Together On The Field - l.s

eight

Louis heatedly gets inside his car, banging the door shut. He's so fucking angry. Mourinho often has this effect on him, that has to be said. He also doesn't really want to think about what the man told him, because he's afraid that reflecting on his words will bring him to a whole new questioning of his feelings and actions, and he's not ready for that, yet. He's not ready to think about what is up, between him and Harry, to ask himself why he's doing all these things and come to an unavoidable conclusion.

He's trying to push past the moment, because he can't go back in time and stop himself from doing what he did and ruining his relationship with Harry. Because it's clearly ruined, even if they didn't have a big fight. They don't text anymore, and they met only twice, when Niall organised a barbecue night at his place and invited Harry Liam and Zayn to join and they talked, and it was the worst thing ever, and Harry didn't stay much after, he rushed out as soon as they finished with the dinner, looking hurt and sad. And then they went out all together to this new Indian restaurant and they barely interacted. And then he didn't come on Saturday for the usual match night at Louis' and Louis is not going to pretend he didn't fiddle on the couch the whole night, a gloomy expression on his face, eyes staring at nothing in particular, all but focusing on the match. A meteor could have hit and destroyed the stadium and he wouldn't have noticed.

It doesn't look much like they're fighting, though. First because they don't talk, and then because Louis tries to pretend everything is fine, and now Harry plays along in a frustrating way that makes Louis feel at fault. He acts all polite, a cold polite, and going from constant touches and smiles to— this, is absolutely dreadful.

Harry is friendly and fun when they're with other people, but just the necessary amount of cordial towards Louis. It could seem like they're still friends, but you can sense he's aloof and detached, though. It's just covered because Harry is good at mingling with other people and avoiding Louis as much as he can. The lingering feeling that there's something unsolved is still there, though. They don't text anymore, they don't touch anymore, and everything feels so wrong. The worst thing is that Louis asked for this, and he shouldn't be complaining at all, because that would be so hypocritical of him. It is also very hypocritical that the only person he wants to see in this moment is Harry. That should probably ring some bell in his brain, but Louis is a master at ignoring things and putting himself in the most complicate situations. He presses some buttons on the screen on the dashboard of the car, which is synchronised with his phone, and calls Harry. He knows this could end up in so many wrong ways, but someway he doesn't bring himself to care.

The call goes straight to voicemail. It's probably karma.

He feels like punching something, or better, someone. He figures that he should have done that when he was in that someone's office, though.

Except he would never do that, because in the end he respects and likes his coach too much and he knows he's right. Sort of.

Louis fumbles with the buttons of the stereo until he hears a song by The Smiths, then starts the car and bolts out of the car park, trying not to think of anything in particular, letting his brain focus on the most insignificant details of the roads he's going through.

When he gets to the hall of residence, John, the accommodation manager, lets him inside without questioning his request to see Harry, even though he's not that good at hiding a disoriented expression.

He's clearly shocked to find him there, because he's known Louis since he was about fourteen and he moved to Manchester United, but he hasn't lived in the hall of residence since when he was nineteen and decided to find his own place.

John tells him the floor and the number of Harry's room, that he shares with Zayn, and points the lift at him.

Louis gets inside and presses the button with the number three, nervously looking at his reflection in the mirror. He ruffles his hair with a hand and takes a steady breath. He probably shouldn't turn up at Harry's door like this. But Harry did that in the first place, right? That very first time, and Louis was so happy that he was there, that he decided to look for Louis. Now the situation's different, though. It's like Harry's over that, and he wonders if he will be able to take him back. If he even wants to see him or will just slam the door in his face.