You Think I Hate You? (Larry Stylinson AU) Stepbrothers

Chapter 29

[Harry]

I stared at him with wide eyes, my mouth hanging open. Did I just hear what I thought I heard? "I-- what?"

He let out another chuckle. "Well, I'm not blind. You aren't very subtle, you know?"

Placing my hands over my face, I shook my head in exasperation. "God, you weren't supposed to find out. Not you, not anyone," I sighed.

"Does he feel the same, though?"

I turned to look at him, dropping my hands to my lap. Since he already knew about my feelings for Louis, would it hurt if he knew about our relationship as well? I mean sure, Louis was probably going to be pissed if he found out, but I also knew Liam was someone I could really trust.

So, deciding that it wouldn't hurt and that this was the perfect opportunity for me to finally vent to someone about... well, everything, I admitted; "Yeah, you could say so, I guess."

He looked a bit surprised by this, and I would too if I were him because there was literally no evidence that we had something going on. We hadn't shown any signs of it at school. The only thing people knew about us was that we despised each other, so the fact that we had feelings for one another would probably shock everyone. Additionally, Louis had been dating Eleanor for about two years now, so that fact certainly made it even harder to believe. "Wow. That's... well, that's something," was the only thing he said.

I bit my bottom lip, hoping that he wouldn't be grossed out about it. I mean, it wasn't exactly a normal thing that stepbrothers dated. "Yeah. Do you... do you think it's disgusting?" I had to ask, not being able to stop myself.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "No, of course not. I mean, you aren't blood-related or anything, so why should I? Sure, it's a bit weird since your parents are dating, but you aren't real siblings, so it shouldn't matter. It's just... I didn't expect it, I guess. I always thought Louis was straight."

So did I until I found out he'd had feelings for me since we were best friends two years ago... "Yeah, me too. I'm glad you aren't grossed out about it, though. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if my best friend turned against me."

He gave me a small smile, nudging his shoulder against mine playfully. "I would never do that, Harry. Best friends forever, right?" He smirked, making me laugh.

"Definitely," I agreed.

We were quiet for a while after that, just watching the game in silence until Liam decided to break it. "So, if you're with Louis now, why are you dating Niall?" He wondered curiously.

Looking down at my fiddling hands on my lap, I let out a sigh. "I'm kind of asking myself the same thing."

From the corner of my eye, I could see him looking at me in confusion, clearly not getting it. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it hasn't exactly been easy between me and Louis, you can say. It took a while until we accepted the fact that we liked each other, and... I guess I tried to be with Niall to get over him, but that's when Louis decided he wanted to give us a try..." I trailed off.

"And now you don't want to hurt Niall's feelings?" Liam finished, slowly putting the puzzle pieces together.

I nodded in agreement, letting out another sigh. "I don't know what to do. I can't hurt him by telling him it's over, yet I'm hurting him even more by staying with him, making him think that I feel the same way."

Liam thought for a while until giving me a look of understanding. "I get what you mean. It's a difficult situation you've put yourself in. However, I think the best thing you can do is to tell him the truth. Sure, he might be hurt and feel like he's been used, but in the end, he's going to be happy you told him sooner rather than later."