Baked In Style | L.S

Chapter 23

When Harry wakes up the next morning after only two hours of sleep, his whole body aches and his eyes are puffy from crying most part of the night. He knows he shouldn't have, but as soon as Niall went to bed last night, Harry switched on his phone, mostly to let his family know about what had happened, but within seconds, the messages Louis had sent to him the previous day came through, and needless to say he was beyond confused.

The words "I'll tell you all about it when I see you." running through his head like a record on loop. What did Louis mean by it? Was he going to tell Harry that he had kissed another man, that man being his assistant, because he did, Harry saw it with his own eyes. Was he going to take a chance at lying to the green eyed man, knowing that Harry was there, because he could have easily checked the cameras to see if Harry was there or not. But why would he do it though, why do it when he know Harry is on his way there? Is Harry just some kind of joke to him? He knows how much something like that would have hurt the younger man, yet he did it the exact moment Harry got to his office. 

These are only some of the thoughts that kept the green eyed man awake until well past four this morning. What was Louis going to tell him? Why was his phone off when Harry tried phoning him just after three this morning, because by then Harry just wanted to know already. He even considered going next door when he got Louis' voicemail, but quickly decided against it, thinking that he didn't want to wake his elderly neighbour just to satisfy his curiosity. 

But it's not just curiosity. 

It's his life.

It's his heart. 

"Fuck." He sighs, pushing the blanket from him and to the side as he swings his legs off of the bed in order to get up- Clifford just lazily lifting his head from where he's stretched out on the bed.

Harry makes his way towards the kitchen, where he immediately starts making his green smoothie, and smiles lazily when Niall enters a few minutes later, rubbing his tummy as he heads straight for the fridge.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Harry asks, eyeing his friend, knowing the Irishman must be famished. They never even got around to eating dinner last night.

"No need to worry about me, Haz, I can fix myself something." Niall answers and closes the fridge door, settling on some leftover beef stroganoff from two nights ago while Harry decides that granola and yogurt would do for now.

They eat in silence for a few minutes before Niall is the first one to speak. "I know it's soon, but have you decided what want to do?" He asks, before taking another bite of food, and at hearing the words Harry feels like he just wants to start crying again. And he does.

"I don't know, Ni." He finally answers with tears streaming down his face.  "I don't know why he would do that to me." He lets his spoon fall in his still full bowl. "I don't know why this happened again. Why am I not enough for my partners? Why did he have to do the exact same thing Daniel did?" he chokes out through sobs, and Niall immediately hurries around the breakfast nook to wrap his arms around his best friend.

"Hey now." The Irishman soothes. "Let's not get too worked up, okay?" He says, rubbing Harry's back with the palm of his hand. "It can't be too good for the baby, yeah?" He adds and Harry visibly calms down and wipes with the back of his hands over his eyes.

"Sorry." Harry says and Niall tightens his embrace around the green eyed man.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for, Haz. Please don't apologize." Niall says. "What happened is not your fault, okay." He adds before turning his head to kiss Harry's temple. "If anything, I should be the one to apologize." He says as he pulls away.

Confused, Harry eyes his best friend. "Why? You didn't do anything?"

"I did." Niall starts speaking. "I hit Louis last night." He says, almost ashamed of himself. "I hit him without giving him time to explain." He starts explaining. "I was talking to Li last night, and he had told me that Louis was so confused and worried when he spoke to him yesterday afternoon that he couldn't even string together a proper sentence." He looks Harry straight in the eyes. "And then I told you that he doesn't deserve you." He shakes his head. "I'm so sorry, Haz. I was acting off the rage I felt." He brings his hands to Harry's face and wipes away the fresh tears that starts rolling over his cheeks. "I shouldn't have said that, or hit him for that matter." He rests his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Louis is not Daniel." He states. "Louis adores you. And I'm sorry it took speaking to Liam for me to realize that he would never cheat on you. And I know you saw what you saw, but there's got to be some kind of explanation, right? He loves you and this baby so much, and hurting you like that is the last thing he's do. I'm so sorry for jumping to conclusions without giving him time to explain. I've already tried phoning him to apologize, but his number immediately went to voicemail, and Liam is so worried, he's on his way here as well. So, I'm gonna finish up here and then see if he's next door." Niall says, tears pooling in his own eyes. "And you don't have to come with me right away, but please, if he comes around and I'm not here, please try and listen to him. You don't have to open the door for him, listen to him from behind it, but please listen to him. Because you need an explanation, and he needs the opportunity to explain."

It's silent for a few moments and Niall thinks that he can actually hear the gears turning in Harry's head. 

"I'll go with you Ni, I need to know what his messages from yesterday meant." Harry finally speaks. "And even though I know I saw him kissing Nick, I think we both jumped to conclusions." He says. "Let me just finish this, then we can go yeah?"

"Sure, take your time, buddy." Niall answers. "I'm gonna get dressed in the meantime."

Half an hour later, the two friends are ready. Both of them have tried phoning Louis, but his phone is still off, and Harry hopes with everything that's in him, that Louis will be next door. The last thing he wants to do now, is wake up Margaret and worry her if the blue eyed man is not there.

With Niall running back to the bedroom to get his phone, in case Liam calls, Harry makes his way to the front door, unlocking it and turning the handle, and for a moment he has to think fast because someone's pushing the door from the outside.

"Shit! Fuck!" A sleepy Louis says as he scrambles to get up and Harry's heart sinks at the sight of the older man. His eyes are blue and swollen, there's blood smeared across his face with tear stains running through it. "Harry." He finally says, and at hearing his name, the butterflies in the pit of Harry's stomach starts flapping their little wings like it's nobody's business.

"Did you sleep out here last night?" Harry manages to ask. 

"Yeah." Louis answers. "Doesn't feel like I've slept for too long though. My phone's battery died at around two, and I was still awake for a while after that, but I figured that you'd need to leave sometime, and I didn't wanna miss the chance of seeing you." He rambles and wipes with the back of his hands over his eyes. "I don't know what happened yesterday." Louis says. "I mean, I know what happened, but it's not what you think, Harry. I promise. If you'd just give me time to exp-" He's still busy talking when Niall comes walking up from behind Harry.

"Holy fuck!" The Irishman exclaims. "I'm so fucking sorry, Louis." He continues, pulling open the door, and pulling Louis inside the house. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry." He pulls Louis towards the bathroom when he dampens a facecloth, but Harry is quick to take it from him.

"I think I've got it, Ni." Harry says. "Would you mind giving us a few minutes?" He asks, and Niall immediately agrees, stepping out, and closing the door behind him.

Harry lightly and slowly starts dragging the facecloth over Louis' bruised face. "Hi." He says, tears pooling in his eyes. He's feeling pretty overwhelmed. Louis had slept outside his door, just because he didn't want to risk loosing an opportunity to talk to him.

Louis swallows thickly. "Hi." He whispers back. "Is it okay if I explain what happened?" He asks a few moments later and sighs relieved when Harry answers with a teary "Yes, please."