10 Years Later (Larry 1d)

Chapter 31

They woke in the morning and showered together, kissing lazily under the water, gently soaping each other clean but trying to keep it chaste as they didn't have much time. Louis washed Harry's hair for him, giggling on tiptoes as he shampooed Harry's curls and then mewling in pleasure when Harry returned the favour. They dried off and dressed, each leaving their hair wet and tying it into quick buns, knowing it would be styled later anyway. They sent a quick message to Melanie and Sally to let them know they were up and dressed, Harry pulling his own clothes out of the bag he'd brought over yesterday before going downstairs. Louis made himself toast for breakfast while Harry munched on a banana. Within minutes they were picked up and taken to an upscale hotel. Liam chose to jump in a car with them, leaving Niall and Zayn to travel together. They chatted on the way, curious about the new PR team they would meet that day and excited to be doing their first official photo-shoot together.

When they arrived at the hotel, they were led to a conference room where the new PR team, and the management team greeted them. They sat down and discussed what Harry and Louis' relationship would mean for the band and the potential risks involved. Zayn told the PR consultants that as a band they were prepared for the risks and that the most important things to the band, following their experiences with Modest! Management were honesty, transparency and integrity. The PR team then explained how to handle coming out press-wise and how to respond to the possible backlash. Niall laughed at this, "To be honest mate, most of our fans have believed they were, or wanted Harry and Louis to get together since the band started, I'm not really concerned about the fans. As for the papers, they've always printed what they want about us so it doesn't really matter does it?"

Liam added, "Most of our old fans are in their twenties and thirties now anyway, it's not like we're corrupting the young. This whole reunion thing might not work anyway, we don't know how many people will buy tickets for shows or if they'll want a new album so we might as well go in full throttle as who we are now. We have nothing to lose". The management and PR teams nodded at this from the lads, and turned to Harry and Louis who had so far been quiet and asked them what their thoughts were. Louis hesitantly said, "I just don't want to lie" before falling silent. Harry jumped in and said slowly, his low voice rumbling, "For me it all comes down to things I can, and things I can't. I can cope with any consequences that come from loving Lou, but I can't live without him, and I can't hide my feelings when I want to shout them from the rooftops. I've spent years hiding my feelings and I'm too old for that shit now. I want to be free and I want to be happy."

Louis swallowed a lump in his throat and saw Sally and Melanie going a bit misty-eyed in the corner as Harry continued, "As for if we should wait until our relationship is more established, we've loved each other for 15 years, whether or not we've known it. We've waited long enough. I have no doubt Louis and I will be together forever and if for some crazy reason it doesn't work out, we are all adults. We can be professional, and Jesus, if we come through the craziness of the last ten years and still be friends, I think we'll be able to get through anything". Louis reached out for Harry's hand, and murmured, "I love you" into his ears, heart stopping as Harry turned to look at him, blue eyes gazing into green. Harry murmured, "I love you too" back at him, staring into each other's souls as the seconds dragged until they suddenly heard the sound of violent retching.

Louis turned his attention back to the meeting to see Niall pretending to vomit and grinned, reaching for the closest thing, which happened to be a satsuma from the fruit bowl in the centre of the table and throwing it at him, the whole band cracking up when it bounced off Niall's head. Niall grabbed an apple and made to throw back at him before one of the managers loudly cleared their throats and said, "Boys" with a warning in their voice. The lads sobered, remembering they were in their thirties and not their teens before looking sheepishly at the professionals and muttering, "Sorry", while shooting sly grins at each other, knowing that while they might have matured, they probably hadn't matured enough to not have food fights anymore.

They rounded off the meeting and the management & PR team left to give them a few minutes to have a break for the interviewer came in. The minute they were alone, Niall grabbed a banana and threw it at Louis, and seconds later it was a free-for-all; pens, notepads, bottles of water, fruit and pastries all being thrown at one another. They used the chairs as defences, ducking under the level of the table height before jumping up and throwing whatever was to hand at each other. Louis crowed as he hit Zayn smack in the middle of the face with a croissant, only to be hit in the arm seconds later by Liam with a doughnut. They were suddenly interrupted by Sally opening the door while talking to the interviewer and then stopping, open mouthed as they saw the chaos. The lads looked at each other and burst into hysterical laughter as Sally frowned while trying very hard not to laugh. Sally went to quickly usher the journalist out of the room until Liam stepped back into adult mode and introduced himself, apologising for the mess and offering the interviewer a seat, trying to discretely brush the crumbs off the closest chair before she sat down.

The rest of the lads quickly pushed the debris off the table and chairs, driving the mangled fruit and pastries into a corner, before wiping their hands on their trousers and shaking the reporter's hands with embarrassed expressions. Sally introduced the journalist, whose name was Abbie, before sitting on a chair and apologising for the band's behaviour. Abbie smiled and said brightly, "Well, it certainly wasn't what I was expecting, but I'm not bothered". She set up her voice recording equipment and announced the date, time and details of the interview to the recorder. She started by asking them questions about the reunion process, and asking for further details about the TV shown, of which she'd seen a preview and asking each of the boys to expand on certain things.

Each of the lads spoke about their experience of filming the reunion and what had happened after, getting to know each other again and Harry and Louis explained about their new relationship and how they had come to realise they loved one another. Louis found talking with Abbie relaxing, knowing that by the time the interview was published he'd have already announced on live TV that he was with Harry, so this was just a case of expanding on that and getting the full story across. They spoke about the possibilities of what could come next, depending on the reception from the fans They'd love to get back in the studio, tour America and the rest of the world again, but it ould all depend on the level of fan interest. The interview lasted for about an hour before Abbie thanked them for their time and let them know she would send through a copy of the article before it was published.

The lads were rushed through hair and makeup. Louis laughed as he sat in the chair and saw in the mirror opposite that apparently he'd had icing sugar on his cheek throughout the entire interview, before moaning at Harry for not telling him. Harry simply laughed and told him, "I thought it was far too adorable to say anything", giggling when Louis stuck his tongue out at him. They got changed into clean clothes and were ushered into another room to do the photo-shoot. Louis felt a bit awkward under the lights, having not had professional photos taken for a long time, but quickly relaxed as the boys messed around together while the photographer took shots, before going into more 'modelly' poses. Louis and Harry were kept back a few minutes longer to take some couple shots of the pair, but this was pretty painless as he got to be really close to Harry.

After the shoot had wrapped, the lads got changed into another set of clean clothes and signed some autographs for the fans waiting outside. Louis had to remember to not touch Harry while they were outside, knowing they had to keep their relationship quiet until the TV show on Monday. Louis was exhilarated by the fans attention, but exhausted by having to be constantly vigilant about not touching or kissing Harry. It felt like the longest they'd been apart for days. Pretending he wasn't head over heels in love with Harry was agonising. He was so pleased that the other lads had agreed to let them be honest about who they were – he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep it up for if they weren't already due to announce on Monday.