Harry's nervous. He's standing at Louis Tomlinson' door holding a tray of lasagna and the only thing he wants to do is run. He'd imagined this Moment for years and he thought he'd be a little more excited, but he actually feels like vomiting.
"Hi! Come in, come in! You all look lovely," Jay greets. The whole family's standing by the door, including Louis. Harry's eyes glance over to Louis and they hold eye contact. He can't believe the knots forming in his chest as he looks over the pop-star for the first time in person. Louis's wearing a sweater and jeans and Harry feels like he'd pass out from a cuteness overload.
Harry follows his mother and dad into the house. "I have some lasagna already cooked. I need to bake the bread and finish the salad, but after that I think we'll be ready to eat," Anne explains.
"I'll show you to the kitchen. Daisy and Phoebe, why don't you two go to your rooms, yeah," Jay offers. Daisy and Phoebe both nod and run off to their rooms. Harry looks around and takes a seat on the sofa as the Tomlinson kids all disperse to do their own things, leaving Louis and Harry in an awkward silence in the sitting room.
"So... how was tour?" Harry has no clue how to talk to the boy. He's been mentally preparing all week for this. He's been trying his best to picture Louis as 'the boy next door' and not a pop star he has been crushing on for years. He even went to the extent of covering his posters with pictures of Ryan Gosling, so he doesn't even have to look at Louis's face.
"I'm not doing this with you," Louis starts. Harry watches as Louis leans back into the couch and looks up at the ceiling. Harry feels his heart drop.
"Doing what?"
"You know what. I'm not going to talk to you casually about the band when I know that you think that Zayn and I are dating. I've denied the rumors so many times and all you're going to do is try and twist my words," Louis huffs. Harry brings a hand to his hair, trying to figure out a compromise. If he doesn't do something soon, he's sure that Louis will hate him forever. He has to fix this.
"Can you at least pretend you like me? Our Mums are best friends, and it will crush them if they know we hate each other. Besides, I don't have any intent on pressuring you to talk about the band or your relationship status," Harry throws out. He knows how much Louis cares about his Mum and hopes to hit a sweet spot with the older boy. Louis furrows his eyebrows in deep concentration.
"If you stop posting about me and Zayn being in a relationship, I'll at least try to be your friend, but if I see anything about Zouis, or whatever, then I'm officially unfriending you," Louis warns. Harry relaxes and sighs. It's a big deal considering his account is mostly about their relationship, but he's willing to give it up for a friendship with Louis.
"Okay, that's doable. So... friends," Harry asks. Louis hesitates before breaking into a small smile.
"Friends."
~_~_~
Dinner has been manageable so far. Harry's stayed mostly silent and lets everyone else do the talking, but Lottie will not shut up about him. As soon as a conversation ended, Lottie would find a way to bring Harry up again. It isn't like he's upset about it (okay maybe a little), but he doesn't like having the attention on him either.
"Did you know that Harry sings?" Everyone at the table seems to sigh loudly as Lottie states another fact about Harry. Harry blushes and bites off a piece of bread before anyone forces him to sing something.
"Lottie, Harry obviously doesn't like, and probably doesn't appreciate, you listing off random ass facts about him, alright? Jesus, I'm sick of hearing about it at this point," Louis snaps. Lottie's eyebrows furrow as she shoots her older brother daggers. Everyone else at the table awkwardly stares at Louis after his outburst.
"You're just mad because Harry ruined your friendship with Zayn. I'm leaving," Lottie huffs. She pushes her chair back and storms off to her room. Jay yells after her, demanding her to come back to the table, but she doesn't.
"Can we leave too," Daisy and Phoebe ask in unison. Jay rubs her temples and sighs loudly.
"No, you may not leave," Jay sighs. Harry glances at Louis and sees anger written across his face. Harry's only seen the expression a few times. His heart drops to his knees as Louis forcefully kicks his chair back and storms to his room too.
"I'm sorry I ruined dinner," Harry whispers. He can feel tears threatening his eyes.
Had he really ruined Louis and Zayn's friendship? Antis and Hets tell him that he has constantly, but Harry never believed them. He had been so sure that Zouis was real, but now he wasn't. Lottie wouldn't have said it if it wasn't true. Harry has heard Lottie confirm that Eleanor and Louis were really dating. Had he been wrong this whole time? Had he hurt one of the only people he really cared about? Harry chokes back a sob at the thought.
