Song: Brooklyn Baby by Lana Del Rey

One thing Louis hadn't forgotten about since returning to school, was the small piece of paper adorning the code he had found in his mother's bed side table.

The paper was worn, crumpled, with creases every which way from folding and re-folding, handling it in his pocket, and he was sure the image was burned into his mind from how often he looked at it, trying to decipher what it could mean.

2 Y Q Y 8 4 V K

"What is this paper you're always looking at?" Harry asked from behind him, one hand on the back of Louis' chair, and the other resting on the table, so that his body was hovering over the boy.

"I found it back home" Louis replied, the pad of his thumb tracing the ink, "It has something to do with my mother, but that's all I know"

Harry quirked a brow and asked for the paper with a curl of his fingers, "Sounds mysterious" Louis handed it over, and his eyes traced across the writing with both curiosity and confusion. "Do you have a safe or something?"

"Not that I know of" Louis shrugged. That was a definite possibility, he was sure his father must keep their riches hidden away somewhere, but that would leave the question of why his mother would leave the code when Louis' would have access to it as soon as he turned eighteen anyway.

Plus, he knew his mother, and he knew if she had left him anything it wouldn't be something as insignificant as money that he already had. She was never materialistic.

"Have you googled it?" Harry asked, and with one last glance at the paper, he passed it back to Louis.

"Yeah" Louis sighed, dropping the paper onto his desk, "It came up with nothing" Nothing, as in a few websites to do with hacking, one about a blood test, and another to do with cabinets. It was safe to say he was still at square one.

"Oh" Louis turned in his chair and looked up at Harry with a expression that said 'I can't figure it out, and it's pissing me off'. "Well, I'm sure if it's anything important then you'll figure it out eventually" Harry gave him a warm smile and offered his hand. "If your mum was trying to tell you something, I'm sure there's more to it than just that note alone" he added as he pulled Louis up.

"But how am I meant to figure it out. That note leads me nowhere" Louis rolled his eyes out of frustration, and Harry placed his hands on his biceps, his thumbs rubbing circles into his skin. "If she's left anything else in that house it'll take me forever to find it"

"You didn't know you were meant to find the note, and you still did. Don't lose hope just yet" Harry shook him slightly, until the corners of Louis' lips quirked up. "Forget about it for now, we need to go get breakfast before they close the cafeteria"

"I'm not even hungry"

"Tough" Harry slinked his arm around Louis' shoulders and pulled him towards the doorway. "You always say that then complain to me that you're hungry"

"I can't control when I get hungry, thank you very much" He shot back, turning his head slightly, only to be met by the sight of Harry's cheek. "It's just biology"

Harry closed the door behind them, his arm still around Louis' shoulder, and swayed Louis to the side as they dodged another student passing by. "You can still prevent getting hungry though, by eating, which is what you're going to do now"

"You can't tell me what to do" Louis scoffed.

"But you'll do it if I tell you to" Harry smirked.

"Alright, piss off" Louis shot his hand up and tickled Harry just under his arm pit, causing him to squeak and remove his arm from around him. "That's for getting cocky"

"You still didn't deny it" Harry said after a moment, only regretting doing so when Louis proceeded to chase him all the way down to the main hall with threats of being tickled to death.

The hall, that homed the cafeteria only in mornings, was already packed with students by the time they slowed to a jog in there, flushed faces with wide grins they couldn't seem to hide. It was apparent in the sneaky glances and hushed whispers that even after a week nobody had gotten over the fact that there was a new student in the form of a beautiful girl with flowing, blonde hair. Gigi had made herself comfortable with Eleanors group and the girls couldn't seem more proud if they shouted bragging statements down a microphone.

"I still won't ever get used to seeing you two walk in here every morning smiling at each other" Liam shook his head as Harry and Louis took their seats in front of them, elbowing each other childishly. "How is it that you two are now closer than Zayn and I, or Niall once was with Harry?"

"Don't neglect Niall, Harry's still smitten with him" Louis replied, the only hint of sarcasm being in his over exaggerated words.

