And They Knocked On The Closet Door

8. I Don't Wanna Face the Music, But I Still Wanna Dance with you.

There was a restaurant, old town, Louis booked especially for the occasion. It was a private spot, a table of two in the garden surrounded by colorful and vivid flowers which climbed all over the rustic wall in the corner and a strong and captivating scent that made its clients feel almost high.

Louis looked at Harry, their elbows about to touch each other. The night had not started well, and although Louis had warned them beforehand, he could not help but feel they were pissed at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes, of course, this is lovely." Harry rushed to answer. "I can't believe we have the whole garden, just for the two of us."

But no matter how much effort they put into it, Louis knew better, he knew Harry was not being honest with their feelings. It's just that... Harry had expected a big thing where they were picked up in their tiny apartment and taken to dinner (not necessarily to a pricey and posh place, just romantic, dreamy... like in the movies). And while the restaurant turned out to be a little like that, there had been a third person in the car Harry had not been able to ignore, even if it had not taken them by surprise, not at all.

Louis had come up with the idea two days ago. How could he convince Simon to let him go out? He wondered, and then he remembered Eleanor, whose existence he tended to forget way too often.

"Simon! Simon!" He had knocked on the man's door that same night, even before contacting Harry and Eleanor.

"What do you want, Louis?" Simon grunted, clearly grumpy.

"Eleanor and I were thinking about getting dinner with a friend of ours the day after tomorrow, would that be okay?"

"Why would you want to get dinner with Eleanor, Louis?"

"Hey!" Louis had protested, playing the part. "She's my friend!"

"And what do I have to gain from this?" Simon had asked, catching Louis by surprise.

"What?"

"You've heard me."

And Louis, who pretended to use Eleanor as a ruse, not to invite her in real life, hadn't had another option but to go along with it.

"We could get papped." He suggested. "Not inside the restaurant, please, just on our way in and on our way out. Our friend wouldn't mind."

And so, Simon had relented and warned him he would check with Eleanor himself, which made Louis rush up the stairs and call Eleanor, just to warn her. Thankfully, it hadn't taken much to convince the girl, not when she felt so guilty for giving in to her father's desires.

Harry, however, was an entirely different matter. Louis had pleaded, and had apologized, and had finally told them he in no way was dating Eleanor.

"No, I'm not taking her on our first date with us!" He had yelled over the phone. "Mattia, the owner, is a good friend of mine and has kids our age, so I've set her up with one of them."

"She's on a date herself?" Harry had asked, confused.

"Yes! I already told you, we're not dating!" Louis had exclaimed, relieved they were beginning to understand each other. "Eleanor will be in an entirely different room! Besides, she hasn't been with anyone since she accepted the job, she told me so herself. Don't you think she has the right to have a little fun once in a while?"

And Harry, even though Louis could not see them, nodded. Now, what nobody had told them was how bad it was going to be. For a moment, they had been angry, very angry.

Louis had picked them up and guided them into the car, where Eleanor was waiting for the two of them, and Harry had to sit in the back seat because the couple was supposed to be together, so they had stayed with the bodyguard, in silence, avoiding Louis' poor attempts of making conversation. Later, Harry had experienced the flash of the cameras for the first time ever and tried not to look too grumpy at the happy couple walking hand by hand ahead of them.