Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/1741391.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      One_Direction_(Band)
  Relationship:
      Harry_Styles/Louis_Tomlinson
  Character:
      Louis_Tomlinson, Harry_Styles, Niall_Horan, Zayn_Malik, Liam_Payne, Jay
      Tomlinson
  Additional Tags:
      Fluff, Smut, Homophobia, Familial_Abuse, Coming_Out, Loss_of_Virginity,
      Jock_Louis, Nerd_Harry, Harry_comes_out_of_his_shell_as_the_story
      progresses, and_Louis_learns_to_be_less_of_an_asshole, Rewrite, Teen
      Romance
  Stats:
      Published: 2014-06-04 Chapters: 2/? Words: 4018
****** Wintertide ******
by fratboytomlin
Summary
     A winter project could change the lives of two boys forever.
***** Chapter 1 *****
Louis jumped up from his seat as the bell rung, ending his last class. He
thanked God silently in his head that this day way over. It was the Thursday
before Winter break, so that's why he was so excited to get the hell out of
there. Louis shoved his books into his backpack, an eager smile spreading
across his face. This winter break would be his absolute best. Some of the lads
and he had planned a skiing trip that would last the entire break. That, to
Louis, meant two whole weeks of non-stop partying.
He swung his backpack over his shoulder while pushing through the classroom
door. The fluorescent hallway was filled with Christmas lights and chatter. He
scanned the crowded hallway for at least someone that was tolerable to talk to.
You see, Louis only had a select group of people he allowed himself to talk to.
Louis always tried to cover it up by making up a lie that made him seem like a
huge asshole, when in reality he was just afraid of letting new people in.
The rushing boy stopped cold, seeing one of my best mates, Liam, leaning up
against someone's locker. He was chatting up a tan-skinned girl with waves
raven hair. He looked really interested in her. Louis ran his tongue across his
smooth teeth as he walked towards them. People are pushing and crashing into
each other, like they actually had somewhere to be. Before Louis knew it, a
tall, lanky boy collided into him. The pale-skinned boy crashed to the ground,
people stepping over his helpless body. The voice inside Louis' head is telling
him to help the poor boy, but his brain wants him to do otherwise.
"Watch where you're going, kid." Louis said, his voice like venom. The boy
looks into Louis' with hopeless green eyes, that made him feel guilty. He
stutters something out, but it was deafened out by the noise in the hallways.
No, you don't feel bad for him Louis. Louis says to himself, making the rash
decision to kick his scattered books across the hallway. He gave the boy a look
he could only define as sinister, leaving him there to scramble for his
belongings.
Liam was now eyeing Louis, anger radiating off his face. Louis panicked, not
knowing that Liam had seen the whole thing. Liam has this thing about being
nice to everyone. Sometimes Louis thought that he could be a real bitch about
it, constantly nagging that kindness is key and being an asshole won't get you
anywhere. In all honesty, he just tuned him out when Liam gave him those little
speeches.
As Louis approached the two, he stood between them both. The girl widens her
eyes, as he snarled out, "Do you mind?" while rolling his eyes. The girl
quickly snatched her books from her locker, cursing under her breath. Louis
turned back to a very pissed Liam. He started to talk about how ignorant Louis
was, about the fact that he liked her, his chances were ruined, etc.
"Do you ever shut up?" Louis groans. Liam stops talking, his jaw clenching and
his fists balling up. Panicking, Louis knew he had to change the subject quick.
"Liam, you have to be nuts to think I ruined your chances. Everybody here loves
me, which also means they love you." The other boy's face settles a little bit
and he relaxes his fists.
"Thanks man. I just really like her." Liam admits in a hushed tone.
"Then ask her to go with on the ski trip. She's going to say yes." Louis
assures, watching his friend let out a nervous laugh and shifts on his feet.
"I don't know mate, I'll try, okay?" Liam replies, "I have to go, see you
later."
