Harry Styles, 2017
Harry, Niall, Liam and Beyoncé stand in the throne room waiting for Zayn and Ariana, since James picked them up together.
Liam had arrived a few hours ago and they had spent the entire time in the kitchen, catching up with each other and everything that had happened since they last talked to each other. It was nice, Harry really missed Liam the time he didn't see him. Liam took a real break, doing some stuff for himself and getting professional help which was good. But it also meant that they really didn't have much contact at all. And even if it didn't always seem like it through the videos and on stage, Liam had been one of the closest friends Harry ever had. So it had been really nice talking to him and getting to know a bit about his life again since so much had changed.
Louis hadn't been there and Louis isn't here now.
The door finally swings open and Harry's head snaps up, his heart hoping to see Louis. He isn't too disappointed when it isn't Louis, but Zayn.
"Hey bebz." He says, surprisingly happy, and walks up to them. Harry is relieved by the happy, loud tone in his voice, he had expected Zayn to be rather grumpy to be pulled out of his somewhat settled down life again. Niall jumps at him like he had done with Harry and hugs the shit out of Zayn. When he finally lets go of the black haired man, Zayn smiles at Harry and Harry also wraps his arms around his shoulders.
"Long time no see." Zayn smiles at him and pats his back.
He finally looks better.
Looks like he sleeps enough and drinks more water and surrounds himself with people that are good for him. Harry still regrets not having been able to help him, although Zayn always assures him that it wasn't Harry's fault and that he doesn't blame him for anything.
Liam also hugs Zayn after he had parted from Harry.
"I brought spoons." Zayn smirks.
"Funny." Liam says monotonously.
James walks in next to Ariana Grande, who greets Beyoncé with a hug, before smiling widely as she walks over to where they're standing.
"Finally seeing 1d together again." She says and kisses all of them on the cheek.
"Yuh." Niall imitates her and she giggles.
"Funny story." Ariana starts, leaving no times for awkward silence and Harry is extremely grateful. He's had enough awkwardness in the last two days for a lifetime.
"Yesterday, in a meet and greet, a fan told me I smelled great and asked if it was Chanel. I didn't know how to explain to her that it was my One Direction perfume I bought in 2014." She laughs and Niall gasps.
"I'm wearing it right now." He says and proudly pushes his wrist under Harry's nose for him to smell the perfume.
The door opens again and in walks Louis.
Louis wearing an oversized Adidas t-shirt, sleeves almost touching his elbows, making him look even smaller, even cuter and less like the sassy guy with his middle finger constantly in the air he really is.
"Liam." He says and a smile appears on his lips, that takes Harry's breath away.
Involuntarily, he is jealous of Liam, Liam, for being responsible for this smile that radiates sunshine.
There had been a time where Harry had been the reason for it. Harry doing absolutely nothing, things like laying around, cooking, writing songs and putting his hair in a bun had made Louis smile like that.
Now Louis doesn't even look at him, not a side glance, not even checking his silhouette in the corner of his eyes.
And that pangs somewhere deep in his heart.
Louis puts an arm around Liams shoulder and lets his gaze wander around the room.
He looks at Zayn for a while, who clears his throat and forces an awkward smile to his lips, chewing the inside of his mouth.
They stand in a circle, Niall, Harry, Zayn, Liam and Louis and looking anywhere but at each others faces.
Liam develops a newfound interest in his shoes, Niall stares at the wall, Zayn scratches his neck and Harry crosses his arms in front of his chest.
As he looks up, his eyes finding Louis without intending to, he finds him looking at him. Not into his eyes or face, but staring at his left arm. And Harry doesn't need to look down to check which tattoo he is looking at.
The rose.
He staring at Harry's rose tattoo.
Niall clears his throat.
"You guys remember Dallas? That was fun."
All four of them stare at him, Zayn raising his eyebrows and Liam coughing awkwardly.
Harry feels Louis' eyes on him again and he looks up, meeting his gaze.
Louis doesn't look mad or shocked, he looks... soft.
And Harry believes to see his lips quirk upward so slowly.
He doesn't know if he only imagines it but Louis' blue eyes begin to spark a bit.
Just a bit.
Harry feels warm all over.
Just because Louis maybe started to smile at him?
Maybe also because Niall just bluntly mentioned Dallas knowing damn well what had happened there so many years ago.
Harry has to get his feelings under control.
