Chapter 12

                                    

                                          
Brace yourselves babies, this is going to be one long chapter!
_________________________________________________________
Harry's POV
Two more weeks had passed since Louis's birthday without hearing back from him. I was now living on the final grains of hope I had managed to hold on to. Each passing day without seeing him, without hearing his voice, was a reminder of how insignificant I might be in his life. It was unbearable.
I had spent the first week quite hopeful, given that he had kissed me back when I kissed him that day. I had a feeling that he did like me back. 
But by the second week, when I still hadn't heard from him, not even after I left the birthday present at his front door, I started feeling uneasy. I replayed the entire scenario in my head. I did that so many times that it came to a point where I couldn't really recall if he had actually kissed me back, or if it was something I had imagined while replaying it in my head. 
It had only worsened when school started because Louis avoided me at all costs. I felt like he did everything possible to not run into me, because I hadn't seen him more than twice in the past two weeks since school started. He purposely missed Science and Art History lessons, the only two periods that we shared. It's the third week now and I was a complete mess. I was convinced by now that Louis was either mad at me or disgusted by me. Given my luck, it was probably both.
I couldn't concentrate on schoolwork. I hadn't touched my guitar in weeks. I only ate because I had to. And I definitely had trouble falling asleep. I cried so many times that Mom started worrying about me. Every night she heard me sobbing, she would come to my room and sit there on my bed, humming a tune or running her fingers through my curls until I fell asleep. She hugged me every morning and told me everything would be okay. However, each passing day made it impossible for me to believe her words.
I didn't go to a single Football match after the first one. First because I promised myself that I'd give Louis time to process everything that happened. But then I realized that he was avoiding me. It was a hard pill to swallow. But as painful as it was, I respected his decision and stayed out of his way.
The school team had reached the finals of the Premier League Schools Cup, as predicted by almost everyone. Although I stopped going to see the matches, Allison kept me updated. Apparently, Louis had scored the most goals during the series of matches, making him exceptionally popular among everyone. As much as I was delighted for him, I couldn't help but feel brokenhearted at the thought of whatever happened between us not having an impact on Louis. Which meant he didn't care that we no longer spoke to each other or hung out with each other.
It was another depressing Sunday, me lying in bed, thinking about everything that happened during the past three weeks. The final match of the Premier League Schools Cup will be tomorrow, our school team playing against the defending champions. It's going to be one of the biggest moments in Louis's life and I won't be there to witness every second of it with him.
I closed my eyes and my mind drifted back to the very first game of the season. I remembered how I had cheered from the bleachers and how Louis gave me a flying kiss. I remember how he scored the final winning goal and the happiness that radiated right out of his face. I missed him. I missed him so fucking much.
I missed his bright sunshiny smile, his soft feathery hair, his gorgeous sapphire eyes, his warm velvety touch. I couldn't take it any longer. I had to talk to him, even if it was just through a text message. I just wanted him to acknowledge me. 
After debating with myself for about 20 minutes, I finally decided to send him a message. I finished typing everything I felt and hit the send button. 
Then I put my phone on silent mode and kept it on my bedside table, screen facing downwards. I was too nervous to see if I'd get a reply or not. With each passing minute, a piece of my heart kept crumbling down.