I hope you like it ;)

Don't forget to leave comments !

I'd also like to mention the fact that I don't really know much about soccer/football, so the way a game goes down might not be actually accurate. I only know what I've read on Wikipedia and from what I've seen at Louis' games.

Happy reading and please read the end notes :D

---

Harry reads through the article quickly, but it's to no good. The words just fly past him, because he's too focused on what other people will say.

"They've been seeing each other for quite a while and look very loved up, a source claims. What the actual fuck? What fucking source?" Harry exclaims, shoving the magazine under Niall's nose. "Who is this source?"

"You do know they're making shit up, right? It's journalism. Tabloids. Media."

Harry buries his face in the pillow, and then lets out a scream. "This sucks ass. I wonder what Louis will say. Or Van Gaal. Or my dad. Shit."

He rolls over and tells Niall to go up to his father's office and shred all the magazines except of one copy. As soon as Niall is out of the room, the stands off the bed and grabs his phone.

"This is a disaster." He whispers as he dials.

It takes four rings until Louis answers.

"Do you fucking know how early it is?" is the answer he gets on the fifth ring.

"It's past noon."

"Shit." Louis groans and Harry hears some rustling. "So what's up? Finally decided to ask me out properly?"

"Uh...no."

"Oh. Well this is awkward then. So what's it about?"

"Sooo...have you read The Mirror lately?"

"No, why?"

"Well, someone apparently took a picture of us kissing at the airport yesterday and now it's everywhere."

Louis lets out a low groan. "That probably explains why Van Gaal called me like, a hundred times today."

"Call him back."

"Now I'm scared." Louis laughs. "Alright. I'm going to call him. Send me photos of the article in the meantime."

"Okay."

Louis hangs up without even a goodbye, so Harry tries to ignore the knot he has in his stomach as he takes pictures of the article and sends them to Louis on WhatsApp. He has to wait about ten minutes for Louis to respond.

Louis: so...

Louis: I talked to van gaal

Harry: and?

Louis: he wants to meet us in his office @ 7 tonight

Harry: why so late?

Louis: he's busy during the day

Harry: how did he react?

Louis: he wasn't too angry

Louis: but he was serious

Louis: so idk

There's a few minutes of silence, until Louis texts him again.

Louis: wtf???

Louis: what source? Wtf?

Harry: that's what I said!

Louis: u want me to come pick u up tonight?

Harry: sure

Harry: :)

Harry spends the rest of his day trying to figure out what he's going to tell his father if he's ever comforted about it, but the only solution he comes up with, is to just pretend nothing happened and when he's asked about it, deny it.

That time comes sooner that expected though. His father is in the living room when he walks downstairs to put some shoes on since Louis should be picking him up any second.

"Where are you going?"

"Got a meeting at the training center?"

"What is it about?"

Harry looks down at his feet. "Have no idea."

"Could it be about this?" His father says and holds up The Mirror magazine.

Harry almost shits himself. "What about it?"

"I read the article Harry. What did I tell you about Louis Tomlinson?"

"Look, dad. That article is plain shit. I can't be arsed with it right now."

"So are you two dating now?"

Harry shifts his body weight from one foot to the other. "No."

"Then why are you kissing?"

"It's just a friendly kiss."

His father is obviously having none of it. "Friends don't just kiss in the airport. On the lips."

"Jesus, dad. There's nothing going on, okay? And even if there was, I'm old enough to make my own decisions."

"He's five years older."

"So? You are four years older than mum."

"Yes, but those-"

"I don't want to hear about other times! I know what I'm doing."

His father sighs. "Did you two have sex?"

"Dad!"

"What? I'm just making sure you at least know how to use protection."

"It's not like I'm going to get pregnant or something, right?"

There's a honk coming from outside, so Harry zips up his jacket. "I have to go now."

"Is that him? I have to talk-"

"No you don't." Harry says and strides over to the door, grabs his keys, and leaves.

Louis is waiting on him in his Porsche, music blasting all the way up while he's smoking a cigarette out the window. He lowers the volume when Harry gets in and smiles.

"Took you long enough."

"My dad was just about to give me a lecture about STD's."

Louis snorts. "So he saw the article huh?"

"Who hasn't?"

"I'm going to tweet something nasty to The Mirror. Just watch."

He hands Harry his phone after punching the code in, and opens the Twitter app before he begins driving.

"Tweet this."

Harry opens up a new tweet, and looks at Louis expectantly.

"I'd like to start the day by saying a big fuck you to The Mirror."