"Actually, I haven't seen Harold in two days" Niall argued, leaning forward with a pointed look towards his friend, "I wouldn't be surprised if you had locked him in your room all weekend Louis" he leaned back and stuffed more toast into his mouth.

Harry huffed in amusement and poured two cups of tea, one for himself and one for Louis, whilst Louis placed two slices of toast on each of their plates. "I think Louis would have a hard time keeping me locked up"

"Is that a challenge?" Louis quipped, tilting his head to the side as he fixed him with a stare.

"Perhaps" Harry shrugged and set the teapot back down on the table in front of Zayn's plate. "Too bad you threw out them handcuffs"

"I didn't, actually" Louis smirked before taking a bite of his toast, and for a second all four of them were stunned into silence. "What?" He asked with his mouth full.

"What need do you have of handcuffs?" Zayn replied, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Louis set his toast down and sipped his tea, "They could be useful" he shrugged with indifference, a bored expression,

"Unless you're going to arrest someone, or delve into the world of bdsm you like to 'research', then I really don't see how they could be useful" Harry said rather casually, his lips set into an easy grin around the rim of his cup, peering over at Louis.

"They were useful when we did the photo shoot" Louis quirked a brow as he carefully scooped a boiled egg from the pot to his side, "Police work and sex aren't the only times they come in handy"

"Please, lads" Niall rolled his eyes and set his fork down, "Can we not talk about sex during breakfast? Have some decency for Christ's sake!" He said dramatically, pointing at the food.

"Jesus, Niall's becoming more of a prude than Louis, and that's saying something" Liam commented, causing Harry to snort and Louis to flip him off.

"I am not a prude" Niall shot back, "I'd just rather not imagine Louis handcuffing someone whilst I'm trying to eat a bacon bun"

"And who would that someone be you're imagining Louis cuffing?" Zayn asked teasingly, and Louis could only groan in embarrassment, pretending to not hear the current conversation.

"I never said I was imagining it" Niall corrected with his chin tilted up, "But if I had to, of course it would be Harry"

At once, Louis choked on his toast and Harry almost spat out his tea, erupting both laughter and calming words from Liam and Zayn who reached over the table to pat their backs. They'd both gone red in the face, eyes wide as they tried to even out the breathing, and Niall only watched on in amusement, a smirk laying on his face.

"Why on earth would you say that?!" Louis screeched, faintly humiliated by the pitch of his own voice, "Harry? Of course it would be Harry?" He mimicked the Irish accent to the best of his ability, but if Niall wasn't so easy going he probably would have been offended, "That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard you say!"

"I don't see it that way" Niall replied, unbothered by Louis' outburst, "You've cuffed him once before, this is only in a different context"

"I cuffed him for the aesthetic of the pictures, Niall, I wasn't bedding him!" Louis hid his face behind his hands, "God, the shit you come out with"

"'Bedding him' sounds quite old fashioned" Niall bit into his bacon bun, "Could've just said fucking him instead" he added through a mouth full of food.

"Can we not talk about me getting fucked please?" Harry groaned, the red blooming on his cheeks still apparent, "Like you said, we're in the middle of breakfast"

"Exactly, thank you!" Louis sighed in relief, smacking his hands down on the table, "How about a change of subject, hm? The new girl, how have you found her?"

"I've realised you revert back to speaking posh when you're embarrassed" Niall chuckled.

"Just answer the damn question you Irish prick"

"She's fine. Beautiful, obviously" Niall glanced over to the other side of the room where Gigi was sat amongst a crowd of students, all craving her attention. "Haven't spoken to her much though"

"Seems like everyone loves her already" Harry said, his eyes flicking to the crowd of students.

"Well I don't blame them, she's gorgeous" Zayn replied, "I reckon she could be a model"

"She's nothing special though, there's tons of girls that look just like her" Liam argued as he swirled his spoon around his bowl of cereal. "Personally, I don't see what all the fuss is about"

Louis wasn't sure if he had been the only to notice it, but under the mask of a careless demeanour, there was a bitter undertone to his voice that spoke the words he hadn't said. It was jealousy at its finest.

