Sticking his head out the door, Louis looked around. His hair was a mess from the fighting and his cheeks flushed from kissing on the floor. Immediately the two guards met his eyes and stepped forward to him.
"You could have toned it down a little," one of them said with narrowed eyes. Louis eyed the hallway, a few people farther down the path staring at him. Oh. He hadn't even thought about the fact that they could have been overheard.
"Oh." He gulped. "Could you hear us?"
"Just muffled shouts. Either way I think we should leave now before the movie ends," the other guard told him. Louis nodded and turned to Harry who was waiting behind him.
"You better pull your hoodie up," he suggested.
Louis slipped out the bathroom, ignoring people's wondering looks and making his way to the back door where he got out and waited by the black SUV. A few minutes later Harry emerged with the guards in tow, hoodie up, beanie pulled down. Louis thought he looked more like a mysterious villain than anything else. They slipped in the car and leaned back against the backseat.
Then they talked. They both agreed solemnly and stubbornly that none of them were immature, although it felt slightly ironic since they'd just been fighting with soap and water in the bathroom of a movie theatre. Harry agreed that it wasn't just Louis' fault that the girls knew although Louis also agreed that he had had big part in it. Louis told Harry that of course he knew that Harry wasn't meaning to hide him like that, and he wasn't expecting him to go out and say that he was seeing someone. He wanted him to, sure, but he didn't expect it. But Harry insisted that if that was what Louis wanted then of course he would tell people he was off limits. If only his management would allow it then Harry would do it soon.
"You sure?" Louis asked hesitantly.
"Yeah...Harvey and I already talked about telling people I like guys too, so I might as well start off with saying I'm unavailable."
"I don't want to pressure you into it," Louis bit his lip. He couldn't ask this of Harry! No one should be asked to come out. You had to want it, otherwise you shouldn't.
"Listen to me, Louis," Harry stared into his eyes. Louis couldn't do other than gaze back. "I want this. I truly do. And regardless...I'd do anything for you."
"I love you," was all Louis could whisper back. He really did. Harry was the kindest, most caring, the most adorable and absolute best person out there. He put up with all the shit Louis brought and here he was, saying he'd do anything for him. And seeing Harry's eyes light up like stars at those words, Louis promised to tell him every day because he'd never seen anything more beautiful than that.
---
It was Wednesday a few days later and Louis was sitting at the breakfast bar, books splayed out on the table and a frown on his forehead. Niall was by the coffee table in front of him, the same expression on his face. Studying was something that they had forced on themselves, as it was mid terms and they hadn't done it in weeks. Niall's eyes kept flicking to his phone, watching it like he expected it reciprocate his gaze, something Louis had picked up on him doing for the last days.
"She's not going to call you any faster just because you're staring at the phone."
"I'm not staring." Niall protested.
"Sure you're not," Louis smirked at him. "Don't you think it's time to give up? It's almost been a week."
"That doesn't mean she won't call."
"Sure."
"Stop saying 'sure'. She'll call."
"I don't think so," Louis said honestly. It was better not to get the kid's hopes up.
"Be supportive!"
"Of what? There's nothing to be supportive of since she hasn't called."
"She'll call!"
"She won't."
"She will!" Niall sent him a death glare.
"Mate," Louis started. "You gave her your number last Saturday. It's been like four days. She denied your request to come back here and you haven't heard from her since and why in the world would she-" His rant was interrupted by a loud tone of Marimba and Niall practically throwing himself over the coffee table to reach his phone. "-call you now..." Louis finished groaningly. Dammit, the girl called.
"Hello?" Niall said and Louis grew annoyed. Whatever happened to speakerphone? Louis jumped down from his barstool and moved in next to Niall on the couch. After a few tries he succeeded to wrench the device from his hands and press speaker.
"...and I've had a lot to do so," her voice trailed off.
"Oh, that's alright, Georgia." Niall told her while grinning. Louis wanted to roll his eyes but suspected he'd get punched if Niall saw.
"So, what are you up to?" she asked lightly. She had a lovely voice, Louis noted. Soft and sweet. Crap.
"Studying. Not much else. You?" Niall answered while Louis stared at him, eyes narrowed.