"Seriously?" "Yes."

"So are you like, saying that what they wrote wasn't true?"

"No. I'm saying that the whole article was pointless and that they should stop fucking around with people's private lives."

Harry nods and locks Louis' phone, refraining from checking any messages to see whom else he's talking to. Also, he's holding back from asking him whether he's afraid of coming out or not, whether he's ashamed of Harry, and if he'd actually like to talk about it.

He's too scared though, so he pushes the though to the back of his head.

Louis parks the car in front of the training center, and takes a deep breath before getting out.

Eleanor is at the front desk, and the moment she gives them a compassionate smile, it's obvious to both of them that she already knows why they're here.

Van Gaal is waiting in his office when Harry and Louis enter, with the magazine under his palms.

"Hi." Louis says and sits down a few chairs away from him.

Harry takes a seat across from Louis, trying to be as professional as possible.

"You both know why you're here."

"Right." Harry says.

"Can one of you explain to me what went down? What is going on? Are you two dating? When did it happen?"

Louis is staring down at his hands, but Harry doesn't want to be the one to go first, so he doesn't say anything either. Eventually, Louis speaks up.

"So...we've been like, really good friends for a while now, and we've started like, kissing." Louis starts, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Is it serious?"

No one answers.

"So I guess you two haven't sorted this out." Van Gaal says, closing the magazine. "Look. I didn't call you here to yell at you, because what you do in private is none of my business as long as it doesn't affect the public image of the team. I'm not being homophobic; I don't have anything against that. Louis, if you want, I can schedule a public interview for you to come out, or whatever will make you feel comfortable."

Louis shifts, obviously uncomfortable, into his seat.

"I don't-I don't need a coming out interview. I'll do it my way when I feel comfortable."

"Either way, for the purpose of your performance during the game, we have to take some measures." Van Gaal tells them.

"What do you mean?" Harry asks.

"I don't want Louis' head to be somewhere else during the League. So you either stop whatever this is, or Harry, you're fired."

It doesn't hit Harry as hard as it should be. The only thing he's worried about is seeing Louis during the League, since he won't be allowed to be there during practice anymore. What excuse will he have now to see Louis on a daily basis? He obviously won't have the guts to invite him out.

Louis stares at Harry for a moment, a questioning look in his eyes.

"I'd like to be fired." Harry says, looking at Van Gaal. He doesn't sure what that means for whatever he and Louis have going on, but he hopes Louis will take it as a good thing.

Apparently, he does, because his eyes light up.

"Alright then. I'll get Eleanor to put the contracts together so you can sign them next week after the game."

Harry nods, and waits for the discussion to be over.

"Alright. So we're done here. You're free to go. Louis, I'll see you tomorrow."

He doesn't say anything but a goodbye to Harry, which makes him feel a bit shit, but he doesn't say anything about it.

Louis offers to drive him home, so after shared cigarette they climb into the car.

"Are you nervous?" Harry asks.

Louis keeps his eyes on the road. "About what?"

"About the League."

"Nah, not really. I just hope I won't fuck it up."

Ten minutes later, they're already pulling up by Harry's house.

"Listen." Louis starts, turning into his seat. "I'm sorry about your job."

"It's fine. I wasn't doing much anyway."

"Yeah but-"

"And...I don't know. I think that what we...'have' is much more important than a stupid summer job, innit?"

Louis takes a few moments to think about it. "Like?"

Harry hesitates for a second. "Like you. If you want to, I mean."

"If I want to what?"

"To keep seeing each other even though I don't come to practice now."

"Yeah, I'd like that." Louis smiles, and then leans over to kiss Harry on the lips.

Harry's heart jumps in his chest but he ignores it as he gets out of the car and opens the gate.

-

He spends the next two days in his room, anxious about the first official Manchester United game tomorrow. He hasn't seen Louis at all since he dropped him off on Saturday, because the football player had practice after practice and press conferences and public appearances are scheduled in the span of two days.

Now it's Tuesday at noon, which means that in less than four hours, the stadium will be packed with supporters from all over the country dying to see the two teams play against each other. His father has two season tickets, and due to the fact that he's on a trip overseas for an entire week to attend a course, he let Niall borrow his ticket.

Barbara is still in Paris until Friday, so Harry's been spending a lot of alone time with Niall, which usually entails a lot of talk about their sexual experience, eating and drinking a lot, and going out with a group from high school in the evening.

"I can't believe we have seats literally next to the benches, this is going to be fuckin' awesome! Do you think we can get like, into their locker rooms?"