He looks at Louis once more, who hasn't stopped smiling the tiniest bit at him.
"Taylor, you're here." Beyoncé announces and Louis' smile immediately drops.
They all turn towards the door and Harry has to tear his gaze away from Louis, feeling cold the second the smile vanishes from his lips.
Taylor Swift walks into the room, black high wasted jeans and high heels that make her legs look like they're miles long. She's wearing a red blouse and has her hair falling down her shoulders in natural waves.
She's beautiful, with her soft skin and endless legs and very good sense of fashion and pretty blonde hair. No one could argue that she truly is a very beautiful woman. Just that there are more beautiful people in the room.
Her eyes are a pretty shade of blue but nothing in comparison to Louis'.
Stop thinking about him.
They all chat a bit, Louis so incredibly quiet the whole time - Harry misses his shouting voice, his loudness and his jumping around, cracking jokes all the time and annoying everyone. Seeing Louis be so quiet and cold is pure torture for Harry.
Taylor walks up to Harry and hugs him smiling.
"Haven't seen you in a long time." She greets him warmly. "Sign of the times is great."
"Reputation is great." Harry answers easily, because, hello?, reputation is great.
Niall walks up to them smiling so widely it looks like it hurts.
"B says we're gonna have a fancy ass dinner and then we'll get to the coronation." He informs Taylor and Harry, jumping up a little bit.
"Are you ready to be wined and dined?" He adds in a fake posh accent and scratches is non-existent mustache.
"Should we wear anything fancy?" Liam asks and Beyoncé opens her mouth to answer, when Mick Jagger walks past her in sweatpants and a Pink Floyd t-shirt.
"No, wear what's comfortable." He answers and Beyoncé shrugs.
They all walk into the huge dining room with a long table and at least 20 seats around it, a chandelier hanging above it and columns holding the decorated high ceiling. There is a chimney in the back, the fire spreading a bit of warmth into the big room.
They take seats, Louis being the last one to sit down so he is forced to sit opposite Harry.
Harry sits between Niall and Taylor, next to Taylor is Rihanna and next to Niall is Mick. Beyoncé
sits at the head of the table.
Half an hour later, a lot of wine and champagne was consumed and the room feels a lot warmer and is filled with voices and laughter. Harry picks into his salad with his fork and has a hard time deciding which conversation he should follow, because all of the sentences that float through the air around him seem to belong to an interesting conversation.
On his left, Niall and Mick are already dizzy, it seems.
"Hi, I'm Niall from One Direction." Niall says and extends his hand to him.
"Hi, I'm Mick from the Rolling Stones." Mick answers and shakes Niall's hand smiling.
"I love your band." Niall grins and takes another sip of his wine.
"I love yours." Mick laughs and Niall waves him off.
"S'not my band. Actually you could say it is." He straightens his back and imitates a hurt expression. "My back already hurts from carrying the band."
Across the table Rihanna tells Zayn and Paul McCartney a story.
"-And then he said if I gave you a dollar for every useless thing you do, you'd be rich. And I was like: Um no. I wouldn't earn a single dollar with it. And you know why?" They all shake their heads.
"Because it wouldn't be useless anymore when I earned money with it." She finishes her story and they all suck in their breath, to which she nods proudly.
"Yup. Burned him with that. Long story short he's not my manager anymore."
Harry turns his head back around to face Niall, who's still talking to Mick.
"Do potato chips become mashed potatoes in your mouth?" He asks him and Mick spends some time thinking about it.
Seems like Niall just found his person.
"I want potato chips now." Niall pouts and Harry chuckles looking down at his plate.
As soon as he lets out the breathy noise, he feels a pair of eyes on him.
He feels his nerves picking up, because he knows who it is.
Slowly, he lifts his head, smile still on his face and makes eye contact with Louis again.
The warm light of the candles on the table and the chandelier above them illuminates his face, making him look warmer than he is right now.
His defined cheekbones and jaw moving as he brings his champagne glass to his lips, never breaking eye contact with Harry.
His eyes look so incredibly blue and sparkling, Harry never wants to look away again. He's already spent too much time of his life not looking into these beautiful eyes.
The staring contest is once again interrupted.
Beyoncé stands up from her seat and everyone adverts their attention to her immediately.
"Now we will start the coronation." She announces and Harry sees Niall bounce in his chair excitedly from the corner of his eye.
