Who are you?

chapter 15.

Louis' head was pounding when he woke up. He heard someone walking around whatever room he was in, he didn't know which room, and it sounded like they were pacing the room, since the loud footsteps just kept going. He wanted to open his eyes to see who it was, but he already knew the light would kill his eyes. 

After about a minute of debate, Louis slowly cracked his eyes open, only to immediately shut them again. He didn't have enough to drink last night to have a hangover this bad, right? All things considered, he lived with his mum in this world, but did he really never go drinking at all? He assumed that he at least he drank when he was at uni, so why was his hangover so bad?

A couple more seconds passed before he opened his eyes again, this time much slower and more careful. The footsteps have stopped while Louis was suffering the consequences of opening his eyes the first time, so it was no surprise when he say Harry standing on the other side of the room. 

"There's water and a couple advil on the nightstand next to you," Harry said dryly, not even bothering to say good morning. The boy seemed tired, almost as if he didn't get any sleep the night before, and Louis could wonder why. 

"Thanks Haz," Louis said, his voice also sounding dry. He noticed Harry didn't move when he reached for the water, and Louis couldn't help but wonder if he said something he wasn't supposed to last night. He couldn't remember much from the night before, the most he remembered was them being surprised at how fun Liam actually was. 

"What do you remember from last night?" Harry asked, and fuck, it was like he could read Louis' mind. Did he say anything stupid last night? He wouldn't have exposed his secret... would he?

"The last thing I remember was you guys being surprised about how fun Liam could be," Louis said, before taking the advil and chugging the water glass. He wanted to ask for another, but he also didn't know how well his tolerance for pain reliever was in this world. 

"You don't remember anything else?" Harry asked, grabbing a chair, and shit, Louis definitely said something he wasn't supposed to. Harry was never this straight forward with him, not even in the real world. Actually, the only time he was in the real world, was when Eleanor came into the picture and Management forgot to inform Harry, and that was the worst day of his life. So Louis definitely fucked something up the previous night.

"No, honestly. Did I say or do anything embarrassing?" Louis asked with a nervous laugh, but quickly shut up when he noticed Harry wasn't laughing. 

"You said a few things," Harry said, leaning forward on the chair. Louis wanted to throw up. Even if Harry hadn't said anything yet, Louis knew what he revealed to the boy, to the one person who could never know. 

"Like what?" Louis asked, just to make sure. He tried to keep the panic in his voice at bay, but there was a small shake in his voice anyway. 

"Oh, nothing much," Harry said, leaning slightly back, "Just that you are from another world and apparently 'have a Harry of your own', to use your own words."

Louis felt as if all the oxygen on the planet had disappeared. He knew that was probably what he revealed to Harry, but it was so much worse to hear the truth coming out of his mouth. 

"Harry... I can explain," Louis said quietly, trying to keep himself from throwing up. He couldn't tell if it was from nerves or the hangover, but Louis assumed it was probably a bit of both. 

"Then please do," Harry said, desperation lacing his voice, "Please explain why the guy I've been talking to for the better part of a month, the guy who knows me better than anyone except for my mum, has been lying to me about his entire life!" Harry's voice gets louder with every word, making Louis flinch more and more as he spoke. Harry took a deep breath, and continued on. "Louis you know I wouldn't judge you for anything, but how am I supposed to feel knowing that I'm just a fill in for your boyfriend back home?"