The waves crashed against the rocks at the shore and a fresh breeze hit his face, causing him to close his eyes and take a deep breath. Clutching his notebook tightly to his chest, Louis simply let nature wash over him and swallow all of his suffocating thoughts. The water swirled around his bare toes and Louis wished it could wash away all his sorrows, fears and doubts and the heavy guilt that was weighing down on his empty heart.

Remembering that he had something to do, Louis walked a bit away from the water and sat down in the sand, opening his notebook. For hours, he has been trying to get some work down for Aurelio but Louis' brain was empty and at the same time, full but nothing useful was going through his mind. All he could see was Harry and that wasn't helping him with his work. He has actually already written a song called Deja-Vu about everything Harry had said about him and their past. It was pathetic but he had no power over the way he felt.

"Louis?".

Out of pure fear due to the sudden voice out of nowhere, Louis' whole body jerked and he jumped up out of instinct, almost crashing into the huge rock next to him. His pulse was throbbing and his heart was beating out of his chest and seeing Harry standing right in front of him wasn't helping his condition.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you but I thought you heard me coming down here and ...".

"What are you doing here, Harry?" Louis blurted the question out before he could stop himself.

"Zayn told me you are here. So, I came looking for you. I ... I really need to talk to you, Louis. I ...".

"Oh really?" Louis crossed his arms over his chest. "Why the sudden change of mind? If I remember correctly you told me to fuck off and leave you alone because I was only playing with you, apparently again, and now you wanna talk? Have you thought about the possibility that I don't wanna talk to you, Harry? I'm done with you hurting me over and over again and then chang ...".

"I'm so terribly sorry for even saying any of this, Louis" Harry cut him off in pure despair. "I went too far and accused you of horrible things that aren't true and never were. I was just too blind and unwilling to see it and accept the whole situation, so I let it out on you because I was still holding onto the past. Seven years ago I felt so played and used and broken and absolutely heartbroken when you left without a word. And when Jackson told us his version of the truth I believed it because I wanted to. Deep down, I knew he was lying but I ignored every reasonable part of me. I wanted to hate you for leaving me after we almost kissed. You confused the shit out of me because I've been convinced I was straight until I met you but you changed everything and I was so scared. So fucking terrified but I pushed all of those doubts and fears away to be by your side and then we had this moment and I really thought what we had was real and something special. But then you got that call and told me you'd come back. You promised but you never came back. You disappeared and I was so hurt and felt like the biggest idiot on this planet. So, I went with Jackson's version and hated you more and more with every day and only because ... God, damn it, Louis! Why didn't you tell me what really happened between you and Jackson? Why did you let me hate you for something that never happened?".

Feeling tears well up in his eyes, Louis cleared his throat and looked down at his feet in the sand. "Zayn told you".

"No, he didn't. He showed us what happened but does it really matter? Someone had to do something and Zayn was so done with both of us. I'm thankful he decided I deserved the truth. Needed the truth to see how stupid I was and how bad I mistreated you this whole time just because I believed Jackson when he told us you only lied to us and wanted to ruin the band" Harry kept on rambling out his thoughts.

"He wasn't wrong. I would have ruined the band if I had stayed. You know it's true if you really saw the video" Louis shifted his foot through the sand.

"Do you really think so? Because I don't" Harry stated strongly, making Louis look up at him in confusion. "Nothing Jackson said was the truth, Louis. He only wanted to put you down and make you feel miserable. Like this, it was easier to make you leave. That's all he wanted because you weren't taking his shit".

"But I was the worst and most forgettable one and never important and you were better off without me. He was right with that and with ... Not everything was a lie. Just the harsh truth" Louis stumbled over his words, feeling as insecure as seven years ago.

"Oh, Louis. No, none of that is true" Harry stepped closer and grabbed both of his hands softly "You have an amazing voice and you were the heart of the band. We were never the same without you and everything fell apart so quickly because you were missing. And what Jackson said about me wasn't true either. I wasn't pitying you or anything. I just ... Louis, why did you give in to his game when he mentioned me? You should have known he was lying to get to you. If I had known how you felt ...".

