I got nothing to say.
-
Harry watched closely as Louis eyes darted between random objects scattered throughout the room and his eyes. He could literally count the amount of times Louis lips parted to say something only to abruptly shut.
Hands trembling only slightly, Harry fought back the urge to grab hold of Louis fingers to calm him down. Clearly this wasn't how Louis expected the evening to go.
Finally, Louis sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he breathed out, "It was so obvious."
"Excuse me?" The CEO frowned, wondering what kind of response to a confession that was.
His continued to pound heavily in his chest as he waited for Louis to tell him of his actual feelings but realized with dread he would have to wait just a bit longer. It seems as though Louis could barely function let alone confess his emotions.
"It was so obvious!" Louis sprang up from his seat, pacing back and forth like a madman. "The dates, the possessive behavior, the jealousy, why you wanted to crush Liam company and Nick, the bodyguards, how the sex changed from fucking to loving... it was right in front of me, and I didn't see it!"
Harry shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant and calmer than he actually was. "I wasn't trying to hide anything."
"Who else knew?" Louis let out a rugged laugh. "Perrie and Ashton figured out you were confessing today. Luke and Josh probably know too, and if Luke knows then Zayn and Niall... dammit, was I the only one who was clueless?"
Suddenly Louis plopped down on the seat again, staring at his shaking hands.
"It doesn't matter who knows," Harry scooted closer, not touching the boy. "I'd willingly scream my love for you in the middle of a crowded, public place for all I care. What matters is that I do love you and you're the first person I've ever loved."
"Harry," Louis whispered, his body ceasing all movement. "Harry, I'm so sorry. I don't love you."
Harry eyebrows furrowed, his mouth slightly agape and eyes wide with shock. "You don't...?"
"I'm in love with Liam," Louis sadly told him.
His blue eyes were stricken with such pity and sorrow but, from what Harry could tell, no love. After all of their past encounters, all of the secrets shared between them, the idea of rejection never really came to Harry. He figured there would be problems with publicity and Louis might have trouble opening up to Harry with his love, out of fear from what happened with Liam, but never rejection.
"I've always been in love. with Liam, and I probably always will be. I just... I thought we were really good friends who liked to have a little fun on the side. Harry, I'm so sorry."
"No," he blurted out, not understanding why he wasn't angry.
Whenever something complicated happened, whenever he didn't want to deal with the unpleasant emotions something brought him, he resorted to anger. Rage was comfortable, understandable, and easy. Heartbreak and loneliness were not. So why wasn't he lashing out on Louis like he normally would be? Why was he unable to cover up his vulnerability and laugh about how this was a big joke?
"It's fine. You don't have to love me back. I just wanted to tell you that I do." He's really fallen hard for Louis.
Nodding, Louis leaned forward and softly pressed his lips to Harry cheek, as though that would offer some form of comfort. The feeling of Louis lips lingered as the said boy stood up and whispered his apologizes once again, before thoroughly exiting the house.
As the cold nightly air flowed around Louis body, he slowly felt his fingers move without consent, touching his own cheek where a sudden wetness formed.
"Why?" Louis whispered, his voice choked up as he broke down into sobs. "Why am I crying all of a sudden?"
-
Harry Styles suffered a horrid night of dreams about his father, something he hasn't done in a long time. That, in short, made him look terrifying when he walked into work with bags under his eyes and darkened green eyes that caused his employees to flinch at him, something they haven't done since Louis messed up Harry coffee and received an apology for it.
When he slammed the door to his office, the whole work space started whispering to each other, all blaming Louis for his mood.
Meanwhile, Harry simply sagged at his desk, monotonously going through emails and wondering if Louis would bother coming to work today. It was a foolish thought, as Louis was very dedicated and wouldn't let a mere confession stop him from working. Still, the cowardly part of Harry hoped he wouldn't come if only to give his heart some time to heal. Perhaps if he threw himself into work and tried not to think about it? Nodding to himself, Harry turned his attention to the schedule for today.
It was one of those board meetings he needed to attend every couple of months. The CEO would be lying if he said he wasn't relieved. At least this way he has an excuse to ignore Louis throughout the day.
An excuse to ignore Louis..Dammit, since when has he become so pathetic? Sighing, he stood up and started walking to the conference room for the meeting about to start.
What useless information would they go over today? How Styles Company has been on top again? Or how Harry was, as usual, running it amazingly? It was all the same thing every year, and he was never bothered by it. So when he sat down and noticed the ominous stares directed at him, he frowned.
"What?" he snapped, putting on that tough exterior mask of his.
"We heard about your new secretary," the first man stated, eyes narrowing. "Louis Tomlinson, correct?"
"Louis William Tomlinson if you want the exact name," Harry offered a sarcastic smile.
