing. I-I was just making sure... Eh, whatever. You don't want my help anyway," I said, feeling dumb for even thinking he would accept my help. He hated me, just like he had always done. It didn't matter that he was pissed off drunk, his anger towards me would always be there.

Straightening myself up, I turned around to exit the room, but before I had even taken a step towards the door, a hand grabbed my arm. Confused, I turned to see Louis looking at me sheepishly, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. "Please, don't go. I just... fuck," he cut himself off, shaking his head in what looked like disbelief. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I possibly... kind of... want your help?"

My lips turned into a small smile. "Well then, how about I take you back home? By the looks of it, you have partied enough for tonight, so I would say we go home and go to bed, yeah?"

He gave me a weak smile in return, nodding his head. "Sure."

_______________________________________

Cliffhanger! Oops? *smiles cautiously* I'm sorry. This chapter was getting a little too long, so I had to cut it off there. But in the next chapter you'll get to see what happens on the way back to the house, alright? Hope you aren't too mad at me :/

Anyways, thoughts on Niall spilling his drink on Harry?

Thoughts on Louis actually accepting Harry's help after all?

And thoughts on Harry slowly developing a crush on Louis?

QUESTION: What do you think of the DMD music video?

Edited by: Lacy

Pauline .xx