The Finish Line

His brown hair is pressed against his head with a light grey beanie merely distracting other’s from the dark circles that have formed under his eyes and his beard is scruffy from the lack of care over the past couple of days. He’s still wearing the same pair of stained sweatpants he was wearing three days ago and underneath his black hoodie is an equally stained shirt. The smell radiating off the young man is a mixture between deodorant, sweat and tea.

He’s holding the bowl close to his mouth as he shovels the spoon filled with milk and cereal into his mouth. His eyes shoot up in Harry’s direction when the younger boy, once again, sighs at the sight of his best friend. “You can talk about it whenever you want.” He offers, although he already knows Louis won’t take him up on the offer.

“I’m good.” He mumbles softly as he throws his bowl in the sink. The usual quirkiness audible in Louis’ voice has been replaced by a rather sombre tone, matching his equal sombre facial expression and lack of a smile.

“Perrie said that if you want to talk…” Harry tries again, running a hand through his tangled curls. “To someone who’s more… understanding… you can always contact her.” Harry finishes his sentence with a deep sigh. Not only does it bother him that his best friend is suffering, on top of that he has to deal with the fact that he’s incapable of helping his friend out. “I wish I could help you…” His voice slightly cracks as the last two words leave his lips causing Louis’ head to shoot in his direction.

“I just…” Louis starts and immediately an even more pained expression appears on his face. “I feel empty.” When he spits out the last words his shoulder drop, as if a heavy weight is lifted off of them.

“I don’t understand it…” Louis eventually continues looking at his best friend with a lost expression but he quickly breaks the eye contact, laying his focus on a dried stain on his pants. “I didn’t see it coming…” He mumbles more to himself than to Harry but still loud enough for him to hear.

“You didn’t see what coming?” Harry offers, trying to understand what’s going on with his best friend. He finally managed to get Louis to speak to him, now he had to find a way to figure out what happened without it taking another three days.

“She broke up with me.”