Chapter 32 ~ The Shock

[Louis]

I decided to watch the interview when I got home that day. I didn't want to be in school witnessing what could happen in it. If the wrong things were said, I wouldn't want to be faced with the entire school after watching it.

I took my time once I had slammed the front door shut, getting out an empty bowl from the cabinet and a box of cereal along with some milk from the fridge. It wasn't until after I had finished eating that I first went up to my room, locking the door behind me and pulling my laptop from under my bed.

Lying down, I turned it on and went onto Youtube to find the video, preparing myself for the worst even though I didn't want things to be that bad.

He was on "The Late Late Show" with James Corden, and I knew from past interviews how well Harry got along with him. It was obvious in this interview as well, seeing how they joked around with each other. Still, till this day, I found it weird to see my childhood best friend being in an interview like this. It was just something I would never get used to.

They started talking about his tour but moved on to the new song he wrote a few weeks ago. Honestly, it was a subject that hadn't been very common in his last few interviews even if it should be considering it was new. Maybe his Management had made it clear that it stayed out of them since the song was written about me.

"Alright, so your new song is about a special person who means a lot to you, isn't it?" James asked, to which Harry nodded hesitantly.

"And rumors are going around that you and Leah Turner are dating. This means she is the person the song is about, right?"

I could feel how my breath got stuck in my throat by the question, and if it weren't for the fact that Harry looked unsure, I would've turned the video off right then. However, his facial expression made me continue watching even if my heart was practically beating out of my chest. I didn't want to hear this.

"Uh... Actually," he started, scratching the back of his neck. "I wrote the song before I started going out with her."

Did he just say that? I must've heard wrong. He just confirmed that the song was about her, didn't he? But judging by the surprised look on James' face, I realized I hadn't heard him wrong. He really said that Leah wasn't the person he had feelings for.

"Oh... Then who is it about?" He wondered, pushing his chin forward in curiosity.

Harry swallowed hard, glancing towards the camera. "It's about a special person who has always been there for me, even if I weren't there for them. We are childhood best friends," he explained, making my heart sink a little.

I mean sure, he did confess that the song was about me, but I wasn't only his childhood best friend, I was so much more than that.

"So, the song is actually about a friend of yours and not a lover?" James asked, seeming confused.

The curly haired boy looked unsure again. He took a deep breath before shaking his head. "No, he is my lover as well."

Right then, I swear my heart exploded in my chest. Those words... I had been wanting to hear him say them since he was in The X Factor. I never thought he would hide me from his fans, but seeing as he didn't even want to hear a word from me, I realized it was so much more than that. This was the moment I had been waiting for, the moment when he stopped being embarrassed by me.

"He?"

There was no doubt that James' jaw was getting closer and closer to the floor. It looked like it was about to fall off, so surprised was he.

Harry nodded his head sheepishly. "Yeah. I have put him through so many bad things that I'm not sure I will ever be able to forgive myself for them. I feel like this is what he deserves from me. Then maybe he will finally be able to trust me again after this."

He spoke the words to the camera, and they went straight into my heart. It was beating so fast that I thought it was about to burst. I had never felt so much love for him in my entire life, and the fact that he made all this for me... It was just insane.

"Do you mind telling us his name?" James asked after a few seconds of adjustment to the news.

Harry turned to the man, a smile spreading on his lips. "I think you already know who I'm talking about, James. Rumors have already been going around about him since he was out having coffee with my mom."

James' mouth formed an 'O'. "But we never got a name, now did we?."

The pop star bit his lip. "The thing is, I'm not sure how he feels about fame. I don't want him to be thrown into a world he doesn't want to be in. If he decides he wants to be behind cameras, then so be it. If he decides he wants to be in the spotlights, then I'll gladly tell you his name as soon as possible. What I wanted to say with all this is that I want him to know how much I love him and that he can trust me with everything."

James' lips turned into a genuine smile. "That's gotta be the most beautiful love story I've heard. I'm glad you finally decided to come through with your feelings. I bet you've been holding this back for a while."

