The Surrogate

7-Are We On The Same Page?

Lottie did her photoshoot and Harry was the photographer.
"You look beautiful, darling!" He praised.

He made sure that every photo was tasteful. Lottie was glowing.
"Okay, that's a wrap-up. Good job Charlotte!" The director of the photoshoot shouted.

"That was so much fun." Lottie said excitedly after she had changed back to her own clothes and came over to Harry who was putting away his equipment.

"You looked absolutely gorgeous!" Harry smiled.

"Good. I'm starting to feel like an elephant." Lottie sighed.

Harry put his hands on her belly and caressed it.
"I can't believe you're seven months pregnant already."

"Yeah, and I gained 25 pounds already." Lottie snorted.

"You're beautiful." Harry assured her.

"And hungry! Come on, let's eat lunch!" Lottie grinned.

They walked to the diner across their building. Harry didn't lift as much as an eyebrow when Lottie ordered pancakes, a burger and fries, a chocolate milkshake, a slice of cake, and a toast all at the same time. She dipped a fry in the milkshake and let out a content sigh when she put it in her mouth.
"So what's up with you and my brother?"

Harry could think of two things that were up last night. After their first time sleeping together they har repeated their bedroom activities every day for the last month. The sex was great!
"Uhm, we're dating?" Harry admitted with blushed cheeks.

"Why did you say that as a question? That's great. You two are made for each other. I can't believe that I didn't think of that before and introduced you." Lottie smiled.

"He's great!" Harry beamed. Just the thought of Louis made his heart beat faster.

"He is but have you talked about this? Darcy will be here in two months." Lottie asked and cradled her baby bump.

"Uhm, no. It's not like we have confessed any feelings for each other or anything. We just started dating." Harry said, clearly uncomfortable with the subject.

"So you have feelings for him?" Lottie asked softly. She hated to put Harry on the spot like that but she knew how hesitating Louis had been and she knew her brother. He didn't fall in love. She was concerned for Harry's sake. She loved her brother but he could be a handful. She didn't want to see Harry get hurt.

"That's pretty obvious, isn't it?" Harry smirked.

"Yeah, but my brother can be oblivious. You should talk to him. Tell him how you feel. I would hate to see you get hurt." Lottie answered with a worried frown.

Harry's heart dropped. Oh. Lottie didn't seem to think that Louis felt the same.
How stupid could he be? He had thought they were doing great. He swallowed down a lump in his throat.
"Oh Harry, I didn't mean to make you sad. Just talk to Louis. I can't possibly know what he's feeling." Lottie said compassionately.

"Yeah..." Harry agreed.

It took him two weeks and Lottie to be eight months pregnant before he had found the courage to address his feelings. By then he had fallen deeply in love. 

They were laying in bed, still coming down from their highs.
"That was the best one so far." Louis panted out.

"Yeah." Harry waited for his breathing to go back to normal. He turned to the side so he could look at Louis. My God, he was beautiful. Harry got lost for a moment, just admiring the gorgeous man by his side. Where was he? Right.
"Lou? I think we should talk."

An emotion flashed over Louis' face quickly. Fear?
"Okay?"

Harry took a deep breath.
"These last couple of months has been amazing. I really like you." Harry began.

"I like you too." Louis answered.

"Good. But, what are we doing here?" Harry asked and held his breath waiting for Louis' reply.

Louis furrowed his eyebrows.
"I don't know. Dating? Do we have to label it?"

"And it's great. It's just... Darcy will be here in a month and I'm really excited but where does that leave us?" Harry asked, his heart pounding fast in his chest.

"Ehm...I don't know, Haz. This is new and I..." Louis answered, clearly uncomfortable.

"I'm gonna make it easy for you. I'm in love with you. Simple as that." Harry said softly.

"Oh. I... how do you know that you're in love?" Louis questioned quietly.

"I guess when you know you just know. I want a life with you, Louis. I never met someone like you before. I  know we haven't been seeing each other for that long but it feels right, you know? I love you. Darcy can be ours." Harry said emotionally.

"Woah!" Louis sat up abruptly.

"Please don't freak out!" Harry pleaded.

"I don't know if I'm ready for that kind of commitment, Harry. Come on, we just met. How am I supposed to know what to do here? I just know that I like you." Louis answered and sighed.

"It's not like you didn't know that I have a baby on the way. Why would you even get into this, us, if you're not ready for a commitment?" Harry questioned with a trembling voice.

Louis looked at him. They stared at each other in silence.
"Why does this scare you so much? We have a good thing going here." Harry said softly.

"I know! It's just... I don't know how to feel about it. I have kind of pushed it away, you know the thought of a baby. I thought I had time to decide but time is running away from me. It is scary!" Louis said with a broken voice.

"If that's the way you feel maybe we should end this now. I'm gonna be a dad soon and I have to focus on that because that's happening and I'm really happy about it. That's my dream. I hoped you would be on board, that you would have fallen in love with me too but I guess that's not the case." Harry answered and a tear spilled over and rolled down his cheek.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I really am. I should go." Louis answered.

"Just go." Harry whispered.

Louis got up from the bed and got dressed quickly. He gave Harry one last look before he walked out of the room. Harry broke down crying as soon as he left. How could he be so stupid?