They had fallen asleep in each other's arms that night after a lot of cuddling and kissing. It was overwhelming to Louis how good it felt to lie in bed next to Harry and listen to his breathing. His arm was wrapped around Harry and he nuzzled in the back of his neck. This was what home felt like to Louis.
There was sunlight shining through the windows when Louis finally woke up. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed the boy lying next to him. He smiled as he brushed some of the curls out of Harry's face and pressed a kiss to his temple. Harry's eyes flickered open and he looked up at Louis with sleepy eyes. A smile spread across his lips as he stared back at Louis.
"Hey", he said, his voice still raspy.
"Hey", Louis replied, completely endeared by the way Harry was rubbing at his eyes like a little kid. "Slept well?"
"Very. You?"
Louis' smile widened. "Very." He let his fingers run over Harry's arm and Harry followed the movement with his eyes, closely observing how Louis stroke over his skin.
"Let's stay here all day", Louis suggested, only half joking.
Harry laughed and Louis' heart jumped. "Lottie would never let us."
"Speaking of, she'll freak out when she realizes I spent the night here with you."
"Well, today is going to be fun then."
Louis tilted his head to the side as the stroke over Harry's jawline. "You know we have that thing with the boys, right?"
Harry groaned and closed his eyes. "Let's call in sick."
"We can't do that", Louis said and chuckled.
"We can do anything we want. We're free."
Louis looked away from Harry, his heart feeling heavy. "Not quite", he whispered.
Harry noticed how his mood shifted and sat up. He stretched out his arm to gently turn Louis' head towards him again. He stroke over his cheek as he looked him straight in the eyes.
"Hey, it's alright", he said quietly. "We have each other now, yeah? We found our way back to each other and that all that matters right now. Who gives a fuck about everyone else?"
Louis smiled at him. "Yeah, you're right."
They got out of bed 20 minutes later and when they came downstairs it was already 1pm. Louis' mom was in the kitchen, making lunch and humming a song.
"Hi darlings", she greeted them with a knowing smile. Louis chose to ignore it and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before he grabbed two bottles of orange juice out of the fridge and gave one to Harry.
"When do you have to leave for your performance?", Jay asked and began cutting some tomatoes.
"In about two hours", Harry replied and opened his bottle.
"Are you coming back for dinner? Or tomorrow morning?"
Harry shot Louis a look. "Tomorrow morning", Louis said, and Harry grinned to himself as he took another sip of orange juice.
"Okay then." She gave Louis another look before she focused her attention back on the vegetables in front of her.
Harry and Louis had some breakfast before they packed up their things and said good-bye to everyone. They would return the following day for the birthday of Louis' mom.
"How did you get here, by the way?", Louis asked as he walked up to his car.
"Liam drove me because my car is broken, and he had nothing else to do", Harry said and shrugged. "I told him he didn't have to pick me up today since I thought I could go with... you?"
He made it sound like a question, but Louis nodded quickly and smiled. "Of course you can. But I'm picking the music."
After a two hour ride, they arrived at the club where they'd have their performance in. Louis parked the car, and they entered the club together. Zayn was standing at the bar, looking down at his phone and Louis pulled Harry with him as they approached him.
"Hey", Louis said, and Zayn looked up.
"Hey, you... two?", Zayn replied, and his gaze flickered between the two of them before he smirked to himself. "How was the birthday party, hm?"
"Very nice", Harry said and leaned a bit into Louis' direction, who immediately wrapped his arm around Harry's waist.
Zayn's smirk widened and he was about to say something, when Niall joined them with a loud cheer. "Good day, amigos!", he exclaimed happily and stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes flickered down to Louis' arm around Harry's waist. "Fucking finally." He sighed heavily. "About time."
Louis smiled to himself. "So what's the plan for tonight?"
"Michael will be here soon", Zayn said and checked his phone again. "Suzie sent us the track list but she's stuck in traffic so we can't go through it yet."
"Where's Liam?"
"Buying some snacks", Niall replied and fell down on a couch. "It's way too overpriced here so we're starting a secret business."
"We're literally millionaires", Louis said and raised his eyebrows. "One would think we could manage to pay a bit more for some nachos."
"Whatever." Niall sighed happily and closed his eyes. Just in that moment, the doors to the club opened again and a group of guys stepped inside. The brown-haired-one in the middle, Michael, came up to them immediately, a clipboard in his hand.
"Alright lads, let's get to work", he said and tapped a pen against his chin. "Where's Liam? We'll begin warming up in a few minutes, so he'll better be there then. Louis, you have to-" He stopped when he saw Louis and Harry standing side by side. "...What the fuck is this?"
"Well, my name's Louis and this is Harry-"
"That's not what I mean, and you know it." He gave Louis a furious look. "What are you doing? We've talked about this and I thought we came to an agreement, two years ago."