"Oh don't be sour about it Liam" Niall said cheerfully, and Louis knew that he hadn't caught on to that bitterness. "You can't deny she's probably the fittest girl here"

"Oh what, because she's got long blonde hair, perfect skin, blue eyes- or are they green? I don't care" he waved the question off as if unbothered, and Louis and Harry were stifling back their laughter, "Just because she's got long legs and a perfect figure, does not mean she's the most gorgeous girl to walk the planet"

"Wow Liam, you sound more infatuated with her than you're letting on" Louis joked, and Harry had to rest his head on his shoulder to cover up his laughter, "Maybe go study her eyes some more ey?"

"I can't tell if he hates her, wants to date her, or wants to be her at this point" Niall added, and Louis could feel Harry's head shaking against his shoulder.

"Want a blonde wig for your birthday Liam?" Louis asked with a grin.

"You know what, fuck all of you" Liam shook his head with a scowl, "You all take my kindness for granted and I've had enough" he tried to say it with a serious tone but the waver in his voice gave him away. It seemed that even if he was truly pissed off by Gigi's presence, his annoyance couldn't hold out with friends like Louis and Niall.

"They're only joking Li" Zayn soothes him, a gentle hand on his shoulder that Liam immediately relaxes into. "Though you might actually suit a blonde wig"

"God, not you too" Liam groaned, slumping in defeat, "Don't let these swines corrupt you. You're the kindest person here, without a doubt"

"Who's talking posh now Nialler?" Louis gestured to Liam, and the blonde only rolled his eyes. "I disagree, though. Harry is the kindest person here" Harry lifted his head and smiled so wide that Louis felt as if he had hung the moon.

"Don't you two start sucking up to each other too. I've already had to deal with Liam and Zayn being all mushy whilst waiting for you to arrive" Niall whined, grimacing at both duo's.

"Perhaps we should find Niall a girlfriend?" Louis turned to Harry, "Or boyfriend?" He raised a brow at Niall.

"Thanks for the consideration mate, but I'm as straight as a pole"

"You've kissed me before" Harry said, as if it were just a passing comment.

"What?" Louis asked with mild shock, whilst at the same time Liam asked "When?" And Zayn asked "How?" Which, was a pretty dumb question if you asked Louis.

"Oh yeah!" Niall's eyes lit up, like he had only just remembered, "Harry's a pretty good kisser actually"

What?

They were talking about it so casually that Louis wondered if it were only him that was shocked by the information. Niall and Harry have kissed? Harry's a good kisser? Is this a normal thing between friends? Do friends often kiss? He had no idea.

"It was ages ago" Harry shrugged and drunk down the last of his tea, "Was it a dare? I can't remember"

"Wasn't it when that mate of yours from Cheshire came up here to visit you? What was his name?"

"Ed"

"Oh yes! Ed, he dared us didn't he?" Niall nodded to himself as if confirming his own question, "Hm, yeah. That was a fun night, when can I see Ed again? I liked him, he was funny"

"I haven't spoken to him the past year, so If you're wanting to see him again you'd have to be the one to get in touch"

"Hold on" Louis jumped back into the conversation with furrowed brows, "Are we just going to skip past the fact that you two have kissed?"

"Well it's nothing important" Harry chuckled, "It didn't mean anything. Only lasted about a second"

"Why, Tommo, you jealous?" Niall smirked, and Louis took it upon himself to throw his remaining slice of toast at his head. "Watch it!"

"What is it with you and throwing food?" Zayn asked with an amused huff, "We don't want another food fight like last time"

"If he keeps making comments like that, we're sure as hell having another food fight" And this time, Harry wouldn't be his main target.

Shoot the leprechaun. Sounded like a fun game to him.

"Oh, don't you have a football match coming up this week?" Liam suddenly asked, and the attention fell onto Louis.

"What football match?" Louis hadn't heard anything about it, or maybe he forgot? He wasn't sure.

"Against that other boarding school from Rotherham I think. Heard some of your team mates talking about it"

"I'll speak to coach about it, I've probably just forgotten, or wasn't listening. Fuck knows" Louis shrugged, making a mental note to speak to coach as soon as he could. "You gonna come cheer me on then Curly?" He turned to Harry with a toothy smile.

