It's Complicated || Larry & Ziam [COMPLETED]

thirty-two

"You need to. She likes you, Li, and I don't want to see her get hurt."

"She'll live," Zayn said, a little jealously. He wasn't Sophia's biggest fan. "He's taken, anyway. She won't do anything."

"To her, he's single. She doesn't know that you guys are together because you won't tell anyone. If you want people to stop being interested in you two, you've got to tell people."

Liam glanced to his boyfriend. Louis was making a good point. Liam didn't say anything to prompt a response from Zayn, though, simply looking at him to check for any reaction. Zayn knew that he wanted to tell people, but he didn't seem to agree. Maybe this was what he needed to put over the edge.

"You can't just tell her that you're taken and leave it at that?" Zayn asked hopefully.

It was Louis instead of Liam who scoffed. "That's so stupid. You should tell her the full truth. There's no point in saying you're taken if you can't provide a name. She'd think you were coming up with a fake boyfriend just because you don't like her and you're lying about it. Plus, that's like a slap in the face to Liam. Just let him do it."

A long moment passed. Liam silently willed Zayn to agree as he subtly brushed his hand against Zayn's.

The other boy looked up at him. He looked troubled, but the way anyone looked when he was making an important decision. Zayn seemed to be asking him with his eyes if Liam really meant this, that he wants this, that after they tell Sophia they can't guarantee everyone else won't find out. Liam only smiled a little and nodded the tiniest bit. He wanted this.

"Okay," Zayn whispered, barely audible.

"Really?" Liam couldn't believe it. "Oh, my god, I'm going to die. Or freak out. Or start randomly dancing in celebration. I might have to kiss you—"

"Shh," Zayn said, laughing at Liam's joy. "Calm down, babe. Not worth a random celebratory dance. A kiss, maybe later. Afterwards."

"She wanted to talk to you, you know. Did Z tell you about that?"

"No?" Liam looked confused. "What'd she want?"

"She asked us if you were okay and if we'd tell you to talk to her."

"I feel bad now," Liam said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Why the hell should you feel bad?" Zayn asked. He sounded cynical and definitely jealous.

"She's not secretive about her feelings, Z. She probably thought I liked her, too, at some point. Taken or not, I feel bad that I led her on, even a little."

"You should just get it over with," Louis advised. "So you don't have to feel bad anymore. And so Zayn can see that it's not that bad telling someone."

"I hate you," Zayn said.

"The feeling's mutual."

Liam laughed. "I love you guys."

/ / / \ \ \

"Hey."

"Hi," Louis responded. "Everything alright?"

Harry shrugged. "As good as it can get."

"That's the spirit." Louis smiled. He had a plan, and he could only hope that Harry would let him go through with it. Luckily, it was Friday, and it was easy for them to have enough time. He also thanked everything for Harry cooperating when he asked him if he wanted a ride to school. "Am I driving you home, too?"

"If you'd like."

"I'd very much like."

When they'd gotten in the car and driven away from the school, Louis grinned. "Okay. Don't freak out, but we're not going to your house."

"Care to tell me where we're going, then?"

"I'll tell you when we get closer to there. I'm not kidnapping you, I swear."

Harry looked confused but chuckled a little. "Please don't kidnap me."

"I said I'm not, didn't I?"

"How long will I be in this car?"

"Uh... maybe an hour and a half, two hours tops."

"I don't think I can spend that much time at once with you in a car."

Louis grinned. "Shut up."

About a half hour later, Harry said, "Okay. Time to tell me where we're going."

"Alright. You've been pissed off and sad lately because you haven't seen your sister in weeks and you haven't always been able to talk to her. And, since nothing but a smile belongs on that beautiful face of yours, I'm going to take you to her."

"You're kidding," Harry deadpanned.

Louis shook his head, smiled, and allowed himself to make eye contact with him for a second before looking back at the road. "I'm not. And I hope you don't have plans, because I plan to stay at least for tonight and half of tomorrow."

"Louis! We can't just leave to go visit my sister! I haven't even told my mum where I am!"

"Relax, love. I already asked her permission, and she's fine with it. You really think I'd just tell you to get in the car because we're going to see your sister without asking your mum first?"

"Well, where do your parents think you're going?"

"They don't care where I go, as long as I'm back by the time they need me to look good for them. I'm fine."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I doubt they think that."

"Oh, trust me — they do. They've told me that before. But it doesn't matter, because I get to do things like this for my friends without having to worry about my parents."

"I can't decide if you're too nice or too weird."

Louis shrugged, feeling spontaneous and becoming aware of just how much this boy sitting in the passenger seat of his car meant to him. The spontaneity and not-knowing about it made Louis feel drunk on excitement. Harry made Louis drunk on excitement.

"Both," he answered, choosing not to mention his thoughts.

For the rest of the ride there, they listened to the playlists on Harry's phone (he had a weird but good music taste) and sang-slash-shouted to the lyrics to see who would start laughing first. It was great and fun and Louis would spend the rest of his life like this if he could.

When they pulled into a parking spot at the campus, Louis said, smiling, "I hope you know where exactly she resides here."

"I do," Harry replied, easily slipping his hand into Louis's as if it were something they did all the time. It felt familiar, and Louis was only a little bit surprised that he soon found he didn't mind it. He liked Harry's too-big hands and how they were warm and how they seemed to fit like a puzzle piece with Louis's much smaller ones. He even allowed himself to walk closely next to Harry, their upper arms brushing with nearly every step. Neither of them commented on it.

"How do you even know if she has time to talk to me? What if she's so overloaded with work that this was for nothing?"

Louis gently squeezed Harry's hand. "I already called her, too. She knows you're coming to see her, thanks to me."

"I owe you," Harry said.

"You don't." Louis smiled. "Let's go see your sister."