"Nothing really. Do you want to do something later?" Louis watched as Niall's whole face lit up with excitement and ground his teeth together. The girl was nice and seemed great, but no.
"Yeah, absolutely." Niall grinned and they began discussing where to meet while Louis shook his head disappointedly. They decided to meet and the coffee shop where Louis worked and he thanked the lords that he didn't have to be there that day.
They eventually hung up and Niall turned to Louis with raised eyebrows, telling him "What do you have to say now?"
Louis shook his head. "We could have been Batman and Robin."
"But none of them are gay?" Niall frowned confusedly.
"Well...uh.."
"Besides you should be happy I'm making new friends," Niall scolded him.
"Friends?" Louis raised a brow skeptically.
"Yes, friends."
"Sure."
---
Harry had very soft lips. And firm... And his tongue was perfectly teasing...and- He was a good kisser was all. Louis sucked on Harry's lower lip teasingly, finishing the kiss by pulling back while biting lightly into the lip. Harry let out a soft huff as he did so, and his hands tightened at Louis' waist.
"Hmmf," he puffed into Louis' neck where he buried his face, and Louis let his hands slip into the back pockets of his jeans. It was later that same Wednesday, and they were behind stage, leaning back against some big box, cuddling and kissing before the boys were going on stage in an hour. One Direction was having a concert this night and Louis had arrived earlier this time to hang out with the boys, but it had turned into a smaller make out session with Harry instead. Not that he complained. Niall was spending his afternoon with Georgia so he wasn't there, and Liam and Zayn were doing something with coffee cups, that Louis didn't understand, a few yards away. There were a few people from the crew running around but they didn't care much about what the boys were up to. The people who worked close around One Direction knew of Harry's sexual desires quite well and "Torry" wasn't something they paid much attention to.
"You...-" Harry said, placing kisses on Louis' neck. "-...are...so...beautiful."
Louis' stomach fluttered. It always did whenever Harry said something like that. He would tell him all kinds of compliments all the time, but he never got used to it. He felt his cheeks flush and Harry raised his head and looked at him. He ran a thumb over Louis' right cheekbone and kissed it lightly.
"And you're the best boyfriend ever..." Louis purred.
"I know someone who's better..." Harry said.
"Aren't you the sweetest," Louis leaned in and kissed his jaw.
"Thanks. And Danielle's a lucky girl." Harry said, deadpanned. Louis pulled back and half-heartedly glared at him, shaking his head. But he couldn't help how the corners of his mouth were still tilted up.
"I'll get you later for that," he told Harry, who snickered at his own joke.
"Sounds dangerous..." he grinned back.
"Mhm..." Louis unexpectedly squeezed Harry's bum with his hands that were still jammed into his pockets. Harry jumped and squealed in surprise, causing him to press his crotch into Louis'.
"Slave..." Louis whispered, placing kissed at the hollow above Harry's collarbone.
"Slave?"
"Dangerous slave," Louis told him.
"Sounds interesting," Harry murmured to him before locking their lips in a kiss. Harry's hands slid to the arch of Louis' back, pressing him tighter against him, momentarily forgetting that they weren't alone in the room. Louis let out a soft moan and he kissed him a little more intense. Louis hungrily reciprocated and groped at Harry's bum, making him squirm into Louis.
"Not in here please," a passing Lou Teasdale, the boys' stylist, said. Her arms were full of clothes and products and she pointedly held her head out of their direction.
Harry laughed, "Sorry, Lou!"
"Whatever Harry," she said, but couldn't keep a smile off her face.
"I like her," Louis said and Harry leaned back against the box behind him again, pulling his boyfriend with him. Standing between Harry's legs, Louis played with the collar of his shirt.
"She's great," Harry said fondly. "I talk to her about everything."
Louis smiled back and kissed the corner of his mouth.
"YEAH!" There was a loud crash, sounding scarily much like coffee cups being smashed into concrete, and Louis jumped in surprise. Zayn and Liam were cheering loudly and Harry rolled his eyes.
"I don't know what to say," Harry shrugged. "They're always up to something."
"You could be up to something," Louis smirked at him. Harry grinned, and pressed his hands into Louis' back pockets like Louis had done to him before. Louis was pulled to him and he wrapped his arms around his neck.
