Whale 🐳 here ya go. Please enjoy. The angst and the stress and the struggle will soon be up.
Couple more chapters to go ✔️
Comment. Vote. Enjoy please. ❣️
Harry Style's Set List
1. Where Do Broken Hearts Go
2. Stockholm Syndrome
3. Light's Up
4. Happily
5. History
6. Sweet Creature
7. End of the Day
8. Ever Since New York
9. Falling
10. Infinity
11. What Makes You Beautiful
12. Sign of the Times
13. Olivia
14. Sunflower Vol. 6
15. Golden
Encore
16. ** New Song **
17. Hey Angel
18. Kiwi
For starters, it's a solid set list. Eighteen songs is quite a show, and on average, it looks like Harry performs for almost up to two hours. His concerts have excellent reviews, and it seems like he's been getting sold out shows all across the stadiums. Louis hasn't done a lot of research, but he can tell Harry is quite successful in what he does. He was born to perform.
On the other side, Louis can't get a feel for what Harry's tune is. He never really bothered to listen to any of the albums he's produced. Sure, he's caught a few of the popular ones on the radio, but it wasn't enough for him to fully denote everything about Harry's style. Based off the song titles, it seems like Harry is sort of all over the place jumping from a Stockholm Syndrome to a song about fruit. It's nothing Louis has ever heard of before. None of his artist title their songs in such unusual ways. Most of them are typical and standard, not straying away from what is considered normal.
Maybe that is why Harry is so famous and unique. He names his songs after flowers.
"Have you lads even listened to his album?" Louis ends up asking out of curiosity. He clicks his phone screen off and sets it on the seat next to him. Currently, he and the boys are riding together to the arena Harry is performing at the next day, and Louis' curiosity got the best of him in wanting to know what the set list will be for tomorrow.
"I have, yes." Zayn glances in the rearview mirror, making eye contact with Louis briefly before focusing on the road again.
Louis hums, a bit surprised.
"I started recently," Liam answers next, angling around from the passenger seat. "I don't know much of his songs though."
"He's got a new one that everyone is buzzing about," Niall says.
Louis looks at him. "I saw that on the list."
"Yeah, he had just released his third studio album so I'm surprised he's already releasing another single."
Louis' eyes near pop out. "Excuse me ... did you say third album?"
Three albums in three years. That is not normal. Not even close to being normal for artists. It takes months of preparations, almost a year just to put all the pieces together for an album. Then there is all the promo and tour following the release. In total, it can take up to two years before the wave of excitement from an album release finally dies off, and then maybe an artist might start working on another album. There's just so much work and effort that goes in to it, and Louis couldn't imagine producing an album back to back to back. It's tiring. Borderline work abuse.
In his line of work, he's seen artist produce an album every one to two years. Never so close together. Harry has been in the industry for three years, and apparently each year he's released something and gone on tour. He's been working non stop since he won the X-Factor competition, and that's about the easiest way to completely drain an artist of their passion and creative ability. The contract he signed must have been a three album contract plus a tour following each one. Maybe that's why he whipped those out so close together so he could finish out with the rest of his label quickly before switching to someone else. Louis has also seen something like that too.
"Yeah." Niall makes a face at him, slightly concerned to the upward tilt of Louis' voice. "He has three albums already."
"I think that's why there's a buzz for this new song," Liam adds in, eyebrows raised. "Probably expect a fourth album coming soon. I don't think he's ever performed this song at any of the other shows."
Louis slouches a little against the seat. "Well, he's been using our studio to record. I bet it's this new song."
"Have you heard it?" Zayn wonders, glancing in the mirror again.
Louis shakes his head. "No. Nobody has."
Silence returns inside the vehicle as Zayn continues to drive to the arena. Louis pulls out his phone again and reads off the list one more time, trying to understand the reasoning behind Harry's song title choice. As a producer and writer, Louis loves to analyze things. That is his favorite part about his job when he gets to look further in the details of written lyrics and understand the meaning behind it all. It's like he gets to see a part of the artist that others don't get to, opening up their book and soaking in all the hidden details they try to keep subliminal.
With Harry, it's a bit different. Considering that's his ex-boyfriend, there is a good chance that the majority of these songs will somehow relate to him or to the past that they shared. A story hidden in between the words of the songs that fans might not interpret, but he and the others will easily pick up on. The thought alone is scary, that there is a possible song out there written by Harry that is about him and their love story. A break up leading in to his first album is perfect to get a song to the charts. The memories he has with all their fiends, it sets up a good story for a fun, catchy song.
