Chapter Text
Louis is woken up by the sound of something crashing and the unmistakable sound of a tiny voice whispering, “Uh oh.”
“Fuck,” Louis groans, rolling over to smash his face into his pillow and pray that he’s just hearing things. It’s too early to deal with his son, and he knows that makes him a bad person, but fuck it, Louis doesn’t care. He needs a break before he absolutely loses his mind.
The door to the bedroom creaks open, little barefeet feet slap across the floor quickly, and then there’s a small child cannon balling onto the bed. The springs squeak, Louis sighs, and Noah bursts into giggles.
“Daddy, get up!” He whines.
Louis turns his head just enough for one of his eyes to peek out. Noah grins at him, eyes sparkling, tiny fists clutching a stuffed dinosaur, and a smudge of something on his cheek.
“Good morning,” Louis says. “Do you have something to tell me?”
Noah frowns and then holds out his dinosaur “Was cup for tea, Daddy,” he whispers sadly. “Hank dropped it.”
Louis sits up immediately and starts looking him over in concern. “Oh, sweetheart, are you hurt?”
“Nu-uh,” Noah sniffles. “I’m sorry, Daddy. Hank’s really sorry.”
Louis eyes the dirty, green T-Rex that Zayn bought for Noah the night he was born. They both thought the name Hank would be hilarious, but Noah caught on and he stuttered it out as one of his very first words. Besides Hank, Noah has a million other dinosaurs all with human names. Whenever someone new comes over he likes to bring them all out and explain who they are and what type of dinosaur they are. Louis really hopes his son never learns how to correctly pronounce triceratops.
“Baby, listen,” Louis says, reaching for one of Noah’s hands so he’ll look up. “You can’t play with the mugs or the kettle, alright? I don’t want you getting hurt, you could’ve burned yourself or stepped on the glass.”
Noah nods and then surges up to wrap his arms around his dad’s neck. “Didn’t touch the kettle, ‘cause not supposed to. But m’sorry, Daddy,” he sighs. “Just want you to be happy, no more sad.”
Louis frowns. “I’m not sad, darling, what would give you that idea?”
“Heared you crying last night,” his son whispers back.
Nothing makes Louis want to crumple up and sob more than the fact that Noah thinks he has to try to make his father happy. Louis closes his eyes and pulls his little boy even loser. He had been certain Noah was asleep already, that was the only reason he took the call last night. If he knew his son was in his room listening to his dad cry and beg his absent father not to give up on them, Louis would have ignored it completely.
There’s no going back now, though. Noah’s father that he’s only actually met a handful of times, and Louis’ ex-husband of almost four years, is never coming back. He gave up on both of them completely and Louis is so alone.
“I could never be sad with you around, baby,” Louis whispers. “You make everything better.”
It’s true, absolutely true. Louis honestly doesn’t know how he would’ve made it through the past few years without having Noah around loving him and depending on him to make things right.
“You’re the very best Daddy.” Noah declares, smacking a kiss to Louis’ cheek.
Louis smiles back and picks him up. “Come on, we have to get dressed and head to Grandma’s.”
At that, Noah lets out a loud whoop of excitement and yells about getting to spend the day with his grandmother and aunts while Louis carries him to his room, stepping over the broken mug on the floor and mess of cold water surrounding it.
While Louis looks through Noah’s drawers for a pair of pants, he tries to compartmentalize all he has to do today. First things first he has to drive Noah to his mum’s, then return home and gather his things for work, get dressed, drive almost two hours to his office, edit and submit the review he wrote for the terrible band he saw over the weekend, meet up with Zayn for lunch to talk about the wedding, call his lawyer-
“Daddy, why’s your head on the dress-the dresser.” Noah’s giggles break through his train of thought.
Louis groans and pulls his head up. His mind is running a thousand miles a minute, there’s so much to do and no time to do it in.
“I’m just sleepy, bud,” Louis sighs, turning his head to motion for Noah to come over. “Here, come put this shirt on and I’ll see if I can find you a jumper.”
Noah pouts and stomps over. “Don’t even like jumpers.” He grumbles while he wrestles his dinosaur pajamas off.
Louis smiles. “I know you don’t, but it’s still a bit chilly out. You can take it off as soon as you get to Grandma’s, I promise”
Noah tugs his shirt over his head which sends his curls flying everywhere. Louis’s always been grateful he got his father’s hair, their surrogate looked more like Louis but he’s always hated his hair. Curls are so much cuter, sure they’re a nightmare to control and he’s considered shaving Noah bald on the mornings they wake up late, but Louis still secretly loves them.
After he gets Noah’s backpack together, which consists of filling it with coloring books, crayons, and a couple plastic dinosaurs, the two head out to the car.
The drive to his mother’s takes maybe ten minutes. Before Louis got married, he’d lived in Manchester for uni. He met Zayn there, one of his dormmates his first year, and eventually his ex-husband Luke. When he and Luke got married they moved back to Doncaster to settle down, but Louis kept his job working as an intern for Mod Magazine. Since then, he’s moved up considerably to being one of their main writers for the music section of the magazine and the website, had Noah, and still drives into Manchester almost every morning just for work.
It’s sort of ridiculous, and his friends love to point that out, but Louis wants Noah to grow up here like he did.
His mum greets him with a big hug as soon as he opens the door and announces they’re here. Noah ignores them both and runs off in search of someone who’s awake enough to color in the new book Perrie bought him this weekend.
“I’m so sorry, Boo,” his mum whispers.
Louis shakes his head and wills himself not to cry. “It’s stupid, y’know?” he murmurs back. “I knew he would never be around much for Noah, but I at least thought…I thought that maybe he’d want to be part of his son’s life.”
Jay pulls Louis in tighter and shushes him. “Lou, sweetheart, he doesn’t need Luke. He has so much love in his life, Noah doesn’t need that man.”
“I know but,” Louis breaks off when his voice cracks and takes a deep breath before continuing on. “I just know what that’s like, knowing your father doesn’t want you, and I never wanted that for my kids. This isn’t fair to Noah, Mum, and I feel like it’s my fault for not noticing Luke didn’t want this. Why didn’t he just say something? Why didn’t he fucking tell me-”
His mother makes a sad noise in her throat and rubs Louis’ back when he dissolves into sobs. She never liked Luke, Louis had always known that but he could never understand why. Luke was sweet and he seemed like he really loved Louis, like he really did want to start a family with him and grow old together. Well, that is until it actually happened and it apparently became all too real for Luke.
“Is he at least still…” Jay trails off, but Louis knows she’s talking about child support, another sore subject between them.
