Young & Beautiful

faintly aware that the others are still waiting on them, shuffling around impatiently somewhere
behind them on the lawn.
But before he receives an answer, Harry is already halfway across the courtyard.
“Harry!” he calls, but he never turns back, his stride purposeful.
And, well, shit.
“Where’s he off to?” Liam asks as soon as Louis reconvenes with them.
“Is he fussed because he’s such shit at football?” Niall asks bluntly.
Louis sighs, pulling his beanie tighter over his ears. “I’m not sure. He just sort of…took off. Said
he wanted to play a new game.”
“Hide and Seek.”
All eyes turn to Zayn.
“I’m sorry?” Louis asks, quirking an eyebrow.
“He’s playing Hide and Seek,” he clarifies smoothly, nodding in the direction Harry’d taken off
in. “He wants us to find him. He does this all the time.”
Right. Of course.
“Fuck’s sake. Well let’s just find the cunt then so we can go back indoors. It’s fucking freezing
out here,” Niall complains, tugging on the hood of his sweatshirt.
And they disperse.
**
It isn’t long before Harry’s been found. And, as is custom, he is now deemed “It” or whatever, so
now they’ve all got to hide like a bunch of scattered mice (because who can say no to Harry when
he’s laughing, his cheeks licked with the cold, his eyes shining with all the sunlight that’s been
trapped by the clouds) and Louis is sort of incredibly sick of this game already as he sits
uncomfortably in a tree, his ass throbbing and muddied, his hands scraping against the wet bark.
Because, yes, Louis has accomplished something new: he’s successfully climbed a tree today.
And he’s pretty sure that would earn him a badge somewhere. But he can’t quite give two fucks
about that right now because Harry’s ‘It,’ Harry’s nowhere to be seen, Louis is cold, and Louis
wants to go back inside and devour a pot of hot soup, his adrenaline having officially departed
from his bloodstream and leaving glaciers there instead.
Luckily it’s then that Harry’s curious little head pokes out from down below as he cautiously steps
forward, searching around the yard with wide, penetrating eyes.
He watches the boy through the bare branches of his perch as he cluelessly pads around,
inspecting the tree trunk, before moving along.
Which. No. Louis wants to be found, goddammit. It’s cold out here.
So he noisily clears his throat.
Harry whirls around. “I heard that!” he challenges, but his eyes spin aimlessly, searching for the