Kings and Beggars of the World - Part 3
Title: Kings and Beggars of the World
Rating: NC-17
Author: braincloud2
Parings: Harry/Louis, Slight ot5
Warnings: Sexual content, unexplained time-travel, and some offensive language.
Disclaimer: This is fiction, and I don't mean any offense.
Total Word Count: 15,000+
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.
Author’s Note: Hey, g’day again! So after everyone was heaps nice and after massively encouraging words from ologistI decided do more with this universe. Please take note, though, the rating has risen from PG-15 to NC-17 due to sexual content. I was wary about doing this since I wasn’t sure if I could-having never before written so much as a platonic kiss between friends-but I surprised myself. Also, don’t worry, there’s more to come for this story, however real life is going to intrude over the next week so I thought I’d put this up before then. Cheers, and tell me what you think : )
Part 1 Part 2
‘Boys! Boys, we want to ask you some questions over here.’ One of the X Factor camera crews ambushed them as soon as they came down backstage.
‘They want to ask us questions, Zayn!’ Louis grabbed Zayn and pulled him in. ‘It’s like we’re famous!’
‘Whoo!’ Zayn raised both arms into the air.
‘Of course you can.’ Liam beamed at the camera man.
‘How could we ever refuse you?’ Harry added, feeling high on the performance.
The crew set up their camera and microphone swiftly, eager to start filming. ‘Okay, boys, first of all can everyone introduce themselves please, and then we’ll get to the questions,’ the camera man said.
They slung their arms around each other’s shoulders and waists easily; Harry in the centre with Liam and Louis either side.
‘Well, I’m Liam,’
‘I’m Zayn,’
‘I’m Niall,’
‘I’m Louis!’
‘I’m Harry, and we’re One Direction.’
‘Yay,’ Louis hollered, yanking back on Harry and Zayn, nearly causing the whole line of them to fall over as all them cheered along with him.
The camera man looked taken aback. ‘Uh, that was great. So… what made you boys decide to change from being solo contestants to a group? Remember to repeat the question, please, so we can edit this out later.’
Harry looked at the others. ‘Erm. Well, while being a solo singer is amazing and all, we decided to become a group because we thought we’d have a better chance at being successful together than by ourselves.’
The camera man’s brows furrowed. ‘But you, Liam, you’ve gotten pretty far before as a solo contestant. Aren’t you nervous to be making such a huge change in your career?’
‘I have entered this show before and got to the judges houses, but I don’t think I was quite ready for it back then,’ Liam said. ‘I’m not really nervous about this decision. I absolutely believe it’s the right choice. I mean, all these lads are brilliant and we get on really well.’
‘Aw Liam!’ Zayn cried, reaching across the group to grab Liam’s chin. ‘He says the cheesiest things.’
Louis added, ‘He’s the Cheese-Meister, our Liam is.’
‘Mozzarella cheese,’ Liam said.
The camera man blustered. ‘But-you boys haven’t known each other very long, why would you think this was a good idea?’
‘We may have only met two days ago, but I ‘onestly wouldn’t want to go on ‘ithout them,’ Niall said. ‘I t’ink we’d all agree that we’d have loads more fun on stage with four mates, than by ourselves.’
‘It might not make much sense to the people at home,’ Harry said. ‘They might think it’s a bit strange for us to form a band, because to them, it must seem like a very random decision.’
‘We seriously all just clicked right from the start,’ Zayn said. ‘And while this is all, um, new to us…’
Niall laughed and ducked his head against Liam’s shoulder.
‘We’re going to do the best we can,’ Zayn finished, and he smiled into right into lens and wiggled his eyebrows.
‘That’s right. This is a brand new experience, unlike anything we’ve ever been through before,’ Louis said, before pausing. ‘Well, except for that one time-’
Harry freed his arm and slapped down at Louis’s crotch, making the older boy cut off and shield himself, grinning widely as Niall laughed out loud.
‘And there you have it, X Factor,’ Liam said.
‘That’s ‘vas happening!’ Zayn spread his arms wide.
Harry snorted as Louis cheered and clapped Zayn on the back as if he’d just won an award. Liam and Niall joined in, pushing by Harry to jump on Zayn as well.
The camera crew looked at each other like they weren’t quite sure what had just happened, but Harry couldn’t care less.
1D
The rest of their time at the boot-camp was different. Suddenly everyone seemed to be looking at them everywhere they went. The other contestants would look over as Zayn and Louis messed about in the waiting room, falling on the ground and pinning each other, trying to slap the other’s faces.
