Rumors, Rumors, Nothing But Rumors (L.S)

Chapter Three

A/N I had a twelve-hour shift today, took a nap and then wrote this, so don't come at me if it isn't my best writing lol.

Louis is awoken by a screeching and borderline hysterical laughter, immediately bringing his attention to a pounding headache right at his temples.

He drags the covers above his head in an attempt to drown out a highly energetic Zayn entering the room, bend over in teary-eyed laughter, his breathing limited to small huffs between cackles.

Louis groans, the loud noises making his head pound even more painfully.

"Omg... They've made it look... I can't even... it looks like you're painfully, deeply in love..." Zayn's words are repeatedly cut off by uncontrolled laughing fits, and Louis can feel the bed dipping violently beside him, as his annoyingly non-hungover-and-painfully-active-roommate jumps next to him.

"Ssshhh, Z", he groans, pressing the heels of his hands against his temples in an unsuccessful attempt at dulling the pain shooting through his head.

Zayn is apparently not hungover - at least not to the extent Louis is - and he keeps prodding at Louis, until he finally removes the duvet from his face, squinting at Zayn's crinkled face, cheeks wet with tears from laughter.

Finally, Zayn manages to press out the most understandable and fully pronounced sentence he has yet said, only interrupted by huffs of quiet laughter. "They got pictures... They think Harry is dating someone... Guess who?".

Harry dating someone? Why would Zayn find that funny?

Oh no...

Louis grabs the phone from Zayn's outstretched hand, immediately seeing at least ten different articles from various gossip magazines as he scrolls, each confirming his growing fear.

The Celebrity Spot: Has Harry Styles been hiding a boyfriend this whole time?

Gossip Weekly: See all the pictures - Harry Styles getting friendly with mysterious guy.

ALL INCLUSIVE: Exclusive pictures from private party! Is model Harry Styles in love?

The News Flash: Who is Harry Styles' new fling? Pictures from private party leaked!

The Daily Update: A new kind of news about Harry Styles - does he have a secret boyfriend?

Louis gets the gist; For some reason, a lot of people seem to think Harry is dating someone, and Louis has a daunting feeling about who that someone might be, so he reluctantly clicks on an article - one from a gossip magazine called The Daily Update.

Usually, any press about Harry Styles includes another scandal, another story of his rude or self-centered behavior, or yet another girl on his arm - despite confirmed rumors of the model's sexuality.

But not this time! Harry Styles is seen with an anonymous guy, and they look more than a bit friendly. Judge for yourself on the pictures below.

As Louis reads, a suffocating feeling in the shape of a rock makes his tummy turn into a knot - Zayn still laughing his ass off not really calming his nerves. He usually doesn't like this particular magazine, since they have a habit of smearing anyone and everyone, but this is going to be even worse.

There's not much text in the article, and Louis soon reaches the pictures, once and for all confirming his fear; The articles are talking about him.

Blurred and slightly grainy photos - probably taken on someone's phone, perhaps it's even a video - display him and Harry in the doorframe at the party, the angle making it look like they were standing even closer than they actually were.