the royal family of the music industry

12. From The Dining Table

Harry Styles, 2016

FLASHBACK

"I'm home, sunshi-" Harry's sentence is cut short as he enters the dining room.

It's stacked with brown boxes, some of them still open, some of them already closed.

"-ne?" He finishes questioningly as he spots Louis in the middle of the cartons, sitting at the big wooden kitchen table, face in hands.

He looks so, so tired.

Like he hadn't slept in days, maybe weeks. He lifts his face and looks at Harry, his eyes glassy.

"What's this, baby? We going somewhere?" Harry asks, a bit concerned about Louis facial expression, as he parcours through the boxes over to his boyfriend.

Louis just looks at him as he rounds the table and walks the few steps that part them.
Harry bends down to kiss Louis, who turns his head away.

Harry furrows his brows at that.

"What's wrong Lou?" He tries to kiss him again, but Louis gets up from his seat and takes a few steps back, bringing distance between the two.

"Not we are going somewhere." Louis whispers, barely audible. "I'm going somewhere."

He looks down at his hands, that are clasped together in front of his hoodie. Maybe Harry's hoodie after all these years, they don't know anymore.

"What?" Harry breathes out, confused and concerned.

Silence.

Harry steps forward and Louis steps back.

"What do you mean? What's wrong?" Harry asks again.

"Harry, this is really-" Louis cuts himself off, covering his face with his hands again and breathing heavily in and out.

Harry. 

He never calls him Harry. It's always Hazza, Haz, Harold, Boo, Curly, Baby, Darling, Love. It's never ever Harry.

"Baby, what did I do?" Harry asks slowly, scared of the answer.

"You didn't do anything." Louis answers with a sigh.

"Then, what happened?"Harry tries again, just to be met by silence. Louis is biting his lip, staring at the floor, while it's terribly quiet for a long time.

"Look," Louis starts eventually. "One Direction is over now."

Harry is taken aback by that.
"Y-Yeah, but we aren't, right?"

Silence.

"Right, Lou? We don't depend on the band, this, you and me," Harry gestures between them. "We are more than One Direction. We said we'll make this work, travel together and just try to hide." He feels his eyes slowly filling with tears as he speaks.

Louis swallows. "Harry, this is going to get so fucking complicated."

"Well, everything was complicated!" Harry desperately says. "And yet, here we are, because we fought this war together. We're almost there, Lou, we can make it."

"No, we can't." Louis whispers and Harry drops his hands to his sides, the first tear falling from his eye.

"We can't. But you can. You can make it."

"What are you talking about?" Harry tries again to close the distance between them but Louis doesn't let him.

"'M just gonna stop you." Louis mumbles, more to himself and finally lifts his stare to look into Harry's eyes.