"I doubt it. Van Gaal is apparently very strict about it." Harry says as he stares out the taxi window. They're on their way to lunch, and right after they're taking the tube to the stadium to get there one hour before the game so they avoid the crowds. Also, Niall hates waiting for beer, so he's not in the mood to stand in a long queue.

They have lunch at a restaurant in Piccadilly that makes the best pizza by far, probably in all of England.

"So what did your dad say about you quitting your job?"

"I told him why I had to quit, or get fired, and he didn't say much about it. He just told me that he won't pay for my car, and that I still have to save money to buy one.

"Shit, that sucks man."

"Well, you're going to get a car soon, so it's like I'll be getting a car."

"It's a present for my birthday, but hey, sharing is caring." Niall says, and smiles with his mouth full of pizza.

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Jeez, it's like you're Barbara."

Harry smirks. "I am Barbara, just without the long hair and without the vagina. And I'm definitely better in bed."

Niall squints at him. "I seriously doubt that."

"I don't. Louis told me I was great."

"No thank you. I wouldn't have sex with you even if I'd get paid. Well, it depends on the sum we're talking about."

"You're not even my type." Harry says.

"Excuse me? I so am your type. If I were gay, you'd totally date me."

"No I wouldn't. You have no ass and I'm an ass man. You look like a skinny chicken with those legs."

"That hurt man." Niall says, but then bursts out laughing. "But seriously, you've never had a crush on me? Not even the tiniest attraction? Nothing?"

Harry shakes his head.

"We've known each other for too long and I've already told you, you're not my type."

"Yeah, 'cause you like your men older and stronger. With some meat on their bones."

"See? You do know me." Harry jokes, which causes Niall to throw a piece of olive at his face. He misses his nose but it gets into his hair, and that makes them both laugh.

They finish their pizzas around five, and Harry feels generous so he offers to pay for both of them before they head out towards the tube station.

"I'm going to love you forever." Niall tells him as they walk down the stairs to go underground.

Harry laughs. "Why is that?"

"Because you just paid for my pizza, which is...I can't even explain it. I owe you my life."

"Niall, it's just food."

"I love you."

Harry rolls his eyes and Niall pats him on the back. "I'm just taking the piss. If we go out tonight, then I'm paying."

Harry agrees before he checks the schedule for the tube, which is supposed to come in less than a minute and take them to the stadium.

"So are you excited?"

"About what?"

The tube stops right in front of them a few seconds later, and it's filled to the brim with people dressed in Manchester United shirts and painted faces. A few more people join them, together with Harry and Niall, before the tube takes off again.

"About the game. Seeing your boyfriend play. Supporting him. I can't believe you didn't get a sign or something! He'll definitely see you since we're so close!"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Harry says, and then makes eye contact with a group of girl supporters who are eyeing him quite suspiciously. He leans over to whisper to Niall. "I think these girls know me from somewhere."

"Um...maybe because they're rooting for a team whose new player you kissed in public? Just saying." "Oh shit. Right. But...you can barely recognize it's me in the magazine."

Niall shrugs. "Who cares?"

"You're right."

Even though there's a good one hour left until the game is supposed to kick off, there are already a lot of people in front of the stadium, waiting to get in.

"It's a full house." Niall complains as he leads them to the VIP entry. They suppose they have VIP tickets since they're sitting right in the front and get free drinks. Niall is also excited about that.

They find their seats fifteen minutes later, right in the middle of the field, close enough to see everything perfectly.

"This is amazing. Let's post a snap, I want everyone to be jealous."

"Okay...middle school girl who just got her first bra." Harry laughs.

"Hey, you're supposed to be against sexism."

Harry shakes his head and looks at the camera, mimicking Niall's expression as he snaps the photo.

"I'm going to Instagram this, it's too good."

"Dear God."

"Hey, at least I don't post pictures of my food and hashtag them instayummy, okay? You're on a whole other level."

He soon gets a notification that he got a mention on Instagram, so he checks it just because he's starting to get bored. He waits for it to reach over eleven likes before he likes it too.

niallhoran: excited t see @manchesterunited with @harrystyles 2nite ! #seasontickets

"I wonder what Louis is doing right now. Probably dying of anxiety." Harry says, sighing.

"I know what I'm doing right now. Going to get us two beers and some nachos, because you need to stop all the melodramatic sighing before I punch yer face in."

"That would be good."

"Don't worry, they're on me." Niall says and stands up.

