A/N
Despite having a lot of free time because of Thanksgiving break, this chapter is pretty short. I just didn't really know where to go with it. Hopefully, things pick up in the next chapter or so. Sooo...enjoy I guess.
Oh, and if you want to tell other people about this, that's cool. Getting more reads is awesome. And comments. Comments are good.
Love you!
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Zayn's POV
"Hey, Zayn. Go ask Harry or Lou if they know where the hell the tour's going to go," Niall asked.
I rolled my eyes, watching my reflection in my mirror.
Ok, so maybe I really, really liked Lou's present to me. But I sure wasn't telling him that.
"Why can't you move your fat arse and do it yourself?" I complained.
"Because I don't want to," Niall replied simply.
I snorted and got up from the chair I was sitting in and strolled out of the room and down the hallway to Louis's room. I pushed open the door.
"Hey guys, where-"
I froze.
Because I had just walked in on two of my best mates snogging.
And it was quite the snog. Hands were tangled in hair, bodies as close as could be.
Until they heard my voice, they appeared to be perfectly at ease and enjoying it.
The moment I spoke, they simultaneously jumped away from eachother, barely even glancing my direction. They stared at eachother, eyes wide.
Judging from the shock on their faces, what I had just witnessed had been as much of a surprise to them as it was to me.
Louis reacted first.
"Holy shit," he breathed, "Holy shit!"
He bolted, shoving me out of the way. Seconds later, I heard a door slam and I assumed he had left the flat.
Harry was still frozen, gaping at me.
"I...I...don't...," he stammered, "I d-don't know w-what just happened."
His green eyes were flashing with an overwhelming amount of emotion.
I saw fear and confusion mostly. Some worry. A ton of other emotions that were to complicated for me to read.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
Harry slowly shook his head and sat down on Louis's bed, putting his head in his hands.
I sat down next to him and gently rubbed his back.
"Hey, why did Lou just storm out?" Niall asked, poking his head in. He noticed me and Harry.
"Did they fight?"
"Not exactly," I sighed.
Niall frowned and disappeared for a second.
I took the opportunity to ask Harry, "Is it alright if I tell them? They're really confused."
He nodded. Looking up at me, he sighed.
"I've been wondering lately. It's like...some certain things he's been doing...affect me. In a weird way," he mumbled, cheeks growing red.
I was puzzled briefly. Then I understood.
"You...fancy him?" I asked.
Liam decided to come in at that exact moment.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
I glared at him.
"Can I talk to you and Niall?" I sighed. He nodded.
"I'll be right back," I told Harry.
"I'm going into my room," he mumbled, standing up and exiting the room.
I went out into the living room, Liam and Niall following me.
"I walked in on them. Snogging. And apparently it was just as out of the ordinary for them as it was for me. Louis obviously freaked out and left and Harry's kind of shaken up," I explained.
If it were possible, their jaws would have been touching the floor.
"They were snogging?" Niall asked.
"Yep," I sighed, "Lou's probably having a fit or something over it."
"Do you think it was a one time thing? Or do you think they might, you know, fancy eachother?" Liam asked.
I shrugged.
"Li, even if Lou did fancy Harry, he would never admit it to himself. Knowing him, he'd feel like he was cheating on Bri. But Harry...I dunno. He said something about Louis affecting him in a certain way before Niall came in," I confessed.
Niall's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, Harry shuffled into the room, his smile strained.
"Where's Lou?" he asked.
"Probably taking a walk or drive or something. Clearing his head," I offered.
Harry nodded absently. I noticed a silver bracelet on his wrist that hadn't been there before.
"What's that?" I asked, gesturing towards it.
"His present to me. It says 'I trust you'," he answered.
There was a bit of an awkward silence following that. Had Louis been there, he would have cracked a joke or something to break the silence.
"Cheeseburgers and jelly babies!" Niall shouted, scaring the crap out of me.
That weird phrase was something Niall did in case there was an uncomfortable silence like there had just been. That and Irish dancing.
Harry laughed, but it sounded painfully forced.
"You're weird," he said.
Liam sighed, "Look. I know you're not going to want to talk about what just happened, and I'm all for that, but we need to clear things up."
Harry's half-smile slipped away. He ran hands over his face.
"I dunno. Honestly. Just...one second I was hugging him, and the next...we were snogging. And the horrible part is, I didn't pull away. Why the hell didn't I?" he spat, suddenly angry.
Then as quickly as his attitude had changed, it changed again. His shoulders slumped in defeat.
"He hates me. Things are going to be awkward and weird between us now," he muttered.
Niall, Liam, and I exchanged unsure glances.
"Harry, I know you think it's your fault, but he didn't pull away either. At least, not until I came in," I pointed out.
Harry looked at me. I knew he was the kind of person to shoulder all te blame and that my words had done very little, but hey. It was worth a try.
"Probably because he didn't no what else to do. I took him off guard," he said.
I was right.
"Just wondering, who initiated it?" Niall asked.
"Me. I think. It's a bit fuzzy, but I think it was me. Oh god, why did I do that? I don't- I don't fancy him!" Harry yelped, his eyes widening.
