Kings and Beggars of the World - Part 9
Title: Kings and Beggars of the World
Rating: NC-17
Author: braincloud2
Parings: Harry/Louis, ot5
Warnings: Unexplained time-travel, and some offensive language.
Disclaimer: Don’t own, this is fiction.
Word Count: 50,000+
Summary: Harry’s on tour and he feels on top of the world-that is-until he wakes up one morning to find himself at the first day of the X Factor boot-camp, just sixteen years old again, and absolutely terrified that he’s just lost the last two years of his life.
A/N: Thank you everyone, you’ve all been really nice, I love you. I think I went into 1D withdrawal after my winter break ended and real life intruded. Anyway, please read on, this was supposed to be one part, but turned enormous xx
Pt 1 --- Pt 2 --- Pt 3 --- Pt 4 --- Pt5 --- Pt 6 --- Pt 7 --- Pt 8
Harry rocked with the sway of the car as it went over a bump, shoulder knocking into Louis’ next to him. Louis shifted to curl his arm over Harry’s seat, and Harry sunk into his side. He looked up and caught the older boy’s eye, the streetlights outside playing over his face as they smiled at each other. They had performed and survived the second of the live shows, with the crowd screaming so loud it had been hard to hear what the judges said.
Now it was half-way through week three, and they were on their way to their first X Factor signing at the large HMV music store.
The boys had taken up a whole car for themselves, the other contestants filling up the three other shiny black vehicles as they all travelled to the signing. Niall had squeezed in next to Louis by the opposite window, and Zayn and Liam were in the back, both giving the other side-looks that were supposedly discrete, but massively obvious to Harry.
Louis skimmed his fingers over Harry’s arm, making goose-bumps spring up and drawing Harry’s attention back to him. Harry’s mouth twitched into a smile again, and he raised his eyebrows in a silent question. Louis pressed his thumb into Harry’s cheek, his eyes following the patches of light as they slid over Harry’s clothes, and he said nothing. Harry’s toes curled in his shoes, but he didn’t look away until a blare of noise distracted him from the front seat. The X Factor assistant sitting there, reached for her radio.
‘Jane, we’re having some problems down at the store,’ a man’s voice crackled through the speaker.
‘Jane here,’ the assistant answered. ‘What kind of problems are we talking? I thought everything was smooth for us to come in?’
There was static for a second, everyone in car turning their attention to the conversation.
‘Uh, well, might be a bit bumpier than we thought.’ The man was shouting over noise in the background. ‘No one thought we would need barriers, and now we’re short on the man power we need.’
‘What do you mean? Are you saying-oh, Lord.’
The car turned the corner and a mass of people came into view, spilling out across the street. Now they could hear the screaming through the thick tinted windows of the car, the sound increasing as people saw the cars come around the corner. The crowd of waving hands and banners that pressed forward as the cars rolled to a stop wasn’t anything new to the five boys, but the obvious lack of any kind of barriers or security men trying to hold them back was worrying. Louis’ hand tightened on Harry’s shoulder, before pulling away as hands began to smack into the windows, so that Harry knew exactly how a goldfish felt when people pounded on the glass.
‘Jesus,’ Niall muttered, shrinking back from the window.
‘Sorry, boys,’ Jane said, turning in her seat to look back at them. ‘Looks like we’re throwing you to the sharks with this one, hey? At least it’ll be exciting, it’ll be like you’re proper famous and everything.’
Zayn snorted, saying under his breath. ‘Sure it will.’
Harry twisted around to meet Zayn’s dark look. At least when they had been doing their world tours they had better safety precautions and teams of security to keep the crowds under control.
‘Alright they’re clearing a small path for you, just stick together and move towards the front doors, okay?’ Jane said cheerily.
Louis groaned. ‘This is gonna be fun,’ he said under his breath. ‘Alight, lads. On three, then.’
Harry unclipped his belt and shifted until he was half-standing in the car, Liam and Zayn both doing the same and leaning on the back seat, heads bent from the roof of the car. Louis had one hand on Niall’s shoulder, and Niall himself looked a little pale.
‘One… two… three!’
The door slid open, and screams flooded inside.
1D
Later, after the lights and noise had all died down and almost everyone had gone to bed, Harry found Niall watching a late night movie down alone in the dark.
‘Hey,’ Harry said, making Niall look around at him. ‘Fantastic day, huh?’
‘Yeah, buddy.’ Niall rubbed a hand through his hair, blonde tuffs sticking out between his fingers. ‘Haven’t had a day like t’at for ages. One o’ the girls nearly scratched me eyes out wanting a hug.’
