Back to you and me - Larry

CHAPTER FIVE

I wake up entirely too early, sleepy and missing Harry's embrace, because I'm unquestionably in London on my own. I don't even have to check my place to know he isn't around. But I sneak out quietly anyway, tip-toeing towards my guest room to make sure Liam isn't using it, because I'm sincerely hoping he's back with Zayn in their new home.

I lean against the doorframe when I see nothing but my own tattoo mess. I want him to have a place with Zayn, but I'm also getting restless on my own. He was only here one day, but there was something reassuring about it. I could certainly imagine having someone around permanently, perhaps not here but somewhere bigger and more dreamy.

I check the date to make sure it's the right one, then shower and get dressed so I can head towards Liam and Zayn's presumed place. Zayn is the only one who's around when I arrive. He lets me in without questioning my intentions, though, not saying much as I remove my shoes and head straight into their kitchen to take a look around.

"I thought you had a client this morning."

"I rescheduled," I say. "Is Liam at work?"

"He went out a minute ago. I was thinking about heading in early to take walk-ins, but he knows I don't have a client until noon, so he wants me to paint the bathroom."

"But you're still engaged, right?"

"Engaged?" he asks, sounding slightly puzzled—possibly because of my question, but probably also because I'm searching their kitchen to see whether or not they have Harry's wedding invitation. "Louis, we're already married."

"Really?"

"Really," he says. "Did something happen to your memory? Because you and Harry broke up the day we got married, so you'd think that was memorable enough—unless you've blocked it out."

I look at him again. "So... when was this?"

"Freshman year at university. Liam wanted to get married right away because we spent our senior year only being out to you and Harry, but you know this, Louis."

"Right."

They got together sooner because they kissed sooner, so they were ready to get married sooner. In the real present, things were so busy that they wasted years upon years not getting engaged. And despite protesting whenever I bring it up, they certainly postponed proposing when I lost both Mum and Fizzy. They shouldn't have taken it into account, but they were waiting on my mood to improve to avoid being happy when I wasn't in a place to be happy with them. In some ways, it would probably have been the thing to improve my mood, to know there was happiness around me even when I was breaking apart and trying to put the pieces back together.

"I know you were raised right, so why are you looking through our things?"

I turn to look at him again. "Is Harry getting married?"

"That's a weird question. And not at all an answer to my question."

I sigh as I lean against the counter. "Do you know why we broke up?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Don't you?"

"I need you to tell me."

"Long-distance is hard, Louis. Liam and I got married in December that year, but you and Harry had already considered calling it quits because being apart wasn't something you could settle into. And that happens, okay? Our wedding was only the third time you saw each other, because things got busy when you were in Manchester and he was in London. Things just escalated that day, but Liam and I already told you we appreciate your decision not to tell us until our honeymoon was over. And you told us you had break-up sex, so... at least there was that, right?"