when it all began | l.s.

Negativity

Louis' POV

As we sat in Harry's living room our heavy debate dragged on.

"The album's been out for twenty-four hours, can we please check the fans reactions now? I miss Twitter!" Liam whined. I nodded my head, agreeing with him.

"I can't help it if I'm nervous! It's terrifying. Niall's on my side, right Niall?" Harry claimed.

"Um . . ." Niall said, looking away awkwardly.

"Oh come on. Don't tell me you're siding with them?" Harry said, throwing his arms in the air. Niall shrugged and reached for his phone.

"I think it's time we look, Harry," Zayn commented. "It's killing all of us. We need to know! And besides, we know there will be tons of positive comments. A few negative ones are bound to be there too but who cares? What's important to us is just stuff like, you know, what's the favourite song and which lyrics speak to people the most?" Harry sighed, but then picked up his phone and turned it on. We all raced to do the same.

I went to Twitter as fast as I could and started going through my mentions. It was overwhelming to see the amazing reactions from the fans, although I wasn't surprised. I'd always known we had the best fans ever.

"This is so great! Guys they love it!" Liam shouted excitedly. Niall beamed at his phone, leaning over to share things with Zayn, but when I looked to Harry my heart sank. He had an expression of worry on his face, and his hands were shaking so much I thought he would drop his phone. I wandered over to him silently and spoke quietly.

"Everything alright, Haz? You know if it's a negative comment you can't let it affect—"

"Can I see your phone for a sec?" he asked, cutting me off. I frowned, glancing down at my screen before handing him my device slowly. He looked down at it, scrolling through the tweets and frowning. Suddenly he turned it off and looked up at me. Standing above him while he sat on the couch reminded me of the brief period in our lives when I was taller than him. "Lou, do you wanna go out somewhere?" he asked curtly.

"Right now? I haven't even checked Instagram yet. Can we go out a little while later?" I suggested.

"I want to go out now. Besides, do you really need to see what everyone's been saying? It's not that important, is it?"

"What is up with you? I like seeing the nice feedback we get. It boosts my confidence."

"No," he said abruptly.

"Excuse me?"

"You can't look at your phone."

I held out my hand, nothing but confusion on my face. "Harry, give me my phone, please." He stood up and held it behind his back.

"No. Let's just do something else, yeah? Are you hungry, because I'm a little hungry." I could tell he was trying to change the subject but it wouldn't work. I was already too invested in finding out what had gotten him so worked up. He'd never done anything like this, and it was a bit childish. For him to take my phone and refuse to give it back, something had to be wrong.

"Harry. Phone. Now," I said a bit more aggressively this time. The other guys were watching us now, and I didn't want to cause a scene but I would if I had to.

"Louis, please don't—"

"Harry." His eyes fell to the floor and he passed me my phone without a word. I took it, still staring at him in awe before turning it on. As soon as it opened, one tweet came up on my screen. Harry must've clicked on it.

I love one direction but it'd be really nice if that rat would leave the band. Can't believe people actually think Harry would date such a pile of garbage.