Song one, Where Do Broken Hearts Go. It doesn't take much for Louis to piece this song to their break up. Broken hearts are usually followed by a relationship ending, and not only did his and Harry's end, but so did Harry's and all their friends. This is probably what the song is about, and Louis is quite surprised that it's something he would open his concert up with. Maybe it doesn't sound as sad as what the story is probably trying to represent.
Song two, Stockholm Syndrome. This just ... Louis has no explanation. Stockholm Syndrome, a condition in which hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors during captivity. There is no indication as to what the hell this song is about. Maybe Harry now has a wild sex life living in this rockstar era, and he's become a lot kinkier than he remembered. It's not like Louis could remember a time that he had tied Harry up and enjoyed it. They never got to explore their sex all that much because by the time they were intimately involved, Harry was jetting off for the comepetition. He sort of regrets that right now. Harry's got a body that would look lovely tied up.
Anyway ...
Songs three and four, Happily and Light's Up. Could mean anything. Not something Louis finds a correlation to with himself or their past. Song five, History, is more than likely Harry reminiscing on all the moments shared with his childhood friends. There is a lot of history there, some that date back to when they were just barely toddlers running around the front yard. It's kind of sweet to think about, that Harry potentially wrote a song about the history he has with his friends.
Song six, Sweet Creature, Louis doesn't even want to think about. Is this supposed to be a reference to him, or did Harry find someone else to write a love ballad for? He's not so sure he wants the answer to that one. Both possibilities are quite sickening.
Songs seven, eight, nine, and ten, he has no idea. Song eleven, What Makes You Beautiful, is quite like song six. Not sure who it's supposed to be about - him, or another possible lover?
Moving on.
Song thirteen, Olivia. A female's name. Also a derivative of Olive, or I love you. Is the song about a girl, or is it about an emotion? Louis doesn't know.
Song fourteen, Sunflower, must be some hippie sort of thing. Probably about Harry in the flowers and getting lost in all his lucid thoughts. When Louis thinks about sunflower being the name of a song, he thinks about someone writing the lyrics while high. He wonders if Harry does drugs. Should find out one day. Song eighteen, Kiwi, must be Harry's lame attempt to make everybody go vegetarian. Or some stupid shit like spreading awareness of eating fruits instead of sweets. Who knows. Again, all of Harry's songs are sort of all over the place, and Louis can't lie and say that he's not interested in listening to the lyrics after he's got his own hypothesis of what the songs could potentially be about.
Shortly, Zayn is pulling up to the arena and flashing his pass to the guards. Harry had given it to him the night before for them to get access backstage without any issues. Of course, there are fans that linger outside the arena gates, but they seem mostly tame and content with sitting on the ground and not causing too much of a fuss. Zayn parks in the closest spot near the back door, and the four of them get out to be greeted with a guard standing out back. He leads the way inside through the hallway, just in time for Harry to round the corner with a bright smile on his face.
"Hey, guys," he greets happily. His eyes are shining a little brighter today, and the smile on his face seems real and genuine. Dimples on display. He's a bit sweaty and out of breath, probably just finishing up his last bits of rehearsals for the morning. "You made it just in time. We finished up about a few minutes ago."
The guard steps away and leave the five of them alone.
"This is sick, H," Niall is the first to comment, awing at all the stuff backstage. Louis rolls his eyes.
"Do you want a tour of everything?"
"Of course," Niall answers again.
"I would love to," Zayn agrees, glancing over to Liam who also nods his head.
Harry's eyes drift over to Louis', and his smile wavers just a bit as he waits for an answer. Louis honestly hates how dependent Harry sometimes is on his opinion. He's just here, unwillingly. If he had a choice, he would have stayed home and kicked his feet up, but his friends forced him to come. He has to play nice, once again, to the guy who broke his heart. It fucking sucks, and even when they sometimes have good moments together, it's often followed by a memory of Harry leaving him to become famous.
Standing inside a giant arena that Harry is about to perform in is definitely one of those strong reminders.
"Sure," Louis ends up saying, swallowing the bite to his tone and replacing it with something soft and sweet. Even he sounds foreign to his own ears. "A tour would be cool."
Harry perks up again and turns on his heel, leading the way down the hall. "Perfect. I'll show you all the cool stuff, and then you can meet my band. They're pretty awesome."
