I Cannot Hide This Even Though I Try ~ A COMPLETED One Direction Fanfic

2 - Unveiling the Truth

"We should both get some sleep," Louis states after seeing the time. "Unless you want to go clubbing tonight," he quickly adds.

"I'm-" I cut myself off with a jaw-cracking yawn. "-knackered," I finish.

Louis stands up and walks into the kitchen and I can hear him placing his mug in the sink. Chances are he won't rinse it or put it in the dishwasher, knowing him. I should just be happy he's even taking it to the kitchen.

Anyways, he comes back a moment later and stands in front of me, holding out both hands to help me up. I take his hands in mine and allow him to pull me up from the couch. I sometimes forget that Louis is the most muscular in the band, but he reminded me of it by accidentally pulling me up too fast. I end up crashing into his chest and almost knock us down, my arms snaking around his waist out of instinct. Fortunately, he manages to stand his ground and keep us up, hold me tightly.

"Thanks, Boobear," I mumble in his ear. I try to take a step back, but instead find that Louis' arms are still keeping me pressed against his chest. What are you doing?

"You're welcome," he says, his voice soft and soothing.

You're still holding me... I keep my mouth shut and just enjoy the feel of being in Louis' arms, which are really comfortable. I notice that I never removed my arms from around him, either, so I give him a tight squeeze before trying to get out of the hug again.Still trapped, damn it. Just enjoy it while you can. Seriously, shut up. I'm completely knackered.

"You were heading to bed now?" he questions. He doesn't loosen his hold at all, just chuckles under his breath.

I can feel his chest vibrating against me as he laughs. Focus, Harold, I reprimand myself. "Uh, yeah, I just... You're really comfy."

"Aww, does my Hazza need his Boobear to cuddle with him tonight?" Louis teases, pulling away just enough to make eye contact with me.

Don't get lost in his eyes now, idiot. I don't care if he just called you his Hazza. But they're just so captivating... I have to block out my internal battle so I can focus on Louis. "Mmm, maybe..." I trail off.

Lou's eyes begin to sparkle with excitement at my words, more so than usual, which I find odd. "Sounds good to me!" he suddenly half-shouts. Then, he proceeds to pick me up and carry me back to his room, the way a husband carries his bride across the threshold of their new home.

"What are you doing? When did you get so strong?!" I yelp, surprised by the sudden movement.

"You may be taller than me, but you're tiny. You really aren't that hard to carry," he tells me.

I always knew he was the most muscular in the group, but I also thought I would be too heavy for him to carry. He's carried you before, Harry... Oh, right... "Why are you doing this?" I whine, though I'm enjoying every bit of it.

"Because even if my Hazza doesn't want to snuggle, his Boobear needs some good ole cuddling tonight," Louis replies, his smirk growing cheekier and more mischievous by the minute. He sets me down on his bed, then sits down beside me.

"I'd like that," I mumble, suddenly feeling very shy. I can feel my cheeks heating and I look down to avoid making eye contact with Louis any longer.

Louis' hand touches my chin, his fingers getting a grip on that part of my face as he forces me to look into his eyes. "What's up, Haz?" he asks, his tone softer and sounding more worried.

"Management is going to kill me if I say anything," I tell him and I can tell that he's confused now.

"W-why? Our fans love you too much for you to die and I-I can't have management killing my Hazza or I will get depressed and never be able to sing again and then the fans will hate me and then One Direction will be down two members,” Louis rambles, a hand over his heart and one covering his open mouth. His eyebrows are slightly raised and knit together in a way that makes him almost seem like he's being serious, but everything else about his demeanor says otherwise.

“It's nothing, Lou, don't worry about it,” I say, realizing that I almost told him that little detail about me that could ruin our friendship.

“If it's nothing, you should be able to tell me, Harold,” Louis complains. He frowns and I can tell he won't take anything less than the truth for an answer.

“IthinkImightbefallingforyou. There, happy? I told you.” I give Louis my signature cheeky smile while he tries to figure out what I just said.

“Sorry, what?” he finally asks, his brow furrowed and nose scrunched up a bit. “I'm not used to you speaking that fast.”

If that face isn't adorable, I don't know what is,the voice in my head says and I can't deny that it's right. “I said that IthinkImightbefallingforyou,” I say again, unable to stop myself from rushing my words again.

“Damn it, Harold, slow down! All I got that time was something about you-wait... You think you're...” he hesitates and I start freaking out inside, worried that he might have understood my words and be disgusted or something like that.

“Lou, it's nothing, just-” I start before I'm cut off by Louis' lips against mine.

“I sure as hell hope it's not nothing,” Louis murmurs, his lips almost touching mine still.

“Why are you... What are you...” I honestly don't know what to say now.

Louis sighs and separates himself from me, making me realize that we're somewhat tangled together already, though I couldn't remember it happening. “Harry, I've been fighting with myself for the past two years about my feelings for you and I was finally just starting to accept that I had feelings for you that you'd never reciprocate. I'm sorry if I misheard you and just made things really awkward, but I had to get that out of my system. If you must know, that was what was bothering me about what we heard at tonight's meeting.”

I feel a tear roll down one cheek out of shock, amazement and happiness at my best friend's words. “You didn't hear wrong, Lou. I like you, a lot, and I needed you to know,” I tell him. To show him that I mean what I say, I wrap an arm around his shoulders and pull him closer to me until there is very little space between us. Before I have the time to lose the ounce of courage I've worked up, I place my lips on his and let my emotions run wild.

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*Liam's POV*

“It's jus-and then-why would they-” Niall's sentences have started melding together, his tears making it hard to understand him. He hasn't stopped crying since we stepped through the door of my flat after the meeting earlier.

I wrap my arms more tightly around Niall, holding him as closely to me as physically possible. Seeing him this way tears me apart inside, but I know I have to hold myself together for his sake. "Shh, calm down, love. Everything will be okay, Nialler. We'll make it through this, just like we always have."

"But... But what if one of us... We accidentally say something or do something... People find out and get disgusted... Management is right... We lose our fans... The lads will-will hate us..." Niall begins taking shallow breaths between sentence fragments, his breathing speeding up until he's pretty much hyper-ventilating.

"Niall, we can do this. We'll record the next album, we'll head out on our world tour, then we'll come back and tell management that we're coming out whether they like it or not. Alright? We just have to get through the next 14 months..." 14 months is not a big deal, right? We can do this...