not in love || l.s. ✔︎

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

A/N: THEY HUGGED. (If you thought I'd be over The Hug by now, you thought wrong. I will never recover.) And apparently Louis got a new tattoo this week. God help us all.

I've been dying to get to this part of the story. I hope you like it! There's a lot more Louis to come!

HARRY / PRESENT

The moon was full, its light guiding us deeper and deeper into the park until we reached our destination, a flat stretch of grass next to the bridge.

We kept the guest list small but somehow there were several people there we had never seen before, talking and drinking as the music started. Between Darby and I we knew enough musicians to keep the music going until dawn without interruption.

There were four kegs and guests crowded around them in sandals and cutoffs. Darby was barefoot in a billowy sundress dancing with Sarah and Chloe. She was a truly awful dancer but so unselfconscious it was a joy to watch her.

Liam brought the firewood we had almost, sort of, chopped ourselves and I brought the rocks to place around it to contain the flames. The pit was enormous.

We used flashlights until Niall got the fire started using a barbeque lighter, and dry leaves as tinder. The flames towered over us and I was a little concerned we'd burn the park down. I was still surprised Liam was able to get a permit for this.

"Shouldn't it be smaller?" I asked Niall.

"Then it would just be a campfire. This," he gestured dramatically with his arms, "is a bonfire!"

Liam helped Sophia unpack food from their car—delicious homemade caramel apples, funnel cakes and kettle corn. I stretched out in front of the fire. Niall had picked up his guitar and started playing. It wasn't one of our songs but it was a song we used to cover all the time. Use Somebody. I looked down at my hands and twisted my rings around my fingers, trying to stay in the moment and not get nostalgic. Today was supposed to be about the future.

One of Darby's colleagues in rolled up pants and a trilby handed me a cup of whisky. Soon, people began to crowd around Niall and me like we might start singing. We looked at each other and shook our heads. It was strange how something we used to do in front of thousands of people every night for years was now so foreign to us in front of this small crowd. I was nervous, almost afraid. Niall started, his voice steady and sure, and then I joined in, softly at first and then louder and louder with more confidence. More people crowded around. I felt Liam's hand on my shoulder and he began to sing as well. He had a lovely, deep voice, smooth and melodic.

I caught a glint of Darby's eye in the darkness, her blonde locks swirling wildly in the wind. She circled the fire and came around to me, melting into my lap. Her tanned shoulders were warm and slick with sweat. I shut my eyes and sang into the nape of her neck.

Our old stylist, Debbie, a bombshell wearing about a dozen scarves and earrings the size of dinner plates, arrived with some of the crew from our last tour. They brought sparklers and roman candles. Again, this would have seemed highly dangerous to me but a few cups of whisky later and it was all quite reasonable. If Liam wasn't worried then neither was I. He was my barometer when it came appropriate conduct. Keep Calm if Liam Carries On was always my motto.

Debbie handed Darby and me a sparkler each. "Here you go, loves, consider it an early wedding present," she said kissing our cheeks, lingering on mine with motherly affection.

The sparks showered our clothes and exposed skin, but it wasn't a totally unpleasant feeling. We drew hearts and spelled each other's names in the night sky, like vows written in fire and light.