Undone, Undress (Larry Stylinson)

forty-eight

Only fifteen minutes later, quite a few facts are clear to Louis:

First, they don't want Louis in their house. At all. They think he's scum, not only because he's a friend of Harry's but because he's gay too, and because he's not exactly buying into their "great parents" front. They glare at him with contempt but the gazes are gilded with forced, polite smiles which are miles away from reaching their eyes.

Second, however way they choose to look at Louis, they look at Harry a million times worse. Louis has never seen so much hatred in a glance before, but he sees it here and now in the way they look at Harry when they think Louis isn't paying attention. It's horrifying, because Harry notices, and he cowers away from it like he's afraid they're going to start yelling or throwing heavy objects at him or whatever it is they might do. Louis can't even begin to imagine what Harry thinks is in store for him.

Third, they're manipulative liars who only care about saving face. Louis is sad to admit he doesn't think he would pick up on any of this if he hadn't heard Harry's side first, and yeah, that really fucking sucks, because not many people have had the advantage of hearing Harry's side first. Which means that his parents have somehow managed to get everyone on their side, by pretending to be supportive, loving parents who give their child everything he asks.

Louis can see it clearly, though: they hate him with all they have in them. Yet they still care about how they appear to others. Having a lot of money means they get to live in luxury without affording Harry that same benefit. Louis wonders if they've ever manipulated Harry with financials, and of course they probably have. He can only imagine what that entails. He'll have to ask Harry later.

Regardless, they're only downstairs for an hour or so. The conversation is stilted and uncomfortable. Harry hardly speaks and Louis isn't very keen on responding either. They watch TV in front of the fireplace. Louis wants to curl up beside Harry or at least hold his hand but he knows that would get Harry into trouble and that's the last thing he wants.

Around nine o'clock they head up to bed. It's insanely early but Louis would rather be anywhere than sitting on the couch across beside Harry's mother and diagonal from his father. Harry seems to feel the same way because when Louis stands up saying he's tired, Harry bolts up too, like a gut reaction.

"Why don't you stay a moment, Harry? We'd love to have a talk with you."

Uh-oh. Louis hadn't even thought that might happen. Now worried and wondering how he can possibly save Harry from being alone with his parents, Louis blanches. He glances over at Harry who is having much of the same reaction, face pale like all the blood has drained from it, eyes wide in fear. His hands are shaking.

Louis wants to wrap his arms around him and whisk him away, take him back home to New York where they can huddle together in their apartment and never go outside into the cruel, ugly world ever again. If only that were possible, Louis would love Harry like he deserves and would make sure he would be happy, always.

There's a stilted silence. Louis' mind is whirling with ways he can get Harry out of this, excuses he can make to either pull Harry upstairs or stay down here with him. None of them work, and time is ticking.

"Go ahead, Lou. I'll just be a moment."

Harry is staring at him with deep, worried eyes that convey meaning. Like, there's nothing you can do.

Louis nods and tries to give Harry a reassuring smile. He's not sure if it's conveyed through his facial expression but it's worth a shot. At the last second, he brushes his knuckles against Harry's lower back as a form of comfort. It's short-lived and through a layer of t-shirt but it still makes Louis' skin tingle.

Retreating back upstairs feels sickening this time because he knows he's leaving Harry down there alone with his parents, even after he promised not to. He wants to wait on the stairs to eavesdrop and make sure he's okay but he's afraid of being found out and getting Harry into even more trouble. Besides, they're speaking too quietly for him to hear anyways.

So he heads upstairs and lies in bed and waits for Harry.