So many comments on the last chapter, keep them up because they make me smile :)

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It was the day of graduation when Louis received his exam results through mail. He was sitting at the breakfast table, barely eating because his heart was threatening to break through his ribcage thanks to the speech he had to give in a few hours and his plan to come out.

His parents had given him his phone back after prom and made him promise to focus on exams. He promised, but as soon as he was alone in his room, he started texting Harry, completely forgetting to study for a few hours.

It was nice, because Harry made him forget about stressful things when he needed to. Harry was his escape and Louis loved it. Louis loved him. And Harry loved him back.

Esmeralda knocked at his door to let him know that she had an envelope for him, so after Louis locked the door, he opened Face Time and called Harry because he wanted to look at their scores together. If Harry would get 85 or higher, he had a chance to get into the University of London, which was their plan all along. Louis would either get into Oxford or King's College.

His parents were set on Oxford, but Louis wanted King's College because it was closer to Harry and it was basically the same thing. He had gotten the letters of acceptance a week ago, and he had yet to mail one of them out to confirm.

"Heyyyy." Harry said and Louis squinted his eyes at the screen.

"Is that a suit on your closet door?"

Harry nodded, laughing. "I'm getting ready for my boyfriends' graduation."

"Oh God."

"Are you nervous?"

"A bit. A lot, actually." Louis admitted and sat down at his desk. "Are younervous?"

Both of their graduations were today, but Harry's was two hours after Louis'.

"Did you get your results?"

"Yes. We're going to open them together, yeah?"

"Mhm."

"Okay then. Start!"

They both opened their envelopes with their teeth, because the other hand was holding the phone and they didn't even care that they looked like complete idiots.

"You first." Harry said and his eyes fell on his sheet.

"I got ninety eight."

"Oh my God, that's great Lou!" Harry said excitedly and Louis smiled, before biting his lip and asking Harry to show him his results.

Harry turned his paper around and neared the camera to it so Louis could see for himself.

"Is that a sixty-four or an eighty-four?"

"Eighty-four!" Harry exclaimed happily and Louis smiled fondly as butterflies erupted in his stomach.

"You're going to get in! Ugh, but we have to wait until tomorrow. I need to send one of them for confirmation out today."

Harry chewed on his lip, obviously knowing that Louis was in a risky situation. On one hand, if Louis replied to Oxford, then he'd definitely not get to be with Harry in the future because they would be an hour apart. On the other hand, if he replied to King's College, there might be a chance that Harry wouldn't get into University of London. That meant he'd have to go to the Uni in Doncaster, which also meant that Louis would have missed the chance to go to Oxford because of him.

"Which one are you going send?"

"I'm not sure yet." Louis lied.

"When's the deadline?"

"Tomorrow."

Harry sighed. "You should go with your heart, yeah? Don't keep me in mind when you make a decision, okay?"

Louis nodded. "Okay."

Harry was right. Louis had to make the right decision and think about his future. That's what he was planning on doing, so he grabbed one of the two letters and started writing the response.

***

"Louis! We need to leave!" his mother yelled from downstairs, just as Louis was buttoning up his blazer. He had speech in one hand, his gown and cap in the other. He was going to put them on in the car because he didn't want his family taking pictures before they actually got to his school.

"Ready?" Lottie asked and Louis rolled his eyes, stepping between his parents to take a picture. He wasn't sure whether his parents would want to remember this day in a few hours.

Twenty minutes later he was sitting on a chair in the first row between Eleanor and Liam, listening to their principal's opening speech. After that, everyone was called on stage individually to accept their diplomas. Louis was the first, but he didn't have time to look for Harry through the crowd because Eleanor was called next.

He had to wait an entire hour before he was finally called on stage for the valedictorian speech.

"And now, I'd like to introduce a very bright young man. This year's valedictorian, please welcome, Louis Tomlinson."

Oh fuck this is it

Louis sat up and smiled as he walked up the stairs, finally stopping in front of the podium, laying out his sheet of paper.

He looked to the right to see his parents filming him already with proud smiles on their faces, and then looked to the very back, searching for familiar faces.