Harry caught heard one contestant say to another in an undertone, ‘That’s them, those boys there. They’re the ones who formed a group.’ He knew it was probably weird of him, but Harry felt more relaxed under the attention, like things were normal again.
The whole afternoon and next morning camera crews were constantly seeking them out, pulling them aside to ask more questions or just filming them being stupid. Finally it was time for the final results where the judges would announce who would be going on to their houses in the next stage of the competition, and everyone was lined up on stage. This time the five of them were standing with the other groups though instead of the under twenty-five boys.
One by one the judges called out the groups going through; and the boys stood to the side as Twen, The Reason, Diva Fever, F.Y.I, Prince and Rogues, and Hustle, all broke into loud screams as their names were called, and left the stage. Zayn’s hand tightened on Harry’s shoulder as Simon paused with the microphone next to his lips, all of their eyes fixed upon him.
‘And the last group going through… One Direction.’
‘YES!’
They all turned into a tight huddle, Harry getting squashed between Zayn and Liam, Louis and Niall’s yells splitting his ears. They’d made it.
1D
Leaving the others at the Wembley Arena was a special kind of torture all by itself. Even though he knew it would only be a week until they all got back together at his step-dad’s bungalow, it felt like stepping out alone into an abyss without them. Finally getting home wasn’t much better either. Harry felt like a fraud when he told his Mum the news they were through, trying to stutter through her questions about why they decided to form a band.
‘You could’ve made it solo, though. You had as good as chance as anybody else, why didn’t you try?’ she said once he was home and had hugged her.
‘I know I can do well in a band. You’d like them, Mum, I promise.’
‘But you tried the band-thing with White Eskimo, and that fell apart because you boys all decided to do different things as you grew up. That could happen again with this new group-what did you call yourselves? One Deflection?’
‘Direction,’ Harry rolled his eyes. ‘Come on, Mum. Just trust me, we’ll be fine.’
‘I do trust you, baby,’ she said, hugging him again, but her expression was still uneasy.
Sitting around in quiet Holmes Chapel was strange for Harry, and throughout the whole next day he felt like he was itching out of his skin to do something. He was so used to being so on-the-go everyday now; getting up at six or seven, going straight into interviews, or sound-checks for a gig that night, or being hustled onto a plane, that it was killing him to just sit at home playing FIFA with his sister nattering away on the phone next to him.
He’d already organised everything with his step-dad for everyone to arrive at some point at the bungalow the next week, and now he had literally nothing to do but eat. He was currently on his third biscuit when a knock came at the door in several quick taps, like the person was in a hurry.
Frowning, Harry put the biscuit down and went over to the front door, making out a blurred shape through the long window-pane alongside the door. He opened the door, and stared as the person outside turned around.
‘Louis?’
Louis looked like a frozen tortoise with a big puffy parker that covered his neck, his eyes standing out like ice chips beneath his beanie. Louis flashed him a sharp smile. ‘Heya, Hazza. Thought I’d drop by.’
Harry frowned. ‘What? From Doncaster?’
Louis just looked at him.
‘Okay then,’ Harry said slowly, moving back and letting him in to the warmth of the house.
Louis stripped off his coat and hung it on the rack by the door, kicking off his wet shoes without being asked.
‘Harry?’ Harry’s mum called, coming out of the kitchen. ‘Was someone at the door? I thought I heard-’
She stopped on spotting Louis, looking from him to Harry and back again. ‘Oh, hallo, who’s this?’
‘Mum, this is Louis. One of the boys I met at the X Factor boot-camp.’
Louis gave an automatic smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and Harry paused, looking at him.
His Mum began firing questions for the next ten minutes, and Harry watched Louis closely the whole time. Louis looked tired, and while he was trying to make an effort at being his usual exuberant self, Harry knew him well enough to tell there was something off beneath that. So when his Mum offered Louis a cup of tea, Harry cut in saying they have some later, and pulled on Louis shirt to tug him to his room. Louis’ shoulders relaxed a little, and Harry felt a little guilty as he realised it must have been hard for Louis to pretend he’d never met Harry’s Mum before.
Harry wrapped an arm around Louis waist once down the hallway out of sight of the kitchen, and pushed him inside his bedroom, turning to close the door quietly behind them. Once inside, Louis stood still in the middle of his room, just looking out the window at the grey daylight outside and not making an effort to move.
