Love Lock

Parallels

Niall sat rigidly on the sofa, tapping his fingers against the cushion again and again. It had only been one day since Simon had delivered the unwanted news, but the boy knew they were quickly running out of time.

The delicate black box was left on the marble countertop.
It seemed to taunt Niall every time he passed by; the ring was a reminder of how real this all was for Harry.

Niall needed to know if Louis was in love with Harry too. If he could figure this all out before Louis was down on one knee, then he could prevent a whole lot of heart ache.

Niall leaned over, hanging his head into his hands. The urgency of the situation hovered over the blonde boy like a rain cloud.

Would it be safer to see what Liam knew first instead of going directly to Louis? Niall considered. He would have to do his absolute best to keep a straight face and not act suspicious.

Niall knew how much it would hurt Harry if he were to accidentally give away his secret. He would need to be extraordinarily careful.

Speak of the devil, the boy thought as Liam made his way into the lounge. Both Harry and Louis were hiding in their rooms; it was the perfect time for an interrogation.

Before the blonde boy could say anything, Liam took a seat in the chair across from him and set his coffee cup down on the table.

Niall sat up, nodding to Liam and expecting to hear his usual "good morning mate, how'd you sleep?"

But instead, Liam nodded back at Niall silently.

The two boys stared at each other with nervous expressions, expecting the other to say something first.

The brown haired boy broke his gaze and glanced around the room with shifty eyes. Both Liam and Niall were trying so hard to act normal, yet the silence continued to stretch on.

Little did the Irish one know that a quite familiar conversation had happened the day before just two rooms down from him and Harry.

~
Louis stared at Harry's bedroom door after Niall had been invited inside. His empty eyes drifted down to the floor.

Liam had watched the entire encounter from the lounge and jumped up as soon as Niall shut the door.

"Louis, it's alright. You can't take it personally. He just needs to cool off," Liam said as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

But how could Louis not take it personally? Harry was his best friend.

"I don't know what to do," Louis stammered, looking up at Liam with puppy dog eyes.

Liam could feel the waves of sadness and helplessness emanate off the oldest boy.

"He'll come around," Liam promised, but as he watched Louis' eyes fill with tears he realized that there was something he was missing.

Liam ushered Louis to his room where the two boys sat on the floor, backs against the bed frame.

"Louis you have to tell me what's going on. You know Harry is sensitive. You know the stunt stresses him out. It's not out of his character to be upset by all of this, so why are you so worried this time? You two are together constantly, maybe he just wanted to have Niall's support today, it's not a big deal," Liam went on, not having the slightest clue as to why Louis looked like he had just been wounded.

"It is a big deal Liam, it is. He never shuts me out. We always talk these things through and agree on sticking together, you know?" Louis thought back to the countless times he promised Harry that they were a team.