Once in a Lifetime

Twenty-One.

Louis and Harry called, texted and video-called every single day for the next week. They fell asleep staring into each other's eyes, they woke up to texts from each other, and they called whenever they wanted to hear the other's voice. It became almost normal for them, and it wasn't until the 30th of December that something out of the ordinary happened as they were texting, both of them under the influence of a little bit of alcohol.

H: 'I miss you x'

L: 'I miss you too, Haz, only a few more days until we're back in Manchester though x'

H: 'I know, but it still feels like it's been ages since I hugged you :( x'

L: 'It's only been a week! x'

H: 'I don't care, I still miss your cute little face x'

L: 'Hey! I'm not cute, or little! x'

H: 'Whatever you say babe ;) x'

L: 'Babe? When did I become a pig? x'

H: 'Well, your room was a bit of a pigsty... x'

L: 'Didn't stop you from wanting to stay over though, did it? ;) x'

H: 'You were there, of course I wanted to stay x'

L: 'You were too drunk to drive home, I could have just made you sleep on the sofa x'

H: 'You wouldn't have administered that amount of cruelty to your favourite person x'

L: 'Sorry, didn't realise you morphed into Diego Maradona x'

H: 'Now that's just mean. You need to make it up to me x'

L: 'And how could I possibly do that? x'

H: 'Spend New Year with me xx'

Louis stared at his screen. His eyes scanned over those four words repeatedly until the letters became jumbled. As he analysed the simple text, he found himself smiling at the two kisses at the end. He tapped off the message, finding Niall's name and calling him.

"Yo, what's up?" he said into the phone, louder than it really needed to be.

"Harry text, asked me to spend New Year with him, what do I do?" By now, Louis was pacing up and down his room.

"I knew you two were getting close but wow, this is a surprise. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that maybe, you know, maybe I could possibly like him, I don't know. I smile whenever he texts, and we spend hours on the phone every day. There may have been one instance last week when I pictured kissing him, but it disappeared pretty quickly. He's hot, there's no denying that, but do I like him like him, or just think of him as a friend? Do I want to ditch my family to see in the new year with him?"

"Only you can answer that, Louis, but, if you want my honest opinion, you should go for it. He's the person you chose to open up to. He's the one you talked to when you felt that nobody else would understand. And, you never know, you may be reading into this too much and he does genuinely just want to hang out, but if you don't go, you'll never know. Listen, I have to go, let me know what you decide. Love you!" And with that, Niall hung up the call, leaving Louis alone with his thoughts once again. He looked back at the screen, noticing a new text message.

H: 'I'm sorry, let me try that again. Louis, I love spending time with you, and I love who I am when I'm with you. Being with you makes me happy, and I hope that when you're with me, you're happier too. I've had a lot of time to think since I last saw you and being away from you has been harder than I thought it would be. So, what I'm saying is, it would be an honour to bring in the new year with you by my side, if you'd like to, that is. There's no pressure, obviously, but my family would love to meet you and I'd love to start the year off right xx'