Chapter Text
Whole Pieces
CHAPTER 1
"Come on Harry. It'll be fun. It's your graduation night for heavens sake."
"No Gemma. I'm quite content just relaxing at home" whined Harry. She had been hassling him to come out with her all week, called it a celebration since he had just finished high school and was off to university next year. "You're coming whether you like it or not. Now go and put some clothes on little brother. Tonight is going to be legendary." she tossed one of the couch pillows at him. Harry had no idea how true that statement would turn out to be.
The bar Gemma had taken Harry to was expectedly busy, considering it was Friday night and Holmes Chapel 12th grade class had just graduated. Gemma had gone to the bar to get some drinks, promising her friends would be here shortly, and Harry was standing near a table shuffling his feet from side to side. This was so not his scene. He was dressed in a salmon pink silk shirt barely buttoned, black skin tight jeans that fitted him like second skin and suede boots, while most guys had the general skinny jeans and a white shirt. He was just about to pull his phone out when someone bumped him on the shoulder. "Fancy meeting you here Hazza.” said Ed "thought this wasn't your type of place."
"Ed! So good to see you mate!" shouted Harry and pulled Ed into a hug. "You got that right. Gemma dragged me out here. Said she'd be paying for drinks. Here she comes now." Gemma was navigating her way through the crowd accompanied by her friends, juggling drinks when she spotted Harry and Ed. "Sorry lads. Took forever for the bartender to serve me and then these lovely ladies showed up. Oh and hi Ed. Been a while" she said and then continued on with the introductions, all of which Harry knew but not Ed.
The night progressed and as the glasses piled up, everyone seeming to have forgotten social etiquette as the jokes got funnier and laughter grew louder especially when Harry did his impression of a mom from Long Island in the USA. As everyone cheered and awed over it Gemma suddenly screamed "Guys! We totally forgot to toast to Harry's graduation" she motioned to the bartender for a round of shots. When the bartender brought it over she moved next to Harry and slipped her hand around his shoulders, holding a glass in her hand, " Here's to you my not so little brother. Can't believe you'll be joining me at campus next year, feels like the other day when we were both singing into hairbrushes in front of mom. I'm so proud of you little one. Cheers" as they all raised their glass to Harry she pecked him on the cheek before downing her shot. "I've got an idea" she hollered. "Let's hit up Black Aces. I know clubs aren't your thing Harry but we won't be that long I promise." she pleaded. Harry sighed. "Alright Gems. But I would prefer to be home before 3am alright." and off they went.
The club was dark, stuffy and overcrowded. The music was good and Harry had to admit there were a lot of pretty girls. Most were too tipsy but so was he. He smiled to himself. He was kind of glad Gemma had dragged him out tonight. He was actually having a good time. Ed was somewhere on the dance floor with some girl he had met 10min ago and Stacey, the girl Harry had been dancing was in the restroom. Harry was leaning against the wall near the bathroom waiting when the girl poked her head outside and waved him over. Afraid that something might be wrong, Harry approached cautiously when she yanked his hand and pulled him inside. "what's wrong?" he asked. "nothing. It's just really stuffy out there and I thought we could hang in here for a bit" she said as she sat up on the bathroom counter, pulling down her shorts a bit. Harry smiled and and moved closer, leaning his hand on the counter so that she was between the mirror and him. Moving his face just inches from hers and giving her that charming smile with the dimples so deep you could live in it, "what would you like to talk about?" Stacey blushed and looked down at her lap. But only for a second. She looked up and grabbed his face in her hands and was about to kiss him when she suddenly jerked, pushed her herself off the counter, raced to one of the cubicles, and slammed the door. The sound of heaving coming through. "you alright love?" questioned Harry. More heaving. "yeah just give me a minute." she said. The sound of someone vomiting made Harry want to vomit as well so he muttered a quick "alright. I'll just be waiting outside for you then." and practically ran out the door. He needed fresh air. He was on his way to one of the balconies when Gemma spotted him and motioned to him to come over. "Little brother. It's getting pretty late. Or early. Depending on how you look at it. Want to have one more drink before we head home?" Harry thought about Stacey in the restroom. He was sure she would be ok. Just had had a little too much to drink. And he had just passed her friends on their way to the restroom anyway. He looked at Gemma, "Sure Gems. But I'll get this round." He wormed his way across the dance floor, passing Ed and telling him they were on their way out soon. Walking backwards to catch Ed's reply he bumped into someone. "Oops" he said shouted over the noise and turned around to stare into the mesmerising blue eyes of a man who Harry had never seen around Manchester before. "uhhhhh...." Harry stammered. "Hi" he responded with a cute smile.