"See you." Louis said shortly, watching Liam walk away from him. He sighed,
wondering to himself if he even wanted to go on this trip now. Liam was one of
his best friends, and if he wasn't going to go, then what was the point?
The hallway thinning out quickly, only leaving Louis and a couple other people
who were talking at their lockers. He felt his phone vibrate in his back
pocket, pulling it out and seeing a new message from Niall, 'meet me in the
sophomore bathroom, we need t talk !!'
Louis rolled his eyes, not even wanting to question why Niall was in the
sophomore bathroom of all places. If anything, it would be the last place that
anyone would ever want to go, even the sophomores. A lot of shit goes down in
the sophomore bathroom, no pun intended.
Striding down the now empty hallway, Louis felt his stomach fill with warm
feelings. He hadn't been down the hallway for almost two years, and it brought
back a lot of sentiment for him. Louis counted down the numbers of the lockers,
looking for his previous locker. In a spur of the moment decision, he decided
to break into the locker for old time's sake. He scrambled to catch a ton of
papers that were falling from the inside of the locker, the owner obviously not
being very neat. Louis shoved the papers back in, but didn't fail to read the
name off the pages, 'Harry Styles'. This Harry kid needs to learn how to
fucking organize, Louis thought to himself as he shut the locker and continued
walking to the bathroom.
"What the hell took you so long? Lads thought I was a freak in here!" Niall
said as soon as Louis walked through the door.
"Well then why the fuck are you in the sophomore loo? We're seniors, Niall. I
think you've gotten hit in the head with the football one too many times."
Louis sassed back, standing in front of the mirror. His eyes widened, taking in
his tired expression. He definitely needed this break.
Niall watched Louis examine himself in the mirror, "So self obsessed." Niall
shook his head back and forth as Louis slipped him the middle finger, "Anyway,
I'm sure Liam told you the news. It's just us and a couple other mates. Oh, and
all the girls of course." He waggled his eyebrows at Louis, making him groan in
disgust.
"I'm not going, you chauvinist pig." Louis said sternly, "If Liam isn't gone,
then we should just cancel the whole thing. He's like, the ringleader."
"Are you fucking crazy? Your loss if you don't go, but it's going to be fun."
Niall sing-songed, sitting on the sink. He pulled a carton of cigarettes out
from his pocket, along with a lighter. Right before Louis' eyes, he lit up a
cigarette and took a drag from it. Niall saw Louis eyeing him, so he offered
him one.
"No thanks, since when do you smoke?" Louis asked, scrunching up his nose in
disgust.
Niall shrugged, "Zayn let me try one at that party last week, been hooked ever
since." Louis was about to reply when the door opened, and a tall figure
entered the restroom. He made quick eye contact with Louis before looking back
to the ground. He escaped into the bathroom stall rather fast, but Louis was
able to realize where he knew him from. It was that kid from the hallway.
"I better get going, you can chill out here if that's what you're into now."
Louis put his backpack back on, waved to Niall and exited the bathroom. He had
been a little cold towards Niall, but he couldn't help it. Today just was not
his day. Louis didn't feel into anything today, he didn't want to go on the ski
trip anymore, everyone was pissing him off for no reason, he couldn't explain
it.
Well, actually he could. It was probably the fact that he'd be all alone on
Christmas and his birthday this year, since his mother went off to some island
with her friends while Louis was supposed to go on the ski trip. He just wasn't
feeling it anymore, Louis really didn't want to spend his entire break getting
drunk or high on god knows what. It always had appealed to him before, hell, it
appealed to him two hours ago, but now he felt different about it.
Louis trotted out in the parking lot, trying to escape the cold winds on the
way to his car. He was glad that he parked close to the building today because
the snow was coming down in sheets. In fact, when he got into the car, Louis
looked in the mirror and his hair was frosted in snowflakes. He let out a long
sigh, tossing his heavy backpack into the backseat. Louis popped in his
favorite album, because, well, what other way to make your day better than with
music? He tapped the steering wheel to the beat, belting the lyrics out as he
drove.
