Before You Start A War

Chapter Thirty-One

The room is overly hot.

Harry rouses at the sound of Niall moving around. The sun is filtering in through the windows and he doesn't remember falling asleep last night. Niall must've blown the lamplight out.

When Harry turns over, Niall is still asleep. He lets out a sigh of contentment and nuzzles into the pillow, the first he's been able to sleep on since they left their old company and have been camping out ever since.

From the look of the sky outside the window, Harry assumes it's still early morning. No one should be awake, especially since they will all be marching the next day.

Harry leaves a kiss on Niall's forehead before slowly leaving the bed. The door creaks on his way out, making him wince. Niall doesn't stir again.

Once the door is closed, Harry is a bit more carefree as he walks to the front door. However, when he gets outside, he's startled to see Louis rolling a cigarette between his fingers.

"Haven't had one for months." Louis lights it with a hanging lantern and takes a drag, exhaling slowly. "Really makes me feel less tense. Not that you would need that right now." He smirks.

Harry furrows his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"You can't tell me that you and Niall didn't get down to business as soon as that door closed. Even if you say no, I don't think I would believe you."

Harry nearly trips on his way toward the railing. "Were we being that loud?"

Louis laughs, wasting an inhale. "You'll be pleased to know that we didn't hear you at all, but it's good to know my theories were confirmed."

Harry flushes and looks down at the floorboards.

"Niall and I plan on getting married."

Louis inhales too deeply and chokes on the smoke. Harry clenches his teeth. Louis notices his tense facial expression and says, "Oh, no, it's not because I don't think you should be together. It's definitely not that. It was just surprising to hear you say that. Will you be allowed to get married?"

Harry contemplates. He's never thought about the legality of their possible marriage, would it be allowed? "I don't really know."

"Well, even if it isn't, you can still be together."

"Yeah."

"And anyone who says otherwise should try going through half the shit you two have gone through and see how they like it."

Harry chuckles, "That's true."

"So."

"So."

Louis takes another drag, "So, we doing this last fight?"

Harry grimaces. "I don't want to. I thought maybe--"

"Before you continue," Louis cuts him off, throwing his cigarette away. "is it that you don't want to fight, or that you don't want Niall to fight in the state he's in?"

Harry sighs, "I don't know, Louis. I don't know why I'm even in this war. I'm not from this country, both sides have lost the plot, and it doesn't seem like this will ever end. I mean, will people of different skin colors ever be treated equally, or is that just something we tell ourselves will happen if we win this battle?"

"Even if it doesn't happen, does that mean we should stop fighting?"

Harry contemplates, then shakes his head. "I guess not."

"You know Niall is gonna want to fight." Louis points out, taking a long drag to wait for Harry to respond.

"I know."

"So what are you gonna do?"

"Let him fight, I guess. I can't stop him."

Louis crinkles his nose and taps the top of the cigarette to make the ash fall. "He was on his deathbed a few days ago."

"I know," Harry pops his knuckles subconsciously.

"Can't you tell him that?"

"I'm sure he knows, Louis," Harry puts his hands back on the bannister, dusting Louis's ashes away. "but I think he'd feel like a failure if he doesn't end this on a battlefield. It's like an honor thing. He wants to return home with honor, or at least die fighting for it."

"That... makes sense." Louis pushes the rest of his cigarette into the bannister, putting it out. "Fuck. I hate that."

"Me too. But there's nothing we can do."

Harry and Louis share a look before returning to their respective rooms, and the somber night air settles over the camp once again.

_-_-_

Hey, y'all. Very short update because I feel bad for not updating in a really long time. There should only be a few chapters left, somewhere between five and ten. I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year so hopefully, I'll be able to finish it up before the end of the month and post chapters every Wednesday until the end.

Thank you all for participating in this wild ride. We're nearly there.