Harry and Louis arrived at Liam's, neither of them acknowledging or even mentioning what had happened back at the penthouse. Surprisingly, there wasn't an awkward tension filling the air. Even after it had happened, neither of them acted awkward or embarrassed. It was just a casual kiss. They just went on about their business like usual.
"You two arrived together? Did you plan that?" Niall snickered, opening the door.
Louis just rolled his eyes. Harry was the one to speak though. "I didn't want the poor sap to walk here, so I decided to give him a ride."
"Stop giving yourself so much credit," Louis scoffed with a smirk. He turned back to Niall. "We decided that we'd tolerate each other for yours and Liam's sake."
Niall quirked his eyebrow. "So, what, you're friends now then?"
"Friends isn't exactly the term I'd use," Louis joked, but he actually meant it. He had no idea what him and Harry were if they weren't mortal enemies. They certainly weren't friends.
"Holy shit, I didn't expect to see you two here. Especially together," Liam spoke up, showing up behind Niall.
Louis presented himself, getting annoyed at the gawking from their two friends. All he wanted to do was continue hanging out with his friends and forget what happened between him and Harry. It made him uncomfortable because it wasn't hatred that was between them anymore.
"Well, we're here, so believe it," Louis told him and then pushed past the two of them.
He heard Liam begin to mutter to Harry, but Louis didn't pay any mind to it. He knew that it was most likely Liam quizzing Harry on how he got Louis' stubborn arse back in New York. It was too obvious what Liam would ask. He was all about making a mountain out of a molehill when it came to Harry and Louis.
Louis went straight to Liam's kitchen, grabbing a glass out of the cupboard to help himself to some water. He was strangely parched, which was odd because he only got that way when he was nervous. There wasn't a reason for him to be nervous and he certainly didn't feel that way. If anything he felt bored. After filling his glass, he leaned against the counter and took a drink of the water, trying to distract his mind away from any of the recent events that had taken place in his life.
Niall finally came striding into the kitchen, looking at Louis with a quirked eyebrow. "You made yourself at home, didn't ya?"
Louis nodded taking another sip of the water. "I think we're all at that point in our friendship that we can go into each other's homes and act like it's ours."
"Yeah, you have a point," Niall chuckled, going to the fridge and grabbed out a beer, twisting the cap off. He took a quick sip of it before questioning Louis again. "Is there something going on between you and Harry?"
Louis nearly spit the water that was in his mouth all over at the words that had left Niall's mouth. "No! What would make you ask something like that?"
"Because of the sudden comradery that you two suddenly have. Also, the way he talked about you, he seemed like he fancied you," Niall pointed out.
Louis couldn't help but look at the Irishman with a confused and concerned look. "I don't know what the fuck is in that beer, but it's fucking with you. I would never be in a relationship with someone like Harry."
"But you would be in one with him?" Niall continued to press.
"Do you not listen? I just said I wouldn't," Louis repeated.
"You said with someone like him. You didn't say that you wouldn't be in a relationship with him," the brunette said flatly, taking a sip of the beer.
Louis just rolled his eyes. "You're just looking for some type of conspiracy, aren't you?"
"My life's boring, mate. Your drama with Harry is my entertainment," Niall pointed out. "Either way, you two would be a cute couple."
"Don't make me puke, you sick fuck," Louis scoffed. "Besides, there's not going to be anymore drama between me and him. We've agreed to tolerate each other's existences. If we want to fight, we'll save it for when we get back to his penthouse."
"You're staying with him?" Niall questioned, his voice rising an octave due to the shock. "Since when?"
"Since today. I didn't have much say in the matter. The place is big enough though, so I don't have to even acknowledge him if I don't want," Louis explained to him, not wanting to feed into his sick fantasy of Louis and Harry dating.
"Shit, mate, a lot has changed in the last two weeks, yeah?" Niall dramatized.
Louis just rolled his eyes. "Where's Liam and the thing at anyway?"
"There's the old Louis I know," Niall chuckled. "They're out on the balcony. I don't know. They wanted private time. Better be careful - Harry might be two timing you."
"Oh, shut up," Louis scoffed.
He knew that the likelihood of Harry and Liam being in a relationship was zero to none. It was too much of a brotherly relationship. Not only that, but they were too alike in certain ways. It just wouldn't work with them. Louis didn't want to deal with that and he knew that he wouldn't have to. Liam was too focused on his career anyway.
