The X Factor

Chapter 6-Week 3

Harry had made a terrifying discovery. He liked Louis romantically. Now he just watched him closely to try and make out if Louis liked him as well. Or he just stared at him fondly because he was so damn cute. He couldn't help it.

He had a hard time grasping this. He was in love with a boy? He felt so vulnerable and insecure. Louis couldn't like him like that, could he?

He tried not to read too much into every little thing Louis did towards him but his stupid heart wouldn't listen. Louis always touched him. Not in an inappropriate way (too bad) but he had his arm around him or held his hand all the time. They were best friends so that wasn't an indication that Louis had caught the feels as he had. Why was this so hard?

He also had a thing for his hair. Louis liked his curls and he was always running his fingers through them. Again, maybe he just had a hair fetish or something. It didn't mean he was in love with him.

Louis liked to cuddle him and he always ended up in his bed when it was time to go to bed for the night. That didn't have to mean anything either. Louis came from a big family. Maybe he felt lonely? He was going crazy not knowing where they stood but he was too much of a coward to address his feelings. You couldn't just tell your best friend that you're in love with him, or could you? What if things got weird between them and Louis didn't want to be friends anymore?

They had entered week three of the competition and it was time for another video diary. He had caught a cold earlier and been under the weather. Louis took a seat next to him and Harry couldn't be happier. He also couldn't stop looking at him but Louis usually looked at him as well and his eyes were so blue and his smile was wonderful and shit, Harry forgot they were on camera.

He tried to talk about this week's song but Louis was so close. Now he had his head on his shoulder and oh my God, did he just bite him? Harry shivered and got goosebumps all over his body. He just had to get through this.

It was time to answer a fan question; who did they wanna date in the house? Well, he couldn't exactly say Louis so he tried desperately to come up with a name. Liam, Niall, and Zayn answered the question. Louis looked at him.
"I don't wanna say mine yet."

Harry couldn't help but smile. The butterflies in his stomach came alive. He had to say something so he decided to joke about it and blurted out "Mary."

Mary was a middle-aged contestant that Harry really liked even if he didn't really want to date her. She could be his mum for crying out loud.
"She's mine." Louis said and Harry smiled.

"SHE'S MINE!" Louis shouted and Harry flinched. Geez he could be so loud. Louis never answered the question. Harry couldn't help but wonder why?

Harry couldn't believe they were already on their third week in the x-factor competition. Their fanbase grew bigger and bigger and they actually got mobbed one day when they were trying to get to rehearsal. Loads of screaming girls were pulling at them, trying to get a hug. It was crazy and they didn't really know how to handle it. Thank God for the security team.

He had all of these bottled-up emotions in his body and he couldn't tell anyone so he used Twitter and different song lyrics to express how he felt. It was cheesy and stupid but at least it made him feel a little better.

He had started to wonder how it would feel to kiss Louis? Would it be different from kissing a girl? He wished he could find out.
"Hazza! Where are you? I need a cuddle!" Louis' voice was heard outside their room and Harry smiled.

"In here!"

Louis came inside the room and flopped down on Harry's bed.
"What are you doing here all by yourself?" He asked while he put his arms around him to give him a hug.

"Just resting."

"Yeah? Can I join you? I missed you." Louis said softly and started to play with his hair.

Harry closed his eyes to the touch and turned his back to him and made sure Louis had an arm around him.
"Wanna cuddle and rest for a while?"

Louis scooched closer so their bodies were pressed together.
"Yeah."

They didn't say anything after that. Harry could feel Louis' breath against his neck and it tickled him. Louis entwined their fingers together and pulled their hands closer to Harry's chest and let out a content sigh. Harry was on cloud nine. This was intimate and not really platonic? It was hard to read Louis' intentions. This could just be a cuddle with no deeper meaning behind it. Harry closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"Guys! Wake up! We have rehearsals in ten minutes." Zayn's voice was heard.

They were still in the same position except that Louis had a leg between Harry's and his nose nuzzled in the back of his neck. Louis let out a grunt.
"Okay."

He let go of Harry with a sigh and rolled to his back. Harry missed his arm around him. He turned around to face him.
"We fell asleep."

"We sure did. It was nice. Cozy." Louis replied with a smile.

Cozy? Harry's stomach flipped.
"Yeah."

The rehearsal went great. This week's theme was guilty pleasure and they were singing Nobody knows. Harry could relate to the song title. They spent the afternoon together with the other contestants in the living room watching Disney movies. Louis cuddled him the whole time and no one questioned it.

The live show went great and they had another week in the competition.