Since We Were Eighteen

Chapter 4

Louis is sitting crossed legged on the bed while Harry gets dressed for their night out casino hopping. He watches as Harry grabs shirt after shirt, holding them up to see if they work, only to throw them back into his bag.

Louis' eye catches on one of the many tattoos that litter his skin. "You still have it."

Harry glances up from his heart covered dress shirt. "Still have what?"

Louis moves to the end of the bed, so that his feet hang off the edge and Harry is almost between his legs. He reaches out to grab Harry's left arm and lifts it. His finger rests on the tattoo resting on his bicep. It's a small Hi written in Louis' own hand writing.

Harry pulls his arm back. "Oh, that."

Louis reaches over again and grabs his arm. "Yeah, that."

Harry shakes his head. "Just because you fell out of love with me doesn't mean that I fell out of love with you just as quickly."

Louis' heart drops. Out of love? Out of love? Harry thinks I fell out of love with him? "Harry, I ─"

Harry cuts him off before he can even get the words out of his mouth. Before he could tell him that there was no way in fucking hell that he could have ever fallen out of love with him. That these past five years have been the hardest years of his life. That yes, he is marrying Eleanor, but that it is in no way what he saw happening in his life. That the person he always saw standing next to him wasn't a tall beautiful girl, but a tall beautiful boy with dimples. Fucking hell.

"C'mon they are waiting on us."

Louis tries to keep his distance from him while they are walking down to meet the boys. He keeps trying to figure out ways to get it through Harry's head just how much he wants to change what happened, he can't. He wrote the letter for a reason and it didn't help. What could he do now?

They started in the Bellagio and made their rounds. Bouncing from slot machine to black jack tables, enjoying the free alcohol that seemed never ending. Louis watched as Harry took selfies with one of the showgirls at Treasure Island. He absolutely did not find it adorable in anyway what so ever. He didn't.

He could feel the effects of the bourbon he had been drinking. They had somehow found their way to the other side of the strip where Caesar's Palace towered over the street. They made their way inside, marble floors glinted back up at them. Harry had disappeared shortly after arriving.

"Where the hell is Harry?" Zayn asked as he looked around at where they were standing.

"And where did Niall go?" Louis put in.

A few moments later a boisterous yell came from the direction of the craps table.

"Are you having flashbacks to Grandma Horran and bingo nights too?" Zayn says, giving Louis a side glance.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Louis answered as another yell flowed through the casino again.

They made their way over to where a group of people were gathered around a long table. Louis could barely make out the bleach blonde hair that was Niall and the curly hair that belonged to Harry. The closer they got to the table the louder the group got. Niall held two dice in his hand, he tossed one at the wall and it landed with a thump. Louis watched as Harry launched himself at Niall who was leaning so far back Louis was sure he'd hurt his spine.

"Cash in! Cash in!" Harry was saying over the roar of the standing crowd.

Niall nodded and grabbed a hand full of chips in his hand. People patted his back and said congrats. He was sure some girl even slipped something into his pocket. Niall glanced at her clearly unimpressed. By the time they caught up with the two boys, Niall's cheeks were pink and his skin was sweaty. Harry's arm was wrapped around his shoulder.