"God, this is freaking embarrassing. I can feel it through thescreen" Sean shuddered dramatically.

"That's called second-hand embarrassment" Liam noted.

"Thanks for the lesson, Lima" Niall snorted mockingly.

"I was simply ...".

"Being you. We know and we love you just like that" Seansmiled at him openly.

"But sometimes you're a tad bit oblivious and dumb" Nialladded.

"Niall!" Sean slapped his friend outraged.

"What? It's the truth, so don't slap me" Niall slapped Seanback.

"You deserved it. Be nice" Sean slapped him again.

"I am nice" Niall claimed with a huff.

"Not just to me. Liam deserves to be treated nicely as well,Noe" Sean looked pointedly at him.

Niall wailed exaggeratedly but turned around to face Liam. "I'msorry, Lima. I didn't mean it like that. You're great and smart".

"Thank you?" Liam was visibly discombobulated.

"What just happened?" Aria asked in a whisper.

"I have no idea. This was strange" Louis replied just asquiet.

"Interesting what kind of power Sean has over our SpanishDiablo" Àmber eyed them curiously. "I haven't noticed thatbefore".

"Me neither. I haven't been in the same room with them for quitesome time but last time we were skating I've already noticed howclose they seemed to be" Louis reported observingly.

"What do you think that means?" Aria wrinkled her nose.

"A few different things are going through my mind right now butin the end, it's none of my business. They have to know what's goingon" Louis mused out loud.

"Very true but it's weird to watch them slap each other likethis and be all cute at the same time" Àmber pointed out amusedly.

"What? Do you not slap each other in pure love and affection?"Louis cackled like the idiot he really was.

"Why do you even bother, Peaches? You know he is a child" Ariarolled her eyes at their friend fondly.

"What did you two do to make Tommo die like this?" Niallintervened now entertained.

"Nothing," Àmber and Aria said at the same time, making themgiggle.

"Is any of you still watching the show or should I turn it off?"Liam wondered confused.

"Oh, Lima" Aria couldn't hide a tiny smile.

"We're watching it but dating shows are not meant to be takenseriously. You can talk over them" Louis explained to his friend.

"Oh," Liam looked down at his hands.

"Have you never seen one before?" Sean gasped in shock.

"No? It's really not my thing and I had no time for it" Liamanswered shyly.

"No need to get all shy now, Lima. We're just messing with you.No one needs to watch dating shows" Louis patted Liam's arm.

"If you say so" Liam looked a bit unsure.

"I say so but I have to admit these shows are so stupid thatthey're funny. It's amusing to watch the people on it fight orembarrass themselves. Depending on the type of show" Louis glancedback at the big TV screen in Sean's living room.

"I wonder if it's fun or pure torture to be a part of it," Seanthought out loud without realising it.

"I guess both, partly. I never thought about it because I can'tsee myself on such a show. No way" Àmber made big eyes, referringto her social anxiety.

"Hopefully because you already have me?!" Aria threw her acertain look that made Louis gulp in fear.

"Of course, Love. I have you and don't need dating shows to findsomeone better because there is no one better than you" Àmberreassured her lovingly, making Aria blush bright red.

"I could see Zayn fully on this show. I mean, he'd be a bitquiet but he is so fucking attractive. Everyone would fall for him,which would make the fight ten times more intensive" Niall threw inrandomly.

"Now that you say it" Sean pondered that thought.

"Maybe but I think Liam being the one the contestants want wouldbe even better" Louis interjected thoughtfully.

"Me?" Liam squeaked surprised. "Why me?".

"First of all, you're bi. That could make things interesting.Girls and boys fighting for your attention and no one could guesswhat you're actually looking for. Second, I know you'd grow with it.You'd be so kind and fair but that would make it very emotional forboth sides. It would be a joy to watch" Louis elucidated hisvision.

"I would be such a mess because I can't break people's heartswith full knowledge of my actions" Liam frowned.

"And that would be so fascinating to watch" Sean agreed withLouis way too excitedly.