They go through a couple rooms that Harry explains are the free spaces. It's usually where they will set up a hair and make up stand, or where the tour food caterer will get items put together for them to eat before the show. THere's a longe in one area, housing a large television and gaming system. It's meant as more of a break room, a place for anyone to come and relax away from the stress of all the pre or after show craziness. They get shown the sound room where all the technical equipment is hooked up and where all the light controls are located. It's kind of cool getting to see where all the magic happens off stage.
The last stop they make is to Harry's dressing room. He skips over where his band mate's dressing rooms are because he wants to respect their privacy. But he informed he tidied up this morning so that his room is presentable for guest. So he leads the way there and stops in front of the door that has his name plastered across. Stepping inside, the room smells like citrus and herbs. There's a rack of clothes off to the side of the room, next to a vanity and a tall, body length mirror. The clothes range from glittery suits to sequin tops and sparkling boots. The most ostentatious set of clothes Louis has ever seen. A black, furry coat is on a hanger closest to where they are standing, and he briefly wonders if that's something Harry will wear tomorrow tonight.
Two couches rest in the middle of the room, on either side of a coffee table. The table has a candle and a fake potted plant, very minimalistic and simple. There's not much light in the room save for the candle and the vanity lights, but it definitely is very relaxing and soothing as opposed to the fluorescent light out in the hallway. It's nice. It's very Harry. Quite cozy of a room for Harry to feel like home in before having to step out on stage and be the star that everyone is expecting him to be. It must be nice to have this comfort to come back to.
After the tour is finished, Harry continues down the hallway and heads out on to the stage. With the arena empty, everything looks so grand. It's a bit overwhelming standing up on something so tall and having a wide view of everything out in front. In about twenty four hours, this place will be packed with fans, and Harry will be in the middle of the stage with the spot light shining on him. Right now, he seems so normal and small, like the young boy that used to throw up before putting on a performance.
"So, this is my band. Sarah is on drums. Mitch is on the guitar. Adam is on bass, and Claire is the keyboardist."
Sarah, who is messing around on the drums, sets her sticks down and walks over to join Harry. Mitch, Adam and Claire do the same as well, and the four of them greet all the boys Harry has brought by.
"These are my old friends," Harry explains to his band, smiling so brightly. It's the happiest he's probably been all week. A moment of merging two versions of his life together. Must feel great to see it happen. Louis, on the other hand, is doing his best not to make a comment. He's been biting his tongue since he was dragged out his apartment this morning. "This is Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayn."
"Lovely to meet you all," Sarah smiles.
"I hope Harry has said only good things about us," Niall teases, winking at Adam.
Mitch makes a face towards Harry. "Actually, he doesn't talk much about his personal life."
Hm. This is interesting.
"Really?" Zayn wonders, his eyes naturally drifting towards Louis like he's expecting something to be said. Louis simply presses his lips together and shrugs. They should have known Harry had kept them in his past.
"I just like to keep things private, you know?" Harry responds, the smile slowly slipping off his face.
"You know how many times we tried to get this one to talk to us?" Sarah jokes, pinching Harry's arm playfully. "He's very secretive."
Harry pouts. "I don't try to be."
"So you haven't talked about us at all then?" Zayn pushes, eyebrows knitted together.
Louis tries his best not to snort, especially when Harry looks so troubled.
"No, he has. He has," Adam quickly steps in, like he's trying to save Harry's ass. "Just not much, is what we're trying to say. Maybe with you lot being here we can get some secrets to spill."
"It's one of our favorite games we like to play," Claire laughs.
Harry purses his lips. "It's not my favorite."
"Well, what do you want to know about him?" Louis blurts out asking, arms crossing over his chest. He doesn't even bother to look at the expression on his friend's faces, knowing them well enough they're probably somewhere between cautious and annoyed.
"Everything." Sarah wiggles her eyebrows mischievously, and Harry blushes.
"I kind of want to know more about you all, too," Adam notes, a thoughtful tilt to his voice. "It's not everyday we get to meet someone from Harry's past."
"Why don't we play a game?" Sarah suggests, glancing at Harry. "You said we should play one when we all get together."
"Yeah, but I didn't mean a get to know me game," Harry complains.
"I want to know you more," Mitch answers, followed by the rest of the band members agreeing. "And your friends. We all know a lot about each other already. It's your turn to open up a little."
