Louis hurried to the cafe down the street, knowing if he didn't make it in the next five minutes it would be packed with other students and he'd be left with no where to sit and a long queue. His feet moved quickly and got him there just at the right time.

The cafe was nearly empty, and then it dawned on him that it was Tuesday and barely anyone would be here today since everyone would have class. He huffed as he entered the cafe and walked to the counter. All that fast-paced walking for nothing.

His eyes roamed the nearly deserted shop, taking in the occupants. A few people on laptops, a young girl with a book and a mug of coffee before her, and then by one of the windows sat an older woman with long dark brown hair accompanied by a younger male with curly brown hair, a few shades lighter than the woman he sat before. Louis was instantly brought back to the day he had bumped into the boy by his university. The curls were so familiar to him, although he had only ever seen them that one time nearly a week ago, he knew it was the same boy.

"Harry, stop being so moody." He heard the woman speak and peered over. The boy wasn't even looking at her anymore. He was staring out the window, but he was waving a hand in front of him, as if saying 'stop.' Louis watched, too curious for his own good.

The boy hadn't opened his mouth or made any attempt to reply to the older woman.

Until he saw the boy turn and face her, his hands moving quickly in front of him. At first he was confused, he didn't even consider that it was a form of communication.

"Stop telling me it's nothing, I'm your mum Harry. I know you better than that." It had finally dawned on Louis that the boy was signing, not just moving his hands about crazily. He suddenly felt like the biggest asshole on the face of the planet. The boy, Harry, wasn't being rude, he was simply unable to communicate. He was deaf.

Louis ran a hand over his face, he was disgusted with himself, he had acted so vile towards the boy. He felt awful.

He had ordered his drink and sat himself at a small table. He could't take his eyes off of the boy with his mother. Harry… the name suited him so well in Louis' mind.

After about five minutes of watching the boy communicate with his hands to his mum, Louis felt compelled to go over and apologize, but he didn't know how to sign his apology so he felt incredibly awkward and guilty. He took the opportunity to go to Harry's mother when Harry had excused himself and headed toward the toilets.

He scuttled over, feeling like the worst person on the face of the Earth. He stood by the table and tapped the woman on the shoulder. "Can I help you?" She asked, her voice calm and welcoming.

"Uhm, I… My name is Louis Tomlinson, I- last week I accidentally ran into your son, I was such a jerk and didn't realize he couldn't hear me… I shouldn't have been so rude, I didn't even think that he was deaf. I'm so sorry, I just wanted to apologize for my ignorance, I'm so so sorry. I didn't want to seem rude by apologizing and having him not able to hear me and I don't know how to sign… I just feel like such a jerk." He spoke too fast, but he couldn't help it, he was nervous.

"Louis? Harry isn't deaf. He could hear you." She watched Louis react with a confused expression.

"He signs because he doesn't speak. He has selective mutism, meaning he has the ability to speak, but something in him doesn't allow it. He tries to sign to communicate." Louis felt like even more of a jerk, he had specifically said, "You could at least say thank you." To Harry.

"My name is Anne by the way, and I can see you feel bad, and it's okay. You didn't know, don't worry about it." Anne was so nice, so understanding and it only made the guilt seep from Louis heart even more. How could he have been so awful to Harry?

"I'm just sorry, I wanted you to know that. I want Harry to know that as well." Louis shuffled awkwardly on his feet.

"I would offer you talk to Harry, but he's not really good with strangers, so I'll accept your apology on his behalf. Thank you Louis. I'll let Harry know." Anne clasped her hands together atop the table and Louis thanked her for her kindness and left her to be with her son.

Such a nice woman, and Harry… He couldn't imagine living a life without speech. He talked all of the time, he didn't have much of any other way to express himself. He felt sympathy for the boy, he just knew that Harry was more than silence and felt so bad for thinking him rude.

Louis quickly left the cafe, dumping his drink that he had barely touched into the bin outside. He was swamped with the guilt. Sure he had apologized, but that didn't mean he hadn't offended the boy outright, he didn't even give him a chance to try to communicate, he just got angry.

He could feel his heart fill with a dreaded weight, one that made his whole body feel heavier.

