Chapter 5 ~ The Meeting

[Louis]

"Louis?"

"Harry?"

I was so shocked to see him that I couldn't do anything but gape with my eyes wide open. The second my eyes fell on him, my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach and stopped beating completely. I could feel beads of sweat form on my forehead and panic rise inside me. He seemed pretty shocked as well, judging by the following silence. We didn't do anything but stare at each other for what felt like hours. That was until he pulled his eyebrows together.

"What are you doing here?"

Before I could open my mouth to reply (if I even could to begin with), Anne appeared around the corner and sent me a huge smile. "Louis, you're finally here! Come on in. We've been waiting for you," she said, motioning me to get inside the house.

However, since Harry was still standing in front of me, it was hard for me to get past him. Furthermore, I wasn't sure my feet would hold me up if I even dared to move them. The only thing I could do was to stare at the beautiful creature in front of me. I hated to admit it, but he was still beautiful.

He had changed a bit though. His hair wasn't as curly anymore and it had grown a little during the past two years. He didn't have the same babyface any longer either. His cheekbones were definitely more prominent than they had ever been, and I couldn't help but find him so attractive. The worst thing was that the longer I examined him, the more things I found that were beautiful about him.

I did notice that the crease between his eyebrows deepened by his mom's words though, and that made me a little nervous. "What do you mean 'waiting for you'?" He asked, turning to look at Anne who was standing right behind him now.

Anne stepped past Harry and took my hand in hers, pulling me into the house so I wasn't standing in the door frame anymore. I silently shut the door behind me, now trying my best not to look at Harry. "Yes, we've been waiting for Louis. I invited him over for dinner," she said, giving her son a wide smile. "I just thought that it's been a while since the two of you met, so I was sure you guys wanted to meet now that you're home for once."

Harry gulped, avoiding my gaze. "You should have told me," he muttered, his voice bitter.

I shifted uncomfortably, feeling very awkward in the situation. It wasn't hard to tell that he didn't want me here, and I knew that I shouldn't be surprised about it, but I couldn't help the pain that filled my chest. I honestly wanted nothing but to disappear into thin air. Why had Anne invited me over without Harry's consent?

Now it was her turn to frown. "And why is that? Louis is like a son to us. He's been over for dinner several times, and I was sure you wouldn't have anything against it. If anything, I thought you would be happy to see him again."

He snorted, rolling his eyes. The action made a lump form in my throat and I could feel myself getting closer to tears. "If I'd wanted to meet him, I would have said so."

I grimaced at his words, looking down at my shoes. "Um... I'm very thankful that you invited me over, Anne, but it seems like I'm not welco--" I started, but was cut off by another guy that entered the hallway.

"Who was at the door?"

He had brown, short hair and chocolate brown eyes. He wasn't very tall, but a bit taller than me and he seemed about our age as well. A white shirt with some logo on it was covering his upper body and he was also wearing a pair of dark blue jeans. I had never seen him before, but I couldn't deny his beauty. He was definitely hot.

The guy walked over to us and stopped beside Harry, taking his hand in his own. "Who's this, babe?"

The sight and just everything that was taking place before my eyes had me speechless once again. Who was this person and why was he calling Harry babe? If my heart wasn't already hurting, it sure was now. Was it possible that Harry had-- but, no. How?

Anne looked shocked by the nickname as well, her mouth widening slightly. "Did you just call Harry babe?" She asked, looking between the two of them.

Harry let out a groan, turning to the brown haired guy. "Liam, I thought we said that we were going to keep our relationship a secret?"

During this entire time, Harry's eyes hadn't met mine, and I didn't know if it was because he was scared to or if it was because he was disgusted by me. I, on the other hand, felt so out of place that I didn't know what to do. My legs felt like jelly and my heart was aching while my eyes were watering. My head was spinning and I couldn't even think straight. All I knew was that I wanted to disappear. Disappear and never come back again because this was just too much to handle.

I took a step back, feeling my back hit the door. My heart was racing as I tried getting something past my lips, but nothing came out. I shook my head, looking at Harry to make him meet my gaze, but he still refused to. Anne seemed shocked by this new fact as well and didn't open her mouth either. That Liam guy had obviously noticed the tension that had filled the air and didn't even bother to answer. Instead, he ran a hand through his hair and seemed a bit awkward.

"Y-you know what?" I finally spoke. "I'm leaving. It's pretty clear that I shouldn't be here anyway. Thanks for the invitation, Anne, but I guess we'll have to take this some other t-time."

I tried my best to keep my voice steady, but it was hard to when I could feel tears build up in my eyes by the second. With a deep inhale, I turned the handle and opened the door behind me. Without another word, I stepped out into the cold winter air and shut the door behind me, not even bothering to look back as I did so.