"Like you wouldn't be jealous if Liam and Harry were in a relationship," Niall threw out there, obviously wanting to get a rise out of Louis.
"I wouldn't be. In fact, I'd be annoyed because they'd probably be disgusting and I am not a fan of PDA," Louis told him. It was true. He hated PDA, specifically when it was another couple. He wouldn't be necessarily jealous either...or hurt. He would just be annoyed. Yeah, he'd be annoyed.
"I've known you for years, Louis. I can see right through you," Niall teased.
"Well, then you're seeing that what I'm telling you is the truth," Louis continued, feeling like he was more trying to convince himself than he was trying to convince Niall.
"You like Harry, Lou. If you didn't, you wouldn't have agreed to tolerate him or whatever the hell you're doing," Niall told him.
Louis refrained from shifting in his seat uncomfortably. He didn't want to give Niall the leverage. There was no way that he was even going to tell him about the accidental kisses that he and Harry shared. He wasn't sure what they were or where they stood with each other because of it. The last thing he needed in his time of confusion was for Niall to sit and harass him about it.
"I don't like him, Niall. I only agreed to it because I pulled up my big boy pants and realized that I love Liam and I don't want to lose him because of a stupid little conflict I'm having with someone else. Just because we act like commorades now doesn't mean that we are once we leave here. In fact, we don't even talk to each other when Liam isn't around," Louis explained to him, lying about the last part.
Niall raised his eyebrows, not really buying it, but he didn't say otherwise. "Well, I guess I'm glad that you're putting your friendship with Liam first before yourself. That's bold of you."
"Thank you, Niall," Louis responded confidently. It somewhat concerned him how easy it was for him to lie to his best friend that smoothly.
The two of them sat there for a few minutes, neither of them saying anything. It wasn't an awkward silence, but it certainly was something that didn't happen that often. Liam and Harry paraded into the room not long after, thankfully, breaking the silence. Harry's eyes landed right on Louis and a small smile teased at both of their faces. There was a weird sensation that washed over Louis. He was so happy to see him, even though they hadn't been apart for that long of a time. It was so weird, especially since Louis never felt that way when he looked at Harry.
"Starting to think that you two got lost or something," Niall teased. "Trouble in paradise?"
"What are you on about?" Liam snorted.
"Oh, come on, standing out on the balcony that has a magnificent view of New York City under the moonlight and having intimate chats...sounds like something lovers do," Niall suggested, wiggling his eyebrows. Louis just rolled his eyes. He knew that Niall was just saying all of that bullshit to get a rise out of him. It wasn't working. He knew Liam better than that.
"Have you been drinking some of that punch Li has in the fridge?" Harry chuckled.
"Really," Liam laughed. "Harry and I are not lovers. I can assure you that is something that would never happen anyway."
"Yeah? And why's that? Am I too ugly for you?" Harry snorted, acting offended. Well, Louis hoped that it was an act anyway.
"No! If anything, you're too beautiful and majestic for me," Liam laughed. Louis forced laughter, but deep in his stomach he felt anger brew. "But you're like my brother. It would be a little weird to be in a relationship with my brother."
Harry nodded, his hand propped on his hip as he leaned against the half wall. "You have a solid point. I wouldn't want to date my brother either. Good to know that you're not into incest, Li."
The laugh that Louis let out was genuine that time. He didn't find Harry's comment to be that funny, but rather, it was the sense of relief that washed over him when the absolutely absurd idea that Niall had planted into his head was defeated. What was happening to him? Why did he give a shit about Harry's relationship status all of a sudden?
----
It was past midnight and the four of them were still wide awake, just sitting around and drinking while telling stories to one another. It was one of those moments that you would see in a movie about old friends. It was cliche, but it was better than going out to a club and getting smashed. That was fun and all, but spending the night with the boys was something that Louis was more keen to.
"I suppose we should get heading back to the penthouse," Harry suggested after letting out a loud yawn.
"Tired already? Weak," Louis teased, taking a confident sip of his beer.
"If I don't go to sleep soon, I'll turn into a pumpkin," Harry teased, a goofy grin on his face.
"Yeah, I don't think orange would be your color," Louis joked.
"You know, this is weird, but it's nice to see that you two are getting along. I know it's just an agreement that you two made, but I appreciate the lack of fighting," Liam said with a sincere smile.
