the spaces between us ➳ larry stylinson

chapter fifteen

published on march 30, 2021

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LOUIS WANTED TO HANG OUT AGAIN!!!!!!!

Harry threw his phone, got up from his bed, and did a little dance in the middle of his room. If Louis wanted to hang out again, that meant that he had at least a little bit of fun...right?

Harry still couldn't wrap his mind around what had happened in the past twenty four hours. Louis had held him in the second-floor bathroom at school while he cried and cried and spilled his heart out. Harry and Louis were left alone in Niall's family room and just sat there in comfortable silence, mentally obsessing over each other. Then Harry had to sit next to Louis, which didn't go as catastrophically as he had thought it would. And then Louis FELL ASLEEP ON TOP OF HARRY. AND STAYED LIKE THAT. FOR THE WHOLE NIGHT. AND THEN HE WROTE HARRY AN APOLOGY NOTE SAYING SORRY FOR IT. Harry couldn't imagine why Louis thought he had to apologize because, god, was that the best sleep he had ever had.

Harry didn't want tonight to come because that meant he would be sleeping alone, without Louis. He wouldn't be able to smell Louis' sweet, strawberry essence, or have his comforting weight right by him as he slept. Harry was really considering inviting the lads over again, specifically so he could try and fall asleep near Louis. Harry shook his head. Bad idea, bad idea.

He heard the front door open and tried to wipe the huge smile off his face before he skipped downstairs to see who it was. Harry's face fell when he saw who it was. "Oh, it's just you."

Gemma scoffed at him. "Oh so you aren't excited to see your big sister anymore?"

Harry stuck his tongue out at her. "I was hoping it would be someone more exciting, but you'll do I suppose."

Gemma gasped and then laughed. "Well I'm sorry that I'm not Lewis Thomson, or whatever his name is."

Harry turned a deep red color and cleared his throat. "His name is not Lewis Thomson, idiot, if you even cared to listen to me, you'd know that his name is Louis Tomlinson."

"Whatever you say, loverboy..."

Harry frowned and wondered why so many people kept calling him loverboy. Was he really that obsessed?

"...anyway, I hate to change the subject from the all amazing Louis Tomlinson, buuuut where is mum? She said she'd let me pick out some new clothes and makeup for her at the shops."

Harry looked up at Gemma. "She's not home yet, but Gems, I'm really worried about her. Have you noticed how off she's been lately? She's so quiet and stressed and have you noticed the amount of pastries we have around the house now? She's been baking like she's competing in the Great British Baking Show, for God's sake."

Gemma looked down and then up again to meet Harry's eyes. Harry looked right back at her. With her big brown eyes, long lashes, and perfectly groomed eyebrows, she really was gorgeous. "Yeah, I've noticed. I've asked her about what's going on with her and she always replied with something along the lines of 'Oh I'm fine don't worry about me sweetie.' Something's obviously up, I just can't imagine what."

Harry bit his lip and ran his hands through his curls. "Do...d'ya think it's about dad?"

Gemma stiffened. "I can't imagine what dad...er Des, would be doing to make her this stressed. I mean I wouldn't put it past him, but I doubt he's responsible for this." Gemma had always had a difficult time coping with the divorce. Harry always believed that he took it the hardest, but really both Gemma and him took it hard, just both of them found different ways to cope. Harry would scream and cry some days, cursing the unfairness of the world. Other days he would go on runs for hours, pushing his body way past its limits. Gemma, on the other hand, just completely isolated herself. She was always quiet. Harry hadn't had a proper conversation with her in months after the divorce happened. She finally started talking again almost a year ago. Harry had missed his sister, they were always like partners in crime, so he was so relieved just to have someone to talk to about it. Although, some days he knew when something was up with Gemma. She was usually hiding something from him, which he understood. They hadn't been as close as they used to be since the divorce.

The divorce. God. It was responsible for ripping apart his entire family. It's the reason that Gemma doesn't call their father "Dad." It's the reason that they haven't had a meaningful conversation with their father in over a year. It's the reason why Anne used to sob at night, so loudly that Harry had to cover his ears with his pillow. Sometimes Harry would go into Anne's room just to cry with her.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Want me to text her and ask where she is?"

"Nah, it's fine, I got it." Gemma lifted up her phone from the table, and Harry caught a glimpse of her home screen. He tried to stifle his gasp as hard as possible. Gemma had five messages and one missed call from...Liam? Jesus what was going on?

Gemma looked at her screen and then opened her iPhone, pulling up the messages app to text her mother. "Hey, why hasn't Liam been around lately?"

Harry was about to say that he's sick but Gemma interrupted him. "Ohhh wait, never mind, he said that you guys were fighting. Well, I'm off to the shops, text me if mum gets home. Bye, H!" She opened the door and strolled out to her car, unlocked it, and hopped in. Harry could see her look down at her phone and then hold it to her ear, her lips moving. She was talking to someone. Who could it be?

•••••

It was Liam. She was definitely calling Liam back.

Harry was pacing around in his room, mind swimming with thoughts. Why has Liam been texting his sister...while Harry and him were fighting? And how long have they been texting? Harry rubbed his temples as he sat back down on his bed, brows furrowed. He was debating wether to take a nice, steamy shower or not, when a 'DING!' interrupted his thoughts. He felt a smile creep across his face as he reached for his phone, hoping it was from Louis.

Harry's face fell back to a frown again as he read who the text was from. Liam.

Leeyum 😎: Hey Harry, can we talk? You keep missing my calls

God. 

Of course they can't talk!  What's there to talk about? How Liam completely shattered Harry's heart by sticking up for Nick, AFTER he broke Louis' heart and lowered his self-esteem? Or how after that, how he proceeded to drive by Harry WITH Nick inside the car? Wow! So much to talk about! Harry rolled his eyes and flopped back down on his bed. He felt his eyes start to sting, but he forced the tears at bay. He can't cry. He didn't even know why he was starting to cry. Maybe because it was already 6:00 pm and no one was home or had checked in with him. Or maybe because Louis hadn't texted him since earlier. Or maybe it was because he would have had his tutoring session with Louis today, but he didn't get to because they had no school. Harry sighed. Another chance to see Louis was missed.

It did make Harry feel good to know that Zayn, Niall, and Louis would be there for him. Harry had lots of friends, but none that he could 100% rely on. So it was comforting knowing that he had people he could count on (and BONUS: one looked like an angel). Harry giggled at himself. He really couldn't go one minute without obsessing over Louis.

With these new, happy thoughts in his mind, he went downstairs to microwave himself a frozen meal for dinner.

As his food was heating up, Harry dried his tears away. There was no point in crying. He knew that he and Liam would make up soon, and maybe Louis and Harry could hang out again. The lads could have another sleepover again, but with Liam this time. That would be fun, Harry thought. He felt at this moment, with the slight buzzing of the microwave in the background, that everything would be okay.

Harry laughed at himself, for just a mere five minutes ago, he was crying over who knows what. It's crazy how fast your mood can switch. 

What's even crazier though, is that someone has the power to completely change your day around. This person was, of course, Louis Tomlinson - Harry's little chop suey.

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