Harry was walking down the hall, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He twisted his snap back around to hide his face as he pressed the button for an elevator and headed down from therapy. He had promised lunch with Louis that day, and he was running late, and Louis was probably going to be upset.
No phones were allowed in therapy, so Harry pulled his out to cut it back on, and he was unsurprised to see some texts from Louis.
Hey, we still on for lunch? L
Harry? L
Hey.. it's getting close to one.. where are you? L
Harry, it's a little rude to ignore me.. pls, where are you? L
I'm leaving. L
Shit, Harry thought. He last message was sent ten minutes ago, which means Louis was probably gone. He tried calling his boyfriend several times and he didn't answer.
Louis, I'm sorry. I didn't forget, I was with the boys and my phone died. Please don't go home. I'm coming. xH
He knew it was probably a lost cause, because Louis was incredibly stubborn. Harry sighed as he opened the glass door of the building, heading out into the sun and turning the hat back around, trying to call his boyfriend again. He received a text and sighed.
I'm already heading home. Just forget it, Harry. It's fine. L
Harry knew it wasn't fine, and he knew Louis was going to be very upset. Harry sighed and headed home, noticing that his mum wasn't home, and it didn't severely bother him, but he knew Louis was probably about to yell.
Harry was quite surprised, however, to see Louis in Harry's bed, and looking quite beautiful with some slight makeup on, along with a cropped pink top and - damn. The boy had on a denim skirt, and it was very cute, and Harry felt like an ass.
"Lou," he said quietly, moving to sit on the bed.
"It's okay, Harry," Louis said softly. "I have plans with Jade anyways," he mumbled. "We are going prom shopping."
"Oh," Harry said softly, nodding. "Can't wait to see how gorgeous you'll look," he added, giving Louis a smile.
"Yeah.. you may just be seeing me there, and not any time before, if you keep this up," Louis snapped, obviously not okay, like he claimed to be.
"Wh - you don't want to be my date anymore?" Harry asked in surprise. "Louis, it's not that serious. I was running behind. But I was coming."
"You've been running late a lot, Harry. Sneaking around, doing God know's what," Louis muttered.
Harry raised his eyebrows, frowning at the boy. "Lou... do you.. you don't think I'm cheating on you, do you?"
"Kind of seems that way," Louis breathed.
"What - no! Louis, no! I am not Cheating. I've been busy with football-"
"You lied, yesterday," Louis interrupted. "You said you were at footie, and you weren't. I went to go see you, and you weren't there!" The tears were coming quickly, but Louis couldn't help it. He was so upset. "Where were you, Harry?"
"Louis.. just trust me," Harry said quietly. "I'm not ready to talk."
Louis stood up, shaking his head as he gathered his thing. "You never want to talk. You never want to speak to me about what's going on in your life."
Harry grunted. "You're not going anywhere. You just accused me of cheating, Louis."
"Yet, you still refuse to tell me where you've been," Louis said quietly, looking defeated. "You won't talk to me about anything. I'm constantly worried that you're cheating, or that you're not that into me, or that you just took me in as a pity thing and now-"
"Now, what?" Harry breathed.
"Harry, I really need to leave," Louis said quietly, shaking his head as he headed to the door. "I will see you tonight."
Harry watched him go, feeling hurt and angry. He picked up his bag and he left, also, heading the opposite direction of Louis.
~~
Louis was sitting on a bench in the indoor shopping center, waiting on Jade, who was late. Why could no one ever be on time? Man, this was frustrating.
He was scrolling through his phone when a very familiar tapping noise caught his attention. It felt like a flashback as he looked up and saw Ashton Irwin, tapping away on a bench, looking rather annoyed, and, just Louis say it, rather good. It was kind of crazy, but it seemed like Louis had just forgotten about Ashton, even after having a crush on him for so long, and he was reminded of why he had liked the boy just by looking at him.
Suddenly, Ashton looked up, and they locked eyes, and Louis blushed, giving a little wave. Ashton glanced around before hesitantly making his way towards Louis and sitting beside him.
"Hey, where's Harry?" Ashton asked, and Louis rolled his eyes, annoyed that everyone always asked him where Harry was.
"I .. uh - I think he's at home. Or, he might've left to go see his secret lover," Louis muttered.
Ashton frowned, raising an eyebrow. "His.. secret lover? Louis, what? Is Harry cheating?"
Louis sniffled, trying not to get upset. "I think so," he breathed. "I just.. he's been lying about where he is and I want to trust him, but it's hard, because he doesn't talk to me."
Ashton couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah... I'm having the same problem with Liam. He won't tell me anything about his past, about his old relationships, his old school, his family. It's a little frustrating. And.. well, we are just a lot different," he said, shaking his head.
"Yeah.. suppose you are," Louis said softly, looking at Ashton before sighed. "Did you know.. that I used to have, like, the biggest crush on you?"
Ashton's face reddened before he laughed awkwardly, and Louis frowned, before Ashton was waving his hands. "No, no - not laughing in a bad way. I just - wow. Yeah. I used to - I used to have a thing for you, too."
Louis felt liked he'd been hit. His long-time crush had been crushing back, and Louis never knew. Then, Harry came along, and ruined everything, because Louis had major feelings for Harry now, and that would never go away.
"Well, that's.. you did?" Louis breathed.
"Yeah, but I wasn't out and I wasn't sure if I was ready to be," Ashton said quietly. "But then... Harry and Liam came to the school, openly gay, and.. everyone started coming out."
"Harry.. isn't openly gay," Louis said slowly. "He isn't gay, he's bisexual - or maybe he's not. When he came here, he thought he was straight. He pretended to be gay because he wanted to help me, because of the bullying.. and then, he caught feelings. I'm not sure Harry knows who he truly is, and that's why it makes this relationship so hard," Louis said, pushing back his hair.
Ashton was completely thrown off by this. "Wow," he muttered. "That's a story... but he proposed. He loves you, surely."
"I don't know. We aren't engaged anymore," Louis replied. "I think he just.. wanted to rush it because he wasn't sure what he wanted and he was trying to convince himself that it was me."
Ashton placed a hand on Louis's shoulder, rubbing it. "It's going to be okay. It's obvious that Harry cares about you. I bet he really is confused, Louis, and that might be hard to cope with. When I realized I like.. well, everyone, boys, girls, non-binary.. it was really hard for me to come to terms with it. If Harry's requesting space, give it to him. If you keep pushing him... it's going to make it worse and it's going to put more distance between you both."
Louis smiled sheepishly, looking over Ashton. "Thank you," he said softly. They just looked at one another for a moment before Louis heard his name and he turned to see Jade, who was heading their way.
"Well, I have to shop for prom," Louis said with a small smile as he stood up. "I'll see you around?"
"Yeah.. you will," Ashton promised, watching Louis head off with his friend to shop for the upcoming prom.
~~
Happy 40 chapters! So.. my plan is for this story to have 60 chapters total, and that means there will be a time gap for the last handful of chapters. Just to let you know, 60 is NOT set. If I have more to write, I will! I'm not going to stop until I've done what I wish with this whole thing.
Their is no set schedule for my updates. I am a single mom and I'm going to try my hardest to do one or two a month, hopefully more. Pls bare with me!
What are your thoughts on the chapter and what are your predictions for the future of this story? I want to hear!
x Queen B