My heart is always yours || Larry Stylinson || One direction

Chapter 2: lyrical genius

October of 2010

Harry's POV

Tomorrow morning, we were scheduled to rehearse for our next performance. By some miracle, we managed to pull it off, though it required Zayn and Louis to sit in chairs the entire time due to their injuries. Honestly, it wasn't much of a setback; it's not like standing added much to our performance. Besides, we're singers, not dancers, and frankly, we were terrible at dancing.

Niall had tried to choreograph a few moves before, but it ended with Louis tripping over his own feet and Zayn complaining that we weren't a boy band trying to "look pretty." Liam had just shaken his head, muttering about how we'd get booed offstage if we even tried.

Niall kept cracking jokes in between takes, earning groans from everyone but still managing to lighten the mood. Liam, being the self-proclaimed leader, tried to keep us focused, but even he couldn't resist laughing when Louis and Zayn started bickering about who looked more ridiculous sitting still during the rehearsal.

Both of them looked stupid, especially Louis.

I got up to grab some water, sticking to warm water as usual to keep my voice steady. It's a little ritual I've gotten used to. But then, out of nowhere, someone bumped into me, causing me to spill a little.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," Louis said, his voice laced with that familiar, cocky tone.

I steadied myself, the glass of warm water still in my hand. I could feel the irritation creeping up again, but I bit my tongue. It wasn't worth starting another fight over something so small.

"It's fine," I said, trying to keep my voice neutral as I took a sip from the glass.

Louis raised an eyebrow, clearly sensing the tension in the air. "You sure about that, Styles? You look like you're about to explode any second."

I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the way his words got under my skin. "I'm fine," I repeated, though I couldn't help the slight edge in my tone.

Louis just smirked, his usual smugness creeping back into his expression. "Well, if you say so."

I took another sip of water, feeling the warmth of it slide down my throat, trying to center myself. But, of course, Louis wasn't going to make it easy. He leaned against the counter.

What does this weirdo want now?

"You know, you really should relax more. You've been tense all day. You are surprisingly patient. What's going on, Styles?"

His teasing was starting to get to me and my patience wearing thin. "Nothing's going on, Louis. Just drop it."

Louis chuckled, unfazed by my cold response. "Fine, fine. But you know, keeping all that stress inside isn't good for you."

I took a deep breath, trying to push past the irritation bubbling up inside me again. "I said drop it."

He smirked, leaning in a little closer. "What if I don't want to?"

"You're not going to drop it?" I shot back, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope," he said with that infuriating grin of his.

I put down the glass of water I'd been drinking, my patience running out. I locked eyes with him, smirked, and without warning, punched the cast on his arm.

"Ouch! What the fuck, Styles?!" he yelped, rubbing his cast dramatically.

I crossed my arms, leaning back slightly with a smug look on my face. "You asked for it."

As I walked away, I could hear him muttering to himself but I didn't care. At least I'd shut him up for a while.

Liam let out a long sigh, rubbing his temples in frustration. "Honestly, you two are like fire and gasoline. I don't know how you're even in the same band."