Picture Perfect | Larry Stylinson

Eighteen

Dedication: @colorful_louis bc i love your username :) 

**WARNING: Louis is going to come across as a complete asshole in this chapter. This doesn't project my view about him at all. I think he's a sweet little muffin that would never act like this towards anyone. Also, I am not mocking sociopaths.

Louis knew that Harry was thinking the worst, obviously by the way he reacted. Part of him felt kind of bad because he knew that it was going to put Harry into a tailspin, but in the same breath, his open-ended comment to him was meant to be kind of a push for him to talk to Ellie. It was evil and wrong of him to say that, but he didn't regret it. Harry was of the thinking that Louis was mad at him over what he had said, which he still kind of was, but he was going to keep playing the game.

He hadn't even told Ellie about them dating. He didn't say a word about any type of relationship. She had heard his comment and was most likely confused by what he meant, but he didn't give half a fuck. She would put it all together when they were finally public with their relationship. But he didn't get a chance to explain that to Harry because he had flipped shit at him and stormed off like a child having a tantrum.

Would he have even explained it to him if given the chance? He didn't know. But he knew as soon as Harry was aware, he would feel like an absolute dumbass and then wouldn't think of Louis as such a monstrous person. It was falling into place, the plan was. He had a whole idea of what he wanted to happen. He was certainly walking on a tightrope and risking it all by being such a dickhead by playing these mind games, but he had a few tricks to redeem himself and he knew they would work. Harry was easily readable and predictable. Louis knew how Harry's brain would work when he put his plan into motion and he was going to get what he wanted.

Louis Tomlinson would no longer be viewed as a reckless and washed up actor - he would be a settled down, serious actor. With this, people would see that he's ready to get his career back and make a name for himself with a new reputation.

With that, he set down his glass of Scotch and walked over to the hotel's closet, picking out an outfit that would make him look as though he was disheveled and a little heartbroken like everything was 100 percent real and genuine. He was an actor. He was going to milk the role of "boyfriend" to the best of his abilities. Hell, he would nominate himself for an Oscar if he could.

He found a wrinkly hoodie that he had purposely left in a pile, along with an old pair of sweatpants. He ran his hands through his well-groomed hair, now looking like he was distressed. There was more things that he could do and he had been doing plenty of research on Youtube on how to execute it as realistic as he could. He went over to the plastic bag sitting on the ottoman by the door, grabbing out the two contouring palettes and brushes that he had picked up. He opened the fresh new makeup and swiped the brush through one of the colors, brushing it underneath his eyes. He was going to make it so it looked like he had bags under his eyes. Nothing too dramatic or extremely noticeable since Harry had seen him earlier, but just enough so he looked like he had lost a little bit of sleep.

Once he was finished, he examined his work in the mirror, a small smile gracing his face. It wasn't too bad for his first attempt. Granted, he did have a little experience from when he was on his TV show as well, but that had been ages ago and someone else did it. He just simply observed. He was just a fast learner was all.

He shoved his phone into his pocket along with his wallet. The good part about where he was staying was that it was in reasonable walking distance to Harry's apartment and being that he was just visiting unannounced, he didn't need to call a cab or an Uber. Plus a walk through the fresh air would do him good anyway.

The sky above him was a medium hue of indigo, the lights from the various billboards and city lights making it seem darker. If he would have been anywhere else in London, he would've been nervous about walking himself, but his route was a rather straight shot and there weren't too many shady looking characters around.