Blackmail: A Larry Stylinson Story {Temporary Hiatus}

8. Now it's Official

Harry's P.O.V

The next morning was a mixture of awkwardness and anger. Before Lou and I headed downstairs for breakfast, he stopped me with a hand on my wrist and an expression I hadn't seen before. It looked to be a cross between sheepish and chagrined.

"I should probably warn you that Liam isn't exactly happy with you right now." He admitted with a small grimace. I must have looked confused, because Lou expanded on his statement. "When you were . . . gone, I really struggled. More than I anticipated I would. Liam was the one I leaned on the most for support. He was the only one who knew how I felt about you, so naturally he was the only one I could talk to about all of this." He dropped his gaze and sunk to the floor as though all his energy abandoned him with his confession, finding a position kneeling. I lowered myself as well, staying at his height.

My throat tightened as I tried to swallow. What have I done to this boy? "Oh, Lou," I breathed, still not quite believing that this was really happening, that this perfect being was here with me, however much I would rather it under better circumstances. Reaching out a hand to trace along his shoulder to his collarbones, dipping a finger into the indent between them, I sighed and shifted forward, knees touching and warmth radiating in the small bubble we appeared to be locked in.

He still wouldn't meet my eyes. Voice soft, comforting, encouraging, I spoke. "Why won't you look at me?" With a single finger, I tilted his chin up until it became impossible for him not to look at me. I smiled, keeping the same gentle tone as before. "That's better love. Now, explain. Please."

He released a sigh that seemed to come from deep within, expelling all the stress he had built up inside himself. "I'm worried that you'll think I'm . . . weak and pathetic. What kind of person reacts the way I did when you left?"

"We - we haven't talked about this yet, and I'm sorry for that. You deserve to know everything. But first, do you really think that I could ever find you weak or pathetic? Lou! I love you and you are one of the strongest people I know. One of the most important people in your life - who you were in love with by the way - had just walked out on you and you still managed to carry on and live, even if it were living in these four walls. You somehow managed to keep going. You are more incredible than anyone gives you credit for, you know that?"

The blush that stained Louis' cheeks told me no, I don't think that. I sighed mentally and moved to sit cross-legged, giving my knees a break. Lou copied my move seemingly absentmindedly. I let my eyes roam over him, drinking in the small details that I was deprived of for months on end because of her. The caramel tone of his hair and the way he styles it to get that windswept look. The stubble on his chin and the way it gives him a rugged look and emphasises his jawline. The column of his neck leading down to his defined collarbones (which I didn't like the way the golden skin was pulled too taut over them, straining and giving them prominence). Oh god, I just wanna kiss him and run my tongue along his jaw and down, tasting and taking what's mine -

A soft voice broke into my thoughts and drew my back into reality. "I - I have a confession to make Harry." Frowning at the use of my full name, but recognising his seriousness and need to not be interrupted, I kept quiet. "While you were with . . ." He broke off, seeming to struggle with her name. "With her," infusing the pronoun with an appropriate amount of venom, "I - I slept with someone. It was purely sex, on my part anyway. I promise it meant nothing, I just . . . was lonely and wasn't coping like you thought I was." Louis' voice trailed off at the end, the guilt clearly spread across his face.

He was obviously torn up about the fact that he slept with someone else. Gathering him up in my arms and holding close to my chest, rocking us gently, soothing his obvious torment over this secret.

"Boo," I breathed into his ear. "You know that I'm not going to hold this against you. I could never. You were only doing what you needed to do to survive." My arms tightened around him because, it was my fault that he was feeling this way. Sighing, I repeated this to Louis.

He sat up and pushed my arms down to his waist, enabling his hands free movement to reach up and cup my face, forcing me to look at him.

"Harry Edward Styles, you are in no way responsible for this! Not at all. You and I both know that she is the reason this all happened and from what I gathered, she's bloody psycho and would have done this regardless of the circumstances. So please don't feel like this. 'Cause it hurts me to know that all this guilt and pain you hold inside is from me." Pressing a tender kiss to my forehead, he murmured a muffled 'promise me' before moving to cover my lips in a loving kiss.

I returned the kiss with a fervour I didn't know I possessed. Louis shifted in my lap so his thighs were astride my waist, straddling, allowing the kiss to deepen further. This movement pulled a groan from the back of Louis' throat, which I swallowed and kissed him harder.

The kiss eventually came to a natural stop, leaving us to pull away and catch our breath. Resting my forehead against Lou's and smiling, feeling the euphoria spread in my chest as I caught the gleeful expression on his face. I still can't believe that this flawless man was mine - wait, was he? I never asked the question.

Swallowing my nerves and clearing my throat, which captured Louis' attention, I asked the question which he'll hopefully say yes. "Erm Lou? Will you - will you be my boyfriend?"

Surreptitiously crossing my fingers for luck and waited for his response. He had frozen in my lap. Oh god, I've broken him!

Louis' P.O.V

Ohgodohgodohgod. My brain didn't seem to be fully functioning. Here were my dreams being offered to me on a silver platter and I couldn't even force the words out of my mouth. What was wrong with me?!

Harry was looking more and more nervous. I still couldn't get the words out. He began talking again, this time backtracking what he'd said. "Oh god, I get it if you totally want to say no, like I'll understand and all but if you just give me a chance to prove -"

Cutting his anxious ramblings off with a quick kiss and a smile, I finally gave him an answer. "Yes, yes, a million times yes!" Take that, stupid brain. I swear you do that again and I'll . . . well I don't know what I'll do but it won't be pretty!

Wrapping myself around Harry, I told him I was hungry. "And let me guess. You want me to carry you downstairs and make you breakfast, right?"

Laughing, I patted him on the head. "Very good, Styles. I've taught you well."

He shook his head and stood up, carrying me down the stairs to the kitchen where the rest of the boys were waiting for us with questioning stares and one Liam Payne with a knowing look and a quirked eyebrow.

Well, so much for a nice breakfast alone.

So sorry for the late update. Things have been hectic ever since the HSC started and has now finished.  

Drama ahead :)  

So could this chapter get 15 votes and 10 comments for chapter 9 to be uploaded?  

~ Lauren xx