"Of course" Harry agreed, his own smile appearing, "I'll be the best cheerleader out there, could get on Niall's shoulders and everything. Might even buy some pom pom's if you're lucky"

"And the outfit to go with it?" Louis joked, the image of Harry wearing a frilly skirt and a sparkly crop top coming into mind. It was rather hilarious.

"Obviously. I'll look dashing in it!" Harry pretended to flick his non existent, long hair away from his shoulder.

"I've never seen two platonic friends flirt so much in all my life" Niall shook his head, his eyes flicking back and fourth between the two of them, "Get married already"

Louis spend a long moment staring at Niall, his face blank, until he coughed and sat up straighter in his seat. He slowly reached over and grabbed a handful of dry cereal before leaning back with an easy smirk. "What did I say I'd do if you made another comment?"

————————

Fortunately for Niall, Louis' threat was empty, and they all managed to get through the rest of breakfast without any cereal, or other items of food, flying towards their faces.

Currently, Louis and Harry were huddled up outside, trying not to catch hypothermia as Niall had insisted they all play golf in the middle of winter. Whilst the rest of the lads were playing, the two were more or less avoiding participation, not at all bothered about the game.

Sometimes Louis thought Niall might be a bit mad, not all there, but he's realised the strange things Niall does or says are simply a part of his personality. The boy is so positive that one day it might just be the thing that gets him killed.

"Is Niall a fucking reptile or something?" Louis asked as he had Harry stood to the side of the course, watching as Niall drew back his club and swung it full force at the golf ball. He wondered how he had even gotten the Tee into the, mostly, frozen ground. "How is he not cold?"

"Niall can ignore almost anything if he's in a good mood, including cold weather" Harry replied, shivers wracking his body every so often. His hands felt numb in his coat pockets and his nose had turned pink.

"Well, unfortunately I'm not the same, so can we please just sneak back to our room? This is madness!" Louis whined. Even his toes felt a bit numb and he was wearing his warmest leather boots, plus a pair of fluffy socks that Harry had leant him. "If I had known Niall would drag us out here in winter I would've never even mentioned the damn golf course"

Harry chuckled, the evidence of it dispersing into the air in a foggy cloud, "Niall has this weird rule that if you leave a game of golf early, he won't speak to you for the next week. He takes it rather seriously"

It was safe to say Liam wasn't exactly enjoying his time either. Though he hid his distaste well, in favour of not offending Niall, they all caught onto the fact that Liam wasn't skilled in the sport pretty quickly. His form was entirely off, he missed the ball more often than not, and struggled to even balance the ball on the tee before he could take a hit.

Thankfully for him, Zayn seemed to be in a pleasant mood, and offered him guidance the entire way around the course. They were practically glued at the hip the whole time, much like Louis and Harry were, whilst Niall sprinted off ahead to the next hole like a kid who had eaten too much sugar.

"To hell with Niall's rule!" Louis exclaimed, and dramatically threw down his club in a mini fit of rage. "If Niall wants to catch hypothermia then that's fine by me, but I am not sacrificing my life for golf!"

Harry shook his head through another wave of laughter, and bent down to pick up Louis' club. "You're so dramatic sometimes" he handed it back to Louis, who took it reluctantly.

"Dramatic?" Louis widened his eyes and stared at Harry insistently, "I'm being bloody dramatic? My hands are turning blue!"

"They are not"

"They are too"

"Oh give them here then" Harry rolled his eyes, placing his club under his arm pit, and took Louis' hands in his own. He started rubbing them at a fast but gentle pace, hoping that friction would warm them up and calm Louis down. "Didn't think I'd end up being your personal hand warmer. You gonna pay me?"

"You have enough money without me paying you" Louis scoffs, though he can't keep up his distant, annoyed, irritated, pissed-off-because-of-the-cold front when Harry seems to have heaters for hands. Honestly, Louis would argue that Harry's hands were better than those chemical hand warmers you can buy. "How do you know Niall anyway? Does he not still live in Ireland?"

