Harry had spent almost a month and a half in a state of near constant unhappiness, his mood swinging from anger to general misanthropy depending on how much he saw of Louis. That meant it had been almost six weeks since he had actually been himself. Harry saw in his reflection someone tall, with a mess of spectacular brown curls and a deep, hardened frown.

So when Niall pranced in to his room and announced that Louis was all healed up and that the five of them were going camping, Harry was feeling too apathetic to object. This was probably the start of Louis' Grande Getting To Know You Extravaganza (Zayn had mentioned it excitedly, several times).

Harry almost felt sorry for Louis. They could spend as much time together as Louis wanted, but the real Harry smiled like an idiot and fell over all the time and made ridiculous puns and sang his heart out when he thought no one was listening. Harry hadn't seen that part of himself in weeks, and a little camping trip wasn't about to bring him out.

Niall threw some riding clothes at Harry ("make sure you tell Zayn how perfect they are,") and told him to meet the lads at the stables.

When he did he found everyone in their natural habitat. Zayn and Liam were bickering, Niall was egging them on while Louis watched with a fond little smirk across his lips. When he spotted Harry that smile changed, becoming suddenly nervous and hesitant.

"Morning, sunshine," he waved, and Harry nodded in reply.

Louis' smile faded. Harry wanted to yell at him.

You don't get to look disappointed. You have no right to make me feel guilty!

"Alrighty, lets get going, lads," Niall said, hurling saddle packs unceremoniously at the four of them and lugging his own over to the horses ready picketed for them.

Harry saddled his horse without looking at Louis. It had been two weeks since he had ridden a horse, and that made it two weeks since he had held Louis in his arms. That made it two weeks since he had touched Louis.

He kept his head down and his eyes on the horse in front of him as they made their way out of the castle and into the forest, in the opposite direction (thankfully) to wolf territory.

Zayn and Liam continued to bicker, mainly about matters of staffing, expenses and budgeting. Harry wondered if they ever stopped working.

They had been riding for an hour, and Zayn had won two out of three arguments through sheer force of will, when Louis called for a break to water the horses.

Harry dismounted and almost tripped over his feet as he saw Liam jump down from his own horse and then, grinning blissfully, open his arms and catch Zayn as he fell dramatically from the saddle. Liam swung him around, holding him in his arms in a way that was anything but platonic. He placed Zayn carefully on his feet and straightened up his collar fondly.

"You know I let you win that last one, right?" He said, running a finger up and down Zayn's collar.

"I know," Zayn smiled, staring at Liam's lips, "you always let me win."

"I just hate to see you lose," Liam shrugged, and Harry could not stop staring. He had never seen two men looking at each other so intimately. Harry felt like he was invading their privacy but he couldn't have moved if he wanted to.

"I have you," Zayn cooed softly, "I always feel like I'm winning."

"If you two don't shut up I'm going to vomit," Niall drawled, marching up and shoving an apple at each of them. He loped up to Harry, rolling his eyes and handed Harry an apple, which Harry almost immediately dropped.

Only then did Liam glance over at Harry and turn bright red, taking a small step away from Zayn. Zayn sucked in an offended breathe and shot Louis a look of desperation, as though asking his help.

Harry looked at Louis, and found the King watching him curiously, obviously looking to gauge his response. Harry knew his eyes were wide with surprise, and Louis looked a little disappointed.

"Harry, it looks like you have quite a bit to learn about life in Doncaster," Louis said, taking a hearty bite of his apple and wandering away through the meadow.

With that apparent seal of royal approval Zayn grabbed Liam by the lapels and kissed him fiercely, Liam's arms scooping him up and lifting him bodily off the ground.

Harry couldn't breathe.

Men.

Kissing each other.

In front of other men- their friends, including the King, and- It was too much.

Their kiss went from fiercely passionate to leisurely, and then Liam actually fell backwards into the grass, and Zayn straddled him happily, snogging his face off.

Harry tried to find a way to leave without seeming offensive, but frankly staying and listening to the sucking sounds Zayn was making against Liams neck seemed worse, so he jogged after Louis.

