Loving You's The Antidote || l.s. ✓

Chapter 15

"Um, can I talk to you quickly?" Harry asked his uncle nervously.

"What."

"I-I have a project to work on for school and my partner wants to come over...and I don't want to say no because they might think something is up..."

"You're such a little manipulative dickhead. It's not like I can say no now." His uncle groaned, "fine. I'll go out for tonight and I'll be back tomorrow."

"Really?" Harry asked in shock.

"If I say no they'll ask why and someone will start a rumour."

"Thank you."

"I'm not doing it for you."

"I-I know."

//

"Alright Curly?" Louis strolled into the bakery, Harry lifting his head.

"Hi. Um, you can come over tonight. B-but I still don't think you'll want to."

"How bad can it be?"

"Bad." Harry bit his lip.

"Well, what time are you done working?" Louis leaned against the counter.

"I'm done in an hour."

"Well, I'll just wait in here. I'll do some work or something."

"Okay." Harry nodded.

//

"This is your house?" Louis raised his eyebrows as they stood outside.

"I told you it was awful." Harry bowed his head in shame.

"Yeah." Louis sighed, nodding in agreement.

Harry inhaled deeply to prevent himself from crying, "it's worse inside."

"Worse? Jesus Christ, how can it be worse?"

"I'm sorry, I try and look after it but I don't have any time." He walked up to the front door, avoiding eye contact. He unlocked it, pushing the door open and walking inside, Louis following him.

"God it's dreary in here, why don't you turn some lights on?" Louis reached for the light switch.

"No!" Harry stopped him urgently, "w-we can't."

"Why not? It's just a light."

"Costs money." Harry flushed.

"You can't afford to turn a light on?"

"It's not necessary." He opened the fridge, passing a beer to Louis. "Um, we better go to my room."

"Do you not have a TV?" Louis looked around in search for one.

"Used to, we had to sell them though." They walked up the stairs.

"Bloody hell where is everything?" Louis looked around his room.

"Where do you think? We had to sell it obviously." Harry snapped, burying his head in his hands instantly after, "sorry. 'm just so fuckin' embarrassed."

Louis frowned with a small nod.

"Are you going to tell everyone?"

"What?"

"Are you going to tell everyone that I'm poor?"

"No, of course not."

"Oh...thank you...um, just sit wherever."

"Do you seriously still have stuffed animals?" Louis picked up Bubba, looking at him.

"What's wrong with it?" Harry pouted, "plus, my mum gave him to me." He took the bunny, holding it to his chest.

"Nothing's wrong with it, I just thought they were for little kids."

Harry shook his head, "do you not have any?"

"No." It was Louis's turn to shake his head.

"Not even from when you were little?"

"Nope."

"Oh..."

"I bet you cuddle them at night, well all the time." Louis smirked, Harry blushing.

"Please don't tell people, they'll make fun of me even more." Harry spoke up nervously.

"Relax gay boy, I'm not gonna. Anyway, why on earth do you cuddle stuffed animals?"

"Because..." Harry trailed off.

"Because?"

"Because I like cuddling but can't cuddle people." Harry's cheeks were literally on fire as he focused on the toy bunny on his lap and played with his hands.

"Surely you can just like phone up someone and hire them to cuddle you."

"What? That's ridiculous."

"Well you might as well." Louis shrugged.

"I have anxiety." Harry reminded him, "a-and I can't do physical contact unless I trust them and are comfortable around them."

"So you like cuddling, but you don't like it?"

"It's not that I like it but don't like it, it's that I like the feeling, but not with certain people."

"So, who in your life right now would you let hug or cuddle you?"

Harry paused to think, "no-one."

"No-one at all? What about like an auntie or grandma or something?" Louis asked in surprise.

"Don't have any."

"Friends?"

"Don't have any." Harry repeated.

"What about from primary school or whatever?"

"I never really had any." Harry had been a quiet child, rather than running around with the other children he would usually sit on his own with a book. He had never been bullied for it in primary, people just tended to ignore him. And when they did speak to him, Harry would shy away and not say much, making it not worth their while to attempt to speak to him again.

It was his first day of secondary school when he was first bullied. He had been walking through the corridors on his own, looking for the canteen when Louis and his friends had come up to him. They had asked him if he had wanted to sit with them at lunch, which he had awkwardly declined.

They didn't much like being declined, and so began to tease him about whatever they could, saying they were only joking as nobody would ever want to be his friend. And it seemed they were right.

As soon as they had started the rumours about him, the whole year had begun to avoid him, only going near him to tease him or laugh.

That was the first time he had cried at lunch, other than the times he had lost his favourite Barbie doll or fallen over. But nobody had to know he used to play with Barbie dolls, that would definitely end with him bleeding on the ground somewhere.

"You never had any friends? God that's sad. What did you do instead?"

"I always preferred to play on my own or read or something."

"Weirdo." Louis said, half in a playful manner.

"Um, let's do the project. Do you wanna sit at my desk? And I'll sit on the floor."

"Sure. Have you always lived here?"

"This used to be my mum's house that Gemma and I lived in with her. W-when she died my uncle moved in...it used to be much nicer."

"I'm sorry about your mum."

Harry shrugged with a sad smile, "me too."