“Yeah, he can’t really get out of that. I sort of feel bad about it-”
Jay groans and shakes her head. “Louis, no, don’t let him make you feel bad. Don’t ever feel bad for that, okay? You can raise Noah on your own, I know you can, but you still need help financially and he owes that to both of you. You were supposed to be in this together.”
“I have to go,” Louis murmurs, mostly because he really doesn’t want to get into this. “I’m going to be late for work and I still need to call my lawyer.”
His mother looks like she wants to say something, but she lets him go with just a kiss to the forehead and a promise that she’ll be here whenever he needs her. Louis heads off after saying goodbye to Noah, keeping his head down on the way out to the car. The day has just started but it already feels like it might never end.
Louis’ excruciatingly long day comes to a head around noon when his editor approaches his desk.
“It’s still down, I’m working on it,” Louis mutters, still trying to figure out how in the hell the website crashed around ten this morning and yet is still not back up.
“Leave it, we’ll get the tech guys on it,” Jesy says, waving her hand. “It’s probably because of that review you wrote. People are pretty pissed, Louis. There was more traffic after you posted that than we’ve had all month.”
Louis rolls his eyes and navigates away from where he’s been hopelessly screwing around with the website for the past hour. “They were terrible, Jesy,” he replies. “They peaked awhile ago, the entire album was a mess and that show was disastrous.”
“Lou, it’s The 1975,” she moans, like that’s important. “You’re going to get into real trouble one of these days.”
“I don’t care though, is the thing,” he says, and then promptly bursts out laughing when Jesy slaps him upside the head.
After she walks over to check with tech again about getting the site back up, she returns with a strange look in her eyes. Louis ignores her and continues editing the piece that the magazine’s editor picked for this month’s issue. Jesy sits down on top of his desk and continues to stare at him pensively.
“I’m going to regret this.” She sighs.
“Regret what?” Louis asks, still not looking up from his laptop.
Jesy groans and picks the computer up, holding it so Louis will actually acknowledge her. “Could you find a babysitter for my darling godson this weekend?”
Louis rolls his eyes and reaches for his laptop but she holds it up even higher and he’s more worried about her breaking it than getting it back. “Noah isn’t you godson, Jes. But yeah, Zayn and Perrie have been begging to take him to the zoo so I guess they could do that. Why?”
Jesy smiles and hands him the laptop back. “Shutup, he’s my godson. Anyway, let them take him, I have an assignment for you.”
“Jes, other people work here,” Louis reminds her. “I had an assignment over the weekend, give to to someone else.”
Jesy sighs. “I want you to do it, Lou, I think you’d be the best at it. I want you to interview One Direction tomorrow night.”
“The boyband.” Louis says.
She cannot actually be serious about this, can she? Louis distinctly remembers his sister Fizzy going to one of their concerts for her thirteenth birthday. He also remembers getting out of going with her by the skin of his teeth. He definitely didn’t bribe Lottie to take her instead just to have to go to a One Direction concert at twenty-two years old. He’s an adult.
“They’re not really a boyband anymore,” Jesy explains. “They took a couple years off, rebranded, changed management, one of them even plays the drums now. The new album if rockier, people loved it, and now they’re on tour again.”
Louis frowns. “I’m almost entirely sure that they’re still a boyband, Jes. I saw them on the cover of Seventeen.”
“I don’t think you should be reading Seventeen anymore, Lou.” Jesy teases him.
Louis groans so loud a couple of the other reporters turn to see what’s going on. He dramatically drops his head into his hands and sighs just as loud. “Fine,” he snaps. “Get me the passes, I’ll go. If they sing that one song though, that one that makes me want to smash my car radio, I’m leaving. I’ll walk right out.”
Obviously not taking his threat seriously, Jesy hops off his desk. “You’re the best, Lou,” she tells him with a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll get you the press pass by the end of the day and please, just try not to be too brutal.”
“Everyone knows how I write, if they didn’t want an honest opinion they wouldn’t go looking for it.”
Jesy rolls her eyes and walks off. “Take your lunch, asshole. Say hi to Zayn for me.”
Louis salutes her and gathers his things, double and triple checking that he’s backed up everything before heading out. Zayn’s already waiting for him by the lift, looking every bit the brooding fashion journalist that he is. He’s all tall dark and handsome, leaning against the wall with one foot propped up behind him, frowning down at his phone through his glasses, hair styled perfectly because he probably showed up late this morning.
The entire facade is cracked when Zayn lifts his head and sees Louis. His frown turns into a soft smile and he stalks forward to pull Louis into a hug. Louis tucks his head into his best friend’s shoulder and deflates. Zayn smells the same as he always has, like cologne that’s too expensive for Louis to even think about, hairspray, nicotine, and weed.
If someone were to ask Louis what he thought home smelled like, it’d be a tie between this and Noah’s baby shampoo.
“I say we find that fucker and murder him,” Zayn growls. “Where’s he living now? We can track him down, I’m sure we have records somewhere.”
That surprises a laugh out of Louis which makes Zayn smile. They pull away from one another and Louis’ presses the button to call the lift up.
“It’s his choice, Z. I can’t really do anything about it.”
“I still want to beat him up, just a little, maybe break a few bones,” Zayn says casually. “I don’t understand how anyone could do this, especially to Noah. He’s the sweetest child on the planet, Lou.”
Louis smiles fondly at that. “I think we’re both a bit biased there, Z.”
Zayn rolls his eyes. “Never. All children are terrible demons, except Noah.”
They squeeze into the lift with the rest of the crowd rushing out to lunch and ride down to the ground floor in silence. There’s a small restaurant attached to the building, but Louis needs a walk and a smoke. Zayn agrees with him and they walk off together into the cloudy afternoon.
Louis lights a cigarette and lets it dangle out of his mouth for a moment, letting the smoke burn his lungs and his insides before he breathes out.
Being that they’ve been friends for almost nine years now, Zayn must know that Louis really isn’t okay, but he also knows Louis well enough not to mention it again until he does first. So, instead Zayn just says, “You really should stop, you know.”
“I know,” Louis sighs, cringing when he thinks of the speech Jay gave him about how he’s slowly killing himself. “It’s just calming, y’know? Life’s shit, Z, let me just have this.”
He quit once, back before Noah was even born, when their surrogate was just three months along, he swore to himself he’d never pick up another cigarette again. And then Luke left.
Zayn nods. “Perrie’s making me quit before the wedding,” he says carefully, words almost lost in the noise of the streets around them. “Maybe we could try together?”
Louis smiles at him and nods, but they both know full well that it isn’t going to happen.
