Against One's Wishes

Chapter 21

After taking a shower, Louis is shaving as quick as possible and throwing on his clothes, his mind still lost in so many thoughts... but mainly, he's just thinking of Harry and how he wishes he were still at his apartment.

His phone begins to ring and his heart sinks; he knows that it's his dad calling him back since he couldn't get a hold of him this morning.

"Hello," Louis says as he answers and hears his father's booming voice on the other end of the line. "Dad, I tried calling you earlier... I'm not sure it ever went through..."

"Where have you been?" William is asking his son at once.

Louis' eyes fall on one of Harry's shirts that's still lying on his sofa from the day before and he's instantly smirking. "Uh, I had too much to drink last night. I stayed with a friend of mine and Liam's. Sorry, dad...."

"Well, Alice called me this morning asking about you," William is saying a little quieter. "She said she would call Harry as well since you're both inseparable now, it seems..."

"Yeah..."

"I talked to Harry this morning as well. Told him about dinner for his mum and sister..."

"He's gonna love that, dad," Louis manages to say as he's breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm sure his mum and sister will love it here."

"I'm sure they will," William states. "Are you and Alice going to try and work things out, Louis?"

Louis closes his mouth when he hears his father. He isn't surprised in the slightest that Alice told him already.

"Uh... it's possible, yeah. I just want to focus on school," Louis tries to lie as he's pushing his hair back. "For a bit..."

"Are you sure you made the right choice by breaking it off with her?" William asks, his tone still serious. "She seemed like a great match for you..."

"I only told her I wanted a break for a bit," Louis sighs and rubs his forehead. "It's... more like I want a bit more time to be... like... single, I guess..."

"Do you have cold feet about marriage all of a sudden?" William asks next, his tone lower. And Louis doesn't like the way his father now sounds. "Why is that, Louis?"

"I... I don't have cold feet about marriage. I'm still young.. there's things I wanna do before I just get married and settle down," Louis replies.

"Really? This is surprising... considering how much you and Alice have talked of a wedding, and a family for months," William states.

"No, she pretty much was the one that... that always talked about the wedding and stuff," Louis says in a low tone now. "My point is, dad, that I just wanted a break for a bit. I wanted to... just be me for a bit. It's very possible that... that we will end up together again..."

Louis says those words through gritted teeth because he knows that he has no intentions at all of getting back with Alice; he doesn't want to fake this any longer.

"... For now, I... I want to focus on school and myself," Louis manages to say next.

The line stays quiet for several seconds and Louis is suddenly filled with so much nervousness as he awaits his father's response.

"I'm... I'm not sure Harry has been the best influence on you," William states lowly. "I did ask you to stop spending so much time with him... and I asked for a reason...."

"Dad, Harry's done nothing," Louis speaks up over his father, "he's... he's a good lad...."

"He is, yes. He's an amazing actor and he's very hardworking when it comes to his career," William says slowly, "but... he seems to be quite the playboy as well... like a lot of men are in New York City. The carefree type who do whatever they wish..."