Don't Let Me Go || l.s.

Chapter 23 - The Way You Look Tonight

You know that school is coming closer to starting back up, once advertisements start to play constantly during commercials on television, telling you that supplies are on sale at certain stores near you. The weather is warm and it still gets a bit musty outside from the putrid heat you have had to suffer through during the summer time, depending on what your city’s/town’s summer weather had been like. Younger kids are urging their parents to be able to spend every waking second with their friends, while the teenagers and young adolescents are attempting to keep their freedom for as long as possible.

Louis and Harry, though, had spent the rest of their weeks of summer holiday curled in each other’s arms, switching between houses every few days, or going to the hill. They would eat ice cream and watch the reruns of ‘Friends’ in their rooms that they have already seen many times over--to which they wouldn’t admit. A quarter of their time was spent being alone together, another quarter was spent spending time with their families (separate and together) the last two quarters were the ones that were the most stressful. Getting into the gist of school and realizing that this was their last year of schooling before university, and Harry going to counseling.

“I don’t want her to think that I’m crazy, Lou.” Harry had said quietly to Louis as Louis drove, one hand on the wheel and the other holding onto Harry’s hand. It was Harry’s first session and he was anything but ready. He had spent the night before worrying about what the counselor woman would think of him, and if he was ready to even start confessing things to this lady he didn’t even know. Two a.m. was Harry’s breaking point, and he had called Louis, crying into the phone, telling him that he couldn’t go to counseling. It took soft words of comfort over the mobile device and five straight minutes of it, just to calm Harry down in the slightest.

“She won’t, love. She’s there to help you, yeah? Besides, even if you are deemed as crazy, then I’d still love you nonetheless” Louis flashed him a smile, raising up Harry’s large hand and he had  proceeded to press a gentle kiss to his knuckles.

Now, three weeks after his first appointment, it was the night before their first day of Year Thirteen, of their last year at Greenwood Academy.

“Let me see your timetable,” Louis spoke, making grabby hands towards Harry who was sitting on the opposite side of the booth, rummaging through his brown leather satchel (Gemma sent it to him as an ‘I’m sorry our father is a dick, and I love you little brother’ gift during summer holiday). “If you would give me a minute, babe.” Harry chuckled and shook his head, pulling it out and handing the piece of inked paper to his boyfriend across the booth table.

The couple were spending one last night of freedom together before the school year started, so they decided with a small hoorah at a diner located on the outskirts of Doncaster. It was casual and quaint, but the floors were checkerboard tiles and there were large framed posters of fifties ‘pin-up’ girls hung around the establishment. When a perky waitress, with bleach blonde hair and a poodle skirt around her waist, came to take their orders, Louis had ordered a basket of crispy chicken tenders and chips, while Harry grinned to his boyfriend across the booth table.

“What are you going to get, dear?” Louis asked while raising his head up, and not being able to help himself from the huge smile that was placed upon his lips once seeing the playful glint in Harry’s eye and the childish grin that played on his lips. “I- uh, like, I was wondering if maybe we could- like,” Harry stumbled over his words while nervously twisting his fingers together, eyes now focused on the table in between them. “Spit it out,” Louis laughed.

Harry raised his head slowly to look into the cerulean blue eyes that were Louis’, and grinned sheepishly. “We should get one of those tall milkshakes, you know? Where we get two straws and just kind of share it, like in those movies.” He spoke shyly, ducking his head down in embarrassment when a giggle escaped Louis’ mouth. “That-that is the cutest thing I think I have ever heard.” Louis pursed his lips tightly together to hold back from smiling like a maniac and cooing at the way his boyfriend had gotten all flustered from wanting to share a milkshake ‘like in those movies’.