𝒾𝒻 𝒾 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒻𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒 (𝓁.𝓈.)

eighteen

The look on his face kills me. I feel like I'm being pierced through the heart.

Fuck, he's seen it.

"Shit, Harry, I really wanted to be the one to tell you-" I try to say, but he slams the door in my face.

Lovely.

I huff out a breath of frustration and knock loudly on the door again. If he refuses to listen to me, I'll annoy him into submission.

A couple of the most obnoxious knocks I can muster later, Harry opens the door abruptly, and my arm falls back to my side.

"Alright, you have two minutes to explain this," Harry says, voice small, and for the first time I notice the fact that he's wearing a duvet, boxers, and absolutely nothing else. His beautiful green eyes are red-rimmed and puffy, with dark circles underneath.

If anyone else had done that to him, I'd kill them. But I know I'm the one who did it, and that's worse. Way worse.

"Love-" I start, and Harry raises an accusatory eyebrow.

"No pet names," he demands. "Makes it harder to focus."

I resist smiling at that.

"Alright. Harry," I begin again, and he nods, allowing me to continue. "It's not what you think."

"I think you ghosted me for a day and a half and now you're engaged to your 'longtime girlfriend' who's totally fake."

I take a second to process. "Okay, so it's kind of exactly what you think. But Eleanor and I are not engaged."

"Then why is it all over the fucking Sun and the fucking Daily Mail and every other fucking newspaper in the fucking UK?"

I almost take a step back. I don't think I've ever heard him curse that much in a single sentence. And that's after being unhealthily obsessed with him for the past three years.

"Because my management fucking wants it to be," I answer him, sounding defeated. "I had to sign a contract to get engaged to Eleanor. It's part of this whole 'damage control' thing."

Realization lights up Harry's eyes, and then guilt takes over his expression.

"This is my fault, isn't it?" he asks, sounding tiny, and I want to hug him.

You know what, fuck it.

I step forward and wrap my arms around Harry, duvet and all, holding him tightly to me. He doesn't try to move away, thankfully.

"It's not your fault," I tell him. "I'm sorry you had to find out from a gossip column rather than from me."

Harry nods into my neck. "Yeah, that was pretty shitty of you."

I laugh. "It was. I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?" I pull away slightly so I can see his face. He tilts his head, pretending to be thinking about it.

"I guess," he says slowly.

"Great," I say, flashing him a grin. "Because it's really fucking cold out here. May I come in?"

Harry grins back and steps aside to let me in, closing the door behind us. I shrug off my jacket, dropping it on the couch in the living area. Then I turn and look Harry up and down.

He pulls his covers tighter around his body. "Sorry," he says sheepishly. "I wasn't expecting guests. I'll go put some clothes on."

"No rush, love." I step closer to him, flashing a smirk, and I watch his Adam's apple bob as he swallows. My hands come up to where his are holding the duvet, gently taking the material out from his grip and letting it drop to the floor.

"Louis," Harry says, holding up his hands to stop me from doing anything else. "Why didn't you text me?"

I sigh. Well, I suppose I'll have to say something at some point. "Because I was scared. Simon was forcing me to sign this engagement contract thing, and that was really stressful because he gave us a time limit to agree to it, and then you hadn't texted me so I just figured you didn't want to hear from me. But then they told me they were releasing the article and I wanted to tell you first. So I came here. But I was too late."

Harry smiles softly. "You're never too late." I smile back and try to move closer again, but Harry keeps his hands up. "Wait, one more thing."

He sucks in a deep breath, as if he's about to drop a bomb. I hope it's not something that requires me to leave, because Harry in only his boxers can't just be a show for me; it has to be an interactive experience.

And I'm way too emotionally exhausted to think about anything but sex right now.

"Louis, I know you said this isn't just one night," Harry starts, and for once I wish his voice wasn't so gorgeous and slow so he could get on with it. I nod.

"Did you mean that in a friends-with-benefits kind of way? Or a you-actually-like-me kind of way?"

I make a noise somewhere between a snort and a groan. How blind is he? I'm practically in love with him already.

I can't say that, though, so I wrap my hand around the back of his head and press our lips together in a kiss that at least starts off sweet. He breaks it before it can get too heated.

"That's not an answer, Louis," Harry laughs, flicking a stray piece of hair off of my forehead.

"Fine," I concede, rolling my eyes even as I'm smiling. "I actually like you."

"Like like like?" Harry asks.

"Exactly like that," I confirm, and the adorable grin on Harry's face almost has me melting right there. I press my thumbs into the deep crevices of his dimples, loving how perfectly they fit there.

"I actually like you too," Harry mumbles, and then his hands are on my cheeks and his lips are on mine and I couldn't be happier.

I bury my hands in Harry's curls, but I break the kiss soon after. "Love, how long has it been since you showered?" I laugh, pulling one curl gently and watching as it hangs limp instead of snapping back like it should.

Harry pouts. "A bit. Why?"

"C'mon, Hazza, let's go get you clean."

Harry whines in protest. "I'm not even dirty."

I take his hand and start dragging him in the direction of the en suite.

When we get there, I turn around to face him, dropping his hand and lifting my shirt over my head in one fluid motion.

"Get in," I tell him. "I'll be there in a minute."

Harry salutes me dramatically with an amused smile on his face. "Yes, sir."

A/N: Okey dokey. Well, they made up! Yay!!

As much as I love writing Larry fluff, this story isn't just about that, so unfortunately I'll need to bring in some more drama soon. Sorry :/.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think of the story so far!!

Always TPWK :).

xo, K