The Contract

Eight

Louis woke up the next morning with a nasty hangover. He rolled around in bed with a grunt and pried his eyes open. He closed them again. He forgot to close the blinds last night.

His mind was blank for a moment but then the memories from last night flooded in and his hungover anxiety kicked in.

He had danced with Harry. Not just that. He grounded him after he had got rid of the guy dancing with Harry by telling him to keep his fucking hands off his husband. Crap!

That wasn't the worst part. He had kissed him. Walked into Harry's bedroom like some horny teenager. Thank God that he at least had been smart enough to leave before things went too far. Having sex with a flatmate, a friend, under the influence of alcohol was a recipe for disaster.

So he wanted to see if they had chemistry? Great plan. Awesome, fucking drunk plan. Well, he at least got that confirmed because Jesus fuck. That had been some kiss.

He had no idea how to act around Harry now or what to say to him. He was feeling confused. There was a fine line between love and hate. He had never been in love so he had no idea how that actually felt, hence the confusion. He wasn't stupid though. Being around Harry gave him butterflies and he har lost count of how many dates he had wrecked for him. He felt really bad about that. He had to tell him about it at some point. Not today though. He was way too hungover.

He dragged his ass out of bed and threw some sweats and a t-shirt on before he stepped out of the bedroom to go to the bathroom. It was occupied.
"I need a wee." Louis shouted and knocked on the door.

"Puking." Niall shouted back.

Louis sighed and headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He stopped in the doorway when he noticed Harry in his pajama bottoms looking into the fridge.
"Good morning."

Harry jumped and closed the fridge with a bang.
"Morning, Lou."

"I didn't mean to scare you." Louis apologized as he walked over to the sink. He opened the cabinet on top and took out a glass and filled it with water.

"No worries." Harry replied.

Why were they being so polite? Louis turned around and leaned his back against the sink and took a sip of water.
"So..."

"So..." Harry repeated.

"About yesterday, eh, I... Ehm..." Louis started off without knowing what to really say.

"Yeah?" Harry encouraged him and took a step forward.

A sudden rush of illness hit him, making his stomach twist. Louis turned around and puked in the sink. Harry rushed over and put a hand on Louis' lower back. Louis washed away the puke when he was done.
"Fuck, I'm sorry you had to witness that." He mumbled embarrassed.

"It's fine. Lou? Just answer me this. Are you gonna act like a prick toward me again, like the first time we kissed?" Harry asked in a low voice.

Louis stared at him with his mouth slightly ajar.
"First time?"

"First time we met. We kissed in the bathroom at that club." Harry said, looking uncomfortable.

"I wasn't sure that actually happened. I was pissed that night. No, I'm not. I'm sorry, Haz. I was keeping you at arm's length because I'm attracted to you. I didn't want to mess up and instead, I became an ass. Ironic." Louis answered truthfully.

"So you're attracted to me?" Harry grinned.

Louis rolled his eyes at him.
"Honestly, that was all you heard from me fucking sincere apology?"

"Nope, I got all of it and I'm sorry too and I'm attracted to you too." Harry smiled.

"Alright, now I'm gonna kick Niall out of the bathroom so I can brush me teeth." Louis said and walked out of the kitchen.

Things went back to normal after that. Well, the new normal. The one where they watched Friends and had discussions and joined laughs. Harry was waiting for Louis to do a move again but two weeks passed and Louis just acted like nothing had happened so Harry became restless.

When Angus, a loud Scottish guy from work asked him out unexpectedly he accepted. It wasn't like he and Louis would actually move forward, or in any direction for that matter. Secondly, their stupid contract was just that. Stupid. Neither of them would fulfill it. It wasn't like they would get married and have a bunch of children because they drunkenly signed a piece of paper, because that was insane.

They were going out for a Sunday brunch. Harry got up at ten to get ready. The guys were sleeping in. He took a shower and brushed his teeth and fixed his hair. As he stepped out of the bathroom he smashed into Louis.
"You're up early."

"It's almost eleven." Harry retorted.

"As I said, early." Louis smirked.

"Well, I have a date." Harry informed him.

Louis crossed his arms over his chest.
"A date?"

"Yeah, he'll be here any second." Harry replied and gestured for Louis to step to the side.

Louis didn't say anything else. He just slammed the door and locked it. Niall came out from his room.
"Why are you so loud? People are trying to sleep here."

"Ask Louis." Harry said just as there was a knock on their front door. Harry went to open it and greeted Angus. He grabbed his coat and put his shoes on and walked out the door.

When Louis got out of the bathroom Niall was waiting for him.
"Make a move on Harry instead of slamming doors because he's dating other people. Grow some balls."

Louis just snorted and walked past him. He slammed the door to his bedroom too for the dramatic effect. Niall had no idea what he was talking about. He did make a move! He both danced with and kissed Harry on the same night. Didn't that count even if he was drunk? If Harry was interested in him he would have made a move. Instead, he went on a date.