"Are we seriously picturing Liam on a dating show right now?"Aria questioned her friends' sanity.

"It's a hypothetical thought" Louis justified himself. "Niallwould be funny too. He would choose food over everyone".

"Depends on who is on the show as a contestant" Niall seemedto seriously think about this scenario.

"Well, Sean said he has thought about it. Maybe he'd be on it tofight for your heart" Louis reminded him evilly.

Both Sean and Niall turned bright red in the face and avoided eachother's eyes while Liam looked absolutely lost. Aria only slappedLouis' arm while Àmber leaned over to him. "I guess, that reactionanswers our questions".

"I did not see that coming but it's nice. Hopefully, they figurethis shit out" Louis had to smile at the thought of his friendstogether.

"That's solely up to them" Aria shrugged unfazed.

"Isn't that a bit tight?" Liam commented on a scene suddenly.

Louis couldn't help but laugh out loud. "That's what he said".

For another hour, the group of friends kept watching stupid stuffon the TV. Just chilling on the couch with friends and talkingnonsense while watching bullshit was the best thing ever. He hadneeded a bit of downtime with his friends because had had the feelinghe barely saw them anymore. At least not without Zayn and Harryaround. But if they were around Louis' full attention was on them,which wasn't fair to his other friends. But today Zayn had to workand Harry was in town with his sister and some of her friends. Laterthey would meet up and Louis couldn't wait.

"Why wouldn't you even consider it? It was just a fun idea tomess around" Sean didn't understand Liam being upset over themwanting him on a dating show.

"I just don't wanna date someone new ... Um ..." Liam paled.

"Wait a damn minute!" Louis exclaimed in realisation. "Youhave a crush on someone! Who is it? Is it Bailey? Was I right?".

"Why would you think it's her?" Liam asked in a high-pitchedvoice, completely exposing himself.

"I had my suspicions from the moment you met her but I didn'twanna say something in case you weren't ready to let someone in"Louis revealed to him compassionately.

"That's very kind of you, Tommo. I really wasn't looking foranyone but she is just so amazing. I don't know ..." Liam trailedoff.

"What is it, Lima?" Louis scooted closer to him.

"I'm just not sure if I should act on my feelings" Liam sighedout shakily. "There was no sign that she could be into me and maybeshe believes what the press is saying about me".

"Is it really that bad? I haven't looked at anything for weeks"Louis wondered worriedly.

"No?" Liam looked at him with big panicked eyes.

"I just said that, didn't I? Why? What is it?" Louis frowned.

It's ... um ...".

"Nothing worth mentioning, right Lima?" Niall cut him off,throwing Liam a harsh glare.

"Yes. Nothing important or worth your worries" Liam noddedquickly, looking scared out of a sudden.

"I'm not worried. Well, at least I wasn't. Now you make meworried. What is it that you're not telling me?" Louis had enough ofthis.

"It's nothing. Just more stupid articles trying to paint us ashorrible people and the fandom being on fire. Really on fire. It's abattlefield out there. The internet is scary and the fans are stillnot over our last interview. They ..." Niall tried to make it lookunimportant.

"They what?" Louis cut him off impatiently.

"They tried to find out who Harry had originally planned oncalling for weeks. Others couldn't shut up about Zayn and him beingenemies and putting the other fans down. But all of that changed whenvideos of us all together in Patriley showed up. Now they know inwhich area we are. I mean, they had their assumptions because we saidwe'd go home but they know for sure now" Niall revealed to himdefeated.

"I knew it was a bad idea for you to tag along with me. I knewit would go wrong and people would see you and talk about it. Fuckinghell" Louis cursed incensed.

"We made that decision on our own, Louis. We knew what we weredoing and it was worth it. That's not too bad. Just more articlesabout it and nosey fans showing up here and there sometimes. Most ofour fans respect our privacy but there are always black sheep in thegroup. Nothing we can't handle. Don't worry about it" Niall assuredhim surely.

"But earlier Liam made it sound like I should be worried. Isthere anything else?" Louis cocked an eyebrow at him.