Harry climbed over the arm of the sofa and sat next to him, the cushions bouncing as Harry settled. They were a quiet for a moment, watching the film on the screen, before Harry reached over and hooked a finger through one of Niall’s belt hoops. ‘You okay? You’re kind of quiet.’
Niall shrugged, not taking his eyes from the screen. ‘I dunno really. Nothin’ to worry about.’
Harry tugged oh his belt hoop. ‘Something is bothering you.’
Niall sighed, leaning back on the sofa and finally turning his eyes to Harry. ‘I don’t really kno’ what it is though, I just feel weird.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, so earlier, when we were all just messing about-‘ Niall paused, ‘-don’t get me wrong, you lads are me best mates in the world, but sometimes I feel weird when we’re just having a laugh like that. Like it’s not enough for me anymore.’
Harry pulled back, something dull twinging in his stomach. ‘You don’t want to mess about with us, are you saying?’
‘No, not like t’at. I’m not explainin’ well.’ Niall frowned as he jiggled his leg, trying to pick his words. ‘It’s like, I want to get closer e’en when we’re right next to each ot’er, I want to be closer.’
‘Oh,’ Harry said, relieved. He pushed forward and sidled right up next to the other boy, curling an arm over his torso and a leg over Niall’s. ‘This better?’
Niall laughed a little. ‘Yeah, a bit.’ He hugged Harry tighter, blue eyes going bright with happiness.
His blonde hair looking incredibly fluffy from this angle and Harry reached up to touch it. Niall smiled wider, his hand moving to Harry’s curls above his neck, tickling his skin lightly in return. Harry compressed his lips, struggling to hold in the laugh that wanted to escape at the touch, but then Niall was leaning down, and softly pressing a kiss to Harry’s cheek.
Harry closed his eyes at the affection in the kiss, and he heard Niall laugh again. The Irish boy tangled his fingers through Harry’s curls, twisting them around his fingers until Harry reached up and stopped them, pulling his hand down holding it, rubbing his thumb over Niall’s soft skin. Red and gold explosions on the television threw flashes of light over the couch but they ignored it. Harry lightly pinched the under-skin of Niall’s wrist, and Niall turned his hand away swiftly, sliding it up Harry’s arm.
Niall ducked his head down again, and pressed a number of tickling butterfly kisses down his face, making Harry squirm and laugh. Every time he thought Niall would stop, he found himself attacked again like the other boy couldn’t help himself, and had to go back for more. Finally, Harry squeezed Niall’s arm in a silent plead, and Niall stopped and just rested his head on Harry’s shoulder instead. Harry nuzzled into the boy’s warmth in return. They stayed snuggled together like that until eventually Harry’s eyes drifted shut.
1D
‘Harry,’ a voice whispered.
He opened his eyes and pulled his head off Niall’s shoulder, blinking up at the figure in front of him. The television was still on with the volume turned down, the screen flashing with glaring and bright with the movie menu title in the otherwise dark room, lighting Louis’ features.
‘Hey. Wondered where you two had gotten to,’ Louis whispered.
Harry felt like he drawing words up from a deep well. ‘Sorry. Fell asleep.’
‘I can see that.’ Louis tilted his head, examining them.
Niall still lost from the world, mouth separated, and fair-hair mussed against the couch, while Harry was curled into him, their limbs lost in a tangle of each other in the quiet dark. Harry continued to blink drowsily up at Louis, wondering at his silence and the strange expression on his face.
‘You look like cherubs,’ Louis murmured finally.
Harry frowned, trying to decide if he meant that as a dig or a compliment. ‘…cherubs?’
The older boy crouched down, sliding his fringe to the side as his eyes shifting over all of them, drinking them in. ‘You just look beautiful together. All pure and untouched, like,’ he trailed off, reaching out a finger to lightly stroke it down Niall’s cheek.
Harry watched Louis look at Niall, his face close enough that Harry could see every change of emotion in his face.
Louis wet his lips. ‘Kinda gorgeous, isn’t he?’
‘Wass’it?’ Niall mumbled, coming awake.
Louis pulled away, sitting back on his haunches, and he spoke at a more normal tone. ‘Nothing, mate. You lads should come up to bed. You’ll get sore sleeping here.’
Niall groaned, detaching himself from Harry and sending his side cold. ‘Too late. Me arm’s already lost all feeling.’ Niall rolled up from the couch, stretching his arms as he moved to the door.