They head to a burger place down the block that they usually save for eating their feelings in times of trouble. Apparently this counts because Zayn even offers to pay for both of their orders. After they practically buy the place out of chips, the two of them set up shop at a table in a corner, Zayn pulling out a tablet so he can show Louis color schemes he and Perrie have been thinking about. Louis thought being the best man would consist more of writing a drunk speech and planning a party complete with awkwardly old strippers, but apparently his favorite couple cannot make decisions to save their lives.
“Just don’t pick out something like fuchsia,” Louis advises through a mouthful of burger. “I look terrible in fuchsia.”
Zayn rolls his eyes. “No one has a fuchsia wedding, Louis.” He laughs.
Louis just shrugs back and they start looking for ring bearer suits for Noah.
On their way back to the office, Louis blurts out, “I’m interviewing One Direction tomorrow night.”
Zayn’s walk stutters and then he bursts out laughing. “No fucking way,” he snickers. “After what you did to those Australians, they’re trusting you with another boyband?”
Louis rolls his eyes at that particular memory. It was almost two years ago, but no one will ever let it go that he trashed a farewell tour. “According to Jesy, they aren’t a boyband anymore, but we all know that’s bullshit.”
Zayn slaps him on the back. “I’m looking forward to reading it,” he laughs. “Perrie and I will take the little man to the zoo, she’s really excited about it. There’s babies in the penguin exhibit apparently, her and Noah have been talking about it for two weeks now.”
“He’ll be so excited.” Louis laughs.
Zayn grins. “It’s a good thing I found someone who loves him as much as I do, that was a deal breaker.”
Even though it’s a ridiculous thing to say, Louis still smiles. He’s happy Perrie loves Noah too, even though his son is certainly not lacking in the aunt department. It’s also nice knowing there’s someone besides his mum that he can absolutely trust to watch Noah overnight when he works out of town. Not that he can’t trust Zayn with Noah, it’s just the last time Louis and Perrie left those two alone together they ate biscuits and chocolate bars for dinner.
Now if only he could find someone like that for himself.
“You heading up?” Zayn asks when they reach their building.
Louis shakes his head and lights another cigarette. “I’ll see you before I leave tonight.” He promises.
Zayn looks worried about him but still leaves, only after crushing Louis into another hug and whispering into his ear, “I love you, Lou. Noah doesn’t need him, okay? He has you. You’re wonderful.”
Louis ends up going through an entire pack of cigarettes before heading back upstairs to finish his day.
He’s just so tired.
“You’ll be good for your aunt and uncle, won’t you Noah?” Louis whispers to his son, tucking one of his dark brown curls behind his ear.
Noah grins and nods, practically buzzing with excitement. “We’re gonna see baby penguins tomorrow, Perrie told me so,” he says for about the millionth time since Louis told him he was going to the zoo two days ago.
Louis smiles fondly and kisses Noah’s cheek. “If you need me, just tell Perrie or Z and they’ll call. It’s going to be a little loud in there, but I’ll still answer okay? And I’ll call to tuck you in tonight.”
Still grinning, Noah throws his arms around Louis’ neck and hugs him tight. He kisses his father on the cheek, emitting a loud smacking noise, and giggles. “I love you, my Daddy. Have fun with the music, bring me a shirt.”
It’s a tradition they started years ago when Noah finally understood where Louis goes to on the weekends. He always stops at concerts and buys some sort of merchandise for his son, usually a t-shirt that’s always too big and that Noah always wears until it’s been washed so many times it’s impossible to make out who it was for. It makes Louis happy that his son loves music as much as he does, that he understands where Louis is and why he does it.
“I will definitely bring you a shirt, baby. Have fun with Perrie and the penguins.” Louis says, smiling at the way his son’s eyes sparkle with happiness.
“That would be a great band name,” Perrie tells him while she helps Noah hang up his backpack that's full of everything he’ll need for overnight and the next day.
Louis rolls his eyes at her and stands up from helping Noah take off his shoes. “Don’t let him have too much sugar if he’s going to be running around, he’ll puke on you in rainbow colors.”
Perrie laughs. “Why do I feel like that warning is more for Zayn than me?”
They both turn to look at Zayn, who’s in the living room helping Noah set up his plastic dinosaurs on the floor. Louis shakes his head at the two of them and Perrie laughs even harder. She pulls him in for a quick hug and to whisper, “Have fun” in his ear, and then joins Zayn in setting up the dinosaurs, who are having a party according to Noah.
He takes a moment to watch them, looking exactly like the kind of family Louis always dreamed of having someday, and then leaves.
Because all he really has to do is interview the band, Louis ends up skipping their opening act. Or, that’s at least what he’s telling everyone, because the real reason is that it’s Friday and he only picked Noah up from his Mum’s a few hours ago. He already feels like he never gets to see his son, it just makes it worse when they aren’t together and they could be.
Louis makes it to the venue almost an hour later, already feeling like he’s going to go deaf from all the screaming inside. It’s a fucking stadium, actually, not even a venue, and this is ridiculous.
Somehow he manages to find somebody who actually knows what’s going on, and he’s led backstage to a dressing room where the band is waiting to start their set. Louis spent the majority of his day at work looking up One Direction so he would at least an idea of who they all are, and not ask the wrong question to the wrong boy and be ostracized by the community.
As far as he knows, the blond one buzzing around with a piece of half eaten pizza in his hand is Niall Horan, the unfairly hot one with the snapback and bare arms who’s laughing at something someone’s telling him is Liam Payne, and the one sitting on a couch with his legs crossed and a ridiculous hat on his head is Harry Styles.
That’s the one he’s heard the most about, Harry Styles who’s silently scrolling through his phone and frowning down at it. It’s a stark contrast to the photos Louis saw this afternoon of him in court wearing a suit with his hair up in a bun only a few months ago. Apparently before their two year long break, Harry was pictured snogging another man in a club while he was still very much in the closet. When the man went to the press stating that he and Harry had been together multiple times before, the situation blew up into a mess involving their management, breech of contracts, and some sort of drug scandal. Most people probably wouldn’t have even tried to come back from that, but Harry Styles did, and Louis sort of admires that.
Even though he does look stupid sitting there with his shirt almost all the way unbuttoned to show off hundreds of tattoos, including a giant butterfly.
“Boys, this is Louis Tomlinson,” their publicist announces once she spots Louis just standing there awkwardly. “He’s from Mod Magazine, he'll be watching and interviewing you tonight.”
The people in the dressing room sort of stop everything to look over at him. He smiles at everyone, waves, and is almost knocked over by Niall Horan who runs over to shake his hand.
“Nice to meet ya, mate. I’ve read your stuff before, that one you wrote about 5 Seconds of Summer was brutal,” he cackles, like Louis dragging their old opening act through the mud is hilarious.
