Harry's legs shook as he walked out of the building for the Cheshire Wonderer, a small newspaper that was only a block away from his small flat. It was only the beginning of November but it was freezing outside, and even though his navy Burberry coat was thick and sewn with fleece he was still shivering his ass off. There weren't many other people out at this hour, it was almost midnight and the only people out were a few stragglers at pubs who were trying to get deals on cheap beer. A feeling of disgust and pity rose in the pit of Harry's stomach as he tucked his head into the collar of his jacket, looking up through his eyelashes to make sure he didn't run into anyone. He had given up alcohol three years ago when one of his mother's friends had passed away of alcohol poisoning, and now the only thing he drank was tea. His mother had raised a gentleman, after all, not a sleazy frat boy. 

He saw his small flat come into view and he smiled, a cloud forming in front of his face from his warm breath meeting the cold air. The white Christmas lights hanging around the back patio were slightly visible from where he was, and it made him smile for the first time in what felt like forever. Coming home always made him smile, because he could sit back and relax while listening to soft indie music and not have to worry about a thing. But also because his room mate Niall was his best mate, and they always had the best times together whether it was doing something simple like talking until 4 a.m or traveling somewhere, like they seemed to do a lot. Last time they traveled together they went to Scotland, and it was so beautiful there that they had never wanted to leave, Anne had to convince them to come back home. 

"HareBear! Hey, mate!" Niall waved at him from the front porch where he was sitting in a Green Bay Packers camping chair that Harry had gotten when they went to Wisconsin to see a Packers game. That had been an amazing trip, easily one of Harry's favorites. He waved back at Niall with a bright smile crossing his face and he looked both ways across the street before finally crossing the road and walking onto the small porch. "Niall, it's so good to see you. Missed you, mate." He hugged the brunette (because his brown hair is coming back, c'mon guys) tightly and Niall hugged him back just as hard, burying his head in Harry's shoulder. Their height difference when they hugged was the reason why a lot of people thought they were a couple and honestly neither of them cared, but it stung Harry's heart when he thought about relationships. 

The two separated and walked inside the flat, where Fantastic Beasts was playing on the TV, muted, and Lana Del Rey was playing over the speakers installed in the house. Raspberry tea was brewing on the stove, and the smell calmed Harry's nerves that he had built up from work. Niall knew that raspberry tea was his favorite, it had been ever since he was thirteen, and every day when Harry came home from work there was raspberry tea on the stove waiting for him. Since Niall worked at home writing the articles for Vogue magazine, he kept it clean, made Harry's tea, and helped Harry write his articles if he needed help. That's one of the reasons the two got along so well was their love for journalism, but there were so many things that they had in common it was hard to keep track anymore. 

"Hey, Harry? Liam is opening up the dance studio tonight and there's going to be a big opening gala, I was supposed to be there half an hour ago but I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come. Of course you don't have to, but I just wanted to see if you wanted to get out of the flat for a while." Liam was Niall's boyfriend of five years, and he was also one of the head choreographers for VEVO and did all of the choreography for videos made in the UK. Usually he would even take Niall on his trips when he had to travel for a video, and Harry admired their relationship. He could only dream of having a relationship like that. There's someone I want, but they don't want me.

"Yeah, of course I'll go! Should I wear a suit or is it more of a dressy casual type thing?" He began walking in to his room and searching through his closet while Niall followed him in, checking his watch to make sure they wouldn't be late. "Wear a suit, you look fucking amazing in them! Where's that purple-ish floral one, wear that one!" With that Niall rushed out of the room and went in to his room to find something to wear. Harry sighed once he heard the brunette's door close and he threw the suit on to the bed, plopping down beside it and burying his face in his hands. 

The cold silver of his rose ring met his cheek as tears streamed down his face, making his spine crawl. Louis Tomlinson. The beautiful brunette who never left Harry's mind was there once again, terrorizing his thoughts. Harry had been in love with Louis since the day they had met in high school, and he couldn't move on. Harry was the silent one, his only friends being Niall and Liam, while Louis was the exact opposite. Louis was one of the popular ones who partied a lot, smoked more weed than cigarettes, and slept around with every twink that came along. Every time him and Harry were alone he had acted like that he was in love too, but then when someone else was around he would dismiss H and act like he didn't exist. This had been happening for years and it still happened to this day, because Harry couldn't let go, and he loved the pain of not being loved. 

An hour later, Harry and Niall were walking out of the flat and began their stroll to the dance studio, they could see people from here lining up to get in just to see how well the place had come together. Niall was practically shaking from all the excited energy that was coursing through his body, and it made Harry smile brightly at the man. His love for Liam was the purest thing he had ever seen, and it made him so happy that the two had finally found true love in each other. The large building came in to view and the two walked in after telling the bouncer who they were and their relationship to Liam. 

When they walked in, it was like walking in to an Olympic sized workout room. There was no furniture at all, but on the furthest wall was a wall full of mirrors and one long balance pole attached to the wall. There was a door labeled EXERCISE ROOM at the end of one wall, and an outfit design room was on the other side. For it to be so empty, there was an oddly special aura about the place, and right when they walked in to the studio Liam was rushing over to Niall and grabbing him around the waist, hoisting him up and kissing him passionately. 

"Niall, Harry! 'M so glad to see you both!" He said, his eyes crinkling as he smiled brightly at the two. A mad blush spread across Niall's face as Liam kissed his forehead and dragged him to the back, disappearing with him. Harry's stomach dropped out of his body then, and a wave of panic rushed over him. He had never been good in crowds of people big or small by himself, especially when it was somewhere he had never been before. His head scanned the crowd of important looking people as his breathing became shallow and fast. 

Throat closing, hands clenching into fists, tears filling his eyes, Harry rushed out of the building and back outside into the cold Cheshire night, looking around to see if Niall was following him or not. Seeing that he wasn't Harry made his way back to his flat, trying his best not to run in to any drunk men that were hanging out around the pubs because the tears in his eyes were blurring his vision a bit. The faint sound of loud voices came from ahead of Harry and as he continued to walk it got louder, he slowed down his pace and wiped the tears from his eyes, listening intently to make sure he wasn't walking in to an argument. 

Then Louis walked around the corner, cursing loudly at some unknown figure behind him and he knocked in to Harry, both of them falling to the ground. Louis' small frame huddled over Harry's body, and a blush rose to both of their cheeks as they laid on the ground, the unknown figure coming in to view and glaring wildly at the two lying there. "U-uh, h-hey L-Lou-" Then Louis was pushing his body off of Harry's and storming away, looking back at Harry before stopping to yell at the scrawny redheaded guy who had followed behind him. 

"Fuck you Oli, you know that? You're such a fucking rat! You don't even pass for a sad excuse of a human being and you deserve to fucking die!" He screamed, his speech slurred from the alcohol he had been swallowing for four hours straight. Tears started to stream down Harry's face as he watched Louis argue with the man, his heart pumping even faster than it was. "Lou-Louis p-please stop y-yelling-"

"Harry, get the fuck out of here! This isn't any of your business!" He yelled, storming back into the bar he had come out of. Harry swallowed hard and nodded, "Okay, Lou." With that he was walking back towards his flat, staring towards the ground and watching as the tears fell from his eyes and on to the cold, dark cement. 

He loved Louis Tomlinson, he was head over heels for him. But Louis Tomlinson did not love him, and never would.