Against One's Wishes

Chapter 16

Harry sees the sunlight coming in his window the very next morning and he's immediately feeling all the pressure in his head; he's wishing he hadn't drank so much.

He groans a little before he's glancing beside him and seeing Ben sound asleep.

"Bastard," he mumbles to himself and falls over on his back. He somehow guessed that Ben would find the way to his bed.

He sighs and sits up slowly; he finds a joint in his nightstand and lights it quickly, hoping that it cures his hangover.

He exhales his hit when his phone begins ringing. He's answering it as fast as possible so that Ben doesn't wake.

"Hello," he says softly.

"Hey, love," he hears that familiar Doncaster accent on the other end and his heart is swelling immediately. "I, uh, I wanted to call and apologize..."

"You don't have to apologize, Lou," Harry's quick to tell him in a gentle tone, "we... we both said a lot of shit."

"Yeah, but, I shouldn't have left like that last night," Louis replies lowly, "it was very immature of me. You didn't deserve it."

Harry bites his lip and looks over his shoulder at Ben still sleeping. "Yeah, well, the truth hurts... but, you were right... about everything."

"Uh, I'm having breakfast with Alice soon," Louis speaks up again, "I thought that maybe you'd like to join us."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Harry manages to say, "what time?"

"9:30 at the restaurant near Central Park. She loves the place," Louis almost groans before he's snickering quietly, "I can't wait to ask about Niall."

"You're going to ask her about him?" Harry asks with a chuckle. "Oh my god."

"Why not?" Louis giggles into the phone. "Hey, you can put in a good word for him."

"Yeah," Harry laughs and shakes his head.

"What's the time?" Ben speaks up, Harry looking at him.

"If... if you're busy, you don't have to come," Louis tells him in a low voice.

"I'm not," Harry sighs and shakes his head, "the asshole is leaving, trust me."

"Uh, I'll see you at 9:30?" Louis asks quietly.

"Yeah," Harry replies, his voice cracking. "See you then."

He hangs up the phone and closes his eyes, wishing with everything in him that he could just wake up to Louis' face every morning.

"I'll leave," Ben says while he's getting up slowly. "You obviously have plans."

"I told you to fucking leave last night," Harry says flatly and glares at Ben. "Why didn't you?"

"Because... I knew you didn't wanna be alone," Ben replies quietly. "I get that you were pissed..."

"No," Harry shakes his head and stands up, "I'm not pissed. I'm really not. I just can't get through to you. You don't fucking listen to me..."

"I do listen," Ben nods, "but last night... you didn't sound like yourself. At all."

"Why's that? Because I wasn't being the naive little kid you fell for?" Harry smarts off as he places his hands on his hips. "Forgive me for growing up and seeing through your bullshit."

"Really?" Ben chuckles some, "you grew up that much in a week's time? Please. Spare me, Harry."

"No, I've finally had enough," Harry states seriously. "I don't want you even coming to the plays..."