Can't Get Enough - L.S.

2/5

The day after Harry met Louis, he got himself a book on how to learn sign language and grew frustrated when he couldn't instantly memorize the most important signs.

He found out his new friend lived nearby his own house in a big manor on top of a hill, and Harry liked walking Louis home before heading home himself. It quickly became a daily routine and Harry wisely kept his mouth shut about being gay as well. Louis didn't need to know that quickly, Harry grew obsessed with him.

Louis was funny and intelligent, and he was actually great at helping Harry with his homework. Sometimes after a particular stressful day, Louis would write to Harry instead of talking to him because talking took a lot of effort and concentration which he sometimes didn't have the patience for.

Harry didn't mind. In fact, he cherished the notebooks Louis had written in, often just flipping through and grinning at their stupid discussions about who the better superhero was, which movie they should watch together and stories about their days in general.

Harry liked the contrast between Louis' handwriting and his own. He liked the fact that Louis' handwriting was elegant, just as his house and lifestyle was, while Harry's was messy and shouty.

Louis' parents were rich but they didn't pay much attention to him, and sometimes Harry wondered to himself if they tried to compensate for that by buying Louis things that he didn't need at all. Louis had merely shrugged when he had traded his iPod for one of Harry's books. He was deaf – what use could such a device be to him anyway?

Sometimes Louis could be entirely bitter and quite quiet, and Harry knew that those were the moments in which he was most vulnerable.

And Harry wondered to himself what it'd be like – to slide his glasses off, become deviously attractive and reserved like Louis Tomlinson. Harry wondered what it'd be like to resign himself to a life of loneliness and if he would notice the difference when his life was already exceedingly dull without anyone around (except for Louis) who cared enough to come talk to him.

In a way, loneliness was just as brutal as cancer. It ate away at a person until they became a shell of the person they used to be. Harry wondered if Louis still ached because of this, or if he simply grew numb and let himself believe that he did not care anymore. This was frightening and disarming. Harry never thought about Louis having feelings.

Maybe that's the reason why Louis slept so much. Harry had noticed that he had been falling asleep when they were doing homework more and more often, and he was losing weight too.

When one is asleep, they slip into their own world. It's a lot like dying, only less permanent and painless. And as Harry stared at his ceiling with a thoughtful look in his eyes, his mind full of Louis and the things he didn't manage to do today, he thought to himself – another day wasted. At least you're a champion in your dreams.

Harry feared what would happen to a person once they'd stop dreaming.

It didn't even occur to Harry that Louis' parents spoiled him because they feared him.

~

"Are you going to Louis' again?" his mom asked Harry three weeks later. Harry paused from where he'd been attempting to tame his hair, glancing at her through their combined reflections on the mirror. He smiled.

"Yeah, I am. That's okay isn't it?"

"Fine." There was a certain tone to her voice that made Harry pause from where he'd been trying to smooth down one of his messy strands, and he looked at her again.

"What is it?" he asked. Anne shrugged and smoothed a crease on the back of Harry's shirt, her fingers gentle on his back. They didn't send pleasant tingles down his spine in the way Louis' touch did.

"Nothing, sweetheart. It's just that you spend a lot of time with him..." she meaningfully trailed off, her eyebrows quirking up, and it wasn't until Harry caught up with her that he flushed and spun around.

"Mom!" he exclaimed, staring her in the eye with a mortified expression in her eyes. Surely she didn't mean that?! Anne just smiled and brushed her hand over his shoulder, pressing a kiss against his cheek.

"He's a good boy, Harry. Just please don't do anything to hurt his feelings, from what you've told us he's been through a lot."

"I'm supposed to be your son, you know," Harry mumbled. He couldn't help but feel strangely touched by this, though, because normally people would just pity Louis or ridicule him for being deaf, but his mom genuinely cared about Louis' feelings. He could feel his shoulders relax somewhat and thought to himself that he'd always protect Louis even if he didn't think he needed it. Harry didn't see Louis as a defenseless person, it was just that when you're different, people always found ways to turn that difference into a reason for violence.

"Keep it up like this and he'll be my son-in-law in a few years," Anne instantly replied in a sing song voice. Harry gaped at her and she was out before he could say anything in return. She might as well had punched him in the stomach because the realization hit him so hard that it left him breathless.

Louis being her son in law sounded amazing, and him being Harry's boyfriend, fiancé, husband sounded... It sounded beautiful.

As Harry stared into the reflection of his own wide eyes and felt the blood rushing through his ears and his heart pounding in his chest, he came to realize he wasn't just obsessed with Louis and the way he was coping with things.

Harry was in love with Louis.