A Handcuffed Christmas

12

Harry doesn't know what happened. One minute they were cooking and having fun and the next Louis hardly said a word to him. They had gone to bed and Louis wanted to sleep on his back as far away as possible. They woke up and got in the shower. Louis was pressed against the shower wall with his back turned to him the whole time. Harry almost didn't get the shampoo out of his hair before Louis wanted to get out of the shower. He hurried to finish up and they got dressed in silence.

It hurt his feelings. They had been getting along so well in these last couple of days. Harry had gotten his hopes up. That maybe they could be friends again. He missed how close they used to be and he was older now. Sixteen-year-old him hadn't been able to handle it but media training had thought him a lot. He was a master at disguising his feelings. Well, he wouldn't have it.
"Lou? What's wrong? Why are you giving me the cold shoulder? I thought we were getting along for once."

Louis sighed. His eyes flickered. He was clearly uncomfortable.
"We were. We are. Sorry, I just woke up on the wrong side. Everything's fine."

Clearly it wasn't but Harry decided to leave it. They were heading to Holmes. Chapel later and he wouldn't let Louis' mood swings get to him. Who knew what was going on in that brain?

They joined Louis' family for breakfast.
"When are you coming back home?" Phoebe asked.

"In four days." Louis said and grabbed the cereal box.

"Four days? We've missed you so much and you won't even be here on your Christmas break?" Daisy pouted.

Harry felt awful. He was keeping Louis from his sisters. Louis glanced at him and must have seen what he was thinking displayed on his face because he squeezed his arm reassuringly.
"I've missed you guys too but Harry has missed his family as well and it's not fair to him if we don't spend time with his family too. We still have plenty of time to see each other and we'll make the most of it, right guys?"

"Yeah, we didn't think about that. Of course, you want to see your family too, Harry." Phoebe said.

"I do." Harry agreed.

An hour later they picked up a rental since Jay needed her car. They somehow managed to get in the car without any eyes on them. The company that rented them the car would probably not be pleased about the handcuffs.

Louis slept through the car ride and Harry was lost in thoughts while he drove them to Holmes Chapel. Maybe he should have told Louis about his developed crush years back instead of pulling away? He had been afraid of how Louis would react back then. Not all teenage boys appreciated their mates having a crush on them. Louis wasn't homophobic. That much he knew but it would have been awkward and it might have affected the band.

He glanced at the sleeping man next to him. They had never discussed their sexuality. If Louis wasn't straight he would have told them by now? Right? Probably not. It wasn't like he had revealed his own sexuality to the boys. It wasn't like he was ashamed of it. It just felt private. Something that was his to keep when everything else in his life was so public.