‘Lou.’ Harry came up behind him and placed a hand on his back.
Louis glanced over his shoulder; the corners of his mouth were turned down. ‘How do you do it so easy?’
‘Do what?’ Harry frowned, rubbing Louis’ back.
‘Act as if everything’s normal with your family. I couldn’t-’ Louis shook his head, and sunk down next to Harry’s bed with a sigh, bringing his knees up to his chest.
Harry pulled his desk chair forward, sitting down and leaning over Louis. ‘I’m not doing it easy. It’s like, I feel sick inside, every time I have to lie or whenever I think... am I doing this right? Is this how I would be back then? I don’t know. I keep thinking they’ll figure it out, that they’ll know I’m not the same.’
Louis looked up at him, strands of hair that had escaped from under his beanie falling into his eyes. ‘The twins look like little girls. They’re so small-it kind of feels like it’s not them.’ Louis smiled as if to say how ridiculous he thought that was.
Harry saw the hurt he was trying to cover up though, and he placed his hand on Louis knee, grabbing the back of Louis neck with the other, and bending forward to touch their foreheads together.
Louis made a small sound. ‘God. Such a stupid thing to wish for, to come back here.’
Anger sparked in Harry and he dropped a kiss on Louis’ cheek, and then his jaw, speaking between them. ‘It’s not-your fault.’
He yanked sharply on Louis’ hair poking out from under the beanie, making Louis whine.
‘Harry,’ Louis whispered, pushing closer and closing his mouth on Harry’s neck, biting down hard into the skin.
Harry’s whole body tensed at the pain, the instinct to get away shuddering through him, but he clung to Louis and didn’t move. His hand clenched tight on Louis’ knee and he hugged Louis harder, holding his breath, until finally Louis released him with a soft gasp.
They sat quiet for a minute. The wet skin on Harry’s neck tingled every time Louis blew out air.
‘Stay here tonight,’ Harry said into Louis shoulder. He felt Louis close his eyes when his eyelashes brushed Harry’s cheek.
‘…okay.’
1D
Harry made Louis call his family so they wouldn’t worry at his sudden disappearance, and Louis stayed the night, sleeping on the spare mattress. Harry convinced him to return home the next day, with the promise that he’d call Harry as soon as he did. Harry kept close contact with all the boys for the next week, but he still missed them terribly, and he used up almost all his phone credit that week texting everyone so much. Finally the day came when they all arranged too meet up again at Harry’s house and stress, that Harry hadn’t even realised he had, alleviated as one by one they arrived.
‘Niall’s here!’ Liam called, looking through the front curtains.
Zayn leapt up from where he’d been sprawled in front of the television. ‘Niall!’
Harry and Louis dropped the controllers of the game they were playing, and they leapt over the couch for the front door. Harry rushed out of the house to where Niall was pulling his bag from the boot of the taxi, and smashed into him.
Niall laughed and hugged him back. He was the last to arrive since he’d had to fly over from Dublin, but now finally they were all back together. The others crowded in around them making such a loud noise that it caused Harry’s neighbours to look over, wondering what was going on. Behind them, Harry could hear his Mum and step-dad laughing from the door-step as the boys jumped around in a huddle of clutching arms, shouting their heads off.
Harry looked up, flipping his hair out of his face and grinning over at his Mum, like see, it’s fine.
1D
‘Oh, I’ve missed this place,’ Louis said, chucking his bag unceremoniously onto the floor of the bungalow at the bottom of the Harry’s garden. He flopped onto the couch, rubbing his hands over the armrest. ‘Hello there, comfy cushions.’
Liam laughed as he set his bag down more carefully. ‘Should we be leaving you and the couch alone?’
‘Yes please. Thanks, Liam, for understanding our need to be together.’
‘You’re a weirdo, Louis,’ Niall said.
‘And you’re only just realising this, now?’ Zayn said, grinning. ‘Where have you been the last two years?’
‘Nah-ah,’ Louis shot up, pointing at Zayn. ‘We’ve technically only known each other less than two weeks, so Niall is perfectly reasonable in his idiocy.’
‘You’re the idiot!’ Niall jumped on him, crashing his weight down on Louis’ legs and trying to squash him into the cushions.
