“Harry, what the fucking… fuck.” Liam was pacing back and forth on the bus, pulling at his not-so-long hair. Harry shrugged, giving Liam minimal attention as he texted his mum a quick hello. “Why would you- are you even listening?”
“Yeah, you’re right Liam. I won’t next time,” Harry mumbled the usual response, not having heard his band mate's words.
"Harry!” He pushed the phone down in Harry’s lap, fuming. “Get your stupid ass head out of the clouds and listen to me.” Harry sighed, not really affected by what was just another “Liam PMS fit”, as he and the boys often called them.
“Yes, Liam?” he asked, smiling innocently and cocking his head slightly to the side.
"Can I just ask you a question?”
“Of course, Liam.”
“Stop talking like that!”
“Like what, Liam?” The older boy groaned.
“Just ask him the bloody question,” Niall muttered, approaching them with a bottle of beer in his left hand and a bag of chips in his right. “You two are giving me a headache.” Liam glared at Niall for a moment before returning his attention to Harry.
“Alright, Harry, are you trying to piss off management? Is that a goal of yours?” Harry raised his eyebrows comically.
“Of course not, Liam. Why would you even ask that?” he asked, obviously hiding an amused smile.
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it has something to do with you making that stupid ass comment about having a secret after I spent minutes of my time specifically saying that this band doesn’t have secrets, like they wanted!”
“It was an innocent joke, Liam,” Harry mumbled, daring to pick his phone up again.
“Yeah, but you know they won’t take it that way! You knew it when you made that comment!”
“Liam,” Louis spoke, appearing in the doorway. “Let it go.” Harry’s face lost the amused look. “Also come up with some better insults. ‘stupid ass’ is getting--”
“I don’t need you to defend me,” Harry spoke coolly to Louis before turning back to Liam. “I’m sorry if I ruined your plan to kiss their ass, Liam.” With that he stood and left the common area, pushing past Louis on his way out. The older boy simply ignored the rough physical contact and kept his eyes trained in front of him.
“Chip?” Niall offered the other boys after Harry’s exit. Liam sighed and sat next to Niall on the couch.
“Yes, please.” Louis remained in the doorway, arms crossed and frowning.
“I don’t think management is going to say anything,” he said quietly, breaking what was silence besides Liam and Niall’s loud chewing. Liam shook his head.
“The fans will turn anything into Larry that they can get their hands on, and Harry’s been giving them a whole lot to work with lately.” Louis rolled his eyes.
“They’re gonna believe what they believe whether we deny it or not. If management would just realize that maybe they could spare themselves a lot of wasted time.” Niall, in response, held up a chip in offering, but Louis shook his head. “I’m gonna go wake up Sleeping Beauty,” me muttered, stomping off.
Liam scoffed. “Good luck with that,” he spoke under his breath, grabbing more of Niall’s chips. “Those two will be the death of me,” he added a little louder after Louis was out of sight. Niall simply laughed at this, grabbing the bag back. Both boys leaned a bit as the bus came to a stop.
“You’re not their dad. You don’t have to scold them,” he reminded his friend.
“No, but we all get yelled at when Harry is just a little too gayin interviews,” he rebutted. “Whatever. I guess you’re right, it’s not like I can stop him.”
“It’s not like he can really stop him either,” Niall pointed out. “It’s hard to pretend to be something you’re not.”
“Yeah but comments like that just… I’m only looking out for them. For the band as a whole.”
“I know, I know,” Niall consoled, patting Liam’s back.
“I better go placate Louis before he has a fit.” Liam stood to his feet, rubbing Niall’s hair quite roughly before leaving him alone, wandering off to find Louis.
“And there was one,” Niall muttered, turning on the TV and shoving a handful of chips in his mouth.
