The stadium was booming with loud cheers and excited chatters.Louis was intensively watching the on-goings down on the field with abuzzing Luke on his right and a kinda excited Zayn on his left. Àmberand Aria were quietly talking to each other while watching the gameand Niall and Liam were shouting comments every now and then whenthey thought it was right. Even though Louis was trying to ignore hispresence he could still see, hear and feel Harry close, who wassitting inattentively next to Niall pretending to care but doing ahorrible job at it.

The football game of their hometown's very own team againstFamumria's team was actually going good. They've had scored a goalshortly before the halftime break and since then had blocked everysingle counterattack from the opposing team. Luke's boyfriend Codywas doing an amazing job as their coach and it was beautiful towitness how proud Luke looked the whole time. His two friends were anadorable couple and Louis loved them to pieces.

About twenty minutes later, the game was over and their group offriends left the stadium to meet up with Cody and Luke later in a barto celebrate the win of their team and Cody's good work. On their wayto the bar, Louis talked animatedly with Zayn and Àmber about thegame and their upcoming night out but he noticed how they always leftHarry out of every conversation or possible evening plan. Not oncedid they mention him and Louis didn't know how to feel about this. Heknew why they were doing this and he was grateful to have such goodfriends but it was unnecessary.

Yeah, Harry and he had had a bad fight over Harry's way to treatsome topics but it was no reason to act like he didn't exist aroundthem at the moment. This was between the two of them and no one else.They had to make the decision if they would talk it out or not andavoid each other from now on. Louis wasn't sure which one it would bebecause he had the feeling Harry was really mad at him and wouldn'tdrop this incident this easily.

"Are you with us, Louis?" Àmber waved a hand in front of hisface.

"Huh?" Louis blinked at her. "Sure, what's the matter?".

"I wanted to know what you'd like to drink. We wanna order but Iguess you didn't hear us" Àmber smirked at him nastily.

"I never hear a thing when you talk to me" Louis shot backsassily.

"You had it coming, A" Zayn laughed amusedly.

"Even with his heads up in the clouds he is the sass king"Niall threw in exhilarated.

"Did you ever doubt that?" Louis raised an eyebrow at them.

"So, you were with your heads in the clouds, mh?" Niall lookedsmugly at him.

"You don't look as cool as you think you do, Nialler. I hate tobreak it to you" Louis danced around the actual question.

"Why do you even try? You set yourself up to lose. Let's justorder our drinks" Liam intervened now while Harry just silentlywatched them interact, which unsettled Louis heavily.

Perfectly timed, the waitress came over to take their orders. Andas soon as their drinks were served the boys downed them almostcompletely. It seemed like every single one of them tried to blockout their thoughts. Only Àmber and Aria took their fair amount oftime with their drinks, not even questioning what was going on withthe guys because it was probably obvious to them. Louis wished he hadthat kind of insight or could grasp the overall situation.

"And how is work treating you, A? You seemed pretty excited thismorning" Liam started a new conversation topic.

"Amazing. I'm gonna work with a whole new band and their leadsinger is amazing. Her name is Sarina and it's a German band. A mixbetween Pop Punk and Indie Rock, so similar to us. Just better"Àmber told them with an excited laugh.

"No one's better than us" Louis winked at her jokingly.

"A German band? That's cool. Where are they from? Do you knowthe names of the rest of the band?" Liam hooked interested.

"Look at our German boy go all crazy over this" Niallsnickered.

"They're from my hometown actually. It's yours as well, if Iremember correctly. Lübeck, right?" Àmber tried to remember ifthey actually came from the same city in northern Germany.

"Yeah, that's right. I didn't know we grew up in the same city"Liam looked shocked.

"I mean, we moved to Spain pretty early and then I came here. So..." Àmber grinned at him.

"I moved here two years before our audition," Liam told her.

"Cute how they're bonding over this but I'd still like to knowmore about this new band" Niall propped his chin up on his hands.

"Oh yeah, sure. As I said, they're German and the lead singeris called Sarina. She is great. Then, we have Sophie on drums,Paulina on guitar, Vanessa on keys and the bassist's name is Maggie.They sound great together and met in middle school. I'm honoured towork with them and I can't wait" Àmber told them further,excitement lacing in her voice.

"You look really happy when you talk about this. It's nice tosee" Liam smiled lovingly at her.

"I hope you're talking about us" Luke's voice startled themall at the same time, making him and Cody laugh at them.

