Look After You

Chapter 16

   "Oh, son of a bitch!" Louis shouted now that he was free to swear without Harry's chastising glares of correction. The frustration had boiled over the edge when he couldn't find what he was searching for. His eyes scanned over the living room and he quickly scowled when it wasn't there. "Where in the hell!?" Louis quickly bounded up the stairs, avoiding a glance into the now empty room as he walked angrily into his own. 

   'It wasn't me...it wasn't me.' The ring tone signalling that Liam was calling, chosen because when Liam usually called it meant Louis was in trouble, interrupted his frustrated mumbles. "Hello?" Louis growled into the phone as he flipped through his closet for, what seemed like, the sixteenth time. He hoped that magically the jumper would've just appeared each time he opened the door.

   "Whoa, mate! Bad timing?" Liam asked, sounding concerned.

   "No...no, sorry. I was just uh...watching the Bachelorette and she got rid of the bloke that I wanted to win!" Louis lied with a smirk on his face, hoping he sounded less angry.

   "Oh no! She canned David?! He was the only one that really cared--"

   "Uh, Liam?" Louis tried to contain the laughter that was rumbling in his chest.

   "Yeah?"

   "I was just joking, mate..." Louis let the laughter escape from his lips as he stopped flipping through his clothes to catch his breath. "Now I know what Danielle makes you watch when she's over!"

   "Shut up, Lou!" Liam chuckled himself at the awkward situation. "So, how's living on your own?"

   And the smile was quickly ripped off of Louis' face and replaced with a pathetically fake grin. "It's great...really fancy the 'me' time."His tone oozed fake as he returned to viciously ripping through his closet.

   "Harry said the same thing...in the same tone," Liam laughed at how identical the two were. "You just gotta get use to it."

   Louis smirked thinking that Harry was having a rough time on his own, but immediately  felt guilty at the joy he was receiving from the thought. "Yeah, mate. Takes some getting use to. It's so quiet, even with me here!" Louis sighed, sitting on the edge of his bed in defeat.

   Liam scoffed at the comment before continuing the conversation, "so are we still on for tonight? Niall won't shut up about it." Liam smiled and shushed the muttered Irish accent in the background.

   "Yeah, yeah come on over around six-ish? We'll order a pizza or something." Louis smiled, glad he was going to have some company.

   "Great! We'll see ya later, mate! Love ya!"

   "Love ya too, man." Louis dropped the phone onto the mattress beside him after the line went dead.

   Ever since Harry had moved out, Louis had fallen into a lonely funk. A really lonely funk. He tried to keep himself as busy as possible, he even began to spend more time with Eleanor. He hated eating alone. Usually, he'd ask one of the boys, or multiple, to join him for dinner. And if he felt too clingy, or if they had other plans, he wouldn't eat at all. He honestly couldn't function without Harry.

   He snapped out of his daze and quickly remembered his task at hand. Did I let anybody borrow it? He thought hard before he groaned, "Harry!" He shot off of the bed and ran into the bare and abandoned room. The only thing left was a mattress, a gift Louis' mom had bought for him as a house warming gift, which he gladly let harry use, and an extra dresser. "And my jumper!"

   He knew it was a long shot, but it was his favorite sweater. He opened the closet, empty. He opened all the drawers, empty. He crawled over to the bed and lifted the blanket that hung over the frame. Under the bed, empty. Except for a small notebook shoved towards the darkest corner. Louis scrunched his face into a puzzled expression as he reached his arm out and searched blindly for the notebook.  Harry must've left it. His finger tips eventually landed on the smooth cover and he yanked the book out.

   He sat on the edge of the useless bed and examined the notebook. The cover was orange and bent a little towards the corners and the spiral spine was flattened and abnormally shaped. Maybe it's Curly's diary! Louis smiled at the treasure he held in his hands. I'm gonna have so much dirt on Harold now! He quickly began to flip through the blue-lined pages and his face began to fall when he realized all the pages were blank. Until he reached the last page.

   There was a long letter addressed to 'Louis Tomlinson' and his eyes began to scan the recognizable handwriting. His heart beat increased with each sentence he read, each confession. He wasn't meant to read this, but he couldn't look away. Every wish he had was coming true within this letter and Louis couldn't hold back the tears that trickled down his cheeks. A smile curled his lips upward as he came to the end of the letter and he saw the unforgettable signature. Harry Styles.