Louis nodded. "Yeah, you're welcome. I can't speak for Harry, but I know that I don't want to lose your friendship over something as petty as not being able to get along with someone else. You're my family, Li."
Liam gave Louis a hug, whispering thank yous in his ear. "You're one in a million, brother."
Just as they were about to leave, Niall grabbed Louis' forearm, pulling him closer. By the look on Niall's face, Louis had to physically refrain from sighing out loud.
"I bet both of you are going to sleep when you get back, aren't you?" Niall winked.
"No, I'll probably get something to snack on and maybe take a shit. After that, I'll peruse the internet for a little bit and then I'll probably get so bored that I pass out. I don't know what Harry's going to do, but he'll probably do some weird ass ritual like that as well," Louis responded, making the annoyed sarcasm very evident in his tone.
"That's fine, that's fine. Don't kiss and tell, but I know exactly what you're going to be up to," Niall said with a wink, giving Louis a pat on the back.
Louis just shook his head and turned his head towards Harry. "Can we go? Niall's on something and needs to be put through detox."
Liam and Harry just laughed in response while Niall looked at Louis with a smirk. He didn't like that Niall was onto what Louis could potentially may be feeling. He didn't know if he even felt anything for Harry, but the fact of the matter was that there was intimate experiences that had happened between them that could actually lead to something more. Louis would like to think that nothing would amount from them
Harry and Louis left Liam's place and started to make their way down to the ramp in silence. Louis couldn't help but admire Harry's hair as it lightly bounced with each step that he took. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his overcoat and he was looking down at the floor as he took each long stride. Louis wondered why he walked with his head down. It was something that he had noticed in the short time that they had been around each other. After seeing how he reacted when Louis asked him to sing, he couldn't help but wonder if Harry was that insecure about himself. That made him rather sad, knowing that Harry could be suffering with a demon like that. He didn't seem like he would be the type.
"Do I want to know why you're staring at me?" Harry asked suddenly, breaking Louis' thoughts as his forest green eyes met Louis'.
"I wasn't," Louis lied.
"Bullshit. I know when someone is staring at me and you're the only one around," Harry said with a smirk.
Louis felt his cheeks heat up. He didn't want to admit what he was thinking to him. "I was just thinking."
Harry quirked his eyebrow. "About me?"
"No. Well, yeah, you were involved," Louis shrugged, trying to make it not seem like a big deal.
"What did I do?" Harry wondered. "You can't tell me you were thinking about me and then not expect me to ask."
"I was just thinking about the song that you had written. Who was that about?" Louis wondered, figuring that would be a good place to start.
Harry broke eye contact and looked down at the floor again, biting his bottom lip. "Nobody important."
"You can't just write a song like that, look like you just watched a puppy get kicked, and then tell me nobody important and not expect me to ask you to elaborate," Louis prompted, trying to add light into the situation since he could tell that it was a touchy subject.
"Using my own words against me. Why am I not surprised?" Harry said with a light smile. He then shook his head. "It's really nobody important."
"Obviously they had some impact in your life that you wrote a song about them. I'm assuming that it was an ex?" Louis urged. He wasn't normally so pushy when someone didn't tell him something, but something in him wanted to know. He wasn't sure why.
Harry was silent for a minute, his eyes fixated straight ahead. "I guess you could say that."
"Who?" Louis pressed.
Harry looked at him, a look of irritance painted on his face. "I told you that it was nobody important. That means that I don't want to share who it is. I don't know how you're not getting that from my context clues."
Louis opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it because he didn't know how to. He couldn't defend himself because he had been ignoring Harry's cues. He was being pushy and obviously trying to pry into something that Harry wanted to remain closed.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to pry," Louis apologized softly.
"Yeah, well that must be why you did then," Harry snapped back.
Louis actually felt bad. Judging by the way Harry kept responding, he knew that it was a wound that was still too deep and painful for him to outwardly talk about. Or maybe it was just because he didn't trust Louis. He couldn't blame him...they didn't have the best history. However, with that idea in mind, it rather bothered him. He wanted Harry to trust him and feel comfortable talking to him. Yeah, they had only come to an understanding not that long ago, but Louis had quickly developed a soft spot in his heart for the lad. He didn't know why he was starting to feel so soft for him, but all he knew was that it felt right.
----
QUESTIONS: Who do you think FTDT is about (in the story, not irl)? Any other thoughts?
Length: 2.7K
All the love. -B