And there they were, leaning against a tree; Niall, Zayn and Harry dressed in suits. Harry had a different suit than two weeks ago, this time completely dressed in back. He was smiling and Louis had butterflies in his stomach because they both knew what was about to go down.

He started blabbering on about the school year, cracking two jokes as he went on about the different paths they were about to embark on etc. He had it all written down; his parents helped him put it together of course.

He had a few boring lines left and the small, velvet box was dead weight in the pocket of his blazer under the gown. So he decided to crumble the sheet of paper and speak his mind. He could see his parents frowning confused but he didn't care.

"You know what? I'm not going to stand here in front of you and deliver a shitty speech about individuality being the key to success while we're all standing here, dressed exactly the same. I used to be a naïve child, the teacher's pet, and the perfect example of a son. I know a lot of people look up to me because of that and I'm really sorry for them because that's not who I actually am."

He threw a glance at his parents, who had closed the video camera and asked their personal photographer to stop taking pictures.

"I know I'm supposed to be talking to you about the future, so that is what I'm going to do. Gandhi said that the future depends on what we do today. And I realized, he's right. All of us have big plans for our I'm sure. That's why I'm not going to stand here and be someone I'm not. I did that my whole life; I've lied to all of you, but most importantly, I've lied to myself. I can't start a new life based on a lie. This."

He stopped, lifting his gown and quickly pulled out the velvet box from his blazer, opening it. He heard everyone gasp, and Eleanor placed a hand over her mouth, obviously thinking that the ring was going to be on her finger in a few minutes.

"This isn't me. My parents expect me to marry someone I've been dating for five years. You all now Eleanor, supposedly the love of my life." He said and she smiled, looking incredibly proud of herself. Did she even hear him?

"Let me tell you something. This is a pile of bullshit." He continued, throwing the box over the podium, right at Eleanor's feet. People gasped and Louis shook his head at their ridiculous reaction.

"I don't need a paper from the city hall to prove my love to someone." He said and Eleanor's face lit up. "When you love someone, you just know. You don't need to explain it-well, you can't explain it. That's the thing. You can try to avoid it, or run from it, trust me, I did. I tried. But in the end, two people will find their way back to each other if they're meant to be. That's when you know it's real. I personally found my way back to someone against all odds three weeks ago."

Eleanor looked confused, probably doing the math in her head.

"I won't bore you further with this sappy crap but I'd like to quote Bernard Baruch, who said that you should be who you are, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."

His father was making wild gestures at him to finish the speech and Louis smiled.

"So without further ado, I'd like to thank the school for providing the best education possible, and my parents, who managed to pay for it. But I'd also like to thank someone else."

He took a deep breath and bit his lip, searching for Harry's eyes through the public. He smiled when they made eye contact and continued:

"I think...the most important thing I've learned in these past four years was actually something I've learned in the past...nine months? I realized that the best things in life are free. A sentence I'd never thought would leave my mouth. But it's true if you think about it. Friends, hugs, love and most importantly, happiness, are free. And I'd like to thank my uh...my boyfriend for that."

His mother started crying and his father had never looked angrier. Some of the people gasped and Eleanor was speechless.

"To sum it up...we only have one chance at life, and whether we choose to live it the right way-by being ourselves, or by pretending to be something we're not, is entirely up to us. Fuck what everyone thinks! It's better to be hated for what you are, than to be loved for what you're not. That's all, thank you." He finished and smiled.

He was about to step away, but then remembered something and leaned over to the microphone again:

"Oh, and by the way I'm gay. In case that wasn't clear enough."

Some people clapped while others looked horrified, but Louis had the brightest smile out of everyone. Eleanor was crying and Louis couldn't have cared less because Liam and Barbara were congratulating him as he sat back down.

The principal thanked everyone for coming and invited them to try the buffet on the side, but Louis didn't care about that either. He didn't bother waiting for his parents to come over to him; he just stood up and started walking through towards the back, where Harry, Niall and Zayn were located. Liam and Barbara followed closely behind and everyone started getting out of their seats, spreading all over the yard to take pictures and congratulate each other.