"They're free, and also practically on me, because my dad-"

But Niall turns around and leaves anyway. It takes him about half an hour to come back, right in time to see the team come out on the field and start doing their warm-ups.

"I got something for you." Niall tells him and hands him a small bag, before he places the two beers and the nachos on the ground by their feet.

"What is it?"

"Look at it."

Harry opens the bag to find a nicely folded, red shirt. He takes it out and looks at the back of it, which has TOMLINSON written in giant bold letters.

"My treat for you. So you now...you can support your boyfriend."

"He's not...oh whatever."

Harry takes off the shirt he was wearing in a quick motion, before putting the other on. It fits nicely.

"You're going to take a picture of it when we leave." Harry announces him, just as the two teams come out on the pitch, startling them both.

The entire stadium starts screaming and cheering. Niall leans over to Harry.

"Who's got their bra on now?"

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Yes it does! You just said-"

"Shhh! There's Louis." Harry shushes him and points out the last player to come out on the pitch, wearing a headband and looking like fucking sex on legs in white shorts and a tight fitting red shirt.

Louis looks around until he makes eye contact with Harry and smiles, before he starts doing some crunches like the rest of his team. It takes all the willpower Harry has not to film the entire thing so he can add it to his wank bank later.

Wank bank?

Jesus, I need a life

The teams warm up for about fifteen minutes, before they go back inside, only to come out with kids holding their hands, right before the national hymn plays.

Then, the presenter starts naming the players one by one, and it may be just Harry, but the entire stadium (at least the Manchester United side) shouts the loudest when Louis' name is announced through the speakers.

Louis looks delighted and also nervous, which makes Harry want to cuddle him and fuck him raw at the same time.

Hopefully, he'll get to do both later.

The game kicks off five minutes later, and Harry doesn't even get to admire Louis for more than a few seconds because Louis is like lightning on the field. Everyone seems to be cheering him on, rooting for him to score a goal so he can officially be accepted as a Manchester United player by the team's supporters.

Harry's heart is in his throat, and by halftime it's still 0-0, even though Louis and Van Persie managed to get close to scoring.

"If they win I'm going to shit meself." Niall tells him after he's back with another round of beers. "If they lose, I'm also going to shit meself in a bad way."

"How can you shit yourself in a good way?" Harry asks as he takes one of the beers from him.

"Well, you know those type of shits that really hurt your bumh-"

"Okay, we're done with this discussion."

Niall cackles but changes the subject to what he should buy Barbara for their two-month anniversary in two weeks.

"Do you have to get each other gifts every month?"

"Yeah. That's how relationships work, don't they?"

"I think you should give and receive all the time-"

Niall rolls his eyes. "Don't start with the romantic bullshit please. Tell it to Louis or someone who gets off on that kind of stuff."

"I don't think Lou gets off on that kind of stuff. He's more like you. I'm more like...the Barbara of our relationship."

"Well, you'd think so, since you took it up the arse just a week ago."

Harry thinks about it for a second. "I really did take it a week ago."

"'bout a week ago, week ago." Niall sings, before they both burst out laughing like children.

There's a whistle going off, and then the teams appear on the pitch once again, which means that the break is over.

"How much do you want to bet Louis scores?" Niall asks.

"If he scores, he'll also score tonight."

Niall shoots Harry a look. "When did you get so dirty?"

"Anal sex really changes one."

Niall throws his head back, almost knocking his beer over. "I will give you fifty quid if you manage to fuck him first before he fucks you again."

Harry holds his hand out. "Deal." They shake on it.

The game begins, and it's not long before Rooney scores a goal, which has half of the stadium standing up and shouting.

There are ten minutes left of the game when number 7 from the other team scores, and Harry's mood goes to shit. He doesn't want penalty kicks because they're incredibly stressful, so he crosses his fingers and hopes someone from Man United will just score another fucking goal, or maybe the other team will accidentally kick the ball in their own net.

It happens one minute before the end of the game.

Carrick kicks the ball over to Louis, Louis kicks it over to Herrera once he's close enough to the goal, and Herrera kicks it back just in time for Louis to catch it and kick it. The ball flies right over the goalie's head and into the net, and at the same time that half of the stadium stands up in joy.

"He fucking did it!" Niall screams, hugging Harry as they jump around like idiots.

Louis runs over to his teammates and they all just get into a giant hug, ruffling Louis' hair up and slapping him on the back.

When the whistle that announces the end of the game is heard, everyone is incredibly pleased and happy, and Harry just can't take his eyes off of Louis. They make eye contact and Harry gives him a dimpled smile accompanied by a thumbs up, which has Louis smiling back and suddenly running over to him.

