How It Feels To Have A Heartbeat - Larry fanfic (AU)

Chapter 6

During the next few days, Harry had started opening a little bit more up to Louis. Getting a new friend was a long process for him, that didn't just happen over a few days, and he was shocked by how fast he had started putting a little bit more trust into the short boy.

During the weekend, Harry had spent a lot of time with Niall, as he did almost every weekend, and he had taken up the offer to work that Saturday. It turned out to be a good break after the first week of school. Louis had also texted him a few times, which was a nice surprise even though texting back was very stressful, but he didn't over work himself this time. On Sunday, he actually found himself enjoying getting a text from Louis.

On Monday, Harry walked to school on his usual path, avoiding any human contact possible, enjoying the view of the little forest next to the narrow road. He was zoning out slightly, letting cold air caress his skin, not bothering him the slightest, and letting the bird's song take over his brain.

At one point he heard footsteps behind him, this was unusual, since this road was barely used. Most people just took the direct way to school, since they didn't bother to walk further than they needed to. He prepared for someone to walk past him, and looked down at his feet, moving one in front of the other. He waited, while the footsteps came closer, but they never came further than directly next to him. After almost a minute of walking with a stranger, they spoke up.

"Hey, how are you?" Louis' voice rang through the cold air. Harry recognized the voice and noticed his shoulders relaxing. He looked to the side, seeing Louis walking next to him with a smile. He smiled back.

"Better, now that I know that I'm not being followed by a serial killer who will ambush me and leave my body to rot in the woods, never to be found, leaving my family wondering what happened to me", he replied, allowing himself to be a little bit sarcastic.

"Sorry", Louis said truthfully. Then a smile appeared back on his face. "Did you really imagine all of that in the short time it took for me to catch up with you?" He asked, finding it interesting how he overthought everything.

"Yeah", he replied. Louis chuckled at this, which made Harry look down towards his feet again. Why does he always laugh at things I say or do? Does he think I'm awkward? Is he only befriending me so he can find out how weird I am and go tell everyone? He thought while a frown appeared on his face. Louis quickly realized his mistake and scratched his neck, a sheepish look on his face.

"That's not a bad thing, or well, I don't think it's weird or anything, like, I just thought it was kind of cute or, what, no uh, funny or something, but not funny in a bad way you know?" Louis rambled, feeling slightly embarrassed. When he rambled, he would often start saying whatever came into his mind. It was true that he found it cute how Harry would think so much, but he couldn't tell him that. Not yet anyway. Hell, he didn't even know what he felt for the guy.

Louis knew he couldn't be completely straight, but he had never actually had a solid crush on a guy. Had he even had a crush before? Yes, but not strong crushes, mostly just slightly more interest in a person. He thought to himself. But he did find guys just as attractive as girls, so there had to be something, right? He honestly didn't know, but he did know that he indeed thought Harry was cute, and he hadn't thought that about a friend before.

It was Harry's time to chuckle. Louis had gotten all flushed in his face, making him look like he was sunburnt. He tried to ignore what he had said about it being cute, as it was probably not what he had wanted to say in the first place.

"You talk a lot", he simply said and smiled a bit. Louis tilted his head slightly. "That's also not a bad thing, by the way", Harry continued. This made Louis smile and look forwards. They walked for almost five minutes, when Harry spoke up again.