24 Hours Spent Thinking Of You // LS

Chapter One

Unedited
———
Hour One; midnight

It had been two years since Harry heard Louis's voice. He wasn't sure why either of them had taken the initiative to call; they only sent text messages here and there to congratulate one another on new music or awards won. Harry would often wish Louis or his son Freddie a happy birthday and would send his condolences on Jay and Fizzy's, telling him that he's only a phone away if he needed anything. Louis would wish him a happy birthday and ask about how his family was. Harry's step-dad had died just after Louis's Mum, but no matter how sad the occasion was, it was what prompted the two to talk again after their last, nasty encounter. The last time they saw each other in person was at one of Harry's concerts in 2018. He wasn't sure what prompted the invitation, he seemed to have forgotten, but Louis accepted and that was the first and most recent time they had seen each other since the band announced the hiatus. He wasn't sure what scared him the most about seeing Louis again and he didn't know why Louis hadn't offered to grab a pint together when they both had a day off. Maybe Louis only talked to him because he felt like he had to.

Harry saw Liam and Niall a lot, Niall more so than the former. Liam often brough Bear around and the little bugger had even started to call him and Niall his Uncles. Harry tried to correct the toddler, but Liam said it was okay, so now he's officially called Uncle Harry. He couldn't help, but smile thinking of that. His sister Gemma didn't have any kids, yet, so he hadn't been given that title yet. It excited him knowing he meant enough to Liam that he was allowed to be considered the Uncle of his child. Maybe Liam was secretly thrilled to have "brothers" that his kid could call Uncles as he only has sisters. Did Bear call Louis his Uncle? Harry was sure of it. Liam and Louis had always stayed the closest of the four after the split.

"Erm, hello?" mumbled Louis softly through the phone.

Harry was quiet, frozen still. The softness of Louis's voice poured through his phone speaker and Harry could hear a slight raspiness to his voice. He hadn't thought about how late it was, only that he was sad and lonely and Niall was far too jolly to be of help at this hour. He was sure Liam was asleep and hadn't given it a second thought before he called Louis. He should have taken into consideration that Louis wasn't in his early twenties anymore staying up late to play video games and eat as many snacks as he could. They were all getting into their thirties, almost. Louis had just turned twenty-eight and Harry was twenty-six.

"I'm sorry," breathed Harry heavily. "I didn't really think about the time. You sound like I woke you up..."

Harry heard a soft chuckle sing through his phone and echo in his room. It had been five years since things ended between them, but he couldn't help, but feel his heart flutter.

"That's alright, Haz," said Louis.

Harry grinned as the nickname spilled out of Louis's mouth. Louis had refrained from a lot of their pet names over text, but Harry felt giddy knowing it was second nature for Louis to say them.

"I haven't heard your voice in a long time," whispered Harry.

Maybe it was the deliriousness the night caused him to be in or the strong scent of his cologne that fogged his brain up from filtering out every thought he had, but he couldn't help, but be honest with Louis. He made him feel comfortable.

"I'm sorry about that," replied Louis. "I've been really busy these last few years and I hadn't really been thinking much about my personal relationships and friendships. It's been all music, music, music here on my end."

"I get that," frowned Harry. "Are you stressed out? You've got a tour coming up, haven't you?"

"Which I am very excited for," answered Louis. "The first date is March ninth. I suppose I'm just stressed because it's hard enough as it is getting to see Freddie and now I've got a tour coming up. He's right at that age where he wants to know where I am all the time and it's extremely hard for me to explain my job. He doesn't really understand that I can't tell him a bedtime story in person sometimes. I wish I could just take him with me." Louis attempted to laugh, but Harry could tell Louis was really upset. "With the job we have, it's hard getting to L.A. enough. I feel like I'm being pulled in a hundred different directions."