Back to Where We Started

Chapter 13

A few minutes later, Louis poked his head into the room to see what was going on. "Everything alright out here?" he asked.

Zayn nodded his head. "Harry is going to take some time to cool off and think about his behavior." He paused for a moment and then asked, "How are Liam and Niall?"

"Li's fine," Louis answered, walking into the room fully. "Ni, on the other hand. Well, you know..." he trailed off. Zayn nodded in understanding.

"They almost ready to go?" Zayn asked.

"Just about," Louis confirmed. "Liam thought it would be a good idea if they got ready while we handled things out here. He even convinced Niall to start packing up their belongings so we had one less thing to worry about tonight when we get back."

"Good lad," Zayn said with a smile. Louis hummed his agreement. "Ok, well, we don't have much time before we have to kick it in gear and finish getting ready. Do you want to hop in the shower first? I'll finish up out here and then we can switch."

"Sounds good," Louis agreed. "I'll send the boys out, then?"

"Yeah, go ahead and do that." Zayn confirmed.

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For the most part, the boys typically enjoyed meeting with their wardrobe stylists. None of them were exactly the biggest fans of changing their outfits over and over, but the people they got to work with were always up for a good laugh and make the proves as enjoyable as possible.

On days like today, however, no one enjoyed wardrobe fittings.

"Ugh, this is awful." Harry whined.

"What do you mean, Haz?" Caroline asked. "You absolutely loved how it looked in the sample book."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He gave himself a long look before shaking his head. "Well, I couldn't very well have known that it would be so itchy just by looking at it in a photo, now could I?"

"Harry," Liam whisper shouted. He'd been just about to step into a pair of jeans when he'd picked up on the younger lad's grumpy tone.

"What?" Harry snapped.

Liam quickly glanced around the room to see if anyone else had heard their exchange. He hesitated a moment before turning his attention back to Harry. "Nothing, just...you're not being very nice to Caroline. It's not her fault you don't like the top."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Nobody asked you, Liam."

Liam couldn't suppress his own eye roll. "Look, all I'm saying is that you might want to watch it. We're all on thin ice as it is, and that's not taking into account whatever got you a timeout this morning."

Harry's cheeks flushed at that. Both Liam and Niall had had the honor of seeing him with his nose in the corner that morning before Zayn released him with instructions to behave and get ready to leave.

"Shut up, Li. You're not the boss of me." Harry snarled.

Liam shook his head and turned away from the irritable lad. After five years together, Liam knew when to walk away. He may not always actually walk away, but this was something he was positive he didn't want to get dragged into. He had a strong feeling it didn't bode well for his ability to sit comfortably. "It's your funeral," he muttered as he put a fair bit of distance between them.

"You know what, Liam? Just because—"

"What in the world is going on over here?" Louis questioned in a stern whisper, arms crossed over his chest. He'd been hanging up his last set of samples on the 'yes' rack when he'd caught on to the hushed but heated conversation between Harry and Liam. He wasn't clear on the nature of the conversation, but the boys' body language spoke volumes.