He was home within thirty minutes to his home in the suburbs. Louis pulled into
his barely-visible cobblestone driveway. The snow was coming down heavier now,
which Louis didn't think was possible. He sat for a minute, watching the sun
set in the horizon. Louis scoped out his mansion, taking in the horrendous
sight of the weltering flowers and the drab trees stripped of their leaves.
Louis put the car in park, grabbing his backpack from the backseat in search of
his keys.
His house keys were nowhere to be found, even though Louis was a hundred
percent sure he used them this morning. It was the only pair that he had, since
his mother didn't believe in having more than one set of keys, claiming that it
increased burglary.
A little light bulb went off in his head and he remembered that he left them in
the locker room this morning. 
It was almost five in the evening and Louis had to drive all the way back to
school. It crossed his mind that he could just spend the night in his car, but
then he decided that it was ridiculous and he would end up freezing to death.
So Louis started up his car again, backing out of the driveway and in the
direction of the school.
About a half an hour later, Louis arrived back at his high school. He hoped
that their was some type of function going on so he wouldn't have to break in
and take the risk of getting caught in that act again.
Fortunately, there was a speech team meeting in the gym. Unfortunately, Louis
would have to pass through the gym.
Louis opened the doors to the gym, revealing rows of chairs facing the stage
that had been set up for the meeting. Heads turned towards the back of the gym,
a hundred peering eyes staring through Louis as he walked across the gym floor.
The student at the podium continued to give his speech, his voice becoming
shaky as Louis passed through the gym and to the locker room.
"Mr. Tomlinson, is there something you need?" The female teacher that was
sitting at a desk on the stage asked.
Louis shook his head, "No, m'am, I left something in my locker."
Her lips slanted, "Shame, you seem to have a way with words, or so I've heard
from your teachers. They say you're an excellent student."
"Um, thank you. I'll consider it, maybe." Louis smiled, ducking his head and
continuing his way to the locker room. He heard a burst of claps come from the
gym as he entered the empty locker room.
His locker was one of the last ones in the room, hence his name being
Tomlinson, so it took him a couple minutes to get there. Or the fact that he
was too lazy to walk faster. Either way, he retrieved the keys from his the
inside of it, grabbing the remaining books and such that were also in there. He
wasn't taking any chances of leaving anything in school over break, and he
could just bring it all back afterword.
As he bustled to the exit with an armful of school stuff, the door swung open
from the other side. It was the curly-headed bloke, again. He stayed close to
the door, giving Louis a once-over before speaking, "Mrs. O'Neal wanted to make
sure you were out of here, we're locking up the school now. 
Louis shifted on his feet, "Oh, thanks. Sorry about earlier, in the hallway."
He said awkwardly, balancing several textbooks and papers in his hands.
"Yeah, it's okay." The boy replied, holding the door for Louis as he exited the
room, "You need some help with all that?"
"That'd be great, yeah, thanks mate." Louis grinned thankfully, watching the
boy take some textbooks in his own hands. They walked in silence out to Louis'
vehicle, the boy putting the books in the backseat. "You need a ride?" He
asked.
"Nah, I'm walking, but thanks." The boy declined nicely, going to turn on his
heel, but being stopped by Louis' hand on his arm.
"I can't let you walk in the snow, c'mon." Louis pleaded, gesturing at the
passenger seat.
The boy shook his curls, looking away from Louis. "I'm good. I'll see you
later." He said, giving Louis a wave as he walked off into the snow. Louis
watched him walk away, if that wasn't creepy, then he got into his car. He was
glad to finally be able to go home, because it was almost dinner time and his
mum would have-
Louis stopped himself mid-thought, remembering that his mum wasn't even home.
He sighed, jamming the key in the ignition and driving out of the parking lot.
Louis stopped at a local fast food restaurant and grabbed something to eat for
dinner. He was used to being alone though, since his mum was often off with her
friends or on some type of business trip. Ever since his father died, it was
like his mother had become totally irresponsible and oblivious that she had a
son.
