The Wedding ✔

Chapter 14

After staring at each other's eyes for like eternity, Louis finally looked away, and walked closer to Harry. He didn't say anything, but neither did the younger lad.

"So... What are we cooking?" Louis asked finally, walking even closer to Harry.

Harry grinned, putting his hair in a bun. "Do you know how to cook?"

"Well...", Louis shrugged, slightly distracted by how sexy Harry looked with a bun. "Don't answer to the question with a question."

"Uh-huh." Harry shrugged and smiled. "I'm making soup."

"Alright", Louis said. He really didn't know how to cook. He wanted to help Harry but he was fairly certain he would just cause more harm than actually help. But, he could at least try. "What do you want me to do?"

"Umm... I don't know, really. You know, I told you that I usually do everything alone because it's like, kind of my thing, you know so... So it's like, new to me to be able to tell someone what to do when I usually do everything by myself."

"Heeey", Louis cooed, touching Harry's shoulder. "Stop babbling and just tell me what to do."

"Uh, well, um... You can start peel the potatoes?" Harry suggested.

Louis nodded and then they started working in silence. They both focused on their work and for time to time Harry gave a few tips to Louis but besides that they didn't much talk.

Frankly, they didn't really need to— their collaboration proceeded like clockwork; when Harry turned to take a knife, Louis was already handing it to him. When Louis needed water, Harry was already one step ahead of him. Their collaboration was seamless, although the glances they exchanged were anything but subtle.

"How many guests is coming to the wedding?" Louis asked suddenly, because he kind of wanted to hear Harry's voice. It was deep and beautiful, so.

Harry shrugged, glancing at Louis. "I don't know. There is already over fifty people, give or take. It's possible that there will be at least over hundred people when the wedding comes."

Louis started feeling anguished by simply just thinking that. "That's a lot of people in one place."

Harry chuckled. "True but big weddings are always the best. More fun, you know."

Louis snorted. "Not really."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "You don't like big weddings or...?"

"Well yes and no", he said vaguely, shrugging.

Harry didn't take that as an answer. "Meaning?"

Now Louis was really uncomfortable and he felt a big urge to get out of the situation and move on to the next subject. He really didn't handle uncomfortable situations well.

"Just that the whole marriage thing is kind of stupid", he said, hoping that they could drop the topic now.

Oh, how wrong he was.

Harry frowned. "You... you think Liam and Zayn's marriage is stupid?"

Louis squirmed uncomfortably. What was this questioning, anyway? "I think that marriage in general is stupid."

It took a minute until Harry replied, "You're wrong."

"Pardon?"

Harry stared at Louis intensively. "Marriage is a beautiful thing. Think about it; two people showing the world how much they love each other, and want to show the world that they want to be, and will be, together forever."

Louis more or less accidentally snorted. "That's just stupid. Did you know that every other marriage ends in divorce? Besides, if two people genuinely love each other, then they don't need some goddamn paper to prove it."

"So you're saying that Liam and Zayn don't genuinely love each other?"

Louis groaned, face palming. "You're twisting my words. I meant—"

"Lots of people dream about getting married some day with their soul mate", said Harry, frowning.

Louis sneered, rolling his eyes. "Well yeah, like ten year old girls."

Harry narrowed his eyes at Louis, and Louis didn't know when the atmosphere changed so much. In one minute it was light and carefree, in next it was oppressive and charged.

"I've dreamed about it", said Harry. "I still dream about it."

Louis felt like someone had kicked his ribs. He had said that marriage is stupid because he had hoped he would get out of the uncomfortable situation but now... he was in a situation that was a whole new level of uncomfortable.

He had went straight out of the frying pan into the fire.

"You... wait, what?"

Harry looked at him dead in the eye. "I want to get married. I want to find someone who I could live the rest of my life with. Have a family."

"What? So you rather sit around, waiting for your soul mate— whatever that is— than live your life and, I don't know, fuck when you feel like it?" Louis asked in disbelief.

"I don't want to 'fuck when I feel like it'", said Harry harshly. "I don't do one night stands, never has, never will. I have some self-respect."

And yeah, now it felt like someone had stabbed Louis' heart.

Usually Louis didn't give a flying fuck about what other people said about his way to live but Harry was different. Every thing Harry says affects Louis— one way or another.

"You think I don't have self-respect?"

Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "No, I think people who sleep around don't have—", then Harry realised it, "—Oh, my God.... You... You don't do relationships, do you?"

"I don't", Louis said, quietly, staring at Harry with sad eyes. "And you don't have sex if you're not in a relationship, do you?"

"I... don't", Harry half-whispered.

Then neither one said a thing, they just stared at each other in disbelief, eyes filled with mixed emotions; hurt, sadness... But the problem was, there was nothing else left to say; things were crystal clear to both of them.

They wanted each other, it was clear but they couldn't get each other; Harry didn't do one night stands, and Louis didn't do commitment. To Harry, sex was something people in love did. To Louis, sex was just that— sex.

"Fuck", Louis muttered, not taking his eyes off Harry. Now when he knew he didn't have a chance with Harry, he realised just how much he had hoped to get kiss Harry.

"Fuck", Harry repeated quietly, because he may or may not have been daydreaming about him being in a relationship with Louis— kissing, touching, loving.

Their voices were full of disappointment and Louis couldn't help but think that everything could've been avoided if Zayn would have just told him that there was no way Harry would ever have one night stand.

Though, Louis knew deep inside that maybe all that would still have happened because there was something in Harry that pulled Louis towards him.

Which just made everything much worse.