In Front Of A Camera

• chapter one •

TW// implied Ed and abuse

"I have to warn you, he's difficult," Mitch, Harry's manager spoke, as Louis was setting up his gear.

"I can handle it," Louis smiled. "I've dealt with lots of divas before."

"No, it's not like that." Mitch shook his head, "I wouldn't say he's a diva. He's a good person, he is. But he's just... he's stubborn, and quite the perfectionist. Things have to be exactly how he wants, or he either blows up or breaks down."

Louis nodded a bit, hearing how serious he was. "Any advice on how to deal with him?"

Mitch opened his mouth to speak but then heard the sound of Harry's voice. "You double booked me!" He cried out, looking so flustered and stressed. "Liam looked ready to kill me when we had to cancel and turn around to come here instead."

"Harry... shit I'm so sorry." Mitch spoke, his tone was calm and even.

"Yeah, tell that to him." Harry muttered, pushing past him with his skinny arms and storming over to the makeup chair.

Mitch glanced at Louis apologetically.

Louis, although feeling intimidated now, was focused on how stunning Harry was. He'd seen him in photos, sure, but in person he was so much more beautiful.

He always liked to watch when the models were getting styled and having their makeup done, it helped him to plan out ideas for the shoot.

Harry though, was having none of that. "What're you staring at?" He snapped, as the stylist was fixing his curls.

Louis was a bit startled, he'd dealt with difficult models for sure, but never had he had a reaction like this. The models he'd worked with loved the attention, and were always preening.

"Oh, sorry I was just watching you to get some ideas for the shoot is all." Louis explained, but Harry still wasn't pleased.

"Please don't." He mumbled, his voice a bit quieter now.

Wordlessly, Louis nodded and went back to where he'd been setting up his photography equipment.

The morning passed pretty smoothly, Harry wasn't too difficult, other than refusing to do a few poses.

It wasn't until lunch when things took a turn. Everyone was queuing up at the catered food tables in the back, but Louis noticed Harry hadn't followed, and instead was in the corner talking to Mitch.

"He didn't want to say hi?" Harry asked, while Mitch handed him a small paper bag.

"No, he said he was in a rush." Mitch said, his face full of sympathy.

"Oh," Harry responded, quickly wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to appear nonchalant. "Well, thanks for grabbing it from him."

"Of course H," Mitch replied, before heading in the direction of the food tables.

Harry didn't follow him. Instead, Louis noticed, Harry sat down on the floor. He leaned against the wall, and opened up the paper bag. Louis kept watching as he pulled out a small baggie of baby carrots and what couldn't have been more than 10 almonds. It was then, that Harry noticed him staring and flipped him off with a hard expression on his face.

Louis blushed, and quickly looked down. He'd been wanting to get on Harry's good side, and he was really screwing it up.

Against his better judgement, once Louis had dished himself up a plate of food, he made his way to the corner and plopped himself right down on the floor next to Harry.

"Hey," he smiled casually, taking a bite of his food while Harry stared at him quizzically.

"Hi." Harry eventually replied, his voice flat.

Louis, trying to avoid any more brutal eye contact, was instead looking down at Harry's hands, which he couldn't help but notice were trembling.

"Listen Harry," he sighed. "I'm sorry if we got off on the wrong foot, but I'd really like to make things right. You're a great model, and I'd enjoy working with you again."

Harry swallowed the almond he'd been chewing and silently grabbed another.

After awaiting an answer and not receiving one, Louis sighed, about to get up, when a cold hand grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Thank you." Harry's voice had gone so quiet that Louis barely heard him.

Louis smiled, unsure of what else to say, but he didn't have to say anything because Harry had risen to his feet.

Louis watched quietly as Harry leaned on the wall for a moment, taking a couple of deep breaths, before walking away, leaving half of his measly little lunch on the floor.

Louis finished up his own food and was walking it to the trash can when he was stopped by Mitch.

"Harry had to go home," he said, looking guilty. "I'm so sorry. Is there any chance we could pick this up tomorrow?"

"Suppose we don't have a choice considering he's left," Louis sighed. "But yeah, tomorrow will do just fine."

•

Harry was the last person Louis had expected to see in the local pharmacy at midnight. He'd gone to pick up some Midol for the splitting headache that had been keeping him awake, and saw the familiar boy looking at some creams and ointments. He was holding a small ice pack to his cheek, and his greasy hair was up in a messy bun.

"Harry?" Louis asked softly, approaching him. "What're you doing here at this hour?"

Harry jumped a little, startled at the sound of his voice, and dropped the ice pack, revealing a big purple bruise on his left cheek, causing Louis to gasp. "Oh god, what happened?"

Harry quickly bent over and grabbed the ice pack, swiftly putting it back over his cheek. "Nothing happened. M'fine." He mumbled, abandoning the creams he'd been looking at and rushing away.

"Harry, wait!" Louis called after him, but Harry ignored him, hurrying out the door, the little bell dinging behind him as it shut.

Louis stood there, confused and concerned as he looked at the creams that Harry had been eyeing. They were for bruising, and pain.

What the hell?

Hi! Stella here:) hope you enjoyed the first chapter! More to come soon !