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If Harry could save certain moments of her life forever, the one she was currently living would be one of them.
She and Louis were sitting on Louis’ bed in their dorm room, watching a movie and eating popcorn. Harry was leaned back against the wall behind her and Louis had her head rested in Harry’s lap.
They had just popped in Avengers: Age of Ultron, a movie they had seen about a hundred times. And, just like every other time they watched it, Louis’ rant would start in 3… 2… 1…
“I hate this movie,” Louis muttered.
Harry rolled her eyes. “No, you don’t, Lou.”
“Of course I do. Don’t tell me how to feel. Like, Stark creates this powerful super robot, which, if they watched any kind of science fiction movie, they would know is a bad idea. Ugh, and Bruce. Like, where the hell did this Hulk-Black Widow romance come from? Everyone knows she belongs with Clint.”
“Yes, Louis,” Harry said dutifully. In the fourteen years she’d been friends with Louis, Harry had learned that the best way to deal with her rants was to just let them go until Louis ran out of breath.
“Like, the Hulk-Black Widow thing was so far out of left field – that’s the expression, right? – that I could literally just vomit. Come on. And then we find out Hawkeye has this secret family? And his wife is fucking Velma of all people? Who thought that was a good idea?”
“I don’t know, Lou.”
“And then Bruce can’t even be with Natasha in the end because he’s scared and wants to protect her. Like, you’re a dude who turns into a green, thousand-pound beast when he gets grumpy. If you can’t protect her, then who can?”
Harry started running her hand over Louis’ hair, which she’d very recently chopped off and styled into a fluffy pixie cut.
Louis wasn’t sure if she liked it yet, but Harry loved it, just like everything else about Louis.
“And then, they kill Cosmo!”
Harry sighed. “That’s not his name, Lou.”
“Of course it is. Cosmo and Wanda.”
“No, Lou. His name is Pietro.”
“I like Cosmo better; who doesn’t love a good Fairly Oddparents reference? Therefore, that’s what I’ll call him. Besides, you knew who I was talking about, didn’t you?”
Harry rolled her eyes, because of course she knew who Louis was talking about. She always did.
“Just watch the movie, Lou.”
“OK.”
Louis reached above her head and into the popcorn bowl, taking a handful and shoving it into her mouth.
Harry just smiled at her.
---
Harry and Louis first met when Harry’s family moved in across the street from Louis’. Louis could still remember seeing the little curly-haired girl with the pretty green flower dress and white sandals, clutching onto a purple and blue teddy bear and looking up and down the street with fear in her eyes.
Louis dropped the chalk she had been drawing with and, after looking both ways, crossed the street to meet this new girl.
“Hi, I’m Louis Tomlinson!” she said, introducing herself. “I’m four-and-a-half-years old and I go to Crescent Hill Day School. What’s your name?”
“Um…” the girl quietly started to say. “Um, I’m Harry Styles. I’m not four-and-a-half yet.”
Louis shrugged. “That’s OK. We can still be friends.”
Harry’s green eyes lit up. “Really?”
Louis nodded. “Yeah! Do you want to come draw with chalk?”
“Louis!”
She turned to see her mom hurrying out of the house and across the street.
“Yes, mom?” she called back.
“You know you can’t cross the street without an adult!”
Louis dropped her head. “Sorry.”
Harry watched the tall lady come up to her.
Just then, she heard her own mother yelling her name.
“Harry, who are you talking to?”
“Mommy, I made a friend!” Harry said excitedly, bouncing up and down. “Her name’s Louis and she said she would be my best friend.”
Harry’s mom and Louis’ mom exchanged a quick glance.
“Hi, I’m Anne, and this is my daughter Harry,” Harry’s mom said.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jay and this is my daughter Louis,” Louis’ mom told her. “Welcome to the neighborhood! It looks like our daughters have already met.”
“And they’re best friends, too,” Anne said with a laugh.
Jay nodded. “Yeah. I guess they are.”
After that, the two of them had been inseparable, spending all of their time together and going to all of the same schools for their academic careers.
When it came to college, of course the girls picked the same one. And obviously, they had decided to be roommates at Haviston University, a school just over an hour away from their hometown. It only made sense – the girls knew they would be in each other’s rooms all the time anyway, so they might as well just save the time and officially live together.
Like now, when the two of them were doing homework on Louis’ bed. Harry held a book open on her lap while Louis had her computer on the bed in front of her, looking up potential topics for a presentation she had to give in her speech class next week.
Louis looked over at Harry and couldn’t hold back a smile. Harry just always looked so cute when she studied.
She was so focused on the words in her textbook that her green eyes were squinty and there were tiny lines forming at the corners. Her lips were slightly parted as she silently mouthed the words she was reading. Her long, curly brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and the collar of her big T-shirt was moved to the side just enough to show Louis that she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Louis tried to ignore the blush that came to her cheeks at the thought of that.
Harry’s phone went off, causing Louis to look back at her computer and pretend that she had been working this whole time.
