18 (Narry AU)

Twenty One

Louis thought he had been careful. He thought he had been clever about how he snuck around with Calum. All of Louis's friends were working that night, and he could've sworn Liam was going to be working since he almost always was tied up in his work. 

But Louis was wrong this time. He had been caught and by Liam of all people. He could see the hurt written on his face. He was ashamed, and when the man let him and Calum off the ride, he almost didn't want to get up. 

Sophia and Liam stood at the exit waiting. Louis didn't know what he was going to do. He didn't want Calum to know the truth and hate him forever. But as he got closer to Sophia and Liam, he knew everything was about to fall apart.

"Louis,"Sophia said in a stern voice. Louis took a deep breath and released Calum's hand, walking over to the two of them.

"Uh... hey." Sophia glared at him while Liam avoided eye contact. He didn't know what to do, what to say.

"Who's this, Lou?" Calum asked with a smile on his face, putting his chin on Louis's shoulder.

"Uh..." Louis basically froze then. 

"Come on, Louis," Sophia pushed, "tell him about us."

"I.."

"Soph, just leave him alone," Liam whispered. "Let's just go."

"No," Sophia refused. "This isn't right, what you're doing."

"I know-"

"You clearly don't," Sophia said angrily. "I get it. You were jealous, but Jesus, Louis; grow up. This isn't fair to Liam or him." Sophia nodded her head over in Calum's direction. "Does he even know? I bet he doesn't."

"Know what?" Calum asked.

"Did you know that Louis met his soul mate months ago." Calum shook his head while Sophia rolled her eyes. "Figures. This is Liam, Louis's soul mate. And Louis is a childish little prick who only cares about himself."

"You told me you hadn't met your soul mate yet," Calum said in a sad tone. "Why would you lie to me?" 

"I... I'm sorry," Louis said, tears coming to his eyes. "I do like you, Calum. I really really do. But yeah, I like Liam, too. And... I lied because - well - Liam has two soul mates! Do you know how unfair it is? It's hard seeing him be with her. They've been together for years, then suddenly I'm stuck in the middle. I hate it. How am I supposed to be okay with it?"

"I'm okay with it!" Sophia shouted. "I've known since I met Liam that he had another soul mate out there, and it didn't bother me. And when he brought you home, I was ready to welcome you with open arms."

"I'm sorry," Louis whispered. "I... I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything," Sophia told him. "We're leaving. Have fun, asshole." And with that Sophia and Liam walked off. Louis sighed, wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"Cal-"

"Why?" Calum asked. "Why'd you do this to me? I really liked you, Louis. I just... I can't talk to you right now. I'm going home." As Calum walked off, Louis tried to follow behind him but got stuck in a crowd as Calum forcefully pushed his way through, running. Louis stopped and sat on a nearby bench, pulling his knees up to his chest as he let the tears fall down his face.

~

Things were going really good for Harry. The following week, he went into the recording studio where he met with a couple music producers. They agreed to start writing with him, and even gave him the demo to a song they had previously written.