Harry ignored Louis’ calls for help, and wandered into the small kitchen area. His parents had left them to their own devices once more, giving them free range of the bungalow with plenty of food stocked in the mini-fridge. This time the boys were going to stay for three weeks instead of two, leaving them one week back home again before they had to leave for the Simon’s house. It seemed so far away, but Harry knew the time would pass quickly now that the boys were here.
He opened the fridge and stared at the contents inside, not really seeing any of it. He could hear Louis and Niall in the other room still squawking and laughing, but he was remembering the last time they’d all come here for the first time; how nervous and eager they’d all been, wanting so bad to make this work and unsure if it could. This time there was none of that, and it was like those memories had never happened. They were rewriting their own memories in history, and for a moment Harry felt suspended between what was real now and what he thought was real.
A hand fell on his shoulder and he jumped.
‘Liam.’
‘Hey,’ Liam gave him a strange look. ‘Are you freaking out?’
‘What?’ Harry scowled.
‘Hey, it’s okay if you are, you know. You don’t have to pretend with us.’
Harry relaxed again, letting his lips spread into a smile. ‘And you don’t always have to be so smart, but there’s no helping that.’
Liam grinned back. ‘It’s both a gift and a curse,’ he said, letting his hand fall from Harry’s back as he bent closer to the fridge.
Harry shuffled aside and let him look, his heart a little lighter. Liam was good like that.
1D
The next week went by quickly like Harry thought it would. Last time they’d been here though, all they’d done was laze around playing games and swimming, occasionally singing, but mostly eating and sleeping. This time, none of them could sit still for very long.
Harry’s mind was almost constantly buzzing, and he had way too much energy and the others were the same. If one of the boys wanted to go somewhere, for a run or go bowling or just to the park to kick a ball around, the others were usually all up for it. The didn’t go to the cinemas much because they’d already seen all the ‘new’ movies worth watching, and Liam bemoaned that it going to be that way for the next two, nearly three, years.
Harry’s parents were surprised at how active they were all being, but the bungalow was far enough from the main house that the noise couldn’t be heard whenever the boys got really restless and loud. Harry didn’t mind because he was feeling the exact same impatience, and it was nice to have company whenever he wanted to work off some of his energy through a quick workout regimen. They sang a lot more as well, rehearsing the songs they’d done over the whole live shows, talking about things they’d do differently if they had to perform them again.
Each day they pushed themselves until they were exhausted, and it was after one such day that they found themselves in the living room of the bungalow. Harry was sprawled on the foam mattress they’d hauled in here, with Zayn near him, idly pressing buttons on his phone. Liam was curled up on the corner of the couch in a hoodie, and Niall was squashed in next to him with a thick woollen blanket tucked around his lap. Louis was lounging in a chair on Harry’s other side, wiggling a finger in his cup of tea, and making the liquid ripple.
‘Do you really think that we’re gonna have to do this all again?’ Zayn asked suddenly.
Harry tilted his head back, looking at Zayn from upside down. ‘What?’
‘Like twitter and everything. Getting millions of followers again, doing all the same interviews with the same questions…’
Louis scoffed. ‘Like the questions were ever going to change much anyway.’ His voice went high-pitched, and he parroted, ‘what’s your celebrity crush? What do you think makes a girl beautiful? What makes each other beauti-?’
‘Okay, we get it, Lou. Shut up,’ Zayn said, throwing his phone at Louis crotch and missing.
‘The point is, my friend, that yes we do.’
Zayn bit his lip and turned away from Louis, and suddenly Harry just wanted to be closer to him.
Harry pushed up and crawled half over Zayn’s body, who oofed as Harry settled down on top of him. He tucked his head under Zayn’s chin as the other boy’s arms came up around him.
‘Harry,’ Zayn sighed, dragging his thumb over Harry’s shoulder. ‘Look, I’m fine. I don’t care that we may have to do all of this again. These were some of the best years of my life, I can deal.’
‘Well, that’s a very mature attitude to have,’ Louis said, lolling backwards in his chair, expression carefully blank as he watched Harry cuddle closer to Zayn.
Zayn just gave Louis a lazy middle finger in reply.
‘To be honest, I think it’s actually been good in a way,’ Liam said.
Niall rolled over, his eyes squinting at Liam in disbelief. ‘How can you o’ all people say that?’
‘I just… the whole time we’ve been here, it’s like we’re separate from everyone else. I mean before we were all pretty close, but this time it’s different. I know it’s kind of corny, but it’s like-us against the world. Or is that just me?’
Harry leaned his head to peer over at Liam. ‘Do you really think so?’
