Loving You Is Free (by littlelouishiccups)

Naamloos deel 5

Harry's first stop after the Los Angeles trip was Gemma's. He went to class in the morning, and then headed to Gemma's later that afternoon. She answered the door with the god damned cat on her shoulder. Harry had refrained from many a joke about Gemma turning into an old cat lady since she got her, but there was only so much he could take.

"Hey, mate," Gemma greeted him, stepping aside so he could walk in, and then asked in a put on Valley girl accent, "how was California?"

Images flashed through Harry's mind of Louis looming over him and holding his hands down. He cleared his throat. "Amazing. I loved it there."

Gemma sat down on the couch and Harry joined her, telling her about the trip. He talked about flying first class, and how lovely the weather was, and about the shopping he got to do. "And I got you a prezzie."

"Well," she said, her face lighting up, even though she had to have known Harry would bring her back something. "Let's see then."

Harry reached into his bag and very seriously pulled out a palm tree keychain, handing it over dutifully. Gemma grabbed it, examining it closely before glaring at him.

"Really? The poor sod is paying you twelve grand a month and you get me a fucking key chain?"

Harry smirked and reached back into his bag to pull out her real gift, which was a set of speciality handblown wine glasses he'd picked up at a random boutique. They'd made him think of Gemma instantly and he eagerly anticipated her reaction.

"Oooh!" she cooed over them, pulling one out of the box for inspection. "You know me well. They're so pretty. Thank you."

She smiled at Harry and stood up to take the glasses to the kitchen.

"You hungry?" she called out. "I could whip something up."

"Nah," Harry shouted back, laying back on the couch. The cat hopped up onto his chest and he started stroking it. "I've got plans with Zayn later. Just wanted to drop by for a little bit."

She popped her head out. "Everything okay?"

He thought about telling her about how deep things had gotten with Louis over the weekend, but decided against it. She probably wouldn't understand the frustration and conflicting feelings rattling around in his head and would just tell him to go for it.

Why'd he have to go and develop feelings? Why did Louis have to be so different from anyone else he'd ever had an arrangement with? Anyone he'd ever dated? It was like Louis could read him. Harry was good at staying private, but Louis just saw right through it all. And their lives were already more intertwined than Harry was comfortable with, thanks to Zayn and Niall.

"I'm fine," Harry answered. "Just tired. Jet lag, probably."

Gemma hummed in understanding and walked back into the living room with a bowl of granola, sitting down in a chair facing the couch.

"So I have to tell you something, and you're probably gonna be mad."

Harry stopped petting the cat and squinted his eyes at her, immediately wary and suspicious. He and Gemma never got mad at each other, so her saying that made him nervous. "... What?"

She took her time chewing and swallowing a mouthful of granola, stalling, and Harry huffed in annoyance.

"So mum called me yesterday," she started finally, swirling her spoon around in the bowl. "She was worried because your phone was off and she'd been trying you all weekend."

Harry put the cat on the ground and sat up. He didn't like where this was going.

"I wasn't thinking," Gemma continued, not making eye contact with him. "And I told her it was probably because you were out of the country. International charges and everything."