The Brother I Never Wanted (Larry AU)

Chapter 13

I'M FREAKING OUT. School starts tomorrow!! Holy shit. I'm not ready. I've literally been letting my brain rot all summer watching SpongeBob.

Is it bad that I still have no regrets? Haha

Hopefully all those reading, who are still in school, will have a good school year! And won't slack off like I'm most definitely going to be doing...

- Sparks

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Louis will admit that the fact that Harry knows his deepest, darkest secrets - things his dad doesn't even know about him - makes his stomach curdle in nerves. He doesn't trust the lanky lad. His mind keeps whispering at him that he's going to rat him out as soon as he turns his back on him, and after the way he's treated him, that's kind of what he expected to happen. But, to his utter befuddlement, he kept his gorgeous mouth shut so far. Occasionally, he'll purse his lips or crack his knuckles absentmindedly, but that's about all the interaction they share for the next couple of days. He doesn't necessarily mind it. Although, he has to say he respects him for not butting into his life when he told him to stay out. He's still a little disturbed, but not unpleasantly so, by Harry's reaction. It was just so...strange.

He was finally able to remove his bandage last night, and the scab was truly frightening. It's certainly not a sight for sore eyes right now, but it's more of a cosmetic problem than a mechanical one. He can bend his knee and all that at least. And, most importantly, he can play. Now that he's mostly healed, he feels a little guilty for skipping the past couple of practices. It's not that he wants to because he happens to really love football, but because Connor would find some way to push him around, and he doesn't know how Harry's going to react. Sometimes it's just easier to run from your problems than face them.

The only good thing about the extra time is that he was able to make a little bit of a dent in his school work. In fact, he's already managed to complete two of the packets his teachers gave him and he feels prepared enough to write essays in both subjects. Not that he would unless he had to. He's not that geeky.

A soft creak interrupts his thoughts, and he glances up to see his stepbrother stalk to the other end of the couch before sitting down. He reaches down by his socked feet, pulling a throne pillow into his lap, emerald eyes burning into his skin. Louis sighs and fiddles with his pen.

"May I help you?"

"Nah, I'm good." His eyes flicker over him boredly, faltering at various points of multicolored skin. He smells clean, his curls damp and disheveled like he just took a shower. "Your jaw is getting better."

"Yeah, and?"

Harry drops his gaze to the notebook in his lap. "You blew off football practice to study?"

Louis taps the pen against his cheek, twirling it, annoyed. He's not captain anymore. It doesn't matter, and Harry shouldn't care. "And what if I did?"

"That's lame," he snorts.

"You're lame," Louis responds absentmindedly, scribbling in the margins of the page to pretend to be busy. Harry's spindly hand creeps into his view and snags the book away. "Hey!"

The curly-haired boy flips through the pages with an unamused expression. "You're not even doing anything...what the hell is this subject? It's like a different language."

"It's physics," he deadpans, flailing his hand out to grab it back. Harry lifts the notebook above his head, smirking when his fingers whiff it. Doesn't tolerate bullying, his arse. "Give it back, you dolt."