"It was because of you, Haz" Louis interrupted him bravely, bracing himself to strip emotionally completely now. "It was always about you. No matter how many lies he told and tried to make me believe. He was right with you. You are a born star and meant for great things. When he told me how much I could fuck up your life by being myself and getting what I want I couldn't do it but I also knew I could never stay away from you and pretend to be enemies. I also didn't want to put you through such an act. So, I did the only right thing and left. It was what was best for you. I would have never forgiven myself if I had ruined your career and fucked up your life by being selfishly in love and acting on it. You've always said you're straight and if my feelings for you and the connected affection from my side could make you look bad in the public eye ... could make you look gay and get you in trouble ... I could never ... You deserve more than ...You couldn't like me back and ...".

"But I did, Louis. I was feeling the same as you. I was head over heels for you, absolutely gone. Whipped from the first second and I thought I made it obvious. That's why it hurt so much when you left. I really wanted us to be something. I wanted you to be my boyfriend and ..." Harry revealed shockingly to him.

"If I had stayed I couldn't have been your boyfriend. Jackson would have never allowed it. He would have destroyed whatever we ... It would have never worked out without hurting you and your future, Haz. And you belong on stage. You can't sacrifice that for me. You would have regretted that one day and blamed me for it, rightfully so. It would have hurt even more if I had stayed" Louis freed his hands from Harry's grab and walked towards the water.

"You can't know that, Louis. And it really doesn't matter because we never had that chance. It's a missed opportunity in the past and I finally know the whole reason why and I understand you, Louis. I just wish I would have known earlier. I felt so stupid for having a dumb one-sided crush on you. Knowing you felt the same makes it better and worse at the same time. I wish you would have said goodbye to me anyway as you did to Zayn. Or responded to any of my texts through the first year. I felt so stupid" Harry opened up to him, coming closer again.

Louis turned back around to face him. "I'm sorry for making you feel stupid but I tried to move on. You've been the first person I ever ... I've never felt that way before and it was so hard to fight against it. Not that it actually worked but I tried so hard to get over you and give other guys a chance. Which turned into one huge mess after the other but well ... If we're being honest right now I can tell you that I never got over you. I'm still hopelessly crushing on you. No, even worse. I'm in love with you so much that it hurts but it really doesn't matter. You're too good for me and from a totally different world and we could never be a thing even if you'd like me, which you obviously don't do anymore. You made that obvious and quite clear. But it feels kinda good to tell you the truth".

"I still feel the same towards you as I did seven years ago, Lou. Probably even more because you're amazing and I can't get enough of you. I'm freaking scared of what that might mean for me and what will happen in a few weeks but all I know right now is that you're all I want so much it's hurting me inside out, Lou" Harry confessed his feelings to him.

Completely overwhelmed and in shock, Louis looked right into Harry's eyes, not sure what he was feeling right now. "I ... really? You don't have to ...".

"I'm in love with you and always have been, Lou. There is no one else that matters to me the way you do and I couldn't see it because I was hurt and mad but now everything is crystal clear to me and I don't wanna waste another second. I wanna be with you and no one else, whatever it takes" Harry stared deep into his eyes, making Louis go weak in the knees.

"I really wanna be with you, too, Haz. Screw everyone else and fuck everything. I have you back and will never let you go without a fight again" Louis reached up to caress Harry's face.

"I fucking hope so" Harry grinned happily, leaning closer.

Louis' gaze dropped from Harry's eyes to his lips and he couldn't believe he was about to finally find out what it felt like to kiss those lips after all these years.

"Kiss me, Lou" Harry whispered out breathy.

Softly, Louis connected their lips in a timid kiss with the light of the setting sun shining down on them. The moment their lips touched Louis felt at ease and his whole body felt warm. No kiss has ever felt like this. Their lips moved against each other slowly and carefully to test the waters and not scare the other off. His heart was racing and he felt his head spinning but he felt good.

"Wow" Harry breathed against his lips.

"Yeah" Louis rested his forehead against Harry's, who had crouched down to his level and made his heart melt with that.

Somehow they ended up sitting on the sand by the shore where Louis has been sitting before. This time Harry was sitting in between his legs and they were watching the sunset. Every few seconds they stole short and cute kisses because they could. For now, all that mattered to Louis was Harry being here this close to him and feeling the same. Whatever the future had in tow for them didn't matter right now. It was just the two of them at this moment.

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This is my shortest chapter to this day but we only needed them to finally let their feelings out and kiss each other. Happy?

Will they be able to build a relationship or will everything fall apart faster than you could possibly imagine?