Catfish [l.s] (boyxboy)

IM Experimenting

hiiiiiii guys. i'm back from vacation now so i can write decent length chapters again, yayy.

i also am reading works by the people who said they were interested in co-writing with me. give me a few more days, yeah? i'll be done with everyone's by then. 

also, huge huge hugeeeeeeeeeeeeee thank you to every single one of you because catfish is ranked number 360 in fan fiction and I got my FIRST EVER TEEN FICTION RANK at number 506. that's huge to me. do you know how many fan/teen fictions there are? do you know how difficult it is to rank? if you don't, let me fill you in - there is a lot, and it's hard as hell. so thank you so so much, I'm so excited! I can't wait to add it to my list of achievements and I am happy to see people are enjoying the story.

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So, Louis remembers. 

He remembers everything perfectly.

Harry remembers too, so, Louis is kind of sort of screwed. Harry wants to talk to Louis when he gets done with his shower, which is any minute now. Louis is biting his thumb nail and trying to pay attention to Liam as he tells Louis some story about his missing sock, but really, he's too worried about Harry to even breathe.

"So then I found it behind the drier- Louis. You're not listening to me."

"Yes I am. Sock. Dryer. Sock fairy. Should I be taking notes?"

"No, you should be looking at me instead of staring at the wall like you're trying to burn a hole through it," Liam huffs, "What's bothering you so much anyway?"

"Well, gas prices have been really high lately," Louis shrugs, purposely staring Liam down until he begins to squirm. "Niall's eaten all the granola bars, it's three million degrees here. The usual."

"You can be honest with me, mate."

"I am the most honest person on this earth, Liam, I swear it."

"Yeah, well. Whatever you say."

"Where's Zayn?" Louis is desperate for a distraction right now. 

"I think he's on the phone." And then; "Don't bother him right now, Louis."

Louis gasps, mocking offense. "I would never!"

"Yes, you would."

"I just wanted to say hello to him, that's all. Is that such a big deal?"

Liam rolls his eyes like he's talking to a five-year-old instead of Louis, which probably isn't that much of a difference in Liam's mind. "If saying hello means screaming bloody murder in the background, yes-"

"Good evening Liam," Harry strolls in like a fucking king and plops down on the sofa, nodding his head at Liam and then slowly locking eyes with Louis with a sparkle in his irises. "Lou."

"Hey, Harry," Liam says coolly.

Louis contemplates his entire existence and forgets how to make his heart beat, he thinks, because he's so fucking nervous that he can't even process how nervous he is. "How was your shower?"

"Wet," Harry smirks. Louis is going to vomit, honest. 

"Showers tend to be that way," Liam adds but he seems to be too focused on the book he's picked up to notice Louis desperately clawing at the sofa cushion to try to keep himself from bursting into hysteria while Harry just looks at him like he's a piece of meat.

"Hey, Li - do you mind giving us a moment?" Louis asks because he can't do this anymore, Harry's stares are only intensifying and as awkward as this is Louis really wants to kiss him again. Harry is probably going to tell Louis to fuck off, though, so now he's a little sad.

Whatever.

Liam looks between the two of them briefly before he stands up and exits the room with a mutter of protest that's not the least bit threatening, and then Harry and Louis are alone. 

"Louis-" Harry says at the exact same time Louis breathes "Harry,". Both boys laugh awkwardly, Louis gesturing with his hand for Harry to speak first. This isn't what he signed up for.

"So," he begins. "Last night-"

"Was a mistake, I know already, no need to remind me Haz," Louis blurts. 

Harry shushes him, much to Louis' surprise, and continues. "I just wanted to thank you. For, you know," Harry is blushing now; Louis thinks he's adorable, "Thinking logically. I was drunk off my ass, mate, I'm glad you were responsible given the.. situation."

"Oh," that's not what Louis had been expecting. "No problem. Really, you shouldn't thank me, it's what everyone should do-"

"But that's not all."

Louis blinks twice before he speaks. "It's not?" Did something else happen that he miraculously lost all recollection of? Fuck, he really hopes he didn't tell anyone-

"No. It's not. Louis, I wasn't lying when I said those things to you."

To say Louis is confused would be a large and unfair understatement, "Excuse me?"

Harry looks very flustered and like he doesn't quite know what to do with himself at this point, Louis thinks. "I mean. Like. I think I have feelings for you."

Louis can't speak. 

"Harry, you have a girlfriend," he whispers.

"Yeah, I know, but she doesn't have to know," he mutters. Louis almost hysterically laughs because this is not the kind of thing Harry does but he'll be damned if he's going to pass up this opportunity. Anna won't mind, Louis thinks, since Louis is Anna. You know.

"Are you suggesting what I believe you are suggesting?"

"I don't know," Harry licks his lips and stares at Louis. 

"You don't even know anything about your sexuality yet, Harry, this is a bad idea-" 

"I want you to help me. You know. Figure it out. I've never really.." Harry trails off, clears his throat; "I've never felt an urge as strong as the one I do to be near you."

Louis can't deal with these bipolar messages Harry is sending. "But what if you change your mind? I don't want to get hurt. Selfish as it sounds."

Harry is shaking his head, "See, I've thought it all out. We're not actually dating, actually, it's more of.. an experiment. We're testing the waters out, see if we like them."

This is beyond ridiculous.

"Harry."

"Louis, c'mon. Just give it a chance? If it fails, oh well. We live and we learn and I promise I'll stay away if it ends badly."

"Harry.." Louis doesn't know what else to say.

"Please? For me - we can talk about it more if you agree, I'll even stop talking to Anna for a little."

Louis bites his lip and stares out the window as the trees rush past them in a colorful blur.

"I don't know."

"Louis. I'm begging you - here, look, I'll even get on my knees-"

"No, no, stop it. Jesus," Louis runs his hands down his face because Harry is stupid. He doesn't know why he loves Harry so damn much, but he knows that he does and he's probably going to regret this decision in the morning. He's young and he's dumb and he's in love, so why the hell not? It may seem sudden, it may seem far-fetched - but Louis doesn't care.

"Alright. We can try."