That Sounds Fake But Okay

Chapter 10

They've been back in New York for a total of four hours, and Harry is already fighting the urge to call Louis.

"Fucking ridiculous," he mutters to Bruce in embarrassment as he fixes himself a cup of tea and tries to think of something, anything, else to keep himself occupied. Liam is MIA, leaving nothing but a note saying to take care of Bruce, and Harry can't bring himself to face his work emails just yet.

He browses through Netflix for a while before finally giving in and putting on Beethoven's Christmas Adventure for the hundredth time. Bruce yelps his agreement and settles down on the bed next to Harry.

"Yes, I know it's your favorite," Harry says, scratching him behind the ears. "Everybody knows this is the best movie in the franchise."

Bruce gives a low growl in response.

"Well, Liam's simply wrong about that," Harry reassures him. " Beethoven's Big Break doesn't have nearly the same cinematic quality. Now be quiet so we don't miss the beginning."

Fifteen minutes into the movie, Harry feels overcaffeinated and itchy with the need to know where Louis is and what he's doing. He gets up and paces around the apartment for a while, hoping the feeling will pass, but all he accomplishes is transferring his restlessness to Bruce, who jumps off the bed and starts whining.

"You think I should just call him?!" Harry asks incredulously. "But won't that look desperate?"

The dog replies with an authoritative bark.

"You're right," Harry agrees with a sigh. "I really should tell him thank you for the trip. It'd be rude if I didn't."

He doesn't bother mentioning to Bruce that he already thanked Louis in St. Lucia. And again in the airplane lavatory. But really, can too much gratitude ever be a bad thing?

Harry grabs his phone from the kitchen counter and opens his recent contacts, furrowing his brow when he sees that Louis has replaced his own name with the peach emoji. He clicks it, making a mental note to edit it to "Pain in the <peach emoji>" as soon as possible. Satisfied, Bruce returns to his spot on the bed in front of Harry's laptop.

It's ringing for the third time when Harry hears a soft knock at the door. No doubt Liam's forgotten his keys again. He swings it open, ready to scold his scatter-brained roommate, but unexpectedly finds himself face to face with Louis, both of them holding their phones to their ears.

"Hi," Louis says into his phone as they lock eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Harry stammers in surprise, clicking off the call and trying not to grin like an idiot.

"Shhhh," Louis shushes Harry as he steps through the doorway, holding his finger to his lips and looking displeased. "I'm talking to a really hot guy right now. Don't interrupt."

Now Harry's definitely grinning like an idiot.

"Great, he hung up on me." Louis keeps the annoyed look on his face a little longer as he hangs up his phone and sets it on the tiny kitchen table. "Way to go, Harry."

"Sorry. Maybe he'll call back," Harry offers completely unapologetically, sitting down in one of his two ancient kitchen chairs. "But now you have to tell me what you're doing here uninvited. "

"I came to see Bruce, of course," Louis replies without missing a beat. "We've been apart for two weeks!"

At the sound of his name, Bruce, who had been totally engrossed in Beethoven's yuletide escapades , suddenly realizes Louis is there and jumps off the bed to greet him. Harry watches fondly as Louis bends down to pet him and let him lick his hand.