10 Years Later (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter 15

Thinking about it, it started to make sense to Louis why everyone was always so nice to him and no one had forced him into anything he wasn't comfortable with. Although that hadn't been the case with Emma. He narrowed his eyes and said, "In that case, I'd like to sack the PR team," going on to explain the way they'd treated Emma, implying she was fat and berating her for having a personality and not being a media-trained robot. Niall echoed that his wife had been treated similarly, and although she'd laughed it off, Niall was quite angry on her behalf and he would be up for sacking them too. The other three guys agreed, and decided they'd let management know that they wanted new PR representation.

The five men chatted and caught up, reminiscing about their time together in the band and slipping into easy banter with each other. Louis told the other lads what he'd been up to in their time apart, and they eagerly listened to their own stories about their lives. They shared how each other's families were; each boy softly told Louis how sad they were to hear of Jay's stroke, and asked eagerly about his siblings. Louis blinked back tears as he heard about the families that had once been as close to them as his own, bitterly regretting the last ten years that he had missed out. They remembered stories of their exploits together and laughed with each other at the memories of their teen years.

Harry took Louis' hand in his and said softly, "Are you sure you're okay about this stuff between you and me being aired?" If you aren't, we can re-record it. It doesn't have to be made public. Louis thought for a second before grinning at him wickedly and saying, "Are you kidding? I can't wait for people to find out that the heart-throb Harry Styles was pining after little old me" and batting his lashes. Harry gave a snort and shoved Louis playfully, pushing him into Zayn, who exclaimed, "Ouch," and shoved him back into Harry. A minute later, the five of them were wrestling, and it was almost like they'd never been apart.

There was laughing and shoving each other gently as they separated again, before Louis gathered them all into a tight hug and whispered, "I really am sorry," with Harry adding straight after, "Me too." Niall shushed them and told them it was okay, all was forgiven – they were just pleased to have them back again, with Zayn and Liam murmuring agreements. Niall broke away slightly to say, "I'm starving. Can we get some food?" The boys laughed and agreed, but Louis stopped them before they filed out, pulling his phone out of his pocket and turning it to take a selfie of the five men, arms winding around each other with wide grins in the first picture of them all together for ten years.