"No, he moved to Doncaster with his parents when he was seven, or something. He still visits his family in Ireland every year though" Harry explained as he continued rubbing Louis' hands, "I met Niall when I moved here, we went to high school together. He was the first kid that actually talked to me, I was a bit of a loner for a while"

"Why? I can only imagine you being popular" Louis admitted, something that a month ago he would have laughed at.

"Well, because of what had happened I wasn't really- myself?" He said, as if unsure of his own words. "I didn't want to talk to anyone, didn't even want to be at school, so I guess that put people off. I was the weird new kid who didn't speak"

His first few years of school were tough. No. A nightmare, really. If it weren't for Niall, Harry would've probably dropped out within the first year. It took a while for him to open up, start engaging in conversations again, even laugh at some of Niall's bad jokes, but now they're closer than ever. In some ways, Niall saved him. He made him enjoy life again, see the positives in things, he took him away from his thoughts that beforehand Harry thought he would never escape.

"I owe Niall big time" Harry smiled, glancing over at his prancing blonde friend, "Yes, he's an absolute nutter, but I guess that's what makes him so likeable"

Louis hummed in agreement and nodded his head. Niall, who he once saw as a childish lad with no common sense, a bit of a freak with way too much confidence, was now the ray of sunshine in his life that he knows he always needed. His positivity was infectious, his laughter contagious, he was the guy you went to when feeling at your all time low. And as much as Louis says he hates golfing in the bitter cold of winter, he couldn't deny that watching Niall skip about the course with his golf club was far more entertaining than watching a movie.

"Oi! Lads, get your arses over here and finish the game!" Niall bellowed at them as he ran over, a giddy grin on his face.

"It's fucking freezing Niall" Louis replied with a monotonous voice, sending him the best glare he could muster.

"Oh. So that's why you're holding hands as if making your vows" He replied with a clueless smile, his eyes flicking down to Harry's hands cupped around Louis'.

Louis retracted his hands and shoved them deep into his pockets as if it had never happened, "Harry's basically a Furnace" he replied with a shrug.

"Harry does have very large hands" Niall nodded as he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, "Anyway, drink this then join us again, I'm sure it'll warm you up in no time!" He threw Louis a small, black flask before running back to where he had last left off.

Louis shot his hands out and barely just caught the flask, a confused expression on his face as he showed it to Harry, "He brought tea to golf?"

Harry laughed and took the flask from him, "I don't think this is tea Louis, as lovely as that would be" he quickly twisted off the cap, the metal scraping together, and took a whiff before pulling the flask away, "Yup, definitely not tea" he handed it back to Louis.

Louis side eyed Harry for a moment as he sniffed the bottle, only to pull it away sharply, his nose scrunching up in distaste, "Jesus. Smells like my father after a fucking business meeting" he shook his head and looked back over to Niall who was already watching him, a smirk laying across his face. "That kids going to be an alcoholic I swear"

It was scotch whisky. Of fucking course.

"Well if you're not going to drink it, I certainly will" Harry grinned and snatched the flask from him, immediately taking a swig without an ounce of hesitation. Louis could only watch on in shock. He drank as if it really were just tea, and Louis wouldn't be surprised if Harry had magically changed the contents of the flask without him noticing.

"You know, I'm starting to think Niall isn't the only one here with a drinking problem" Louis snatched back the flask with determination, "He did mention something about you drinking too much in the past" He brought the flask to his lips and let the strong, burning liquid flood his mouth- admittedly too much than he could handle, but he always was one to try and out do others.

He had only set himself up for embarrassment though. First, he could hardly swallow it down. Second, he was sure he pulled the most ugly expression imaginable as his throat burst into what he was sure was flames. And third, the alcohol had sent him into a rapid coughing fit that constricted his breathing and sent a flush to his face that he was powerless to hide.

He was pretty sure Harry was trying to contain his laughter all whilst patting his back, trying to calm him down, but he decided to ignore that fact as to avoid further humiliation.

