Only The Brave ⟨⟨ʟᴏᴜɪs ᴛᴏᴍʟɪɴsᴏɴ⟩⟩

⟨⟨ ᴜᴘ ᴀʟʟ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ⟩⟩

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sᴇᴠᴇɴ
Up All Night

Louis sighed as he entered his flat with his feet dragging but a smile still on his face. He had just dropped Elora off after their lunch together and was pleasantly surprised to find it was not more than fifteen minutes away from his. Although he wished that he could have spent the rest of the day with her, he knew that he couldn't use her like that. She was a source of peace amongst the swirling vortex of chaos that was his life. Eleanor used to play that role before she had broken up with him and Louis refused to dishonour Elora by using her as a replacement. As his thoughts swarmed around the new addition to his life, he couldn't help but chuckle at the memory of her picking out the tomato and gherkins from her burger while she explained the neurotic pickiness that everyone teased her about. 

"You're happy," a smooth voice commented from within his flat and he swore as he jumped with the shock coursing through him. Turning around sharply, he clutched his chest as he took in the laughing sight of Harry seated on his couch.
"What the hell, Styles?" he asked as he cautiously moved closer to the source of his racing heart. 
"I wanted to check on you after the meeting earlier but you weren't home so I decided to wait. You're out of tea, by the way," his curly-haired friend commented with a cheeky glint shining in his eyes as he turned back to the TV in front of him. Checking his cupboard in confusion, he noticed the sore lack of his go-to beverage and turned to poignantly stare at his friend and the steaming mug in his grasp. Mumbling about the inconsiderate actions of his bandmate, he moved to the lounge and sat down on the couch before immediately throwing his legs over those of his uninvited guest. 

Harry didn't question anything and began untying the shoelaces of his friend's shoes before removing them. He turned his head to watch Louis as he subconsciously started massaging his feet, trying to see if he could read the thoughts clouding his mind. 
"Are you going to say something or is my face just that captivating?" he muttered as his eyes briefly turned to Harry before he continued watching the show playing on the screen. 
"Your face is rather gorgeous," he started, "but I am wondering how you're coping."
Louis sighed as he listened to the slow drawl of Harry's voice, contemplating his answer. He knew how much the break meant to the boys, they were all knackered and they definitely needed it but he was just so scared. What would happen afterwards? Would he just fail and return to the life he lived before the band? He loved his family but he couldn't imagine not doing what he loved anymore.

Louis turned and looked into Harry's eyes as he waited for the right words to come to him. He could see the concern on his face and he knew that he couldn't disappoint his best friend by admitting his doubts - not fully anyway.
"I'll get there, I'm just adjusting," he admitted, hoping that the intuition of the man before him would tell him that he didn't want to talk about it. He loved Harry but his heart was too big and Louis knew that if he told him, he would try to change things and ruin it for the other lads. He was just happy that he could call the unbearably tall goofball his friend. 
Harry sighed but nodded anyway before he quickly wiped away the rest of his questions as he turned to his mate with a smirk, "Now what was the grin about?"
"I have no clue what you're talking about," Louis cleared his throat and refused to meet his eyes.
"You can't fool me - between yesterday and today I can deduce that something's going on," he pried, waiting for Louis to eventually fold. 
"I've just made a new friend," he shrugged and remained facing forward. 
Leaning closer, Harry tried to get his attention, "Are they a girl?"
"Does that matter?" he shot back with a cheeky grin, causing Harry to chuckle with a gesture saying 'fair enough'.