May 28th – Graduation Day

Harry was nervous as hell and so was Louis.

Come inside. Please? I can't do this without you…

Xx Haz

Harry, Niall and Zayn were standing outside the gym, where the graduation ceremony was about to commence. They were supposed to be alphabetical order but the troublesome trio really didn't seem to care about that.

The principal made a move to scold them but was halted by Mr. Sander's hand on his forearm.

"Just let them be. It's their last day to just be kids." The English teacher advised.

The principal hid his flustered state by folding his arms across his chest and stalking off into the gym.

"I used to hate this place but now… I feel so attached. I dare to say it, but I think I've grown fond of it." Zayn shared, shuddering with the realization.

Harry and Niall laughed at the distressed Zayn.

"One thing I won't miss is standing over there, pretending she's better than everyone else." Niall muttered, nodding over to where Shelley was standing.

She was surrounded by a group of chattering girls. One was definitely crying crocodile tears for attention, Shelley ignored her while the rest of the group made an effort to console the pathetic girl.

Harry narrowed his eyes and then remembered that Shelley didn't have to get to him. He was stronger than that and also better than that. He was also a bloody genius…

"Let's just forget about her." Harry suggested, making a point to turn away from her. He quickly checked his phone and saw a response from Louis:

I really want to Haz, I just don't think it's a good idea. I'll be out in the car, come meet me when it's over.

Xx Lou

Harry sighed disappointedly and tossed the phone back into his pocket. He had to be rational, Louis didn't want to cause any uproar again amongst the student or parents.

"I'm sweating my ass off in this stupid robe." Zayn complained, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

"I like them. It makes us look like we go to Hogwarts." Niall exclaimed, a wide grin on his face.

As Zayn dragged his hand across his forehead again, Harry noticed a ring on his left index finger. His eyes absentmindedly trailed over to Niall's and saw a matching one. His breath hitched in realization.

"Oh my god… did you guys get married?" Harry gushed in a whispered tone.

Niall paled, instantly retracting his left hand up into the sleeve of the robe at the accusation.

Zayn simply laughed and shrugged, "Oops. Guess we forgot to take these off."

"No, you should leave them on. I can't believe you got married." Harry remarked, shaking his head in disbelief.

Harry's mind began to wander.

Louis was in a suit and so was Harry. They weren't in a church, they were on the top of Horan's restaurant, in the rooftop garden. They both said 'I do'.

It was gorgeous and simple. Exactly how Louis and Harry wanted it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not married." Niall protested, shaking Harry out of his fantasy.

"Oh…" Harry muttered, a bit confused.

"They're like promise rings. We're not quite old enough for marriage yet but these remind us that it could be a possibility in our future." Zayn explained, and Niall blushed deeply at the thought.

"You two are so adorable, it practically sickens me." Harry teased.

Niall stuck his tongue out childishly in rebuttal, Zayn just smiled at the harmless banter.

"Show time!" A teacher announced to the crowd of students.

"See you on the other side boys." Zayn greeted before they separated from one another, going to their prospective spots.

Harry walked into line, between the last names 'Saxon' and 'Tate'. He sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to look out and see his boyfriend in the crowd.

People slowly made their way into the gym, Harry trudged along slowly. It slightly felt like a funeral procession. Once they crossed the stage, they'd just fall off the other side into a void of nothingness. The idea was startling but somewhat inviting at the moment to Harry.

He zoned out as names were called from 'A to R', his peers taking their prospective turns to cross the stage.

When it was Niall's turn, he tripped off the edge of stage but to save face, he struck a rock star pose once he received his diploma. Harry cheered loudly for his blond friend.

As Zayn crossed, he looked absolutely terrified, totally unlike himself. Once the diploma was in his hand and his parents went wild, he completely relaxed. Harry even saw him wink at Niall.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the person behind Harry was pushing him onto the stage, the principal was about to say his name. He swallowed slowly and stepped up onto the rickety wooden platform.

The crowd was blurred together by the bright lights focused on the stage but Harry raised his hand above his brow to survey it anyway.