Before Louis can even think of a retort, Liam is coming up to say hello. He has these huge puppy dog eyes that sort of combat with the beard he’s sporting and the shirt he’s clearly cut the sleeves off of. “I’m Liam Payne,” he says, smiling through the proper introduction. “I hope you like our set, Harry and I wrote most of the songs.”
Louis smiles back, fighting to be just as polite. “I actually haven’t listened to the new album at all, I wanted to have my first reaction down.”
Harry approaches slowly, and he’s still frowning. “M’Harry,” he says. “Do you really not like Matty?”
That surprises a laugh out Louis. “Healy? I mean, I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but the sound just isn’t my cup of tea. Are you friends?”
“Kind of,” Harry replies. “We’ve hung out a few times, I really like his music.”
Louis shrugs and pulls his phone out of his pocket when it starts to ring. “To each their own, I guess. I have to take this, I’m sorry.” He turns away and hits answer, smiling when he hears Noah already giggling on the other end.
“Hey, pumpkin. Bedtime already?”
That just makes Noah laugh harder. “No Daddy, don’t be silly.”
Louis smiles. “I am pretty silly, huh? Are you okay, what’s going on?”
“My Perrie says she wants to know, um,” he trails off and Louis can hear Perrie whispering to Noah in the background. “Oh, she says ask if I can have a fish. I dunno if I can eat fish, Daddy, don’t remember.”
“Tell Aunt Perrie it’s just no shellfish, or else you’ll turn into a balloon, and I can’t have a balloon for a son can I? You’ll fly away and I’ll never see you again.”
Noah bursts into giggles again. “No balloon Noahs, Daddy, promise. I love you so much, you’re with the music?”
“I am, I have to go now okay? Don’t let Zayn keep you up too late and tell Perrie I’ll text her in a second.” He knows that Perrie probably knows most of what Noah can’t have, mainly nuts, but it would still make him feel better if she had a definitive list.
Noah sighs softly. “I love you Daddy, call to tuck me in.”
“I will baby, I love you too.” With that, he hangs up.
When he turns around he finds that Liam and Niall have disappeared across the room but Harry is still standing there, and he’s beaming. “Do you have a baby?” He asks, his voice full with excitement.
“Well, he’s four now so he technically isn’t a baby anymore, but yeah,” Louis says, grinning like he always does when someone asks about Noah. “That was my son, Noah, he’s staying with his aunt and uncle for the night.”
Harry’s grin grows even wider. “I love babies. Do you have a picture?”
Louis pulls his phone out right away. “Are you kidding me? I never stop taking pictures of that poor child.” He scrolls through all his pictures and hits one he took earlier today when Noah picked Louis a flower from their neighbor’s garden. Not that he encourages that sort of behavior, but it was adorable.
When Harry sees it, he giggles, honest to god giggles. “He’s adorable! And he has your eyes,” he points out, grinning when Louis flicks to another picture of Noah. “You and his mum are very lucky.”
Louis’ smile falters like it always does when someone unknowingly reminds him of Noah’s father. “It’s actually just me at the moment,” he says awkwardly. “My ex-husband and I had him through a surrogate.”
Harry looks up, eyes wide. “You’re really brave,” he says in awe.
“Not really, I just love him. I’d do anything for him.” Louis laughs.
At that, Harry shakes his head. “My sister, her boyfriend’s gone so she’s raising my niece alone,” he whispers, like it’s a secret. “She’s my hero. Braver than I’ll ever be.”
“Well, I highly doubt that,” Louis smirks.
Someone calls Harry’s name and he whips his head around to nod back at whoever it was. “I have to go, enjoy the show Louis.” He grins at Louis, a giant grin, and then runs off to join Liam and Niall who are being shuffled out the door.
An assistant who looks like she has better things to do leads Louis back out to where family members, and apparently girlfriends, sit during the concert. He makes sure to keep away from them because Louis is a sucker for families and he would absolutely be biased if one of these girls even looked at him sweetly.
When the boys come out on stage, the fans scream even louder. Louis watches Harry grab onto the mic and smile into it. He’s replaced his hat with a bun tied at the back of his head, and Louis really shouldn’t find that attractive. What kind of man wears a bun, anyway? A man in a boyband, that’s who.
Niall starts by strumming his guitar quickly and Liam joins in pounding on the drums, and then all three of them are singing. Right away, Louis notices that Harry carries most of the songs, but he notes that it probably wouldn’t sound right without Liam or Niall harmonizing. The songs are a lot different from what Harry knows of their boyband days; less bubblegum pop and crooning about girls, a lot more rock and roll. The second Harry slips a him in a song about halfway through, the crowd goes wild.
He looks like pure sex on a pair of unfairly long legs, bun long since shaken out so his curls fall past his shoulders, shirt completely unbuttoned, skin shining with sweat. When the camera focuses on him and his face is blown up on those giant screens, all Louis can see are his lips. It’s obscene, he’s obscene, and Louis is finding it very hard not to love it.
Harry jumps around on the stage a lot when he isn’t singing, punching the air to the beat of the music like a loon, and shimmying in front of Niall until they dissolve into laughter. He even steals Liam’s snapback at one point, flipping it backwards before heading back to the mic stand to finish the song. Between songs the three of them make conversation, talking about the fans and the venue, telling stories from writing sessions, and answering questions from twitter which Louis finds a bit juvenile, but the fans eat it up.
Three hours and a shouting goodnight phone call to Noah later, it’s all over. Louis finishes his notes with the fact that the fans scream for more until a good ten minutes after the boys leave the stage, and heads back to the green room for the interview.
As soon as he’s through the door, Harry’s greeting him. He’s obviously showered and his curls are dripping down onto the stretched out collar of his jumper. Louis smiles back at him, because he really can’t not with Harry grinning at him like that.
“Did you like it?” Harry asks breathlessly.
Louis shrugs and walks over to where Liam and Niall are already settling into one of the two couches. “I don’t know, I guess you’ll have to read the review, won’t you?”
The words don’t seem to phase Harry in the least, he just keeps grinning.
Louis takes a seat in the chair they’ve set in front of the couch for him. A hand appears to give him a list, and when he squints down at it he scoffs.
“These are all the good questions,” he whines to the publicist.
She purses her lips and sits down beside him. It’s quite obvious she doesn’t care.
Louis sighs and sets his phone up to record, putting it down on the table between them. The very first rule on the list is not to ask Harry about any boyfriends, so naturally the first thing Louis says is, “Hello One Direction. So, I saw some lovely ladies watching the show out there. In the interest of journalistic integrity, who here is single?”
The publicist makes a noise of protest, but all three boys burst into laughter as well as most of the other people in the room. Louis shoots them a dazzling smile and waits.
“My fiancee was here tonight, and Harry’s sister too,” Liam explains, still smiling. “That’s probably who it was.”