"Harry!" They heard Lou's voice from across the room. "What did I tell you about PDA! And get over here, I need to fix your mess of a hair."
Harry laughed and stood, kissing Louis one last time before trudging over to his stylist.
---
"HOLY MOTHER OF SHIT !!" Louis cried out, causing the people around him to stare. He was in one of the VIP rooms, watching the boys in the beginning of their concert and had opened his twitter to say something about how "Rock Me" was a very dirty song, but was not prepared for the hysteria that was going on on the site. No. No. No fucking way. CRAP.
"I need to call my lawyer!" Louis panicked. FUCKING SHIT. FUCKFUCKFUCK. He quickly dialed Niall's number while almost running out of the room, people staring at him in surprise and confusion.
He was going to kill Liam and Zayn. They were so dead.
---
*FAN POV*
Sophie Jackson (@sophjay)
WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?
1 Direction forever (@Hannahlovespie)
WHAT IS THAT IN THE BACKGROUND
Penelope Payne (@frenzy1D)
Are they kissing?!? OMFG Is that HARRY?!
Sara Anderson (@Harrytakemygravy)
Wait. Is that. Two. Guys.
Hayley Bennett (@bennett101)
OMFG HAROLD. ARE YOU KEEPING SECRETS FROM US
Harry's lover (@carolineK)
Fuck no!!!!!! I will cut that bitch
Torry <3 (oliviashepard)
Please no. just everybody calm down, we don't even know if that's even harry.
"Oh. My. God." Jenna said to Elle, who looked kind of blue.
"Holy. Shit," she agreed.
Just before going on stage, Liam had posted a Keek video on the app, together with Zayn. It was cute. They had been behind stage, fooling around. Liam had but a coffee cup filled with cold coffee on Zayn's head. Zayn had moved, causing the cup to fly in the air towards the floor while Liam tried to catch it before it broke against the floor without spilling. He did not succeed and they cheered loudly even though they failed miserably.
But that was not what caused the panic and chaos on twitter and tumblr. What caused the craze was not Zayn or Liam, but something going on in the background. It was blurry and hard to see, but no doubt there were two people leaning against something and hugging tightly, if not more.
Maria Jackson (@mariajjj)
That's harry for sure. I am confused though. Is that a guy or a girl he's kissing?
Sammi (@Harryhug)
OMFG. WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING.
Penguinnsss (@lukelovesleigh)
THAT'S NOT HARRY. JESUS. #ThatsNotHarry
"I want to punch that bitch," Jenna said honestly.
"Of course it's Harry and Louis!" Elle exclaimed exaggeratedly. "People are so dumb! We could have HD pictures of them kissing and people would not believe it!"
"Though it is sort of blurry. Louis could pass for a girl here... but Harry's hair is unmistakable. It's him. I wonder what Modest is going to do?"
"Same. Wonder if Liam even knows this is happening in his Keek?"
"Let's watch it again," Jenna suggested. But somehow they couldn't press play and had to refresh the page.
Video not found.
"Oh my god. They deleted it."
---
Torry forever (@ElleBradford)
I'm 200% sure that's Harry and Tommo.
Jenna Cambridge (@JCbridge)
Torry is real. Accept fact.
Joanna Directioner (@1djoanna)
@TheTommo is that you in Liam's keek?
Kendra Styles (@kendra94)
But that's clearly a guy. @TheTommo ?
Penny York (@Li_Payne)
Guys! That's a girl. Look at the ankles for gods sake!
"I DO NOT HAVE GIRLY ANKLES," Louis burst out angrily.
"Louis," Niall said. "That's not the problem right now." Louis glared at the screen. He would have to make an official statement about his ankles later, that was for sure.
"Okay, let's see what we can do about this," Niall said, trying to get things together. Louis had got home about half an hour earlier, crying out about exposition and Liam's funeral invitations. So far Niall and Louis had gone through twitter and tumblr, trying to figure out where the fandom was at. There seemed to be split opinions all over. Some were in denial, refusing to acknowledge the incident as something of importance, as they claimed nothing was going on. The footage was blurry and the colors dark and greyish, but even though Louis had been in the state of denial by wishful thinking himself too for a few moments, he realized the contours in the clip were a little too sharp to be able to ignore it. Other people agreed it was a couple in the back, although neither were Harry or Tommo. Some said it was definitely Harry but he was with a girl while others claimed it was a guy. Some believed it was only Harry cuddling platonically with a friend, denying any sort of romance. And so it went on. So many different theories and opinions, it was exhausting. It was giving Louis a headache.