"That would be fun," Liam finally speaks, nodding his head towards Niall and Zayn. "We haven't had a good catch up with, H."
"It'll be sick getting to know you guys, too," Niall adds in, smiling cheekily. "Never actually hung out with a band before."
Louis slides next to Zayn and whispers quietly to him. "This is not a good idea."
"Don't make it any more awkward than it already is," he whispers back.
"So it's settled." Sarah claps her hands together. "Lets play a game. I have these cards that ask questions, and whoever draws it answers it. Keep it simple."
Harry huffs. "How convenient."
Unfortunately, Louis also gets dragged into this game as well. It should be fun and simple getting to learn more about Harrys new life and all the the cool things his band members have stories of. But all Louis can worry about are the tough questions, the ones that tie back to their relationship. It's bound to happen. Playing any game that involves questions about your personal life with your ex-boyfriend is destined to lead to drama.
But, Harry's band mates really seem like they want to play. And they are quite desperate to learn more about Harry.
This isn't the dynamic Louis was expecting when he imagined meeting the band. He thought they would all be super close and have a tight knit relationship that Harry never had with the other boys. But it seems like he's been so closed off and kept a lot of things personal to them. Not sharing an ounce of his true private life aside from what they already blatantly know of him. They probably know nothing about Harry's relationship with Louis, which makes this even more awkward.
They all gather in the middle of the stage and sit down in a circle. Sarah runs to her purse to pull the card game out and then gets it set up in the center of their circle.
"Alright, I'll go first," she announces once she's seated. Drawing the first card, she giggles. "Out of everyone in the room, who do you find the most attractive. Answer or take a drink."
"It's a drinking game then?" Niall perks up.
Sarah hums thoughtfully. "I suppose so. But there is no option to drink." She glances devilishly at Harry. "You have to answer everything or you run the stairs of the stadium."
"Alright then," Harry sighs. "Answer."
"Fine. I think Zayn is pretty fucking attractive."
Mitch makes a face and pushes her arm. "Really?'
Sarah shrugs. "Look at him, babe."
Oh. So they are a couple?
Mitch rolls his eyes and draws the next card. "What is the worst kiss you had?" He grimaces at the thought. "I was thirteen. I met some chick under the bleachers of the football field, and I forgot to close my eyes."
Harry cackles unexpectedly. "You what?"
"I know," Mitch nods his head, cheeks flushing a bit. "My eyes were open, and I just slobbered all over her. She never spoke to me again."
"He's definitely gotten better," Sarah eases, running her fingers through his hair.
"I tried tongue and well, I think I choked her a bit."
Niall covers his mouth to hide his loud laugh. "That's terrible, mate." He's the next to go, so he grabs the top card. "What is your body count?"
Louis chuckles under his breath. "Oh, let's hear what number he comes up with this time around."
"Whats that supposed to mean?" Claire wonders.
"Niall here liked to tell everyone in secondary that he's touched the most boobs and slept with the most girls." Louis glances over at him and winks teasingly. "Such a stud."
Niall sticks his tongue out a thin. "Alright. Chill. My body count is two."
"I hope Hailee is included in that," Zayn mumbles under his breath.
Niall reaches out to kick him. "Yes she is. And she knows about my terrible first timer."
"Oh, we all have a terrible first timer, huh?" Adam comments, laughing along with the rest of the group and mindlessly nudging Harry, like it's something he could relate to.
In fact, he can't. His first was Louis, and it wasn't terrible.
Claire is next to go. "Have you ever had a threesome or wanted a threesome?" Humming, she glances over to Mitch and Sarah. "They've never offered." Her eyes then trail to Adam. "I had one in a dream with him and a stranger. Quite traumatizing."
Harry giggles uncontrollably.
"You want to have a threesome with us?" Sarah questions with a grimace.
"It doesn't hurt to ask, yeah?"
Sarah rolls her eyes. "Okay, you want to?"
Zayn whistles loudly, and everyone begins to laugh. Once it dies down, he reaches for the next card. "Have you ever cheated or been cheated on? The answer is no to both."
"You are in a relationship then?" Sarah asks. Mitch shoves her again.
Zayn smiles brightly. "I am. Been together for about a few years now." After tossing the card in the trash pile, he turns to Louis, nudging his shoe against him. "Your turn."