Louis nods. “So, no one else?”
“Harry and I are single,” Niall laughs. “Someone’s gotta have fun. Liam acts like he’s sixty.”
Liam frowns at him. “We’re twenty-five, Niall, almost twenty-six, and you still act like a teenager.”
Niall simply crosses his arms and leans back on the couch. “Cunt,” he mutters, and Louis bursts into laughter that he quickly hides behind his hand.
“Sorry, shit,” he mutters, ignoring the way Harry is staring at him. “Anyway, seriously now, twenty-six is pretty young. Do you still consider yourself a boyband?”
“We’re a man band.” Niall says proudly.
Harry rolls his eyes and elbows Niall in the side. “Please don’t write that down. We are not a man band, or a boyband. We’re just a band.”
“We’re a man band.” Niall mutters petulantly.
Liam interrupts the two with a winning smile. “I think that in a way, people will always see us as a boyband. It’s not a bad label I don’t think, it just isn’t who we are anymore.”
Louis smiles at him and nods before he moves on with the questions. He finds out that Liam has been wanting to learn how to play the drums since X Factor and that their old drummer actually taught him. They tell him Harry and Liam tend to write most of the lyrics, but Niall writes some as well. Harry, apparently, writes the majority of the love songs and he blushes when they other two tell Louis that.
Louis tries very, very hard not to find that adorable.
They can’t say anything about the trial or the court proceedings of course, but it’s still obvious how much it affected them. Harry doesn’t look up once from his hands the entire time they talk about the two year break, and only speaks briefly before returning to chewing at his lip until it swells up. Niall and Liam don’t say anything, but Louis can see concern in their eyes.
After Louis asks all the normal questions, like what their favorite song from the album was, who influenced them, what it was like coming back to tour after so long, they’re set.
“Well lads, that would seem to be it,” Louis announces, hitting the button on his phone to save the recording. “Thanks for your time, the show was great.”
Harry jumps up off the couch immediately, eyes wide. “Are you leaving.
Louis pauses from where he’s gathering all his things to stare at him. “Are you staying?” He asks with raised eyebrows.
The question makes Harry go red, but he presses on. “I just mean-well, me and the boys are gonna go out and you…you could come too? I mean, only if you wanted.”
Liam drops his head into his hands and his shoulders start to shake. Niall on the other hand just stands up and shakes his head. “Real smooth, Styles. Fucks sake.” He chuckles. With that, he walks off to the minibar and chugs almost half a beer at once. A girl joins him, one of the girls Louis sat with actually, and she’s laughing as well. Niall whispers something to her, and she just about bursts into tears.
Louis looks back to where Harry’s standing with his hands clasped behind his back, obviously waiting for an answer. Louis sighs and scrubs a hand through his hair. “That’s probably like, extremely not allowed. As much as I joke, journalistic integrity does still exist. Or, at least it’s a nice idea.”
Harry deflates and nods slowly. “Alright um…well, okay. It was really nice meeting you.”
Liam stops laughing long enough to lift his head and look up at the two of them. “Mate, you really should come with. It’s been awhile since we’ve met anyone even remotely cool.”
“I highly doubt that,” Louis laughs, thinking how Jesy is going to lose it when she hears Liam Payne called him cool. “According to my sources, also known as my teenage sisters, you’re never not hanging around extraordinary people.”
Liam rolls his eyes at that. “Yeah, but you’re normal. Our Hazza likes normal, don’t ya?” He bounces up, slaps Harry on the back, and leaves them to go kiss his fiancee hello.
Harry rubs at his back where Liam slapped him with a little frown on his lips. “I hate them both,” he grumbles. “Really though, you don’t have to come. I know you probably have plans.”
The thing is though that no, Louis actually has no plans. After this his plans were to drive home, fall into bed, and not get up until Zayn and Perrie brought Noah over. He hasn’t had plans in four years almost, unless you count his and Zayn’s biweekly nights at the pub as plans, which Louis doesn’t because they almost always end up having one drink and sulking back to Zayn’s flat for takeaway and a movie marathon.
But it probably wouldn’t hurt to go out, he thinks, and it’s not like spending a few hours drinking with One Direction is going to change his opinion of them that much.
“You know what, I’ll go,” Louis says. “I could go for some shitty drinks and terrible music right now.”
Harry’s face lights up like Louis has just give him the greatest gift. “That’d be great, yeah,” he breathes. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, besides my son’s aunt has been begging to take him to the zoo for weeks now. If I tried to take him home any earlier, she might kill me.”
“Great,” Harry grins. “Brilliant.”
Laughing, Louis nods back. “Brilliant.”
Louis pulls his phone out to text Zayn that he’s going out so he might not answer right away if they call. Zayn texts him back with, lighten up and have fun tommo ;)
When Louis looks back up, Harry’s halfway across the room hugging the girl who was laughing with Niall earlier. It’s probably his sister, Louis assumes, because the other girl is with Liam and this one looks like Harry a bit.
She pulls away from the hug to tangle her fingers through his hair and tug. Harry laughs and slaps her away. He then glances back at Louis before whispering something to his sister. She raises her eyebrows and looks back at Louis as well. Feeling awkward, Louis raises a hand in hello, and he grins. Harry’s sister says something back to him, kisses him on the cheek, and leaves the room with Liam’s fiancee following. Louis can hear them laughing when they walk out the door, and he’s sufficiently confused.
“Alright, boys if we’re leaving we need to go now,” a man in black announces to the room at large. “Liam and Niall in one car, Harry and his…friend, in another.” When he’s finished speaking, he eyes Louis like he’s planning on murdering somebody, and then walks away.
Harry smiles at Louis and motions for him to follow.
“I have my own car,” Louis whispers to him.
The boy’s eyes light up, and even though he’s twenty-five he does look like a boy, Louis thinks. “Let’s go,” Harry says.
Louis grabs his hand and tugs him out the way he came in. Harry’s giggling the whole time like a child doing something they know they’re not supposed to. Louis rolls his eyes and leads Harry through the maze of hallways until they reach the door connecting them to the front of the venue. There, he corners the giggling boy and looks him right in the eye.
“Alright,” he says, all seriousness. “This is going to take a lot of finesse and subtlety. Can you handle it?”
“Scouts honer.” Harry says, but he’s still giggling.
Louis sighs and shakes his head. “You’re just lucky most of them are gone by now.”
Harry pouts at the jab, but Louis just takes his hand again and shoves the door open. The two of them sprint out, weaving in and out of the groups of fans left over from the show until they’re in the parking lot.
“Onward!” Louis shouts, and he lets go of Harry’s hand just to jump onto his back. Harry squeaks in surprise but doesn’t falter for a second, lifting Louis all the way up and stumbling in the direction that Louis’ pointing.
