I Hate You (Larry Stylinson) ✅

30. rooftop

May 20

Harry's POV

a/n: hello! a big thank you to everyone still reading :D hope you've been enjoying the story

"Harry, where are we going?" Louis whines, tugging at the bottom of my blazer. We just got off work and since we did so well on the Adidas project, I figured I would take him out for a special date.

"Shhhh, it's a surprise love," I reply, turning to plant a kiss on his forehead. Words cannot describe how beautiful he looks right now. His hair has really started to grow out and his fringe is falling into his eyes a little. I sweep it to the side as I kiss him and brush a hand over his stubble. Louis closes his eyes and I wrap an arm around his waist.

Louis is wearing a light blue button down with black trousers, both of which we picked up yesterday, and he looks amazing in them. After our experience at the mall, he went to therapy and really worked through it to figure out what was bothering him so he could have a better experience shopping next time.

"My therapist told me that I, um, haven't accepted my body yet," Louis explained last week. "It's embarrassing. I know. But I have to kind of tell myself that I don't look bad. Not even that I look good - just that i look okay."

"Well that makes sense, baby. It's kind of like a stepping stone. To go from hating yourself, to feeling just okay about yourself, to liking yourself," I replied as I put the dishes away.

"Yeah, and once I get exercise back next week I can start toning up a bit, so that'll help a ton," Louis said. I sensed excitement in his voice, as i know how much he was dying to go back to working out. But to be honest, i wasn't sure it was the best idea. His exercise addiction had been pretty strong, and I don't want him to fall back into the cycle.

"That's good, honey. But be careful, yeah?" I said. "What kind of exercise are you gonna do?"

"I don't know yet. It's almost football season, so I'll probably join back up for summer training," he replied. "But yeah, i know i can't push myself too much. I could get obsessed again."

"Mhm," I replied. "We don't want that."

"Yeah. Hey, Harry you should join the team! We're looking for new players," he suggested with a grin.

"Very funny Lou," I said, rolling my eyes. "You know very well that there's not an athletic bone in my body."

"It would be fun though. Maybe you can be goalie," Louis suggested.

"No. If anything I would be defense," I replied. "But we shall see. Maybe I will join."

After Louis told me about his therapy session, he started practicing his body acceptance a bit. His therapist suggested looking at himself in the mirror for two minutes each day. He didn't even have to do anything - just look at himself. If he had any negative thoughts, he would force himself to ignore them. Eventually, he would work his way up to saying positive things about his body. But for now, the goal was to think literally nothing.

After a week, Louis seemed to be doing a lot better.

"Babe," he called one day from the bedroom. I was in the living room watching TV and doing a bit of cleaning before James came over.

"What is it?" I asked, following him into the bedroom.

"I feel a bit better now," he said, shyly. He stood next to the mirror, clad in his underwear and socks. "I mean, I don't love it, but i don't feel as awful as I did before... I think I can do this. Go shopping now."

"That's incredible, babe! I'm so happy for you!" I replied, throwing my arms around him.

And so we went shopping a few days later. I was so proud of Louis for overcoming his fear, but I didn't want to push him like I did last time. This time around, I let him choose everything himself, and didn't pry for him to show me when he tried on the clothes.