Throwing Liam an angry glare, Niall let out a loud sigh. "Damnit, fine. There was a video of you singing to Zayn. People arecurious and tried to find out who you are and what your connection toZayn is and ... they found you obviously. Of course, the name didn'tmean anything to most people but there are a few single people fromway back in the days who think they recognised you. They were ourfans on Triple Dream and obviously know you existed. It's ... a bitof a mess online. They get called delusional for believing there wasa fifth member all along because they can't seem to find the oldvideos. We wanted to keep you out of this but it looks like it'simpossible".

"Jackson never wanted the world to know about him. He will stopthis before it gets too big anyway. So, we decided to keep thisbetween us for now" Liam added rushed.

"Do Zayn and Harry know about this?" Louis needed to know.

"I'm not sure about Zayn because he ignores the press most ofthe time due to ...".

"Which means Harry knows. He knew this whole time people weretrying to find me and my connection to you" Louis concludedlogically, his mind running over time.

"If you put it that way" Niall couldn't deny his statement.

"Lew, he probably had a good reason to keep this from you"Àmber tried to reason with him.

"You mean another reason to lie to me? He insisted on beinghonest about everything but chose to lie at the very first chance. Idon't care about his reason" Louis felt himself getting angry.

"Breathe in and out, Louis. Slowly and calmly" Àmber crawledover to him, plopping down right in front of him. "Breathe. In.Out".

Exhaling and inhaling slowly a few times calmed Louis down and hefelt himself relax. "Thanks, Am".

"What are friends for?!" Àmber smiled at him.

"Sorry, guys. I tend to overreact a bit and get mad or angryover nothing. It's just ... I have quite a few triggers when it comesto relationships. Dishonesty and keeping things from me is one ofthem and I can't help my instinctive reaction sometimes" Louisexplained himself ashamed.

"It's okay, Louis. You don't have to explain it. Even withoutknowing that I wouldn't have judged you. It's a lot to take in andHarry and you have been through enough already" Liam smiledunderstandingly at him.

"He is right, Tommo. No need to apologise" Niall agreed withhim.

"By the way, shouldn't you leave to see him? I thought you weresupposed to meet up in a few minutes" Sean inserted hesitantly.

"Shit" Louis' eyes grew big. "Thank you, Sean. Fuck, I'mlate. I'm never late. I gotta go".

"Don't fall down and hurt yourself now, Louis" Àmber rolledher eyes at him running around the room to collect his stuff.

"Very funny, Amber" Louis glared at her darkly, purposelymispronouncing her name in an American accent.

"I'm always funny, Lewis" Àmber wasn't taking his shit.

"Whatever. I gotta go. See you later, guys. Love all of you"Louis waved at them before he sprinted out of the room towards thefront door and out of the house.

As fast as he could, Louis made his way over to their meetingpoint. Completely out of breath, he stopped in his tracks to catchhis breath and slow down his pulse. Glancing up at where Harry wasstanding, he spotted someone standing right in front of Harry. It wasSabrina. They were lively chatting and Harry seemed to be happy tosee her. Louis had totally forgotten about her mere existence and wasnow feeling bad about it.

Not sure if Harry was okay with Louis interrupting them, heshambled over to them. "Hi, sorry that I'm late".

Clearly having not seen him until now, Harry tore his gaze awayfrom Sabrina and looked at him in surprise. Or was it fear? Louisreally couldn't tell but something about this situation made Louisfeel sick to the stomach and some very old alarm bells were going offin his mind, that he tried to ignore for now.

"Louis, right?" Sabrina spoke up when Harry didn't seem to sayanything any time soon. Louis only nodded dumbfounded. "It's apleasure to meet you. Harry told me a lot about you".

"Pleasure is mine" Louis forced out a smile.

This whole moment was weird. Apparently, Harry had talked abouthim quite a lot but Louis still thought it was strange that sherecognised him immediately. Harry had never brought her along toanything when they've still been dating, so Louis couldn't say whatkind of a person she was but according to Liam and Niall, she waskind and funny and a bit shy and didn't even know Harry was world-famous before they met. From what he saw, Louis might consider Liamand Niall being right.