To be honest, I had never heard him be this serious in any show he had held before. James was known as the jokester who couldn't even make a sentence without saying something laughable. However, this was different. I guess he was plained off taken aback by the situation.

Harry nodded his head and reached out his arm to pull up the sleeve of his button up a bit. "Yeah, I mean, I gave him exactly the same bracelet like this one when we were about thirteen years old, and we are both still wearing them till this day. I think that speaks for itself," he said, smiling at the silver chain proudly.

The blonde haired man agreed. "Definitely. This guy must mean a lot to you."

"He's my life," Harry beamed, but after a second he turned a bit sad. "He made me realize that I was heading in the wrong direction. Fame really got to me, but thanks to his existence I realized what I was missing out on. He is the most amazing person I've ever met and I love him to bits. I was stupid to think I would ever be able to live without him. He's my everything."

"So, I guess this means that the thing between you and Leah Turner was just a stunt, yeah?" James said, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

Harry chuckled flatly. "Something like that, yes. I've been hiding the fact that I'm bisexual ever since I started getting famous, and since rumors have been going around, we wanted to make sure that no one found out."

James' eyebrows narrowed in confusion. "But you decided to come out anyway?"

The curly haired boy shrugged. "Yeah... I felt like I needed to do this. It was about time anyway. I hate to lie to my fans."

James still looked thoughtful and it took a few seconds until he asked the next question. "Can I ask you who 'we' are?"

My own eyebrows shot up at that. Honestly, I was even surprised that Harry's Management had let it go this far. Too much had already been said, and I was sure the pop star would be called into an emergency meeting after this interview.

As if on cue, Harry was just about to open his mouth when James cut him off. "Sorry to interrupt you, mate, but ladies and gentlemen, we have to cut it to commercials now. We'll be right back after the break with no other than Ariana Grande!"

Harry wasn't even into view as he said this, and a second later, the video ended. I was sat there, my mouth hanging open. I couldn't believe that just happened. Did he actually come out?

Reaching out for my phone that was lying on my nightstand, I noticed that I had received tons of messages and had tons of missed calls. They were from Hannah, Niall, Lottie and Harry. Without thinking twice, I hit the button to call my boyfriend, my hands shaking slightly from everything that had taken place the last few minutes.

"Louis?" He answered.

"Yeah," I breathed.

"Did you watch the interview?"

I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "I... I just did."

He was quiet on the other end for a while, and it seemed as if he was thinking hard. "What do you think of it?"

Honestly, I didn't know if he was referring to what I thought of the interview in general or the thing he talked about in it, if I wanted to be in the spotlights or not. However, judging by the fact that his Management probably wouldn't allow it anyway, I assumed it was the prior option.

"I was surprised. I... I didn't know you were going to do it. I thought your Management--" He cut me off before I could finish that sentence.

"I don't care about my Management. They won't make any money without me anyway. This is about me and what I want... what we want. I can't go around fake dating someone when I'm in love with someone else. It's not fair to you or my fans. I just didn't want to lie anymore."

My lips formed a smile by his words. "I'm happy you feel that way. I wouldn't want you to come out just because you felt as if you were forced to. This is about you after all. Everyone in the world knows you're bisexual now."

He took a deep breath. "I know, but I feel like I'm ready. It's been two years after all," he explained.

"Yeah... Did you never feel the need to come out when you were with Liam?" I wondered, tugging at my bottom lip with my teeth.

Harry let out a small chuckle. "I honestly don't even remember what I was thinking then. Certainly, I wasn't thinking at all considering I was dating him and not you. I must've been totally insane." You could practically see his cheeky smile through the phone.

I rolled my eyes. "Well then, I feel special that you wanted to do it for me. And to answer the question if I want to be in the spotlights or not... I don't know. You know I've never been comfortable with all the attention, but since you have been so open about this and also done it all for me, I feel as though I should do it for you if you want me to, of course."

