Blinding Color || Larry Mpreg

Part 19

I feel like the prodigal son returning from his journey.

20 year old me sure has a different perspective than I did when I was 15.

Hopefully, this doesn't feel too disjointed from the chapter I wrote 5 years ago lol I tried to pick up where I left off.

*~*

After a few weeks more of rest and healing, along with some intense therapy with a therapist that Louis loved, he was restarting school. This time it was online and he could work at his own pace. Getting back to a somewhat normal routine was helping Louis focus on the present and not so much on the past or future. He could worry about those things later.

Harry was hesitant to leave Louis to return to his own schooling after they agreed to raise the baby together, but if he wanted to eventually provide a good life for his soulmate and their baby, good grades were important.

Going back to school and seeing Zayn felt like going back into a different world.

As Harry walked to his first-period class, he bumped into Zayn in the hall. "Hey Z," he said softly, smiling at him tiredly. Catching up on the homework from the days he was absent was killing him.

"Hi Haz," responded Zayn, no smile gracing his lips.

That concerned Harry as all the times that he had seen Zayn at school before, the boy was happy and smiling. Not wanting to trigger any more emotions before they had to attend class, Harry placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and offered, "Do you want to meet in the still life studio for lunch? We can talk and hang out there without getting interrupted."

With a gracious nod, Zayn offered Harry a tiny smile and entered their classroom.

The time between school starting and lunch was agonizingly long for Harry. He wanted to help his friend with whatever was going on and thoughts of the potential problem were distracting him from learning any new math equations or English essay styles.

Finally, when the time came for lunch, Harry rushed to the still life studio. Zayn was already there, sitting at a table in the middle of the room.

"So that was the longest morning of my life," Harry stated as he plopped down next to Zayn. I wanted to try to lighten the mood a little so Zayn was a bit more comfortable.

The tenseness in Zayn's shoulders relaxed a little like he hadn't been sure Harry would show up. "I agree. It felt like it took a hundred years. But now it's lunch. We're halfway done with the day," Zayn murmured as he tiptoed around the subject that caused Harry to want to meet with him in private for lunch.

After a moment of silence, Harry turned his chair to face Zayn more directly. "Zayn... What's going on? You never look this upset at school, regardless of how you're feeling, so something must seriously be up."

Zayn deflated at that. He couldn't hide this from Harry, not when they shared such a similar soulmate experience up until the last week or two.

"I heard from an acquaintance from my last school that my soulmate who rejected me in front of everyone is distancing himself from all his friends and people are really worried about him. He won't talk to anyone and... the acquaintance asked me if I... If I could reach out to him as his soulmate, even though he didn't want me, to see if I could get through to him." Zayn tried to get through the whole thing without choking up or feeling the panic begin to settle deep in his belly, but when he finished, his heart was racing and his hands were shaking.

Harry immediately reached over and took Zayn's hand. "Hey... Take a couple of deep breaths with me. Focus on my words. In... Out... In... Out." After a few moments of quiet and deep breathing, Zayn looked up from where he had been focusing on the floor to calm himself.