"Race you there!" Louis cries, jumping down the stairs two at a time. Harry chases behind him in a tangle of long limbs and curls, tripping over his own feet and nearly falling down the stairs. Louis dashes through the flat, pulling on his pair of Vans, watching Harry closely. "Don't trip over your own feet! How uncoordinated can you be, Haz?"
Louis gets the last shoe on as Harry is rounding the corner, scampering for the door.
"Ahh! Nope!" Louis giggles, blocking the doorway.
"Let me out Lou!"
Louis sighs. "Well, I suppose...." he turns around and swings open the door, hearing it whack against the brick wall. He makes a run for his car with a laugh.
"You got me there," Harry says as he climbs into the driver's seat. Louis has already settled himself in the passenger's side, which only means he's not driving for anything. "I know I did," Louis chirps. "Could've gone faster if you could run properly."
Harry can't help but laugh as he puts the key in the ignition. He takes Louis' hand over the console, brushing his thumb across Louis' delicate knuckles. Even after four years, he still can't get used to the feel of small, smooth skin wrapped in his.
"Just drive, fool. I'm not prepared for today and if you keep sitting here it gives me more time to panic," Louis whines. He sits up in his seat as Harry pulls out of the driveway, heading for the studio to warm up for their interview and performance today.
This only means the two of them will be face-to-face with the disapproving Liam, accompanied with Zayn and Niall. Their original plan was to annoy the fuck out of management today, but then they decided not to. There's no reason to mess up everything they still have left before the show.
It's a few quiet moments before Louis speaks up. "Harry?"
"Hm?"
"What if they don't... what if Liam still hasn't forgiven me?" Louis squeaks. He looks over at Harry with sad eyes, even though Harry is glued to the road. "What if he doesn't want to deal with us? Harry?"
Harry sighs and squeezes his hand. "Then it's his problem and not ours."
Louis frowns. "It would be all of our problems, Harry."
"We're just going to have to wait and see then, hmm?" Harry chimes. He flashes a cheeky smile over at Louis, showing off his dimples as they come to a stoplight. Louis' shoulders relax, and he melts into the curve of his seat. "Okay."
~
The studio is dark and casts shadows across the parking lot when Harry and Louis pull up to it. The dark, purplish-tinted clouds above don't do anything but make the day seem gloomy.
A small group of fans are waiting outside the doors to the studio, despite the ugly weather, blocked off by a few security guards. Harry holds Louis' hand tightly, knowing that the fans can't see them from here. They're parked fairly close to the mob, but the window tint is too dark to see through.
Harry can feel Louis shaking. He looks over at him with a worried look, to see him trembling pretty noticeably. "What's wrong babe?"
"I don't w-want to let go."
Both of their eyes flick down to the connection they still have over the console. Just once. Just once, they must show how much pain they've been forced into. Please, just this once.
"Babe, please stop shaking. I won't let you go," Harry whispers.
"But what about-"
Harry has already let go of Louis' hand though, and he's climbing out of the car. He's greeted by fifty or so screams, half of those his and Louis' names. He looks behind him at the small, older boy hovering in his seat. "C'mon," he says.
Louis gulps down the nervousness in his throat and climbs over the console, popping out of the car on the same side Harry did. He shuts the door behind him and presses into Harry's arm.
Harry catches one of the guard's eyes. "No cameras," he mouths to him. He guesses the security guard understood, because in a matter of seconds he's told the others and the fans are putting their phones away with worried expressions.
Harry takes in a breath and finds Louis' hand, winding his fingers between his. He squeezes it gently before dropping his head down and walking towards the mob.
Screams and shouts are all the pair hear when the fans finally see the hand-holding going on between the two. "Look!" is being yelled first, before their hearts are either sabotaged with supportive cries or cold questions.
"We've been supporting Larry since 2010, we love you, we're so proud of you!"
"We knew it all along!"
"LARRY STYLINSON!"
Louis smiles at these, knowing he's done the right thing. He loves the fact these fans are so caring and loving, how they're supporting them. Yes. The fans don't care. Harry was right; they don't have to hide.
There's two things that are pissing him off, though. Louis keeps his head down, but he can catch a few smaller girls being led off by their parents. They're shooting looks of disgust at them, their children looking back in tears.
And then there's the fans who fell for Louis and Eleanor.
"What about Eleanor?!"
"LOUIS! NO!"
"LOUIS LOVES ELEANOR THOUGH!"
"Fuck off Harry, Louis is straight!"
Louis can't even get to the door without losing it. He looks up at the fans on both sides of him, pulling Harry to a stop. He looks over at Louis, with fear scratched through his eyes. "Don't, the fans have cameras."
And it's true, the fans have pulled their phones back out of their pockets. It's no use now; they already see. The whole fanbase will see.
Louis' facial features are scrunched up in anger. "Fuck off," he spits. The crowd looses a little bit of its volume before the fans aren't even directing their words to them anymore. The fans have grown angry at each other. They're screaming their fucking heads off at each other.
No. What have they done?
Harry shakes his head and tugs on Louis' hand, pulling him into the privacy of the studio.
~
Only a few seconds alone, walking through the halls of the building holding hands, are granted to them before they round the corner into a people-filled room.
Zayn and Niall are play-fighting on the couch, and Liam is buried in a mass of blankets on a bean bag chair, looking down at his phone and singing under his breath. When Louis and Harry walk into the room, he looks up.
"Took you long enough," he grumbles. Louis feels cornered and drops Harry's hand. "I'm s-"
"What is this?!" Liam cries suddenly, brandishing his phone out to them. Zayn and Niall look up from the position they're in. Liam stands up, stomping over to Louis and Harry.
