Poise and Poison

iii

Louis tried to fight the overwhelming sensation. The tears stung behind his eyes, threatening to escape.

He tried to ignore the remembrance of how that felt. A kiss on the waist shouldn't have affected him this strongly, his head filling with late night conversations.

He bit back the feeling of desire he'd previously felt, he couldn't fall that hard again. So, he pursed his thin lips together, ignoring the gesture entirely, as if Harry hadn't done it.

Louis looked slowly at Harry with eyes, hinted behind with sadness. Harry noticed, and offered Louis a kind smile. Louis' heart leaped, giving Harry a genuine smile back.

So, they stood there for a moment, taking in and studying each other's smile. The place beneath Louis' ribs where Harry had kissed, felt as if it was burning.

To Louis, all of this felt completely foreign, but also, he somewhat understood the energy that was now filling the room.

The feeling of familiarity became overwhelming, as the wound seemed to open up once again. Now, tears clouded his vision, his breathing became harsher, trying desperately not to ruin the moment.

Louis swallowed thickly and began to unwrap the linen from his ankles, not saying a word more to Harry.

"Louis what are you- "

"I'm a bit tired," Louis didn't convince Harry one bit, as his voice began to shake near the end of his sentence. "I'll meet you here, same time tomorrow." Louis finished and ran off, out of the building.

Harry was left only to wonder what he'd done wrong. Guilt overcrowded Harry's head as he gathered his sketchbooks, putting them back in his bag. By the time Harry had gotten outside, Louis was long gone. Harry slung his bag over both of his shoulders and let out a long yawn.

"Haz? Is that you?" He heard a familiar voice say. He laughed a little in relief of seeing his friend under a streetlamp near him.

"Oi Zayn." Harry jogged up to him. "What are you doing?" Zayn looked up at Harry, putting a white cigarette in between his lips, then raising his eyebrows.

Zayn lifted the box, offering Harry one. Harry shrugged, deciding to grab one of the sticks and put it between his teeth. Harry rarely smoked, tonight happened to be that rare occasion where guilt and stress were mixed.

"Everything alright, Styles? I heard you got paired with Louis." Zayn asked, lighting the end of his cigarette. Harry looked up at Zayn, nodding his head slowly.

Harry bent down, for Zayn to then light the end of Harry's cigarette. Harry sighed, letting out a blow of smoke into the clean air of the night, then letting his eyes trail up to the black sky.

How could he be so dumb? So foolish as to nearly make Louis cry in their first meeting.

"What's the topic?" Zayn asked, rubbing his cold hands together.

"Innocence." Harry actually chuckled, raising his eyebrows, and shaking his head. Zayn was often very easy to talk to when he wasn't super hyper and yelling when it wasn't necessary.

Zayn was shorter than Harry, but taller than most. His hair was dyed blonde, his black hair peeking slightly at the roots.

Harry always thought Zayn looked cool, like he could be in the Outsiders. Suppose it didn't help Zayn's case, as he wore a black leather jacket every day. It was somewhat of a trademark at this point. Dyed blonde hair and a leather jacket.

Harry and Zayn had known each other since sophomore year of high school, unlike Nick, who they'd only known for the better part of two months.

Harry and Zayn had been best friends ever since then, and just so happened to get into the same uni. Zayn furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Harry, cocking his head to the side slightly,