Louis makes a face, and they share a private look with one another. One that reads he would much rather be doing literally anything else right now. But, he grabs the top card anyway, braces himself, and reads off the question. "Have you ever been in love or are you like the rest of the world and only pretended?" He nearly chokes the question out, caught a bit off guard with what it's asking. Tossing the card in the trash pile, he leans back on his arms, staring at his shoes and trying to think of a proper way to answer. "I've been in love," is what he settles with.
The air thickens immediately after he says it, and he can feel Zayn next to him tensing up. Harry is just a few spots over, and the burning gaze of his green eyes weigh heavy on his body. He's not sure what else he's supposed to say, but it's the truth. They all know he and Harry were once in love. It's not a secret that he's kept hidden. It's not necessarily something he wants to relive, but it was there. What he felt for Harry was real and pure, but it doesn't mean that the feelings are still there.
Gosh. He knew this game would get awkward. He should have found a way to get out of it.
"Oh, come on," Sarah complains across the way, rolling her eyes. "That's it? I've been in love, " she mocks pathetically. "Give us something more. Who's the lucky girl? What happened? Why aren't you in love anymore?"
"How about how you said you loved 'em?" Claire adds as an after thought.
Louis blows a breath out between his lips, chest expanding. "Right." Clearing his throat, Louis straightens in his spot, doing his best to not look Harry's way. "It was with my boyfriend. We were fucking around with water balloons in my parent's backyard. He was just so silly and stupid. Acting goofier than ever. I hit him in the face with a balloon - " there's laughter that follows - "on accident," he clarifies. "And his entire head was drenched in water. He was pouting. Acting like a sore loser. Eyes super bright underneath the sun, and well, I just said it. Because he was someone who I could love as a best friend and as a boyfriend. Perfect all around. Nothing in the world that I would change it for ."
Clair coos. "That's so sweet."
"What happened?" Sarah questions, eyebrows drawn together. She looks way too invested for what Louis is willing to give.
"We broke up. Grew apart and shit." Louis turns to Liam desperately. "Your turn, yeah?"
Liam nods his head and grabs a card. "Have you ever kissed someone you shouldn't and ended up liking it?"
Out of the blue, Zayn coughs, his face suddenly heating up. Niall, Louis and Harry's eyes all dart to him, and when his eyes widen in surprise, they all turn sharply to Liam. He laughs nervously.
"So, funny story."
"You and Zayn kissed?" Niall nearly squawks.
"Oh, this is juicy," Adam teases.
"It was an accident," Liam complains. "We both bent down to grab something, and when we stood up, our lips happened to touch."
Harry covers his mouth and giggles. "Oh, no."
"This is rich," Louis smiles wickedly. "Do Sophia and Gigi know?"
Liam makes a face. "They were there."
"Even better."
Adam draws the next card. "Who is the hottest person you hooked up with?" He smiles wickedly. "Selena Gomez."
Niall gasps and rises up on his knees. "Selena Gomez?" he questions. "She's amazing."
"You hooked up with Selena?" Harry asks surprisedly, eyes casting towards the other guys in the band. "Did you lot know about it?"
Mitch shrugs his shoulders. "It happened at an after party. Some award show I think."
"You had left early for the night," Sarah explains. "We went out to celebrate."
Harry slouches in his spot.
"Your turn bud," Adam then says to him.
Pouting, Harry reaches for a card, and his cheeks flush pink. "How did your first shag go?"
"Oh, hell yeah," Sarah cheers loudly.
Claire claps her hands together. "Now we're getting all the dirt on you, Styles."
Louis rolls his eyes and tilts his head back, staring up at the ceiling and praying that one of those giant lights will fall on top of him.
"You have to answer," Sarah reminds, her eyes gleaming. "Unless, you don't have a shag story at all?" Mitch shoves her arm, and she raises her shoulders. "What? He could still be a virgin. I don't know."
Harry nibbles on the inside of his cheek and looks down, fingers playing with the laces of his shoes. "It was with my boyfriend at the time," he answers quietly. Louis' ears are burning right now.
"Boyfriend, eh?" Adam repeats, lips curving up. "So not a virgin, and not getting around with the girls is what I'm hearing?"
Niall snorts. "Please, Harry? With girls? Yeah, right. He was such a puppy in love."
"Alright, Niall," Louis quiets him, eyebrow lifting in warning.
"Well, give us some more details," Sarah begs. "It was with your boyfriend, and then what?"
Harry sucks in an unsteady breath, hands now shaking. "Okay. Um. We went to concert together. For my birthday. He got me Fleetwood Mac tickets."
