FINGERTIPS ║ Larry Stylinson

12 ║ As Beautiful As Venice

July 22th

The sky was getting darker but brighter at the same time. The cold shade of blue from earlier had disappeared and it was now a mix of pale purple, orange and a tint of pink, reminding Louis of those painting Edward William Cooke had done of Venice. It was beautiful, the way all the shades and colours were mixing together seemed done with brushes on a canvas. Louis kept his eyes on the sky as he was walking back to his house. He had spent the afternoon outside, walking around randomly and listening to music. He was feeling the need to breathe and he felt oppressed inside his house and needed to go outside. It was around 8 when he opened the front door silently, entering the hallway and hearing high pitched laughters and the telly in the background.

"Honey, is that you?" his mother said as he saw her walking in the hallway.
"Yeah.."

He walked up to her with a tiny smile and as his vision opened on the living-room, he noticed Harry was sitting on the couch with his head down. He could see a little smile on his lips as Phoebe and Daisy was trying to braid his hair, a bit too short. Louis frowned a bit.

"Harry came here to talk to you, you weren't there yet so I offered him to stay and wait for you." she whispered quietly.

He nodded before coming up to him. Phoebe and Daisy were frowning, focusing deeply on Harry's curls and by the way they were pulling on his hair, Louis wondered how he kept silent with the pain his scalp was most probably going through.

"Do you want to go upstairs?" he asked.

Harry lifted his head slightly before smiling a bit, he tried to get up but Louis' sisters were still holding on his hair.

"Girls!" Louis exclaimed.

They sighed loudly before letting it go, and as he helped the young boy on his feet, he heard the twins complain, it made him smile and he shook his head. Harry held on his arm as they went upstairs slowly, one step at a time, Harry's other hand brushing the wall slowly. Once they came in the room, Louis closed the door silently, he watched as Harry felt around to find his bed. He went to wrap his arm around the taller boy's waist to help him. Harry stopped breathing for a second, curiously, Louis' touch made his heart beat faster in his chest. He tightened his chest muscles thoughtlessly when he felt Louis' fingers on his side and he felt his cheeks burn suddenly after realising his action. Harry's knees met Louis' bed and he sat down slowly, feeling Louis walking away from him.

"So, how are you today?" Louis asked as he took off his snapback and brushed his hair with his fingers.
"Good, what about you?" Harry smiled a bit, nodding.

Louis frowned. It wasn't Harry's smile, or actually not the real one. Not the one Louis saw at Harry's house. It wasn't the one he pictured so many times in his mind lately, drawn in his brain. It wasn't real, wasn't true and Louis felt bad, a bit offended at the idea that Harry was lying to him. He shouldn't though. Maybe Harry had lied a lot, and then he realised. How? About what? About what Harry could have lied when Louis knew barely anything about him? Maybe it was because he felt like it would make him uncomfortable, or nervous, or maybe he assumed Harry didn't want to talk about himself to Louis. But suddenly, he wanted to know. He wanted to know more about the curly haired boy with the cute smile. He let his backpack fall on the floor, near his desk, he threw his jacket on the office chair and kicked his shoes in a corner before sitting near Harry. Both cross-legged.

"Harry?" Louis started.

His voice was soft. He wasn't sure how to do that. How to start or what to ask. Harry lifted his head a bit.