"Modest took down the clip at least," Niall said, trying to bring some light into the situation. "But that doesn't mean there aren't already thousands of copies spread all over the Internet."
Aanndd killed it. Louis groaned loudly. Harry was still doing his show, having no idea of what was going on or that Louis had left the arena. Louis was sure Modest would have a word with Harry and probably also the other two immediately afterwards.
Niall turned from the computer and looked him in the eye. "Louis."
"What?" he whined from where he'd buried his face in the pillows of the couch.
"Louis, look at me," he demanded and Louis reluctantly did as told. Niall stared into his pained expression and said determinedly. "Louis, I will not have any more misfortune events. Such as you turning me into your beard again, so I will set a few rules for you." He made big show of clearing his throat and clasping his hands together importantly, and then continued firmly. "You will not say a word. No trying to look innocent, no playing confused by all the tweets and commotion, no making it look like you were somewhere else. Because when you and Harry finally come out, you will look like a liar. That is bad publicity. Real bad.
"You will also not make public contact with Harry, like tweet him. Not today and not tomorrow, and I'd prefer it if you didn't tweet at all this day. Modest still hasn't okayed any sort of coming out so we don't want this little spark to start a fire. I already think Modest messed up by taking it down. Sure, they might not want such footage connected to the band, but it makes it seem like they have something to hide." Niall took a breath while Louis stared in wonder.
"What I'm saying is this you should stay quiet about it. No confirmation of any kind, but also no denying. Don't say a word. Act like it didn't happen. Can you do that?"
Louis just stared back. What a fucking genius. Louis felt overwhelmed by the sheer brilliance of his best friend. "Niall, I love you so much, do you know that?"
"Yes," Niall said, chin high importantly but a smile crept onto his face as he turned back to his computer.
"I can't believe you're not studying this! You're amazing!" Louis said appreciatively. What a brilliant guy.
Niall stopped in his movements and slowly turned back to face Louis. He closed his eyes, clenching his teeth together and slowly dragged his hands over his face, all in immense utter and exasperate frustration.
"I do study it, Louis."
"Oh." Ooooh. Huh. He'd been living with Niall for like two years and he didn't know that. Wake up call, they really should start thinking about their studies more. Then Louis perked up.
"Then you should definitely be my publicist and lawyer, period." Niall rolled his eyes and sighed, leaning back into the couch. Louis did the same. Niall's rules seemed easy enough. Basically - don't do shit. He was pretty okay with that. Huh, not as exhausting all this really after all.
"Hey, how'd it go with Georgia?" He suddenly remembered.
Niall's face lit up and he grinned. "Great! She's pretty awesome."
"So?" Louis wondered, raising an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Soooo...? Anything you want to tell me?" he prompted.
Niall frowned confusedly and then realization hit. "We're just friends!"
Louis rolled his eyes. "Sure."
"Stop the sure's. I hate the sure's. Just get it through your thick little head that we're just friends."
Louis let it go with that and then suggested they'd watch a film. He put the dvd in and then forced Niall to cuddle with him under a blanket on the couch.
"If you make a move I'll punch you." Niall told him matter-of-factly.
"Don't worry. And if you get a boner, I'll call Gee-gee so she can take care of it for you." Niall hit him in the kidney.
After getting through half of the movie Louis' phone called and he turned anxious again. When he got his phone and realized it was only Harry he sighed out in relief.
"Baby, you know what happened right?" Harry's voice said on the other side of the line. "That's why you left?"
"Yeah. I didn't know what to do. Had a little crisis, but I'm fine. You?"
"About the same. My management just talked to me," Harry informed. "And a had pretty great slating with Liam for not double checking his clip before sending it out."
"What happens now? They said that for now, no confirmation, no denying, no tweeting each other. Pretty basic." It was pretty much was Niall had said too. Damn, the kid was good.