‘You coming, Haz?’ Louis asked, standing up and holding his hand out to Harry.
Harry searched his face for a trace of the emotion from a minute ago, but the lack of light was hiding most of the older boy’s expression. Harry didn’t move, a growing, apprehensive feeling inside him. Louis raised an eyebrow at him after a moment and Harry made himself move, unfurling from the couch, and reaching up and folding his pale fingers around Louis’ hand. Louis grasped him tight and pulled him to his feet. Harry caught himself as he teetered forward, and Louis’ eyes dropped to Harry’s lips as they came within an inch of each other.
Louis had stopped breathing, Harry could tell because he was close enough to feel if the other boy breathed out and there was nothing there. The atmosphere practically crackled between them as Harry kept his eyes fixed to Louis’, suddenly feeling as if they were trembling on the edge of a new giant chasm, questions rising in his throat like a wave that threatened to pull him down.
‘Are you boys coming?’ Niall asked by the door.
Harry dragged his eyes from Louis. ‘Yeah, alright.’ He squeezed Louis’ hand once before letting it slip from his fingers, turning away to follow Niall out the room.
Once back in his bunk bed, sleep came slowly to Harry; the rustles as the other boys slept seeming startling loud. When he did finally fall asleep, he dreamt he was on the beach in Los Angeles, and that the film crew wanted them to keep jumping off the painted rail of the stairs.
In the dream, Harry dangled over the sand, looking up at his friends laughing as they lowered him by his wrist-and panic swelled within him as he suddenly didn’t want them to let go. He tried to tell them to hold on, but words weren’t coming out of his mouth properly. Louis and Liam’s smiles were bright in the sun as they leant over the rail, and Niall was laughing against Zayn, and none of them could hear Harry.
‘Please,’ he said desperately.
They let go, he fell and hit the sand, rolling away down the slope towards the water line. His face smushed into the colder, wet sand and stayed there, his limbs losing the ability to move and leaving him stuck, inert on the sand. The water rushed forward, and he knew that when the tide came in, he would be completely swallowed.
A shadow fell over him from behind and a moment later a hand touched his shoulder. Harry couldn’t turn his head to see who it was, and the frustration at this world writhed inside him.
‘Hey, now,’ Louis’ voice came from behind him. ‘You didn’t think we’d leave you down here by yourself, did you?’
He couldn’t answer.
‘Look, we’re all here. You just have to turn around.’
But he couldn’t turn around. He just couldn’t and a few seconds later, Harry woke up to find the wet sand was actually his pillow, soaked through with tears.
1D
The five of them knew the song for this week wasn’t working. It was one Simon had chosen again and they had tried it, but they just weren’t feeling the song, it wasn’t their style. They talked it over again during rehearsal that morning, sitting off to the side of the stage with Niall strumming a few familiar chords on his guitar, striking an idea in Harry that he suggested to the others.
Liam frowned. ‘Maybe. I’m not sure it fits into the theme for this week though. That song is hardly a guilty pleasure.’
‘The title might be considered one, in the right context, yeah?’ Zayn said.
‘Heads up, here comes Uncle Simon,’ Louis said, gesturing. ‘Let’s ask him if we can.’
‘Look, boys, we’re all in agreement, this one just isn’t working,’ Simon said as he came up. ‘Why don’t we try the back-up song you prepared, and see how that goes?’
The boys looked at each other, Niall accidently catching his thumb on the strings of his guitar and sending a twang through their silence.
‘It’s not a bad thing, boys. You’re not doing terribly. It’s just not at the level of your last few performances.’
‘No, we’re not upset,’ Harry said. ‘Basically, we were hoping to change to a different song, except not to the back-up one. We were thinking of, like a Kings of Leon song, but we’re just not sure if it fits into the theme?’
Simon frowned. ‘Kings of Leon? That band has a very distinct sound, Harry. Very different from what you boys have been singing so far. And I’m not sure ‘Sex on Fire’ is the right choice for your voter demographic.’
‘No, I’m sure it isn’t,’ Liam said, and Niall laughed next to him.
Harry caught Louis’ eye as the older boy put his hand up to his mouth to hide his smile. ‘No, not that song. We were thinking of ‘Use Somebody’ actually.’
Simon was shaking his head. ‘Changing the song at the last minute to one you’ve not even practiced is an extremely risky move-’
‘Nah, we ‘ave practiced it,’ Niall interrupted, and he gestured at the stage. ‘We’ll do it right now, no worries.’
‘Have you got the music for it?’ Simon asked.