"Lou," he sighed. "I want what you want. That's why I gave you the option, alright? I had two years to get used to everything and you have only had a couple of weeks. I think you should think of it for a little time and then you decide, yeah?"

"That sounds good," I replied, my lips twitching.

After that, we talked a little more until it was time for me to go down and eat dinner. Placing my laptop on the bed beside me, I got up from my bed and trudged down the stairs to the kitchen where everyone was already sitting. The second I walked into the room, Lottie's eyes lit up like a light.

"Louis! I saw Harry's interview on The Late Late Show! Have you heard from him since then?"

I chuckled at her eagerness but nodded my head as I sat down in the seat opposite of her. "Yeah. I was just on the phone with him."

"What did he say?" She asked, her eyes widened.

"Well, he said he was tired of lying to his fans and that he wanted to do it all for me, so I would be able to completely trust him. Thinking about it, it is probably one of the most beautiful things he's done for me. And the fact that he let me decide if I wanted to be in the spotlights or not. He is so caring," I gushed.

Mom gave me a smile from the stove, probably enjoying the fact that I was happy again. Lottie clapped her hands excitedly. "Who knew he still had it in him, eh? I can't believe my brother's going to be famous."

I rolled my eyes at her. "I'm not going to be famous, Lotts."

She raised her eyebrows at me and looked at me and as if I were being stupid. "You are together with probably the most famous teenager in the world, of course you're going to be famous... Unless you are selfish enough to keep yourself behind cameras."

My eyebrows scrunched together. "What do you mean selfish?"

She looked at me incredulously. "Well, if I were Harry, I wouldn't want to hide my boyfriend from my fans. It'd be selfish of you to wish something like that. I mean, if I had a boyfriend I would want to show him off as well," she shrugged.

I swallowed hard. I knew she was right. I knew it would be selfish of me to wish to be behind cameras, but was I ready for it yet? What would I do when a camera would be shoved in my face by a complete stranger? Knowing myself, I have would most likely freak out.

"I know, Lotts. I just... I don't know if I'm ready yet. I don't want to freak out by all the attention, then I'll look like a freak in front of the cameras, and Harry would be embarrassed by me. I can't have that."

She let out a sigh. "I know you might think that, but you know Harry's going to be by your side through it all, right? He won't let you go through it alone. I promise you that you won't have to worry about it."

Mom placed the big pot of pasta on the table before sitting down next to Lottie. Fizzy was beside me. "I think your sister is right, sweetheart. Harry is going to be by your side through this. He's not going to let you freak out over it, alright? If you trust him, I think you should trust him with this as well," she smiled.

I let out a deep breath, running a hand through my hair. "Yeah, you might be right. Maybe I'm just exaggerating it. I'm just worried, is all."

"And that's understandable," mom agreed."I don't think Harry expects anything else, but I think he would be happy if you decided to do this for him even if he probably told you that it doesn't matter to him."

I nodded my head, reaching out to plate a portion of food. "Thank you. I love to have your support, guys," I said truthfully, to which they both smiled.

"Of course, Louis."

-

The next day, I walked to school as usual. Spring was finally coming, meaning that all the snow was now gone and it wasn't necessary to wear winter's clothes anymore. I was happy to get rid of my big winter jacket and to finally wear my thinner one again.

As I was walking in the sun, I had a smile on my face, and once Hannah came into view, that was the first thing she noticed about me. "I see you're happier than usual today. Does this have to do with a certain interview yesterday?" She winked, nudging me in the side playfully.

I shrugged, the smile never leaving my face. "Maybe."

"Well, if I were you, I would be smiling as well," she chuckled.

We walked to school while talking about what had happened in the interview and also what Harry and I had talked about after it. Once we were at there, I followed her to her locker just like the old days.

"I wonder how Eleanor is going to react to all this," Hannah chuckled, seeming a bit spiteful.

I understood her. I felt the same way after the way she had acted yesterday. She was so sure that there was something going on between Harry and Leah and refused to believe that Harry was telling me the truth. Well, in your face, bitch.