Louis knows Liam, Niall and Zayn are now looking at him. Something he had always kept private about Harry are the little moments they shared together alone. Like the I love you's and the first time they had sex. That was meant only for them. Not for anyone else to be a part of. Louis never once told them how it all went. Just said it happened, and that was that.
He's ready for those lights on the ceiling to fall down any second now.
"We stayed in a hotel room that night since it was a far drive from home. He arranged for room service to drop off champagne and flowers and strawberries. Quite romantic." Harry begins smiling at the memory. "He told me he loved me. Promised us a forever, and then it happened. It was the safest I ever felt with anyone."
It's awkward now. Louis feels how awkward it is, but only half the people realize it.
Harry's band is so clueless, urging on for more information. Louis feels about frozen in his shoes, scared that with any movement, they'll all be able to pick up on the fact that he and Harry are answering questions about each other. Liam, Niall and Zayn don't make it any better. They're just as stunned as he is, now hearing the truth about a night that was given no details about in the past. It's a sneak peak of just how in love Louis used to be, how vulnerable and romantic he was for the boy.
To think about it, it's quite embarrassing now. Louis is embarrassed. He was too soft and mushy back then. Always caving in and catering to all of Harry's wishes.
"And how was the sex?" Mitch wonders. Sarah giggles. "Was he good? Was it bad? No one is ever good their first time."
"Was it better than all your secret shags over the years?" Claire teases.
Harry swallows, brows furrowing together in a disgruntled kitten sort of way. "He's the best I've ever had. The only one I ever had."
The silence that lingers is deafening, and Louis tries his best not to look up and make eye contact with anyone near him. The band members are soaking in the answer like it's the best thing ever, edging on trying to get more information. It wains weak when Harry smiles and brushes off any further interrogation by handing the next card for Sarah to read out loud. Louis knows his friends are just swarming with a bunch of question, ready for the opportunity to pry their little hands inside their relationship and meadle.
Everything about he and Harry is a mystery. It's a mystery to himself, and a mystery to his friends. No one knows exactly what happened between the two of them other than there was a break up, and then Harry left. Nothing ended well, and the lads were left with more questions than Louis had answers to. Over the years, they stopped bugging as much about it. Soon, it became a thing in the past. They got over it, and Louis put on the show that he was over it as well.
But now Harry's back. He's here, and he's a constant presence in Louis' life after being three years absent. Now, he's bringing up old memories, old thoughts and feelings that Louis' has best suppressed to the back of his mind. Things are being stirred, and their friends are becoming a little too invested again, asking questions and trying to fix things that have been long left broken. It's all confusing and stressful, and Louis knows that under any other circumstance, had he and Harry not shared the same friend group, then they wouldn't be trying so hard to get them back together.
So, Louis does his best to zone everything out. They go another round at picking up cards and answering questions as in detail as they can get. Sarah talks about her wildest sex location, which so happened to be with Mitch. Quite weird to hear about. Mitch talks about his most embarrassing date, which was at the age of sixteen when he got a speeding ticket. Niall answers a question about his worst drunk adventure, and Claire gets something about a wildest fantasy. Zayn gets questioned on his favorite sex position, surprisingly something new he and Gigi tried not too long ago, and then it's back to Louis' turn.
Regretfully, Louis picks the top card, dreading the question that is to come. "What is your latest hookup story?" he mumbles under his breath, sounding the least bit bored as possible.
And, well, Louis' heart fucking drops into his chest. He knew this game would not be good. It's too personal and too sexual.
"Alright, I think this game is over." Louis nervously chuckles as he tosses the card on to the ground. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he hugs his arms around his body, eyes glancing over to Zayn for help.
"Come on," Adam whines, reaching across Liam to rub Louis' shoulder. "We at least gotta make it back around to Harry."
Claire agrees. "Yeah. Everyone should answer at least two."
Louis feels panicky. "Right," he sighs, swallowing, stomach churning. "It was over a year ago."
From the corner of his eye, he can see Harry's jaw tightening, his eyes diverting away from the group to look somewhere off into the distance. He's picking at his skin, fingers nipping at his forearm and mindlessly trying to distract himself of the conversation. Louis avoids fully looking at him, but he knows Niall and Liam are already keeping an eye on him, as if they expect some sort of dramatic scene to occur.
They're broken up, Louis reminds himself. How he answers shouldn't matter. How Harry feels shouldn't bother him.