"Maybe don't try chug half the bottle next time, yeah?" Harry advised, his tone consoling yet verging on a quipped insult. "Not everyone can stomach it"

"Oh but of course you can" Louis shot back, his tone clipped as if genuinely annoyed. He thought he should have been, but he wasn't, not when Harry was clearly holding back comments that probably would have damaged his pride. So, in some ways he was doing him a favour. "Why are you good at literally everything? Even drinking. Like, fuck sake, give the rest of us a chance!"

"I'm shit at football" Harry shrugged.

"Yes, because you have two left feet. That can't be helped" Louis sighed and passed back the flask. "How am I supposed to be a CEO if I can't drink whisky? It's basically a personality trait"

"Steve jobs drinks carrot juice" Harry replied with a grin before taking another sip.

"Do I look like a bunny to you?" Louis asked with raised brows, only to have Harry chuckle.

Harry leaned backwards and looked down, causing Louis to furrow his brows, and watched on curiously as Harry flicked his eyes back up to meet his own. "I don't see a fluffy tail sticking out your arse, so no, Louis, you don't look like a bunny to me"

Louis dropped his jaw in over exaggerated shock and quickly threw his hands back to cover his ass, "Did I give you permission to so blatantly look at my ass Styles?"

"No, but I'll do it anyway" Harry sent him a cheeky wink and took another swig of the whisky.

Louis scowled and took back the flask, "I think this whisky is getting to your head" he pointed and waggled his finger at him, "No more for you!"

"Like you're going to drink it" Harry scoffed.

"I might, actually. Practice for my unfortunate future as a fucking CEO" He sighed and took a small sip, this time successfully swallowing it down without gagging. "Why anyone chooses to willingly drink this, I have no idea"

"You're willingly drinking it now"

"Like I said, practice"

"Are you two playing or what?" Liam shouted from across the course, waving them over. "This isn't pub golf you know! Quit drinking"

"That's a splendid idea Liam!" Louis turned to Harry and grabbed his arm, "Come on, let's go play pub golf instead"

Harry tugged him back with a roll of his eyes, "We wouldn't even be let out of school, never mind get served in a pub" he said, and started pulling him towards the other lads.

Louis groaned but reluctantly followed. What even is pub golf? Like most things teenagers do, he didn't know, but he wouldn't embarrass himself by asking.

Niall finished hitting the ball and turned around as Harry and Louis joined the group again, "Finally finished flirting then?"

Louis pursed his lips and looked down at his club, before looking back up at Niall, "You know, Niall, this club would look really nice against your skull right now" he threw it up slightly and caught it again with a grin, "Mind if I try it out?"

"Now now" Harry rested his hand on Louis shoulder with a fake smile, "There won't be any violence on the golf pitch today, will there Louis?"

"I can't promise you that Styles"

"No need to worry Harold" Niall smirked and glanced at Louis, "His aim would be off anyway"

"You Irish bastard!" Louis gasped.

"You have a strange fascination with my nationality don't you" Niall laughed as he moved to grab another golf ball.

"It's the only interesting thing about you" And with that, the golf ball in Niall's hand ended smack bang in the middle of Louis' chest, and Louis proceeded to chase Niall in a zig-zag motion around the golf pitch, club in hand, until he surrendered.

Fortunately for Louis, he had actually played a lot of golf when he was younger, mainly due to the fact that their garden was basically a golf course twice the size of the one on the school grounds, so he managed to impress Niall when he took his first shot and had the ball land only a short distance away from the hole.

Unfortunately for Harry, he couldn't say the same. Yes, he had played a few games before with Niall after his friend had begged him persistently, but he could never seem to get his aim right and his bad posture did nothing to help. He was better off at mini golf.

"How do I call you my best mate when you're an embarrassment to the golf society?!" Niall questioned, exasperated as he watched Harry line his club up with the ball. "God. I can't even be seen with you!" And with that he strutted away to the next hole to join Liam and Zayn.

Louis wasn't sure how someone could look like a kicked puppy and an angry kitten at the same time, but Harry was pulling off the look marvellously. "Take no notice. Niall's just being a drama Queen"

"No, he's right" Harry stood up straight with a heavy sigh, "I'm useless at sports, always have been" he shrugged and mindlessly dug his club into the ground.