‘I t’ink it would’ve been impossible for us not to be different,’ Niall said.
‘Yeah,’ Zayn said, absently running his hand up and down Harry’s arm. ‘It could have easily gone the opposite way, though, and driven us apart.’
Niall frowned.
‘Since the change is so massive,’ Zayn continued, on seeing the others’ expressions. ‘From going like we were, back to practically nothing, but no longer being the same people we were then. I think mentally, it would put a lot of pressure on anyone, and it’s pretty amazing that we’ve managed to stay together throughout it.’
‘Yeah, but without this,’ Liam said, gesturing to all of them, ‘I wouldn’t be dealing with the reality of the situation so well. It was such a beyond strange thing to happen, but I think it was good because it brought us that much closer.’
Harry hummed. ‘For me, I always thought of you as my brothers before, but that word isn’t enough to describe it now because it feels more than just that. It’s more like… the five of us are in this bubble and the rest of the world are outside it.’
‘I’ve always felt like that though,’ Louis said, biting his thumb and shrugging. ‘When it’s all five of us in the same room, it’s like we’re all that matters in the world. I’m not saying I don’t love my family and all, but.’
‘It’s different. Things are different when it’s just us,’ Harry said, eyes on Louis even as Zayn pulled him closer.
Louis smirk was small. ‘You got it, Curly,’ he said softly.
1D
A week later, it was getting closer to the time when everyone would go back home.
All the boys were starting to get really antsy after staying in the same place for so long, and everyday they had to find new things to entertain themselves. Harry, though, was having a problem of a different kind. He was lying back on his bed, flipping through pictures of the hottest birds he could find on the internet.
The rest of the boys were messing about outside, but he’d waved them off, really needing just some quality time. He paused on one interesting blonde girl, her large boobs falling forward towards the screen as she held a black pair of handcuffs with one finger, and he reached down to dip his fingers under his waistband as he felt that familiar warmth pooling in his belly.
The door banged open. ‘Hazza!’
‘Gah-’ Harry jumped, and his phone slipped from his fingers to thump to the floor as he whipped his fingers out from under his pants.
Louis dived forward onto the bed, kneeing Harry painfully in the gut. Harry coughed and wheezed for air, and Louis laughed at him, grabbing at Harry’s wrists.
‘Wh-what are you doing?’ Harry said as Louis yanked his hands up to the headboard.
Harry squirmed desperately, knowing that whatever Louis had planned wouldn’t be pleasant. His fears were justified when Louis leant forward, pulling at something black in his hand, and the loud sound of ripping duct tape tore through the air.
‘Lou! No!’ Harry renewed his efforts, trying to buck the other boy off his lap and tug his arms away, but Louis grip was like steel.
The duct tape was wrapped around his wrists and a section of the headboard, swiftly going around and over and under. Harry groaned and gave up fighting, letting his body go limp, and rolling his eyes to the ceiling as he just waited for Louis to finish.
‘Are you happy now?’ he asked, when Louis finally sat back to admire his work.
‘Very much so.’ Louis eyes twinkled down at him, and he poked Harry’s nose. ‘Don’t go anywhere now, Curly. I might come back in an hour or two if you’re lucky.’
With that, Louis slid off his lap and ran sniggering out of the room, leaving Harry staring after him.
‘You prick, come back! You can’t just leave me here.’
There was no response and the doorway remained empty.
Harry groaned, pushing his head back into the pillow and tugging fruitless at the ball of tape trapping his hands. They were truly stuck, and probably the only way to free them would be to cut the tape off. He raised his head to search the top of the chest of drawers on the other side of the room, spotting a pair of blue scissors sitting next to a cut open packet of batteries. Harry groaned again and shifted on the bed.
The worst thing was that he still had a semi from that picture of that girl, only now he couldn’t do anything about it. Harry ground his teeth together, trying to think of anything else to will his dick to calm down; however the girl with the handcuffs kept coming back. Thoughts like; what if it was her handcuffs trapping him to the bed right now, invaded his mind. What if she was leaning over him, her back arched and her arse in the air as she ran her fingers down his chest? What if those fingers reached into his pants as she whispered dirty things in his ear-?
‘Damn it.’ His pants were now uncomfortably tight and straining. He closed his eyes, willing it away and trying to distract himself with thinking how annoying Louis could be: holding his wrists down so easy, pinning Harry to the bed with his body weight, and shifting back and staring down at him. Licking his lips and telling Harry how good he was, sliding backwards down his body and dragging his finger-nails down Harry’s chest, settling them on the dip of Harry’s hips.
