Fake boyfriend

The talk

Louis was pacing around in his small apartment all nervous and jittery. Harry had texted him earlier in the day saying that he would show up at six.

Louis ran home after his last class for the day to clean his flat. He had taken a long shower and fixed his fringe into a neat quiff. Then there was the hard decision of what to wear. He had tried on at least ten different outfits until he finally had settled for some blue skinny jeans and a white t-shirt with red stripes.

He made sure he smelled nice and brushed his teeth an extra time before he glared at the time again. 17.55. He jumped when there was a knock on the door. He ran over and took a deep breath to calm himself down before he opened it. Harry was standing there all dimple smiling and gorgeous.
"Hi, Lou."

Louis' heart flutter from the use of the nickname. He showed Harry inside and they sat down on the bed. Harry was looking around in the apartment.
"Nice place Louis. Cozy."

"Thanks, Harry." Louis answered shyly.

Harry cleared his voice.
"So...how long have we been dating?" He grinned at Louis.

"I don't know... two weeks? I mean, I broke up with Dylan like two months ago, I don't want it to seem like I rushed into things even if it's a short amount of time anyway." Louis suggested.

"Well, what can I say? I'm irresistible." Harry winked and Louis blushed slightly and bumped his shoulder with Harry's.

"But that sounds alright. The upside is that we're not close to saying I love you yet, which, no offense, would feel weird. I mean, I don't take those words lightly and I don't want to say them if I don't mean them even if it's not for real." Harry said in a serious tone and dragged a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, yeah. You're absolutely right!" Louis hurried to chip in.

"Great. The downside is that if we only been together for two weeks it will be harder to pull it off, like, we're supposed to be in our honeymoon phase, just fallen in love, and so on." Harry chuckled.

Louis blushed again.
"Will that be a problem?"

Harry turned his face to look Louis in the eyes.
"I actually never been in love so I don't know how I would act but I'll swing it."

That surprised Louis.
"Really? So you never been in a relationship either?"

"Not really. Does that make me weird?" Harry asked sounding unsure.

"No! Of course not! I think it's great that you haven't been with someone just for the sake of it." Louis tried to reassure him.

Harry smiled.
"Good. I'll see this as practice then for when I actually fall in love with someone. Please tell me when I'm being a shitty fake boyfriend so I know what to do better."

Louis rolled his eyes.
"You're already being a better boyfriend than any of my previous ones. I mean, fake boyfriend."

Harry frowned.
"You must have a really bad taste in men."

Louis couldn't help but laugh.
"Yep."

Harry laughed with him for a while and when the laughter calmed down Louis continued.
"I've only been in really dysfunctional relationships so I can't say that I'll be in any help to figure out how to pretend in this one, but at least we both are rookies. We'll manage it together."

"I like the sound of that." Harry smiled. "I'll promise to try my best to be a good fake boyfriend."

"Me too." Louis returned the smile.

"Where did we meet?" Harry asked after a while.

"Eeehm, the coffee shop on campus?" Louis suggested.

"Yeah, like we were there at the same time and then the barista messed up our orders. You got my frappuccino with a caramel shot and I got your?"

"Yorkshire tea with milk." Louis answered amused.

"Really? Anyhow, and then I looked up and saw your beautiful blue eyes and it was love at first sight." Harry grinned proudly.

Louis facepalmed with a chuckle.
"Really Harry? That sounds like something taken from a romantic comedy. So cheesy."

Harry gave him a sad pout.
"I like cheesy romantic comedies."

Louis's features soften immediately.
"I do too. Okay, let's go with that, how unbelievable as it may sound."

Harry gave him a bright smile.
"Perfect. So Louis, what's your surname?"

Louis chuckled.
"Tomlinson. Yours?"

"Styles."

"Harry Styles? Great name. Tell me about your family." Louis smiled.

"My mum Anne lives in Holmes Chapel where I grew up. We're really close. I had a great stepdad but he passed away last year..."

"I'm sorry to hear." Louis said empathetically.

"Yeah, it was hard. I see my dad once in a while. They split up when I was ten. I have an older sister, Gemma. Love her to bits and pieces." Harry smiled fondly. "How about you?"

Louis took a deep breath. Talking about his family always made him emotional.
"My parents split up when I was seven, haven't seen my dad since. I have six younger siblings. My...me mum died a year and a half ago, cancer. I miss her so much." Louis' eyes became glossy.

"Oh, Louis. I'm so sorry." Harry worded with empathy and took Louis' hand in his to comfort him.

Louis shrugged his shoulders.
"It is what it is. I met Dylan shortly after she passed away, and he seemed nice and caring and I needed that then, you know?" He snorted and continued. "He wasn't really any of those things but I was blind and lonely and didn't want to believe he would cheat on me even if there were signs. I'm stupid." He muttered the last words.

"You're not stupid Louis. Don't talk about yourself like that. He's the dickhead. He took advantage of your vulnerability while you were grieving. Fuck, I really don't like that guy." Harry growled.

"Yeah? Me neither." Louis laughed. Harry had made him feel so much better but the next question killed his mood again.

"Friends I should know about?"

Louis started to fiddle with his t-shirt and looked down on his hands, feeling embarrassed. He was such a loser.
"No. Dylan was kind of possessive...I had some friends home in Doncaster but yeah...not now, and like, I haven't found any new ones here yet..." He mumbled.

Harry let go of his hand but pulled him in for a hug instead.
"I don't want your pity, Harry." Louis mumbled against Harry's shoulder.

Harry sighed and let go of Louis so he could look him in the eyes.
"No pity Louis. But you have a friend now and I'm sure the guys will adore you too when they get to know you."

Louis' cheeks turned crimson red.