Harry quickly checked the message that displayed on the screen.
“Ni and Liam are at the dining hall,” she read. “They want to know if we feel like joining.”
“Do I have to put my bra on?” Louis asked.
“Not if you don’t want to. Just put a big hoodie on or something.”
Louis shrugged. “I guess.”
“Tell you what: if you don’t put one on, I won’t, either.”
Louis looked over, glancing at Harry’s chest before quickly sliding her eyes up to her best friend’s face.
“Deal.”
Harry laughed and closed her book, putting her pen inside to mark the page.
Louis shut her laptop and jumped off the bed. As suggested, she put a hoodie on over her T-shirt and slid her feet into her checked Vans.
Harry pulled on a sweatshirt, as well, and put on her black ankle booties before grabbing her and Louis’ IDs and the room key.
“Sweatpants and booties?” Louis asked as they left. “Nice. I like the look.”
Harry shrugged. “You know; aesthetic.”
They walked down two flights of stairs and exited the building. The dining hall was close by, just a few minutes away from their dorm.
“You ready for next week?” Harry asked as they walked, referring to the Halloween party that Louis’ family threw every year.
“Yeah, I guess. I mean, I have my costume already.”
Harry rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because that was a tough decision.”
Louis had been Hawkeye every year for the last four years, ever since the first Avengers movie came out in theaters.
Although, it hadn’t been her first choice. She had originally wanted to be Katniss from The Hunger Games. She already had a bow and arrows in the garage due to her younger sister Lottie going through an archery phase in middle school. However, when it came time to prepare a costume, Louis couldn’t find any brown boots or gray cargo pants. Apparently, everyone else wanted to dress up like Katniss, too.
“Well I can’t possibly be Katniss now,” Louis whined to Harry one day in her room. “It won’t be original. You know what? Fuck gender roles or whatever it is. I’ll be Hawkeye. He’s totally badass, too, and all I have to do is wear all black. Done.”
“Maybe I’ll ask Lottie if she can get my hair into a fauxhawk or something,” Louis said, approaching the dining hall. “I actually sort of have the style for it this year.”
“That would look awesome. It would make your costume more realistic, too. People might actually believe you’re an expert archer trying to save the world with a bunch of other superheroes.”
“Shut up!” Louis pushed Harry’s shoulder, causing her to stumble as she walked into the building.
Harry didn’t seem to mind, though. She was giggling too much.
“At least I have a costume, unlike someone else around here.”
“Who says I don’t have a costume?” Harry asked.
“Because you never have a costume.”
Louis swiped her ID at the front counter and waited for Harry to do the same.
“You always wait until the last minute,” Louis continued as they walked toward the food. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but you’re pretty notorious for your procrastination.”
“Well maybe I actually have something this year.”
Harry grabbed a plate and headed toward the salad bar.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Louis called after her. She grabbed a plate and went to get a burger from the grill.
After a few minutes of wandering around the food stations for anything else she might want to eat, Louis decided to go find Liam and Niall, her two closest friends besides Harry.
She looked behind the cereal counters and found the two of them halfway done their own lunches.
“Hello, hello,” Louis greeted, putting her plate down in front of an empty chair.
“Hey, Lou,” Liam said.
Niall waved as she sipped her Mountain Dew.
“Is Harry here?”
“Yeah, she’s… somewhere,” Louis answered, taking her seat. “I’m sure she’ll find us in a minute.”
“Cool.”
“Will you tell Liam that my Halloween costume isn’t stupid?” Niall asked, setting her glass down.
“I didn’t say it was stupid!” Liam protested. “I just said it was a strange choice for you.”
“What is it?” Louis wanted to know.
“I’m going as Sia,” Niall said. “Like, I got the wig already and I have a bow to put on top. I’m going out tomorrow to get a black blazer and I’m going to wear it with this black dress I have. And Liam thinks it’s dumb.”
“I do not! I’m just surprised because Sia is like this super mysterious person, so you’d have to be a bit quieter during the night than you usually are. And once we all start drinking, that’s out the window.”
“Didn’t you see Sia on Carpool Karaoke, though?” Louis asked. “She actually seems like a pretty outgoing person. She first got the wig to use as a selling point. She said that mystery was something missing from Pop music, so she went with it. And it clearly worked.”
“Ha!” Niall cheered triumphantly. “So there.”
Liam sighed. “Fine. Be Sia. See if I care.”
Louis laughed at her friends. “I’ll be back. I’m getting a soda.”
She stood up and went to the drink dispensers. As she grabbed a glass, she looked over her shoulder to see where Harry was.
After a quick scan of the room, she found Harry in front of the omelet station. She held two plates in her hands and was standing with another girl.
Louis’ heart clenched, because Harry was with a girl that Louis disliked.
Well, ‘disliked’ may have been too easy. Louis hated the girl, and it was because she had a massive crush on Harry.