"Did you see that?" Louis asked Harry excitedly, once he got close enough, and Harry nodded.

"I'm so proud of you baby." He said and Louis wrapped his arms around his waist, squishing his cheek against Harry's chest.

"My God you're disgusting." Barbara gagged before Niall pulled her in for a kiss.

"You have no idea how good it feels now that everyone knows." Louis told Harry as he rested his chin on his chest to look up at him.

"Yeah?" Harry asked fondly and ran his fingers through Louis' soft fringe.

"Mhm. Don't you have a graduation to attend to?"

"In like, half an hour but we have to wait for Liam to take a picture with Zayn for his family's needs."

"Yeah, about that. My mother also wants a picture so we should probably go over there and I could introduce you?"

"You've been dating for over a year and you're only meeting her parents now?" Louis asked and Niall shrugged, before he let Barbara pull him towards her parents.

"My parents probably won't want a picture of me ever again." Louis said and Harry pouted.

"I want a picture with you. Come on, we can ask someone to take it."

That made Louis smile, so they handed Harry's phone over to someone near them and they took a picture together, in which Louis made sure to show his diploma.

"Oh God." Louis mumbled when he saw his family approach him. He gripped tighter into Harry's blazer, making sure he wasn't going anywhere.

"What the bloody hell was that stunt you pulled up there?" his father hissed, wildly gesticulating.

"There was no stunt."

"Get away from him! You have a girlfriend-"

"I have a boyfriend."

"This is an outrage!" his father screamed and people turned their heads to look at them. "You go apologize to Eleanor and her family right this second! You're not doing whatever you think you're doing young man!"

Louis rolled his eyes.

"I'm eighteen, I think I'm allowed to make my own decisions."

"You're completely delusional!" his mother spoke up, eyes rimmed red.

"We're going home to have a long talk about-"

"I'm not coming home yet."

His father let out a frustrated sigh, looking around to see that he had actually created a scene.

"This is unacceptable Louis William Tomlinson! You are coming home thisinstant!"

"No I'm not!" Louis protested. "And you can yell all you want but all these people are looking at you as you create a scene."

His mother didn't even bother to look at him as she marched away furiously, pulling his father with her.

"I still love you Louis." Phoebe said and hugged Louis' thighs.

"Me too!" Daisy added and did the same.

Lottie and Felicite smiled, nodding. "They'll get over it."

It was funny, how his parents were completely overreacting but his little sisters didn't have a problem with it.

"See you at home. I'm gonna be a while." He told them after they introduced themselves to Harry, before walking away.

"So your younger sisters are more mature than your parents." Harry observed and Louis shrugged, before he smiled and leaned up on his tiptoes to kiss him.

"Whoa, kissing me in public?" Harry laughed against his lips.

"Do you have a problem with it?"

"Not really." Harry teased before kissing him back.

They didn't have to wait long before the rest of their group returned to them, all smiley and happy.

Eleanor's parents shot him a disgusted look while they escorted their embarrassed daughter out of the backyard. Louis waved at them before flipping them off, which caused her father to get angry and hurry up.

"You're unbelievable." Harry sighed as their whole group started walking towards the public school.

Their graduation gowns were slightly a darker red and Harry looked absolutely ridiculous with a cap on his head, but Louis still took a picture of him, which he then set as his wallpaper.

"Is your mom going to come?" he asked him once their principal asked everyone to settle down.

"Uh...I told her it was today, I'm not sure though." Harry answered before he turned around and hurried to go sit down in the front.

Louis took a seat in the back, next to Liam, who was of course filming everything like a middle-aged father.

Halfway during the principal's opening speech, someone patted Louis on the shoulder. He was surprised to see Harry's mother looking down at him.

"Is this seat taken?"

"Oh, no." he answered and smiled, inviting her to sit down next to him.

"You're Louis right?" she asked after he sat down, placing her purse in her lap.

He nodded. "And you must be Harry's mother then. Harry talked about me?"