Louis’ mouth hovering over his pants, a wicked gleam in his eyes as he quirked his eyebrows like, do you dare me-?
Harry sucked in a breath, eyes flying open. Okay. Don’t think of Louis. Think of that girl with the giant boobs who would have leant forward, chest bouncing into his face as she curled over his lap and-oh God, he was actually going to die if he didn’t touch himself soon.
‘Louis! Come back, you tosser!’
There was silence.
Harry let out a frustrated sound. ‘I have a boner!’
Louis’ delighted cackle came from the other room.
The door burst open again a second later. ‘Do you really? Oh my goodness, Harry, you dirty boy.’
‘I know, now let me go. Please.’
Louis looked far too gleeful as he came over to the bed, and Harry kind of wanted to punch him.
‘Do you have a bondage kink you’ve been hiding from me all this time? Does this turn you on?’ He leant over Harry, reaching up to put his hand on the ball of duct tape. His hair was falling into his laughing eyes, and his torso was a long line of muscle above Harry, his biceps flexing as he put weight on Harry’s trapped hands.
Harry had to speak through gritted teeth. ‘Lou, I’m sixteen again. Everything turns me on, all the time.’
Louis’ eyebrows went up and he grinned at Harry. ‘Jesus, you must be really hard up, huh?’ and suddenly his other hand squeezed Harry’s crotch.
Harry’s body clenched up, his hips instantly thrusting up as a strangled whine escaped him. ‘-Lou, I’m not kidding!’ he gasped.
Louis laughed, releasing him but not backing off. ‘I guess it is really hard not having all those girls throwing themselves at your feet.’
Harry glared at him, breathing heavy.
Louis leaned closer and whispered, like it was a secret. ‘Welcome back to the real world, Hazza, where your best friend… is your right hand,’ he wiggled his fingers in front of Harry’s nose. ‘Unless of course, you’re all tied up, in which case, you’ll have to make do with me instead.’
Louis’ hand disappeared down and sharply squeezed Harry’s cock through his pants again-and that was it-Harry’s head rolled back and he closed his eyes tight, his cheeks flushing red and his mouth opening on a wet moan as his body went taut. He tried to pull his hands free but the duct tape held them fast, and Harry’s balls were full and tight, and his hips just jerked away releasing it all as he pushed up into Louis’ hand.
Harry came down gasping, chest heaving as his arms were still stuck in the same position. He slowly opened his eyes to Louis stunned expression, staring down at Harry panting and flushed beneath him.
‘Oh, fuck. I didn’t-fuck,’ Louis whispered, his voice cracking. He yanked his hand back from Harry’s crotch like he’d touched something burning hot, holding it next to his own stomach instead, but still he didn’t move off Harry. His whole body had gone tense, but his eyes flicked from Harry’s eyes, to his lips, to his heaving chest and back again.
‘I tried to warn you, I wasn’t kidding,’ Harry said, his voice slower. He shifted, and sighed. ‘Could you let my arms go now? They’re getting sore.’
Louis continued to stare.
Harry whined. ‘Lou, please?’
‘Uh, right,’ Louis agreed, sounding faint. ‘Right.’
He pushed off Harry and stood up, turning around and staring at the room. Harry watched him for a second, waiting for him to move.
‘On the dresser,’ Harry prompted, unapologetically. ‘There’s scissors.’
‘Right,’ Louis said again, like it was the only word he remembered.
He moved for the scissors, snatching them from the dresser and hurrying back, only to stumble over a lone shoe on the carpet and trip forward, catching himself on the headboard. Louis huffed out a breath, avoiding Harry’s gaze, and keeping his eyes steadfast on the ball of duct tape as he leant over to snip between Harry’s wrists. His hands shaking a little and it took him several goes at cut through the thick tape.
Finally the tape broke through, and Harry groaned as his arms were freed from the stiff position, letting them fall limply to the pillow.
Louis stepped back, licking his lips. ‘Okay, so,’ his voice sounded strained.
Harry rolled his head, languidly lifting his eyes to meet Louis’s.
Louis stepped back again, wrenching his eyes away and rubbing a hand over his mouth as he swallowed. ‘I’ll leave you to it then,’ he said, and was out the door quicker than Harry could blink.
‘Huh,’ Harry said into the silence. So that just happened.
Part 4