slight alterations ➸ larry

three

"you guys are my otp." harry says after a few ticks of silence.

"wait, what?" louis asks, utterly lost. what's an otp?

"i ship you." harry smiles.

"i'm confused." louis furrows his eyebrows. ship us where? 

"i just don't like how it ends. so, i'm here to change that." harry states, not explaining anything to the dumbfounded lad in front of him.

"well, shit! how does it end?" louis inquires, suddenly curious. "not that i believe you, of course." he declares shortly after.

"i - i'm not allowed to tell you. niall said that i can't tell you."  harry frowns, but it kind of glad he doesn't have to tell louis his fate. (well, his old fate. harry's going to make sure it doesn't happen.)

"who the fuck cares what niall says?" louis sighs in frustration.

"well, for one, you should. he wrote your life. for two, i thought you didn't believe me? so what do you care what i have to say?" harry shrugs, a knowing smirk settled upon his face. 

"i mean, i don't." louis crosses his arms over his chest. "you're insane."

"whatever you say." 

the two sit in silence for awhile then, because louis doesn't know what to say. seeing as he's about ninety-seven percent sure harry's just some homeless bloke, or one of zayn's friends, louis pretty much wants him out of the house. (and there's still the three percent chance he's a murderer.)

after about two minutes of the noiselessness, louis speaks up. 

"so... what's an otp?"

"one true pair. it's, like, your number one couple that you want to be together." harry explains.

"and what is shipping?" 

"it's basically the same thing as otp except the verb form. i want you guys to be together." 

"but why does it matter to you? like, shouldn't you just mind your own business?" louis raises an eyebrow. 

"well, since i read your life in a book... it kind of was my business." 

"i still don't believe you. the book is blank, man." louis glances at the object in harry's hand. 

one thing's for sure, it has his and the guy from tesco's - zayn, supposedly - faces on it. so, either harry's a creepy stalker-murderer or zayn is really obsessed. (or, of course, harry is telling the truth. [but louis doesn't consider that.])

another question then arises, why louis? louis doesn't view himself as particularly attractive. like, okay, he thinks he's okay looking, but not hot enough to have a stalker. 

louis is torn from his thoughts when harry says, "it's only blank to you."

"okay. fine. i'm going to call over my friend liam and we'll get his opinion on this situation." louis takes out his cell, and dials for liam. 

harry sits quietly during the call, where louis fails to mention the other person in his house. he just tells liam to come over, and that it's urgent.

harry fiddles with the book in his hands, yet again inspecting the cover. he opens it to a random page, and skims it. it's where zayn and louis go to an amusement park, and despite zayn's fear of heights and rides, he goes on them for louis. harry thinks it's a sweet gesture. 

liam arrives after ten minutes of louis on his phone - glancing up at harry every once and awhile to make sure he doesn't have a murder device or something. (what can louis say? he's paranoid.) 

louis answers the door, and liam walks in after greeting his blue-eyed friend. 

"so, what's the -" liam spots harry. "who's this?"

"'m harry," he introduces himself. "nice to meet you." he nods his head. 

"what's so urgent? you made a new friend and it's the end of the world?" liam teases louis, sitting down on the couch. 

"i wouldn't say he's a friend." louis states, causing harry to frown.

"oh?" liam raises an eyebrow, looking back and forth from louis to harry. "so, more than friends?"

"less than friends..." louis answers, then goes on to tell liam about the whole story. 

liam seems more open to the idea, nodding and giving little grunts and murmurs of approval throughout the whole story. 

when the time finally comes for liam to look at the book, he seems proper convinced. harry is from an alternate universe. 

"tell me it's blank, liam. that book is blank." louis insists.

but, as liam scans the inside of the book, he sees words. "s'not blank, lou."

"it is!" louis seethes, grabbing the book out of liam's hands. "there is not a single word written on these pages." he says, staring at the slightly wrinkled, creamy white pages. 

liam takes the book back, and flips to the last few pages. you know how some books have, like, three blank pages at the end? this is one of those books. liam points to the three blank pages. "these are blank. the rest have words." he tells louis. "i think he's telling the truth. what else could explain this?" 

"you're in on it!" louis gapes. 

"woah. what?"

"this is just a giant - when is ashton kutcher going to pop out? say i've been punk'd? seriously, this isn't funny!" louis cries out.

"no no no, lou. i didn't know about this. i promise you. i've never heard of zayn before, okay? never heard of harry either." liam assures. "i'm just saying i believe him, yeah? i see words, here, and you don't. call me gullible, but i don't see any other reason for this."

"alternate universes, li?" louis sighs. "i don't know."

"well i do." harry speaks up for the first time in awhile. 

"how'd you get here?" liam asks, again becoming aware of harry's presence. 

"look at the very last page of the book, on the back." harry commands. 

liam does as told, and sees the whole page full of random numbers and letters, all scrawled in pencil. "what's this?" 

"niall told me to write it on the back." harry starts, but notices liam's confused look. "niall is the author." he clears. "anyway, he told me to write it, and then, the next thing i knew, i was on louis' doorstep, in the rain." 

"do you seriously believe him, liam?" louis asks, thinking liam's being a gullible idiot. 

"i do!" liam shoots back, offended. he turns back to harry, then. "can i read the book?" 

"i don't think that's a good idea." harry takes the book back from liam, hugging it to his chest. 

"why not?" liam frowns. 

"niall told me not to reveal the end to anyone." harry explains. 

liam nods, and louis thinks that he's acting way too calm in this situation. or maybe louis is just being too logical. (in which, he doesn't think is a bad thing.)

-

do you think liam accepted it too easily or louis is being stubborn?