‘Niall will play, won’t you?’ Zayn said, standing.
‘Yeah, buddy.’ Zayn leant down and grasped Niall’s hand, helping him up onto the stage.
‘We’ll just perform it acoustic so you can see. We can do it proper with the backing track later on,’ Harry said, hopping up onto the stage.
Louis jumped the ledge easily in one bound. Liam tried uncoordinatedly to get his leg up, before Harry grabbed his elbow and hauled him up to join them. Liam gave Harry a crinkly-eyed smile, patting him on the chest in thanks, and Harry smiled back, before catching Niall looking at him across the stage. Niall blinked, looking down to fiddle with his guitar.
Harry gazed at him, remembering the light kisses from the night before. He could still feel the ghost of them shiver across his skin.
‘What’s going on?’ Harry heard Savan ask Simon from the audience, breaking his reverie. ‘Are they doing the back-up song then?’
Simon replied, ‘I have no idea what they’re doing. Singing something else they prepared themselves, apparently.’ He collapsed into his seat with a huff, and reached for his water.
They got some microphone stands brought over, and Niall strummed the first couple of chords, refreshing his memory of the chords Dan and Sandy had showed him so long ago now. The studio fell quiet as the crew and the few other contestants in the room realised something was happening. Harry caught Niall’s eye and gave him a short count, before all of them broke into a burst of ‘Oh-wah-oohs’ as Niall began strumming the chords, and the sound floated out across the auditorium.
Harry gripped the microphone, closing his eyes and leaning in close. ‘I’ve been roaming around! I was looking down, at all I see! Painted faces, fill the places, I can’t reach…’
Opening his eyes showed Simon frozen in his seat. His mouth was open against his forgotten water glass.
‘You know that I could use somebody… yeah. You know that could use somebody, yeah-e-yeah.’
‘Someone like you, and you all you know, and how you speak,’ Louis cut in, brilliant and clear.
Harry looked across at him, wanting to watch him sing.
To his surprise, Louis was looking back, singing to him, ‘Countless lovers, under cover of the street…’
Harry’s hands tightened on his microphone from the need to touch Louis.
Louis closed his eyes. ‘You know that I could use somebody, yeah. You know that I could use somebody, yeah-e-yeah. Someone like you!’
Harry burst back to life, to join Liam and Zayn throwing back their heads with the, ‘Oh-wah-oohs’ while Niall played, waiting for his turn.
‘Off in the night! While you live it up, I’m off to sleep! Waging wars to shake the poet, and the beat...’ Niall turned his head to look down the line of boys, and his eyes cut sharp into Harry’s. ‘Well, I hope it’s gonna make you notice! Well, I hope it’s gonna make you notice… someone like me!’
Harry broke into the ‘oh-wah-oohs’ head spinning from the intensity of Niall’s gaze. He tried to shake it off, and lose himself in the song, rocking to Liam’s, ‘I’m ready now,’ nodding his head and building again for the chorus, opening his mouth wide for every sound, hearing nothing but the other boys and Niall’s guitar, until finally standing still.
He lowered his voice for the final line, letting an ache of emotion through. ‘I’ve been roaming around, I was looking down, at all I see…’
They finished off to sound of Savan and most of the crew that were down in the audience breaking into cheers. Harry smiled at them, and then he realised that Simon wasn’t clapping.
He wasn’t even smiling.
‘Alright, boys, we’ll do that song then. Someone get the backing track for it, I don’t care who, just get it. And someone else get me a cup of tea.’ Simon unhooked the tiny microphone from his shirt and left his chair, running a hand over his hair.
Harry stared, not sure if he’d even seen the man look so stressed, but in the next instant, Zayn was hooking an arm around Harry’s shoulders and pulling him in close, reaching around to fist-bump Liam.
Louis was practically vibrating. ‘Your guitar skills are the sickest, mate.’
‘Nah, I was alright.’ Niall rubbed his neck, a pleased pink colour covering his cheeks.
‘Cheeky chappie, you know you were amazing. You’ve been practicing all secret-like, haven’t you?’ Louis reached to mess up Niall’s hair, before draping himself over the blonde boy as Niall laughed.
‘Okay, I ‘ave a bit.’
‘Knew it.’ Louis lurched forward with Niall until they connected with Liam and Zayn, forming a huddle circle on stage. ‘We’re doing pretty good for ourselves, aren’t we lads?’
The others loudly agreed, all of them talking over one another.
Harry soaked up their voices, trying to stop thinking about Simon’s reaction. He spent the rest of the rehearsal day keeping himself distracting from thinking on it too hard, there was too much to do to get concerned with something that was probably minuscule anyway.
