Chapter Text
It’s been a while since Harry had actually participated in something like this.
The pain is still stinging and his memories very vivid from the last time he tried to stand up for himself or rather for people who are like him.
But this is for his favourite band. No, actually, this is for the fans of his favourite band, or for some of them at least. And maybe, if he is right, it even is for some members of this band.
So this morning, Harry had packed his large rainbow flag, face-paint and his collection of selfmade rainbow-coloured flower crowns and headed for London.
It is a long drive but Harry knows he’ll finally meet some of his new friends in person and maybe make some more friends and simply have a good time.
When he arrives at the point where the meet-up is meant to take place a huge crowd is already gathered. There are so many people and so many pride flags.
He looks for his friend but can’t find them in the crowd, so he decides to blend in with it and paint his face. Two as female presenting people approach him two minutes later.
“Hey, we noticed that you have face-paint. We didn’t know about this event until we passed by and we wanted to ask if, maybe we could borrow your paint to draw rainbows on our cheeks?” one of them asks. She is tall and dark-skinned, wearing a rose top, a mini skirt and fishnet tights. Her hair is long and open and natural but dyed in a light red.
“um, sure. Here you go.” Harry offers the paint.
“Actually,” the other one, also dark-skinned, with her black hair in a high bun and a baby blue shirt and dark blue shorts, says “do you mind helping us out with that?”
So Harry paints their cheeks. After introducing themselves as Kara and Mer, they thank him and disappear in the crowd. The following twenty minutes fly by with a couple more people approaching Harry to have their cheeks painted as well and when the actual event starts, people with rainbows on their cheeks are grinning at the organisers.
“Hello everyone!” Harry recognizes them as Seb.
“It is great to see so many faces here today,” Seb begins “As you all know, what is meant to happen today is to show support for our brothers and sisters in this fandom all over the world as well as for the people whose music we enjoy.” They make a pause to let the crowd process.
“I know for a fact that a lot of you weren’t here today if it wasn’t for this band and I’m one of these people. They have offered me comfort in their songs that I wouldn’t get in reality and they brought me to this fandom where I met people like me.”
People cheer.
“But most of all, they have told me, and you, multiple times, that we’re good the way we are and that we are worth being loved, so when we decided to found RainbowTones we had all of you in mind and we wanted to give back on what this fandom and this band gave us. So thank you for coming here today and showing your support, this is huge” Seb ends with a sob and the crowd cheers and applauds.
Harry estimates that they are around 500 people. This is a lot.
Not compared to the thousands of people who are going to attend the concert tonight though.
But that isn’t important at this moment, no. Harry feels like a part of something good and pure and important and he knows that this is what counts for him today.
He punches his fist in the air and his flag waves in the wind.
Harry is tall and he sticks from the crowd like a pole. Today he doesn’t care. Today he is at home. Today he wants to be visible.
-
Louis is sweating and he is annoyed.
The traffic is awful today. His face paint already melted and his cheeks display a weird mix of colours.
His white t-shirt is sticking to his chest when he finally reaches the crowd.
Someone is making a speech
He missed the better part of it.
“fuck” Louis curses under his breath.
His right fist cramps around his flag.
He heads for the crowd.
“…you weren’t here today if it wasn’t for this band and I’m one of these people. They have offered me comfort in their songs that I wouldn’t get in reality and they brought me to this fandom where I met people like me.”
The crowd cheers.
Louis is three meters from the outer circle when the speech ends.
He looks up,
There is an arm sticking out from the crowd of heads and in the hand attached to it is a piece of fabric waving in the soft wind.
Louis spots a bracelet. It catches the light and reflects it in the colours of the rainbow.
He decides to take this as his point of orientation when the arm disappears in the crowd again.
Another speech has begun but Louis isn’t paying attention.
He tries making his way through the crowd in search for the flag and the arm – and preferably the person- attached to it. He doesn’t know why, but for some reason he feels like this is where he has to be.
He is here in support of his fellow queer fans and the band and lgbt+-people all over the world, but this arm with the bracelet and the huge flag need to be found.
The crowd erupts in laughter.
Louis didn’t hear the joke.
People are waving their tiny flags.
He is passing a couple with Bi-flags and three people with ace-flags when the crowd parts in front of him.
He sees a tall man wrapped in a huge rainbow flag, his face is soft but his features rather sharp. Long curls tangle and move in the breeze. He is fully concentrated on the speech.
The person in the front says something.
The tall man puts on hand to his mouth and yells in agreement.
There are tears sparkling in his eyes though.
Louis finds himself staring at him.
He is utterly beautiful he thinks.
And that he wants to go over and hug him and tell him that it's alright
As if he heard his thoughts, the man turns his head.
Blues Eyes meet green eyes.
-
Harry lowers his arm.
It's hot and the next person has begun to speak.
They know how to do it and make the crowd cheer and laugh.
A breeze ruffles his curls.
Tears sting in his eyes. He didn't plan on getting emotional. He hoped he wouldn't but he feels just so accepted right now.
That is when he feels like he's being watched.
Harry turns his head and spots a man. A rainbow flag, similar in size to his, in his right fist but sweeping on the ground.
He is small with caramel skin and soft-looking hair.
sharp features but a beautiful face. The nose is a little snub and his cheekbones high.
The small man has curves. Like, he really has curves.
While Harry's limbs are long and nothing but light muscles and skin, this man's legs are well-formed and his hips match his size and beauty just right.
Harry can't help but notice how beautiful of a human being he is looking at. Probably even the most beautiful person he has ever seen.
They are standing at least three meters apart, but when his gaze wanders up his face and over the cheekbones Harry can see the long and thick lashes.
Green eyes meet blue eyes.