For the Road

10

Harry's nervous. He's standing at Louis Tomlinson' door holding a tray of lasagna and the only thing he wants to do is run. He'd imagined this Moment for years and he thought he'd be a little more excited, but he actually feels like vomiting.

"Hi! Come in, come in! You all look lovely," Jay greets. The whole family's standing by the door, including Louis. Harry's eyes glance over to Louis and they hold eye contact. He can't believe the knots forming in his chest as he looks over the pop-star for the first time in person. Louis's wearing a sweater and jeans and Harry feels like he'd pass out from a cuteness overload.

Harry follows his mother and dad into the house. "I have some lasagna already cooked. I need to bake the bread and finish the salad, but after that I think we'll be ready to eat," Anne explains.

"I'll show you to the kitchen. Daisy and Phoebe, why don't you two go to your rooms, yeah," Jay offers. Daisy and Phoebe both nod and run off to their rooms. Harry looks around and takes a seat on the sofa as the Tomlinson kids all disperse to do their own things, leaving Louis and Harry in an awkward silence in the sitting room.

"So... how was tour?" Harry has no clue how to talk to the boy. He's been mentally preparing all week for this. He's been trying his best to picture Louis as 'the boy next door' and not a pop star he has been crushing on for years. He even went to the extent of covering his posters with pictures of Ryan Gosling, so he doesn't even have to look at Louis's face.

"I'm not doing this with you," Louis starts. Harry watches as Louis leans back into the couch and looks up at the ceiling. Harry feels his heart drop.

"Doing what?"

"You know what. I'm not going to talk to you casually about the band when I know that you think that Zayn and I are dating. I've denied the rumors so many times and all you're going to do is try and twist my words," Louis huffs. Harry brings a hand to his hair, trying to figure out a compromise. If he doesn't do something soon, he's sure that Louis will hate him forever. He has to fix this.

"Can you at least pretend you like me? Our Mums are best friends, and it will crush them if they know we hate each other. Besides, I don't have any intent on pressuring you to talk about the band or your relationship status," Harry throws out. He knows how much Louis cares about his Mum and hopes to hit a sweet spot with the older boy. Louis furrows his eyebrows in deep concentration.

"If you stop posting about me and Zayn being in a relationship, I'll at least try to be your friend, but if I see anything about Zouis, or whatever, then I'm officially unfriending you," Louis warns. Harry relaxes and sighs. It's a big deal considering his account is mostly about their relationship, but he's willing to give it up for a friendship with Louis.

"Okay, that's doable. So... friends," Harry asks. Louis hesitates before breaking into a small smile.

"Friends."

~_~_~

Dinner has been manageable so far. Harry's stayed mostly silent and lets everyone else do the talking, but Lottie will not shut up about him. As soon as a conversation ended, Lottie would find a way to bring Harry up again. It isn't like he's upset about it (okay maybe a little), but he doesn't like having the attention on him either.

"Did you know that Harry sings?" Everyone at the table seems to sigh loudly as Lottie states another fact about Harry. Harry blushes and bites off a piece of bread before anyone forces him to sing something.

"Lottie, Harry obviously doesn't like, and probably doesn't appreciate, you listing off random ass facts about him, alright? Jesus, I'm sick of hearing about it at this point," Louis snaps. Lottie's eyebrows furrow as she shoots her older brother daggers. Everyone else at the table awkwardly stares at Louis after his outburst.