The Taxi Valentine {l.s. a.u.}

Part III: Lavender

Silence.

Louis sipped his tea from the teacup in his hands while Harry was setting up the guest room for Louis. The tea was lukewarm now since it had been a little bit. Harry came back and sat down beside Louis.

Harry tried to get Louis to talk by asking him questions, nudging him, and even going to the extent of taking his own coffee cup and threatening to pour it on Louis's thigh.

Louis noticed the idiotic advances that Harry was taking, and heaved a sigh that followed with a slight chuckle. He swatted Harry's hand that held the teacup  away from his leg, while giggling. Louis realized what he was doing and stopped quickly. He couldn't let himself become comfortable again with Harry.

"We can watch t.v. if you want. Or Netflix. I do have it," Harry asked, looking around to find the t.v. remote. He dug inside the couch cushions, trying to find the stupid rectangle, so he could put on Netflix for Louis. Louis stared at Harry as he looked for the remote and he convinced himself after some coaxing that it wasn't funny.

"Finally!" Harry yells, holding up the remote. Harry rearranged the couch, so it looked the way it was, then plopped down onto the couch next to Louis. "Whatcha want to watch?" Harry scolled through the title selections and noticed Once Upon A Time.

"Oh, this looks good. Have you seen this?" Harry asked, so comfortably to Louis. Louis hated it. How could he be so comfortable around Louis after what happened?

"How can you act and talk to me like what happened never happened, Harry? I just don't understand it," Louis said, rather small. He fidgeted with his hands in his lap, while waiting for an answer.

Harry was speechless after hearing Louis's words. Each one hit him like a stab in the heart. He could feel himself shutting down slowly while trying to come up with an answer. "I-I don't know. I just... It just doesn't feel different being here with you. It still feels like two years ago before I cheated on you."

Louis sighed and felt his insides cave in at the desperateness sounding in Harry's voice. But he couldn't let himself feel sorry for the man beside him. "Well it's different now, Harry. You cheated on me and not even a week after we had sex together. You can't say that nothing has changed because I cried over you, Harry. I cried for weeks and weeks, feeling so worthless and feeling like I wasn't good enough for you, you inconsiderate fool."

Louis just wanted to hit and punch Harry until he wasn't upset with him anymore. Louis's anger was finally bubbling up inside his body like the lava inside of a volcano.

Harry looked over at Louis, who looked like he was about to cry. His eyes were tearing up, but it looked like he refused to let them fall. "You're right. I'm an inconsiderate fool. I cheated on the best thing that has ever happened to me and I'm so sorry. I know that apologies will never be good enough but I am sorry," Harry told Louis, with sincerity clear in his voice. Louis knew that he was sorry, but he couldn't just forgive him.

Louis stood up from the couch and wiped away a stray tear that had fallen from his eye. "Just leave me alone, okay? I'm going to sleep now, Harry." Louis wrapped his arms around himself and shuffled away to the guest bedroom that he knew all too well. It had been the room he would stay in before the two started to date. But even then, he would sneak to Harry's room to sleep. The two were inseparable ever since they met.

"Louis! Please come outside to meet our new neighbours!" Johannah called to her little seven-year-old son. She desperately wanted him to make some friends in their new neighbourhood, since she was the reason he had to leave all of his old friends.

Louis dropped his red race car reluctantly, and stomped outside with an attitude that Jay really wanted to take care of, but they were outside where people could see. Louis saw a boy that was shorter than he was and a girl with bangs, sitting in the yard with several toys in front of both of them. Louis walked over to the boy and sat down in front of the new children and examined their toys. The girl was playing with some Barbies, but Louis didn't care about the girl. He cared about the light brown headed boy playing with a blue race car with orange flames on the sides.

"I like your blue race car. I have a red one," Louis told the brunette boy, hoping to appease his mother by talking to the boy. And maybe he could gain a friend out of this...

"Thanks. I got it for my birthday. I have more inside my playroom. Wanna see 'em?" The other little boy was a bundle of joy who loved to play with race cars and his teddy bear.

Louis nodded and followed the little boy over to his house and into his play room that really was a bedroom with a bunch of toys in it. But the two boys didn't know the difference.

"What's your name?" Louis asked, plopping down on the floor in front of the other boy.

"Oh, 'm Harry. You're Lou-ee, right? That's what Mummy told me. Your name is cool, though."

And that little playdate in the room that Louis was in, right then, started their whole friendship. After that, the two would play until one of their mums would have to come in and take the other home. Sometimes, even on school nights, they were allowed to spend the night at each other's houses since they lived near the other. They would ride to school together and even then, the two would hate to be separated by the different classes that they were in. It was a definite curse, they both thought, that they were always put in separate classes.

Harry decided to honor Louis's request and leave him alone for the night. Harry knew that it was useless to even try to get Louis to talk after that. Harry wanted, somehow, to get Louis back. He just wanted to hold him, cuddle him, and kiss him like he used to. Being here with Louis, made him want those things with Louis again. It made him depressed, but he felt that he should keep trying. if he kept trying, maybe Louis would come around. Maybe he could finally kiss him once more. "I still love you," Harry whispered, one tear falling from his eye, before he put on Tarzan. If he couldn't have his Louis, then he could at least gain a little hope by watching Tarzan fall for his Jane. Disney could always put him in a better mood.

After Tarzan, Harry stood up from the couch and walked up the stairs and to his own bedroom. He stripped of his tight jeans and floral button-up before he came to the realization that Louis didn't have any clothes to sleep in. Harry threw on a t-shirt, then rummaged through his drawers. He knew he still had some of Louis' clothes somewhere... Or he didn't. Harry grabbed his large lavender sweater that Louis would always wear whenever he spent the night. He even wore it the morning after. Harry remembered it. But he did not have time for that.

Harry took the sweater and some sweats he found, then walked them over to the closed the guest bedroom door. "Louis? I've got some sleep clothes for you, if you're still awake?"

Louis heard the small voice outside of the door. He was freezing under the duvet and sheet in just his boxer shorts. He never slept in just his boxers because he was always cold. He got up from the bed, his arms around his tummy, while he cracked the door. "Thanks, Harry," Louis whispered out, his voice raspy and full of sleep deprivation. He took the clothing from Harry, accidentally touching Harry's fingers in the process. Louis jerked his fingers back, with the clothes in his hands. "Night," he rushed out, before closing the door in Harry's face.

Harry jumped back a little startled from the encounter, and from the door closed in his face. "It's a start, then," he mumbled, making his way back to his room.

Louis took the sweater and looked at it, feeling the material in his hands and feeling the memories of this sweater seeping into his skin and traveling to his brain. He hated and loved this sweater so much at the moment. But he was cold. He needed the warmth, so he slid it over his head and internally smiled at the feeling of the sweater on his body. Louis missed it more than he would ever admit. He disregarded the sweats that Harry paired with the sweater and just crawled into bed, cherishing the feeling of the sweater while he could. He would allow himself to be okay with this, just for now. Just for the night.

{ E D I T E D  by  K A T E  }

New cover by XForYourLove