"Yeah, well I came to the conclusion that I don't give a fuck", Louis said and tightened his grip around Harry's waist. Michael noticed and stared at Louis' hand.
Then he gave a loud sigh and turned around to his assistant. "Jessica, get the L.A. contract from two years ago out. I need Louis to read it again."
"I know what stands in there, remember how you made me sign it?", Louis asked, anger building up inside of him. Anger from two years of not being with Harry, the boy he loved, because people made him believe that was what was best. Anger from being controlled ever since he got put in a band, wanting nothing other than to sing and just live.
"Louis, please, be reasonable", Michael said and sighed again. "Legally, you can't even be in an official relationship. You agreed to stunts and pap pics with other people."
"Okay. What's your point?"
"Also", Harry joined the conversation, a frown on his face. "You're an asshole for making Louis sign that stupid thing. Just... wanted to say that." He looked over at Louis, who was watching him with a fond smile. "What?", he asked. "Continue."
Louis shook his head, the smile still on his face. "We may not be allowed to be open about it, but you can't forbid it. And the contract runs out in two years-"
"And then we're going to renew it", Michael said and rolled his eyes. "This is the real world. Wake up."
Liam walked in, holding up two plastic bags. "Hello everyone", he said happily, not sensing the tension at all. "Oh, hey Louis, Harry... Wait-"
Michael sighed. "Just... David, go brief them about everything. I have to make a call."
"Say hi to Simon from us!", Louis told him over his shoulder as Harry already pulled him to the back of the club, following the other guys.
"We can't fire him, right?", he asked as soon as Michael was out of earshot.
Harry laughed. "Sadly, no. But it's whatever. We have each other now."
"You always had me", Louis said, and Harry smiled before he pulled him in for a short, sweet kiss. Louis closed his eyes and grabbed the fabric of Harry's shirt, deepening the kiss because he longed for Harry.
They were interrupted because of a flashlight. Louis pulled away from Harry, blinking confused. Niall was holding up his phone and grinning like a maniac.
"Smile!", he ordered before he snapped another picture and began cackling. "For the scrapbook. Now continue and act like I was never here." He disappeared, but not before holding up two thumbs and mouthing: "Happy for you."
Harry chuckled and rested his forehead against Louis'. He leaned in for a quick kiss, but Louis grabbed his neck, eager to continue from where they left off. He gave Harry's hip a last squeeze before he leaned back, took his hand and lead them to the stage where the other boys where already warming up their voices.
A couple of hours and a McDonalds lunch later, the club started filling with people. Michael gave them the sign and the boys stepped on stage. Everyone started cheering and Louis grinned as he adjusted his microphone. The intro song to You & I started playing and Louis took a deep breath as he waited for his part.
When Harry started singing the refrain, he looked over at Louis and a wide smile spread across his face. Some people cheered but Louis couldn't stop staring at Harry as he sang. The way he looked at him made Louis' heart beat faster and he wanted nothing more than to embrace Harry in a big hug. He was about to take a step forwards when he spotted Michael in the corner of his eye, talking to Simon. Right. There was still that.
After the performance, the boys gathered backstage and exchanged big hugs. Louis quickly hugged Niall before he went up to Harry and wrapped his arms tightly around him. Harry rested his head on top of Louis' and pressed a small kiss to his temple.
"Your voice is so beautiful", Louis muttered.
"You look so beautiful."
Louis lifted his head and grinned. "A real charmer, aren't we?"
"I'm serious", Harry said but couldn't help a little smile. He gave Louis a last squeeze before he dropped his arms and turned around to the other boys.
"That was great, guys", Michael said as he entered the room and clapped his hands. "Niall, we need to work on your stage presence. Liam, David asked me to remind you to do your breathing exercises. And Louis..." He paused and watched Louis quietly. "I... We need to discuss something with you in private", he said eventually. "Now off you go to your hotels. Louis, stay here for a minute, yeah?"
As everyone started collecting their belongings, Harry grabbed Louis' arm. "Lou, I don't like this", he said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
He tilted his head to the side. "I have a major déjà-vu. That's exactly how it was before you flew to L.A."
"Harry." Louis turned completely to him and wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him close. "Trust me, I'm not going anywhere. Where should I even go if you're here?"
Harry lifted his hand to Louis' cheek. "I'm just... worried."
"Don't be", Louis said and smiled. "I promise, it'll be fine. They can't do anything, they have everything they want from me already."
Harry took a deep breath and eventually returned Louis' smile before he lowered his head and pressed a gentle, short kiss to his lips. Louis grabbed his neck and tried to push him closer, but Harry only chuckled lightly against his mouth and pulled away.
"Louis!", Michael called, and Louis rolled his eyes.
"I'll see you in a minute, yeah?", Louis asked.
"See you in a minute."
Harry smiled at him one last time before he left the room with the other boys and Michael and Simon gestured Louis to go through a different door, also leading out of the club.
If Louis only knew how right Harry was.