I Do?

Sensitive is Code for Asshole

Louis' words play over in Harry's head as he sits at his desk later that night. The sun has gone down and, with it, Harry's guard. Something about the cover of darkness allows Harry's mind to wander into places it wouldn't dare go while the sun shines outside. The moonlight, pouring in through windows overlooking the Los Angeles skyline, seems to promise Harry that wherever his mind disappears to will stay a secret between the two of them. 

Louis' coming. It's a fact that Harry can no longer put off, even though he's tried all day. Their call earlier confirms it. The desk chair creaks in protest as Harry shifts his weight anxiously. His laptop sits open along with a blank word document. Sighing, Harry stands, his fingers playing with the end of his boxers. 

Harry walks over to the window, finding comfort in the view. He counts to three in his head, breathing in for three beats and then exhaling for three more. A blue and purple haze glows from around the city, alive with people. Harry forces his mind to consider his own insignificance in the grand scheme of it all instead of the looming thought of Louis being here. 

Millions of people live their lives below Harry, most of whom Harry hasn't met and will never meet. Louis being in town won't change that. He'll be another fish in the sea of crowded people. A familiar fish, maybe, but what are the odds that Harry may even cross paths with him if Harry tries not to? It's easy to stay anonymous in a city as large as LA. 

The thought doesn't ease Harry's growing anxiety. Louis being here threatens everything Harry's built. If his father catches wind of it, Harry's life will come crumbling down in a matter of seconds. He already disapproves of Harry enough as it, adding on a drunken marriage, to a guy nonetheless, is the last thing Harry needs. 

Harry jumps as the door of his room door being thrown open. Niall stands in the doorway, his bleached hair stands up as he lazily rubs at one of his eyes. "Door," Niall yawns as he disappears a moment later. 

"Why can't you get it," Harry calls as he follows Niall out of his room. Wordlessly, Niall disappears back into his own room, loudly closing the door behind him. Grumbling, Harry makes his way through their apartment and flipping the light switch in the living room so he can see. 

His eyes find the large clock that sits on the back wall of their open dining room. Most of the time Harry forgets it's there, but he's grateful for it now. It reads half-past ten, not terribly late, but late enough for a visitor to be uncommon. 

A loud knock echoes through the living room as the person grows impatient. "Coming, Jesus," Harry shouts as he makes his way towards the door, slower now that the person decided to have an attitude about it. 

When he opens the door, Harry's surprised at who stands in it. Their tanned complexion glows more than Harry remembers last time. A light blush coats the person's cheeks, probably from climbing the four flights of stairs it takes to get up to Harry's apartment. 

"What're you doing here," Harry asks, as his eyes rake over the person's small frame. 

"What am I doing here? That's all you have to say for yourself," The person says back, their tone filled with bitterness. 

It takes longer than Harry would like to admit for him to remember the girl's name. He recognizes her easily enough, it's hard for him to forget her body after all. A couple of memories flash through his head from a couple of weeks ago. Her golden complexion against his and the flush in her cheeks from something entirely different from a trip up the stairs. 

"I mean, I'm not complaining. We could always go for round five... or six. I can't quite remember what we were on," Harry teases. Her brown eyes shoot like lasers into Harry, but despite her obvious anger, Harry can only find the look to be incredibly hot. 

"You said you were going to message me when you got back from Vegas, so imagine my surprise when I get a snap from Jesy telling me that she saw Leigh-Anne was on snap-map with Niall at the library," Jade shouts hurriedly. Half the words she says don't process through Harry's mind at all. 

"Well, I'm back, baby girl. It's not that late... I could make it up to you," Harry suggests, his eyes slowly trailing down her body as he remembers their last night together. 

"Fuck no! You know what, I should've listened to Leigh. Guess I'm just another girl to add to your list, huh? Well, you're just another guy on mine too, Harry! Oh, and you should probably remove 'sensitive' from your Tinder bio, at this point, 'sensitive' is just code for 'asshole'," Jade screams. 

Jade's voice echoes through the hall of the apartment and Harry cringes. It's late and, surely, everyone on the floor will be able to hear her. Before Harry has the chance to try and get her to stop screaming so loudly, someone else appears at the end of the hall. 

"Might want to quiet down, I can hear you halfway down the stairs," The boy jokes. Harry's stomach drops as he sees Louis standing in the hallway of his apartment building with a duffel bag thrown over his shoulder. 

Jade turns around, her arms folded across her chest and an angry scowl etched into her face. "And who are you," She questions bitterly. 

Louis stops as if he'd been slapped. A cloud of tension fills the space between the three of them as Louis and Jade glare at each other. "Louis Tomlinson, who the fuck are you," Louis snaps back.

"Jade. Can't you see we're in the middle of something," Jade replies already turning back around to look at Harry. Harry can do nothing but watch as the duffle bag drops from Louis' shoulder. In a couple of short, sure steps, Louis is by Harry's side. 

The situation, however, goes from bad to worse as Louis says, "Well if you have something to say to my husband, you can say to me." 

~_~_~

Hey guys! Thank you so much for 1.5k reads. That's so crazy. I can't believe how many reads I'm getting on each chapter and I hope you guys are enjoying it as much as I enjoy writing. I love y'all so much. Thank you for supporting my writing. It means so much! ~B