Louis jumps over one of the small fences, and then grips into the bars that Harry was previously gripping into so he can lift himself up and be at the same eye level with Harry.

The younger lad doesn't even get to register what's happening because the next moment Louis is kissing him, with everyone watching.

Niall starts shouting that he can't believe this and even gets his phone out at one point, but Harry can only focus on Louis' lips. He can't believe he's being kissed in public.

When Louis pulls away with the softest smile Harry's ever seen, they're right on the big screen with everyone cheering along and celebrating their first victory; the first one out of many yet to come, hopefully.

Louis shouts at him to come by the lockerooms as soon as they can manage to get inside, and Harry nods right before he takes off back to his team.

When the team disappears inside, Harry can feel many pairs of eyes on him, but he's trying to keep his calm as he follows Niall to the nearest exit.

They find their way to their lockerooms eventually, but there are two security guards standing by the door.

"Um...we're here for Louis Tomlinson?" Harry says.

"I can see that on your shirt, but I'm afraid everyone is here for someone. I can't let you in, I'm sorry."

"But can you like...just call him over a bit? He knows who we are."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

Harry rolls his eyes and gets his phone out to text Louis. A few seconds later, Louis is shirtless by the door, telling the security guards to let Harry in.

"They're with me."

Harry gives one of the guards an incredibly sweet smile before he steps inside and almost slams the door behind him.

Niall takes off towards De Gea immediately, so Harry's left alone with a very sweaty, and at the same time a very attractive Louis.

"Hi." He says, still in awe at how beautiful Louis can be.

"Hi."

"Sooo...nice game out there."

"Nice shirt."

Harry can feel himself blushing.

"Which was your favorite part of the game?" Louis asks, saving Harry from an awkward answer to the remark he just made.

"When you kissed me at the end."

Louis rolls his eyes. "I was expecting something along the lines of you liking how my arse looks in these shorts."

"I didn't want to be too blunt." Harry looks around until he sees Van Gaal talking to an interviewer. "So what did Van Gaal say?"

"He doesn't really care, but he wants me to schedule a proper coming out interview."

"Do you want to do it?"

"Yeah." Louis smiles. "I feel like 'm ready for it. It's scheduled for Friday, right after our game with Aston Villa."

"Really? I'm proud of you."

"I should be thanking you actually. If it weren't for you I would have never done it in the first place."

Harry takes that information in. "What did your family say?" "That they've always known." Louis snorts. "'s a bit weird since they barely saw me in the past five years, but I'm happy."

Harry's phone buzzes in his pocket. It's a text from Barbara saying that she watched the game on the telly and she is still in shock about the kiss. Harry replies with a smiling emoji before he returns his attention back to Louis.

"Can you take a picture of me with my shirt? I want to upload it to my Insta."

"Sure. Showing off, aren't you?"

"Oh, shut up."

He turns around after handing Louis his phone and waits to hear the camera go off.

"We're going to hit the showers but wait for me here."

Harry nods and sits down on one of the benches while he waits, and he's joined by Niall after a few minutes, who tells him about a victory party at De Gea's house.

"We're going, right?"

"Were we invited?"

"Of course!" Niall says. "He just told me to tell you too. It starts at ten since they don't have to show up for practice tomorrow until much later."

"Alright. I have to go take a shower and change though."

Niall rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything else.

Harry then uploads the picture to his Instagram.

harrystyles: great game @manchesterunited ! so proud of @louist91 and everyone else :)

He gets forty likes in less than two minutes which is extremely unusual, but then again, ever since Louis followed him two months ago, he's gained over ten thousand followers. All of them are fans of Manchester United, some with nice things to say, some with ugly things to say. Either way, Harry's not bothered because now it's obvious that Louis likes him back.

Niall and Harry leave after Louis comes back from the showers, a towel hanging low on his waist, and tells them that he'll pick them both up later from Harry's house to take them to De Gea's.

Then, right before they exit the locker room, he catches Harry by the arm and tells him to bring lube.

"What for?" Harry dumbly asks.

"Because I don't want it to hurt when you fuck me."

Harry looks at him, blinking.

"Now go, wouldn't want you to miss the tube." Louis winks, and then closes the door.

---

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Let me know what you thought of this chapter :)

Also, I've planned out this story from start to finish, and it will have 16 chapters!

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! Chapter 13 will be on November 28th !

xoxo,

Ronnie