"Sure because our lives revolve around you" Louis snortedexaggeratedly, pinching Luke's arm.

"A true charmer. That you're single is above me" Cody repliedequally as sassy.

"Funny" Louis dead-panned dryly.

"You must be Cody. A pleasure to finally meet you. Sick game outthere. Your team was amazing" Harry spoke up out of the sudden, noone was expecting him to say anything today.

"Thanks. They really played their asses off" Cody thanked himobliviously, not knowing it was weird for Harry to say anything.

"You kicked their asses, Baby. All your merit" Luke pressed aquick kiss to Cody's cheek.

"So much ass-talking for no reason at all. Lovely you two"Louis threw in cockily.

"You're only mad that we're not talking about your ass, Tommo"Cody winked exaggeratedly at him.

"But you should because mine is the best" Louis smirkedsmugly.

"No lie detected" Cody returned that smirk.

"Uh, Luke, watch out. Your boyfriend is eye-cheating with Louisright in front of your salad" Niall whistled idiotically.

"The only ass you should be talking is mine" Luke slappedCody's arm lightly, shooting him a playful glare.

"Louis started it" Cody claimed childishly.

"I did not. You brought my ass into this, Pretty Boy. Not myfault you're obsessed with me and can't hide it from your boyfriend"Louis countered skilfully.

"So, you think I'm pretty?" Cody batted his eyelashes at him.

"Stop trying to save your ass, Loverboy. If you're lucky Lukemight even glance at your ass in a few hours again. Not sure if hecan resist you any longer although you made it pretty obvious youwant me" Louis grinned amused, making Cody gasp at him in shock.

"And we're back with the ass-talking. That's what happens wheneveryone around you is at least a little bit gay" Zayn shook his head inpure entertainment, side-glancing at Harry. "Almost everyone".

"Any last words for your boyfriend, Luke?" Àmber hookedslyly.

"He's gonna sleep on the couch. No words needed" Luke sat downat their table with a dramatic huff.

"No, Baby. I'm sorry. I only want you" Cody followed suit witha huge pout on his face. "Louis means nothing to me".

"Thanks" Louis clicked with his tongue.

"You mean everything to me, Tommy" Zayn drew attention to him.

"And that's all I need in life because you're everything to me,Joey" Louis smiled at his best friend.

"How did we get from talking about ass to Zouis beingdisgustingly cute and sappy? When did that happen?" Niall asked indisbelief.

"I blinked" Àmber joked. "So, I missed it as well".

"Even without blinking there was no obvious transition here. Iwould have seen it" Liam let them know with a blank face.

"True. He hasn't blinked in a while" Harry marked amused.

"Me neither. It was too entertaining" Aria sided with Liam.

"You all need a fucking life" Louis snorted.

"Let's get another round to our fabulous coach and his amazingteam and their win".

For the rest of the night, the group chatted livelily and joked anddrank drink after drink. They talked about everything and nothing andat moments, Louis felt like all of this was surreal and he had totake a second to sit back and just watch to make sure all of this wasreal and actually happening outside of his mind.

Every time he took those moments, he ended up glancing or lookingat Harry or full-on watching him, no matter how hard Louis tried tofight against it. He was mesmerized and fascinated by Harry's wholebeing and he has been for years. He had thought this had changed buthe had been wrong. He couldn't stop himself from seeking Harry'sattention every now and then but he never really got it. Harry lookedanything but happy and Louis knew their argument was still at faulthere.

That's why he was fucking confused and freaking startled and atiny bit scared when he later that night reached his hotel room andwalked in, fully expecting Zayn to already be in because they weresharing a room for this weekend in Famumria but Zayn almost crashedinto him as he scurried out of the room with a mumbled 'sorry' andrevealed the view of a waiting Harry sitting on his bed. Louiscouldn't quite grasp the situation but he walked in and closed thedoor behind them anyway. Apparently, Harry wanted something and hadconvinced Zayn to switch rooms. So, it had to be important. Zaynwould've never left otherwise.

"Harry, what ... Do I wanna know what this is all about?"Louis stumbled over his words, approaching Harry on the bed.

"I asked Zayn if he could switch rooms with me because I reallyneed to talk to you alone, Lou. I ... I'm really sorry for thatargument. I never wanted you to be mad at me and I understand now whyyou were so mad or probably still are and I want to ...".

"Haz, I'm not mad at you anymore" Louis cut his nervousrambling off. "I was mad at you for about ten minutes and then Iwas over it".