"You probably have something planned. I'm gonna leave you to it.It was great to finally meet you, Louis" Sabrina smiled at himbefore facing Harry again. "I had a great time. Till next time, H".

"I'll call you, Sab" Harry hugged her goodbye. To Louis'dismay, she pressed a longish kiss to Harry's cheek before she let goof him and went her way with Harry looking after her.

"I assume she was out with you and Abby then" Louis broughtout way too bitter and hoped he was able to cover up his feelings.

"Yeah. She and her best friend Mia tagged along, fortunately"Harry averted his attention back on Louis.

"Why fortunately? Did something happen?" Louis askedirritated.

"Not really. Abby was just being a pain in the ass, askingannoying questions all the time. Without Mia, it would have ended in amess. Abby really wasn't nice to Sabrina and I don't know why. Ithought she liked her. The last time they met she was nice to her. Idon't understand what changed" Harry frowned at the memory.

Louis had a feeling he knew why Abby had treated her this way. Hefelt touched and warm inside but at the same time, he felt bad forSabrina. It wasn't her fault Harry wasn't in love with her and Abbyshould know better than to treat her badly just because Harry waswith him now and didn't approve of them still spending time together.Louis could see why because he wasn't that happy about it either butthat was due to his past and not the actual situation at hand.Sabrina wasn't a problem although she had kissed Harry just a secondago. It was in a friendly way.

"Sisters are weird sometimes. Just forget about it. C'mon.Someone's waiting for us. Well, for me but who cares about details"Louis changed the subject to finally get going.

"Are you sure I can come with you? I don't wanna intrude onsomething" Harry sounded unsure.

"Haz, look at me" Louis stopped walking and cupped Harry'sface, feeling him freeze under his touch. "I told them you werecoming with me and they're excited to meet you. You're not intrudingon anything, Sunshine".

"But are you sure it's safe to meet someone outside our grouptogether? Like, I don't wanna act differently with you next to me. Itmight disgust you how fake I can be in front of people" Harryblurted out before he could stop himself, shying more and more awayfrom Louis' touch until Louis dropped his hands.

"I might haven't watched any of your interviews in years but Ihave a rough picture of that fakeness in my mind, don't worry"Louis offered him a smile that felt way too forced for his liking."And you don't have to fake anything. They wouldn't care about anyof this but they also don't really know much about your career. Ijust mentioned that you're a singer on vacation. I trust them with mylife. You have nothing to worry about, Haz".

"Okay, if you're sure" Harry nibbled on his bottom lipanxiously.

"I am sure, Love" Louis stated strongly, meaning more thanjust meeting up with his two lovely family-like friends.

Together but somehow apart, they made their way towards a nice bighouse in a quiet street. Like every time Louis came down here, hisheart started to beat faster and his throat felt dry but he was usedto this reaction by now. Determined, he walked up to a blue frontdoor and rang the bell. Not even a minute later, the door was openedand a nice-looking middle-aged man appeared in the door frame.Immediately, Louis felt a smile spread across his face.

"Louis! You're finally here. I thought you forgot about us"the man pulled him into a happy hug.

"I could never forget about you, Paul" Louis patted Paul'sback. "By the way, this is Harry. My ... um ...".

"I'm Louis' boyfriend" Harry finished the introduction forLouis, reaching out his hand for Paul to shake.

"I'm glad to finally meet you. He talked a lot about you thelast time he was here" Paul ignored the hand and went for a huginstead while Louis just stared at them fondly.

Had Harry actually introduced himself as Louis' boyfriend? Hearinghim say that word had felt so freaking good, especially after seeinghim with Sabrina earlier. He had not expected this one bit and now hewas over the moon.

"Come inside. Maria can't wait to meet you. She's been talkingmy ears off for hours" Paul invited them in.