"Yeah, lunch will probably be exciting today," I chuckled.

We separated after that, and it turned out the first couple of classes went by quickly. People threw glances at me as usual, but they were more intense today, and I understood why. Everyone here knew Harry had been talking about me in that interview. It was just people outside of this town who didn't.

Once it was time for lunch, I met up with Hannah and together, we went to the school cafeteria. For some reason, I was a bit nervous. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know Eleanor's reaction. There was something telling me that it wouldn't be pretty.

We bought our lunch and sat down next to Niall and Zayn who were currently feeding each other. Or, Niall was trying to feed Zayn with some yogurt but it looked like the black haired boy wouldn't have it.

It didn't take more than a minute until the brunette placed her tray on the table in front of me. I gulped at the sight of her, looking up from my food. "Hey guys," she greeted, giving me a hard look.

I nodded in return while Zayn and Hannah rolled their eyes. Niall being the nice one, greeted her in return. To my surprise, she was quiet after that. I turned to Hannah, giving her a confused look, which she returned.

"You don't have anything to say today, Eleanor?" Hannah asked, raising her eyebrows at the girl.

Eleanor looked at my best friend. "What do you want me to say, Hannah?" She asked, her voice sounding a bit harsh.

"Well, I bet you saw the interview yesterday, so we're just waiting for you to bring it up."

The brown haired girl shrugged. "There's nothing to say about it," she said nonchalantly, making my blood boil.

Alright, so just because Harry mentioned me in the interview, there was suddenly nothing to talk about? It wasn't like I wanted the attention, I just wanted her to at least apologize for being wrong, but obviously, she had too much of an ego to do that.

"Oh, so you don't think you have anything to say to Louis? You were being quite rude yesterday when you were 'so' sure Harry was lying to him. Are you that sure today as well, huh?" Zayn intervened, raising his eyebrows.

Eleanor glared at him. "Alright, fine. I did believe he was really going out with that Leah girl. I mean, ever since he became famous, all of us know that he's been acting like an ass. I just thought he was still the same."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Yeah sure, but who are you to judge him? You haven't even talked to him since he came back here in December. How could you be so sure he hadn't changed back?" I asked.

She snorted. "As if you believed him when you first found out he had been out with her. I saw the way you reacted, Louis, and just like all the other people around this table, I saw the way you tackled his absence when he was gone for two years. I just didn't think you should've forgiven him so fast after the way he treated you."

I let her words sink in and couldn't help but widen my mouth in surprise. Was she really speaking the truth? Was she really worried about me all this time? She must be crazy.

"You have a funny way of showing your care for people," Zayn scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Well, at least I reacted in some way," she snapped.

Zayn flashed her his middle finger, making Niall reach out to pull his hand down. "I was having my personal thoughts, El, but I didn't want to let Louis down."

She hummed something inaudible. I decided that it was time for me to step in. "Well, none of this matters anymore anyway. Harry has proven that he really has changed back to the person we all know. He loves me and wants what's best for me. Can we just forget everything else?" I pleaded.

Hannah nodded in agreement. "Louis' right. We should all just forget what happened during the last couple of years. I know it's hard considering the cruel way Harry treated him, but he does deserve a second chance, doesn't he? If we ever are proven to be wrong, then we can bring it up again, but now I think we should just focus on the present for both Harry and Louis' sake."

Niall agreed with this, giving me a smile. "Yeah, I think all that has happened since Harry came back here means that he really is sorry for what he did to Louis. I think we should give him a second chance too."

To my surprise, both Eleanor and Zayn eventually agreed, making a wide smile form on my face. "You guys are amazing. I have seriously got the best friends in the world."

That being said, we continued eating probably in the best atmosphere we had ever had at the table, and I couldn't be happier.

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This was the last chapter guys! I can't believe this story is ending, I've been writing it for such a long time! But here we are... only the epilogue left! I hope you have liked this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it <3

Pauline .xx