Big mistake.

Louis grinned at him, and Harry felt the blush rising in his cheeks.

"I'm guessing you don't see that in Cheshire?" Louis enquired casually.

"I've never seen that."

"Get used to it," Niall said, popping up between them and providing a much needed human barrier between Harry and Louis. He tried everything he could not to think of himself and Louis rolling around in the meadow. How was it possible to hate someone so much and yet find them so attractive?

"Those two are disgusting once they get started." Niall continued, "'Oh, Liam! Your eyes! Your noble brow!' 'Zayn! Zayny! Your jaw, your delicious jaw! My soul weeps! My heart aches!' Foul."

Harry actually giggled and Louis raised an eyebrow.

"They're truly nauseating," Louis agreed, "I don't know why I keep them around."

"Because you love them, you big knob," Niall said, through a mouthful of apple.

Louis sighed dramatically.

"Alas, the affliction is incurable."

Harry looked at him in surprise.

"Their... Their love?"

"What?" Louis looked astounded, "No, Harold, the plague of their friendship. I swear I will never be free."

"So, you approve of..." He waved towards Zayn and Liam, not wanting to look in case Zayn had removed any of his perfectly tailored clothes.

"I'd never ask them to apologize for being themselves. They love each other, how many people find that in life?"

"But..."

"But it's wrong? Not normal? New and dangerous?"

Harry blushed.

"Don't patronize me."

Louis spoke perfectly seriously, "Requited love is never wrong. It's a fucking miracle."

"Then... Why do they hide in the forest?"

"We don't'" Liam said, appearing suddenly at Harry's side. Zayn was with him, his hand resting on the back of Liam's neck (which Harry could not help but notice was covered in little red bites). Harry tried hard not to blush any redder.

"We share a room, everyone knows we're together. But when we're at the palace we have duties."

"And we have courtly graces," Zayn added, "We don't hide, but we don't talk about it either. It would be the same if Liam were a woman."

"We've discussed this," Liam said, sounding exasperated, "you would be the woman, the way you fuss over your hair. And sew."

"Oh please, I hate children, baking, flowers and rainbows."

"He's right Liam," Niall agreed, "that's basically your four favourite things."

"And puppies," Louis smirked, turning the group around and leading them back to the horses, "don't forget about the puppies."

"I am not the woman!" Liam cried, hauling himself up into the saddle, but looking a lot less upset when Zayn pinched his bum.

"Nothing wrong with women, Mate. Trust me," Niall grinned.

"Shhh, Niall," Louis said in a stage whisper, now astride his own horse, "They're so handsome, if they switch teams you might lose your advantage."

"Never. I've got a lifetime of practice."

Louis scoffed.

"If at first you don't succeed..."

"Practice makes perfect, Louis. One day you'll be paying for my wedding to the most beautiful girl in the kingdom."

"I'll be paying?"

"Either that or you can up my salary. Take your pick."

Louis snorted with derision.

"I can't wait to meet the bride. Come on Harold, we've got a long way to go."

Harry pulled himself into the saddle, thinking just how true that was.

Late in the afternoon Harry, Louis and Niall sat by the river on a large, warm rock, their feet dangling over the edge and occasionally dipping below the bubbling surface. The broad stretch of water looked innocent enough, but Harry watched a branch twice his size being dragged by the silent current faster than a man could run.

Harry kicked at the water a little too viciously.

He should have been happier, and perhaps a little part of him was, for learning the truth about Liam and Zayn. He never met other men like him, other men who... Who wanted to be with men. He could admit that if there was one thing his imprisonment had done, at least he knew he wasn't alone in the world in that way. But that didn't mean he didn't dream of pushing Louis into the river and watching him disappear beneath the murky surface.

It would be so easy too. He and Louis were alone often. The King seemed perfectly comfortable in his presence, taking no notice when his servants (or his friends, as Harry was slowly learning to think of them) left them on their own. Harry was taller and stronger, he was a trained warrior but they all acted like that was of no consequence. They trusted him.