"That's not true!" Maria shouted from somewhere inside thehouse.

"But it is," Paul told them in a hushed voice before screamingthrough the house. "Whatever you say, Darling!".

"I say, let them get in and sit down, first of all. Don't annoythem already" Maria walked out of the kitchen into the living room.

"I can't see why I love you" Paul huffed offended.

"Because I'm fabulous" Maria laughed at him, pecking hischeek.

"Maybe" Paul grumbled before facing the boys again. "Darling,meet Harry, Louis' new boyfriend".

"Hi, Harry. I'm Maria. This idiot's wife and way more civilizedcompany" Maria winked at him, leading him towards the couch.

"Never get married. People drop their masks and treat you like aslave when they have you tied down" Paul advised them jokingly.

"Paul!" Maria screeched outraged.

"What?" Paul held his hands up in defence.

Louis could only watch them with a smile on their faces althoughPaul's joke was worded in a way that had made him think about somethingcompletely different for a split of a second. Judging by Harry'sreaction he had had the same train of thoughts.

Shaking those thoughts away, Louis grabbed Harry's hand tenderly,causing him to flinch at the contact at first but he relaxed when herealised it was Louis and they were alone. "Baby, do you want sometea?".

"I'd love that" Harry answered quickly.

"I'm back in a minute" Louis stood up to follow Paul and Mariainto the kitchen and give Harry a moment to himself.

"Your boyfriend seems nice but is it possible he is a bit tenseor jumpy today?" Maria immediately asked him.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Louis let out a defeating sigh.

"Very, yeah. When he introduced himself as your boyfriend heseemed relaxed for a short moment but that changed pretty quickly andI didn't understand why. Was it something I said or did?" Paullooked sad and guilty.

"No, Paul. This isn't on you. He is going through some shit atthe moment and it's hard for him to simply be himself when he is notinside his safe four walls or mine. Being famous took a toll on himand he isn't used to ... this. Us" Louis tried to explain itsimply.

"What do you mean he isn't used to you?" Maria frowned cutely.

"He isn't used to being with a guy. To be affectionate with aguy in public or in front of people he doesn't really know. He has acertain image in the media and is so used to playing into it thatbeing himself is the hardest thing he ever had to do" Louisexpounded the issue a bit further.

"That sounds horrible!" Maria gasped in horror.

"It really is" Louis shrugged helplessly.

"He doesn't have to worry about us when you're here. We won'tjudge him or the two of you. He can be himself here. It's safe"Paul assured Louis directly.

"I know that, Paul. Thank you for being wonderful. He just needssome time to see that for himself" Louis bit the inside of hischeek.

"He can get all the time he needs but first, let's make sometea" Maria side-hugged him reassuringly.

"That's why I'm here" Louis smiled into her side.

Quickly, they made their tea and went back over to Harry, wholooked a bit more relaxed now. Paul and Maria tried everything intheir power to make Harry feel safe and at home and it seemed to workin some ways. He relaxed completely after thirty minutes andparticipated in the conversation going on, which made Louis' heartfeel warm. They talked about how their previous weeks have been and abit about Harry's family. Seeing them interact was beautiful to watchfor Louis. Harry meant the world to him and seeing him get along withthese two wonderful people was special. Maria and Paul held a specialplace in Louis' heart and he could never date someone they woulddislike or even hate. They were too pure to hate anyone. If they everdid it would say enough without many words and Louis would kick thatperson out of his life without further questions. Luckily, Harryseemed to be on their good side. Louis wasn't sure he could ever kickHarry out of his life, not again. Not anymore. It would break him.

When Harry grabbed his hand and tangled their fingers together mid-conversation without a specific reason Louis' heart fluttered andbutterflies erupted in his stomach. Right now, he had a good feeling.Maybe they would be okay after all. Maybe Harry just needed some moretime to get used to the thought of them. To get used to being able tobe himself and not act anymore. To be able to love Louis withoutconsequences.  

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Without consequences? Really, Louis? Are you sure? What do you think, guys? What is up with Harry?