His thoughts flicked to the subject of mutism and how someone was unable to speak, it was something that just seemed routine, it seemed so vital to Louis to be able to express himself through speech, it baffled him slightly that Harry could do without speaking.

Louis thought of how he would've coped with never muttering a single word, never being able to yell when he was angry or babble endlessly when he was overly happy. How would he have dealt with having his way of being out rightly snubbed. Louis couldn't imagine living in such an introverted state, having four sisters and being unable to speak to them… he couldn't fathom it.

Then as Louis walked into his flat he realized he hadn't really stopped thinking of the boy since he had bumped into him, and the entire way home his mind was drenched in thoughts of Harry. Why did he care so much? Why was he so concerned over someone he didn't even know?

He battled with himself as he plopped onto his sofa, "He's different, he's more than silence." Louis battled that thought back with, "How do I know that? He could be dull and boring and have no personality whatsoever." However, deep down Louis knew he was lying to himself. Some part of him knew that Harry was something special, he knew that the light green eyes he'd barely caught sight of for more than a second held more behind them than he could even attempt to imagine. He knew that Harry was different than anyone he had ever met before, be he also knew that he cared very little about the risks of being Harry's friend. This being, his friends not understanding, the fact that he would have to work harder than anything to even have Harry look at him.

Then it hit him, like a ton of bricks falling down on him. He had no idea if he would ever see Harry again. He felt his body go into panic mode. Something about never seeing Harry again made him feel incredibly empty, it sent a chill through his bones and blood, he didn't understand why it had made him react so strongly, but it did, and that's what mattered.

-

In the morning there was a buzz within Louis, something that told him today would be a good one.

He quickly showered and dressed himself nicely, he didn't have anyone to impress in particular, but just in case.

Louis attended his usual classes for the day, all of them going well and he got by smoothly, nothing especially good had happened in any of them, but he didn't falter on any of his performances and held his confidence through each class.

By the time he was finished with his uni courses it was half four and he was still buzzing, the energy hadn't left him all day. He decided to make his way to one of the many performance rooms, some with pianos, and others with mirrored walls for dancers.

Louis himself was moving toward a large room he'd spent a lot of time in previously. It held a beautiful piano and the space was large and kept the sounds of the halls and other rooms along side it muddled. It was a space where Louis could let loose, dance if he wanted, sing if he felt the need, both at the same time, or play the piano tucked in the corner.

Today he wanted to play, his fingers were itching to dance across the ivory keys.

He pushed the heavy wooden door open and slipped inside, but he was met with another occupant.

He started to move into the room, intending to ask the person how long they intended to be and see if waiting was worth it.

It wasn't until he got closer that he had realized the occupant had papers scattered about and was scribbling on them furiously as he laid on the floor, his attention focused solely on the papers before him.

As Louis made his way closer the form lying on the floor snapped their head up, hearing his approaching footsteps.

Louis was met with emerald green eyes, pale skin and a head of chocolate brown curls. He smiled, but it soon dropped when Harry began shuffling around, trying to collect his things as quickly as possible.

"Oh, no. Please, don't feel like you have to leave." Louis finally said, watching the boys panicked movements.

By this time Harry had already made his way into a sitting position, legs crossed indian style.

Louis walked to Harry slowly, making sure to be thoughtful of his actions. As he got closer to Harry he bent down and picked up a few of the stray papers, which turned out to be sheet music, scribbles all over them. There were countless papers around Harry, all of them covered in his script, creating a melody and a string of lyrics to follow.

Harry didn't move as Louis approached him. He simply watched him carefully, half of him wanting him to turn and leave and the other half hoping he'd stay, although he didn't know why, it wasn't like he could spark up a conversation with the guy.

Harry drank Louis in as he knelt before him, gently placing the sheet music in front of him.

Harry's eyes snapped away from Louis and down to the wooden floor he was seated on. Harry didn't make any movement, just sat frozen with his frenzy of thoughts racing through his mind.

Louis was on the brink of speaking, but in turn he decided to give the moment a bit more time, let Harry calm and maybe he'd look away from the wooden planks that made up the floor.

Harry began fidgeting, his eyes moved from the ground to his long fingers that laid in his lap, moving about slowly.