Her name was Natasha, but everyone called her Tash, and her feelings toward Harry were pretty clear. It was easy to see in the way that Tash stood with one hand on her hip and her chest pushed forward. It was evident from the single strand of hair that Tash was twirling with her free hand and the hungry look in her eyes.
Of course, Harry was having a complete conversation with her, smiling at Tash and laughing at all the right places as Tash told some irrelevant story.
Louis frowned, and before she could stop herself, she set her cup down and walked over to where they were standing.
“Hey, H,” she said happily – and a bit loudly. “I was wondering where you’d gotten to.”
“Yeah, I’m here,” Harry replied. “Just talking to Tash here. You remember her, right?”
Of course Louis remembered her. You never forget your sworn enemy.
“Do you need help carrying those?” Louis asked instead of answering the question.
“Oh. Um, sure.”
Louis took one of the plates from Harry, the one that contained a large serving of penne noodles with alfredo sauce.
Once she had the plate in her hands, she slowly turned toward Tash, as if she hadn’t realized she was standing there.
“Oh. Hi.”
“Hi,” Tash sneered. She turned to Harry and, after wiping the gross look off her face, said, “I’ll see you around Harry.”
As she spoke, she reached out and ran her fingers down Harry’s free arm.
With one last grumpy look at Louis, she walked off.
Harry, ever so oblivious, just smiled at Louis.
“Niall and Liam are over here,” Louis said, unable to keep the annoyed tone out of her voice.
“OK.”
Louis led Harry over to the table.
“Are you all right?” Harry asked as they walked. “You seem tense.”
“No, I’m fine,” Louis lied. “Just fine.”
---
On Tuesday afternoon, Louis came back to the room and immediately dropped her bag under her bed. Her psychology class had been especially draining today, and her mind felt like it was ready to pack its bags and move far, far away.
Instead of just flopping down on the bed, she forced herself to grab a pair of sweatpants from her drawer and changed out of her black skinny jeans. She then took off her long sleeve shirt and bra, dropping both items to the floor, before grabbing the tank top she’d slept in and putting it on.
She climbed under the covers of her bed and got comfortable within seconds. Letting out a huge yawn, she buried her face in her pillow and shut her eyes.
For a brief second, she contemplated setting an alarm on her phone, but that would require her to get up and dig her phone out of her jeans pocket. And that sounded like a lot of work. Besides, Harry would be back soon and she would wake her up for dinner.
She took a few deep breaths and could feel herself falling asleep already.
Then she heard a key turning in the lock to their room.
Louis peeked an eye open just as Harry walked in, looking upset.
“What’s the matter?” Louis muttered, her voice slightly muffled under her blanket.
“I failed my math test,” Harry cried.
Louis opened both eyes and picked her head up. “What? There’s no way.”
“I don’t think you get it, Lou.” Harry kicked off her shoes and plopped down on her bed. “I read the first question and just blanked. Like, the numbers were just coming off the page at me and my head started spinning and I think I just started doing long division for the hell of it.”
“Babe, I’m sure you did fine.”
Louis froze, the term of endearment hanging heavily in the air. Louis was sure Harry heard it, but if she did, she wasn’t acknowledging it. She must’ve been really stressed about this test.
“God, I failed,” Harry whined. “I totally did my PEMDAS steps out of order, too.”
“Come here,” Louis said, pulling back her blanket.
Harry sighed, but crawled under the covers. She lay on her back, staring at the ceiling, seeming extremely frustrated with herself.
Louis waited patiently until Harry turned on her side to face Louis before she said anything.
“When the test comes back, and you find out that you actually did really well, I'll make us some really big Long Island iced teas.”
Harry smiled. “And what if I failed?”
Louis thought about it. “… Then, I'll get the cheap alcohol so that we can buy more bottles and make more drinks. Duh.”
Harry giggled. “Oh, Louis. Always trying to get me drunk.”
“Of course,” Louis said. “What are best friends for?”
Harry sighed. “Yeah. The absolute best.”
Louis leaned up and gently kissed Harry on her forehead. When she pulled back, Harry had a soft smile on her face.
“So, I was probably going to take a nap if you wanted to join?” Louis said.
“I’m in!”
Louis then felt the mattress shift around and Harry started to get squirmy. She soon realized that Harry had unbuckled her jeans and was trying to get them off without moving the covers.
“Do you need some help?” Louis asked, only partially joking.
“Nah. I got it.”
Seconds later, Harry pulled her jeans out from under the blanket and tossed them across the room toward her bed.
“You sure you don’t want to get those and fold them up?” Louis teased. “They might wrinkle.”
Harry rolled her eyes and turned around so her back was to Louis. She grabbed Louis’ arm and wrapped it around her waist.
“Go to sleep, Lou.”
Gladly, Louis thought to herself. She pulled her arm back a little so Harry had to shift closer in. It was probably for the best, anyway. Being in a tiny dorm bed didn’t mean there was much room to move around. And it wouldn’t be the first time one of them fell off the bed.
Both of them were asleep within minutes.
