i love you (it's ruining my life) » l.s.

eight

Louis never thought it was possible to be in a terrible mood for several weeks in a row, but he proved to himself that it was. Since Harry had walked out on him and ignored every single one of his phone calls and texts until he figured out that the omega had flown back to Paris, he'd been quietly brooding on his own. All of his free time was spent in his flat, hiding away from the world so he didn't have to engage with anyone. The only thing that got him out of bed was the new album. He focused all of his energy on writing and recording, and now the band was down to the last song and stuck on which one it should be.

"I like 'Echoes of Yesterday'," Christian said. "I think it turned out alright, don't you?"

"Alright isn't going to cut it," Louis said to him. "It needs to be amazing."

"But we've been at it for weeks, Louis," Ziggy chimed in. "It's going to be December soon and I want to go back home for the holidays."

"If your priorities are elsewhere, Zig, then I suggest you figure that out and let us know."

Ziggy glared at him. "Don't fucking come at me, mate. I'm just trying to be helpful. We can't be sitting here on our arses and not go over the options we've got."

"I agree with Ziggy," Niall added sheepishly. "What about 'Rise Again' or 'Crimson Skies'? Those were pretty good, too."

"Again, pretty good and alright won't cut it," Louis said as he stood up from his seat and stretched. "I need time to think. I'm going out for a smoke break."

"I'll join you," Felix said, following him out the door and up the stairs of the studio.

Outside, the crisp November air nipped at Louis' skin as he cupped his hand around his cigarette, covering it from the wind, and lit it up. He sucked in a lungful of the smoke and exhaled, willing his body to let out all the emotional despair he'd been feeling for the last six weeks. The streets were relatively quiet, with only a few people walking by since it was pretty late into the night. Felix stood a few feet away from Louis, giving him space and probably wanting to avoid his wrath. Louis didn't blame him. He'd been terrible company of late.

The worst part was that he couldn't even go to Paris to fix things with Harry. The label was expecting the album and Felix had used his connections to get them this studio time. They were all obligated to be here and work despite whatever was going on in their private lives. Louis had tried explaining that to Harry but, considering his silence, it seemed Harry didn't want to hear him out. The alpha suspected his number was blocked because his messages soon started to come back undelivered.

It pissed him off if he was being honest. His ego was taking a giant hit and he couldn't understand how someone could be so unwilling to hear him out. While he was falling apart in this city, Harry was travelling to other ones, posting all about it on his social media, almost like he was mocking Louis and showing him how much better off and unbothered he was.

Bitterly, Louis took out his phone as he leaned against the wall behind him. He opened Instagram and went to the search bar where Harry's profile was already at the top from how often he'd done it. He clicked on it like a masochist, eager for any new updates on what the omega was up to. There were no new stories, but there was a new post on his feed. Louis clicked on it so he could take a better look and the very sight of it had Louis wanting to throw his phone across the road and smash it to pieces.

Harry had posted a picture of himself and Tyler on a beach with the sun setting in the background while the two kissed passionately. The location was tagged as St. Tropez and the caption read "boyfriend" with a pink heart next to it.

Louis' jaw set tightly, teeth grinding audibly as he tried to hold back an anguished growl. Bile rose in his throat and his stomach felt hollow and heavy at the same time, like someone was carving him out. A few days ago, when he couldn't stop thinking about Harry and even his social media updates weren't giving him the fix he needed, he opened his Find My app. He was sure Harry stopped sharing his location with Louis, but to his surprise, it was still on. Louis zoomed in on Harry's location and found that he was in London at some bar called The Black Dog. At the time, Louis didn't think much of it, but now he wondered if Harry was there with Tyler. If he'd been with Tyler all this time while Louis had been here alone, desperately trying to mend his pierced heart.