"You're not useless, you just need a bit of guidance, that's all" Louis smiled and turned Harry back towards the tee with a hand placed on his bicep. "I'll show you, then you can shove it in Niall's face when you get a hole in one"

"I highly doubt that will ever happen, but thanks for the optimism"

"Sure it will. I believe you can do it" Louis encouraged as he altered Harry's position, turning his body slightly sideways besides the tee.

"Half the time even Niall can't get a hole in one, and golf is his life. You're trying to reach extremely high goals here" Harry scoffed, relaxing as Louis moved him into position, stood behind him with both hands on his biceps, shuffling him from spot to spot.

"Better to strive for the best, isn't it?" Louis peered over Harry's shoulder, and once stood in the right place, started on adjusting his arms in the right position. He slid his hands down until they reached Harry's own, where skin met the top of the club, and delicately placed his hands in the right spot, holding them there to make sure Harry understood, for the next round, how they should be positioned.

"This reminds me of-"

"When we played pool?" Louis cut him off with a smirk, his mind travelling back to the memory, how Harry had stood behind him besides the table, much like Louis was doing now, and fixed his hands into the right position on the cue. "I remember"

"You got so mad at me for it" Harry replied with a breathy laugh. After Louis had left the room that day, and Harry had realised what he had done, he had tugged Niall out of the room away from the prying eyes and basically had a nervous breakdown.

'Why did I do that? Oh god. Niall, why didn't you stop me? I was too forward wasn't I? I shouldn't have done it. He's so mad at me. He probably thinks I'm a freak- no. He did say I was a freak! Oh fuck. I'm so stupid!'

'Harry, he's probably already forgotten about it'

'I acted like I was coming onto him Niall! For Christ's sake'

'You fixed his position. Big deal'

'But I did it in a weird way!'

He didn't know why he had done it. Maybe his repressed attraction? His need for attention? Perhaps, he had seen it as a way to keep their arguments brewing for the sole sake of having a reason to speak to him. He realised it was probably all three, but he would keep that thought locked away inside of his head.

"Yes, because I was shocked. I hadn't expected you to do that" Louis said, stepping away from Harry. "It caught me off guard, and seeming as we argued a lot at the time it only felt right to get mad at you for it" he moved backwards, giving harry room to swing without clubbing him in the face. "Plus, you kind of showed me up"

Harry paused for a moment, hesitating, before drawing his arm back in one swift movement and swung the club a lightening speed towards the ball. His legs twisted, his arms stayed put behind his head, and he stood still as the ball soared into the air, becoming smaller and smaller as it flew away into the distance. From where they were stood, there was no telling if it was a hole in one, probably not, but it was a damn good shot if Louis had ever seen one.

"See! I told you you could-"

"How did I show you up?" Harry interrupted, swivelling around quickly to face Louis again, the ball forgotten about in an instant.

Louis just furrowed his brows, his gaze drifting away from the field and back to Harry. "You pretty much announced to the entire room that I was shit at pool" he said, as if it were obvious, because to him it was.

"That wasn't my intention" Harry replied flatly, and now, Louis was confused. How had it not been his intention when it was exactly what he had done?

"Well what was your intention?" He questioned, because he couldn't gain anything from Harry's expression, it was a blank canvas that drew up no theories.

Louis could only watch closely as he waited for an answer that Harry seemed to be struggling to give. His eyes were darting from Louis' face, to the floor, to his face again and elsewhere, every time he opened his mouth as if to give an explanation, he immediately closed it again like he was second guessing himself. Louis just didn't understand. Why? Why is this a hard question for you to answer?

"Never mind" Harry finally said, plastering a smile back onto his face that didn't quite reach his eyes in the way it normally would. There were no creases or dimples on sight, it wasn't the toothy grin Louis knew all too well when Harry was in his best mood. Why? "Should we move onto the next hole?"

"No. What was your intention?" Louis pressed, and Harry's smile wavered. He thought he looked sad at first, he worried that for some reason the conversation had upset him. But it wasn't sadness. No, he almost looked- scared? Worried? "Why are you acting so strange?"