"I don't have the crowns here, because you will make your own. Everyone can design their crown as they like, if you want to have one." Beyoncé continues and pulls out a piece of parchment.
"That's why I'm just gonna read your titles and then we'll get into further detail."
She clears her throat and starts reading.
"Ariana and Lorde-who is stuck in Australia at the moment- you will be the duchess' from now on. You are allowed to bring up to three other women into the castle and make them duchess' as well.
Zayn, Louis and Liam, you will be the dukes. Same rules."
Zayn and Liam send each other a smile and Louis nods into Beyoncé's direction.
"Niall, on special request, you are the princess." She reads with a smirk and the table erupts in small laughs, as Niall bows proudly.
"Now: Harry Styles will be Michael's successor as a king, since we are positive you will bring good music into the world." She says and lowers the parchment.
Harry raises his eyebrows. He had not expected that. But before he can say anything, Beyoncé reads out the last title.
"Along your side, Taylor Swift is the queen of the music industry from now on."
Harry smiles at Taylor, but sees Louis set his glass down on the table rather harshly, the glass clicking on the surface of the wooden table.
What the fuck?
"Taylor and Harry, you share the left tower. Now I believe everything is said and we can continue eating." Beyoncé ends her speech and Niall and Mick start clapping, while Louis coughs and stands up abruptly.
He empties his champagne glass and stets it back down next to his plate.
"Um. Excuse me." He says awkwardly and the next second, he's turning around and rushing out of the door.
And Harry is so done with that already.
He's done with them having eye contact, Louis brushing up all the old feelings just by looking into his eyes, just to look away and leaving the next second.
Why is he always fucking leaving?
Since Harry is very drunk himself, he doesn't even think much about it, before standing up himself.
"I'm gonna." He starts and points to the door, scrunching his nose. "I'm gonna just. You know." Some of them nod confused and Niall grips his arm.
"Please don't do anything you'll regret okay?" He asks him quietly and Harry scoffs, smiling.
"Can't promise, but I'll try." Niall snorts and lets go of him.
Harry hurries out of the door but Louis is nowhere to be seen. So he just walks into every room he can find.
He opens the door to the designing and fashion room and his eyes land on a window, that is the slightest bit open, the curtain swinging with the soft wind and cold October air blowing into the room.
On the other side of the windows is a porch and Harry just knows Louis must be there.
So without further thinking (that wouldn't have worked anyway) he makes his way into the dark room, deciding against switching on the lights because he doesn't want Louis run from him anymore.
But then Harry crashes into something.
A mannequin.
"Oh sorry." He apologizes and stares at the faceless figure.
After a few seconds, he snorts out a quiet laugh. "I thought you were a person."
The mannequin doesn't say anything and they just look at each other.
"Okay." Harry draws out. "Imma go now and look for Lou. I mean Louis."
He nods to himself, before waving politely.
"It was nice to meet you Mr. Mannequin."
The bastard doesn't reply.
Harry flips him off and continues his way over to the window.
He walks out onto the porch and immediately spots Louis sitting on the three steps that lead down onto the neat lawn of the garden.
Louis doesn't turn around and Harry walks over to him silently and sits down next to him without saying a word.
Louis' eyes are glued to the sky but he adverts his gaze and looks at their bent legs next to each other. Harry's light pink Gucci suit trousers next to Louis' plain black ones.
Harry's old vans (that absolutely don't fit the suit) next to his converse.
Harry's ring-clad hand with the cross on it next to Louis' 28-tattooed fingers.
Harry sees the surprise in his eyes when Louis' gaze lands on the promise ring. He hasn't taken it off ever since Louis had bought it for him.
Louis quickly looks back up, the back of his head touching his own shoulder blades.
"The sky is beautiful." He says quietly. So quietly, Harry almost misses it.
"It is." He whispers back, but keeps looking at Louis.
"I don't look at it enough. Two years ago I looked at it every day. But I don't look at it anymore. It's a shame because it's so beautiful."
Harry has a hard time understanding what Louis means, but he has an idea about the blue-eyed mans intention.
"But it's right here." Is all he replies and Louis swallows.
"I see it, but I can't reach it." Louis whispers and now Harry is positive they're not talking about the sky.
Louis turns his head and finally looks Harry in the eyes.
The moon shining on his skin and making his eyes look like the ocean they are.
Harry wants to swim in it until he drowns.
"Then fly."