Everyone had to work extra hard because of the last minute song change, and the boys didn’t get another second to themselves until it was time to head back to the cars out the back and return to the X Factor house. Before they could leave though, Simon appeared and touched Harry’s shoulder.
‘Could I talk to you for a second, please Harry,’ Simon said, gesturing towards a small dressing room off the corridor.
Harry hesitated, looking back at his friends laughing and chatting as they continued walking. ‘Uh, yeah, alright then.’
He followed Simon into the dressing room, where Simon closed the door quickly. Harry stood awkwardly as the man ran a hand over his mouth.
‘Okay.’ Simon’s voice was quiet. ‘I need you to be straight with me here, Harry.’
Harry’s heart stopped in his chest, and he stared at the man. ‘Straight with what?’
‘You know what, and I need to hear you say it. I need to know the truth, so that we can be prepared in case it ever gets out into the media.’
Thoughts pounded wildly through Harry’s mind, and tried to remember if they’d done something different on stage. The image of Louis singing to him flashed through his mind, how they had looked at each other. Oh fuck, Simon must have figured it out.
‘Just tell me the truth. I need to know, Harry.’
‘Know what?’ Harry choked out. ‘What do you want me to say?’
‘I need you to tell me,’ Simon lowered his voice further. ‘Did you know each other before boot-camp?’
Harry mind went blank with relief. It took a few seconds for the question to compute in his mind, and panic washed in again when it did. ‘What? No.’
‘Harry, please, I’m trying to help you. I wasn’t born yesterday. I have been in this business for a long, long time.’ Simon’s gaze burned into him. ‘At first I may have thought you just had good chemistry, but it’s become increasingly obvious that you boys have known each other far longer than you’ve pretended. Years, probably.’
Harry couldn’t breathe.
‘Be honest with me now, because let me tell you, there is no newly formed band in the world that can pull a new song out of their behind like you boys did today. It just doesn’t happen.’
‘I don’t-we did meet at boot-camp though. We did.’
‘Harry.’ Simon pressed his lips together in a white line.
‘We really did meet at boot-camp. It’s how we met. That’s how we-’ He was going to be sick. He was going to be sick.
Simon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. ‘Fine. Try to keep the truth under wraps then, whatever it is, because the media will have an absolute field day with the scandal if they find out you boys were lying to the public.’
‘We’re not. We’re just-’ He was lying. He was lying right now, to a man he respected almost more than anyone else in the world.
‘Alright. I get it.’ Simon said, opening the door and guiding him out of the dressing room. ‘I must admit, I am a little disappointed with you, Harry.’
Simon walked swiftly away down the corridor, and Harry stared after him until the man turned a corner, his breaths coming short and quick.
He tried to walk down the corridor after the other boys, and staggered into the wall instead. Heaving himself up, he saw a sign pointed to a nearby bathroom and somehow managed to push himself towards it. He banged open the first stall, dropped to his knees on the cold tiles and promptly threw up all of his lunch.
The pristine clean tiles finally stopped spinning a few minutes later, Harry dragged himself from the floor and washed his mouth and hands at the sink. His phone buzzed with a message from Liam, wondering where he was because the car had to leave soon. Harry sent him a quick message, coming now sry. He made his way out the bathroom and down the corridor, avoiding the gaze of any person he had to pass.
‘Yeah-hey! There he is!’ Louis cheered, hanging off Liam’s shoulders. ‘Oi, Niall! Quit chatting up the ladies, we have to go now!’
Niall had been talking to a couple of the stylist women, but he came back over at Louis’ call. Zayn was already in the car on his phone, but he hung up as they piled in, everyone except Harry talking loudly. He sat silent as the boom-gates at the back of the studio lifted, the guards waving them through by a group of fans, who screamed and waved banners when they saw the car.
Louis noticed Harry’s silence after a few minutes, and nudged him. ‘Where’d you disappear to, Curly? I thought you were right behind me in the corridor, and then I turned around and you weren’t.’
Harry coughed, trying to clear his throat of the left over arid taste. ‘Bathroom,’ he rasped.
Louis frowned. ‘Did you strain your voice again?’
Harry gave a weak shrug, taking the out Louis had given him. He didn’t want to talk about what Simon had said. In fact, right now he never wanted to talk ever again.
‘Aw,’ Louis said softly, putting his arm around him.
Harry let himself be cuddled, pushing his face into the older boy’s side and smothering himself with Louis’ shirt. He just wanted to forget.
