March 21st

I'm free today. Around 5pm? Let's meet at the Starbucks in the middle of town.

-H

Louis looked down at his phone as he was marking the latest homework assignment for Mr. Sanders' D-block class. He was halfway through the stack of mediocre papers when he read the text from Harry. The communication was by text and still Harry had Louis's heart racing.

"Who's the text from? Your new man?" Liam, Louis's roommate, teased, flicking his friend in the head as he entered the kitchen area.

He continued on past the table Louis was working at and threw open the fridge. For being such a gym junkie, Liam could sure eat. He always seemed to be in the kitchen, preparing food or cleaning up after a meal he had just demolished. As it was the largest part of their flat, Louis and Liam did most of their bonding there. Liam and Louis had met in university, where Liam was training to be a physiotherapist. He loved everything to do with the human body and constantly loved to tell Louis of his newest physical discoveries. It was nauseatingly boring for Louis, who didn't care much about physical activity, not only did he rather read a book than work out, he was naturally skinny anyway.

Louis sighed and then explained the situation to Liam, so no more teasing would occur: "No new man. A student."

Liam turned toward Louis with a skeptical look on his face and half of a sub sandwich in his hand, mustard was strewn across his lips. "Isn't that… against the rules or whatever?" He asked. For someone who could list every bone in the human anatomy at the drop of the hat, Liam could sound as uneducated as some of the kids in Louis's class presently. Well, not his class. Mr. Sanders' class.

"Liam! We're not… involved. Mr. Sanders, my mentor, asked me to help out one of the kids in his class who's struggling with the subject. It's totally professional. I mean, I tried to give the kid my e-mail but then he just shoved his number into my hand and walked away." Louis protested, desperately. If Liam got the feeling that Louis and Harry were anything more than just teacher-student, how easy would it be for anyone else to figure it out? Louis really had to get over his stupid juvenile crush before it cost him his career. He also like Harry as a person and really didn't want to do anything to make their relationship even a little weird.

"Oh… so you, like, tutor him?" Liam asked, leaning his elbows down onto the table so he was at Louis's eye level. Liam began to wiggle his eyebrows and tried to make tutor into something suggestive. Louis shook his head at how little sense his friend liked to make.

Louis objected, fuming with frustration at the misunderstanding: "Stop it, will you? Just because he gave me his number does not mean he wants me to be anything more than a teacher's assistant to him. To even suggest a thing like that is, well…"

"Beyond your wildest dreams?" Liam squealed before making his retreat. He ran out of the room, cackling like some immature little school girl who just learned the BIGGEST SECRET EVER, except in reality she knew nothing at all. Louis threw pen at his friend's head, in complete vain, because with his lack of experience with sports, he had absolutely no hand-eye coordination or aim.

As the pen hit a wall, Louis felt like he was going to shatter along with the inanimate writing utensil. Was he seriously that easy to read? He had practically avoided Harry at all costs in class the last couple days and Harry seemed just fine with it. Louis didn't see the flirty spark that Harry displayed once the bell had rung again and that was just fine with him. He didn't even know what he would do if Harry pulled that in front of Mr. Sanders or the class, he'd probably blush tellingly and Louis would be kicked out on the spot.

At first, Louis had thought that Harry was playing around with him to get him in trouble; he had expected at least a wink or something suggestive in class, to catch him off guard. He had heard Mr. Sanders's warning about Harry's prankster tendencies and he didn't want to end up the punch line of one of Harry's jokes. But either Harry was timing it out well, or the messing with Louis's head was a one-time thing. Louis had watched Harry's behavior with his peers, especially with Niall and Zayn, constantly working out how to get the next laugh and attention of everyone around him.

It seemed like a lot of effort to Louis, he had never been like that in high school, in some much desperate need of approval by his peers. That's probably why he was where he was at such a young age: the curse and luck of a teenage loner. He barely had any friends outside of the creative writing club, but he always watched people. It was one of his favorite pastimes; he would hide in the shade of the oak tree in the corner of the courtyard and observe the insanity of the student body. It was thrilling and so telling of how insecure humans actually are. Always pretending to be something else, to hide who they were: it disappointed Louis that Harry was playing the high school 'cool' when he was clearly afraid to show his true identity.

Louis had accepted he was gay a long time ago, although only a small part of who he was, it seemed to make a big difference to the people around him. He lost friends, gained some respect from his parents for being to brave to come out when he was only sixteen years old and some dirty looks in the hallways (and even some cautiously curious ones from others who were probably speculating about their own sexuality). But, Louis was proud of who he was and thought little of what how other's perceived him because that wasn't their jobs, they didn't see like he did. Louis saw through people even if he couldn't tell exactly what was 'off' with most people, he could sense that some people were hiding more than others. The less they hid, the more he respected them. And Louis knew Harry was deep in hiding. That's probably what intrigued him the most about the guy.

But the intrigue needed to stop. The constant speculation of everything the teen did. It bordered on stalkerish. Louis shook his head at the awful word choice; maybe Liam was beginning to rub off on him.

Louis finally picked up the phone after a certain boy with chestnut brown, curly hair had again plagued his thoughts. He responded with:

Sounds good. I will be there.