-

The next morning, I woke up with the feeling of my eyes being sticky from all the crying I had done yesterday. I tried wiping it off, but it had literally dried into my skin. With a deep sigh, I buried my face into my pillow and reached up to hug it against me. I didn't want to get up. Not now, not ever.

Yesterday felt like a nightmare. Had everything really happened or was it just a bad dream? I already knew the answer but I couldn't help but wish it had all just happened in my mind. At least I wouldn't feel so bad right now then. The worst part though, was that it was only Wednesday morning so I still had to attend school. I mean, could life get any worse?

When I got home yesterday I hadn't done anything but gone straight up and locked myself in my room. Mom had knocked on my door a few moments later, asking me what was wrong since she noticed that something definitely wasn't as supposed to. I had told her that I just wanted to be alone, which she had accepted after a few minutes of waiting for me to open the door. So, I hadn't talked to her about what happened, but I knew I would have to some time. I just didn't want to even think about it, at all. I just wanted yesterday to never have happened.

The worst part was that I shouldn't even be surprised. I mean, Harry hadn't contacted me since he left for boot camp, so of course he wouldn't be happy to see me. What I didn't know though, was why? What had I done to make him suddenly hate me so much?

Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I turned my head to check what time it was. Unfortunately, I noticed that it was way too much. If I didn't get up now, I would definitely be late for school. Therefore, I gathered all my willpower and forced myself up in a sitting position.

Walking over to my closet, I pulled the door open and put on a dark blue t-shirt with white and red stripes along with a pair of beige chinos. I noticed that my hair looked like a mess, so without even bothering with it, I grabbed my hat from the top of my closet and put it on.

After that, I finally went downstairs only to notice that mom was already there, sitting at the kitchen table with Lottie and Fizzy. They all turned to me when I entered the room, taking in my appearance. Lottie, who always seemed to take notes on my looks furrowed her eyebrows immediately, being the first one who sensed that something was wrong.

Mom was next. She got up from her chair and walked over to me with a concerned look on her face. Taking my head in her hands, she looked at my face. "Lou, what happened yesterday?"

Letting out a sigh, I took her hands off my face and walked over to the cabinets, taking out a bowl and a spoon before sitting down next to Fizzy who was too busy checking her phone to notice her surroundings.

I lifted my gaze, meeting both mom and Lottie's gazes. I knew I had to tell them the truth even if it was the last thing I wanted to speak about right now. They were my family after all, and I knew that they would find out about it sooner or later anyway. "I went over to Anne and Robin as I told you, and..." I paused to take a deep breath. "Harry was there. He's on a break."

Mom let out a gasp as Lottie's eyes widened in shock. "You're kidding me?" My sister exclaimed.

I shook my head slowly, looking down at my bowl that was still empty. Mom didn't say anything, which I assumed was due to shock as well. "It didn't go very well though, did it?" She asked after a while, meeting my eyes with hers.

I shook my head again. "He hates me, mom, and I don't know what I have done wrong. He... He even got himself a new boyfriend, and I just... I don't know what to do," I let out, burying my face in my hands.

"Honey..." Mom trailed off sympathetically. "I don't know what to say... I'm so sorry, I really am. To be honest, I never saw this coming, and it's sad to see that it did. All I can say is that you should move on from him, sweetheart. I know it's not going to be easy, but it's the only thing you can do right now."

Nodding my head, I let out a sniffle, taking my hands off my face. When I looked up at them again, I noticed that Lottie was biting her bottom lip thoughtfully. "What?" I questioned.

She shook her head. "It's just so weird. I mean, I saw the way he looked at you when you two were together. There was no doubt he was in love with you. I'm just curious what happened that made him change his mind like that. It's all just so fucked up. Like, it happened so quickly."

I shrugged. "He probably just fell out of love or something. Obviously, better things became more important to him than me, " I muttered.

Mom frowned. "Don't say that, Louis. I'm sure you were important to him and still are. Just like Lottie said, something must have happened. I saw the way he looked at you too, and everyone could see that you were head over hills for each other."

A weak smile formed on my lips, flashbacks of Harry and I swinging our entwined hands together in the hallway at school coming back to my mind. God, I should really stop thinking about such things. "Well, it doesn't matter now though, does it? He hates me, and there's nothing to do about it. You're right, mom. I should just forget about him and be with Hannah for real. He's an ended chapter now."

She nodded her head slowly. "As long as you are happy, I am too."

Seconds later, I filled my bowl with cereal and milk and literally shoved the food down my throat considering I was already late as it was. Once I was ready to go, I slammed the door shut behind me and practically sprinted to Hannah's house since we always walked to school together.

