Caught [l.s] (boyxboy)

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welcome welcome w e l c o m e

3 more chapters left!!! well, two more and an epilogue at least. that's so bizzare ofmsjds.

would you guys like a happy ending or a realistic ending?

what i'm considering as my 'realistic' ending is still a good conclusion and it's not negative, harry and louis won't just never speak again but i think it's... a better way to leave it. but i'm opening this topic up for debate. so please, let me know if you have a preference.

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 "I'm sorry this is the way it has to be." 

Louis, once again, feels like he's doing all the talking. Harry isn't even sitting next to him, which is unfortunate, but he supposes he wouldn't be able to hold Harry's hand for support anyway. Given the circumstances. 

He gulps.

"So am I," Liam agrees. "But I think... that it's for the best."

"Definitely."

"I mean, Harry isn't going to want to be around anyway come next week. He's going to have a new life to help care for." 

Louis nods. Harry has his hands folded neatly on his lap, eyes locked solely on the ground. He doesn't speak or move or even seem to breathe, actually. His eyelids flutter shut at Liam's words. 

"And you two can't even stand to be in the same room anymore. I mean, you haven't even looked at each other."

"This ruins everything," Zayn adds sullenly, shaking his head and slumping in his chair. "All happening so quickly."

"Baby's coming any day now," Harry mutters. Louis tries not to let this bother him. He traces shapes onto the fabric of his jeans across his knee, focusing extremely hard on how long his inhales and exhales are. What Harry and Colette do no longer concerns him. He's single, and that's that. It is what it is, right? 

Someone claps Harry on the shoulder, from what it sounds like. Niall, probably. Louis' fingers curl into a fist before he forces himself to calm down and go back to drawing invisible stars. "Yeah, 'atta boy, Harry. Look at the bright side."

"There is no bright side," Zayn huffs. Louis strongly agrees. He fails to see any sort of positivity in this dark cloud of conflict, but he decides to keep this comment to himself. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss their professional careers, not get into personal matters. Although, Louis can't lie; there would be no need for said meeting if a certain personal matter would never have happened.

"Lou? What do you say, then?" Liam asks gently. Bless his heart, because he's the only one in the room that's managed not to make Louis feel progressively worse. 

Louis looks up briefly, but he can't help the way his gaze floats back over to Harry. "I think it's better we end it now rather than a few months down the road."

"No," Zayn protests. "We... we can make this work."

"No, we can't. Rather get it over with and save everyone the disappointment of a shitty half year and then the inevitable break-up that's sure to come, even if we wait. There's no getting around it. We can't be a band when we have... that. Thing." Louis immediately regrets refering to Harry's child as a thing, but. He sort of resents it, if he's being honest. Frankly, he can't see why anyone would care to blame him.

"Louis is right," Harry agrees. Louis stiffens at the sound of his name rolling off of Harry's tongue, but he dare not show that on the surface. With a casual flick of his fringe, he sits back in his seat and pretends to scratch his arm. He knows Harry isn't looking at him. He isn't quite sure if he wants him to be or not. "This is better for everyone in the long run. They'll understand."

"But, I don't-"

"Zayn." Louis shifts in his seat. "Drop it. It's for the best, okay?"

"Maybe best for you two." Apparently Zayn does not understand the meaning of 'drop it'. "But what about the rest of us? Without this band, we'll have no careers. We need money too, and I'm way too young to retire, I don't know about the rest of you."

"If you don't want to stop singing, you don't have to. No one is stopping you three from staying together," Harry retaliates. Louis is secretly grateful, because he's not sure he has the motivation or the energy to debate this with Zayn. "And you already have enough money to feed an entire country for a decade."

"We can't be a band without you. Your vocals are too important. Both of you, that is," Niall points out, "I don't think there's any way the three of us could work together anymore. At least, not without someone to replace you."

"You can't replace them," Liam insists. "You two are being ridiculous."

"Then go solo."

"Maybe I will," Zayn grunts, as if this is a new idea to him. "Maybe I will."

"Excellent, mate, I wish you the best of luck, but I really think I'm going to go now," Harry says, standing up and straightening his shirt. It's a plaid button-down that Louis has stolen as his own one too many times. He looks at it longingly, but then he remembers Colette and the baby and he feels sick enough to forget about how the fabric feels on his skin. "We have more baby-proofing to do, and we have, like, two days to buy everything. She didn't do much preparing."

Louis can't help himself. "She's going to be living with you?" 

Harry's eyes fall on Louis. He doesn't blink as he speaks, "Temporarily. Just until she can get a job and afford a place of her own. What am I supposed to do, toss her out on the streets?"

"She didn't seem to have any money problems before," Louis says in a cold, monotone voice. He thinks he sounds half dead. Probably because that's how he feels on the inside. "Why can't you just buy her somewhere to live?"

"I could, but she still needs a job. I can't support her forever. She needs to be able to take care of herself. That's what she wants, too. She wants to be able to pay her own bills and buy her own groceries."

"That's a mature choice."

"She's a mature woman."

"Is she?" Louis' sure his eyes present a challenge. Whether or not Harry chooses to accept this challenge, though, he's not as certain about.

Harry stares at him, hard and expressionlessly, before he clears his throat. "She's changed a lot. Having a baby on the way... shook her into shape. She's. She's grown up. And that's my baby too, Louis, I'm going to help her as much as I can while still respecting her wishes."

"Fine."

"Fine." Harry turns. "I'll just be on my way, then." 

"Fine," Louis repeats. It's weaker and less convincing this time. He wants to go home. 

He doesn't really have a home anymore. 

Harry stops at the door, hand on the knob, and speaks with his back still facing the rest of them. 

"We decided to name her Paisley. Paisley Anne Styles."

And then he leaves, taking a piece of Louis along with him.