Who are you?

chapter 5.

The concert, while it was a One Direction concert, didn't feel like one. The energy just wasn't there, Louis noticed. 

Liam looked incredibly bored, almost nervous, even though he'd been performing for a couple years, Niall looked like he was trying to entertain him but failing, Harry's energy was just gone, if anything Zayn seemed the most normal out of all of them. 

He also noticed he didn't recognize the opening band. In Louis' world, 5 Seconds of Summer was supposed to be opening, but he didn't even get the names of the current band. 

The songs were missing something as well. Just like all their recordings, all the songs sounded slightly flat. He was positive that they sounded fine to the rest of the world, but to someone who was originally in most of these songs, it wasn't right at all. 

Harry was still interactive with the crowd, which always made Louis happy. He genuinely believed that the younger man was born for the stage. With a name like Harry Styles, and with his personality, it just made sense.

Alas, the concert did eventually end, and Louis would've given it a 7/10. The energy wasn't there, not the way it used to be, but his sisters seemed to think different. 

"That was the best concert ever!" Fizzy said to Louis as soon as One Direction exited the stage. 

"Yeah, and now we get to meet them? This is a dream come true!" Lottie agreed, still in a state of euphoria from the show. Louis smiled and nodded, hoping that Harry hadn't forgot about the agreement. 

Louis was hoping that after he and Harry got to talking, maybe Harry would have some sort of memory from the real world with him. He knew it couldn't be like the movies, but neither is waking up in the wrong place usually.

Another plan he had was bringing up the fact that he's had "voice lessons" since his audition, making his singing significantly better than it had been. Maybe if he sang for Harry, and Harry had them sing for the boys, and the boys let him sing something with them, that would break this dream and things would be normal again. 

Not the movies, Louis reminded himself again. 

"Are you the Tomlinsons?" A guard that Louis didn't recognize asked them, and Louis nodded his head. 

"Follow me," the guard said, to which Lottie and Fizzy happily complied, while Louis almost wanted to die. This was the moment, he'd be talking to Harry, if he fucked it up, it was over for him. 

"Right in here," The guard said, snapping Louis back to reality yet again. He really didn't think that it would be that quick of a walk, otherwise he would've prepared himself a bit more. He felt sick from nerves, what would happen if he accidentally let it slip that they were actually dating?

He'd be locked in a mental institution, that's what. 

"Hey girls, Hi Louis!" Harry said happily when they walked in. Liam, Zayn, and Niall gave them a quick wave, to which Louis returned. Harry whispered something to them, which was probably something along the lines of "I want to talk to Louis alone," because when he looked back over to Louis, Niall asked the girls to go over to him.

Harry walked over to Louis, and Louis gave him a shy smile. He didn't know what to say, it wasn't like he could blurt out "Hey, boyfriend that's not my boyfriend, I'm actually supposed to be in your band but I'm in the wrong world." That would scare Harry away for good, and probably get himself locked away.

"Did you like the show?" Harry asked when he was finally with Louis. Louis smiled, of course the first thing Harry would ask would be about the show. That's what Louis loved about him, he always cared about other people's entertainment over his own. There were so many times after shows where he knew Harry felt like he failed the rest of the band, where he felt generally sick, etc, but if there were fans to greet after the show he wouldn't let his own problems bother him. 

"I did, you did amazing Harry," Louis said truthfully. He almost threw in a quick line of "I knew from the moment you splashed piss on me that you'd make it, and here you are," but he refrained. 

"I'm glad," Harry said with a wide smile, his dimples popping out. "I dedicated it to my first ever fan."

Louis laughed at that. He loved that Harry was still cheesy here without him, it was another thing Louis loved about him.

"Did you now?" Louis asked, hoping to start a bit of banter. If Louis was good at one thing, it would be flirty banter. 

"I did," Harry said back, matter-of-factly. Louis laughed, which he noticed made Harry smile. 

"So what have you been up to all these years?" Harry asked, and Louis had no clue how to answer that. 

Travelling with you and your band because I actually did pass auditions. In fact, this whole thing right now isn't real. Also we've been dating since 2010.

"I've taken some voice lessons, definitely think I've gotten better. Also started some song-writing, definitely think there's potential in my music now," he said with a small smile. 

"Have you now?" Harry asked with a surprised smile. "Maybe you could audition again, and we could work together!"

Definitely not auditioning again, Louis thought. The only think he liked about not being in One Direction was the freedom he had to be himself, something he didn't realise he had before now. He hasn't been able to be himself since they signed the contract. He could still express himself for a year after, but after the fans started speculating about his sexuality, Simon shut that down as fast as he could. 

Louis missed the feeling of being out. He remembered coming out to his mum and dad, both offering their overwhelming support. Naturally, they were both livid when they heard that Simon put him back in the closet because of his relationship with Harry. It didn't make sense to anyone, especially because of the fans support. 

"Yeah, Maybe," Louis said slowly, hoping Harry didn't notice his skepticism. 

"Hey, can I get your number?" Harry suddenly asked, taking Louis by surprise. This was definitely a good thing, maybe reconnecting his and Harry's relationship was the key to his escape. 

"Yeah, sure," Louis said, trying to sound casual. 

"It's just I- wait really?" Harry asked, looking like an excited puppy. Louis laughed, he really missed his boy. 

"Of course, I can't stay here forever and it would be nice to properly catch up, i need to save the others from my sisters if they haven't already made them uncomfortable enough," Louis joked, looking over to his sisters. Surprisingly enough, they genuinely seemed to be getting on with the boys. Niall even looked like a thirteen year old himself, which made Louis smile. 

"Yeah, looks like they're so miserable," Harry joked, and Louis slapped him. 

"You know what I mean, they're teenage fan girls," Louis said, making Harry simply laugh. 

"Do you have your phone on you? I was serious when I said I wanted to catch up sometime," Harry asked, and Louis could feel his heart stop. 

"Y-yeah, yeah, um..." he fumbled at his pockets, trying to get his phone out. He opened up his contacts and handed his phone to Harry. "Just um... put it in, I guess?"

Harry snorted, making Louis realise what he just said. "Oh shut up," he said to Harry, slapping his arm. 

"I'm trusting you won't give this away to anyone?" Harry asked, handing Louis phone back. 

"Never in a million years," Louis swears. He knows the pain of having your personal phone number leaked, and he would never let that happen to Harry if he could help it. 

"I trust you," Harry said softly, and god Louis missed those eyes. He stares into a minute more before announcing to the girls, "Time to go!"

They bid the One Direction boys a farewell, and suddenly they were back on the road for Doncaster.

"Did you have a good night, girls?" Louis asked, and they both smiled widely. 

"That was the best night ever! They were so nice!"

Louis smiled and hummed in agreement. It was a pretty good night.