safe haven │ larry stylinson

94

Going out with a bang. Enjoy the last seven chapters of safe haven. Merry (late) Christmas. Have a very happy last week of 2021. Thank you for everything.

Louis' POV

"...How many nights have you wished someone would stay?
Lie awake only hoping they're okay (Yeah, yeah)
I never counted all of mine
If I tried, I know it would feel like infinity"

"So guys, it's been a quite long tour with its ups and downs. And on this last evening here, I need to say a few words. To be completely honest with you, I wouldn't be who I am - with who I am now. You all know what's going on by now. You knew all the time. But we weren't able to tell you that we loved each other in so long.
And we were apart for a long time because of me. I've made endless mistakes. I've said things that hurt Harry, I did things that hurt him. I fucked up big time. Because I was scared. I pushed him back when he trusted me, I lied to his face when he was totally honest with me, I left him when he begged me to stay and I hurt him. Every single time.

I don't deserve him. I never will. I will never understand how he's still with me. And I will never be able to make that up to him. All the times I screwed up, all the times I fucked up. But he loves me. And I don't know what I did to deserve him. I really don't. All I know is that I'm never going to let him go from now on. No one can stop me. And now I can say that I am in love with Harold Edward Styles. No one can stop me there as well and it feels fucking amazing." Louis looked over at Harry who smiled while drinking from his water bottle. The curlyhead shook his head in disagreement while the fans screamed and Louis smiled, knowing he said the truth. He had hurt Harry too many times. And Harry had let him off too easily.

Louis sat down at the edge of the stage and took out his ear piece to hear the crowd. Chills ran down his spine.
"Because you were always there for me, I want to share this new step in my life with you. I've decided to found my own music label, supporting great artists from all over the world. You'll hear about everything soon enough, we're still in the paper stage to be honest. It's exhausting, fucking exhausting" He joked and took a towel to dry the sweat on his face. "The reason I'm telling you this is that I founded this label with the dream of creating my own music. Without anyone telling me what the fuck I'm supposed to do. I'd get slapped for swearing on stage alone." He grinned, knowing that that would never happen again.

"So I couldn't hold myself back from making my first song. It's been in my drawer for a few months now. I've always known that I'd sing this one first if it - if we ever came out. Not even Harold over there has heard this song. The lads gave me permission to take the stage for a couple of minutes. So without further ado, I present you: Sweeter Than Fiction. Hope you like it"
He looked back at Josh, who started playing the drums immediately. The rest of the band joined in and Louis put his ear piece back in before he started to sing, just him on his own.

"We hit the ground, hit the ground, hit the ground, oh oh
Only sound, only sound that we hear is "no"
We never saw it coming
Slipped when we started running
And now you've come undone and I, I, I, I
Seen you fall, seen you crawl on your knees, eh eh
Seen you lost in a crowd, seen your colours fade
Wish I could make it better
Someday you won't remember
This pain we thought would last forever and ever"
He grinned even more when the fans started clapping to the beat, not knowing any words they joined in. Some didn't do anything but listen and Louis thought he could see some tears next to smiles as well.

"And there you'll stand, ten feet tall
I will say, I knew it all along
Your eyes' wider than distance
Our life's sweeter than fiction"
His eyes finally met Harry's, who was to stunned to react. He looked at Louis, and Louis could see that the song moved him deeply. And it made him happy. Without Harry Louis would't be where he was. He wouldn't be himself at all. He would be scared, damaged and hurt. But he wasn't.

"Just a shot, just a shot in the dark, oh oh
All we got, all we got are our shattered hopes
They never saw it coming
We hit the ground running
And now you're onto something, I, I, I say
What a sight, what a sight when the light came on
Proved me right, proved me right when you proved them wrong
And in this perfect weather
It's like we don't remember
The rain we thought would last forever and ever"
The rain hadn't stopped. They had just stopped to care about everything around them. They had stopped running from what they couldn't stop. They had lived with it and had found a way to dance in the rain. They didn't give a shit about getting wet.

"And there you'll stand, ten feet tall
I will say, I knew it all along"
Flashback
Both of them didn't say anything more for several minutes. Louis felt Harry clenching his back. They just held on to each other.
"You are my best friend, Harry." Louis whispered. "I will never let you go"
He'd rather die. Louis knew that he had fucked up. That it would take a lot of effort to make Harry believe that he would stay. But Louis knew that he would do whatever it took to make him believe.
"I love you, Lou" It wasn't more than a mumble. But Louis could hear it. He ran his fingers through Harry's hair, again and again.
"I love you, Haz" He whispered back, knowing that he had to do something. Soon.
"Step by step" Harry mumbled again and Louis frowned.
"Hm?"
"Something Joff told me. Step by step. I need to let go of my fears. Step by step. Telling you this was important"
"You can tell me everything. Always"
"I know, little one" Harry bit his lip again. This time the amusement on his face was undeniable.
"I'm not little! I can't do anything about the fact that you're ten fucking feet tall" Louis exclaimed, glad that Harry had the grin back on his face. The curlyhead laughed and Louis rolled his eyes and pushed him away.
He laughed even more and rolled away, now laying next to him.
"Stop laughing at me!" Louis pouted, enjoying the sound of Harry's laughter.
"Make me" Harry grinned provocatively and giggled.
End of Flashback
Louis had to smile over the memory. Ten feet tall.

"Your eyes' wider than distance
Our life's sweeter than fiction
There you'll stand, next to me
All at once, the rest is history
Your eyes' wider than distance
Our life's sweeter than fiction, fiction"
Louis felt the green eyes on him and couldn't stop himself from smiling like a mad man. The reactions in the crowd made him want to cry. They were so happy, crying tears of happiness, touched by his voice and song. The song he had worked so hard on.

"I'll be one of the many saying,
Look at you now, look at you now, now
I'll be one of the many saying,
You made us proud, you made us proud, proud
I'll be one of the many saying,
Look at you now, look at you now, now
I'll be one of the many saying,
You made us proud, you made us proud, proud
And when they call your name
And they put your picture in a frame
You know that I'll be there time and again"
Flashback
"Stop worrying, will you? You'll get that Grammy. You'll win. I'm sure." Louis tried to calm Harry for the seventh time.
"It'll be so disappointing if I don't. What will you say then?" He pouted and Louis sighed.
"I know you are going to win. I'll say 'Look at you, handsome', once you hold it. You are going to win. And if you don't, then the Grammy's are fucking trash" Louis smiled and Harry smiled back at him, chuckling nervous.
"You'll win"
End of Flashback
And he had won that Grammy. And Louis had known he would. Since the day Harry had told him that it was his dream to win a Grammy. And he had deserved it.

"'Cause I loved you when, when we
Hit the ground, hit the ground, hit the ground, oh oh
Only sound, only sound that we heard was "no"
Now in this perfect weather
It's like we don't remember
The rain we thought would last forever and ever
There you'll stand, ten feet tall
I will say, I knew it all along
Your eyes' wider than distance
This life's sweeter than fiction"

He waved Harry who understood and ran over to him immediately, wrapping his huge arms around his shoulder as Louis continued to sing.
"There you stand next to me
All at once, the rest is history
Your eyes' wider than distance
This life's sweeter than fiction, fiction
It's sweeter than fiction
It's sweeter, yeah
It's sweeter than, sweeter
Sweeter than fiction"
And it really was sweeter than fiction. It was greater than any fiction. It was real.