Harry’s voice growled his name angrily, the paper beginning to shake in his fingers. Louis slid a reasurring hand onto his back, leaning into him and urging him on. Harry continued.
"Perhaps this would have been a good time for the famous ‘Daddy Direction’ to step in, because the youngest member of the group, Harry Styles, seemed adamant on protecting his bandmate’s honor, and soon engaged in a verbal-turned-physical fight with one of the other men. Should fans worry about this apparent charmer’s temper? Maybe, but only if they plan on abusing his best friend and roommate. Tomlinson eventually managed to pull the younger boy from the fight and proceeded to examine his face thoroughly, in a way much more than simply friendly, before they left together in a rush, leaving their other three bandmates in the dust. Do these boys have more going on than meets the eye? Or is Styles a hunky, British Hulk, ready to rage at any moment? Their management will surely have to work a little harder to reign in the boy’s anger. We wouldn’t want him hurting his bandmates, or worse, his fans."
Harry lowered the paper onto his lap, eyes looking forward and boring into the wall. His body radiated his, whether from his recent stay under the covers, or some internal force, Louis wasn’t exactly sure, but he could guess.
"Harry," he said hesitently, ghosting his hand over the boy’s strong back in tentative circles. "It’s okay, it’s just a stupid story. It’s not that bad."
Harry snorted.
"We’ll have a meeting with management today, I’m sure." Liam said from the doorway, shifting on his feet and scratching his neck. "And you two— just—" He sighed heavily, shaking his head before he continued. "I don’t know what is going on with you, but don’t screw this up, okay? We’ve never had really bad publicity before, so it shouldn’t be a problem, as long as you act… normal."
Louis felt Harry suck in a breath beside him, the younger boy’s eyes staying fixed on the wall.
"We got it, Liam. Can you please just go? Text me the details later." Louis looked at his friend standing halfway in the room. He looked comflicted, like there was something he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure if he should. Louis, frankly, didn’t want to hear it; didn’t want to hear anything. He didn’t want to hear Liam’s rant, he didn’t want to hear what management would think or the fans would think. Honestly, he didn’t even want to hear Liam saying he accepted them and their relationship was ok with him, though he doubted that would happen anyway. All he wanted was for Liam to leave and close the door behind him so Harry could relax and his muscles could unknot from where they were pulled taunt and bunched uncomfortably. The mood from earlier had been broken the moment Liam had first spoken, but all Louis could think about was getting it back.
He still wasn’t completely sure what his feelings were about the entire situation, how could he be when it was all so god damned confusing? But he did know that the feeling he had had just before Liam walked in had been better than most of the feelings he’d had in his lifetime, and he wanted it back, call him selfish.
Liam nodded and pursed his lips awkwardly before bowing out of the room and closing the door behind him. Silence followed. Louis laid his hand flat against Harry’s back, pressing against his muscle until he felt the tension begin to disapate, and Harry relaxed against him. He shouldn’t be here, in this intimate position with Harry, naked under the covers of his bed. He shouldn’t be the one comforting him. He shouldn’t be a lot of things where Harry is concerned, but he was never one to listen to rules anyway.
"Harry?" He broke the silence with a quiet whisper, a simple breath in the shape of Harry’s name.
"Mmm?" Harry barely answered, body still froszen slightly.
Chapter 9
Start from the beginning
