Polaris || l.s.

chapter 19: apprehension

Earth was the only one out of the other seven planets that sustained life. For years, he had heard it was a blessing, god's blessing, to be precise. After all, the universe was nothing but a well-polished structure built by a higher power, by a powerful deity, was it not? He remembered his father telling him how God had paved a path for everyone, a path that the person was destined to follow sometimes, somehow. His father was also the one who had sat him down one noon in his old study, his sturdy arms a heavy weight on his shoulders that he couldn't seem to shake off.

"Your path has since long been paved for you by the Lord, and you mustn't let anyone — even yourself — steer you away from it." He had merely yawned, blinking away the drowsiness that had coursed through his system, wondering idly what delicacies would be served for teatime that evening. "Are you aware of what I'm referring to?" When he had shaken his head distractedly, too young to have mastered the skill of patience yet, his father had merely scowled, his green eyes glinting with what he had later perceived as disappointment. He would later, at the grand ball of his eighteenth birthday, come to know what his father had meant all those days back. He was to follow the path of any young omega prince; to marry the monarch of a kingdom to seal an alliance that would be beneficial to both the parties involved.

But alas, he had learned to cave in, and so when his father told him he had to marry the almighty King of Zemira, he had nodded meekly — much to his father's joy. It wouldn't mean he would actually follow through on his word, though. And so when the opportunity presented itself, he had beautifully executed his escape from the life that had seemed too restricting from the start.

It all seemed obsolete now. No 'higher power' had decided he was to be locked to a restricting life of a prince. It was merely his fate. Because surely, if he had truthfully followed this 'predetermined path' of his, he would have never met Louis.

Harry greatly pitied people who didn't know Louis or the people who would never get the chance to meet him. It almost seemed like a life-threatening punishment, to never hear Louis laugh or to see the vee-shaped smile that always broke out on his face whenever he was trying to stifle a wide smile or to see his eyes crinkling with felicity, or to see him prattle about different species of trees and the night sky.

"Harry?"

"Hm?" He looked up, momentarily stopping his ministrations (Louis' fingers were just really fun to play with and since he had nothing better to do, he figured he could get away with it this time around).

It was one of those nights when Louis had dragged him to the open field late at night so he could improve his practical understanding of the night sky that he loved to read about in various books. Of course, he didn't mind tagging along. Especially since Louis always let him lay down with his head on his lap. However, to speak the truth, he had been a tad chagrined when he had been woken up from his after-dinner nap at roughly around 8 and made to trudge behind Louis through the warren of trees and wildflowers as the alpha dropped off Olympia by the triad's house.

Within the last week, Zayn and Niall had formed a bond with the kid who would gladly bask in Zayn's attention all the time. Louis made the most out of the sudden attachment and so whenever he wanted to compare the practicality of the information jotted down in his thick book, the alpha would always drop Olympia off at Zayn's and then drag him along every time.

Harry blinked himself out of his stupor as Louis leaned down to drop a light kiss against his lips, smiling down at him with his cheeks flushed with happiness. "Nothin', I was just checking if you were asleep or not." The alpha lied straight through his teeth, nonchalantly going back to skimming through his book as if Harry was going to forgo such a proactive move. He scoffed, pushing himself to his knees before he shuffled over to the alpha, sliding the book off Louis' lap as he situated himself in its place.