Wasting My Time [When it Was Always You]

Police chase

Harry averted his glance and fiddled with his fingers, looking down at his lap to avoid staring at Louis. Once he heard him start his sentence, he felt his heart begin to race and right when he was going to answer the question, sirens started going off and blue and red lights lit up the entire room through a small window. He felt Louis looking at him, and his eyes widened as he stared back, trying hard to think on his feet quickly. Toby was the first to start panicking, standing up. "Fuck fuck fuck!" He repeated loudly. "Shut up!" Harry whisper-yelled. "Everyone up, pack your shit fast Harper, and follow behind me," he held up his finger over pursed lips to signal them to not make any further sounds. Harper got her disheveled bag together as quickly as she could, and slung it over her shoulder. They all gathered in a line behind Harry, and he led them out the back door. He was attempting to go unseen, but there was a cop standing right outside who flicked his flashlight on immediately, halting Harry before his next step. "And what could be the reason you lot are out here this early?" He questioned. "We're lost," Harry spoke quickly, sounding convincing enough. "Lost?" Harry swallowed nervously at the interrogation and nodded. "Mhm," the policeman walked over to the group and paused when he saw the bloody gauze around Louis' hand. "You alright lad?" He stared the rest of them down, shining the light in their faces. "Is someone going to tell me the truth or am I going to have to cuff all of you?" He sighed at the silence, and started reaching for the pair of handcuffs on his belt. Harry started to get nervous, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. "Truth is, someone was after us. They went that way," he pointed in the opposite direction. "After you? Really? I didn't see any-" the cop turned to look at what he was referring to, and that's when Harry took off. He sprinted as fast as he could to the bus, and hoped the others would catch on soon enough to make it there in time. Once they all managed to get inside, Harry locked the doors and the officer was quick to get in his own vehicle. Harry didn't even wait until everyone was seated, slamming the gas and peeling away from the scene. "My beer!" Toby shouted as if forgetting it was critical at the moment. After a few moments, Harry was somehow able to take enough turns to lose the officer. He glanced in the rear view mirror and couldn't see the lights anymore, and his shoulders finally dropped as he sighed in relief. "Everyone's alive, yeah?" He currently had no idea what road they were on, but he'd inform all of them of that later.

Louis' heart was racing, no idea what they were supposed to do now but he at least had the sense to keep quiet and as calm as possible. He was quick to his feet, following behind Harry one by one out of the back door. He froze as they were face to face with the cop outside, letting Harry handle the talking. He swallowed thickly as the man paused in front of him, smiling sheepishly and putting his hand behind his back at the question. "Yeah, yeah, 's fine. Was just clumsy." He answered honestly without giving too much away, his hand the last thing on his mind at the moment. He'd nearly forgotten about it until he was asked. He watched Harry again, anxiety building inside him now that the cop had mentioned cuffing them all. He took off in a sprint after catching on to Harry's plan, holding onto his camera with his uninjured hand until he made it into the bus. He stumbled to his seat as Harry drove off quickly, slumping back and letting out a soft breath. "We're never doing that again, don't care how cool it might look or what pictures you can get out of it. Never." He sighed out, glancing out the window and nodding at Harry's words. "Everyone's alive." He confirmed, rubbing his hand over the gauze while he continued to watch Harry as he drove.

Harry eventually pulled off on the side of a random twisty road, and put the bus into park, sighing as he gripped the wheel and dropped his forehead onto it in defeat. It was time to admit he was lost, but not to the whole group. "Alright everybody," he stood and cleared his throat. "I suppose it's time for all of us to get some sleep. Suns up in two hours," he made sure to pass around some water bottles and to get everyone situated in their own spots for the evening. He sat in the drivers seat, strumming with his acoustic guitar and jotting down lyrics only to erase them and mumble nonsense to himself. He couldn't focus, gnawing at his bottom lip as all he could think about was Louis' answer before their time got cut short. Not to mention the way their touch lingered, or how they only looked away from each others gaze when they were snapped out of it. All of this lead him to believe that maybe he felt something more than friendship. He shook his head and stood, shoving the thoughts to the side because it felt so ridiculous to even imagine. He started to try to find a spot for himself, when he saw that Louis was the only one still up, reading a book. He stepped over and playfully lowered the book just below his nose. "Shouldn't you be sleeping, Tomlinson?" He chuckled, squeezing into a seat right at his side. "I have a confession," he stared dramatically, pausing for a beat to build up false anticipation. "I'm afraid I am hopelessly clueless as to where we are," he laughed, breaking the tension now.

Louis eyed Harry curiously as he watched him drop his forehead against the wheel, seemingly going unnoticed by the rest of the group but Louis knew better than they did. He couldn't help but wonder what was bugging Harry. He didn't press it, figuring he'd be able to get to the bottom of it eventually. He accepted his bottle of water and grabbed his book from his bag, taking a seat and beginning to read with the soft sound of Harry's strumming in the background. He was a bit too focused to realize Harry had stopped, all the way until Harry stepped over towards him. He looked up at the boy after he lowered his book, a wide smile spreading across his face. He shrugged his shoulders in response, scooting over to give Harry some room beside him without creating too much distance. "Was a bit too awake after all that, I think." He admitted, slipping his bookmark in and looking up at Harry curiously as he mentioned having something to confess. His heart beat quickened, wondering what Harry had to tell just him now that they were alone. He definitely had gotten ahead of himself, letting out a soft laugh as Harry finally spoke up. "Oh." He murmured, shaking his head and giving Harry a little shove. "I thought you knew what you were doing, are we going to have to find another driver?" He teased him fondly. "It's too late to keep driving now, we'll fix it by morning. It'll be a lot easier when it's brighter and we're well rested." He reassured, letting his rest against Harry's shoulder.

"No no, can find my way out of anything, promise," he chuckled and nudged his shoulder right back. "I guess you're right," he agreed and felt a small smile on his face. Then Louis just had to place his head on his shoulder and make his heart race again. He glanced over at him, and pushed strays of of his fringe behind his ear, before laying his head on top of his, trying to not over think it too much. The smell of his fruity shampoo and the way his eyelids were blinking adorably slower wasn't helping. Everything about Louis was admirable, and now that he was this close to him again, like all those years before, it just felt different. His knee began to bounce up and down, faster and faster as he considered just asking him flat out what he was going to say. He felt himself break a sweat, only slightly, and his fingers anxiously fiddled together. "Louis?" His voice quivered as he kept his stare straight ahead, and he cleared his throat. "Who was your first crush?" His voice was barely above a whisper. "Because I could tell you my answer, right now," he turned his head down to get closer to his face, almost feeling brave enough to kiss his best mate- but by the time he faced him, Louis was fast asleep. He sighed to himself, before chuckling softly and instead opting for a kiss to his head. He slowly stood, trying not to disturb him, and lifted him into a cradle, bringing him over to the bed Harper was in. He gingerly sat him down, placing the blanket over him and kneeling bedside. "It was you. Has always been," he admitted, albeit fallen onto unhearing ears. Regardless, it felt relieving to admit. He found himself a spot in the drivers seat, kicking his feet up onto the dash and dozing off, slumped back in the seat.