No Strings Attached

Chapter Nine

And so it wasn’t all that surprising (yet still somewhat surprising, if Louis had to be honest) when Zayn called him later that night after Harry had left to tell him that he approved.

“I approve,” he had said simply, before practically gushing about how great of a mate Harry would be and how unexpectedly down-to-earth he was, in spite of his little run on X Factor. 

Zayn said it in a tone that seemed to suggest approval for more than friendship, but Louis pushed it down, though not quite away either. He filed it somewhere in the back of his mind where he could go back to it if needed. 

And because meeting Zayn was something Harry insisted on, Louis insisted on seeing Liam and Niall again. It felt a little strange on his end, almost like he was using Harry to meet other semi-famous people. But Harry reminded him that they weren’t famous (Not yet, Louis thought) and that Liam and Niall had actually been keen on seeing Louis again, as well. 

The first time had been at Harry’s flat, which Louis had never seen before. It wasn’t too far from his own, and he was thankful because he hated the idea of pulling Harry far away from home to watch over Rosie every now and then. Liam and Niall were kind as always and showed Louis around when Harry failed to carry out his obligations as host. It was a nice flat, certainly equipped with the typical messiness that one would expect from three lads living together. But it stirred some sort of repressed desire in Louis to live alone and as a bachelor. But he thought back to his flat practically bursting with pinks and purples and toys and he realized that he loved Rosie too much to ever abandon all that. 

The second time, Louis brought along Zayn and Rosie. Again, it was strange how easily the two spheres of Louis’ life managed to fit together. He watched as Harry cooked in the kitchen while Niall played a rousing game of peek-a-boo with Rosie on the kitchen table. He even observed Zayn and Liam playing some FIFA in the living room.

He could have sworn he saw Zayn do several double takes, glancing at the other boy whenever he wasn’t looking. And funnily enough, he was almost certain that Liam was doing the same. He smiled to himself, suddenly feeling like an intruder to whatever was taking place. 

By the time all of this felt normal, it had been another month and Rosie was speaking fuller, longer sentences. Her hair was longer than Louis had ever seen it before, and she was so perfectly at ease with the three new boys that had come into her life. It shouldn’t have been this way, and yet it was. 

So when Harry crawled over to the other side of the bed after a particularly thrilling session of late night sex, resting his head against Louis’ bare chest and tickling his chin with his mat of unruly curls, it came as a bit of a surprise when Louis finally processed the words that came from the younger boy’s mouth. 

“We got signed,” he repeated, and Louis finally had enough of a grasp on his words to reply. 

“To – To a label?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, beaming widely in spite of himself. He looked so fucking happy and Louis felt guilty that he was the only one in the world playing witness to the moment. “You remember that meeting a month ago?” 

“That’s the one?” 

“That’s the one.” 

And in his happiness, Harry pressed light kisses on Louis’ chest that conjured a million butterflies in his stomach. He was so happy for the other boy, and yet there was a new, unnamed emotion that took its place when reality settled in. 

“So…you’ll be gone for a while? Recording and stuff?” 

“Something like that,” Harry said again, his face slightly falling. “There’s a lot to sort through, but we’re probably going to be recording in different places. We’ve also got to build ourselves as a brand, make ourselves known to the public again after disappearing for a while. All that stuff, you know?” 

Louis didn’t know, but he nodded and pretended he did. Anything to make Harry’s smile come back again. 

“Haz, I’m so fucking proud of you. I knew you guys could do it. I told you, didn’t I?” 

“Yeah, you did,” Harry said through a grin and he reached up and kissed Louis softly on the lips. 

In spite of the amount of time they spent together, that wasn’t something that they did all too often. Harry must’ve realized it because he looked at Louis with a strange sort of intensity, analyzing his features and waiting for his next move. 

When Louis didn’t know what move to make, Harry only curled closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist. 

“Gonna miss the casual sex,” he murmured against Louis’ flushed skin.

“Yeah,” Louis said distantly, eyes staring at the ceiling and searching for answers that wouldn’t come. “Me too.”