By time he got back to his house, the food was gone and he was absolutely
exhausted. Louis ended up passing out on the couch in the den, wrapped in
different blankets with the remote in his hand. Yeah, he definitely needed this
winter break.
***** Chapter 2 *****
The next morning, Louis woke up on the couch in the den that he'd passed out
on. He was bundled in blankets with a pillow supporting his head, and the telly
was off. Louis scrunched his eyebrows, confused and dazed with sleep, until he
realized that the housekeeper must of come in early that morning for her last
day. Louis had convinced his mother to give the housekeeper two weeks off since
no one was home, which took a lot of persuasian. In the end, she agreed and
caved, giving the housekeeper a vacation and a large sum of cash for the
holidays.
Checking his messages, Louis noticed the time. It was almost time for him to
leave for school, and he panicked. Louis was basically truant now from all the
days that he overslept or just didn't feel like sitting in a classroom for
seven hours a day. Then there was the fact that Louis had always been a sickly
person, usually the first to catch a cold and pass it on to everyone else.
Louis was pretty much naked by time he reached the bathroon upstairs, leaving a
trail of dirty clothes along the stairs. When Louis had the house to himself,
he never cleaned. Like, ever. Clothes were left all around the house, dirty
dishes stayed dirty for days, things like that. Louis always made sure to give
the housekeeper a call before his mother returned home, since she loved her
house spotless at all times. That was probably the downside of having someone
else take care of your all your life, that Louis basically had no inkling to
keep the house nice by himself.
When he got to the bathroom, he immediately jumped into the freezing cold
water, making the hairs on his neck stand up. The house was already quite cold,
so waiting for the shower to heat up wasn't very pleasant. On a regular day,
Louis would have prepared his clothes and such beforehand, but he just didn't
have the time. So he took the coldest shower known to man, brushed his teeth
and dried his hair, tripping over his own feet as he ran to his bedroom to get
dressed.
It took Louis about three minutes to pull on whatever he grabbed first, which
happened to be a black long-sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans that hadn't been
washed since last year. He grabbed the first pair of converse that he could
find, struggling to lace them well under pressure. His hair was a whole other
story. Eventually, Louis got frustrated and just decided on slapping a gray
beanie over his scruffy hair.
He was in such a rush that he forgot all of his books an supplies at home,
cursing himself as he pulled into the school parking lot. Louis literally slid
across the ice to the front steps, arriving at his homeroom as soon as the bell
rang. His teacher gave him the same look she always did when he was late and he
just laughed, trying to ease the tension in the room. The other students were
amused, Louis being one of the most humorous people in their senior class.
The day dragged on, Louis' teacher's giving up on the lesson and popping in a
movie for the class to watch, since it was the day before break. This happened
with all three of his classes, except for his last block, Psychology. It's not
like he was expecting to have a free day, his teacher, Mr. Alperin, was pretty
serious about his class work.
Louis entered the class empty handed, sliding into his usual seat in the back
of the classroom with some other football players. They all took this class,
hoping it would be an easy course for their senior year, but they were really
incorrect. Plus the fact that it was at the end of the day made Louis want to
scream because it seemed like it dragged on for so long.
"Hey Lou, thanks for the advice yesterday," Liam said, making eye contact with
Louis as he sat down, "I asked Danielle if she wanted to go to the ski trip
with me and she said yes!"
Louis smiled, watching his friend bounce in his seat with excitement. Liam
rarely got crushes on people at all, so this was a big deal for him. "That's
great, glad I could help." Louis replied cockily, grinning at Liam as he turned
around in his seat to see Josh staring at him. "What?" Louis asked, his tone
changing from happy to rude within about two seconds.
"Why aren't you going on the ski trip with us? Are you too good for us now?"
Josh asked, raising his eyebrow and looking off to the side with disgust.
Louis scoffed, "When did I ever say I was too good for you guys? Quit making up
shit, mate. It's not cool."