"Give us more," Sarah calls out. "Who was the lucky bloke? Your ex-boyfriend?"
Louis grimaces. "Not exactly." When the others didn't seem pleased with the answer, Louis continues. "An old friend. We were out drinking."
"Sounds sexy," Claire wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.
Harry coughs, and Louis' eyes jerk his way. He's still not looking at them, expression hard and cold.
"Was he the one you dated when you were younger?" Sarah ends up asking, and that seemed to be the icing on the cake from Harry because he abruptly stands up and excuses himself to use the restroom.
Niall, Liam and Zayn jerk their heads towards him, and Louis feels a little caught in the headlights. Mitch and Claire are murmuring to one another about Harry's sudden departure, and Liam jumps in to distract Sarah with a question that loses her focus on what's going on. It draws Mitch and Claire in as well, and then Niall joins the conversation too which prompts Adam to chime in as well. It's the distraction Louis needs to make his escape, to run after Harry and see what the hell is up. It's a lot easier for him to do so when his band members aren't trying to pry too much into what's going on and trying to piece together every bit of information that they can.
Clearly, he made Harry upset, and that got the others to start questioning things. Louis catches Zayn's eye in the midst of the new conversation, and the simple look on his face is enough to urge Louis to get up and run after him. It goes unnoticed as he stands to his feet and follows the same path Harry just left from. He has no idea where he is going or where anything is, but he figures going to the boy's dressing room is a great start. He trusts his friends to distract the band long enough to get some answers from Harry and his brash behavior.
Upon walking into the room, he sees Harry sitting on the edge of his couch, fingers running through his fringe. At the sound of his arrival, Harry drops his hands and looks up, eyes hardening.
"What are you doing here?"
Louis sighs as he shuts the door behind him, stepping further inside. "I didn't mean to - "
"Didn't mean to what?" he interrupts sharply. He looks and sounds tired. "You didn't mean for me to find out? Didn't want to admit that there really was something going on between you and the one guy I never trusted? Is that what you didn't mean?"
Louis sucks in a heavy breath, anger now peaking through. "Harry, we're not together anymore, do you not remember? I am single. You can't keep acting like I did something wrong when I didn't. Anything that happened with him was when we were not together. I've been single for years, mind you. I can do whatever the hell I want without running it by you."
"Yeah, I heard that." Harry slouches against the cushions of the couch and crosses his arms over his chest, getting defensive. His eyes sparkle a little under the light, and Louis notes that it's due to the fact that tears are springing up. "You have made it quite known that you're single."
An unexpected laugh bubbles out of Louis, quite bitter, no trace of humor at all.
"Honestly, what did you expect to happen this week, Harry? Just because you came home doesn't change all that has happened between us. You can't expect to come back and think that the last three years of being ignored by you didn't mean anything to me. Pretending and bringing up old memories of us doesn't change the fact that you left and never called. Saying Im the best you've ever had doesn't fix it."
Harry blows a breath past his lips. A tear finally slips down his cheek. "You give me shit for saying something like that when you said that you wouldn't change anything about us."
"Because why would I want to change what we once had? We were perfect together. For years, everything with you was amazing. It was the happiest I've ever been. I wouldn't change that." Louis swallows, feeling his words getting choked up in his throat. "I would change the fact that you fucking broke my heart and left me like I meant nothing to you."
Harry straightens up in his spot and angles towards Louis, brows knitting together. "Broke your heart?" he questions like it's the most absurd thing he ever heard.
"You know - I've been trying to place nice with you all week - "
"You haven't been nice at all," Harry interrupts, rising to his feet. "You been a complete wanker."
"Right. Because you're my fucking ex-boyfriend, and you're the last person I want to be spending time with."
The words hurt and sting. He can see it reflect on Harry's expression, but he means it. Being here with him is hard and brining up unwanted feelings that he's not ready to address. Playing pretend and acting like the past never happened is something Louis is not willing to do. Harry broke his heart and left him behind. Nothing about that deserves any remote kindness from Louis. He deserves to be angry and pissed, and he deserves to be an ass to Harry.
Before any more damage could be done, Louis leaves, slamming the door on his way out and leaving Harry all alone in his room. If he could fucking get through the concert tomorrow, then he will no longer have to deal with his ex-boyfriend ever again.
Damn. Don't play spin the bottle with an ex. Lol.
Hmmmm, wonder what confused Harry when Louis said that he broke his heart ... ? 🤔