Liam's phone is modeling a fan's tweet, with three words in bold- "Harry", "Louis" and "studio." Harry takes the phone from Liam's trembling hands, letting Louis read the tweet next to him. Liam was searching for any news about the arrival of the two to the studio; he's found it.
ღ k a y l e y ღ @InkingStylinson LOUIS & HARRY WERE OUTSIDE THE STUDIO JUST NOW HOLDING HANDS OH MY GOD I CANT BREATHE ORUGORKE
Harry shook his head vigorously. "No, that didn't happen."
Liam snatches the phone back. "Why would you think that's a good idea? Do you know how many tweets I'm getting? TOO MANY! All asking me if this rumour is true, and I can't say yes or no! Harry! Tell me the truth!"
"It's true," Louis hisses. He whips past Liam, knocking his shoulder out of the way. "Fuck it!" he shouts, kicking a Chinese food box from their last visit around.
"Fuck everything, you know?!" Liam adds. His head is spinning. These two are ruining the band.
Louis whips back around to face him. "I swear to fucking god Liam Payne-"
"No!" Zayn yells, jumping over the couch and bolting towards Louis. He holds his shoulders back. "Louis, calm down," he pleads, but Louis throws his hands off.
"I'm sick of this!" Louis shouts, making sure he was staring hard at Liam. Liam stared back, his eyes cold and full of hatred. "I don't like to fucking hide anymore, and all I do is hold Harry's hand in the name of love for fifty SUPPORTIVE fans and you go off on me! I don't.... I don't want to be in a fucking band with you if you're going to keep going off on me for showing that I love someone that's not Eleanor Calder!"
Niall is standing up now, inching closer to them. The four of them, Liam, Louis, Zayn and Harry, are standing fairly close to each other in a broken oval. Niall walks closer, completing the oval, just in time to watch Liam spit something back.
"What are you saying?!"
"I'M SAYING I DON'T WANT TO ME IN A BAND. I DON'T WANT TO BE NEAR YOU ANYMORE!" Louis roars. His fists are balled at his sides, and his eyes are darkening in colour. Seeing all the warning signs, Harry starts shaking his head. He reaches out for Louis, but Louis jumps away. "Louis..." Harry tries.
"Shut up Harry!" Louis shouts. Harry wilts into his hunchback formation with his head down.
His rage casts a tense silence over the five of them. Niall chews nervously on his nails as tears collect in his eyes. "Please, no," he whispers.
Louis looks over at him with a broken expression, but he's still so angry and Liam, that he doesn't care about Niall's feelings.
"You can't... you can't kick me out," Liam says. His voice cracks with uncertainty, and his tone is quieter. Desperate.
Harry's eyes shift between Liam and Louis'. "I don't... no, Louis."
"I think..." Zayn starts.
Everybody is too scared about what the only option left is to say it. Nobody wants to.
The rage is starting to boil in his flesh again. He doesn't want to just stand around and wait for someone to say it. So he does. "One Direction... is... no more then," Liam says sternly.
Liam turns on his heels swiftly, collecting his jacket off of the floor and walking out of the door. The four left look around at each other. Liam is no longer with them. One Direction is no longer a name they carry around on their shoulders. It's all over.
Zayn coughs, looking down at his feet. They all look at him nervously. "I guess I should be going too, then," he mumbles. He looks up, met by three faces on the verge of breaking. He takes in a breath and lets it out with a nod.
Zayn turns and walks out the door as well, his hands tucked in his pockets. The three left hear him suppress a cry through their silence.
Niall's face is wet and red. He's already crying. "This is exactly what I knew was gonna happen," he croaks. He takes his shirt in his fist and dabs at his puffed eyes. "I'm sorry," he lets out.
He chokes on his own spit as he grabs his phone off the couch and runs out the door. That leaves Louis and Harry.
Harry's eyebrows knit together in confusion. He looks at Louis with sad eyes. Louis reaches out for him, reaches for a hug or some comforting touch, but Harry shakes his head. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and turns away, slowly walking out of the room, leaving Louis alone.
Louis stands for a moment, unfazed. He looks around at the studio he's come to know the four that just walked out the door in. He looks down at the floor, up at the ceiling, through the glass that conceals the five stools with microphones and headphones. He tries to breathe, but instead, chokes.
He folds into a ball on the floor, trembling with so many emotions running around his head. His eyes fill with tears and he coughs, letting all his guilt run down his cheeks. He heaves and cries for a few moments, wetting his knees with tears as he shakes. It's all his fault. Harry is upset with him. He's all alone. Everybody is mad at him. Nobody wants to comfort him. He's fucked this all up.
Memories start flooding his head. Standing on that blue stage infront of the judges' panel, hearing Simon announce they were in a group. God, that day... that day was the start of it all. This day is the end of it all.
He looks up, looks around the studio again. His legs flatten out across the ground. His finger taps on the wood as more tears silently pour down his face.
Screwing Viva la Vida up and thinking it was the end of their journey.
Placing third.
Releasing their first single.
Going on their first tour.
Collecting their fanbase.
Second album. Second tour.
Doing charity work in Ghana.
Third album. Third tour.
"Forever young," he sings quietly. He can't even get to the next line, or even through the one he's singing, without choking and sputtering on his tears. "I wanna be forever young... again."
~
i cried writing this and yeah maybe its not so emotional but it was really hard to write without breaking down and screaming "NO THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING" but it's just a fanfic! next chapter is going to be calmer so hope you're still interested :) i post all the chapters on letterstolondonfic.tumblr.com and there's always updates, so follow if you want to. xx