"He did, actually."

"Only good stuff I hope." He smiled.

"Of course. Probably not what he said about me."

"Oh...well."

She shook her head and remained silent for a couple seconds, before she looked at him.

"And I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"He...told me that you drove him to his dad and sold the house."

"Oh. No problem Mrs. Sty-Cox."

"Call me Anne. And that's not what I wanted to thank you for. I just-he hasn't talked to me about himself in a long time. Years, actually. And I've never seen him happier than he's been in the past two weeks. There was a period a month ago when he was sad, but before that he was as happy as he is now. And he's graduating...I didn't think I'd ever see him do that. Thank you for helping him to get better."

Louis felt happiness bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

"It was my pleasure." He told her smiling.

"And he's planning on going to University in London. That's absolutely...unbelievable."

"I know."

The principal finally calling the students on stage interrupted them.

"Party at my house tonight!" Niall yelled in the microphone as he accepted his diploma, before they shooed him off the stage. Everyone laughed.

When Harry was finally called on stage people clapped louder than usual, including Louis who could cry because he was so proud of him.

After the girl who was the valedictorian delivered her speech, the principal said a few more words before it was over.

"You were amazing!" Anne exclaimed as soon as Harry appeared next to them, smiling with a rolled up diploma in his hand.

"Mom." He said, embarrassed when Anne kissed his cheek.

"Okay go stand next to your friends so we can take a group picture. You too Louis."

Louis smiled and got in line between Harry and Zayn, Harry putting his arm around his waist, and Zayn around his shoulder.

"We're going to Niall's party tonight right?" Harry asked once the 'photoshoot' was over.

Louis nodded. "I think so. I mean, if I can get out of the house."

Harry laughed and pressed a kiss to his temple, pulling him closer.

When Louis entered his house an hour later, he felt as if he'd just entered a battlefield because his parents immediately attacked him.

"Are you insane!?" his father yelled as Louis took off his gown and let it fall on the floor, next to the cap. He wasn't planning on picking them up; he was so done with school.

"No."

"You are to call Eleanor immediately-" he continued, just as his mother appeared in the hallway.

"At least I am honest with myself and the people I supposedly care about."

His mother frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't-"

"Ask him about his secretary. What he does when he says he's on a business trip in London."

"Christian?"

"He doesn't know what he's talking about-" his father tried denying, but to no use.

"I saw you kissing your secretary at a restaurant in London two months ago but I didn't say anything. There you go mom, your husband is just as fucked up as your son."

And with that, he marched away. He didn't even care about his parents anymore and he knew that it was wrong, but having someone pester you 24/7 was starting to get really annoying.

He threw himself on the bed and posted a picture of him and Harry on Instagram, before going to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the party.

He came out of the shower with a towel around his waist and after he sent Harry a picture of himself in just that, he walked into his closet to pick out something to wear.

He settled on a simple white shirt and skinny jeans, plus the white converse.

Harry: im picking u up in 5 minutes be ready !!! xx

Louis: I am !!!!

He checked his fringe in the mirror before grabbing one of the jackets from his closet and walking downstairs. His parents hadn't stopped screaming and his mother was now in the process of calling his dad's mistress to give her a piece of her mind.

"Where do you think you're going?" his dad asked him when he saw him grabbing his keys.

"To a party. Don't wait up."

"You're not going anywhere!"

"I'm eighteen, I think I am."

He then shot him a smirk, before exiting the house quickly.

Harry was waiting for him in front of the large gate, hands in his pockets as he hummed a song.

"Hi." Louis said and before Harry could say anything, he kissed him.

"I got five thousand likes on a picture of us on Instagram today."

"Good job baby." Harry said in an amused tone as they started walking.

"Don't make fun of my Instagram followers." Louis pouted and he tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach when Harry intertwined their fingers.

"Oh I'm not."

"Oh! And I just told my mother about my dad's affair."

"How did she react?"

"Well, she was still yelling by the time I left so. I'm a horrible person."

"No you're not. He's a horrible person for cheating on his wife."

