the spaces between us ➳ larry stylinson

chapter one

published on march 28, 2021

heeey! welcome to larrykatel and i's first fan fiction!! excuse the first few chapters of the book... we become much better writers as it goes on. the chapters also get progressively longer as they go on. as always, feedback & comments are always welcome and encouraged :) !!

a little heads up: this fan fic covers topics like divorce and harry's strained relationship with his father.

by the way, i (lily) wrote the odd chapters (1, 3, 5 and so on), and katelyn (larrykatel) wrote the evens (2, 4, 6 and so on).

this book is still not completely finished, but katelyn and i will do our best to upload new chapters regularly (lots of the chapters are already written - we just have to upload them).

oh, and one last thing: we apologize if there are any minor grammatical issues in any of our chapters - we're working to fix those mistakes!!

without further ado, enjoy The Spaces Between Us :)

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"LEEYUM!!! PASS TO ME YOU IDIOT!" Harry yelled across the field to his teammate.

"I WAS JUST ABOUT TO BEFORE YOU SO RUDELY INTERRUPTED AND DISTRACTED ME, HAROLD," Liam yelled back. Harry laughed and got in position to receive the ball. He knew Liam would pass the ball to him, he just liked to get him worked up.

Harry and Liam have been best friends for as long as they can remember. Harry's mother, Anne, used to say that Harry and Liam were conjoined at the hip, they wouldn't go anywhere without each other. Anne loves Liam, and Harry knows that she likes to think of him as her other son. Harry wouldn't know what to do without Liam. Despite being popular and having loads of people to hang out with, Liam had been the only one Harry could always turn to. Liam is always so cool and collected, and he balances sports and academics perfectly - something Harry has always struggled to do. 

Harry's father, Desmond, has always made sure football was Harry's number one priority in life, which his mother had a hard time supporting.

Maybe that's what started the fighting. 

Des and Anne went from occasionally bickering at each other to full-on yelling and screaming. When the fighting was at its worst, Harry would run to Liam's house and sleepover for as long as his parents were fighting for. Karen and Geoff Payne were always so kind to Harry and made him constantly feel welcomed and loved, and he often wished he could trade parents with Liam for a day. Harry does love his parents, but the fighting just got hard. It must of got hard for Anne and Des too, because on January 1st, two years ago, they announced they were getting a divorce. Harry knew this would end up being better for everyone, but that didn't stop him from locking himself in his room to cry for a few days straight. He was always holding on to that sliver of hope that his parents would realize that they still love each other. That sliver of hope vanished January 1. Pretty great way to start the new year, huh?

Liam kicked the football and it and went soaring over Harry's head, causing him to sprint after it. Harry ran after it, cursing Liam for kicking it so unnecessarily far. The ball started to roll under the outdoor bleachers and Harry cursed Liam again. How was Harry supposed to fit under there? His hands were too big to go between the bleachers, and he was way too tall to duck under them. As he was debating on whether he should just ask Liam to get it, or try to kick it from under the bleachers, he noticed the ball rolling towards him.