"…. Harry?" The principal asked as the curly haired boy paused halfway across the stage.

Harry ignored him and continued his search; some part of him still believed that Louis would be out in the crowd. He just couldn't see well enough. Murmurs rippled through the spectators

Harry faltered, turning back toward his principal. He accepted Louis's absence and continued on with his path across the stage. He knew that Louis was supporting him from afar but he truly wished that Louis was in attendance.

"I'm here." A voice called from the mess of blinding darkness.

Harry turned toward the crowd and smiled widely. Although he couldn't see his boyfriend, the simple knowledge of him being there gave him the courage to face his future. He wouldn't be doing it alone, not with Louis, his family, Liam and his two best friends by his side.

Harry finally had a concrete circle of support around him, people that loved him and cared about him. He didn't have to wear a mask ever again. It was truly liberating.

His principal awkwardly coughed to break the moment of Harry's epiphany but instead of simply continuing on, he took a stray microphone off of a stand. The principal's eyes grew wide and Mr. Sanders smiled wickedly.

Harry breathed in deeply to collect his thoughts. "For the past four years, I have lived a lie, acted out someone else's life, spoke someone else's words. I'm tired of being afraid. I don't want to hide who I am because of other people's standards and for the longest time, I felt the need to do so. I've wasted the last four years exhausting myself with playing a role. I couldn't even get to know my best friends until a couple of months ago, and I think that's just tragic."

From the audience, Louis watched as a fearless Harry bore his soul in front of a crowd of strangers who he used to bury himself away for. It didn't only make him a proud boyfriend, it made him a proud teacher.

"And none of that would have happened without the help of someone who I am honored to call my boyfriend. I won't embarrass you by saying your name, but you know who you are. You taught me that I didn't need to be afraid of myself or what other's think of me. You showed me that I could be who I was, and do so, proudly and openly. So thank you for teaching me to trust again, I owe you the world." Harry continued, his eyes shining with raw emotion.

Louis knew there was no point of trying to wiping the telling smile off of his face. Harry was speaking directly to him and it felt amazing.

"But, I can't give you that, the only thing I can promise you is my love and frankly, I think that's a pretty good deal." Harry joked, winking out at the audience.

Somebody in the audience whistled and Louis blushed fiercely.

"YAH! HARRY!" Zayn wailed from the side of the stage.

Slowly the grad class began to react audibly. It started as murmurs and cresendoed into a cacophony of cheering and clapping.

Louis laughed at the influence that this confident Harry was having over the crowd. The comparison between the obnoxious Harry that he had first met and this one now wasn't actually too far off, although the intention was to inspire instead of being malicious.

Harry pumped his fist in the air to encourage the sound but the principal signaled for him to wrap it up.

"I wish my entire high school experience could be as powerful as the last three months have been for me. But now, all I have to look forward to is the future and so does the rest of the 2012 graduation class. The last piece of advice I can give you is don't lose yourself for other people's sakes. As terrifying as it may be, just be yourself." Harry advised. The crowd erupted enthusiastically.

"Thank you for your attention and congratulations to the rest of the grads!" Harry called out as he took his diploma and jogged off of the stage.

Zayn and Niall collected him up into a tackle/hug as soon as he stepped off of the stage.

"Since when are you so kick ass, man?" Niall inquired, squeezing Harry tightly.

Harry shrugged. "I guess that just comes with the territory of not giving a bloody damn anymore."

Zayn and Niall laughed into Harry's shoulders. This really was going to be a day to remember.

The rest of the ceremony sped by, and once the lights in the gym went back up, the mingling began.

Louis watched from afar as Harry was approached by a strew of students that appreciated what he had said. Louis gave them the space to do so for Harry looked so passionate about the conversations he was having.

But when Harry looked up and saw Louis standing only a few feet away, he excused himself politely and pushed through the mess of people. He ran toward Louis and wrapped him up in an excited embrace.

"You're here." Harry whispered in Louis's ear, the tone was full of relief.

