Rivals - L.S.

Sixteen - Shout it from the Rooftops

Two weeks had passed since Louis and Harry's late night break down. They made a silent agreement to forget about it, Louis not wanting to ever talk about his drinking and Harry happy to avoid his overwhelming doubts that surfaced as soon as he heard the interview. They felt like they were back to their happy selves again, back to hanging out and laughing and kissing like before. It sort of felt like that whole event pushed them forward, like it made everything fall into place for them.

The pair were now in the locker rooms. Everyone else had left, so they thought, and the boys stayed back to sit and chat. They just wanted a second together, everything had been so busy that they both just wanted to stop and breath.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, lads. I was wondering if I could steal Harry for a moment?" an innocent voice called, both Harry and Louis knowing that it was Calum right away.

Harry hesitated, not sure what to do. He didn't want to talk to Calum. He didn't want to leave Louis. It seemed like an easy no but Harry just couldn't bring himself to say it. "What is it?" he asked, standing up and brushing off his pants.

Calum glanced over at Louis before looking back at Harry. "Well, I wanted to know if you'd like to go to the batting cages with me. You're the team's power home run hitter, after all. I think it would be a good chance for us to be friends and for me to maybe learn a little from someone with such natural talent, like yourself," Calum explained with a shy smile.

Harry didn't believe it for one second. Especially not after Calum openly expressed interest in Louis. Why the hell would a famous American home run hitter want to take a lesson from Harry, who had barely been playing for a couple months? It just didn't add up. Harry looked over to Louis who couldn't have possibly seemed any more uncomfortable, he fidgeted with his fingers and had an awkward expression on his face. That was all Harry needed as reason to say no.

"Sorry Calum. I actually can't today. Maybe some other time?" he finally answered, even though there wouldn't ever be another time and he just said that as a curtesy.

Calum didn't looked convinced but nodded nonetheless. "Alright. Another time is good. See you two around," he said in a monotoned voice, hiding his annoyance as he slipped back out the door and into the hallway.

"You know, I really don't like that guy. I think he fancies you, and that's my job," Louis said with a pout, speaking up now that they were alone again.

Harry let out a shameless snort, shaking his head in disagreement. "Trust me, he doesn't give one shit about me. He told me to my face that he was interested in you. This is probably just some way to scope it out and see if we're together," he explained.

"He likes me?" Louis asked, continuing when Harry nodded in confirmation, "Well, bloody hell, can you blame him?" His tone was playful and a grin was on his face as he jumped to his feet, gesturing to his body.

Harry stepped towards Louis with a smile, trying not to laugh at how stupidly adorable the boy was. "Not when you look like that, I can't," he replied truthfully, pulling Louis to him.

Louis pressed a chaste kiss on Harry's lips before wrapping his arms around the taller boy. "But seriously. Forget about me, I still think he's into you," Louis mumbled against Harry's shoulder, "Looks like I need to step up my game. You know, assert my dominance. Mark my territory. Stuff like that."

"Mark your territory? What are you, a wolf?" Harry asked teasingly, pressing a kiss to Louis' jawline so he knew it was all in good fun.

Louis let out a light and airy laugh as he nodded his head. "I mean, ruff ruff, love," he replied simply.

"Lucky for you, I'm Team Jacob," Harry said jokingly as he felt a blush rise to his cheeks, "The whole territorial dominance thing is kind of hot too, so looks like you really should step it up." Harry kissed Louis' nose before wiggling out of his arms, a mock look of expectancy on his face as he grabbed his bag.

"You do? Think its hot, I mean?" Louis asked, sounding a little flustered.

This time Harry laughed and nodded his head.

"Well then, I suppose I should do something about it. Something that's been a long time coming," the brunette began, holding his hand out to Harry.

Harry slipped his larger hand in Louis' smaller one with an apprehensive expression. "Yeah?" he asked, feeling hopeful.

Louis had a wide smile on his pretty pink lips, the kind that lit up his whole face. "Haz, I shouldn't have been an ass all those time and made all of those mistakes but I did and you're still here. And, in all honesty, I'm head over heels for you, Har, even if I'm not too good at showing it. So, that brings me to a very important question," he trailed off and Harry knew Louis was building up suspense for theatrical effect, "Will you be my boyfriend? Officially? For the whole world to know?"

Harry felt his heart swell because those were just the words he had been dying to hear since the first time he and Louis went on a date. "Yes, Lou. A million times yes," he laughed, leaning in to kiss Louis hard.

Louis ran a hand through Harry's curly locks, mumbling against his lips, "Now there's just one last thing, love."

Harry pulled away to rest his forehead against Louis'. "What last thing?" he asked, confused because he felt like he already had everything he needed.

A grin took over Louis' face and he gave Harry's hand a squeeze. "I'm gonna tell the whole fucking world," he said cheerfully. Louis pulled back and started for the door, pulling Harry along with him who was laughing fondly.

They had barely made it outside and Harry could already see that Louis was being different with him. The blue eyed boy didn't let go of his hand when they made it past the doors. He didn't act like Harry's 'bro' in front of the crowds. He didn't try to avoid the cameras.

Instead, he walked right up to them.

"Louis, wait, I don't like this," Harry whispered uneasily, stopping in his tracks and tugging Louis back towards him. He still wasn't really over his last encounter, it resulted in a panic attack and it wasn't really one of Harry's finer moments. He didn't know if he was ready for it again.

Louis gave him a reassuring nod. "It's okay, I've got you. It's just something I need to do," he said softly, a gentle voice that Harry was relieved to hear.

Louis stepped up onto a nearby bench, pulling Harry up with him. All of the paparazzi took notice of them now, cameras flashing and people recording and everyone shouting. The older boy didn't seem phased though.

"Hi everybody! I'm Louis Tomlinson, this is my lovely Harry Styles! Today, something very important happened and I kind of just feel like shouting it from the roof tops. But, I don't particularly like heights so this is the next best thing," Louis winked, running his thumb along Harry's hand, "Today is the day that Harry Styles became my official boyfriend. I'm not going to hide anymore because, I mean, come on, look at him. He's gorgeous, am I right? We are dating and he's all mine!"

The paps were already yelling questions and opinions and were on the phones with their employers to share the big news. But, it was like Harry couldn't even hear them- the good things or the bad. He was too happy to care what they thought because he had Louis and Louis was proud to show him off and that was all that mattered.

Harry leaned over to cup Louis' cheeks in his hands, Louis responding by kissing him hard. It was passionate and happy and everything hing Harry could have wanted.

It was Harry and Louis, Louis and Harry, and it was nice not to care who knew.

**I love this chapter. I mean, come on, Larry is official! What's not to love? Anyways, tell me what you think about it! I'd love some feedback, leave me a comment telling me what you think! Thanks for all of the support so far. Lots of big chapters coming up! xx