You Think I Hate You? (Larry Stylinson AU) Stepbrothers

Chapter 7

He merely shrugged as he turned his gaze to his mother who was now placing the eggs and bacon on a plate. "Mum, I'm going to the football game next Friday if that's okay?" He announced when she put down the food on the table. He wasted no time stabbing his fork in it to place it on his plate.

I choked at his words, my eyes widening. What was that? He was going to the football game? The football game I was going to participate in tomorrow? What? But he never attended any of our games, so why now?

Anne either decided to ignore the fact that I just choked, or she didn't notice it. "Of course, Harry. You don't even need to ask. What time do you think you'll be home?"

Harry's eyes met mine for a split second before they set on his mother. "Why don't you ask Louis? He's one of the players."

I was caught off guard by the fact that he had referred to me, but I quickly composed myself and cleared my throat. "Eh, well, since the game starts at five in the afternoon, I would say it should be finished at around seven. It depends, though," I told Anne who gave me an appreciating nod.

"Oh, okay. Well, then we'll eat dinner once the two of you get home." She brought her glass of milk to her mouth to take a sip of it. "What makes you want to go to this game, though, Harry? I didn't think you were interested in football," she asked, her eyes narrowing in slight suspicion.

Exactly what I was wondering. The only time he had watched a game that I recalled was when I had practically forced him there, and that, might I add, had not been easy at all. He was stubborn when it came to those kinds of things.

"You know Ed, right? One of my closest friends."

Anne nodded. "Yeah?"

"Well, he made me realize that I have never gone to watch him play before, so I decided it was time for me to do so now. I mean, you gotta support your friends even though you don't like the sport, right?" He said, taking a forkful of bacon and bringing it to his mouth so he could start chewing on it.

The fact that he was going because of Ed and not me this time made my heart hurt for some reason. I knew it wasn't supposed to, that I should've been over this a long time ago, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I wanted to punch myself for it.

Looking down at my empty plate, I bit my bottom lip, feeling Harry's eyes on me. I ignored him, though, and let out a deep sigh. "Um, I'm not very hungry. I'll just wait to eat dinner later instead if that's okay?" I asked Anne, my eyes focusing on only her and not the person to her right.

"Yes, of course. You're free to go whenever you want," she smiled warmly and I didn't even hesitate to exit the kitchen and walk up to my room.

The moment I fell on my bed, I clenched my fists and hit my pillow angrily. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," I repeated to myself, hating that I couldn't control my feelings better. Why did I still feel this way? Harry and I hadn't been friends in two years, so why hadn't these feelings disappeared yet? This was so damn frustrating.

I laid there for a few minutes before pulling out my phone of my jeans pocket and opening my message conversation with my girlfriend. We hadn't talked since lunch, seeing as we didn't have many lessons together nor hadn't had time to meet in between them. I texted her a quick 'how're you doing?' before putting the phone aside while waiting for an answer.

It came only a minute later, and from then on, we texted until it was time for me to go down and eat dinner. I didn't say very much during the rest of that evening, not even sending Harry cold stares like I usually did. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and listened to everybody else talking about how work and school had been. Sometime during the dinner, I could feel my dad eye me in concern, but I didn't care too much about it. There was nothing to be concerned about anyway.

At around ten in the evening when everyone was getting ready to go to bed, I decided to go out to the porch and have a quick smoke. I was stressing on the inside over everything that was going on at the moment; Harry going to the game because of Ed, him being my stepbrother and the sudden move, and more. So, a cigarette would definitely do me well at the moment.

I was leaning on the railing in the chilly November night, smoking the cancer stick when I could hear the sound of the front door shut behind me. Confused as to who could have possibly joined me, I turned around to see my dad walking in my direction until he was standing right beside me and leaning his forearms against the railing just like I was doing.

"It's quite chilly out here, isn't it?" He stated casually, looking out in the dark night that surrounded us.

I shrugged, taking a drag of the cigarette. "Not really. I like the cold," I replied, blowing out the smoke through my nostrils.

Dad let out a sigh, and I could see through the corner of my eye how he closed his eyes briefly. "I know this is hard for you, Louis, especially since you and Harry apparently already know each other from before and aren't exactly on good terms. Maybe all of this is selfish of me, moving in with Anne all, but you have to realize that I'm in love with this woman. I'm sure you would've done the same thing to your son if you were in love with someone, right?"

My eyes drifted to him and stayed focused on his face for a long time before they turned back to staring out in the night. "Probably," I muttered after a while of thinking. Because, if I really was in love with let's say Eleanor, and we were ready to move in together, my son probably wouldn't have stopped me from doing so. Unless he had a very good reason for me not to, that was. "The thing is, I just don't think I want you to move on, you know? From mum."

He placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently as he shot me a weak smile that looked more like a grimace. "I know what you're talking about, Louis, and part of me doesn't want to move on either. But I realized when I met Anne that all people deserve love even when you think you've lost it. I thought I lost it but look at me now. Here I am, finding love again. And just like I said before, I know this is hard for you, Louis, but could you please do me the honor of being happy for me? I would really appreciate my only son to feel like I've finally done something good in life when I've practically been a walking corpse for the past few years."

Breathing out a shaky breath, I nodded my head slowly. I dropped my cigarette to the ground and stomped on it before looking up at him. "I guess since you've moved on, I should probably do so as well. But it's... it's hard. I miss them, both of them," I couldn't help but sniffle.

Dad was there to comfort me right away, wrapping his welcoming arms around my body and pulling me into his chest. He leaned down so his chin was resting on the top of my head as he whispered 'I know, I know' repeatedly. The tears that had been threatening to fall throughout our entire conversation finally decided to let go and roll down my cheeks, dampening my skin.

I didn't know how long we stood there, enjoying the feeling of each other's arms wrapped around each other and just drowning in the pain that we both felt until we let go and dried our tears. I let out a dry chuckle as I stared at his tear-stained face. "Man, when did we become such cry-babies?"

He joined my laughter and shook his head. "Don't ask me, son. I'd say we don't speak to anyone about this, deal?"

A smile formed on my thin lips. "Deal."

Before he could step into the house again, I stopped him when he was about to turn the handle. "Dad?" I asked, gaining his attention right away.

"Yes, son?"

"I just want you to know that I am happy for you, even if it doesn't always seem that way."

______________________________________

There's chapter 7! What do you think?

You finally got to see the emotional side of Louis!

But what do you think happened to his family?

And why do you think he feels jealous of Harry going to the football game because of Ed instead of himself?

Thank you so much for 7K+ reads and 550+ votes by the way! xx

Edited by: Lacy

Pauline .xx