-Lou

Louis had barely put down his phone as a response text appeared from Harry. That was pretty damn fast, teens these days, Louis thought. He then burst out laughing at how much an old man he had just sounded like when he had been a teenager only just two years before.

I'll order us drinks. I'm already here anyway. What do you want?

-H

Louis was baffled. He assumed that Harry would be caught up after school, with his friends or at least with some sort of video game. But no, the guy who was constantly surrounded by people at school was at Starbucks alone. By choice. This made Louis's head spin with new questions, but he shelved them and answered:

Grande soy with mocha. No whip. Please and thank you. …Do you want me to just come now?

-Lou

Louis had barely enough to blink before Harry's response made his phone buzz again:

Sure. The drink will be waiting for you when you arrive. ;)

-H

Louis groaned at the winky face. There Harry went being all suggestive again, making Louis's mind race with confusion because he was probably reading too much into things. But it didn't matter either way; Louis could not and would not fraternize with a student. It just wasn't going to happen. It comforted him that they would be in public, he could distract himself by people watching as Harry worked instead of just staring at him and his beautiful eyes…

God damnit, Louis! He chastised himself, as he grabbed his coat and slipped on his loafers before heading out into the London chill.

Harry laughed at the lack of response he received from Louis. He knew that the wink had probably been a bit much, but he couldn't help himself. He was a self-proclaimed flirt and Louis made it way too damn easy.

"A grande soy white mocha, no whip, and my usual, please." Harry ordered, as he handed the barista his credit card.

He yawned and thought back on the last couple days in class with Louis. He could always feel his teacher assistant's eyes watching him. He didn't mind be observed, being evaluated, it made him feel like a topic. Topics are important. Basically, it made Harry feel special. Even though he was in 'school Harry' mode on the outside, Louis's gaze made the real Harry on the inside twitch with excitement. It made it easier to get through the treacherous hours of role-playing that Harry usually did.

When the drinks finally came up, Harry collected them and returned to his seat with an empty seat across from him. It was nerve wracking but also thrilling to imagine Louis sitting in the seat across from him. He usually drank his coffee alone and having someone to enjoy it with, well, the idea of that made Harry's cheeks warm.

"Harry?" Louis's voice and close proximity woke Harry from his train of thought and he let out a startled sound. Louis chuckled softly at the reaction.

"Well, you looked deep in thought. It would be more encouraging for you to look that concentrated in class more often." Louis teased as he sat down across from Harry.

Harry blushed. He had been caught in the act, by the very object of his affections. But, he played it off casually by remarking, "Maybe if we learned more interesting things in class, I could put this brain to work on something more riveting than the theme of feminism in Othello."

Louis rolled his eyes at Harry's sass but appreciated the healthy banter, it wasn't the same disrespectful tone Harry used in class, it was something that sounded much more educated and whole hearted than that. "I don't really care what you want to learn about, Mr. Styles. It's called a curriculum and it has to be followed. It's there for a reason." Louis responded, professionally. He didn't want Harry to interpret their meeting as anything more than it was: a simple tutoring session. Not a coffee date.

"Whoa. Sorry Mr. Tight ass teacher. Oh and by the way, you're welcome for the drink." Harry snapped. Why the hell was Louis patronizing him? He was clearly more intelligent than the 'playwright' across from him. He had no right to talk down to Harry when he was still just a student himself. That's when Harry realized what he was so upset: Louis wasn't playing the game. He was playing the serious and professional card. Harry simply didn't approve of this card. But, he didn't want Louis to think of him as a stubborn little twat, so he decided to give in. Anyway, all play and no work gives Harry a failing grade. As much as he wanted to continue their match, Harry knew that Louis needed to do his job and well, that just meant he would have to feign a breakthrough. In reality, Harry loved Othello. It was his favorite Shakespeare tragedy and he knew it like the back of his hands. Only in class he was obligated to seem in pain at every moment he was chosen to read a part when inside he was really enjoying every moment of it.

Louis felt bad for a minute, as Harry was clearly upset with him. He didn't mean to address Harry the way he did, it was just that Harry was being so god damn distracting. "I'm sorry, Harry. Thanks for the drink. I mean, really, I hate being the bad guy here. I know this is painful for you but we have to do it. I'm here for you, man and all I want to do is help you. Friends?" Louis suggested, offering out a hand to Harry.

As Harry took his hand, Louis knew he was doing the right thing. Not indulging in Harry's flirty nonsense but also just having a common ground. There needed to be no extremes they were meeting somewhere right in the middle.

As their hands separated, Harry sipped at his drink as Louis opened up the Othello script and poured over the scene questions. He began to drill Harry on questions that he knew like the back of his hand, but Harry had to feign ignorance to continue their meetings, so he answered them as vaguely and hesitantly as he could. Louis seemed to be impressed by the amount that he was getting correct.

At the end of the session, Louis got up and thanked Harry again for the drink and assured him that his progress would develop as their sessions continued.

"Text me when your free for another session, ok, Haz?" Louis asked, unable to stop himself as the nickname slipped through his lips.

It delighted Harry but he played it down by smirking at Louis. Louis was clearly blushing. "Yah, yah. See yah at school." He answered, dismissively.

Louis nodded anxiously before escaping out of the store. He shook his head at the slip up he had just made and in defeat, made his way home.

Inside, Harry smiled. He could work with this. Friends do work. And then comes play…