Chapter 2
Harry was in a trance. He had never seen such beautiful blue eyes. Eyes that could stare right into your soul. He realised he was probably staring a little too long and shrugged his shoulders trying to regain his composure. A feeble “uh... Hi. Sorry about that.” was all he could mutter.
The minute that tall man turned around Louis knew that he was gone. Those long, flowing brown curls, those amazing green eyes, that deep voice that you could literally listen to for hours. What were these feelings? Louis wasn't gay. These feelings were unnatural. Too many drinks, he blamed it on. Wait... Had the man said something? “Don't worry about it lad. Club's already so crowded as it is. Name's-” Louis had started when Stan hollered. “Tommo, where are the drinks? Been waiting for ages mate” sliding his arm across Louis shoulders, and giving him a playful push. Harry took in the sight of the two of then, gave Louis an apologetic wave, and then slowly started retreating back to the dance floor where Gamma and her friends were.
“Harry you weirdo, where have you been? And where are our drinks?” Gemma asked as she hobbled over. Clearly intoxicated. Harry reached out and steadied her, sliding his arm around her waist. “Think we've had enough drinks now yeah? Let's get us home.” he pinched her nose, motioned for the other girls and headed for the exit to a waiting taxi. Having the driver drop off all the other girls first, Harry and Gemma only got home around half past three. Gemma was practically asleep as Harry slowly sneaked into the house, trying not to make a sound as he carried Gemma to her room and laid her on the bed before heading to his own. He didn't even bother undressing, flopped down on the bed, the boy with the blue eyes completely forgotten as he instantly fell asleep.
Louis awoke to a heavy weight on his back, almost crushing him. “Get off me you twat!” he fussed, trying to push Stan off. “Not unless you promise to wake up Tommo! It's game day mate! Thought we could play some football in the park before the match.”replied Stan, applying more pressure on Louis. “Alright fine. Just get off me!” Louis declared, giving Stan a big shove. It was almost 11am and the boys had only gotten back to their room around 5 that morning. It had been a great day. And night. Driving down from Doncaster for the weekend to watch the Rovers play Bury. They had arrived around 6pm, parked the car at the lodge they were staying at and headed over to Black Aces. Louis could barely remember what had happened last night. All he could recall was Stan handing him shot after shot, and wasn't he making out with some blond chick too? He couldn't remember. All the night had given him was sore legs, a pounding headache and no doubt some questionable pictures on his phone.
He got off the bed, dragged the duvet covers off Josh who was still sleeping soundly and headed for the shower. The warm water cascading over him was so welcoming he wanted to stay there forever. He quickly washed off last night's dirt and who knows what else, and leaned against the shower wall closing his eyes. “I need a wee Louis! Get out of there” yelled Josh, pounding on the door. He reluctantly turned off the tap, and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist, not even bothering to dry himself off. “Bathrooms all yours lad” he offered and headed for the bedroom. Once dressed in his rolled up black skinnies, Doncaster jersey and signature black Vans he headed to the kitchen and proceded to make a cup of tea while searching for those painkillers he knew he had brought. He had been eating some eggs Stan had been gracious enough to make when his phone beeped. It was Niall. “Mate! We still meeting up at the game later today?” “Oi oi! Of course we are lad! Stan and Josh wanted to play some footy at Clairewood park in a bit. Bring Payno along yeah” he quickly replied. As he set his phone down, Stan and Josh came barreling through from the bedroom arguing about who actually got a girls number from last night, when Louis quieted them down. “Come on lads” he said as he placed his plate in the sink and grabbed the football. “Niall just texted. Him and Payno are meeting us at the park.”