---
Louis woke up from their nap with a mouthful of hair. She lifted her head just enough to look out the window. It was still light outside, so she hadn’t missed dinner.
She looked back down at the pillow and saw Harry sleeping peacefully, if peacefully meant snoring with her mouth wide open.
It wasn’t uncommon for them to take naps together. Honestly, they usually shared a bed more often than they didn’t, a habit they’d picked up when they were kids.
The pressure on Louis’ bladder made her realize why she had woken from her warm, comfortable slumber, and she tried to figure out how to get to the bathroom without waking Harry up.
She sat up slowly and slid as far up the mattress as she could. Then she slipped each leg out from under the blanket before rolling onto her knees and crawling down the bed. She swung one leg over the edge and, once her foot found the floor, brought the other one over.
That wasn’t so bad, she thought. She quietly exited the room and hurried down the hallway to the communal bathroom.
Of course, it was empty, as to be expected on a Tuesday afternoon.
She went into one of the stalls to take care of her business. When she emerged, she went to the sinks to wash her hands, and as she did, she examined her appearance in the mirror. Her lips were puffy in the way they always were after a nap and her eyes still had slight bags under them.
Louis still felt a bit tired, so she planned on getting back into bed and continuing her nap when she returned to the room.
After she dried her hands, she walked back down the hallway and opened her door. Harry was still asleep, so Louis quietly closed it behind her. As she approached the bed, she smiled down at Harry, whose hands were curled up together under her chin, making her look more adorable than normal.
“Ta ha,” Harry suddenly mumbled.
Ah, another of Harry’s cute traits: sleep talking. Louis had discovered it back in middle school, on a random night when Harry slept over her house.
Harry said different words or phrases in her sleep. They usually made no sense, but Louis found it cute, anyway.
“Nata.”
Louis walked over to the edge of the bed and prepared to climb in the same way she’d gotten out. As she brought one leg onto the mattress, she heard Harry again.
“Natasha.”
Louis froze. There was no way Harry had just said Natasha.
“N- tasha.”
“Bitch!” Louis hissed. She couldn’t believe it. Harry was thinking about Tash for some sick, twisted reason and actually had the audacity to tell Louis about it.
Well, she was sleep telling her about it, but it was the same thing.
Louis bit her lip and blinked back the stupid, angry tears that were fighting their way to Louis’ eyes. As she shot a hand up to wipe away the one that had managed to slip through, she lost her grip on the edge of the bed and slipped off, banging her knee against the metal frame.
“Oh, fuck!” Louis yelled, falling to the ground.
Harry shot up and looked around, no doubt confused by the sudden noise. “Louis?”
“Son of a bitch!”
Louis clutched at her knee, which would likely be sporting a nice bruise in the morning.
“What happened?” Harry asked, starting to get out of bed.
“I’m fine! Lay back down. Just banged my knee on the frame.”
“Do you need ice?”
“Probably,” Louis told her. She pushed herself up to her good knee. “But I’ll be OK.”
“Are you sure? I’ll run and grab it right now.”
“No, seriously,” Louis snapped. “It’s fine.”
Louis stood up and limped over to the top of her bed. Harry watched her carefully, but said nothing as Louis crawled over her and slid under the blanket without another word. Louis turned to her side and faced the wall, one hand still holding onto her knee.
“If you’re sure nothing’s wrong…” Harry said, sounding unsure.
Louis just nodded and closed her eyes. She tried not to let her heart break when Harry settled back in next to her.
---
“Louis’ freezing me out,” Harry said to Niall and Liam in their dorm room on Thursday night.
Liam snorted. “Yeah, OK.”
“I’m serious! We took a nap together on Tuesday-”
“Of course you did,” Niall muttered.
“- and she got up during it to go to the bathroom and when she came back, she banged her knee on the bed. Then she got back into bed and she didn’t even talk to me. Like, she was mad about something, but she won’t tell me.”
“Did you piss her off?” Liam asked curiously.
“I don’t think so. I mean, when I came back from class, I was complaining about my math test, but she didn’t seem mad then.”
“So it was something that happened during your nap?” Niall asked. “What could’ve pissed her off then? Did she step in a puddle in the bathroom and her sock got wet?”
Liam wrinkled her nose. “Oh, I hate that. You know it’s not just water.”
“Liam!”
Liam just shrugged.
“Anyway,” Harry said, wanting to get off the ‘puddle on the floor’ topic, “has she seemed different to you these past couple days?”
Niall and Liam thought it over.
“No, honestly,” Liam said. “When I saw her in history class yesterday, she seemed normal. She kept blinking to stay awake, which is pretty standard for that class. It’s really fucking boring.”
“I talked to her last night about the party,” Niall admitted. “I sent her the same picture of my costume that I sent you and she said that it looked good. Then we were talking about what time she was leaving tomorrow to go home.”
“See? She hasn’t even mentioned that to me!” Harry cried. “I don’t know what I did.”
“Do you want us to talk to her?” Liam wondered.