"Really?" Harry looked up at him flabbergasted.

"I was being overdramatic. I tend to overreact quite a lot and Iknow that. That's why I left the situation. I needed to clear my headbefore I probably would have said something I might have regretted"Louis explained his own behaviour. "Well, guess I already did that.I had no right to tell you ...".

"But you were right, Lou" Harry was now the one interruptingLouis hastily. "And you only wanted to be supportive but I pushedyou away because I can't be honest with myself. I can't accept thefact that I might actually am struggling with my sexuality".

"It's a touchy subject and pushing you to talk or admitsomething you're not ready to face or isn't even there wasn't rightof me and I'm really sorry, Haz. I put my failed relationship on youand accused you of not caring about anyone and that wasn't okay. Youhad nothing to do with my problems with Alec and him cheating on mewasn't on you. I should have never said ...".

"It's okay, Louis" Harry cut him off again. "Yeah, it wasn'tnice to hear but I knew where you were coming from. I acted soindifferent and unaffected. It must have looked like I didn't careabout breaking your heart but I do".

"You didn't break my heart, Haz" Louis pointed out quietly.

"Maybe not knowingly but I was involved. And I actively chose topush you away instead of accepting your support and help. I admit it.I am struggling with knowing who I am and what I'm attracted to.Sabrina is amazing and a really nice girl and I like spending timewith her and the sex is good but ... I feel like I'm missingsomething. It was so different with a guy but good different. I ... Ijust don't know what to feel or what to do with any of this" Harryopened his heart up to him in the most vulnerable way Louis has everseen him be.

"It's completely okay to be overwhelmed and confused and all ofthis being too much, Haz" Louis sat down next to him on the bed,taking his hand carefully. "That you like Sabrina is absolutelyamazing but it still doesn't have to mean that you're straight, Love.There is more in this world than gay and straight. You can beattracted to both or simply the character of a person. It's okay tosimply be you and not know what you are. Take your time to find outwhat you want and what you love. Who you love and who you wanna bewith someday. If it's her that's totally fine. If it's not her thatis okay as well. Just don't put too much pressure on yourself. Relaxand just feel. Ignore everything and everyone else".

After his endless speech, Louis only saw Harry staring at him withan unreadable expression on his face, which made Louis indescribablynervous for some reason. He cleared his throat and looked away whenHarry didn't seem to even blink anymore. He averted his gaze onto theduvet and picked on one end to distract himself and do something withhis shaking hand.

Suddenly, Harry crashed into him and threw both of them down onthe bed. He hugged Louis so tightly that Louis feared he mightsuffocate at some point but he couldn't care less. When he felt somewet tears drip onto his neck he started to draw soothing circles ontoHarry's back and just held him impossibly closer to give him all thecomfort he needed. It looked like he needed a lot of it. All of it.And Louis was willing to give him everything.

"Your words mean so much to me. No one has ever told me anythinglike you just did" Harry hiccuped. "You're simply amazing, Lou.Thank you for being who you are and accepting me for who I am eventhough I don't even know who I am anymore".

"No reason to thank me. I'm here for you no matter what you are.I'm right here and won't leave again. Promise" Louis sighed out.

"And I promise to be honest with you from now on, no matter whatit is. I trust you, Lou" Harry mumbled into his neck.

"I trust you too, Haz. You can tell me everything you wanna say"Louis caressed Harry's back tenderly.

"I'm scared of what Jackson might do if I'm not straight. Imean, I know I'm probably not but what if I can't be with a womananymore and he will lose his shit? As much as I hate it sometimes, Ineed him and I don't want him to get mad at me for something I can'tcontrol. It should be about the music and not my love life, right?"Harry yawned tiredly, not being aware of his words anymore.

"Don't worry about any of this right now, Haz. I'm here" Louistried to calm down his own racing heart while Harry fell asleep.

Harry's words circled around in his head for quite some time afterHarry had fallen asleep in his arms. This adorable boy was so scared of whohe really was and the possible consequences that it hurt Louis'heart. He knew how Jackson would react if Harry came out as anythingother than straight. He had lived through that moment years ago andit wasn't pretty. He never wanted Harry to go through this but howcould he possibly help him if he wouldn't even consider dumpingJackson in the dirt where he belonged? Would telling him the wholetruth change his mind?

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Harry finally admitted that he is struggling with his sexuality and Louis wants to help him but what truth is Louis talking about?