the treehouse | larry stylinson

four

i think about those first days with him a lot. i think about how much time of my days i would spend trying to figure him out, how i would try and come up with a way for me to start talking to him. which was nearly impossible, because one; i barely spoke to to anyone, not even the people closest to me. and two; he kind of scared me.

it wasn't like he was a scary person, no. not at all. in fact, he was very charming, at least when he wanted to be. but the fact that he was this bad boy who only wore black clothing, had loads of tattoos and tons of expensive rings on his fingers, overwhelmed me. and don't get me started on that hair. his wild, curly, chocolate brown hair that were down to his shoulders.

and he was beautiful. so, so, so beautiful. i was a hundred procent sure he was some sort of godly creature, because never in my whole life had i seen someone so beautiful.

and because of the fact that he was so damn beautiful, i got more and more self conscious.

one day, as i was sat in my treehouse lost in my imaginary world, as per usual, i got a phone call from niall.

i frowned at the sound of my boring ringtone. i thought about not answering it, because i'd rather spend time in my imaginary world where i'm a confident person. where i could talk to a certain curly lad without any stuttering or awkward silence.

i answered it anyway.

"hello?"

"louis, do you want to come over and play mario kart?" niall's cheery voice sounded through my tiny phone. i sighed. playing mario kart was all we did these days, and frankly i was getting kind of tired of it.

"uh i don't know..." i began before niall interrupted me.

"come on louis! liam and zayn will be here too, and well harry of course, but i don't think he'll hang with us."

i don't know if it was because of the fact that niall mentioned harry, but all of a sudden i felt eager to go there. when i thought about it, it had been a pretty long time since the four of us played mario kart together, these past weekends it had been just me and niall. zayn and liam had both been busy doing god knows what.

"sure, when should i be there?" i asked, to which niall chuckled.

"uh like five minutes ago?" he responded and laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. i laughed too, just a little though. not because of what he said, but because niall had a rather funny laugh, it kind of reminded me of a cd that glitched. i like that about niall, he has such an infectious laugh.

"no but seriously mate, just come here as soon as possible!" he added when he had recovered from his laughing fit.

"okay, see you soon." i responded and hung up.

i carefully climbed down the ladder, and when i was about 5 feet from the ground, it made a loud creaking noise, which caused me to have a slight panic attack. i quickly realized that i had forgotten to fix it, so i carefully skipped one of the steps and got down safely.

i made my way to my house and decided to talk to my mum before i left, i hadn't talked to her for a few days and i missed her.

i opened her bedroom door as quietly as i could, just in case she was asleep, which she always seemed to be these days. the door opened and revealed my sleeping mum, or maybe she wasn't asleep, i couldn't really tell.

i walked towards the bed and sat myself down beside her. her beautiful brown hair was a mess, and i could tell it had been days since she last brushed it.

i missed my mum terribly. i mean, she was right there in front of me, but at the same time, she wasn't there at all. no, my happy, loving mum had disappeared along with my dad when he left us all those years ago.

she just wasn't the same afterwards, not the same sunshine she used to be.

some days were good days. and good days were almost like how she used to be before everything, and those days it felt like we were a normal family.

i just wanted her to hold me again, to make me my favorite meals, to help me with my homework, to watch movies with me on lazy sundays, to go shopping with me. i just wanted her to be my mum perfectly imperfect mum again, and i wanted her to hold me and tell me everything was going to be okay.

i wanted her to be there for me when i came home from school, crying because i'd had a panic attack in the cafeteria crowd. and i wanted her to tell me that everything was going to be okay, and to remind me to just take deep breaths when i felt my anxiety breaking through.

i tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, and she scrunched up her face in her sleep. i carefully placed a kiss on the creases of her forehead, which calmed her down again.

"i love you mum." i whispered and gently stroked her hair, before getting up and leaving her room.

i had been standing outside the front door to niall's house for a few minutes now, and i had knocked at least three times, but no one had answered. normally i would just walk in, but i didn't know for sure if his mum was home, and i didn't want to just barge into niall's house.

i knocked once more, this time a little harder, and awaited some kind of response or movement from the other side of the door.

nothing.

just as i was about to give up and just walk home again in embarrassment, i heard footsteps getting closer to the door. the door opened slowly, and i had decided to ask niall why he hadn't answered the door for him.
but it wasn't niall who opened the door.

it was that beautiful, angelic, curly haired boy with the amazingly glowing green eyes.

it was harry.

he was clearly shocked when he saw me, because all of a sudden he tripped over the threshold and almost fell onto me. he managed to save himself from falling in the last moment, to which he took a deep breath and laughed. he had such a sweet laugh.

"oops!" he said smirkingly, causing me to blush aggressively.

"hi." i quickly realized how awkward that must have sounded to him, and seconds later he was laughing again. i however, felt incredibly confused. i couldn't wrap my head around the fact that he was laughing at something i said, and not in a mocking demeanor either.

"you're cute when you're flustered, lou." he smirked again.

"l-lou?" i stuttered out, and i have to admit, when i heard him call me that, i felt all fuzzy inside.

"oh, do you want me to call you something else?" he said with a rather rude tone this time. it always seemed like we had a nice conversation and then all of a sudden he'd get a mood swing and got rude all of a sudden.

i knew this from the two occasions where we actually spoke to each other. but still.

"l-lou is f-fine." was all i managed to get out.

"well niall is out grocery shopping with liam and zayn." he told me. i frowned, niall had told me to hurry to get here and now he wasn't even here.

"oh."

"you could always come in and wait for them here." and the smirking was back. those damn dimples.

he must've seen how scared and overwhelmed i got all of a sudden, because he was quick to add, "don't worry, i don't bite." with a smirk. typical. but he was so damn handsome and i found myself agreeing to go inside with him even though my anxiety practically screamed at me to get out.

and now my only thought was; i was going to spend time with harry. alone.