Bells for Harry [Larry Stylinson]

Chapter 14 Not Even In Another Life

Harry knew he wasn't supposed to be there. There would be hell to pay if anyone found out. He knew that the excitement of seeing Louis again was clouding his mind, making him feel like he was in an alternate universe that wasn't real, where nothing could hurt him. But even though there was a fuzzy corner of his mind that screamed at him to leave, that he could have real problems at work for skipping if it came to that, and he badly needed to catch up on sleep, he didn't move from Louis's bed. He stared at the textbook he was still holding without processing a single thing it said. Because really, what more could be taken away from him? So what if he just... stayed?

He found an old photograph between the pages of the book, and took it out. It was Louis with him, Shana, Dani, Liam and Niall, all of them lying on Harry's lawn, photographed by his dad.

"I remember this day," he said quietly.

The words felt bitter in his mouth. He looked so happy in there, lying in the sun next to Louis.

"Do you ever talk to any of them?" Louis asked him softly. "I know you've been keeping up with Niall. What about Dani and Shana?"

"Yeah, sometimes," Harry said, as non-committal as he could, trying keep his expression the same. "What about Jordan, do you still talk to him?" he asked, trying to change the subject and immediately regretting the question.

He'd seen Louis's ex around his hometown a few times, they'd glanced at each other in passing but neither of them had said hi. Jordan didn't look like he'd ever forgive him.

"Not really," Louis replied, to Harry's relief.

He'd figured as much, they didn't even follow each other on social media.

"I saw a bunch of photos of you with horses on your account," Louis said, sitting down next to him. "You used to love them as a kid, are you getting back into that?"

"My socials are completely fake," Harry admitted, smiling wryly. "I felt like I should have something on there, especially since employers check you out and such. Zayn was trying to impress some guy with that stupid horse, but he ended up going to make out with him in the bushes, leaving me with the horses. I got some Asian tourists to take those pictures."

Louis chuckled. "That's hilarious. Fair enough, I wonder if I should just delete mine daily, annoys the shit out of me."

"Nothing much has changed in that aspect," Harry said quietly, smiling fondly. The thought of Louis still being a disgruntled social media user warming him a little bit. "So do you bring lots of guys back here?" Harry asked, putting Louis's book back on the shelf.

"Not that many these days," Louis said, not flustered by the question in the least. "Harry, I don't know what exactly made you feel like you couldn't talk to me, but there's a lot I want to say to you."

"Okay," Harry said, hoping Louis had no idea how dizzy he felt and how hard his heart was beating. "But if you don't mind I'm going to lay down a bit while you talk, I just came off a fourteen hour shift and Zayn and I were just supposed to go shopping, so I don't feel very good."

He didn't need to look at Louis to know that he looked confused by Harry's behavior. But nothing about what Harry was living was normal, he couldn't help it. He fluffed one of the pillows on the bed and lay down across it facing Louis, eyes half open to look at him.

"Please don't fall asleep," Louis simply replied, and then he hesitated briefly before he running his fingers lightly over Harry's forehead to push away a few strands of hair that were covering his eye.

"Not a chance," Harry said truthfully. "Shoot."

"About that night," Louis started, but he stopped when Harry cringed.