I Hate ( loving) You

13

Looking back on that night, he should've known.

Don't say it, Harry had said. He'd stopped Louis from saying the three words he had planned to, and then proceeded to make him forget by pressing his lips to Louis'.

But Louis didn't. He was stupid and ignorant and so in love and he didn't, didn't see the warning sign.

...

The next morning, Louis woke up with a yawn, stretching his limbs out, and expected to feel the warmth of a body next to his.

But the space beside him was cold.

He got up quickly, glancing around his bedroom. No sign of Harry. He peered down at the ground, searched under his bed. They had barely even stayed for the fireworks—they'd taken a taxi home and stumbled over to Louis' bedroom, a mess of tangled limbs, collapsing onto the bed together and discarding their clothes. But there was no trace of Harry's clothes lying around.

Louis sighed quietly, ignoring the strangely ominous feeling settling in his gut. The night had gone fairly well, in Louis' opinion, and Harry had no reason to hate Louis, right? Maybe he had just gotten up early to make breakfast. Louis quickly pulled on his clothes and headed out into the kitchen, but saw only Niall, sitting at the dinner table eating a bowl of cereal. "Hey, mate," Niall greeted with a wave and a mouth full of cereal. Louis smiled. "Morning," he replied, but his mind was preoccupied. "Where's Harry?"

"Dunno," Niall shrugged. "Got up early and went out for a walk, or something."

"Oh. Okay," Louis said with false cheer, pouring a bowl of cereal for himself. He wasn't worried or anything. Maybe he just needed fresh air and would be back any minute now. After all, this was Harry's own flat, he wouldn't be gone for long.

They ate quietly for a while, and then Niall spoke up. "So," he winked, "how was your date?"

Louis blushed. "What—it—it wasn't a date," he spluttered. "It was just—wait. Did Zayn tell you too?"

Niall shrugged. "Maybe."

"I'm going to kill him," Louis groaned. Now everyone but Harry knew about his giant moon-sized crush on Harry. "But yeah, we just went out for dinner and watched the fireworks. How about you?"

"Oh, I went to a party with a few of my mates, seeing as Zayn and Liam were too lovestruck to even leave the house," Niall said, rolling his eyes. "Great, now I'll always be the third wheel when I hang out with you lot."

"Well, no," Louis said, "I haven't exactly told Harry how I feel yet."

"Oh." Niall paused. "Well, you should."

"I know." Louis chewed thoughtfully on his cereal. "I just—I was going to tell him, but then he stopped me and told me not to say it, and then he kissed me and I forgot everything else. Embarrassing, I know," he laughed.

"Well, maybe he just needs time to think," Niall suggested. "He'll be back soon, don't worry."

"Yeah," Louis agreed. "I hope so."

But by the time the sky was dark, Harry still wasn't back. Louis had almost begun to worry that something bad had happened. Niall had gone to another party, Zayn and Liam were eating dinner together, and so Louis was left sitting alone on the couch, flicking through the channels, missing the presence of Harry cuddled up next to him.

He couldn't do this anymore, he decided, getting up quickly. He couldn't just sit around and wait and worry about what Harry was thinking and why he'd left and never came back. He put on a jacket, grabbed his keys, and headed out the door.