“No. I don’t want her to know I was talking about her. But if she mentions anything, could you let me know?”
Niall and Liam nodded.
“You got it,” Niall said. “I’m sure it’s nothing, though. I mean, you guys are best friends and future wife and wife.”
Harry sighed. “Niall…”
“What? We’re all thinking it; I just said it. Besides, you can’t deny you want to have Louis’ babies.”
Harry rolled her eyes. She reached behind her, grabbed Niall’s pillow from her bed and threw it at her blonde friend.
“What the hell?” Niall complained. “I give you advice and then you beat me with my own possessions?”
“She’s just mad that you’re right,” Liam said.
Harry walked over to Liam’s bed, grabbed her pillow and tossed it at her.
Liam caught the pillow before it could hit her. “Real mature.”
Harry stuck her tongue out at her friend.
“Even better.”
---
The next morning, Harry returned to her dorm after a long run. She had a plan of attack for dealing with this Louis situation. It had been two-and-a-half days since they’d last talked to each other, officially the longest the two of them had ever gone without properly speaking, and it was starting to get on her nerves.
It made Harry feel tense to not have her best friend there to talk to, even when she was literally in the same room. It also left a big gaping hole where her heart was, because it hurt to have Louis not talking to her, especially when Harry didn’t even know why.
She planned on getting Louis to tell her what was wrong after she got back from her history class and not letting her leave until she said something. Harry also hoped Louis would tell her that they were OK, but she wasn’t going to push her luck. At this point, all she wanted was some kind of explanation.
Unfortunately, that plan wasn’t going to work, because as Harry got to the third floor landing of the stairwell, Louis walked into it with her duffel bag thrown over one shoulder and her backpack on the other.
“Hey,” Harry said, her voice echoing in the empty space. “Shouldn’t you be in History right now?”
Louis shrugged. “Skipping it.”
“Why?”
“Party stuff. You know.”
“Yeah. Um, speaking of the party, did you need help with anything? You know I can always-”
Louis was already shaking her head. “No, it’s fine. I got it.”
Harry took a deep breath, willing herself not to let Louis see her upset. “Lou, what’s the matter? Are you mad at me?”
“No.”
“Then why won’t you look at me?”
Louis flicked her gaze up. She let it linger on Harry’s face for a few seconds before looking toward the ground again.
“OK…” Harry said. “Well, did I do something to piss you off? If I did, I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything, Harry,” Louis said quietly. “Honestly, you didn’t. It’s just- I just…”
Louis stopped talking and took a deep breath. “I just thought that maybe, you might…”
“What?” Harry asked when Louis didn’t continue. She took a step forward and ducked her head a bit so that the two of them made eye contact. “Louis, what is it? You can tell me.”
Louis closely examined Harry’s face, like she was making a life or death decision, trying to figure out if she should say what was really on her mind.
“Lou?”
“I have to go,” Louis said instead. She slid past Harry, who felt like she was about to lose it.
“Louis, talk to me!” Harry cried. “Please, this just feels so wrong. We never fight! Ever! And now there’s something bothering you and you won’t tell me what it is and I just- I don’t know what I’m supposed to do!”
The two of them stood there for what felt like forever, just watching each other and not knowing what they were supposed to say.
“I’ll get over it,” Louis eventually said. She ran a hand through her unstyled hair and sighed. “I know I will, I just- I need time, H.”
Harry sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. “To get over what?”
“You,” Louis blurted out. She gasped when she realized that she’d said it out loud.
“What?” Harry whispered.
“Um…” Louis started to say. After a few seconds, she turned and hurried down the steps instead of finishing her thought.
“Louis, wait!” Harry called out, finally understanding what was happening.
But Louis was already close to the first level of the stairwell and before Harry knew it, she was out the door.
Harry took a deep breath. She sank down where she stood, finding a seat on a step behind her.
Louis likes me, Harry thought to herself. Then she felt like she stopped breathing when she realized that thought was probably in the past tense.
She had to figure this out, although, luckily, her Halloween costume couldn’t have come at a better time. When Harry arrived to the party tomorrow night, it would tell Louis everything she needed to know.
---
On the night of the party, Louis took one last look in her mirror. Her costume was complete. She wore a black sleeveless shirt with black cargo pants tucked into black boots. She had a black brace on her wrist and her bow was securely in her hand. She had a bag slung across her back that held several arrows. Lottie had managed to get some of Louis’ hair to stick up in a sort-of mohawk. It had required a lot of gel and hairspray, but she somehow got it to work.
Louis knew her costume looked great; she had been fine-tuning it over the last few years. But even as she looked in the mirror, she felt like there was something that was missing.
It didn’t take long for her to realize that there wasn’t something missing with her costume, just with her.
Harry wasn’t there, and, to be honest, Louis wasn’t sure if she would even bother coming after what had happened yesterday.
