nobody shines the way you do » l.s.

part four

Louis was lying on his couch, his favorite soft blanket draped over him, watching some Jersey Shore reruns. Zayn was with him for a little while, but headed to bed a few minutes ago, leaving the older boy alone. He was just drifting off to sleep himself while Ron and Sam got into their fifth fight of the episode when a sudden rapping on the door woke him up.

Grumbling and rubbing his eye, Louis walked over to the door, looking through the peephole before opening it. Harry stood on the other side, leaning against the wall on the side of the door. Louis tipped his head to the side and raised his eyebrows. Harry had ignored him all night at the bar. He didn't even get a hello except for the generic group greeting. Who did Harry think he was just showing up at Louis' doorstep?

"What are you doing here so late?" Louis asked, yawning.

Harry shrugged while walking inside and Louis followed him after closing the door. He watched as Harry plopped down on the couch, getting cozy under the blankets, and frowned. What the hell was he doing? It was almost five in the morning.

"Harry," Louis said, walking over. "Seriously."

"Someone's crabby," Harry commented, still not answering him.

"For good reason," he replied. "I just spent all night watching you ignore me while you hung out with your boyfriend."

Harry groaned, tipping his head back. "I don't understand you," he said. "You're mad if I don't come out because I'm with Peter and then you get mad when I do come out."

"You act like you barely know me," Louis said, his voice rising. "Like I mean nothing to you."

"Do you blame me?" Harry asked. "You two hate each other. Do you know how awkward it is? What am I supposed to do?" When Louis didn't respond, Harry sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry I did that. I know I shouldn't, but I genuinely don't know how to act with you two being in the same room. But I'm trying to make you both happy. I'm really fucking trying to make it work. I'll come out with you guys more and I won't bring him with me, okay? I'll divide my time."

And fuck that, because now Louis felt guilty. He sat down beside Harry, his eyes trained on the screen, watching two of the roommates hook up with each other. "You don't have to do that," he said to Harry. "I wish it wasn't like this. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," Harry replied softly. "Can you cuddle with me now and put a smile on that face?" Louis tried hard to fight the smile, but his face broke out into a grin. He curled up under the covers, practically sitting on top of Harry's lap. Harry kissed his cheek and Louis practically preened, having been deprived of this adorable boy's attention for so long.

"Glad you're here," Louis said to him.

"Yeah?" Harry asked, grinning. Louis nodded with a shy smile. "I, uh, heard something."

"What?" Louis asked.

"You have a new boyfriend."

Louis frowned at him and Harry laughed. "Liam told me that some guy asked you out at the bar. Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were ignoring me," Louis said pointedly. "Besides, not much to tell. It's Ed's friend. He's an RJ and we're just going to hang out."

"This is kind of huge, Lou," Harry said with earnest eyes as he held Louis tighter. "You don't really do dates, but you're going out with this guy with no promise of sex. That's a fucking big deal."

"How do you know sex wasn't promised? Honestly speaking, I really don't want to make a big deal out of this."

Harry's face softened and he rubbed Louis' back soothingly. "Louis, do you want to do this? If you don't, it's fine."