Harry glared at the water, stewing in his bitterness. It wasn't surprising, really. He had rescued Louis once before, but he had sworn over and over again that he was just repaying a debt. And that was the truth. Mostly.

God, Harry hated himself. These were his enemies! Trust was absolutely forbidden, and yet here he was, privy to Zayn and Liam's love, to Louis' closest friendships.

He glanced up and saw Louis watching him thoughtfully.

"What?" He demanded.

Louis held his gaze for a moment, then, his expression almost sad, he shrugged.

"I'd ask you what's the matter, but..."

Harry nodded. Good, he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't mind that his anger made Louis uncomfortable either.

"Christ, is this what it's going to be like?" Niall groaned, "seriously? Not the two of you as well!"

"What are you talking about Niall?" Louis demanded, a strange edge to his voice.

"This!" Niall waved his hands at them as though that explained everything.

"What?"

"This little half sentence, telepathic, speaking paragraphs with a glance routine! It's bad enough when those two do it, don't you two start or I swear there'll be a murder."

"Empathy is different from telepathy, Niall."

"Ugh," Niall made a disgusted sound and crossed his arms, "if I end up the only one who speaks in full sentences in this little troupe while the rest of you just imply and touch and swoon and fucking gaze meaningfully at each other I will spit in your soup, so help me God."

"I don't think that will be necessary," Louis smirked, "I have yet to spend ten minutes with Zayn and Liam without three fights and a 'your mother' joke."

"Words?" Niall said, as though Louis had suggested they fling horse shit at each other, "that doesn't mean shite. Every time they want to say something worth anything they say it like," he feigned delicately touching the inside of Louis wrist and said, his voice all aflutter "'Zayn, have I told you recently that I love you?'"

Louis snorted in a manner most unbecoming to royalty.

Harry could feel the tension easing in his back. He liked Niall, it would be a shame to see him killed when the war came. Louis was grinning now, and joining in Niall's quest to utterly de-romanticize Liam and Zayn's relationship.

"And then Zayn will say," Louis brushed his hands messily over Niall's face, causing Niall to fall back in a breathless, twitching swoon, "not recently enough, you stallion! It's been a full five minutes!"

Harry tried hard to suppress his smile when Louis glanced over at him. He wasn't doing a good job. When Louis caught the corners of his mouth twitching his own smile broadened considerably and he reached out as though to ruffle Harry's hair, but pulled his hand back. Harry stared at Louis because- was the King actually blushing?

"Sorry," Louis said, shoving his hand firmly in his pocket, "sorry Harry, you just... it feels like you're one of us, sometimes."

The smile dropped from Harry's face instantly. He felt the cold hatred for Louis fill him again. He would never be one of them.

"All I've thought about since we got here is pushing you in that river and watching you drown," he said, his voice cold and steady.

"Christ, me too," Niall agreed solemnly, "that settles it then, you're absolutely one of us, Harry."

Harry stood abruptly and stalked away, heading in to the trees. He could feel Louis gaze burning a hole in his back.

Fuck you, he thought, fuck you, Louis.

Harry didn't go far. He wanted to run, but his honor wouldn't allow it. He wanted to kill them, all of them, slit their throats and watch them bleed, take the horses and ride home, but his fucking honor...

He kicked a tree violently.

"Wouldn't make a habit of that," Niall said from somewhere behind him. Harry heard the affable smirk on his lips without needing to see his face.

"Don't know how you expect to stomp on Louis' face in the night with a broken foot."

Harry grunted, but he lent back against the tree and crossed his arms, waiting for Niall to talk. He was the opposite of every servant Harry had ever met- blonde, unkempt and completely honest.

"What do you want?" He asked, nothing better to do than let Niall say his piece.

"To tell you a little story," Niall shrugged, "I think you might not be so insulted by us afterwards. Or hell, maybe you'll be doubly offended, but I'll take my chances."

Harry said nothing, but he didn't walk away either. That was all the invitation Niall needed.

"So, a few years ago Liam was to be married," he began and Harry raised an eyebrow, remembering what he'd heard of this story. No account he had heard ever mentioned Zayn, and that seemed like an obvious oversight after this morning.

