I stared at him, gormlessly. Of all the things I could have imagined he would say, that was certainly not one of them.

"Yeah, you heard me right," he sighed.

"Wh - wh - how...?"

He smirked. "You want me to tell you how?"

I blushed. "No, I just... I'm just shocked. I didn't know you were back with Eleanor. Wow. Congratulations."

He raised his eyebrows briefly. "It's not with Eleanor. That's well and truly over."

"Oh." I blinked. "Sorry... um... OK."

I didn't know what to say. I was even more blindsided. I stared at him, waiting for an explanation. He fiddled with the cigarette between his fingers.

"The girl is called Briana. I met her in LA in May. We had a bit of a thing, briefly. You know." He looked at me and I nodded. "We're not together now. And yeah... she's pregnant."

"How do you know it's yours?" I blurted, without thinking. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry," I said immediately, horrified. "Please ignore me. I didn't mean that."

Louis grinned. "It's a fair question. That's one of the things I love about you - you're fųcking honest about what you're thinking."

I smiled nervously.

"And the answer is, I don't. Until the baby is born, I have to trust her. Do the right thing. Stand by her, support her, in every way possible. We'll do a DNA test straight away, and only then will I know for sure."

"Fųcking hell, Louis," I breathed.

"I know. It's some pretty crazy shįt, isn't it," he nodded, grinning.

"Just a bit," I murmured. "How... how are you? I mean, are you OK about it all? It must have been a bit of a shock."

"Shock is an understatement. It still hasn't sunk in. In all honesty, I'm torn. If I let myself get attached to the idea and it turns out it isn't mine, I don't know how I'll feel. But if I don't prepare myself for the responsibility of becoming a dad, and the baby is mine, I'll be thrown straight in at the deep end without any warning. I don't know which is worse."

I shook my head, wordlessly. I couldn't offer any advice. I was out of my depth with this one.

"Do you want to be a dad?" I asked. "Sorry," I apologised again. "That was personal. You don't have to answer that."

He grinned again. "It's fine." He held his arms out wide. "I'm ready to embrace the responsibility, and I'm looking forward to the next chapter of my life."

I raised one eyebrow. "And the non-Modest version..?"

He leaned back and laughed. "You're something else, you know that? You just fųcking know, don't you?"

I smiled. "I'm not stupid. I only caught a glimpse of the lifestyle you all lead, but it was enough to give me a sharp insight into that fųcked up world."

He inhaled deeply on his cigarette, grinning around it. When he exhaled again he looked over at me. "How do you think I feel?"

I shrugged. "At a guess I would say terrified. Not what you would have planned at twenty-three years old and in your position. Wishing you could go back and change it, and hating yourself for having those thoughts?"

He stared at me for a moment, looking impressed. "You're good."

I smiled. "I'm a girl. We know these things."

We were both silent for a moment.

"How far along is she?" I asked.

"She's classed as eight weeks, because of the way they work it out. It happened the first week I met her. She's due the thirty-first of January."

"Wow," I said. "I... I honestly don't know what to say."

"You see why I'm lost for words these days?" he joked, but his smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Are you going to announce it or anything?" I asked. "Sorry - I don't know how things like this work."

"The aim is to get as far along as we can without the public finding out," he said. "But you know how these things get leaked. In an ideal world she'd have the baby and we can get the DNA test done before we have to release any sort of statement. But the chances of that happening are slim to none."

"Do you think she's telling the truth?" I asked, tentatively.

He pressed his lips together and thought for a moment. "I don't know. I'm not an idiot. I know there are girls who would claim they're pregnant after a fling with me for all sorts of fųcked up reasons. But I just don't know." He looked down at his feet. "Either way, I have to be seen to be looking after Briana, until anything is proved or disproved."

I nodded again, trying to process it all. "I won't say anything," I assured him, and he gave me a strange look.

"I know. I wouldn't have told you if I thought you would blab. Harry trusts you with his life. Or rather, his reputation. That's good enough for me."

"I would never tell anyone anything," I nodded. "I promise. And I certainly wouldn't speak to the media."

"I know," Louis said around his cigarette. "You shit Karen up though, big-style, when you threatened it."

I grimaced. "That was not my finest hour."

He waved his hand. "You were pıssed off. We all say things we shouldn't when we're worked up." He smirked. "I should know."

"Yeah, but it was still a cheap shot, threatening Harry like that. After all the promises I made. I wish I hadn't said it."

Louis chuckled. "He didn't believe you. He knew you were just lashing out. Why do you think he didn't go after you?"

My stomach dropped. "What?" I whispered.

"He knew you were bluffing. He knows you would never betray him like that. He trusts you. He fųcking loves you."

I stared at Louis, my heart pounding again.

