follow me// larry + ziam (and a side of niall)

2: Louis

LOUIS POV

Hatred. That's all Louis felt as he trudged to the bathroom. Harry caused him to have an episode in front of the whole class. He sighed and ran some cold water so splash over his face in hopes of washing away some of the lingering anxiety. Louis stared at his reflection in the mirror, picking his appearance, flaw by flaw. Senior year was supposed to be fun and freeing, not lonely and anxiety ridden. Everything wrong with his life had come to the surface this year, and he wanted nothing more than for it to go away.

He decided he had been standing in there long enough, so he headed back to the classroom. The door squeaked open and many people turned towards the source of the noise and eyed him curiously as he went to his seat next to Harry. He sat down and could feel Harry's eyes boring into him. 

"Are you okay?" He asked after a few silent moments. 

"Is that, concern I hear? Does Harry Styles have a heart after all?" Louis spat bitterly, keeping his eyes trained on the film. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harry crack a smile before turning back around. Neither of them said a word until the bell rang, to which Louis sprang up and zoomed out of the classroom. Excitement for his next class, studio painting, took over his body as he walked to the room. 

"Hey Lou." Zayn said when he sat down.

"Hey, Z" He smiled and set his bag on the floor. 

"How was English?" Zayn asked while casually leaning back in the chair. 

"Horrible. Harry is an absolute asshole." Louis scoffed, but Zayn just smiled. "What?"

"You're so blind." He said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Louis leaned forward. 

"Li! Tell Louis how blind he is." Zayn added when Liam walked over to sit next to Zayn.

"What's he blind about?" Liam asked. 

"Harry." Zayn elbowed Louis. 

"I'm lost." Louis looked back and forth between the two. 

"Someday they'll realize." Liam chuckled. 

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Louis exasperated, but Liam and Zayn shared a knowing glance. "Just because you guys have known each other forever doesn't mean you can leave me out of your little eye conversations." Louis humphed and crossed his arms. 

"What eye conversations?" Liam said sarcastically. 

"I hate both of you." 

"You love us." 

"Definitely not."

"Alright class, we're just continuing our semester projects today so pick up where you left off." Mrs. Aldridge instructed. Everyone shuffled over to the cubbies that held their paintings and grabbed the supplies they needed. Louis was working on a fruit basket, something traditional but intricate that would impress the teacher. So far it looked like shit though. 

"Zayn you don't have to be such a show off." Louis scoffed when Zayn set his painting down. He was working on a portrait of his sisters, and so far it was amazing. Louis was jealous of Zayn's creative abilities but would never tell him that.

"You say that every time, you know I've been painting since I came out of the womb." Zayn reasoned. 

"Still." Louis tried to focus on his banana, but his mind kept drifting to other things. He wondered if his mum would be home, if she would want him to cook dinner. All he wanted was to shut himself up in his room and do nothing, stay up as late as he could. Not have to deal with sleep. No sleep, sleep is for the weak. Literally. 

"And she told me that I had to---"

"I want to go home." Louis interrupted without a thought.

"Are you okay?" Zayn asked with concern, but Liam looked annoyed at the intrusion. 

"Let's go get food. Are you hungry? I'm hungry." Louis rambled, unable to control his thoughts and words at that point. 

"Lou, what's wrong?" Zayn grabbed his shoulders. 

"Nothing's wrong. I just want food." He said. 

"Lunch is next period, I'll get you something from the vending machines. That okay?" Zayn slowly asked. Louis nodded, his heart racing and thoughts jumbled. Why was Zayn worried?

"Yeah, okay." Louis turned back around without a second glance and picked up his brush while Zayn stared at him in wonder. 

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A/N: Chapter two!! Like I said last chapter, these first few will probably be pretty short just so you can get a feel for the dynamics and friendships between the boys. They'll get longer, I promise, comment and vote!