when it all began | l.s.

Coffee

Louis' POV

"Niall!" I called.

"What?" he yelled back.

"We gotta go! The plane is taking off in like two seconds," I shouted, exaggerating to make him hurry. Niall ran out of the restroom and picked up his bags from their spot on the floor beside me. He took off running towards the gate and I followed behind him, walking calmly. When he realized I wasn't right next to him he stopped and turned around.

"What the heck are you doing?" he yelled across the airport. Loads of people were watching but I didn't really care. One of our bodyguards had run up to meet Niall and the other was still with me.

"We still have like ten minutes you idiot. Calm down." Niall rolled his eyes and continued on at a slower pace than before.

Once we'd boarded the plane we headed to our seats where we met Liam, Zayn, and Harry. We were in a private section so we didn't have people staring at us during the entire flight.

Niall took a seat by himself next to a window, and Zayn and Liam were sat next to each other, already searching for a movie to watch. I looked towards Harry and he gave me what appeared to be a forced smile. I gave him a faint smile in return and decided it couldn't hurt to sit next to him. I threw my bags into the overhead compartment and plopped down into the extremely comfortable seat.

Plane rides were a great time to do some writing, so I took out my notebook and pencil and picked up where I'd left off on one of my songs. While I wrote I could feel Harry's eyes on me, but I ignored it as best I could.

Around halfway through the flight, we hit some rough turbulence, and I saw Harry's grip tighten on his arm rest. He'd never been good with this kind of thing, even though we'd flown so much. I wanted to grab his hand and calm him down but I knew I shouldn't.

"You okay?" I asked, my voice quiet, as Liam and Zayn were asleep a few feet from us. He just nodded. "Alright."

I pulled my phone and headphones out of my bag and turned on some music, putting away my writing for the time being. I leaned back and shut my eyes, hoping I'd be able to fall asleep. It wasn't a long flight back to London, but I felt I could use a small nap. I let my music play softly in my ears as I slowly drifted off.

————

"Lou we're here." I awoke to Harry's hand squeezing my shoulder lightly. My eyes fluttered open and I saw him sitting next to me. Out of habit, I smiled a genuine smile at him and grabbed his hand. It only took a second before I realized what I was doing, and took my hand away.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"Don't apologize."

There was sadness in his eyes as we left the plane and walked through the airport. Paparazzi and screaming fans lined the walls, as if they somehow knew we were coming. Every now and then one of us would wave to a fan or shout a hello. Things were being yelled at us from every direction, as always.

"Harry give us a smile!"

"Liam, Niall, over here!"

"Harry how's your love life?"

I rolled my eyes as one camera got particularly close to me. I shoved it away and stuck up the middle finger. I wasn't afraid to tell off the paparazzi from time to time.

When we got outside there were two large black vans waiting for us. Liam, Zayn, and Niall went in one while Harry and I went in another. I heard a buzz of comments about "Larry" as we shut the door.

The ride was quiet, as we headed to a hotel. We had houses here, but we wanted to all be in one place so we could get some proper work done whenever we wanted. I desperately wanted to talk to Harry about everything, but I couldn't bring myself to do it just yet. I needed to figure out exactly what I wanted.

Okay sure, but you obviously want Harry, I thought.

We arrived at the hotel at the same time as the other lads, and we all walked in together. We grabbed our room keys from the front desk and headed to the elevator. Once we were all inside, Liam pressed the button for the top floor, and the doors slid shut. Just then, my phone buzzed from within my pocket, so I pulled it out to see what it was.

Message from: Eleanor

I unlocked my phone and checked the message.

Eleanor: Hey Lou! Hope things are good. Heard you're in London. I am too! Let's get coffee! Text or call :))

I did quite miss her, and I wanted to catch up.

Louis: Hey El. Coffee sounds great! I'm free tonight. Any location in mind?

Once I'd pressed send I tucked my phone back into my pocket and waited patiently for us to reach our floor. When the doors opened we headed down the hall to find our rooms. It was a pretty fancy hotel, and we each had our own gigantic suite. I stepped into mine and kicked off my shoes, dropping my bags and wandering into the living room. I sat on the couch just as my phone vibrated again.

Eleanor: There's this really cute little coffee shop I love. I'll send you the address. Wanna meet right now?

Louis: Sure! See you in a bit

————

"El, over here," I called as I saw the dark haired girl stroll into the coffee place. It reminded me of Central Perk on Friends, and I'd sat myself down by the window. She smiled when she saw me and quickly came over, taking the seat across from me.

"Hi! How are you?" she greeted.

"I'm pretty good I guess. What about you?"

"I'm great! Um, I wanted to talk to you about something actually."

"Oh wow, straight to the point, hey?" I said. She shrugged and then the waitress came to take our order. We both just ordered a black coffee. Once the woman had left Eleanor began.

"I'm sorry if I had anything to do with what happened between you and Harry."

"You know about that?" I asked, a little shocked. "I mean, how did you even know we were together?"

She rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her drink. "I just guessed, to be honest. I mean, I figured you guys would've gotten back together once you finally saw each other again." I nodded. "But anyway, was he mad because I was talking to you?"

I sighed and tapped my fingers on the table.

"He was upset because he thought I still had feelings for you, and then he asked if we'd slept together. He was mainly angry because I was in love with you, yanno, back then, and he'd only ever loved me." I stared into my coffee cup and swirled it around with a stick.

"Oh, wow," Eleanor breathed. "Wow, that's a lot."

"I know. What should I do, El? I mean, I love him, of course, but he acted out and let his jealousy get the best of him so quickly. What if that ends up happening again? Like, if we get back together, I mean."

Eleanor reached out and took my hand to stop me from fidgeting so nervously. I looked up at her and smiled weakly.

"Listen, Louis," she began, and I could feel a speech coming. "He messed up, but who doesn't? That doesn't mean it'll happen again. You used to get jealous when we were together all the time, but I didn't just break it off every time you got a little upset, and you can't do that to Harry. Relationships are about working past those things. You love him, and he loves you. So he kissed a random girl when he was drunk, oh well. Big deal. You can't let that one small issue get in the way of your happiness. I know you'd be happiest with Harry, and I think deep down you know it too. Don't let him get away, Louis. He's your soulmate. He always has been."

I rubbed her hand gently with my thumb. "Thank you, Eleanor. You're so kind. And you're so right. I love you. I promise I'll make it work with Harry."

"Good. I love you too, Louis."

After that we spent an hour or two just chatting, which was really nice. Even though we weren't good as a couple, she was a very good friend, and I enjoyed her company a ton.

When she had to go, I walked her to her car and kissed her on the cheek before bidding her goodbye. I now knew I had to do something about me and Harry.

But how?