"Nobody ever said you did, mate," Niall assured him. But we were all thinking it.
It made sense, the way they acted around eachother. And Harry had said right after the kiss that Louis had been 'affecting him weirdly' lately.
Harry looked at all of us uncertainly. He looked sad too. Kind of like a lost puppy.
"What if I do?" he whispered.
"Then you're screwed," Niall said simply. Liam shot him a glare, but Niall shrugged.
"It's true. We all know Louis is nowhere near emotionally and mentally ready for another relationship. Even if he really did fancy Harry, he'd deny it and deny it and things would probably go back to the way they were when Harry first came into the band. Anger is Louis's way of dealing with things. However, if Louis doesn't fancy him, then...I guess you're just in for a tough time, mate. I'm sorry," Niall continued.
Harry stared at the floor for an extremely long time, his jaw clenched and eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"I guess I'm in for a tough time then, yeah?" he finally said, "I'm going to go see Becca."
It hurt to see the sadness in Harry's eyes. The poor lad. He nodded at us, his smile more of a grimace.
"You know the way out," he sighed.
He grabbed his keys and left, leaving the room in a heavy silence until Niall spoke up.
"This is not going to end well."
Harry's POV
Good going, Styles. You would fancy your best mate who happens to be a guy and is still madly in love with his dead girlfriend. And you're part of a very famous band. You'd never be allowed to date, even if he wanted to. Why do you always fall for the ones you can't get?
Those were the thoughts running viciously through my mind as I drove to Becca's apartment. She knew I was coming, but she didn't know why. I had called her, distraught and confused.
As much as I wanted to, I couldn't keep what happened earlier from bouncing around in my mind, giving me a wicked headache.
Why did I have to kiss him? Why did I even do it? Then, I hadn't realized that I had been subconsciously fancying my best mate. And thanks to that kiss, now I knew that I did.
Everything would be so much less complicated if I hadn't done something that stupid. What was the probability of Louis not hating my guts again? I'd barely gotten a month of an amazing friendship, only to destroy it.
I was dreading seeing him again. I didn't want to have to deal with the fighting again. The constant hostile exchange of insults, whether they were true or not.
I'd spent so much time trying to act like he didn't faze me, but he did. And it hurt a lot. When we were together, we were hurting eachother. When we were apart, I was constantly dreading the next time I would see him.
What had changed? When had I started feeling like this? I didn't know. I hadn't even realized it until tonight. What had he done to make me fall for him?
I parked and slowly trudged into Becca's apartment building. When I reached her door, it opened without me even knocking. I faintly smiled. She'd been watching for me.
As I stepped inside, she immediately swiveled to face me, her hazel eyes narrowed with concern.
"What's wrong? You're all pale and shaky-looking and you look scared and worried," she said. Becca had a thing for analyzing people.
I silently headed for her sofa, collapsing onto it. She sat next to me, prepared to wait for an explanation.
I wasn't sure what to say.
"I...I mean we...Louis and I, I kissed him," I tried.
Becca's eyes widened.
"Seriously?" she asked.
I nodded grimly. And suddenly, I found words for what I wanted to say, and they all spilled out of my mouth at once.
"I think I fancy him. But he's not going to want anything to do with something like that. He's still a wreck over Aubrey, plus we'd never be allowed to be together because of publicity issues, plus I'm a guy. And I'm scared he's going to go back to hating me again. I can't take all the hate between us again. I just can't, Becca! It hurt to much the first time, and who knows how long I'll have to go through it this time?" I blabbered.
Becca sat patiently, listening carefully as I ranted.
"And I know the kiss was a huge mistake. I never knew I fancied him before then, and if I had never kissed him, then we wouldn't be in this mess. But I've been wondering if I hadn't, would I have eventually done something else? I'm so confused. What the hell should I do?" I groaned.
Becca studied me, regarding what I said like it was the most important thing she had ever heard.
"I think you should talk to him, figure out how things are going to be. Then you can go from there. Maybe he will just say to forget about it and things might go back to normal. Maybe it'll be awkward between you. Maybe he'll make himself hate you so he won't have to deal with other emotions he might have for you. You can't know until you talk to him," she said slowly.
Something caught my attention.
"Other emotions he might have?" I questioned her.
"He didn't pull away from that kiss, correct?" Becca asked.
I shook my head.
"Then there might be a chance he may feel something for you. If I understand how he works, he's going to deny that as aggressively as he can," she explained.
"So...I'm just in for a lot," I sighed. I was tired, exhausted to the point that I was amazed that I could still form coherent sentences.
"Basically," Becca agreed.
I couldn't seem to find the energy to reply.
"You're not driving back. You're too tired," she ordered.
I nodded and curled into a ball on her sofa.
I heard her chuckle and leave the room to get a blanket to throw over me.
I wanted desperately to sleep. But thoughts whirled around my mind, keeping me from slipping into unconsciousness.
Somehow, I couldn't fathom how, Becca knew.
She came back, a pill in her hand.
"It'll help you sleep," she said softly.
I swallowed it, the small pill going down easily without any water.
I was asleep before she even left the room.