Under The Limelight ⇢ Larry

Ch 3: So Much Has Happened

-Narrator's POV-

Months Later...

Louis didn't understand how it happened. At one moment Harry was a total stranger and the next, he had become Louis' whole world. The past few weeks had been a total whirlwind and it was already almost impossible to remember Harry as the boy he didn't know, as just another guy he was competing against.

Yes, Louis had broken up with Hannah. Louis needed to focus on his career right now, he couldn't deal with a long distance relationship, even if they could've been sent home in the next upcoming week, only. But it's not like Louis actually thought he might've had any chance with Harry...

It was amazing how close all of them had become, really, but there was something with Harry that felt bigger and brighter, altogether different in a way Louis couldn't figure out. And he didn't have the chance to try, because there is no time to question any of it. The days rushed past in a blur of spotlights and screams and camera flashes, rehearsals and performances, interviews and autographs. Even in their small amounts of downtime back at the house, it was never truly quiet - there was always some sort of drama or excitement going on, distractions and the bustle of activity, noise and crowds.

So there was no time to think; there was just Harry. Harry was suddenly and overwhelmingly important, a constant fixture in his mind and in his life. He was always there, but somehow it was not enough and Louis ached for something more and didn't know why, just wanted to be close to him at all times. He found himself intensely aware of the brief moments when they were separated - antsy if Harry nipped off to the loo while they were all watching a movie, relaxing when he returned. It didn't make any sense, how quickly he'd become so vital, how suddenly and desperately Louis needed him to be near, and how - somehow - he still seemed far away.

He began to find himself making excuses to touch him. All five of them were tactile people, but Louis gravitated more towards Harry than any of the others. He could barely help it; at times it felt like his body moved of its own accord, shifting even closer, reaching an arm out around Harry's shoulder or pulling him into impromptu hugs. And there was something about the reaction he got, the way Harry lit up, that made something warm and eager grow in his heart. Harry welcomed it, and initiated it almost as often, seeking Louis out in the crowds and pulling him close, until Louis had got it all memorised; the lines of Harry's body and the warmth of his skin, the smell of his hair. Things he shouldn't know, perhaps - the particular jut of Harry's hips and the feel of the small of his back, the way he smelled a little different when he was feeling under the weather.

There were things he couldn't avoid learning, he told himself, living like this, the five of them in each other's pockets all the time - but if he noticed the same things about any of the other boys, he didn't attach any significance to them, didn't feel that clench in his stomach when any of the others touch him, embrace him, fall asleep on his shoulder in the car. There was something about Harry's attention that he positively craved; he'd act like an idiot just to get Harry to laugh, just to see that stupid grin split his face and his eyes light up. He would talk sometimes just so Harry would listen, just so he could feel Harry's eyes focused on him. He didn't like it in the interviews and the diaries, when they couldn't just mess about, when they had to focus on something besides each other. He didn't like it when Liam frowned at him if he and Harry got distracted - which they do, often, giggling about something that's not even funny, something they'd forget in five minutes, something that seemed special in the moment if only because they were sharing it; it was theirs.

He talked about Harry too much when he calls his mum; she sometimes teased him about Harry being his "boyfriend" and his stomach twists and his face goes hot.