For the Road

45

Harry sighs and glances out of the window of Eleanor's car. She agreed to drop him off at his house—old house now, but whatever—since Louis said he needed to go talk to Liam for a bit. Harry doesn't mind going home with Eleanor. He's grown fond of her over the last couple of months.

"Don't tell Louis I said this, but I kind of understand why you signed the contract," Eleanor sighs. Harry's heart races. The contract, right. He agreed to sign the contract with Simon Cowell after Louis' lawyers looked over it. Harry doesn't try to understand everything Louis was saying with the lawyers. All he really caught was that Louis wants them to look it over before Harry signed anything.

"I'm sure Louis' going to be pretty upset, but it's my dream and it's only a year. If I make it, then I can go and sign with another company after the year is up," Harry explains. It makes perfect sense to him, even with the risks. He wishes he could've gotten Louis on board with it, but he'll have to explain everything after Louis has calmed down.

"I'm sorry that Simon kicked you out of Louis' house. If you want, you can be my roommate for a while. I have a spare room since my last roommate moved out, and it gets kind of lonely at nights," Eleanor offers. Harry looks at her like she's lost her mind. Is she serious?

"Really? I don't want to cause too much trouble," Harry starts.

"It's nothing really! I have the spare room and it does get lonely. Besides, I feel bad about all of this," Eleanor explains. Harry can't believe she'd do something like this for him. He reaches over and gives her a quick hug. He's been anxious regarding where he'd go ever since Simon brought it up and for her to offer something like this makes Harry's life so much easier.

Harry thanks Eleanor one last time before leaving her car and entering Louis' house. He kicks off his shoes and plops on the couch, deciding that he'd wait on Louis before they started to pack up. Simon was very clear about Harry moving out and as much the pair despised it, they knew they would have to do it.

~_~_~

It's nearly midnight and Harry paces through the house anxiously. It's been nearly six hours since he last heard from Louis. Harry has texted and called numerous times. He had even called Liam to see if he knew where Louis could be.

"He is fine, he is probably just going to be a little bit longer," Harry whispers to himself. Normally, Louis sends Harry a message if he'll be out late for whatever reason, but there has been no text or call. Harry tried distracting himself with Netflix, but even that doesn't calm him.

He hears the door open and turns abruptly to see Louis standing at the front door. Harry sighs loudly, wanting to cry as he nearly runs forward, and tackles the boy in a hug.

"Eh, what's up with all the hugs? Shouldn't you be in bed? It's way past your bed time," Louis jokes. Harry catches a smell of Louis' jacket and backs away slowly. His eyebrows knit together as he rakes his eyes over Louis' figure.

"Have you been drinking," Harry asks quietly. Louis looks down and then sniffs himself.

"What's it to you," Louis demands. Harry immediately perks up at Louis' harsher tone. Louis looks at Harry for a Moment before busting out laughing. Harry sucks in a deep breath. The reality of the situation hits him, and he can't believe what Louis' gone and done.

"You're drunk," Harry states. Louis crosses his arms across his chest.

"I'm Louis, actually," Louis counters. "Besides, I only had... wait, only a few drinks." Harry looks at him and immediately knows that he's had more than a few drinks.

A thought crosses Harry's mind that hasn't before. Louis took the car out and made Harry ride with Eleanor. Harry's heart drops as he realizes that Louis had to get home somehow. He prays that Louis was sober enough to catch an Uber instead of driving himself.

"Louis, please tell me that you didn't drive here," Harry asks. Louis looks at him for a second before responding.

"I'm not stupid. I walked," Louis explains. He sounds more sober than he has since he arrived. The sheer relief Harry feels is nearly enough for him to forgive the boy until he realized what Louis had said.

"You walked? Louis you're supposed to be shaping up your act! Simon just had to fly you out in the middle of your tour, and you go out and get drunk and then walk home! Never mind that you didn't text me for hours! I was worried sick about you! You could've been dead for all I knew, but you were too busy partying to even text me! God, Louis, that's just stupid," Harry shouts. Louis groans loudly and looks up at the ceiling.

"Shaping up my ass! Simon can suck my left nut. I was too busy getting drunk to text you, but you wouldn't know that feeling. You're making my head hurt with all this damn shouting," Louis shouts. He motions towards his head and turns towards the couch to sit. Harry's fuming. He was too busy to text him? That's his big excuse?

"My head has been hurting too after imaging all the ways you could've been dead! A simple text back would've been fine. I don't care what you send as long as you send something! You had me worried sick," Harry's voice breaks. He's supposed to be mad. Harry can't be mad if he's crying.

Harry's shoulders sag as a few tears trace down his cheeks. He has been worried sick. He's been imaging all the different ways Louis could've been killed. He can't lose Louis. Louis' his rock. It sounds cheesy, but Harry doesn't know what to do without Louis in his life. Even the idea of Louis never coming back sends a shiver down his spine.

Louis glances at Harry and sighs loudly. "If you keep that up I'm gonna start crying too," Louis mutters. Harry takes a seat on the couch next to Louis, not wanting to look at him. He can still remember the last time Louis said that to Harry.

"Did I? Did I... ruin your friendship with Zayn?"

Harry wishes he could go back to then. Everything was simpler. His biggest worry then was if Zouis was real and if Louis hated him for it. He still lived with his mother in his childhood home and was still attending college. Now, he was about to be worrying about contracts and public appearances. It was exhausting and he just wanted everything to be easy again.

They sit in silence for a while. Harry continues to let the tears slide down his cheeks. He doesn't bother trying to wipe them away. There's no point. After a while they stop coming, but neither boy dares to move.

"I'm sorry... that I can't take you out to dinner or brag about how lucky I am to everyone I meet," Louis starts. His tone is soft and delicate.

"Louis, you know that's not your fa—" Harry's interrupted by Louis.

"You deserve... better. You deserve someone who can take you out and ... kiss you in public," Louis whispers. Neither dared to look at each other. Harry is scared even the smallest movement will ruin the Moment. It's like walking on thin glass overlooking a dark and deep abyss.

"Come on, Louis you know—" Harry's interrupted again.

"You deserve better than a drunken apology, but... I am sorry," Louis finishes.

They sit a while longer, Louis' words hanging between them. Harry sucks in a deep breath and finally responds quietly.

"It's okay." 

~_~_~

Hey guys! I know this is not Monday, but I want to spend my last day of break tomorrow doing other things and relaxing. This is the last chapter of 2017! I want to thank each and every one of you for being a big part of my year. This booking has been in the works for a majority of the year and that comes with you! I hope 2018 is good to you! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! ~B

ATLC: Well, I didn't really find the book anywhere. I came up with the idea over the summer. I wanted to write a fanfiction where one was a fan and one was a singer without it being the cliche 'OMG-I-got-noticed-by-my-idol-on-social-media-even-though-its-a-1-in-a-million-chance' kind of thing. I always like putting twists on my books too if you can't tell. I decided that since Anne and Jay have such an amazing relationship I could do something with that and it all kind of came from that. 

Bonus Goal: 30 votes and 27 comments

QOTC: Are you going to do the epilogue contest?