Louis sighed. She had to figure out what to do with the whole situation. On Monday, she would have to go back to the dorm and face Harry. She would have to deal with living with Harry, with hearing all of Harry’s lame jokes and even watching her study, being cute as could be.
Louis wasn’t looking forward to it, and honestly, wished she could go back in time and just not say anything when Harry asked her what she needed to get over.
With a final sigh, she turned around and left her room, headed downstairs. People would be coming soon, so she had to make sure everything was set up.
As she went down the steps, she saw fake spider webs hanging on almost every wall. The lights were dim and there were spotlights outside that were shining through the front windows. Plastic bats hung from the ceiling in the living room, where Halloween music would soon be playing. Outside was a karaoke machine if anybody needed a break from the theme for a few minutes. There was also a tub where guests could bob for apples.
Pumpkins lined the hallway leading to the dining room, and on the table there sat all kinds of food. In addition to basic snacks, there were also Halloween foods, like mummy dogs and witch finger pretzel rods. There was also ghost punch. Although, Louis knew that the good stuff, her mom’s caramel apple sangria, was in the fridge in the kitchen.
Down in the basement were different games to play, like Eight-Legged Cornhole and Frankenstein Bowling. At the end of the night was a ghost piñata for guests to take turns swinging at, which was always a huge hit for the kids.
They were expecting about thirty people tonight, and Louis’ mom always made sure that there was something to appeal to everyone.
Speaking of her mom, Louis decided to find her to see if anything else needed to be set up. Louis spotted her in the living room, fixing a vampire decal that was peeling at the corner.
“Mom, do you need help with anything?” Louis asked.
Jay, who was dressed as Cleopatra, turned around to face her oldest daughter. “Um, I think we’re OK. Lottie and Fizzy are putting apples in the bucket outside. Daisy and Phoebe are showing the babies how to play bowling downstairs. Dan’s still messing with his costume, of course. Could you just make sure all of the food is out? And that we have enough plates and silverware, too?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks, sweetie. I’m surprised Harry’s not here yet. She’s always the first one to show up and help get things ready.”
“Yeah, um…” Louis said. “Yeah, she’s still working on her costume, too.”
“Ah. Waited til the last minute again?”
“Yup. You know her.”
Jay chuckled. “That I do. Well I’m sure she’ll be here soon.”
“Probably.”
Louis walked away from her mom before she could ask any more questions. She went to the dining room, but thought that everything looked great already. She thought about maybe getting some more cups, but before she could, she heard someone walk into the room.
She turned around and said, “Sia and the boxer. What’s up, girls?”
Niall was, indeed, dressed like Sia. Louis couldn’t see part of her face because it was hidden behind the wig, but Niall did have on red lipstick. Her black blazer had dark blue seams and her black dress went almost down to her knees. She had on black high heels and Louis was surprised she was still standing. Niall wasn’t usually one for wearing heels.
Liam was dressed as a boxer. She wore a red tank top tucked into blue silky shorts. She had on high socks with white sneakers. Black, fingerless boxing gloves covered her hands and she had drawn black lines under her eyes. Her hair was done in two French braids and she looked, well, tough.
“Did you find the place OK?” Louis asked.
“Yeah, it wasn’t too bad,” Liam said. “Once we got off the highway, it was only like, three turns.”
“Good. Yeah, you’re the first ones here. We should have a few more showing up like, any minute.”
“Cool. Did you need help with anything?”
“No, I think we’re set. I was just checking the food, but it looks ready. My sisters are scattered over the place taking care of things, so, just enjoy.”
“When’s Harry getting here?” Niall asked.
Louis hesitated, but then shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, yeah. Harry mentioned that you’re freez-”
Liam elbowed Niall in the chest, making her stop talking. With a glare that reminded Niall that they technically weren’t supposed to know that Louis and Harry were fighting, Liam asked, “Well, she’s coming, right?”
“I don’t know,” Louis said.
“What do you mean you don’t know? What happened?”
“I told her I liked her.”
“What?” Liam and Niall exclaimed.
“Hang on,” Niall said. She pulled her wig off, as if seeing Louis more easily would help her understand. “Wow. It’s hot under there. Anyway, you actually told her you like her?”
“Yeah.”
“Harry Styles? You told her that you like her?”
“Yes, Niall!”
“So why aren’t you two bumping uglies right now?”
“Niall!” Louis and Liam scolded.
Niall looked between them, a shocked and confused look on her face. “What? Am I missing something? This is a good thing, and yet, you look miserable. Why are we acting like this is some sort of death sentence?”
“Because she didn’t say anything back, Ni!” Louis yelled. “Like, I told her and then she just stared at me.”
“Hang on,” Liam cut in. “That doesn’t make any sense. Tell us exactly what happened.”
Louis took a deep breath. “OK, so I was leaving yesterday to come down here and she was just coming back to the dorm after going running and she asked me if she had done anything to make me mad. I told her that she hadn’t done anything wrong, and I would get over it, but I just needed some time. She asked me what I needed to get over and I said that I needed to get over her. Then she just stared at me and didn’t say anything, so I got out of there and just came home.”
