At seven in the morning, he gave up and walked to the kitchen and brewed himself a cup of strong coffee. He drank it at the kitchen table and started at the sunflower in the vase. It was taunting him. He had been so happy receiving it. He was just about to get up and throw it in the bin when he heard a key in the front door. He froze.
Louis walked into the kitchen and spotted him. He immediately started to apologize.
"I'm so sorry! We needed closure. We stayed up all night talking."Harry stared at him.
"I get the need for closure but you left me at a restaurant. On our first date!""And I'm fucking sorry, okay." Louis said.
"Right." Harry said and got up.
Louis got up as well.
"Harry! I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you."Harry sighed. He put his cup on the sink and turned around.
"No. Yesterday made it perfectly clear that you're not ready to date again and Louis? It was fucking humiliating. I don't want to date you again. This is not happening. I think you should find another place to live."Louis' mouth fell open.
"You can't mean that? I know I fucked up. It wasn't like I planned it. Come on, Harry. I said I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Eleanor and I are done! I promise it won't happen again."Harry got angry.
"Do you even know how long I've liked you? You have given me enough heartache. No, I'm not putting myself through this again. You never chose me and that's fine, I guess. I just have to stop being such a damn fool.""That's not fair." Louis replied, looking sad.
"Well, getting left on a date while you go home with your wife isn't fair either." Harry spat out.
"Ex-wife." Louis answered.
"Whatever." Harry muttered.
"So, that's it? You're not gonna give me a second chance?" Louis wondered.
"I gave you one. You threw it away. It was an awkward fucking date anyway." Harry answered coldly.
"She ended our marriage through a fucking text! I needed closure. I know the timing was fucking bad and I'm truly sorry. Cut me some slack here. Yeah, it might have been an awkward date but as I said at the restaurant, I want to work on that because I really fucking like you!" Louis almost shouted.
"Nice way of showing it." Harry snorted.
Louis just turned around and walked out of the kitchen. Harry heard him roaming around in the spare room and five minutes later Louis returned with a bag over his shoulder.
"I'll find somewhere else to live.""Good." Harry replied, trying his best to contain himself from bursting into tears.
Louis put the keys on the table and walked out. As soon as the front door closed Harry couldn't hold back anymore and began to cry. He got up and headed to his bedroom where he crawled underneath the duvet.
An hour later he had managed to calm down. He needed a second opinion so he called Niall.
"Hi! How was the date?" Niall asked as soon as he answered the phone.Harry burst out crying again.
"Awful."He told Niall all about it.
"Am I overreacting?""Hell no! He just left you and went home with Eleanor?" Niall asked, sounding upset.
"Well, he gave me the keys to his car at least so I wasn't stranded." Harry answered.
"Oh, well. That makes everything better." Niall snorted sarcastically.
"So I'm not overreacting?" Harry had to ask once more.
"No. He could have talked to her some other time. I get that he needed closure but then he shouldn't have asked you out. Not before he was ready." Niall sighed. "I'm sorry, Harry." He added.
"Yeah." Harry mumbled.
They hung up and Harry spent the day in front of the TV. He got a text from Liam asking him if he was okay and informing him that Louis stayed at his place. He wondered what Louis had said. He answered that he was okay and that was the truth. He was disappointed and hurt but now he at least knew that he and Louis wouldn't work and he could finally try to move on.
A week went by and he didn't hear from Louis. It was probably for the better but a part of him was upset that Louis didn't even try to apologize again. He had messed up but it wasn't unforgivable. With some groveling Harry would definitely give him a second chance but Louis didn't seem interested in that. He missed him like crazy. They were friends first of all. Maybe he should reach out?
On Friday he had decided that he couldn't take the silent treatment anymore and hurried home from work. He was gonna go to Liam's and talk to Louis.
As he reached his floor he stopped in the stairwell. Louis was sitting on top of it waiting for him.
"Hi.""Hi. I know you don't wanna see me but I wanna talk to you." Louis said.
Harry's heart was pounding forcefully. Louis was here.
"I do wanna see you. Come on."He walked past Louis as he got up and headed to his apartment and unlocked the door. They took a seat in the living room. Harry waited for Louis to talk. Louis glanced at him and then he got up and started to pace.
"I hate this! I'm genuinely sorry, Harry, for ditching you at the restaurant. Can you please acknowledge that it's a sincere apology? I'm so fucking sorry, okay?""Okay." Harry replied. "Please, sit down. You're making me nervous."
Louis took a seat. Harry turned to look at him.
"I forgive you."Louis smiled, looking relieved.
"I've missed you!""I've missed you too." Harry answered. It was nothing but the truth.
"I need to explain why I did what I did. It's not an excuse, just an explanation." Louis said.
Harry just looked at him and waited for said explanation. Louis dragged a hand through his hair and sighed.
"Growing up me dad cheated on me mum. A lot!""Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Harry replied warmly.
"Yeah, so when El saw us at the restaurant and made assumptions of that sort I kind of panicked. Even if she dumped me in the way she did I didn't want her to think that I cheated on her while we were married. I'm nothing like me dad." Louis said.
"Of course not!" Harry immediately replied.
"And I owe you another apology. After El and I got married I kind of avoided you. That had nothing to do with you. I just tried to get over whatever feelings I had toward you because El deserved better than that, you know what I mean?" Louis continued.
"Well, I avoided you too for the same reason so that's okay." Harry chuckled.
Louis glanced at him.
"Right... So where does that leave us now? I would really like to take you out on a second date if you'd let me."Harry didn't know if that was such a great idea. It was too soon.
"I think we're better off as friends, for now."Louis looked really disappointed.
"Oh, okay. Yeah, you're probably right."
YOU ARE READING
The Divorce
FanfictionWhen Eleanor asks for a divorce through a text Harry immediately offers Louis to stay in his spare room. Having the friend he had been secretly in love with for ages by his side 24/7 is complicated, especially when Louis finally shows an interest i...