his reign and his fall | larry stylinson

Epilogue

Louis writes letters now because facetime can be a bit too risky.  If he were to accidentally be the reason Harry gets caught, he wouldn't know what to do, or how to feel. He's writing one to Zayn and one to his mother currently.
Mum,
I know my moving so far away has been a shock, and I'm sorry. I miss you and the girls so much, and I can't wait to see you at Christmas and tell you all about America! So far it's been nice, and beautiful, but so so cold. It snows all the time in Colorado, especially where I'm at on the mountain. It's so beautiful, I've never seen so much snow. I know I've never been one for the cold, but I can never regret my decision in coming to live here. It's everything I've ever dreamed of. I'll see you at Christmas.
                                              Love, Louis
He writes Zayn a letter, only changing a few names and things about it. But they're relatively the same letter.
"It's a beautiful day outside."
"Shut the fuck up, it's snowing and it's cold." Louis remarks cuddled up in a blanket, hot tea close to his chest. Harry giggles and sits up next to him. "It's always cold here," Louis says.
"You said the cold didn't bother you."
"Yeah, but you couldn't disappear in a warmer climate?" Louis chuckles. "Seriously it's freezing and you want to go outside? You're insane."
"I can't help it, look at that view outside."
Louis can admit, the view of the mountain is something he could have only dreamed about seeing, and now he gets to live here, with Harry, forever. Louis frowns, getting a thought in his head.
"So I have to go home for Christmas." Louis frowns. "I wish you could come. I wish you could meet my family. They would love you."
"Maybe one day, when the media doesn't talk about me anymore. And it can turn into this big family secret instead of you having to keep it." Harry sighs. "I'm sorry, I know this can't be easy to deal with."
"It's okay, love. Yeah, I wish you could come over, meet my sisters and stuff but that can wait. The past few months have been so difficult to adjust to. Me handing the shares of the hotel to Clara but still had some power over it, leaving my friends behind. They're so worried about me."
"I told you, I trust Zayn, Niall, and Clara to keep the secret," Harry said. "You could've told them the truth instead of you telling them you can't handle the Malison anymore because I was dead."
"I considered it, but after Zayn got shot too, I was worried how they would handle the Harry isn't dead news. Plus they had to comfort their sad sad friend during the 'grieving' process. I don't know how you dealt with the cameras every day, I could barely handle it for those few weeks." Louis says, shaking his head. The paparazzi were completely insane the few weeks after the shooting. Louis was flooded with cameras in his face and questions being asked for him to answer.
'Do you know what happened
'Is Harry alive'
Even very rude questions were asked, like
'Did you get his blood on you
'Did you see him die
Louis hated every minute of it.
It was a wild ride the past couple of months. It's almost Christmastime, and Harry and Louis are finally settled into their midsized home in Salida, Colorado. Louis had barely listened to Harry when he said that the house was big. Louis was still trying to figure things out with the Malison.
When he told Zayn he was going to move to the states, he was devastated. Zayn had done everything in his power to convince him otherwise, but Louis was so set on being with Harry. He signed most of his shares to Clara, but he still owns a small part of it. He can still make decisions over the phone and do some online stuff when he can, but mostly Clara got the big promotion because she deserved it. After almost getting shot, she deserved a better title than the front lobby manager.
Zayn had told him it was a midlife crisis moment, and that moving to America was a mistake. His mother had said something along the same lines, but they ended up both respecting his decision to go, to move away. If only they knew the truth.
The house is relatively big, bigger than what Louis is used to living in. Sure he stayed in the Malison suite, but he went straight from his mum's three-bedroom home, to his small flat, and now to a five-bedroom three-bath house with two garages and a swimming pool. It's no castle, and it's no mansion, but it's plenty big for them. Almost too big, but Harry was insistent that he didn't get to choose where they stayed. He had explained how the people helping cover up his death, (people being high-up government officials in Sweden and the U.K.) chose the house for them to live in. Louis was iffy about it, not wanting such a large place. But it's quiet. He's not used to quiet.
The quiet is somewhat scary, yet comforting.
"Come home with me, for Christmas," Louis says. "Please. Get closure from Liam. Go into that prison and give him your peace of mind. No one will know it's you, not with your haircut and if you wear sunglasses." Louis almost begs. Harry hesitates.
"I'm scared to." Harry sighs. "I'm scared someone will recognize me and it'll ruin what we have going for us right now. Liam could tell someone."
"You're probably right."
"Liam destroyed my life once. I'm not going to let him do it again. Not after he almost killed me and took me away from you. Not after he almost killed your best friend. I won't do it." Harry cuddles Louis closer to him. The fire crackles in the fireplace, keeping them warm.
"You're right, sorry," Louis says, setting his cuppa on the coffee table. "But you can still come to visit my family, Zayn, and the crew. I promise no one will say anything,  I'll make sure of that. Please Harry. I don't want to spend our first Christmas together spent apart."
Harry seems to contemplate the idea for a second.
"Not to mention," Louis says in a hushed voice. "It's my birthday too."
Harry throws his head back, covering his smile. He runs his hands through his now short hair and groans. "How can I say no to you?"
"So does that mean you will!" Louis asks, triumphantly.
"Yes, I will. But I need you to warn them first, please. What does your mum know about you and me?"
"Well, I didn't tell her very much. Just that I fell for you, and then you died. And then the story that I had to get away from London, from my country. It was a lot for her to take in, in such little time."
"Then let's go make it up to her," Harry says, his own heart pounding. "This whole situation isn't fair to you. You're sure they won't tell anyone."
"Harry my family wouldn't even know who to tell."
"Right, right."
"Doesn't your mother know?" Louis asks. "I feel like you said that."
To be frank, Louis doesn't know much about who all knows. He spent most of the time in between the hospital and Colorado in a daze. It felt like he was still grieving despite not having anyone to grieve over. Between Zayn getting shot and thinking the love of his life had died, his mind was working overboard, and the nonstop harassment of the press was no help at all in getting his mind to stop running. So he took Harry's word when he said everything was settled and hadn't asked about it since, not until now.
"My mother knows I'm alive. My stepfather does too. Gemma thinks I'm gone because she's so in love with Liam. It has to be that way so she thinks she gets the throne fairly. She has no idea about Liam's involvement." Harry says.
"So where does she think he is?" Louis asks.
"Away, because my death was so hard for him. He's never to return to her, or my family. I don't know when I'll see my mum again, if ever. She wasn't a bad mother, but she wasn't very good either." Harry explains. "She never would've let me be with you. I know that for a fact, I guess that's why I'm okay with her knowing. She knows I'm living my best life with the man that I love."
Louis smiles because this is all he could've ever wanted. To be with Harry.
"Now if we're finished with serious conversations," Harry says, getting up off the couch and walking over to the large bookshelf in the living room. He pulls out a book and board game.
Chess.
"Let me read to you while we play a game of chess."