"The wedding was announced, both families celebrated in the customary way and everyone was happy. Except, for reasons no one understood at the time, Zayn. He refused to attend the celebrations, although he made Liam's outfit as a gift, and wouldn't speak to any of us. Liam was really cut up about it, which we all thought was a little odd because they so obviously didn't get on in the first place. Anyway, a week or so before the wedding Liam didn't turn up to breakfast, And hours later no one had seen him. Louis figured he needed some time, you know, getting married is a big change and all, so he left it, but that afternoon Liam came to visit Louis in his rooms and he was absolutely fucking wrecked. I was there, I've never seen anything like it. He was in tears, Harry, had obviously been crying so hard his face had swelled up like he'd been stung somethin' fierce.

'Li,' Louis says, 'what's the matter mate?'

"And Liam tells us he's ashamed. He started blubbering that he didn't want to marry, even though the girl was a better match than he deserved. Louis said, 'so call off the wedding!' and Liam said, 'that's not why I'm ashamed. I'm in love.' And then we were really confused because generally speaking men in love are pretty keen to get married, you know? But something twigged with Louis, and as gently as he knows how he asked 'with who?' And then Liam gulped and started shaking and then his voice broke in two like glass and he said 'Zayn.'

"Now, you can imagine that was a bit of a surprise, considering Zayn was basically the anti-Liam, opposite him in every possible way and also, you know, a bloke, but Louis just gave Liam the worlds biggest hug and held him as he cried and cried and cried. I'm ashamed to say that I stood there like a stunned mullet and didn't do a fucking thing. What was I supposed to do? Say 'oh, that's alright mate, so you want to bum the guy who sews your clothes? No problem.' Like, I'd never heard anyone even suggest that before, you know? Anyway, Louis held him and told him it was alright. 'You can't be ashamed of love,' he said, but Liam sobbed and sobbed and demanded 'How can I not be ashamed? He's- he's... well, he's a he, but he's- he's Zayn and he could never love me, and never be friends now... not if he knew. Not if he found out. He'd hate me. He'd want me dead.'

"Liam no," Louis said, and I swear Harry he actually slapped Liam across the face. "Li, why do you think Zayn's been avoiding you since the announcement?""

Niall had started imitating everyone's voices, falling in to uncanny impersonations of the story. Harry could see the scene before him like a play.

""Oh god! He- he knows! He knows and he's disgusted by me!"

"For fuck's sake Liam, if I'd known you were this dumb I would never have promoted you. No, you fucking imbecile. He's jealous."

"That I'm getting married?"

"Yes!"

"But... but he could marry anyone he wants."

"No, he can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I think I'll have quite a bit of trouble getting same-sex marriage legislation past the churchmen in parliament." And there was this glorious moment, Harry, when Liam just looked at Louis and then, all confused-like, he whispers "he's... he's jealous of the bride?" And it was like a play, one of those perfect moments you read off a script, because Zayn walked through the door and saw Liam there all red and crying so hard his shirt was wet and he dropped whatever he was carrying (something expensive, I don't know) and came rushing over to Liam and literally pushed Louis- his sovereign Lord- he actually shoved him away and took Liam up in his arms and cooed and cradled him like a fucking baby and demanded to know what we had done. We had done! Fuck me.

Anyway, so then Louis and I are just looking at each other like we should just seep backwards into the wallpaper or something and give them some privacy, but we could see Liam was getting scared again. He wasn't going to say it. He was going to save Zayn the shame, or whatever disaster the idiot thought would happen if he told the truth. And so Louis asked them both to stand up, and they did, 'cause he's the king, and he took their hands and he put them together like you do at a wedding and he said 'I have always known and I have always blessed this,' and then he grabbed my and we fucking fled because Zayn already had half Liam's clothes off by the time we made it out the door. I was really scared they were going to eat each other's faces.

'So then Louis called in the bride and told her that he disapproved of the wedding because Liam had only recently been promoted and he wanted a butler who was committed to his duties, not a newlywed who wanted to spend all day in bed with his wife. The irony, I fucking swear. Anyway, he doubled the girl's dowry so she ended up in an even better marriage than before, and she was happy.