“How is this subtle?” Harry laughs.
“Don’t question the method, Harold,” Louis scolds, but he does still smile because his plan worked. He knew he could make Harry happy again, and it’s more than a little strange to him that he even cares. Shaking away those thoughts, he points to his car in the corner of the lot. “There it is, our chariot awaits!”
Harry walks the rest of the way to Louis’ car and crouches down in front of it so Louis can scramble down and get out his keys.
“Please ignore any suspicious stains and throw any and all stuffed dinosaurs in the back.”
“Keep my hands inside the ride at all times?” Harry jokes.
Louis rolls his eyes and leaves Harry so he can slide in behind the wheel. For some reason when Louis gets in he finds Harry grinning at a purple T-Rex in his hands.
“That’s Susan.” Louis tells Harry while he starts the car.
Harry barks out a laugh and puts Susan in the backseat very carefully. “Who named her Susan?”
“My darling son, of course,” Louis says, affronted. “She’s Hank’s sister.”
That only makes Harry laugh harder. “And who’s Hank?”
“His favorite dinosaur, try to keep up Harold,” Louis teases. “Now, where are we going? I’m sure everyone’s noticed you’re gone by now, so I’d better return you quickly.”
Harry’s smile is gone from his face almost instantly, turning into a disgruntled frown that makes him look a bit like a disgruntled child. “I’m no one’s property.” He says sternly.
Louis just raises his eyebrows at the outburst. “I never said you were, popstar, calm down.”
Harry crosses his arms over his chest and stares out the window, bitting his lip. Finally he pushes a hand through his hair and shakes his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
They ride in silence for awhile, Louis trying to focus on the traffic, and Harry staring out the window with a sad sort of look on his face. It’s a bit awkward, and Louis never did well with awkward silences.
“Wanna talk about?” he asks, startling Harry out of his reverie. “I find it’s a lot easier to vent to strangers, that’s why god made the internet.”
That gets Harry to at least smile again, but he still seems cautious. “You’re the press,” he says like he’s trying to remind himself of that fact. “You’re the exact person I’m not supposed to be talking to about shit like this.”
Suddenly, all Louis can think of is the massive list their publicist gave him earlier. He thinks of every little thing on there, every question that could mostly be directed to Harry, every question about the comments he made while the band was on break. He wonders if Harry’s allowed to talk to anyone about shit like this, as he so eloquently put it.
“Could you say I’m the press again?” Louis asks him lightheartedly. “I wanna record it and show my boss, she’ll shit herself.”
Harry rolls his eyes, but Louis can see a small smile playing at his lips. “So, you’re telling me you have no intentions of writing about how you drove Harry Styles to a club in your car after he gave you a piggyback ride out of the arena, and also had a heart to heart about his management along the way?”
“No, I don’t care about gossip and shit, I care about the music so that’s what I write about. I think you have a right to at least some privacy,” Louis says very plainly. “And also if anyone I know found out I drove Harry Styles around in this thing, they’d never stop making fun of me for it.”
Harry smiles a real smile this time, wide and teasing. “Why?” he laughs. “It’s not like I’m going to tell anyone about you millions of toy dinosaurs.”
He’s very obviously changing the subject, but Louis plays along.
“They aren’t mine, I keep mine in the bedside table.” Louis turns just to give him a ridiculously exaggerated wink. Harry laughs so hard his face looks like it might rip in half, and Louis knows for a fact that he isn’t that funny but it still makes him smile.
The club, as it turns out, is on the complete other side of the city so they’re in for a bit of a drive. Louis turns the stereo on and groans when Wheels On The Bus starts blaring through the speakers. There’s nothing more annoying than this CD, Louis’ mum had bought it for him a few years ago when Noah used to scream each time they got in a car. Turns out she was a life saver because the only thing that stopped the screaming was to play the thing on repeat. The only problem, of course, is that Noah is now so attached to it that Louis feels bad saying no when his son asks to listen to it.
“You know, I’d thought your music taste would be a little different, considering your job.” Harry remarks, smiling at Louis who’s fumbling with his phone to get it connected and stop the chorus of demonic children singing about the people on the bus going up and down.
Finally, Louis’ phone syncs up and Sam Smith starts crooning through the car. Louis turns it down a bit and starts tapping on the steering wheel to the beat.
“I love him,” Harry says, “He’s really sweet in person too, have you ever met him?”
Louis nods. “For about a minute last year when he released his new album. You’re probably besties though, aren’t you?”
Harry rolls his eyes but still smiles. “Bitter, aren’t we?”
Louis cranks the song up louder and starts singing along, refusing to let himself smile.
When they pull up to the club it’s obvious Niall and Liam have already arrived if the crowd of fans and paparazzi outside are anything to go by. The bright smile Harry’s been sporting for almost the entire ride quickly turns into a sad frown right before Louis’ eyes. He slows the car a bit, just looking at the insanity out there, and shakes his head.
“How do they even know you’re going to be here?” He asks in awe.
Harry shrugs, but it’s obvious he knows. “They have whole websites dedicated to stalking our every move,” he says, like that’s at all normal. “And sometimes our management will leak where we’re gonna be so the fans will get there first.”
Louis stares at him now, mouth slightly open. “What the fuck?”
“It was a lot worse when we were younger and I was um, when I wasn’t out. But they still want us to seem, I dunno, available I guess.” Harry sounds like he’s reciting something he’s been told a million times and Louis doesn’t doubt he has been told that since he was sixteen.
The whole thing makes Louis sick to his stomach and he wants absolutely no part in it, so he pulls away from the curb and starts driving again. Harry’s eyebrows furrow as they pass the club and they don’t turn back. “Where are we going?” He asks.
“Somewhere far away from that circus, if that’s okay with you?” Louis looks over and Harry seems apprehensive, but nods anyway.
“Please,” he says and his voice sounds small but still very serious.
Louis simply nods and starts driving towards the outskirts of the city where his favorite pub is. He worked there during uni, and it’s still where he and Zayn meet for their night out because they spent almost every night there when they were in school. It’s still their place though, even after all these years. Louis knows that nobody is going to bother Harry there and he’d like to just talk to the boy, he seems interesting.
After finding a place to park, Louis leads Harry into the pub. It’s not very busy yet, but it’s getting there so Louis snags a table and makes Harry sit down.
“I promise I’m not abandoning you,” Louis jokes when Harry pouts up at him. “I’m just gonna get a couple pints, I’ll be right back.”
When he approaches the bar Stan is waiting for him, smiling mischievously. Louis groans. “Just give me the beer, I’m not in the mood,” he says.
