Against One's Wishes

Chapter 15

Louis is waking up a few days later, being thankful Alice is leaving New York soon for at least a little while... he hopes for months, however.

He's crawling out of bed and glancing at his clock, knowing he's supposed to meet Alice in just under an hour. He hasn't meant to sleep so long... but after the long night with Harry the night before, Louis is surprised he's even awake at 9 am.

He mindlessly gets ready; he takes a quick shower, finds himself clothes, and is leaving his apartment in under 35 minutes.

Louis has only one thought on his mind: to get this over with.

He sits through brunch with Alice, listening to her going on about patterns and colors for a wedding... their wedding. Louis doesn't really say much. His eyes only glance down at his wine glass every so often.

Alice doesn't even seem to notice how uncomfortable Louis is... and Louis is honestly thankful for that. He doesn't see how Harry could act out this life... he struggles to act for only a couple of hours.

It's going on noon when Louis is leaving Alice with her parents; he tells her that he's going to help Harry at rehearsal again and that he'll be back in a few hours.

Thankfully, Louis sells it well enough for Alice and her parents to believe him. He breathes a sigh of relief before he's hailing a taxi.

He tells the driver Harry's address and then he sits back in the seat, staring at all of the passing buildings.

His mind wanders back to his and Harry's conversation about camping; he smiles to himself thinking about it.

He honestly can't wait to have Harry all to himself, where no one will find them. There's always doubt in the back of Louis' mind, but he chooses not to listen to it.

He knocks on Harry's door and waits, letting out a deep sigh. He glances back at the door as it comes open... Harry smiles at him beautifully and holds the door for Louis.

"Already back?" He smirks.

Louis shrugs and smiles while Harry is closing the door. "I... I'd rather be here than with her. I'm sorry..."

"Stop," Harry points at Louis, "don't apologize."

"You said you didn't have plans," Louis states.

"I don't," Harry replies while he's walking to the kitchen. He grabs a glass and fills it with water before glancing back at Louis. "Does she act any different around you at all?"

"What do you mean?" Louis asks confused.

"Like she knows something," Harry replies.

"Uh, no," Louis says, "why?"

"I figured if she knew something wasn't right about you that she would know by now," Harry shrugs and drinks the water.

"You mean, you thought she would figure out that I'm not straight?" Louis asks.

"Yeah, that," Harry nods.

"What?" Louis laughs, "come on, Harry. I can act the part quite well, thanks."

"I didn't say you couldn't," Harry looks back at him, "I just meant that... sometimes women pick up on things, if you know what I mean."

"I get it," Louis nods and bites his lip, "sort of like Meredith."

"Meredith has been a friend of mine for a while," Harry sighs, "she's... she's been around Ben. She sees it... now anyways."

"She sees what exactly?" Louis crosses his arms. "Does she really think that Ben loves you?"