"So...they're not killing us?"
"Nope. Not yet at least."
"What do you mean?" Louis said worriedly.
"You and me are going down to the office tomorrow morning."
"Oh."
"Lou?" Louis gulped but could really bring himself to answer. Christ. "Baby? You alright?"
"Mhm." The mumble was high pitched and didn't sound slightly relaxed.
"Don't freak out. I know you're freaking out but I promise it will be fine. They just want to set up some sort of plan and make sure we're down with it."
"Okay?" Louis finally answered. Meeting Modest! Management. He was terrified. And he didn't like Harvey. He had already toned down the "disgraceful" tweets and he wasn't planning to change anything else about himself for that man.
"Don't worry about it, you'll be alright. Plus the boys will also be there so we're not alone."
"Are you coming over tonight?" Louis wondered.
"Actually I'm pretty knackered so I'll just sleep at mine tonight," Harry told him apologetically.
"Meh," Louis pouted but he was pretty tired himself and it was already late anyway. Niall was already snoring behind him on the couch.
"I'll pick you up at 8 tomorrow, okay love?"
"AM?! Are you joking?" Absurd.
"Nope. Now go to sleep babe. I love you."
"I love you."
---
"I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying," Louis chanted, the upper half of his body hanging off the expensive leather couch outside Harvey's office. He'd been repeating the same sentence for the last twenty minutes, trying to make his words become true by sheer will. He was definitely nervous to say the least. Harvey Fucking Modest Management was sitting inside that office, ready to slay, slice, chop and chuck. Or something a little less dramatic.
"If you could just zip it for two seconds, that'd be good," Zayn snapped in frustration.
"Yeah," Liam agreed. "Please."
Before Louis had time to defend himself against their very unprovoked complaints, the office door swung open and Harvey stood in the doorway, clearing his throat. The sound startled Louis, causing him to fall out of position and onto the floor. Great start. He clumsily stood and followed the other three boys into the office. In the doorway he caught eyes with Harvey and they had a long (very movie-like cowboy-ish) stare down. Or at least so Louis imagined. There was a big desk in the far end of the room and there a woman and a serious looking man stood. Louis ignored their hard stares and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the big desk, choosing the one closest to Liam, considering that he was the buffest in the band. Harry apparently saw what he was doing and rolled his eyes but sat down on the other side of Liam, while Zayn took the chair on Harry's right. Harvey closed the door behind them and Louis panicked when realizing there was only one exit out of the claustrophobic room. Harvey came to sit on the other side of the desk opposite the boys.
"Boys," he said to them, not bothering with any polite greetings. "You all know why you are here and you've all agreed before and your lawyer," he gestured at the man in a suit, "have checked it through several times." Woah. Wait. Louis was confused. He did not know what was going on?
Harvey picked up a stack of papers and handed out something that looked scarily much like contracts and handed them out to the band members. Liam met eyes with the lawyer who nodded reassuringly and before Louis knew it Liam had signed the papers and handed them back to Harvey. In the next few moments Zayn did the same and then Harry also handed over his contract. Harvey nodded approvingly and then handed out another pair of papers. This time Harry and Louis were the only ones to receive and Louis got two. Nervously Louis eyed the papers and his eyes widened in shock as he took in the headlines on the contracts.
"Harry fucking Styles," he said flatly. "What the hell did you just sign?"
"Louis..."
"No. Fuck you, Harry." He abruptly stood from his seat, causing his chair to fall over, contracts still in his hands.
"Louis! Please just listen!"
"What the hell did you just sign?!"
"Louis, please calm down-" Liam tried.
"No, shut the fuck up, Liam! It's all of you! What the fuck did all of you just sign!?" He yelled angrily.
"Louis," Harry stood from his seat. "I know I should have talked to you about this first, but I thought –"
"What if you thought wrong? What then?" Louis demanded.
"Well..." Harry didn't have an answer. Louis flung his hands exasperatedly in the air and stormed towards the door.
"I'm out of here!" he informed loudly. "And don't you dare call Harry! I'm so fucking done right now!" He yanked the door open and stormed out, slamming the door closed.
Fucking Harry and his fucking stupid mind. Why, why, why?