Dear Others

History

Louis and Eleanor break up.

Louis and Eleanor break up a week after Harry leaves London back to LA, and here he's, sitting on his king-sized bed, reading the news over and over and over again.

He's about to lose his goddamn mind soon.

She found out. There's no doubt..she found out about them and left him. Harry can't believe how evil he was..he ruined Louis's long term relationship and left him. He had no intention of staying with him, but he couldn't help himself. He made it clear they weren't going to have anything more than a short affair, but he knew deep down that every time Louis touched him his skin was burning and his heart was shattering.

Now Louis is totally alone..

He shouldn't be. Harry thinks sadly. Louis should never be alone..he knows he broke his heart by leaving like this, but he broke his own heart too. His therapist told him every time they talked about Louis to start over. "Every time you think of giving up to his memory, you can start over"

Harry knows now he can't start over again. He's powerless. All the songs he wrote, all the pain he lived late, late at night, all the photos he secretly looks up when he's too desperate..he never stopped loving Louis if he's being honest with himself. After all this time, sitting here alone, Harry knows he can't go on like this, he needs Louis so much.

Later that day, when he's making dinner for himself, he receives a message. He doesn't open it immediately, he waits till he finishes making his pasta, eats and cleans up, then goes to his room. The message is from an anonymous number, Harry opens it.

"Hello Harry, it's been a long time! This is me..Liam. Hope you're doing alright, congrats on your album! I actually wonder if we could meet up sometime soon, it's important. Love you"

Harry blinks.

Liam has never, ever texted or called ever since the band broke up. He has even changed his number without telling Harry, what does make him do that now?

Louis

It has to be. Harry runs his hand through his hair and sighs, what did he do to himself. Louis is so mad at him he won't answer his calls, he apparently went as far as asking Liam to talk to him just to avoid talking to Harry directly. He closes his eyes and feels his heart ache, then he opens them and writes a quick reply.

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A week passes before Harry and Liam can finally work something out and finally meet.

Liam has changed a lot, he looks older and..cooler. He looks tired too, but he's smiling brightly

"Harold!" He greets Harry with a big hug, Harry lingers there a bit feeling the familiar scent around him

"Hey, Liam! Missed you" he says feeling so emotional he could cry

"Yeah me too me too..take a seat"

It's a fancy bar that Liam picked, they agreed on keeping it a secret because they don't want to give their fans false hope.

"How's life been treating you lately?" Liam asks folding his arms on the table

"Just fine" Harry answers and sips a bit from Liam's drink

They chat a bit, discuss work and life and it seems natural, too ex-friends catching up. Liam has changed but mostly he's still lovely and pure and easy to talk to. The conversation flows between them, and Harry knows then that this bond he has with the boys from the band will never go away. They met each other when they were so young, they traveled the world together and did the craziest things together. It was a wild and unusual life for their age, which made it impossible not to feel this family-kind-of-vibe with people he shared these past years with. It's a history in Harry's life and career and he's so proud of it.

Still..the question is crawling under Harry's skin though, he's dying to get to the point he's here for

"So.." Liam starts, Harry feels his heart throbbing "Louis is.."

He stops talking then. Harry waits patiently but he never resumes and it starts killing him

"What about Louis?" Harry asks calmly

"Have you guys been in touch recently?" Liam asks carefully. Harry's heart is two seconds away from exploding

"No" he lies and Liam doesn't buy it. They stare at each other tensely for a good three minutes till Harry sighs and says "we met up a few times when I was in London"

Liam's expression quickly turns to "aha! I knew it". Harry tries so hard not to roll his eyes

"He broke up with Eleanor," Liam says. After a few minutes, Harry realizes he's waiting for him to respond

"Ahh..yeah I heard about that" Harry says uncomfortably and sips his drink

"So?" Liam asks raising his eyebrow

Harry sighs tiredly and says "don't play games with me Payne, just say it. What did he say to you"

Liam stares at him for a bit, then sighs and says "he said he's in love with you" Harry's heart skips a beat. Liam waits a bit then continues "he said you might never want to get back with him but he can't stay with Eleanor either. He also said he can't stay with his own self anymore..he made me a bit worried if I'm being quite honest"

There's a small pause, but Harry knows this isn't the reason why they're here right now, there's more..so he gulps and asks in a low voice "yeah?"

Liam bites his bottom lip unsure, then says "he's going to come out to the world"

Harry isn't sure he heard this right, but he's sure the world around him stopped moving. The air in his lung is frozen right there...it takes him so long to comprehend that. Louis is going to come out?? What??

"Harry!!" Harry gets back to real life when he feels Liam shaking his arm harshly

Harry blinks, unable to understand anything anymore

"He's going to come out. He just wants you to know because that will basically confirm..Larry Stylinson"

"He can't," Harry says "he can't..the contract..they will ban him from singing!! He won't be able to put out any new music!"

"He knows," Liam says seriously "that's why I'm here, he won't listen to me..I need you to talk to him, Harry"

And Harry will do. There's no way on earth he's letting Louis do that, sacrifice his career because of a contract Harry signed himself. This won't be happening no matter what Louis does or say, no matter how much he hates him now. Nope, no sir, over his dead body

"Thanks, Liam," Harry says hurriedly then stands up "I'm so sorry I have to leave now"

"I want you to!" Liam says standing up too "this is on me," he says referring to the meal they had "go now, please. Stop this kid from ruining his life"

And Harry does.