Young & Beautiful

majority) don’t want anybody else to know.
It’s between Harry and him. And he likes that. So he doesn’t say anything more.
After a pause that feels much longer than it really is, Zayn sighs, rubbing at his eyes.
“I’m too tired for this,” he mumbles, his hand now smoothing down his face, catching on his
stubble.
Louis laughs lightly.
The click of Niall’s lighter sounds.
“You know what, Louis?” Zayn finally sighs, turning to look at him. Louis blinks, feeling small
and owlish in his nest. “Fuck it. Just…do you. Do what’s good for you, all right mate? Forget
about Harry for awhile and just focus on you. That’s what I care about. That’s what’s important.”
And that is sweet, that is genuinely sweet, and Louis feels his face smiling as he welcomes Zayn
in with a one armed hug, but there’s this thing in his chest, this solid weight—is it a stone?—and it
doesn’t budge or lift, only seems to get heavier as he accepts Zayn’s kind words and loyal
friendship that he is honestly so thankful for…
But it’s that Zayn’s even let go of hope for Harry. It’s that this struggle, this shit that’s kept him
awake all night and has been eating at him for months, has just been brushed aside and swept
under the rug, and now Louis is just supposed to forget about it all?
Yes, he can focus on himself. But that doesn’t mean he can’t care about others, too.
Not that he wants to care about Harry anymore, not after last night. Or that he ever did at all. Or…
Fuck. Just fuck.
**
Zayn leaves after about an hour, high as a kite and staring lovingly at his phone as he begins
receiving the first of Liam’s blearily raging hangover texts.
“Miss you alreadyyyy,” Niall calls as Louis waves, and then the flat is silent, bar the TV that
prattles on endlessly, a football match that Louis is too distracted to care about flitting on the
screen.
He really wants to stop thinking about Harry. He really wants to stop feeling like shit. Which will
come first?
“I really just hate everything, Niall,” he announces, staring blankly at the screen.
Niall snores in response.
And Louis sighs, ignoring the stone that is lodged in his chest and potentially gaining size.
He will not contact Harry. He will not.
**
Eventually Louis wakes Niall up with soft smacks to the chest.
“Ireland. I need you to hide my phone,” he says.