"I'm not acting strange" Harry denied, "Can we just move on, please?" He turned and begun walking away without another word.

Just- what?

Though he was desperate for some kind of answer, either to his question or why Harry was acting the way he was, there was nothing left to to but drop the subject entirely. If Harry didn't answer a question the first time, more often than not he wouldn't answer it a second, or a third, or however many times Louis would push for an answer. The boy was incredibly stubborn, even if Louis thought there was no reason to be.

But although he wouldn't be bringing that subject up again, he couldn't help but ask one more question as he jogged to catch up with Harry. "Hey" he tugged at Harry's hand until he slowed down and eventually stopped walking, turning to face him. "Are you alright?"

Harry quirked a brow, "I'm more than alright, why?"

"I don't know" Louis replied, stuck for what to say. Why has it turned awkward? We're never awkward. "You just seem off. But- you're obviously fine. Better than fine. Why are you better than fine? We're playing golf in the middle of winter" he rambled, not entirely sure what he was saying or why.

Harry smiled, a true, genuine smile that set Louis at ease. "Because we're spending time together doing something other than watching movies"

"But you love watching movies?"

"I do" Harry nodded, "But this is much more fun, winter or not"

"Just a few minutes ago you were complaining about your shit golf skills" Louis smirked.

Harry chuckled, "It's still fun though, whether I'm shit at it or not" he breathed out a sigh, the condensed air flowing from his lips, and a comfortable silence settled between them with nothing much more to say. The wind was picking up by the minute, whipping at their skin and scuffing their hair, golf balls tumbling off the top of tee's; but even that strong force couldn't disrupt the peaceful moment.

Louis looked over to Niall, Liam and Zayn, to see that they were packing away the golf equipment in a hurried mess, running from one spot to the other ripping tee's out the ground and collecting golf balls that were dotted in every imaginable direction.

"We should probably head back, the weathers getting worse" Louis said, breaking the silence. "I can tolerate this but not rain-" he turned to walk back in the direction of school but was abruptly stopped as Harry clasped hold of his hand. "Come on. We're not staying out here you curly twat" he rolled his eyes, trying to tug Harry along.

"Wait" Harry stayed put, refusing to leave, and Louis could only look at him expectantly as Harry kept a tight hold on his hand. "This might sound stupid, sappy, whatever" he paused and chewed at his lip, "But, I just wanted you to know that, like, I'm just really glad that we're friends" he admitted shyly, his words slow and thought out. He only hoped that his blush could pass as a result of the cold weather.

Louis didn't know what he was expecting when Harry had stopped him, but it certainly wasn't that. It was a pleasant surprise though. He almost wanted to tease Harry for how utterly adorable he was being, big doe eyes fixing on anything but his face, lips bitten with rosy cheeks, but decided to save him from the embarrassment.

"I'm glad we are too" Louis smiled, and Harry shot his head up to look at him with a bewildered expression.

Because, finally. Fucking finally, he had a confirmation. He knew where they stood. Louis had said they were indeed, in fact, friends. He still hadn't said the word, but- he agreed. And he was glad of it. And Harry was so, so relieved.

"Come on then, let's get out of the cold" Louis pulled him along and Harry went willingly, barely able to contain the smile on his face and the giddy feeling erupting in his stomach.

He knew, realistically, they had basically been friends for a while now. But it was that spoken confirmation that solidified it, made it all the more real, and for once Harry felt like he wasn't walking on eggshells. He wasn't worried about saying the wrong thing, or taking a step too far, or making jokes or being affectionate, because that's what friends did, and now he knew his place.

For once, he felt calm, like everything was falling into place.

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Author notes:

This is going to be a loooooong fucking fic. It's only really just hit me. Like, idk if fics really can be 'too long', but this is nowhere near being finished. Oops.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! I've realised a lot of this chapter is dialogue based rather than descriptive, but I'm still happy with it because a few important things were said and we're definitely making progress now. I know you're all probably just itching for them to get together at this point, but tbh I prefer books that are really slow burn and some of the best out there are. We'll get there eventually :)

Don't forget to vote and leave your opinions!

Love you all xxx