Really? That's what they were going to discuss today? To think he thought this meeting would distract him from Louis.
"Why?"
"We looked into him," the second man stated. "Just as we do for all your new secretaries. Mr. Styles, he managed to steal some files but with the use of some of our best hackers, we found out what he was hiding. He used to be a very dedicated employee of Payne Company."
"And was fired due to attacking a fellow employee," the first man cut in again. "Doesn't that seem suspicious?"
Harry ground his teeth together in frustration. So Louis secret was discovered? Well, at least part of it was.
"Doesn't what seem suspicious?"
"That a supposedly loyal, calm headed employee of Payne Company randomly threw a fit and attacked the CEO's step brother?" the second man raised an eyebrow.
"Mr. Styles it could be a very well plotted scheme set up by Liam himself to obtain information."
"You're joking." Harry deadpanned.
"We are not."
Harry sighed, rubbing his temples. What was he supposed to say? That Louis threw that fit because Liam just ended the secret relationship between them and his stepbrother is the one that caused it? It didn't sound remotely believable and it would reveal the one thing Louis was the most sensitive about. Especially considering Louis was still in love with the bastard.
"I've talked to Louis many times. I can assure you he is not the type of person that would give away information," he explained. "He even told me about the incident at Payne Company."
"Then what about this?" the third man opened a picture on the projector in the room.
On the photo was Louis having coffee with Liam Payne. It was recent, Harry could tell. Louis was wearing the same outfit as when he screamed at Harry to 'stop attacking Liam Payne'. Automatically he knew Louis wasn't betraying him, although he couldn't stop the arising jealousy and possession at the photo.
His trust in Louis wouldn't be enough to convince the board members.
"What do you want me to do?" Harry sighed. "Fire him? He is no threat to us."
"It's either him or us," the first man glared at him. "We refuse to work for a company less than the best. If this boy decides to betray us, this company will be ruined."
"You can't be serious," his eyebrows shot up.
It would be fine if only one man left but all of them? There were, in total, around fifteen board members but only three truly took action in the decision making. If these three quit, so would the rest. Styles Company would not be able to survive that.
"Us or Lewis Tomlinson." Sighing in defeat, Harry started to rub his temples again, fighting the urge to strangle those three.
He desperately wanted to choose Louis, to tell these men to go screw themselves. But the company was at stake, and he couldn't risk it. Maybe he could come up with an elaborate plan to save Louis later. Right now he needed to save his company.
"His name is Louis, and he'll be gone by the end of the day."
-
Louis strode into work with heavy bags under his eyes. After Harry confession, he ended up going home and crying himself to sleep for reasons unknown to him. The ache in his belly reminded him of the morning after Liam broke up with him, and Louis couldn't possibly understand why. Perhaps it was due to how close he was with Harry.
He did inform him of his past, something he did not even hint at to Ashton. Speaking of, Ashton and Perrie were patiently waiting at his desk giggling and blushing with joy. He sighed; time to break the news.
"Hey guys," he forced a smile.
"He didn't get any sleep," Ashton dramatically pointed at the shades of purple under his eyes. "You know what that means!"
"Fun night?" Perrie smirked.
"Awful night." Louis plopped down on his seat, running his fingers through his hair. "You guys knew he was in love with me?"
Both appeared confused. "Well yeah" Perrie nodded. "It was obvious."
"Yeah," Louis snorted. "It really was."
"Lou?" Ashton inched forward. "Did he do something?"
"Yeah!" he threw his arms in the air to make a point, although exaggerated. "He freakin' confessed his eternal love for me, and I don't love him back! Why didn't you people warn me about this or open my eyes or even hinted that he might be in love? I could have done something to prevent my minor heart attack!"
Perrie eyes practically tripled in size as her mouth dropped open. It would have been almost comical if it wasn't such a serious conversation.
"Wait a minute... you don't love him back? You rejected Harry Styles?"
He sighed. "Yeah."
"What?" Ashton covered his mouth with hand. "But you two were so good together. What about all of those dates and the sex? Didn't that mean anything to you?"
"Of course it did!" Louis voice cracked in the middle, and shit he didn't want to start crying again.
"I really valued Harry as a friend, and I thought he felt the same way. I thought the sex was just a side thing, and we stopped having it for a while once we became really close. The dates... well I just thought Harry didn't know the difference between something fancy to throw for someone you love and a nice outing with a friend. I never took it too seriously"
"Lou," Ashton wrapped his arms around Louis shoulders. "To think we were worried Harry would accidentally break your heart."
The phone's shrill ring broke their moment, and Louis quickly answered it before whoever was on the other line decided to hang up. Ashton and Perrie watched as his expression fell.
"Oh Harry? Yeah, I can go to your office Okay. Bye."