"Can I go and see if he's okay?" Harry asks quietly. Anne gives a small nod, and Harry stands. He carefully makes sure all his napkins are seated neatly on his plate, not wanting to cause the poor family anymore hassle.
He quietly heads down the hallway. He notices all the doors have one of the kids' names on it. He finds himself standing in front of the door with 'Louis' written across it. Harry traces over Louis's name softly before bringing his hand up and knocking.
"Leave me alone, Lottie," Louis calls. Harry's heart clenches as he opens the door and peeks his head in. He doesn't want to bother Louis if he's too upset. He sees Louis sitting on his bed with his arms folded across his chest.
"It's just me," Harry murmurs. Louis doesn't say anything to him, so Harry inches into the room and shuts the door behind him. "Did I really ruin you and Zayn's friendship?" As the words leave Harry's lips he finds a tear tracing its way down his cheek. Louis looks up at him, his face melting into something softer.
"Are you crying? No, don't cry! Come here," Louis moves to the end of the bed and opens his arms. Harry wipes his eyes before walking into Louis's embrace.
They don't say anything. Louis wraps a supportive arm around Harry's waist. Harry cries silently, the dread of the situation falling on him as he realizes what he's been doing for the last couple years. It doesn't make things any easier on him considering that Louis's comforting him after all the horrid things Harry's done.
"Shhh, it's okay, Harry. It's okay, I've got you. Don't cry. If you keep this up, I'm gonna start crying, too," Louis whispers. Harry lets out another sob at Louis's caring tone. How could he have done such terrible things to Louis? Harry should've known. He's taken one of his most important friendships away from Louis. He was supposed to be Louis's supporter, but now he knows that if he really cared about Louis, he wouldn't have done it at all.
"Did I? Did I... ruin your friendship with Zayn?" Harry looks up at Louis and sees that Louis's eyes are starting to fill with tears as well. Harry's always known how caring Louis is about his fans but sitting here now he realizes how true it is.
"Harry, you didn't ruin anything. If Zayn and I were as good of friends as I thought, then a silly rumor wouldn't have ruined that. Zayn and I both know what was really going on. This isn't your fault, Harry, I promise you that. Will you stop crying, now? God, you can't keep crying, because I'm crying just watching you," Louis says. Louis brings a hand up and wipes a few tears from Harry's green eyes.
"I'm sorry. I should've listened to everyone. Everyone was telling me that you really loved Eleanor, but I didn't listen. I'm so sorry that I hurt you, Louis. I never meant to hurt you. Ever," Harry apologizes. Louis silences him and holds the boy tighter to his chest.
It takes a few minutes for Harry to truly calm down and, when he does, he pulls himself from Louis's tight embrace. Louis scans over Harry's face, trying to make sure he's okay. Louis doesn't want to let Harry go if he isn't.
"Harry, you never hurt my feelings. It might've hurt to see Eleanor upset about it, and it might've hurt to fight with Zayn, but I promise you never hurt me. Nothing you ever said made me cry or become upset, so don't ever think that again, yeah?" Harry nods lightly. He's tired from all the crying.
"Harry, do you see me as a real person?" The question is deep, almost too deep for Harry to think about now, but he forces himself to focus.
"I've been trying to ever since Mum told me. I've been trying to get myself to see you as a normal, everyday person," Harry answers.
Louis inhales lightly and stares at Harry. Harry can feel Louis's tough exterior crumble. Now that everything's out in the open there isn't much reason for the hostility. He feels better knowing that there's no bad blood between them.
"Do you mind if I touch your hair? I'm sorry, I've been dying to touch it since you've gotten here," Louis hums. Harry smiles softly and tries not to blush as Louis stares at him.
Harry gives a small nod. A moment later, Louis is threading his fingers through Harry's curly hair. It's not a strange request. Tons of people have touched Harry's hair, some with permission and some without. Having naturally curly hair makes him a target for the hair obsessed. Harry's never minded.
"Harry, we're leaving!" Harry stands and heads towards the door. He turns to give one last look at Louis, soaking it all in. Harry's debating on what to do next. Does he just leave, or is he supposed to say something?
"Bye, Harry," Louis hums. Harry sucks in a deep breath and nods at Louis awkwardly before leaving the room and sighing loudly.
~_~_~
Hey guys!!! Another filler chapter, sorry. NEXT CHAPTER IS LARRY!! You don't know how excited I am for the next chapter. I'm so sorry it's taking a while to get there, I just want to try and build this and not have it be rushed. Thank you guys so much for everything you do and thanks for reading! I truly hope you enjoyed. ~B