Play The Game

15

Two cities and two shows later it was crystal clear that Harry and Louis weren't speaking to each other. Harry slept in the back of the bus and Louis went straight to the bunk beds.
"Guys, am I missing something? What the hell happened between them? They don't talk, they don't share a hotel room anymore and yesterday I walked in on Harry crying." Niall said.

"You did? That's great!" Zayn said excitedly.

Niall stared at him like he was dropped on the head as a baby.
"No, it's not! Seeing Harry cry makes you wanna jump off a cliff! It's horrible!"

"Of course, I didn't mean it like that, but...never mind." Zayn replied.

Niall squinted his eyes and glared at him.
"You know something. Spill!"

"I can't, but those two need to talk to each other, really talk. I need your help guys. I have a plan." Zayn said and they put their heads closer together to discuss it.

They arrived at their destination and headed straight to the concert hall. Soundcheck went well. They ate dinner together and then it was time for wardrobe and make-up. Louis and Harry ignored each other completely but Zayn saw them glancing at each other when they thought that no one noticed, but never at the same time. They were so stupid!

They had a great show and headed to a hotel after that. Harry and Louis went straight to their separate rooms. Zayn on the other hand had something to take care of.

Louis had trouble sleeping. He has hardly slept at all since the fight with Harry. So this was how it felt like to have a broken heart? It was suffocating. He wanted to burst out crying 50 times a day. He couldn't think about anything other than Harry. He shouldn't have said that he didn't want to be friends with benefits. If he hadn't Harry would be here right now, making him feel good. Except, he didn't feel good when they had sex. He felt sad. Sad that it didn't mean anything to Harry. He wanted romance and love not meaningless sex. He thought he would be able to handle it but he had been so wrong.

When his alarm clock on the phone rang the next morning he dragged himself out of bed. He took a quick shower and went down for breakfast. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep. He had mostly been tossing and turning. He glanced at Harry as he approached the table. He looked a bit messy as well.

He ate in silence. Liam, Zayn, and Niall were chatting like they always did. Harry was as quiet as he was. He was surprised that the guys hadn't asked what was going on between them. Maybe Zayn had told them to back off?

He went to his room to pack his things and headed out to the bus. He didn't see the rest of the guys anywhere so they were probably already on the bus, eager to go. He was always the last one. Their driver greeted him and he mumbled a hello in return before he got on the bus and closed the door behind him. It was strangely quiet on the bus. He walked into the common area just to find Harry sitting there by himself. He looked around for the others when the bus started rolling. He was just about to comment on it when his phone pinged. Harry's did as well. He picked it up. Zayn had sent him a message. He furrowed his eyebrows as he read it.

Hi mate,
Liam, Niall and I are taking a flight to L.A. You two need to sort this out. You have to talk and you have the next 8 hours in front of you to do so. No one remembers a coward!
/Z

Louis looked up from his phone just to find Harry looking right at him.
"Text from Zayn?"

"Yeah." Harry replied.

Louis scratched his chin. He needed to shave. He sighed and walked over to take a seat.
"Look Harry, I'm sorry. Okay? It's just...I guess I'm silly but that was my first time having sex and..."

"You had sex before!" Harry interrupted him.

"Yeah, but not the real deal, you know for me. That was the first time I really enjoyed sex, but I had this idea that my first time would be more...soft? Special. I don't know. It's silly." Louis tried to explain, blushed a little.

"You regret having sex with me?" Harry almost whispered.

"No! Absolutely not. I'm so grateful that we did that, that you were my first. I guess I'm just hung up on the fact that you didn't want to kiss me." Louis confessed.

Harry stared at him with his mouth hung open.
"Oh. I tried to keep it casual. I thought you wanted that. I was just trying to not be emotional about it."

"I never said that I wanted it casual. That was your idea." Louis pointed out.

"Right." Harry breathed out. His big green eyes stared at Louis. He looked insecure.

Louis gulped. He would have to say it. He took a deep breath.
"Harry? I uhm, I love you. I've been in love with you forever. This was never casual to me. That's why I couldn't continue. I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable."

A smile slowly spread over Harry's face until his dimples popped out.
"I love you too."

Now it was Louis's turn to be surprised.
"What?"

Harry leaned forward and smacked a wet kiss against Louis's lips.
"Who's the moron now? I've been in love with you since probably ten seconds after we bumped into each other for the first time."

"Wow. We really need to work on our communication skills." Louis smirked but he was radiating with happiness. He pulled Harry in and kissed him for real.

Harry crawled into his lap and they just held each other and kissed for a while. When they broke free Harry spoke up.
"And you were absolutely right. Our first time should have been softer, more romantic. I'm sorry about that. Any chance we can have a do-over? Like, that first time was just a practice round?"

Louis just smiled and got up, lifting Harry who wrapped his legs around his waist. He walked them over to the bunk beds and put Harry down.
"Let me fetch the lube."

He hurried over to his suitcase and threw it open. He found the right bottle and rushed back.
"Damn! I forgot a condom. Wait."

Harry grabbed his arm to hold him back.
"We don't need one. We're both clean and I'm not planning to be with anyone else ever."

The seriousness of Harry's spoken words hit Louis and he teared up.
"Me neither. This is it for me."

Harry pulled him down and they started to make out. They removed each other's clothes and Louis fingered him open. Everything was different this time. They kissed and said sweet words in between. It was soft and wonderful. Louis pushed inside and that was a whole new feeling going in natural. They continued to kiss until they couldn't anymore and were just sharing air. Their touches were tender and it was a special first, second time. After they both came Louis laid down and Harry immediately cuddled him.
"I love you, Lou."

"I love you too."