"You're being called to his office?" Perrie frowned. "Harry normally just personally gets you."
"Maybe he just wants to avoid the awkward confrontation for a little longer," Louis tried to joke.
The two girls' eyes followed him with concern as he disappeared behind the office doors that lead directly to Harry. Sighing, both pulled out their phones and quickly texted their beloved others the news as to avoid them asking Harry or Louis about it. Without another word, they went back to their own jobs with diminishing hope in their hearts.
-
Meanwhile Louis tried to calm his quickening heart rate when his eyes landed on Harry, who appeared far too stressed for his own good. Biting his lip, he briefly wondered if he caused that by rejecting him. He approached the edge of Harry desk and flinched at the overall serious way Harry was staring at him. Whatever he wanted to tell him, it wasn't good.
"Louis." He sounded exhausted. "I have some bad news..You're... you're being let off." Louis blinked, uneasily laughing.
"What?"
"It has nothing to do with last night, I assure you." Harry leaned back on his chair. "But the board members discovered your past with Payne company and declared it was either you or them. I'm sorry, but for the best interest of the company I have to pick them."
"Oh." Louis straightened up, coughing in his hands and attempting to calm himself.
The last time he experienced something similar to this was when Liam dumped him. Well, unlike last time, he was going down gracefully and with dignity. Not kicking and screaming like a pathetic child.
"Thank you, Mr. Styles, for giving me the opportunity to work with you. It has been an overall pleasure, and I hope your company flourishes."
"Louis-"
"Goodbye," he smiled, turning around and walking out of the room with tears in his eyes.
Dammit, why was he crying again? It was one job and one friend he lost. No, that was a lie. By being fired, he was losing Perrie and Ashton, thereby losing Zayn, Niall, Josh, and Luke with them. But what stung the most was how he might never see Harry again. His best friend, who fell in love with him and was forced to fire him.
As he walked out of the building, he subconsciously pulled out his phone, unaware of his own actions until the screen was pressed against his ear and a familiar voice answered.
"Liam? Hey it's Louis. I'd like to take up that job offer."
-
"What?!" Niall exclaimed.
"Yeah." Zayn replied knowingly.
"But they were so good together!"
"I know."
"Fuck!" Niall cursed, falling back on his couch.
They were in their house when Luke finally called them about the news regarding Harry and Louis. Unexpectedly, Louis rejected Harry and claimed he didn't love him. As shocking as that was, Niall tried to think back to all the times Louis implied his "love" for Harry.
His mind went through all the stories Perrie and Ashton told, all the little moments he's seen, and could think of none. They were so excited Harry finally fell in love that they missed how Louis treated the whole situation in a platonic manner (well besides the sex).
"I know," Zayn was rubbing his back. "We can't force Louis to love Harry. I think we just hoped he would so we would have our old friend back"
"What's going to happen now?" Niall whimpered, leaning his head against Zayn shoulder.
"Is Harry going to go back to the way he was? What if he becomes worse? Zayn, we just got him back, and I don't want to lose him again"
His fiancé nodded in understanding. "Me too."
Not too long after he said that, a faint knock was heard at the door. Niall and Zayn questionably glanced at each other before rushing towards the door.
Expecting it to be Louis, they hurled open the wooden door to see someone even more unexpected.
Harry Styles stood there, drenched from the pouring rain. His green eyes held such unstable sadness and misfortune that it made Zayn flinched. His clothes stuck to his body from the wetness outside and he was hunched over, shivering due to the cold winds. For the first time in a long time, Harry Styles looked absolutely vulnerable.
"Harry!" Niall exclaimed, pushing the man in without hesitation and slamming the door behind him.
"What are you doing here?"
"Sorry," the CEO gave the couple a completely fake smile. "I just... my mansion is so lonely. Have you ever noticed that? I normally have Louis spend nights over but now he's not there. Or at the company. The board members fired him for his previous jobs."
"Oh my," the blonde man whispered, placing a soothing hand on his shoulder. "You can stay with us. We don't have a guest room but we have a couch, if you'd like. You can freshen up too."
"I'll show you the way to the shower," Zayn agreed, leading his friend to the bathroom.
His soon to be husband watched them leave with a tremble in his hand. Of all the person as he thought Harry would take, this wasn't one of them. Harry would have normally been cruel, angry, and hiding all weaknesses behind lies and harmful deceptions.
What on earth did Louis do to him? For the most part, it was an awful situation. His best friend's heart was broken and it was due to his other best friend. Yet, a small slither of him leaped for joy at this new development. Instead of pushing them out, Harry was welcoming them back in with open arms, something Niall didn't think he would do even if Louis did return his feelings.
So, overall, was it such a bad thing? At the moment, Niall couldn't decide.
-
Uh..sorry. Please don't hate me! Xx, M.