She opened the door with a smile on her lips. She was already wearing her outdoor clothing so she was ready to go the minute I arrived there. With a kiss on the lips, I took her hand in mine, and together we walked to school in the cold winter air, swinging our hands back and forth between us as we did so.

Fortunately, we only had a five-minute walk there, so it wasn't long until we arrived at the school building. What surprised me when we got there though, was that several black Range Rovers were parked outside the gate, surrounding the entire area. Furrowing my eyebrows in confusion, I turned to Hannah only to notice that she was surprised by this as well.

"What's going on?" I asked without expecting her to know the answer.

She shrugged. "I have no idea, but I guess we'll find out soon."

We walked into the school area and entered the building, right away noticing that something was off, or at least different. It was oddly quiet as we went through the hallway. Usually, people would be very audible, chatting with their friends, slamming lockers or something like that, but today it was just quiet. It was weird, and when I turned my head to look at Hannah, I could tell she was a little crept out about it as well.

It wasn't until we turned a corner on our way to her locker that I noticed that people being quiet wasn't the only thing that was off. Some of them were giving me glances as well. It was weird because no one really noticed me here. Sure, at the beginning of Harry's career, people had come to ask me about him, but as soon as they noticed I had no contact with him anymore, they had left me alone. That was a long time ago now. What could've happened to make them acknowledge me again?

"Um, Louis. Why are people staring at us?" Hannah leaned up to whisper in my ear.

I squeezed her hand with mine, shaking my head. "I have no idea."

Once we finally arrived at her locker, I got this feeling that I didn't want to leave her. She was the only one who wasn't acting weird and I didn't want to let go of that. It felt like I was in some weird dream or something.

"See you at lunch, yeah?" She smiled weakly as we came to a halt.

I gulped, nodding my head. Not wanting to seem weak, I didn't mention anything about my previous thoughts. I was almost eighteen years old, I could take care of myself and survive this weird situation on my own.

"Bye," I said, leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek, making her smile.

With a nervous inhale, I left her to go to my own locker. It was on the other side of the building, so there was a little bit of a walk to get there.

Once I finally arrived at my destination, I opened my locker and instantly got rid of my backpack, tossing it into it. Not only a second later, a familiar voice could be heard from behind me.

"Louis, you're not going to believe me."

I turned around to face Niall, only to see that he was gaping wide at me. "What?" I asked, eager to find out about what was going on here. I needed answers.

"You noticed the cars outside, didn't you?"

Nodding, I replied; "Yeah, and everyone here is acting strange. They keep staring at me and I have no idea why. Do you know wha--"

"Harry is here," he said, cutting me off.

My heart skipped in my chest, and I suddenly couldn't breathe. Harry was here? But... But why? Wasn't it enough to meet him yesterday? Did life want me to get even more hurt or what was this?

Taking a deep breath, I shook the thoughts out of my head. "Why?"

He knitted his eyebrows together suspiciously. "Wait, did you already know that he was in Holmes Chapel?" He asked.

I shrugged, avoiding the question. "It doesn't matter. What matters is what he is doing here. You know?"

He let out a deep sigh, biting his bottom lip unsurely. Suddenly, he seemed a little nervous and I wondered why. "Someone told me that he's attending school again. I don't know if it's true, but that's what the rumors are saying."

Swallowing hard, I shook my head frantically. This couldn't be happening. It must be some kind of dream, just like yesterday was. Harry wasn't here and he definitely wasn't attending school again. It just wasn't possible. Why would he even do such a thing? He was famous now, he didn't need school anymore.

"You're kidding me..." I trailed off, feeling a lump form in my throat.

He opened his mouth to answer, but at that second, I could see a familiar figure walk by behind him, followed by another familiar guy. The sight of the curly-haired boy made my heart drop in my chest just like it had done yesterday. I hadn't seen him in two years, and now I had seen him twice in two days? It was just too much for me to handle.

Feeling weak in the knees, I let out a gasp, making Harry turn to the sound. His eyes immediately found my own and I could see how something flashed in them. Not only a second later, he looked away and continued his way to what I assumed was his own locker. Unfortunately, it wasn't far from my own, so I could still see him from here.

I turned back to Niall only to notice that he had been following my gaze. He looked at me sympathetically, taking a step forward to place a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about him, Lou. I'm not letting him hurt you more than he's already done."

Yeah, I sure hoped so because this was getting more and more suffocating each minute that passed by.

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Hello guys! It's been a while since I updated now... Again. I'm sorry. I hope you enjoyed this chapter though. See you soon xx

Pauline .xx