love will tear us apart - larry short story -

iv - breaking

iv - breaking

-- 

louis is leaning on the doorway of their bedroom in october when he says it. "we can't keep pretending that this is perfect. this is breaking." he swallows and looks down at his feet. "this needs to end."

harry feels something cold contaminate his bloodstream. "end? in what way?"

louis closes his eyes. his eyelashes are damp. "i don't know."

the cold turns hot in an instant, fueling the newfound anger that harry's heartbroken soul has just shoved to the surface. "what do you mean, 'you don't know'?" he hisses. 

louis flinches and curls in on himself. there are definite tears in his eyes. "we're hurting each other," he chokes out, "so badly. this is toxic, harry, it can't go on like this. something needs to be done." 

harry's quiet. then he says, with a shake to his voice, "after three years of hell, you're breaking up with me?"

--

louis's silence is still ringing in harry's ears hours after he's tucked underneath blankets at niall's house. the ink on his arms and chest burns, just like his eyes whenever he blinks and saltwater falls. there's a dull throb in his chest, one that echoes in his head and brings him even closer to insanity. 

he just lost the most important thing in his life, and he can't even make himself cry properly. 

--

louis's not crying.

louis's not coherent. 

louis's got alcohol raging through his blood and the remnants of weed curling through his lungs and the memory of "breaking up with me?" rattling through his mind. he's with zayn and liam, so he's safe, but he doesn't have harry, so he isn't. 

he wants zayn to follow through on his earlier promise and punch him. louis knows he deserves a black eye and maybe a few less teeth. he knows he deserves the hangover he'll get, and the feeling of self-hatred that will plague him for the rest of his miserable life. 

he never deserved harry, though. he just proved that tonight. 

--

niall, liam, and zayn meet up the next day. 

"this is terrible."

"this needs to be fixed."

"we know what the problem is." 

of course they know, and of course zayn's right. the problem is that they're tired, and they've lost faith, and the only thing that is going to patch up the broken hearts is pure, unadulterated freedom. 

the only thing that is going to heal one of the most fantastic pair of star-crossed lovers in the world, is something that they aren't going to get for a long, long time. 

--