"You're right." Louis agreed and squeezed Harry's hand as they kept walking. "You always know how to make me feel better. Thanks."

"Any time."

The party was already in full swing when they got there. There were people in the back garden, chatting loudly over the music, and cars were parked where they shouldn't have been parked.

"Oi Tommo and Styles!" Niall yelled as soon as they entered the house.

He reeked of alcohol and the party had only been going on for about two hours.

"Hi mate." Harry said and shook his head, patting him on the shoulder.

They found the rest of their group in the living room, either on the couch or dancing.

"'m gonna get a drink, what do you want?" Harry asked him, placing his hand on Louis' lower back.

"Uh, a beer I think."

Harry nodded before pulling away and turning around to find his way to the kitchen. Louis dropped himself on the couch between Liam and the armrest.

"What's up?" he asked, turning his head.

Zayn was in the process of rolling a blunt and Louis smiled.

"I didn't get into Oxford." Liam told him, even though he didn't seem a bit sad about it.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I got into Kingston though, which is great because Zayn got into UAL."

"That's great then. But aren't they an hour away or so?"

Liam sadly smiled. "I know. What about you?"

"I got into Oxford and um, King's College."

"And did you reply?"

"I did."

"To which one?"

"King's College."

"You didn't reply to Oxford? Why?"

"Because it's the same thing. And all of you are in London anyway."

"Is this because of Harry?"

"No...t really."

Liam sighed. "What if he doesn't get into the one from London? What then?"

"I know he's going to get accepted."

"You're on thin ice Louis."

"I know."

They were interrupted by Harry who had returned with two red cups filled with beer in hand. Louis stood up to let him sit, before he planted himself straight on Harry's lap, back against chest.

"Before we start on these joints and bongs, can I make a toast to the last year of school!" Niall yelled over the music as he stood on the table.

Everyone in the room raised their cups, agreeing with him and yelling 'cheers'.

"Amazing." Niall said and climbed back down, before sitting down next to Barbara.

Louis and Harry decided to share a joint rather than a bong, since it was quite difficult to do so in the position they were currently in.

"Babe." Louis said and turned his head to Harry, so they could shotgun.

Harry understood what Louis insinuated so after Louis took a long drag from the joint, he brought their faces together and they both opened their mouths.

Louis couldn't believe how much had changed in nine months, when he was at his first party that involved drugs and saw people doing this.

Once Harry blew the smoke out, he didn't waste any time to press their lips together. Liam scrunched his nose up because their tongues were making a disgusting noise, but they didn't seem to care so he let it go.

"So where did you get in?" Louis asked Barbara once he pulled away from Harry, a trail of saliva expanding between their mouths, which Harry quickly wiped away.

Barbara giggled before she leaned into Niall.

"I got into that college of fashion I wanted."

"Same university as me." Zayn said and Barbara nodded.

"I thought your parents wanted Oxford."

"They did-still do, actually. But I want to be a fashion designer, not a businesswoman. So I just applied without them knowing and replied to the acceptance letter in secret."

"That's-that's great. Good for you." Louis said and smiled. He also replied to King's College without his parents knowing. As far as they knew, Louis was going to Oxford next month. He wasn't going to tell them until the day he had to leave.

"And I got into SAE!" Niall yelled excited, almost knocking his drink over.

"And we're really excited about it." Barbara laughed before kissing him.

There was a time where Louis wished he'd have what Barbara and Niall had. He vividly remembered wishing that he'd be so in love with someone, that he'd smile and the sound of their name.

And he had that with Harry now. It was enough to even think about anything that reminded him of Harry, and his face would already break out into a creepy smile.

"Why are you smiling like an idiot?" Liam asked him and Louis shook his head, reaching out for his cup to take a sip.

A song Louis really liked started playing and it was kind of dirty, so it really wasn't his fault at all when he started grinding his ass against Harry's crotch as they finished the joint.

"Do you want to dance?" Harry smirked into his ear, taking a hold of Louis' hips.

"I do."

He stood up as soon as he said that, before pulling Harry after him towards the mass of people that were now at the stage of drunk dancing.