Stan laughs. “I’ve known you since we were kids, Lou, it’s not like I wouldn’t notice you’re out with someone new. What’s his name, then? And what’s with that hair-”
“Stop it, christ,” Louis moans, shaking his head. “His name is Harry. Can I have the pints now, please?”
“Harry, huh?” Stan mutters, pulling out two empty glasses and filling them up. “Tell that Harry over there’ll be no getting off in my pub. I’m not walking in on you fucking someone in the bathrooms again.”
Louis snatches the drinks away and gives Stan a glare of epic proportions. “I hate you,” he announces, before turning on his heel and stalking away.
“You love me, Louis, I know you do!” Stan shouts after him.
Harry’s smiling when Louis gets to the table. “Friend of yours?” He asks, laughing when Louis frowns at him.
“That’s Stan, he was my best mate growing up. This was his dads pub,” Louis explains, glancing over to where Stan is laughing at a joke a drunken woman is telling him. “He took over in our last year of uni, worst day of my life. Fucking nuisance.”
Harry grins and takes a sip of his beer. Something starts ringing, and Harry reaches into his pocket to retrieve his phone. “It’s Liam,” he sighs, unlocking it and reading the message. “They’re being eaten alive out there. I feel terrible.”
Louis shrugs. “Every man for himself, Harold. Let me see?”
Despite the fact that they’ve known each other a whopping six hours at this point, Harry stills hands Louis his unlocked phone. It’s a bit worrying, Louis thinks, that he’s so trusting, and it worries Louis that he’s worrying about that when it’s really none of his business what Harry does.
“Can I add my number in here?” He asks, and Harry of course nods.
Instead of snooping around to see what sort of celebrities Harry has in his contacts, Louis simply makes a new one and puts in his information. He even does the boy a favor by taking a picture of himself crossing his eyes.
“Just in cast there are any other Louis’s in there,” he explains.
Harry smiles down at it when he gets his phone back. “I wouldn’t be able to forget you that quickly,” he promises. “Here, let me see yours.”
Louis unlocks his phone and watches as Harry puts his number in. He bursts into laughter when Harry takes his own picture screwing his face up and sticking his tongue out. “Just in case there are any other Harry’s,” he teases.
They really shouldn’t be this fond of each other after only a few hours, but it seems impossible to stop it from happening. It only gets worse when Harry starts telling terrible jokes after only a few drinks. He gets very upset too when Louis doesn’t get them or even laugh.
“It’s because he thought his neck was his face, Louis,” Harry whines after possibly the worst joke of the night. “It makes sense!”
Louis nods a few times, trying to school his smile into a straight face. “Of course, perfect sense Harold.”
“Why do you keep calling me that?” Harry whines again. “Everyone knows it’s just Harry.”
This time, Louis does let himself smile. “I like Harold better anyway.”
To his surprise, Harry smiles back. “I like Harold better too, so long as you’re the one saying it.”
With that, he kicks his foot out under the table and Louis catches it when his own. He wraps his ankle around Harry’s and traps him there. They break out into giggles and Louis starts swinging his other leg around.
“You know, you’re quite fit Harold,” Louis says out of nowhere.
Harry blushes red and ducks his head down, letting his hair hide his face in a mess of loose brown curls. “I think you’re very pretty, Louis,” he whispers when he picks his head back up.
They stare straight at each other for a moment, eyes meeting and feet still stuck together under the table, and then Louis grins and leans over enough to fit their lips together. Harry gasps out a startled noise, but then quickly starts to kiss back, sliding his chair closer to Louis’ so they don’t have to stretch too far. Louis pulls away to take a breath before surging forward once more to nibble at Harry’s plump lower lip and tangle his hands into those curls.
Harry moans softly and pulls Louis closer. “Want you,” he breathes, and then he’s pulling away to press open mouth kisses against the column of Louis’ throat. He bites down softly, Louis gasps, and then Stan is standing right fucking there.
“Not in my pub, Louis,” he growls sternly. “I called you a cab, I don’t care where you go but you cannot fuck each other in here.”
Harry stops sucking and biting at Louis’ neck long enough to look up at Stan. Louis frowns. “You ruin everything,” he hisses at his, now former, friend.
Stan rolls his eyes, obviously quite used to Louis after all these years. “Just go, the car will be here soon. I’ll see you in the morning, Louis.” He gives his friend a knowing smile and heads back to help tend to the bar.
“Let’s go back to my hotel,” Harry suggests, kissing the bruise that’s probably already blooming on Louis’ neck. “I want to see you, all of you.”
Louis stands up so fast he almost topples over on his shaky legs. Harry giggles, sounding far too innocent for what he’s just said, and lets Louis lead them outside with their fingers intertwined. The cab is waiting for them outside and Louis practically throws Harry inside.
While Harry rattles off the address to the hotel where he’s staying, Louis climbs in his lap and starts to return the favor.
By the time they reach the back entrance of the hotel, Harry’s jumper is rucked up to his armpits and his neck his mottled with love bites. Louis’s in the process of trying to figure out which of his four nipples-he has four, which really fucked Louis up for a minute-is the most sensitive, when the driver clears his throat.
Harry apparently realizes they aren’t alone finally and quickly pulls his jumper down. He reaches into his back pocket and tugs out his wallet, pulling a few notes out and paying the man. Louis reaches up to nip Harry’s earlobe and he laughs.
“C’mon, let’s go.” Louis whines.
Harry turns to him, smiling, and fuck he is gorgeous. Why hadn’t Louis noticed how gorgeous he was before? He really needs to tell Harry immediately how pretty he looks like this, lips red and wet and swollen from kissing, eyes sort of spaced out but still sparkling, curls disheveled from where Louis’ been tugging and running his hands through them, hands still clutching at Louis’ thighs, so much bigger than Louis’ own on top of them.
Louis leans forward again as Harry leaves the man a tip for his trouble. “I’m going to wreck you.” He growls in the boy’s ear, and Harry completely stills.
“Is that a promise?” Harry whispers back, his voice cracking halfway through.
Louis smiles deviously and tugs him out of the car.
Harry stumbles around on their way up to his room, looking for all the world like a baby deer who has just found their legs. Louis keeps laughing the whole way up, and Harry keeps frowning at him before dissolving into giggles every time he trips.
Finally, finally, the two of them make it to a door on the tenth floor where Harry stops. He reaches back into his pocket for his key card, and Louis takes advantage of the moment to slap him right there.
“You’ve such a tiny bum,” Louis giggles. “So cute.”
"It isn't tiny." Harry whines, fumbling with the card a few times until Louis finally snatches it away and opens the door himself. Normally he'd probably stop and take in the fact that Harry’s hotel room is the size of his entire fucking flat, but instead he just hooks his fingers into Harry’s belt and tugs him forward.