"Always." Louis assured him and Harry's heart melted utterly. The word hung is Harry's ears and he made sure to capture the moment perfectly.

Harry rested his head on Louis's shoulder and expressed, "Thank you. It really means a lot."

"It means a lot to me too, when I was out in the car, I was basically arguing with myself. I was just so afraid that people wouldn't want me here and even when I came in, I got some weird looks, but hearing your speech made it all worth it." Louis explained, pulling out of the hug and staring into Harry's gorgeous eyes.

"All right, love birds, that's enough of that." Liam protested, putting his arms between them as if he was a teacher separating two tweens at a middle school dance.

"Liam, leave them alone!" Zayn chastised his friend, leading Niall over, their hands connected with each other's.

"You're holding hands… in public!" Harry exclaimed excitedly.

Niall blushed and said, "We're trying the subtle approach to coming out. Most people have been pretty cool about it, which is surprising."

"Adorable!" Liam deemed, throwing his arms around Zayn and Niall's shoulders. "I am a proud fifth wheel."

The five of them burst out laughing.

While Harry knew this might be as good as it got in his life, he could settle with living in this moment for as long as he was allowed. It was the perfect snapshot to represent each of their individual personalities:

Liam, the 'fifth wheel', the competitive tyrant and the advising roommate.

Zayn, the artist, the protective boyfriend, the ever-caring best friend.

Niall, the one with taste buds as strong as Liam's biceps, the blushing little boy and the undeniable trickster.

Louis, the tainted teacher, Harry's inspiration and love and the literary roommate.

And last but not least, Harry, the misunderstood genius that needed a little help to find out who he really was and who his real friends were.

Everything had an essence of moving forward, like an ever-circling motion of positivity. They weren't going to lose each other just because they were set to be travelling down different paths, they would always have this to bind them together.

Sure, the were blind to what the future held, but when Harry looked into Louis's eyes he didn't and couldn't fear a thing because they would be taking the journey with each other. Always.

Eight months later….

"LIAM! TURN THAT BLOODY MUSIC DOWN!" Harry screeched, rubbing circles into his temples.

He needed to concentrate, he had a physics essay due the next day. Homework seemed to be a hardship that came along with the territory of university.

"Sorry, Haz!" Liam apologized and automatically the music dulled by a decibel or two.

Harry sighed, too exhausted to make another protest. His eyelids dropped and he soon fell asleep right in front of his computer.

Louis came home from school to find his adorable boyfriend snoring on the keyboard of his laptop.

"Harry…?" He asked softly, shaking his boyfriend awake by the shoulder.

Harry's head popped up and he looked around, completely dazed. Louis noticed that poor Harry had bags under his eyes. He remembered what it was like being in first university; there were too extremes: either you partied too much or the schoolwork consumed you. Harry's problem was clearly the latter.

"How long have you been in front of that computer?" Louis inquired, setting down his side bag on their bed.

"At least five hours." Harry mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Louis gave his boyfriend a concerned look. "You need a break."

"No. I have to get this done." Harry objected, turning back toward the computer.

Louis needed to something drastic, so he ran his hands over Harry's shirt and began to press little kisses down his boyfriend's neck.

"Louis, don't…." Harry whined, squirming in protest to the distraction.

"You need a break, just relax and let me do all the work." Louis purred, and Harry shivered at the suggestion.

He sighed and gave in, letting Louis lead him slowly to the bed. Louis had a mischievous look in his eyes as he pushed Harry down on his back. Harry giggled as his back head the comfortable bed.

Just as Louis moved closer to Harry's face, Liam yelled at them from the kitchen: "Silence means you two are fucking around, at least give a guy some warning!"

Louis collapsed down onto Harry's chest, both of them fell into a fit of laughter. There bodies fit together like the perfect puzzle and once they heard the door slam, Louis got the hungry look back in his eyes.

Harry fell back in ecstasy as Louis had his way with him.

Because, really, all work and no play makes Harry a dull boy. ;)