“You didn’t give her a chance to explain anything?” Niall asked.
“Explain what? That she doesn’t like me like that? God, it was embarrassing enough telling her the way that I did, and then seeing her reaction… I can’t bear to hear that from her, too.”
“You two are so frustrating,” Liam complained.
“What?” Louis asked. “Why?”
“Because Harry likes you, too! God, of course she does, but you won’t open your eyes and see it.”
“Liam, if Harry likes me so much, why was she saying Tash’s name in her sleep?”
Niall and Liam weren’t expecting that.
Niall frowned. “Wait, what?”
“Yeah, a couple of days ago, we were taking a nap and she started saying another girl’s name in her sleep.”
“Louis, that could mean anything,” Liam tried to reason with her. “For all you know, she had a dream that Tash wouldn’t leave her alone and she was trying to get rid of her.”
“Or she was trying to kick Tash off a cliff,” Niall suggested.
“Niall…” Liam shook her head. “The point is, you don’t know why Harry was saying her name in her sleep. You should’ve just asked her.”
“Oh, just say, ‘Hey, Harry, why were you muttering that bitch’s name after we fell asleep spooning?’ What would I tell her if she asked me why I wanted to know?”
“You tell her that you like her!” Niall screeched, stomping her foot.
Liam and Louis both raised an eyebrow.
“Louis, we’re being honest with you here. Harry likes you, too. If you had told her and then given her a second to process it, she would’ve told you.”
Louis didn’t say anything else. As much as she wanted her friends to be right, it just didn’t seem like they were.
“Louis!” She heard her mom calling her from the living room. “Guests are starting to arrive! Can you turn on the music?”
Louis sighed. “Sorry, girls. Hosting duties.”
She ignored their protests as she walked away. Even though she felt like going upstairs, putting on sweats and eating a tub of ice cream, she was determined to have a good time tonight, even if it killed her.
---
Within an hour of the party starting, Louis realized she should start planning her own funeral. All around her, party guests were having fun. Her younger sisters were all dancing to ‘Thriller’ in the middle of their living room, she’d last seen Liam outside bobbing for apples with her mom and Niall was singing karaoke on the back porch.
Predictably, she’d picked ‘Cheap Thrills’ to sing first.
Pretty much everyone was enjoying themselves. Louis, however, was sitting on the kitchen counter drinking some of her mom’s sangria.
Her bow and arrows lay forgotten on the floor and she watched her legs as they swung back and forth. She thought about what Niall and Liam had said and wished that she could be brave enough to text Harry and ask if she was coming, because they needed to talk.
But she wasn’t brave. She was eighteen and afraid of her best friend not liking her back.
With a sigh, she took another sip from her cup and hoped her mom didn’t come in to find her drinking. An angry Jay was the last thing she felt like dealing with right now.
Just then, the kitchen door swung open, and Liam stood there, staring at her with a pitying look.
Liam smiled and Louis attempted to smile, but couldn’t muster the energy.
Then Liam looked over her shoulder and said, “Yeah, Harry. She’s in here.”
Louis’ eyes widened and she jumped down from the counter, trying to figure out if she could make herself look less pathetic.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, because Liam left, Harry walked in and she looked, well…
“Are you Black Widow?” Louis asked in shock.
Harry wore a tight, black one piece with the top only zippered about halfway, showing off her cleavage. She had fake guns holstered on each of her hips and her black boots went up to her knees. Her curly hair was parted on the side and a deep red tint covered her lips.
She looked incredible and Louis didn’t know how she was supposed to react.
Harry nodded and smiled, probably because Louis recognized her costume.
“I picked this costume because of you,” Harry said quietly.
“Because of me?” Louis asked. “Why?”
“Yeah. Hawkeye and Black Widow belong together, right?”
Louis wavered where she stood. It felt like her heart was going to burst because, maybe, just maybe, Niall and Liam were right.
“I mean,” Harry started stuttering when Louis didn’t respond, “I planned this costume a few months ago and I wasn’t sure if I should wear it tonight, or even come, since you were mad at me. But then, yesterday, you said that you were trying to get over me and Louis, I don’t want you to get over me because I… I like you, Louis. I like you so much and I have for so long. So, I thought that if I wore this costume, then it might finally give me the courage to tell you and after yesterday, I knew I had to wear it because I mean, I’m terrible with like, words and stuff so I thought that this might, um… You know. Help. Or something.”
Harry took a deep breath, probably tired from how much and how quickly she’d just spoken.
Louis was still frozen, though, trying to absorb everything that Harry had just said.
Harry liked her. Harry wanted to be with her. Harry was wearing a fucking Black Widow costume because Louis thought that Black Widow belonged with Hawkeye. This was the kind of shit that only happened in movies and Louis was actually getting to experience it.