~~~~~~~
Harry awoke in a daze... He leaned up on his arms and glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table. 9:30am. He groaned. It was way too late to go for his usual morning run, and he felt sticky for some reason. He glanced down, he was still wearing last night's clothes. “Shower first. That's what I need.” he thought as strolled to the bathroom. He stripped down as he brushed his teeth, tossing his clothes in the basket and hopped in the shower. What seemed to be almost half an hour later, he exited and headed to the kitchen in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, his long hair dripping. “Harry Edward Styles, do not come into this kitchen half-naked with that wet hair of yours!” yelled Anne. She was busy making blueberry pancakes and talking to Gemma, who looked none the worse for wear as if she hadn't even been out since 3 this morning. “Morning mom, Gems. Just came to see what that heavenly small was.” he replied, stealing a pancake of the plate and headed for his bedroom munching away happily. As he slipped on a pair of yet another black skin right jeans, he peered out the window. Was an unusally sunny day in Manchester. “Perfect” he thought. “Can head over to the park and take some lovely pictures. Even grab a blanket and read some Walt Whitman.” he hurriedly out on a plain white shirt, and threw over a red plaid long sleeve just in case it got a little chilly. He grabbed his camera bag of the desk and as he walked to the kitchen he texted Ed “Morning sunshine. I'm headed to the Clairewood park in a bit. Take some photos. Come along if you want. Maybe we can catch a movie after.” he slipped his phone back in his pocket, set his bag down, and took a seat next to Gemma at the counter.
“These pancakes are amazing mom. I can't get enough!” said Harry who was already on his 4th one. “Apparently so. Just try leave some for Robin ok” she laughed as she handed him a cup of tea. “So what are your plans today little sweetheart?” inquired Anne. She always thought Harry never went out often enough for a boy his age. Although she often joked that Gemma went out enough for the both of them. “Headed to the park mom. Hoping to take some amazing shots while we've got some sunlight. Ed and I might go to a movie later.” To which Anne replied, “Sounds good love. Gems and I are off to do a bit of shopping. Text me if you're going to be late for supper.” and with that her and Gemma headed out through the kitchen door. “Well I better be off too.” he thought as he downed his cup of tea. “Dad I'm heading out, see you later!” He shouted to Robin who mumbled a barely audible “yeah” from his study.
As Harry strolled down the street camera in his hands ready to snap anything that caught his eye he looked around. He was sure going to miss this place next year. The warm air, the quiet streets. He passed the bakery and gave an enthuisatic wave to the ladies inside. He was going to miss them as much as he was going to miss his mom. He had worked with those four lovely ladies since he was 13. To him, they were like his grandmothers. Eager to listen to any story and always ready with amazing advice. He had to spend more time with them before he left.
As he rounded the corner and entered the park he was so excited. The park was even more beautiful today thanks to the sunlight. Of course it wasn't as empty as he would have hoped, what with everyone taking advantage of the unusually sunny day. There were moms with toddlers, some teen girls who had stopped chatting when he walked past and were now all staring at him and some guys a little ways off playing some football.
He started with a few lanscape shots, pictures of flowers and captured how the sunlight came through the tree branches. And when he was satisfied with those, he laid out his blanket and started to take some candid photos of the people around him. The children playing on the swings, the 2 elderly men playing chess and the boys nearby playing soccer. As he set his camera down be heard the boys yelling and looked up. Their ball had landed about a metre away from where he was and he could see someone running in his direction to get it. Being the helpful Harry that he was, he got up to get it, waiting to hand it to whoever was coming. When he got close enough, as Harry stretched out his hand with the ball, the man froze. So did Harry. “.... We've got to stop meeting by accident curly.” said Louis smiling despite being so nervous. Nervous? What was wrong with him?
Hope you guys liked it. I was so snervous about posting it! Let me know what you think.
New chapter will be up soon. All the love x