Josh looked over to Sandy for support, but he just gave him a shrug, "If Louis
doesn't want to go, fine, fuck him. We don't need him to have a good time."
Louis rolled his eyes, "You don't have to be such a fucking tit about-"
"Is there a problem back there boys?" Mr. Alperin asked, standing up from his
desk and angrily crossing his arms across his chest. Sandy and Josh shook their
heads and turned around in their seats, leaving Louis as the culprit.
"No sir, no problems at all." Louis forced a smile for his teacher, but
slipping the boys the middle finger under the table.
Mr. Alperin nodded, plastering a smile on his face, "Now that that's been
established, let's discuss the project I'm giving you for winter break. For
your project, you'll pull a name out of this bucket and they'll be your
partner. This person will be the one you will have to know inside and out over
winter break. As long as you connect and figure out who that person really is,
I'll be happy. You'll present your findings in essay form the Tuesday after
winter break. Any questions?" He asked. When no one said anything, he started
to circle the classroom with the bucket.
Louis tensed up in his seat as he watched all of his friends get paired
together with people that weren't him. He zoned out for a few minutes, waiting
for his name to be called by anyone that he could recognize. But his name was
called by the teacher, snapping him back into reality. He averted his eyes
around the classroom, his eyes falling on the middle-aged bald man waving him
over to a desk in the second row. Louis strained his neck to see who's desk the
teacher was at, but he had no luck.
Louis' eyes widened as he noticed the familiar curly-headed bloke he'd had a
few run-ins with this week, sitting at the desk where Mr. Alperin was standing.
The teacher gave Louis a genuine smile, motioning him over once again, but
Louis' legs felt like jelly as he walked. For some reason he couldn't explain,
he was extremely nervous about this kid being his partner.
The other boy didn't look too pleased either, his skin paler than usual and his
pupils wide behind his thick-framed glasses. Louis forced a grin to the boy,
"We need to stop running into each other like this."
The other boy gave Louis a sympathetic smile, not knowing how to respond
without sounding like an idiot. He knew that Louis had quite a way with words
(not that he'd been paying attention or anything, you know, he just heard from,
well, people) so he should of expected him to try to break the ice.
Louis pulled another desk up in front of his partner's, sliding into it roughly
and giving him a smile, "I don't believe I caught your name?"
"It's Harry," The boy, um, Harry, replied, "And you're Louis, I know that
already."
"Oh," Louis said, "So, uh, what are you doing over break?"
Harry hesitated, wanting to sound cool in front of Louis, even though he
totally wasn't, "I'm just, you know, staying home. Catching up on sleep,
chillaxing." His voice was shaky, and he mentally slapped himself for saying
the phrase 'chillaxing' in front of Louis Tomlinson.
"Yeah, same for me. I was supposed to go on a ski trips with the lads, but I'm
sure you heard what happened earlier." Louis said, rolling his cerulean blue
eyes and stifling out a laugh. Harry giggled out a laugh that sounded like he
was a schoolgirl with a crush. Which was sort of true, besides the fact that he
wasn't a girl.
"With Josh and Sandy? Yeah, that didn't sound too good, even though I caught
the short end of it." Harry replied, shocked that he could even get out a
coherent sentence. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he thought.
Louis was about to respond, but he was cut off by the ringing of the school
bell that dismissed the class. "Hey, since we're going to need to do this over
break, can I have your number? You know, so we could make plans to hang out and
stuff?" Louis asked abruptly, making Harry's heart pound rapidly in his chest.
Harry's palms were sweating and he could hear the blood rushing through his
ears, "Yeah, of course." He said, tearing out a piece of paper from his
notebook and jotting down his number quickly, "Here, you can call or text me or
whatever I guess."
"Sounds good, see you later." Louis smirked, and Harry swore that he winked at
him. Or maybe he was just imagining things. He didn't even know. All of this
was so surreal to him. He just hoped it was the same way for Louis.
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