fighting love » l.s.

forty six - sorry

As he made his way back from the bathroom, Louis caught sight of Eleanor waiting at the bottom of the stairs. He cursed mentally, glancing around for any other way to get back to his friends, but found none. Reluctantly, he made his way down the stairs toward her.

She looked up from her phone when he was a few steps from the bottom, and her face lit up. "Louis, hey!"

Trying to hide his confusion at her positivity, he pasted a small smile on his face and stopped at the bottom of the stairs to stand beside her. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Good, good. I was actually hoping you'd be here tonight. I was hoping we could talk," Eleanor said hopefully.

"Um, I'm not so sure --" Louis began.

"Louis, wait. I know I don't deserve another chance to make things right, but please just hear me out."

"Alright," he agreed cautiously, still keeping a good amount of distance between them. "But it has to be quick. Harry and my friends are waiting for me."

"Of course," she replied immediately. "I honestly just wanted to say I'm sorry. I said horrible things to you -- and to Harry, too -- and I'm so, so sorry."

Not knowing how to respond, Louis stayed silent, but nodded. Luckily, she still had more to say, giving him a bit more time to process his surprise and confusion at her declaration.

"I just wanted to be loved, you know? And I thought you could give me that, and it really hurt me when you couldn't," Eleanor admitted. Quickly, she added, "But I still had no right to treat you the way I did. I shouldn't have said those things to you."

"It's okay. Really. I forgive you," Louis said, closing the distance between them to squeeze her shoulder comfortingly. "And you'll find someone, El. You're a good person, and someone will bring out the best parts of you."

"Thanks, Louis. You're a wonderful person as well, and Harry is the luckiest guy alive to be with you."

As if on cue, Harry emerged from the crowd to stand a few paces behind Eleanor. He raised his eyebrows at Louis, obviously feeling unsure about the situation he was about to walk into.

"Haz!" Louis gestured for the boy to come closer, and Harry immediately obliged, moving silently past Eleanor to stand beside his boyfriend. Louis wrapped his arm firmly around Harry's waist and smiled adoringly at him. Instinctively, Harry leaned into Louis's side, still eying Eleanor suspiciously.

"Harry, hey," Eleanor said. "I'm glad you're here."

Harry blinked in surprise. "You are?"

"Yeah, I was just telling Louis how terrible I feel for everything that happened between us. All three of us. I'm glad you're here so I can tell you I'm sorry, too," she explained. "I really am sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I hope we can not hate each other at the very least."

Harry bit his lip and glanced at Louis for help, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole situation. Louis squeezed his hip in support before speaking for the both of them: "We really appreciate it, El. It takes a lot of courage to own up to your mistakes. We'll see you around, then?"

Her face lit up at Louis's encouraging words, and she nodded. "See you around," she agreed. She gave a quick wave before turning and disappearing into the crowd.

"That was weird," Harry said as soon as Eleanor was out of earshot.

"Yeah, super weird," Louis agreed. "But still very nice of her."

"I suppose. I still think she's a bitch," the younger boy confessed.

Louis laughed loudly at his boyfriend's blunt words. "That's fair."

Wrapping both arms around Louis's waist, Harry leaned into his boyfriend. "I need a drink," he said, his tone a bit whiny. His green eyes met Louis's blue ones, both colors lit up by the flashing lights coming from the dance floor. "Then will you dance with me?"

"Thought you'd never ask," Louis replied, kissing Harry's nose gently. "Let's go find Niall. I'm sure he's got a drink or two for you."

"Doubt it," Harry grumbled. "He's probably drank the ones he got for me already."

Louis laughed again as he followed the other boy into the crowd, one hand holding tightly to the back of Harry's shirt so he didn't lose him.

/

After just two drinks, Harry was well on his way to being wasted. He was spinning -- or the room was spinning, he couldn't quite tell -- and clutching Louis as tightly as he could as the loud music vibrated the house and the huge mass of bodies moved around them. Louis kept holding his arm out so that Harry could twirl, which brought the butterflies in his stomach to life, but also had him close to tripping over his own feet every time.

Despite his clumsiness, Louis thought Harry looked more beautiful than ever. His curls bounced in every direction and the wild grin induced by a bit of alcohol rarely left his face. Even more importantly, drunk Harry wanted to be touching Louis all the time; even the slightest loss of contact left Harry pouting. When Louis turned around for a split second to grab Niall another drink off the drinks table, he returned to pouty Harry. Luckily, all it took was a deep kiss and a quick twirl for pouty Harry to turn back into happy Harry.

Louis loved happy Harry. If Harry was happy, he was happy too.

As his boyfriend swayed against him, clinging to his shoulder tightly, Louis suddenly realized that high school would be over soon. Just like Niall had said at the beginning of the night -- this was the last party of the year. School would be over in a few weeks, and then, after just a few short months of summer, they would all go their separate ways.

A small part of him was sad about it. But mostly, he was inexplicably excited. Across any distance, he knew that he and Harry would make it. They had gone through so much already, and he knew that distance would only make them stronger. He could already imagine the pure joy of Harry visiting him at college; after spending any time apart, being together again would be that much sweeter.

Reaching forward to place his hands on Harry's cheeks, Louis kissed Harry hard, catching the younger boy off guard. Despite his surprise, Harry leaned into the kiss, wrapping his arms even more tightly around Louis's neck and letting his boyfriend hold him up as their lips moved in sync. The world around them disappeared for a few moments; instead of the crowded party pulsing around them, it was just the two of them in the quiet of Harry's bedroom again.

Blushing as he pulled away, Harry asked shyly, "What was that for?"

"No reason," Louis grinned. He wrapped one of his boyfriend's bouncy curls around his index finger, tugging at it absentmindedly. "I feel like life is just starting. And I'm so excited to do it with you." Still smiling widely, Louis leaned forward and captured Harry's lips once again.

And in that moment, Harry should have been the happiest guy alive. Instead, he just felt guilty. Louis had all of these big plans for his life, and he didn't have any. What if he would only drag Louis down from here? What if this very moment was the best he would ever feel?