Forbidden Love [Larry Stylinson]

Chapter 12

Mark told us the ride to the arcade takes about 30 minutes; to me, that's 30 minutes too long. I am trying not to worry about the surprise party. 'Is everything set up? Is everyone there? Will Harry like the surprise?' A million thoughts are going through my head, interrupted by Mark.

"Here we are, boys." Mark calls from the front of the car. I check the time on my phone and see it's just over 7:30; 'right on time' I think to myself. Once all six of us are out of the car, Mark hands me the blindfold I gave him earlier. Liam, Niall, Zayn, and I thought it would be a good idea to blindfold Harry so that he doesn't see any of his surprise before we reveal it.

"Hazza, come here." I call for Harry.

"Yeah?"

"Turn around, I'm blindfolding you."

"Babe, were in public." Harry smirks.

"Oh, shut up, we don't want you to see anything before you're meant to." I can hear the boys beside me laughing at what Harry said, and I can't help but laugh. I place my hands on the blindfolded boy's waist and lead him into the arcade. When we enter the building, 20-30 people are scattered and silently standing, waiting for me to take the blindfold off of Harry. I slowly start to untie the black blindfold, and I can hear Harry giggle with excitement.

"Surprise!" Everyone shouts as soon as the blindfold falls from Harry's eyes. Harry slightly flinches at the sudden loud noise, but relaxes when I wrap my arm around his torso.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" I exclaim as I pull him into a tight hug.

"Thank you all so much!" Harry shouts back to the crowd, arms extended as if trying to hug all of them at once. "Let's go have some fun!" Harry yells once again, and the crowd cheers back.

-

It's nearly midnight when the party starts to slow down and people start to leave. The only people left are me, the boys, Gemma, Lou, Ed, and Nick. We are all running around the arcade, finding new machines to play.

"Guys, let's go play laser tag!" Ed shouts to all of us. We all run to the laser tag area, then we realize that there are 9 of us, and we need an even number of people.

"Okay, either we go find one more person to play with us, or one of us has to sit out." Liam informs us.

"I'll sit out this round, I guess." I speak up.

"But boo, I want you to be on my team." Harry whines.

"I'll sit out next round so Louis can play, okay?" Zayn compromises with Harry.

"Okay," Harry agrees. "What are you gonna do while we play?" Harry asks me as he loosely takes my fingers in his hand.

"I'll be right outside. I need some fresh air."

"Be safe."

"Always. Have fun, Haz."

"I will." Harry smiles as the group of 8 walks into the dark yet neon accented room. When the door to the laser tag room closes, I walk through the arcade to the closet, and search for my coat. I reach into my right pocket and pull out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. It's been an exciting yet hectic and long couple of hours, and I need to relax a bit. I walk out the back doors and lean against the brick wall facade. I light a cigarette and after one breath I start to feel more at ease.

After about 10 minutes, Zayn joins me outside.

"I figured you'd be here." Zayn says as I hand him a cigarette and the lighter.

"Yeah," I start, "how was the game?"

"It was fun, I think they're all taking a little break before they play again. Harry looked lost without you, you know." Zayn admits.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Every time something would happen he would look for you, then he would stop smiling when he remembered you weren't there." I feel a pang of sadness in my heart knowing that Harry wanted me and I wasn't there. I take one last drag of my cigarette before letting it fall on the snowy ground.

"I should probably head inside, then, they're probably getting ready to start another game."

"Alright, have fun." Zayn calls as I head inside. I smile at him before closing the door and returning my coat to the closet. I walk through the arcade once again and find the group of 7 sitting around a table with cups of water.

"Louis!" Nick happily exclaims. Harry moves over in the booth so I can sit next to him. I greet the group and sit next to Harry, and he wraps an arm around my shoulders. I reach up to my chest where Harry's hand is resting and hold his hand. We are all talking about how to split teams up in the upcoming game of laser tag, and Harry casually rests his head on my shoulder.

"You were smoking..." Harry says, audible enough so only I can hear it, as he picks his head up off my shoulder. I can hear the disappointment in his voice, and I immediately regret smoking. Harry hates when Zayn and I smoke; it's just something we picked up to relax and have a bit of fun sometimes.

"I think we should go Harry, Louis, Gemma, and me, and then Liam, Niall, Lou, and Nick." Ed suggests. All eight of us agree, and we head towards the laser tag area. After I stand up, I wait for Harry to get up so I can walk next to him. I lean in and mumble, "sorry". Harry looks down and plays with my sweater sleeve to get me to stop walking to separate ourselves from the rest of the group.

"Boo, you know I don't like when you smoke." Harry frowns.

"I know, Haz, I'm sorry."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"I don't fucking know!" I quietly exclaim. I can feel my frustration and anger rising by the second.

"Sorry, it was just a question." Harry mumbles after he flinches from my angry remark. I immediately feel the frustration and anger in me being replaced by regret and worry. I hurt Harry, and he's scared now.

"No, no, sweetheart, come here." I gently say as I pull Harry into my arms for a hug. After a few seconds, Harry gives into the hug. "Baby, you know I didn't mean to yell. I've just been a bit stressed out lately. Do you forgive me?" I whisper in his ear.

"I forgive you, Lou." Harry whispers into my ear. His lips brush against my neck as he wraps his arms around my waist, sending shivers up and down my spine.

"I love you, Louis." Harry whispers.

"I love you too, Harry." I whisper back as our lips meet. Suddenly, nothing else seems to matter other than the fact that my boyfriend is happy.

-