1D
Harry watched the kettle boil, hunching over the counter as the dishwasher chugged next to him, cleaning the dishes from dinner. As much as he tried to blank it out of his mind, Simon’s disapproving look kept swimming before his eyes, and he couldn’t stop replaying the conversation in his head. He wished that he’d said something, anything, different instead of blabbering on like an idiot and freaking out.
‘Heya,’ Liam came up behind Harry tapping his shoulder. ‘Is there enough water for me?’
Harry hadn’t realised that his shoulders had tensed up, and he tried to relax them. ‘Yeah. Do you want a cup?’
‘Yes please.’ Liam grabbed a cup from the cupboard and placed it next to Harry’s, a goofy smile on his face.
Harry eyed him, noticing that his mouth looked kind of red and bitten. ‘Huh.’
‘What?’ Liam leant against the counter, still smiling.
‘Nothing. Just, Zayn’s a good kisser, isn’t he?’
Liam’s eyes widened and he seemed to sink against the counter. ‘I-uh, how did you know we-?’
‘Saw you two the other night.’
‘Oh, God. Did anyone else see?’ Liam covered his mouth with his hand.
‘No, only me. Don’t worry yourself, Payne.’
‘Oh, Christ.’ A laugh escaped through Liam’s hand. ‘I don’t even know what to say.’
‘He’s a good kisser though, right?’
Liam nodded, still touching his lips. ‘Most definitely good. Yes.’
‘Somebody’s blushing,’ Harry teased.
Liam punched him hard in the shoulder. ‘Shut up.’
Harry laughed. ‘Ow, okay. Can you pass the tea?’
Liam grabbed the box of tea bags and slid it towards Harry as steam rose from the spout of the kettle. Harry picked it up and carefully poured two cups. Liam’s hand came up and ran down Harry’s spine, steadying at the small of his back and watching him pour the tea.
‘I’ve never been like this though,’ Liam said. ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’
‘Yeah, you do,’ Harry said easily.
‘No I mean,’ Liam’s clenched at Harry’s hip. ‘With a guy. With a friend. I’ve never-I don’t know why-’
‘You’re doing what makes you happy.’ Harry picked up his mug, engulfing it in his hands. ‘That’s all that should matter.’
‘People shouldn’t always do the things that make them happy,’ Liam said. ‘They don’t always get the choice to do so anyway because it’s just not the way real life works.’
Harry frowned. ‘I think the rules for that sort of thing went out the window when real life screwed us over. Our world isn’t like everyone else’s, so why should we have to think the same way as them?’
‘Because otherwise things might go horribly for us, Harry.’ Liam rested his chin on Harry’s shoulder. ‘But I can’t help myself, I just, it’s so…’ His hands tightened around Harry.
Harry turned to gaze at Liam, his eyes roving over his raw-bitten mouth and stopping on a large red hickey on his neck. Harry’s fingers twitched around his warm mug, and he set it down on the bench so he could reach one hand up and press his fingers into the red mark.
‘Zayn got you good,’ Harry murmured.
Liam grinned, dipping his chin without dislodging Harry’s hand. ‘Actually, that was all Louis. He surprise-attacked me when we were waiting at the car earlier.’
‘Oh, okay,’ Harry said, and he pushed his fingers harder into the shape Louis’ mouth had made on the other boy’s skin.
Liam’s throat flexed. ‘Yeah.’
‘Oh.’ A surprised voice came from the doorway.
Harry craned his neck back to see Esther standing open-mouthed at the door, staring at them and looking like she didn’t know which way to turn.
‘Hey, Esther,’ Harry said. ‘Are you after some tea as well?’
Esther’s gaze moved over them, taking in the way Liam was curled over Harry, and down to Liam’s arm around his waist. ‘Um. Are you…?’
Liam filled in. ‘Finished here? Yeah, no problem, we’ll get out of your way.’ Liam’s arm slid off Harry and he grabbed his cup of tea to take back to their room.
Harry stood by the bench, stirring his tea and silence filled the room as Esther kept going to say something before cutting herself off. Harry realised why she was so surprised, how he and Liam must have looked to her, and he opened his mouth to defend himself. There was nothing going on between them, she was jumping to the wrong conclusion. Strangely though, he found himself reluctant to speak the words.
Estelle’s eyebrows were high as she looked at him, waiting for an explanation.
‘There’s uh,’ Harry started. ‘There’s enough water left in the kettle for you.’
He avoided her incredulous stare and followed after Liam.
Part 10