Write Or Fight

Prologue

Written by: itstilliswhatitis

"Why are you here?"

Louis twisted uncomfortably in his chair.
"I have no fucking clue. A total waste of time if you ask me." He snorted.

Harry let out a deep sigh and he turned his head to look at him.
"Don't be like that. You know why we're here."

Louis's eyes flickered and he stared at the floor. He knew.
"Maybe you can tell me why you are here then, Harry?" The therapist said and put her pen against her paper, ready to take notes.

"We struggle. We fight all the time, and half of it is just misunderstandings." Harry informed her.

"Do you feel that you have trouble communicating with each other?" The woman asked, looking between them.

Louis nodded his head. Harry answered.
"Yeah."

"What else?" The therapist asked.

"We spend a lot of time apart due to our careers." Louis admitted.

"And we're closeted." Harry added.

"By choice?" The therapist asked.

"No." Louis snorted.

"Alright." The woman nodded and took notes. She looked between them.
"Are you both willing to work on your relationship?"

Harry and Louis glanced at each other.
"Yes." They agreed simultaneously.

"Are you sure? I one of you wants to get out of your relationship, address that now. Otherwise, we're just wasting time." The woman said staring at them pensively.

"We're here, aren't we?" Louis answered defensively.

The woman looked at Harry.
"I want to give it one last chance."

Louis sat up straight and looked at Harry. One last chance? Then he was done? Louis's stomach flipped.
"Okay. So how do your schedules look in the next month?" The therapist asked.

"I'm flying to L.A. tomorrow. I'll be gone for a month but I can maybe do it over the phone?" Harry suggested.

"That's not a great solution. You know what? Since you're both musicians you're used to expressing yourself through lyrics. Right?" The woman said.

"Yeah." Louis agreed.

"I want you to write letters to each other. One letter each day." The therapist instructed.

"What kind of letters?" Harry wondered.

"Just letters, but there are a few guidelines. In the first part of the letter, you write about anything you want. Your day, a good memory, something you're thinking about. Then you write one thing you love about your spouse and in the end, you ask a question that you want your partner to answer. You answer it yourself as well." The therapist said.

"What kind of questions?" Louis asked.

"That's up to you. It can be deep, silly, funny, whatever you want to know." The woman explained.

"I can do that. Louis?" Harry asked.

"I guess, but do we really have to write a letter every day?" Louis questioned.

"Yes, and it's important that you both commit to it. 30 days of letters. You can e-mail them to each other. You both start with one letter each and remember to keep to the guidelines and to be honest and vulnerable." The therapist said.

"I can try." Louis agreed. What kind of therapy was this? It sounded stupid.

"Start tomorrow and then we'll make an appointment for you to see me after 30 days. Sounds good?" The woman smiled.

Louis shrugged his shoulders and Harry glared at him.
"Yes. Thank you."

Their time was up so they headed back home. Harry packed his suitcases and they ate a quiet dinner. They spent the evening apart, composing a letter to each other before they went to bed, turning their backs to each other.

Harry woke up early and got ready to catch his flight. He woke up Louis to say goodbye.
"See you in a month then?"

"Yeah. Uhm, here. I wrote you a letter." Louis mumbled and handed him an envelope.

Harry took it and held out an envelope of his own.
"Bye Louis."

"Bye."