“Louis?” Harry said when Louis still hadn’t said anything for another few minutes. “Was that- Did you hear what I said? Do you- Um…”
Louis felt like her brain was having a disconnect with the rest of her body, because all she wanted to do was go to Harry. She was too far away from her in this moment. She concentrated with all her might to get her feet to move. Finally, her right one took a step forward. The left one followed suit and after another minute, Louis was eventually standing in front of Harry.
Louis could hear the shakiness of Harry’s breath as they stood inches apart from each other. Louis was certain that Harry could hear Louis’ heartbeat and how fast it was racing.
Louis was struggling to breathe correctly, so she looked to Harry’s green eyes and instantly felt calmer, more at peace. This was Harry, the girl who she’d been through everything with, had known since they were four and could talk to about anything. This was Harry, the girl who had held Louis when she was crying after she’d realized that she liked girls and didn’t know what her family would think. This was Harry, the girl that Louis was pretty sure she was in love with because whenever Harry was around, Louis didn’t even think other girls existed.
By now, Louis was pretty sure she was about to cry. She tearily asked, “You don’t want me to get over you?”
Harry was in the same state as Louis, because when she shook her head, a few tears ran down her cheeks.
“You like me?” Louis asked.
Harry nodded her head.
“So I’ve been really dumb this past few days?”
Harry nodded again, and this time, a big smile broke across her face. “A little bit, yeah.”
“So if I kissed you right now, it would be OK?”
“It would be more than OK,” Harry said.
Louis’ grin rivaled Harry’s when she said that. She took another step forward, officially eliminating any space between them, and tilted her face up toward Harry.
Harry parted her lips and put her hands on Louis’ waist. She leaned down, as well, meeting Louis in the middle.
When they were mere centimeters from each other, both girls paused, as if waiting for the other to change her mind.
But that didn’t happen, and finally, their lips met.
Instantly, Louis felt so much warmer. She felt stronger and happier, too. If someone asked her to fly right now, she probably could.
All of her insecurity from before was melting away with every passing second and for the life of her, she couldn’t remember why she had ever thought Harry didn’t have feelings for her.
Harry got more confident as the kiss went on. She wrapped her arms around Louis and walked them backward. When Louis’ back hit the counter, she snaked her arms up around Harry’s neck and pulled her impossibly closer.
They kissed for another moment before finally pulling apart so they could breathe.
“Wow,” Louis said. “I can’t believe it took so long for that.”
“Yeah…” Harry agreed. “I mean, it was only fourteen years, but who’s counting?”
Louis giggled. “Well, it doesn’t have to go any longer, though. So that’s good.”
Harry smiled. She started leaning in for another kiss, but Louis was struck with a sudden thought.
“Wait! What about Tash?” Louis asked.
As soon as the words left her mouth, she thought to herself, Stupid! Why would you bring that up?
Harry, however, just looked confused. “Tash?”
“Yeah,” Louis said, suddenly shy. “Um, the other day, when we were napping and I came back from the bathroom, you were saying Tash’s name in your sleep.”
“I was? Why?”
“I don’t know. “You just kept saying, ‘Natasha. Natasha.’”
Harry sighed. “Yeah. Natasha. You know. Black Widow’s real name? I think I was dreaming about finally showing you my costume and hoping for a good reaction.”
Louis blushed. “Oh, my God.”
Harry smiled. “You were jealous of Tash? Really? The girl is totally self-centered. She only ‘likes me’ because she wants me to do her Politics homework for her.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely! She’s totally obvious and it’s a little embarrassing, to be honest.”
“Wow…” Louis said. “So I was really stupid, wasn’t I?”
Harry nodded. “Oh, yeah. Definitely.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s OK. Don’t worry; we have a long time to make up for it.”
As Harry kissed her again, Louis couldn’t help but think how exciting that thought was.
---
On Monday, Harry and Louis went to the dining hall for dinner. After they got their plates, Louis took Harry’s hand and they went back to the table where Liam and Niall were waiting for them.
As they walked, Louis may have led them by the table where Tash was already sitting. And she may have said, “Hi, Hulk,” as they passed.
“Did you just call her Hulk?” Harry whispered. She turned around to see Tash looking confused about what Louis had just said to her.
“Maybe.” Louis grinned.
“Why?”
“Because I’ve said it a million times. Black Widow belongs with Hawkeye, not Hulk.”
Harry rolled her eyes. “You’re going to bring that up all the time, aren’t you?”
“You dressed up as Black fucking Widow for me. Of course I’m going to talk about it.”
“You really liked that, huh?” Harry asked, as if she didn’t already know.
“Uh, yeah. Of course. Black Widow’s hot. So are you, of course.”
Harry hummed. “You know, maybe I can dress up like Black Widow again tonight.”
Louis’ face lit up. “Really?”
“Sure. Costumes aren’t just for Halloween, you know.”
By now, they had reached the table. Harry winked and set her plate down. She took a seat, as if Louis wasn’t having a heart attack behind her.
Costumes aren’t just for Halloween. Louis wondered if she could get that in writing. She planned on using that thought for a long time.