Chapter 28

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*TRIGGER WARNING*
Mentions self harm scars

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Ding dong, the doorbell echoes through the quiet house. For the past five hours, Harry and I have been laying on the couch and watching movies. Now, the rest of the boys are here and it's time for fun, as I promised Harry. Before Harry and I started our movie binge, I texted the boys and told them to bring any snow gear that they have so that we could go outside in the snow. Ding dong, our doorbell sounds again.

"Mmm, babe, they're here. Go get the door, they're probably freezing." I hum against Harry's lips.

"What? Why me?" Harry asks, playing with my hair while not even trying to get up from straddling me.

"Because," I start as I slide my hands up his back, "you wanna play in the snow, don't you?" I tease. Harry pouts before giving me one last kiss and quickly getting off of my lap, rushing to the door.

"Hey, Harry." Niall smiles. Liam, Niall, and Zayn all greet Harry with a hug. Harry accepts each hug, shyly blushing.

"Hey, Lou." Zayn says, sitting on the couch next to me. "How's Harry? He seemed pretty upset last night."

"Oh, he um," I start, finding myself at a loss for words. I can't tell him about Harry self harming, can I? "We're back together now, I'll probably tell all of you the rest later." I say with a small smile and a tense body.

"Aye, congrats mate!" Zayn cheers, getting Liam and Niall's attention.

"What's that?" Liam wonders.

"They're back together!" Zayn exclaims. Niall and Liam both cheer and hug Harry, who is still standing at the front door with them, helping them set all their snow gear down.

"Tell us how it happened!" Niall pleads as the three of them join Zayn and I on the couch. Harry sheepishly sits next to me, draping his legs over my thighs.

"Well, last night, Zayn was over and Harry came into the guest room with us, and we basically just talked." I uneasily say, looking to Harry for reassurance.

"Yeah, then when Zayn left Louis and I talked and then we kissed, so...I guess that's how we got back together." Harry smiles, looking back at me. We both knew that we just lied straight to the boys.

"Let's get changed then we can go in the snow, yeah?" I say, patting Harry's thigh. All the boys jump off the couch and head off into bathrooms and spare rooms to change; Harry and I race up the stairs to change in our bedroom.

"Should we tell them?" I ask Harry as I close the bedroom door.

"I don't know, what do you think?"

"Well, I'm not the one who cut themselves, so I don't think it's up to me." I protest.

"Fair point." Harry mumbles as he looks down to the floor, seeming to be lost in thought.

"Harry." I sternly say.

"Hmm?" Harry hums, looking up at me with curiosity and pursed lips.

"Don't worry about it, sun. They'll go away, just as long as you don't make any more, yeah?" I assure Harry, resting my hands on his hips and gently kissing his forehead.

"I won't. I promise." Harry says with a tone of seriousness.

"I'm gonna be watching you, Harold. Now let's go get all bundled up to go in the snow." After many snowball fights, snowmen, snow angels, and failed attempts of building an igloo, all five of us are wet, cold, and hungry.

"Hurry, open the door, Lou!" Niall fusses, hopping from leg to leg in an attempt to keep warm.

"Will you give me a minute, I have to take my bloody glove off first." I retort. Finally, I get my glove off and open the front door, and all of us pile inside.

"Please do not get snow all over the floor because you will be cleaning it up." Harry announces.

"Who's hungry? I'm gonna order pizza." Niall says. It's a unanimous answer, and soon enough Niall is on the phone with the nearest pizzeria after rushing to get his snow gear off.

"Since when did we have all this snow stuff?" Harry asks me as the four of us take our snowy coats and boots off.

"We kept it from when we went skiing a couple years ago. Remember?"

"Oh yeah, that was fun." Harry replies, smiles fondly at the memories. "Lou?" A muffled voice calls a few moments later.

"Yeah?" I look to my left and see Harry. Well, I see Harry's legs. His hoodie is half covering his torso and is completely over his face, with his arms up in the air as well. "Hazza, what'd you do?" I laugh.

"I'm stuck. I tried to take both hoodies off at once. Help?"

"Of course, love. Come here." I say, still laughing a bit. Niall, Liam, and Zayn are all watching Harry now, amused and wondering how he got himself into this situation in the first place. First, I bring both of Harry's hoodies down so that he's wearing them normally again. Next, I tell him to raise his arms so that I can take off his hoodies once more. For some reason, I begin to take both hoodies off at the same time; it's been a success so far, unlike Harry's attempt, so I keep going. When both hoodies are finally off, Harry is shirtless.

"Thank you!" Harry smiles as he gives me a kiss on the cheek. Suddenly, it's eerily quiet. I look over to Liam, Niall, and Zayn, and they're all looking at the same thing. Uh oh. Panic sets in and I can feel my stomach drop.

"Um, Harry?" Liam asks.

"Yeah?" Harry replies, still smiling from the hoodie fiasco.

"Harry, love." I quietly say, low enough so that only Harry can hear. Harry looks at me and when he does, I motion my head down to his wrist. Harry follows my gaze and then looks back up at me with an indescribable facial expression. It's part fear, part sadness, and part something else that I cannot place my finger on.

"Shit, I forgot." Harry hisses under his breath as he speed walks up to our bedroom. When I hear the bedroom door shut, I rub my face with my hands.

"We need answers Lou." Zayn calmly says.

"How could you not tell us? This is serious!" Niall exclaims, quietly so that Harry doesn't hear.

"Listen, we were going to tell you sometime today but we didn't know when. He only started last night and he promised me he'd stop." I explain.

"But I was here last night..." Zayn adds, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Do you remember when Harry wanted me to go to the kitchen with him? I saw them for the first time when he stretched. I didn't say anything to him until later that night when we were in bed."

"Louis, there were a lot of cuts, are you sure he only started yesterday? You were broken up after all, so you weren't around each other that much this past week." Niall points out.

"Yes, I'm sure. I saw them yesterday and this morning, and they all looked new. Plus, Harry would have told me by now if he had done it before yesterday." Niall shrugs his shoulders, agreeing with me. Silence fills the air as the boys are processing what they just learned. What feels like hours later, the ringing doorbell broke the silence.

"Pizza's here, I'll get it." Niall informs us, jumping out of his seat.

"Wait! I'm gonna go get Harry. I don't want any of you asking questions or making my boyfriend uncomfortable, are we clear?" Niall, Liam, and Zayn all nod their head in understanding, and Niall resumes his jog to the front door as Liam and Zayn start to get plates out.

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