"It's small darling," Louis giggles, trying to tug his shoes off as he walks backwards. "But it looks cute in these jeans, bet it looks cuter out of them."
Harry bites his lip and then opens his mouth to say something, but suddenly Louis is falling and the world is turning on its side. Harry lands on top of him with an oomph and Louis grins when he realizes they've reached the bed.
"That was my plan." he says, and Harry bursts into giggles.
He’s so stupid and Louis is sort of infatuated.
They move to the middle of the bed and Harry ducks his head into Louis’ neck and starts rutting against his thigh. Louis grunts and reaches down to unbuckle Harry’s belt and start pushing his jeans down.
“Christ, what are these painted on?” Louis slurs out.
Harry laughs again and looks up from where he’s been sucking a sizable bruise onto the skin of Louis’ neck. “They make my bum look cute.” He quips.
Louis pushes him away with a roll of his eyes and pushes Harry’s jumper until the other man helps him pull it off. He promptly latches onto one of Harry’s nipples and grins deviously when he keens and pushes at Louis’ head.
“Fuck,” Harry breathes out, tugging at Louis’ hair. “Fuck, stop Louis, wait.”
Instantly, Louis pulls his head up. “What is it?” He whispers, reaching up to brush Harry’s curls back.
“No pictures,” Harry obviously tries to sound firm, but his voice is shaking. “Promise?”
Louis’ heart breaks. He shakes his head and moves up to pull Harry in for a kiss, trying to be sweeter about it this time. “This is between me and you,” he whispers. “No one else gets to see you tonight but me, I promise.”
Harry searches Louis’ eyes and Louis knows that years from now he’ll still be able to pinpoint the exact moment he fell too hard. It’s right then, right when Harry looks at him with apprehension in his eyes that fades away to nothing but a smile and whispers, “I trust you.”
They move together slowly, Louis marking and kissing Harry’s chest while he shoves a hand down his sinfully tight jeans. Harry lets out a choked off moan and throws his head back, incidentally giving Louis unlimited access to his neck.
Louis jerks him off quickly, using precome as lube because he’s desperate just to get Harry off and swallow down his moans. Harry comes with a loud cry, eyes fluttering shut and hands tugging at Louis’ hair, and then flops down against the bed. Smirking, Louis brings his hand up to his mouth and sucks his fingers.
“Fuck, Lou,” Harry mutters, his chest heaving. “Gonna kill me.”
Barking out a laugh, Louis wipes his hand off on Harry’s pants and pulls his jumper and skinny jeans off. “Get me off first, and then I’ll write you a press release about how you’ve been killed by my dick.”
Groaning, Harry turns and presses his face against Louis’ neck. “You’re a dick,” he mutters.
Louis smiles and tangles his hand in Harry’s hair. “Go to sleep,” he yawns, because even he’s sleepy at this point. “You owe me when we wake up though.”
The boy nods, and he really is a man probably, but Louis still only sees a boy. The feeling is only amplified when Harry reaches over and swipes his finger over the little outlined dinosaur on Louis’ forearm. “Cute,” He mumbles.
“Night, Harry Styles.”
“G’night, Louis Tomlinson.”
The light streaming in from the windows is what wakes Louis up, which confuses the hell out of him. There shouldn’t be any light streaming in, not with the giant tree behind his house that puts his whole bedroom in the shade. It’s about then that Louis notices how warm he is, the body underneath his arm, and legs tangled with his own.
He blinks his eyes open, blinks again, and then once more when he sees the curls covering his vision because holy shit. Holy shit, he actually slept with Harry Styles last night.
His sisters are going to kill him.
Trying not to panic too badly, because who’s he trying to kid, he’s absolutely panicking, Louis carefully pulls his arm away from where it’s wrapped around Harry’s waist. Harry snuffles and shoves his face into his pillow but, to Louis’ relief, doesn’t wake up. Still, Louis waits just to be sure Harry is really asleep before slipping out of bed.
While he looks around for where he’s thrown practically everything he owns, Louis really tries not to focus on how terrible he feels. He can’t even look at Harry, who seems even more sweet and angelic in sleep than he did yesterday with that little smile on his face and the sun tinting his tattooed skin golden. All Louis can think of is how much this is probably going to hurt him, Louis just disappearing, and how much he himself really doesn’t want to go.
But he has to. He absolutely has to leave, this cannot happen.
After locating his jumper, Louis tugs it over his head, grabs his shoes and phone, and quietly sneaks out of the room.
There’s people in the hall and they stop talking to one another to stare at Louis. Because he’s an idiot he waves to them awkwardly, and then tugs his vans onto his feet and flees.
Before he goes outside, Louis ducks his head and pulls his phone out to look busy. There are fans everywhere, mostly girls who are chatting with one another about something Liam or Niall or Harry did, all tweeting and texting and blasting the new album. No one even glances at him as he walks out and calls a car to take him back to Stan’s.
Sure enough, when he gets there his car is still parked outside. There’s a slip of paper stuck under his windshield wiper though. Louis snatches it up, afraid it’s a ticket or something, only to roll his eyes when he sees Stan’s scratchy handwriting there.
I hope you got some. And lived while you were young.
Louis crumples the paper up and throws it onto the passenger seat when he gets in the car. He starts it, and then lays his head down on the wheel so he can breath through his headache and the rising panic. So, he sort of slept with Harry Styles, if you count a messy drunken hand job as sleeping with someone. Or, even if you just count the actual act of sleeping as sleeping with someone, because he woke up spooning Harry Styles as well.
What was he thinking?
It isn’t until he’s almost home, window cracked and third cigarette of the morning between his lips, that his phone beeps. He glances down at the passenger seat where it’s sitting and almost veers off the road when he sees the name there.
Harry Styles.
It beeps once more and Louis pulls over just to read the messages.
Harry Styles: Why do bananas wear suntan lotion?
Harry Styles: Because they peel :D
Louis groans and takes another drag. What the fuck does that even mean, anyway? Harry should be pissed off, he should be ignoring him like most people do after a one night stand, not sending him banana jokes like a child. But, Louis still can’t find it in himself to be pissed off.
that joke wasn't very appeeling, He writes back.
Harry responds just seconds later with five banana emojis and a smiley face. Louis lights up another cigarette and continues the drive home.
Harry Styles: I wanted to say thank you by the way.
please don't tell me you're thanking me for sex
Harry Styles: No! I just mean thanks for not taking pictures or telling people what happened. It really means a lot to me.
don't thank me for being a decent human being
Harry Styles: Thank you for respecting me then xx
thanks for not getting me off
Harry Styles: :(
Harry Styles: next time?
it's a date harold