you're cold and I burn (on hold)

“Seems nice.” Niall speaks up, not looking away from his cell. Louis nods, agreeing as he slides
his empty mug into the sink. He’s not sure why Harry stalked off so quickly. Usually he won’t
unless he’s uncomfortable with something (like when Louis called him beautiful, he shudders at
the memory) The conversation had taken a deep turn, <strong>and</strong> maybe Harry had said all he wanted to
say for tonight.
Louis <strong>and</strong> Niall decide to relocate to Louis’ room, but not before Louis chucks Niall’s shoe at his
head for tracking in mud. Niall makes fun of Louis for his over-abundance of c<strong>and</strong>les, which
Louis effectively ignores. The rest of the night is light <strong>and</strong> humorous thanks to Niall. It’s
impossible to be down when you’re with the guy, which is one of Louis' favorite things about
him. They avoid any more conversation about Harry, mostly watching movies <strong>and</strong> judging the
awful acting, all while trying to be as quiet as possible so they aren’t obnoxious.
Niall ends up falling asleep draped over the top of Louis, snoring loudly, <strong>and</strong> Louis can’t bring
himself to throw him off. Instead, he’s just laughing <strong>and</strong> trying to get comfortable. It takes a long
time before Louis can finally start to get sleepy, but his mind hasn’t derailed from what Harry had
said earlier <strong>and</strong> every time he repeats it in his head, his jaw locks.
Don’t ever be ashamed of who you are, you’ll only wish you hadn’t.
The blades of the fan are causing a whooshing noise, so he chooses to focus on that instead. He
closes his eyes, lets his mind drift off <strong>and</strong> disconnect. Niall will likely be gone by the time he
wakes up, he has to get to class pretty early, but Louis doesn’t mind, he’s more than used to
waking up alone. At least then he won’t have a snoring Irish blanket stacked on top of him.
After what feels like hours, Louis can feel himself slipping into sleep.
****
The morning sun l<strong>and</strong>s directly over Louis’ eyes, making it impossible to actually fall back asleep.
Even though he’s awake, he lays there a bit longer. He finds serenity in the way his blanket feels
light on his skin, the way his head is perfectly positioned on the cool pillow. The bed is empty
apart from his own body, Niall probably sneaking out around eight this morning. The whole room
looks gentle, all soft edges as the morning lulls everything from the sharp of the afternoon sun.
His bones pop as he sits up, against his own will but he’s craving coffee <strong>and</strong> it’s enough to draw
him out of his comfortable bed. The hardwood is always so <strong>cold</strong> in the mornings but it jolts Louis’
awake a bit more when his bare feet flatten out on top of it. He drags, doesn’t walk, all the way to
his bathroom, pulling the fuzzy robe from the holder <strong>and</strong> draping it on. Harry’s leather jacket is
laid on the other end of the bed, Louis forgetting he even had it on until he was ready to crawl
under the covers. Luckily, Niall never brought it up, but that didn’t stop his eyes from scanning
over it <strong>and</strong> a small smile playing on his lips.
The flat is dead silent apart from the blades of the fan cutting into the stagnant air. Louis glances at
his clock, noting that it’s already eleven, so Harry’s likely not still sleeping, which means he
probably isn’t here. Louis does admit that it’s a little disappointing.
The coffee pot beckons him, so he listens as he tightens the rope around his waist, opening the
door to his bedroom. His earlier thoughts are confirmed when Harry’s door is open, room dark,
<strong>and</strong> the living room is void of his presence. It’s nice to wake up to a calm quiet, but sometimes it’s
also nice just to have someone to say ‘good morning’ to, so Louis deflates a bit. Hopefully, the