Hate That I Love You

Chapter 32

Harry had to face the first intense moment of the evening early on, on the red carpet, when he and Xander were posing together, hugging, for the reporters' photos, obviously ignoring all their questions.

And it was just as Xander wrapped his arm around his waist, causing him to smile slightly that Harry found himself having to hold his breath, because, just then, he realized that he had just arrived.

Harry let his arms fall to his sides, directing his eyes towards the figure he was posing for photos, not far from him along with a girl he immediately recognized as Eleanor Calder.

Louis Tomlinson was beautiful, as he expected him to be. He wore a white shirt, buttoned up to the neck, and a blue suit, almost jeans, with elegant black shoes. A small white flower sprouted in the top pocket of his jacket, making him even finer and more elegant and, finally, his hair had been blown back by a large amount of gel.

Harry's heart started beating furiously and his speed picked up again when, shortly thereafter, Louis slowly turned towards him. Their eyes met for several seconds, and they both didn't move, just looking into each other's eyes.

In his "help" Xander intervened and, as soon as he noticed his presence, he took Harry's face in his hands and kissed him in front of all the journalists who had not yet stopped taking pictures. The curly haired boy couldn't help but kiss him back, silently, without protesting.

He didn't observe Louis' reaction, he decided not to actually do it, convinced that he wanted to stick with his belief, which is that he didn't care at all about him. What they had had was just great sex and nothing else.

Their worlds were irreconcilable, too different, too far away.

But these sentences weren't enough to make him feel better when, out of the corner of his eye while his lips were still attached to Xander's, he saw Louis pass in front of him, his hand intertwined with Eleanor's.

No, it didn't make him feel any better.

The rest of the evening was dominated by the speeches of high society old men who spoke of the importance of their intervention during the crisis, others who urged to donate money to who knows which charity agency, still others who congratulated the companies that most, that year, they had managed to get back up.

But, for Harry, that night he was tamed by his heart beating frantically and by his eyes which, from time to time, sought Louis's. The cabbages were almost opposite in the hall of the hotel restaurant where the event was being held. The Tomlinsons on one side and the Styles on the other, as it always was and always would be.

Yet, more than once, the two had not really done without directing their gaze towards the opposite table.

Harry couldn't take it anymore, he wanted to talk to him. Even just for a moment, even just saying hello.

"Do you wanna Dance?" Xander's voice asked, taking him back to planet earth.

Harry watched him bewildered, as if awakened from a long slumber. Seconds later, he noticed that, in the middle of the restaurant floor, many people, all dressed extremely elegantly, had gathered in the center and were slowly slow dancing. "Oh," the curly haired boy exhaled. "Maybe later, okay?" he asked, smiling. "Besides, that's how you're going to have to ask me to marry you, right?"

Xander nodded. "You're right, we'll postpone it until later" he smiled, placing his hand on his thigh.

Harry sighed, slowly returning his gaze to the Tomlinsons' table where he found Louis staring at him. Then, surprisingly he got up from the table and walked towards the exit of the restaurant; arrived at the threshold he turned slowly towards him and made a small and almost imperceptible gesture with his head that made Harry hold his breath. Then he started walking again.