the royal family of the music industry

06. Up All Night

Harry Styles, 2017

"Ni-all." Harry whines, lying upside down on the bed in his new room, head hanging from the edge his arms splayed out, body like a cross.

Without further questions, Harry had decided to move into the castle. It was very spontaneous but Harry had felt so incredibly alone in his house in LA that he was sure it would be fun if he lived together with Niall and soon also Liam, Zayn and Taylor. He had missed England and company so much, in one building like they had shared one in x-Factor days.

And it was a castle, why would he say no.

Niall currently packs all of Harry's stuff into Harry's room, unpacking the boxes and just stuffing the books and clothes where he thinks they could be good. It's more like a whole apartment in one of the two towers.

James had given them a quick tour of the gigantic palace - two towers (one of them belongs to Beyoncé and apparently the other one now to Harry), a huge hall where they would eat, the throne room, a big kitchen, some studios and various music rooms, a lot of empty rooms that are bigger than the flat One Direction shared in good old x-Factor days, a golf course (Niall had practically drooled while looking at it), a fashion and designing room and a football pitch outside.

The second and third floor were for the rooms everyone would sleep in, the former generation, as they call themselves, on the second floor and the new ones on the third.

The spiral staircases were huge, decorated with carpets laying over the stone and creating a titanic atmosphere.
Niall had jumped around and they had to stop their tour, so that he could run down the stairs dramatically, pretending to wear a long dress.

"Harry." Niall imitates Harry's whine and pulls a few books out of Harry's bags to place them on an antique wooden shelf.

Three of them were light blue. These three weren't books, they were photo albums. Photo albums Harry had made years ago, on his and Louis' fourth anniversary and Harry's heart stops as he sees them upside down.

Harry had loved to take photos of special moments with Louis or just photos of Louis.

Photos of Louis drinking tea, naked in Harry's bed, just the blanket laying above his hips, cup in hand. Hair messed up and cheeks a bit flushed from earlier activities.

Louis playing football, the jersey hanging around his tanned shoulders, as he sprints over the field or kicks the ball into the goal skilled.

Louis smoking a cigarette, sitting on the window sill. After Harry had taken the photo, he had climbed onto it to join him and had settled down in between Louis' legs, back against his chest and feeling safe as ever, with one of Louis' arms wrapped around his stomach and the feeling or Louis lips immediately pressed to his cheek, before his head had settled on top of Harry's.

Louis playing the guitar on the floor, leaning against the foot of the bed in nothing but boxers and Harry's sweater that was way too big for him hair a complete mess, because he had just woken up next to Harry and had run over to his guitar, because apparently he'd had a great idea for a song. It had been really early in the morning and after Louis had finished writing a few verses, he had thrown himself on Harry and had kissed his whole face and more.

Photos of Louis on the tourbus, on a plane, sleeping, swimming in a hotel pool, photos of Louis and Zayn sun bathing in Las Vegas, Louis making a snow angel in Australia a week later.

And also photos of Louis neck, full of red and purple bruises, because Harry didn't give a fuck about what would be if someone ever found that self-made album.