My Because || A Larry AU Story

21 - Home For The Holidays

Louis does exactly as he promised and updates me every time he's stopped, ranging from sending selfies or random photos, to simple messages along the lines of 'third stop - about an hour away now!'. He goes quiet when he finally arrives back home, which is understandable because he will be finally seeing his family again for the first time in months.

It's now my turn to go back home and as soon as I'm in Mum's car, I feel the anxiety rise in my chest. This is it, the time I've been dreading - having to face everyone again. Even though it has played on my mind a lot, this is the first time it's fully hit me and I don't know how to deal with it. I lean my head against the window and send a message to Louis.

harrystyles: just leaving uni and im kinda freaking out. what if people back home are different towards me now im out as bi?? idk if you remember me saying but half the reason i moved down here was to run away from the reactions & now I have to actually face them ahhh help!!! :/ xx

Mum notices something is wrong as well and I catch her glancing at me, frowning slightly.

'Everything alright, love?' she asks, as we pull onto the motorway.

'I'm little nervous about coming home, to be honest,' I tell her, staring out the window.

'Why's that?' Mum asks, looking slightly confused.

'I'm really worried people are gonna treat me differently, now that I'm out,' I say, with a sigh. 'I haven't had to face people yet and now I do.'

I glance at her, awaiting a response. She hums to herself, tapping on the wheel, thinking for a moment.

'I understand that this is difficult for you, darling, but I promise you it's going to be alright,' Mum says, trying to reassure me. 'No one around the village has even asked me anything about it and you know you have the whole families' love and support.'

'I know, I know,' I reply, going back to staring out of the window at the other passing cars. 'I just don't know if them actually seeing me again will trigger some kind of strange response, as in them being like 'oh, there he is', or acting like I'm a completely different person.'

'Harry, love, you have to remember everyone's most likely too busy being caught up in their own business and probably won't even give you a second glance - especially this time of year,' Mum says, taking a hand off the wheel for a moment to put an arm around my shoulders in a quick squeeze. 'And if anyone does give you trouble, they'll have all of us to deal with.'

I sigh again, before giving her a small smile, 'I hope you're right. Thanks, Mum.'

'You're welcome, darling,' Mum says, softly. 'You know you can always talk to me whenever you need to.'

'I know, thank you,' I reply, feeling a bit of relief.

'I know what will cheer you up.'

'What?'

I watch as Mum reaches over to switch on the car CD player. After a couple moments of silence, the first few notes of 'Man, I Feel Like a Woman!' blare out. I instantly let out a chuckle.

'Of course,' I say, with a smile as Mum starts to sing along.

I eventually join in too, doing a little seated dance and filming a short video to send to Louis during the chorus, captioning it 'Mum knows me best x'.

x

By the first stop, I'm already feeling way better. Me and Mum sit down at one of the food outlets for a coffee and small breakfast, and that's when I finally get a reply from Louis.

louist91: sorry, just woke up - i'm bloody knackered from the drive up last night ! are you feeling better now ??- you seem to be having fun in that video hahaha (loved it btw !) x