"Don't look so surprised," he said. "I told you the day he dumped you that he loved you. It shouldn't come as a shock."

"I - you're wrong," I said. "He told me he didn't love me. He dumped me. Dumped me. You don't dump someone you love."

Louis looked as though he was going to say something, and then stopped himself. He stared down at his cigarette for a moment, filing the ash into a point against the wall, before he finally spoke.

"Harry's a mess. He doesn't know his arse from his elbow at the moment. Zayn leaving... it deeply affected him. It made the future of the band uncertain. He was shit scared it was all going to come crashing down. And then less than three months later, I dropped the bombshell of this baby. We had literally muddled through the rest of the first leg of the tour, had two months off, and then on our first show - the one you came to - I told them Briana was pregnant. "

"Oh my God," I breathed. "I knew there was an atmosphere between you in Cardiff. I picked up on the tension, but Harry played it down."

Louis nodded. "Harry was fųcked. He had a massive go at me backstage before you arrived; not that I didn't deserve it, but I didn't need it right then. I was still coming to terms with it all. I'd not long found out myself. I thought he'd be more understanding but he was furious. We had a massive row and all this other shįt came out and it got a bit nasty. I said some stuff I shouldn't have, and he did too. It took us a few days before we were on proper speaking terms again."

I let out a huge breath I hadn't realised I was holding.

"Anyway," Louis continued, "you're probably wondering how all this relates to you and Harry."

"Umm..," I began. I hadn't even had time to wonder this. I was still trying to take in all this new information.

"Harry wasn't himself when he went to New York," he said, but I interrupted him.

"He went over there to see Nadine," I snapped, and Louis pulled a nasty face at the mention of her name. "He flitted off to see his ex without telling me, and ended up in bed with a fuckıng garden cane. I don't care if he wasn't 'himself' - " (I used air quotes to punctuate my point) " - he still gave in to temptation, and I still can't forgive him."

Louis sighed. "It's not that simple."

"It is!" I said, raising my voice. "He could have confided in me about all this stuff before he went to New York. He'd already opened up to me about Zayn. And I'm sure he was going to tell me about this when he got back."

"Yeah, he was," Louis nodded. "But he went to New York upset and stressed, because of my baby news, and what it means for us as a band. And speaking to Nadine only made everything worse, and..." He paused. "Look - I've told you my part in it all. It's up to Harry to fill you in on the rest."

"The rest?" I echoed, my stomach turning over. "What do you mean?"

He cocked his head to the side and looked at me thoughtfully.

"It's not for me to say. I've already said too much. Some stuff is better coming from Harry. And there's stuff I don't understand fully, that he will be able to explain better than me."

I growled in frustration. "Harry won't even speak to me!" I yelled. "Not that I want him to! I just want all this to go away."

"You still love him." This was a statement, not a question.

"I hate him."

"You love him too, though."

"I - no I don't. Not anymore."

Louis smirked and stubbed his cigarette out on the wall. "OK."

"Don't go telling him I want him back," I warned. "That ship has sailed."

He shook his head. "I've told you the facts that I know. What you do with them is up to you. I've said far more than I should, really. Harry's my friend and I can't break his confidence. I think you should talk to him -"

"He doesn't want to talk to me!" I spluttered.

"- but I can't force either of you if you don't want to. I just think it's a shame to throw away what you had without being completely honest with each other."

"Why do you care so much?" I asked, wearily.

Louis smiled. "He's one of my best friends. And I like you - you're good for him." (My heart skipped a beat.) "And if I have to put up with him moping around for one more minute on tour, or writing any more fųcking songs about you... I will fucking punch him."

I giggled, and then stared at him as his words hit me.

"Writing songs? About me?" I echoed.

Louis looked uncomfortable. "Yeah... just forget I said that, alright? We shouldn't be talking about this." He pushed away from the wall and faced me. "Come on - let's go back inside. I'm getting cold."

"These songs..," I stammered, "are they for your album?"

He shifted and wouldn't look at me.

"Talk to Harry," he said finally, and I knew that was all I was getting.

"Thanks, Louis," I muttered shyly, and as I looked up into his blue eyes I felt a jolt in my stomach gain.

He stared at me for a moment, and smirked. "Don't fųcking start this again," he said, huskily.

I looked away quickly. "I'm not starting anything," I protested.

"Yeah, yeah," he teased. "Rein it in now, yeah?"

"I don't know what you mean," I said, feeling flustered at being called out like this.

He smirked again and pulled the door open to go back inside.

"We both know you would," he said to himself, but deliberately loud enough for me to hear.

It took everything I had not to react. There was only one way I could respond to this.

"Yeah, well... you would too," I shot back.

He looked back at me, still smirking and surveyed me for a second.

"True," he said, and we turned and walked back into the club.

---***---

Next update will be Sunday :)