They grinded for about five songs before Harry started getting too frisky and began to suck his neck.

"Bathroom?" Harry whispered and Louis nodded, letting his older boyfriend guide him to the nearest bathroom.

It was occupied when they got there, so Harry decided to pull Louis upstairs, where they found that the guest bedroom was surprisingly empty. As soon as Harry locked the door, he got down on his knees in front of Louis, who was pushed up against it.

Louis bit his lip as he looked down at Harry, who was halfway through getting both their pants off. He hadn't had Harry on his knees for him in a long time and finally.

They were naked two minutes later, Harry's hands on Louis' cock, and Louis' hands in Harry's hair.

"Oh my God." Louis moaned and pushed Harry further down his cock to gag him. It was weird that he did it; it was usually Louis who would suck off Harry and get to choke.

Harry didn't choke anyway thanks to no gag reflex, but Louis still proceeded to fuck his mouth.

Harry's giant hands were resting on his thighs and Louis pulled on his hair to let him know that he was getting close. His stomach was clenching and Harry's cock looked so good.

"Do you want me to fuck you or just blowjob tonight?" Harry asked, looking up at Louis between his lashes.

"I'm too tired." Louis said and Harry nodded, finally wrapping a hand around his own cock.

"Okay then. In my mouth."

Louis closed his eyes and bit his lip. When Harry squeezed his balls he let out a load moan and then he was coming hard deep into Harry's throat.

Harry then jerked himself off until he spilled over Louis' ankles, resting his head against his thighs as he came down from his high.

"Good?" Louis smiled down at him and Harry nodded, getting up and pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Louis wiped his feet off with some napkins lying on the bedside table and didn't even ask Harry what the wanted to do next, because the older boy was already getting under the covers, naked.

"So are we cuddling naked tonight is that it." Louis smiled and Harry nodded, lifting up the duvet so Louis could get in.

They ended up kicking the duvet off because it was too warm so they just laid there. Louis pushed his leg between Harry's, and Harry put an arm around his back to keep him close.

"What if I don't get into the Uni in London?" Harry asked out of a sudden and Louis sighed.

"You will."

"What if I won't, though?"

Louis wanted to yell at him that he should stop putting himself down and that he was so amazing and perfect and just.

"What if you do?" he asked.

"I don't know that either."

"We'll uh...maybe get a flat together in London?"

"You want to move in together?"

"I mean-that will be in like, a month but-does it seem too soon to you?"

"Well we'll be dating for...four months then and-"

"Yeah but we've known each other for almost a year. And I've never been so sure about something in my life. I get that you don't want to settle down so soon but I think, we could make it work. Or you could live in a dorm for a year and we'll see-"

"Why would I be the one living in a dorm?"

"Well it's either get a flat together with me or go live in a dorm. Because I sure as hell am not going to live in one."

"Wait. Does that mean you chose King's College?"

Louis smiled up at him.

"I did."

"Are you mental? What if-"

"Stop with the 'what if'! Stop being so pessimistic about everything all the time. Allow yourself to be happy for once."

"I am...I just don't want you to be disappointed if it all goes wrong."

"I won't. Because I know it's going to work out in the end."

He saw Harry roll his eyes but let it go. If Harry was going to be pessimistic about it, then he was going to let him be that way. It was even better actually, because then Harry would be really happy when things would work out.

***

The next morning everyone left around noon, but Louis didn't go to his house. He went out to Starbucks with Harry, Barbara and Niall for breakfast, before he walked Harry home.

"That's the letter." Harry said before they even got to the stairs.

"What?"

"That's the letter. Look, it says University of London on it."

"Oh my God, oh my God open it!" Louis exclaimed, fluttering his hands in the air.

"Calm down." Harry said and Louis could see that he was extremely nervous.

He took the letter from the ground (the mailman didn't even bother to put it in the mailbox??), before ripping it open and unfolding the paper.

He read the first lines before he looked up at Louis, who was holding his breath.

"Well?"

"I didn't get in."

---

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