'Louis took a knock to the reputation though, the rumours spread that he was miserable, cruel, that he didn't want to see his friends married if he wasn't. And he never married, and he was well over the age a prince of a tiny kingdom was supposed to marry... anyway, Harry, the point I'm trying to make is that Louis never makes anyone apologize for who they are. He likes people based on the content of their character, and he likes them despite their quirks- usually because of their quirks, the odd bastard.

'We like you, Harry. All of us, even if you're technically our enemy. Louis won't make you change. He'd never ask you to be anything other than what you are, even if that's something we're supposed to hate."

Niall gave a small nod and stretched his arms out, yawning.

"Well, that's my story done. Louis shot something big and hairy, so come and find us when you want to eat."

It was an hour before Harry returned to the campfire, and when he did he ate in silence while the others politely avoided his gaze. As the fire slowly died and they rolled themselves in their cloaks, the boys let out a chorus of tired, cheerful goodnights.

"Sweet dreams, Lads," Louis said, last of all.

Harry slept restlessly that night, his discomfort nothing to do with the cool of the night or the hard ground. When morning finally came he sat up and cracked his neck, nodding to the other boys as the wrestled their way out of sleep's grip.

"Listen," Harry said, "there's something I never said last night."

The others stopped what they were doing and grew quiet, waiting for him to continue. Liam and Zayn exchanged an uncomfortable glance, Niall yawned widely, and Louis watched him steadily, silent for once.

"I think it's wonderful, what you two have," Harry said, and saw a smile spread across all four of their faces. He didn't smile in return. He wished he could.

"Thank you, Harry," Liam said, looking a little tearful.

"Thank you for being honest with me. I know I don't deserve it with the way I treat you all."

"You're in a tough spot, mate," Liam shrugged, jostling Zayn's head on his shoulder, "we all understand."

"I wish you didn't," Harry said, and rolled to his feet, heading away into the trees to take a piss.

When he returned (after taking much longer than necessary and maybe crying a little, and maybe wishing that certain things weren't true and that certain things were possible and that the world wasn't the way it was) the mood at camp was significantly lighter. His eyes immediately went to Louis, who was poking suspiciously at a pot over the fire.

"How committed are you to the idea of breakfast, lads?" He asked innocently.

"I gave up the second you offered to ruin-I mean cook-it," Zayn drawled, grabbing Liam by the hand and dragging him towards the river. Niall gave Louis a pained look and grabbed the bag of apples, mincing off after them.

Harry sighed and, dropping to his haunches next to Louis, grabbed the stirrer out of his hand and investigated the sludge.

"Good thing you've got a castle full of cooks," he said, "you're terrible at this."

"And I suppose they taught you to chef as well as mope and dimple back in Cheshire?"

"What is it with you and my dimples?" Harry demanded, plucking the pot from the fire and scraping the useless contents from where it had congealed on the sides. When he looked at Louis he saw the king was blushing hard. Harry felt a smirk stretch over his face before he could control it, and Louis saw it too.

"Oh shuttup," the king shoved him until he lost his balance, falling onto his bum, "your dimples get you out of all sorts of trouble and you know it."

It was Harry's turn to blush and he bit down on his lip to try and stop himself. Louis stared blatantly, his own mouth going a little slack.

"So, Chef," Louis said, collecting himself admirably, "what will you be creating for us this fine morn?"

"Um, there are some berries over in that glade and if Niall has some apples left over I think I can salvage this goop."

"Porridge," Louis corrected.

"Maybe in Doncaster," Harry scoffed.

"Alright then, Curly, lets gather berries. What fun, I haven't done this since I was a little girl."

Harry let out a bark of laughter and Louis beamed.

"I can't believe I ever took you seriously," Harry giggled.

"That was your biggest mistake," Louis smiled, "but you're obviously learning the error of your ways."

Harry nodded, but the smile faded nonetheless. Louis watched it go sadly, and Harry knew that the uncharacteristic frown was back in place.