Labels || H.S. [#Wattys2020]

FIFTY-THREE

That thought was short-lived though, as Harry realized with a pounding headache that he should most definitely not drink more often.

He opened his heavy eyes, rubbing his temples and attempting to figure out where in the hell he was. His head was spinning, and god, something was burning.

"Good morning sunshine."

Harry looked up from the couch to see a smiling Louis. He couldn't even respond, he started gagging at the smell as it was inching closer. He realized it was from the plate of bacon Louis was holding in his hands.

"Aw, are we not feeling too well today?" Louis smirked, looking at Harry's face and then the plate in his hands.

"How?" Harry said groggily, not bothering to even sit up, "How are you still alive?"

"Me? Oh, that was nothing. You had less though, didn't you, Haz? What's wrong, are you a lightweight?"

Harry could hear the oozing sarcasm in his voice, he would've said something, but the urge to vomit was so strong he had to jump up off the couch and run to the bathroom. He could hear Louis finally laughing in the background, and he made a note to remember that the next Louis got sick.

As he leaned over the pristine toilet bowl the nauseousness subsided, so he sat back on the tile, his bare feet pressing against the cold floor. His head was still spinning as he leaned back against the wall, and he felt incredibly gross as his hair was matted to his forehead.

Harry could still hear Louis chuckling outside the door, "You alright, mate? Didn't know rejection made you so queezy."

"I'm fine, dad."

Louis' laughter subsided as he remembered why they had been drinking in the first place. He sigh loudly, and Harry could hear him slump against the wooden door.

"Fuck me." He muttered. It sounded as if he were chewing something, though.

"Are you eating?" Harry asked.

"Bacon takes the pain away." Louis said with stuffed mouth.

Harry laughed for the first time that morning, Louis chuckling too even though he was struggling to chew. Harry wanted to open the door so that they could at least suffer together, but he was too week to reach over and grasp the knob. Louis could probably sense that, and in all honesty he didn't care. He wasn't going anywhere.

"You think we're going to be alright?" Louis asked through the bathroom door, after he had finally swallowed.

"I don't know, Lou. I hope so."

"You know." Louis started, "I was thinking about something."

"What's that?"

Harry heard Louis struggling to get up, a plate clattering onto the floor, and finally the door opening.

"What if you didn't have to get another fake girlfriend?" Louis asked, as soon as the door swung open.

Harry tried to get up, but only managed to topple over. Louis rolled his eyes, but gave his friend a hand so that he could stand on his own two feet.

"What do you mean?"

"What if my news totally took the heat off of you and Reagan?"

"You think so?"

Louis made a face, "Really? Do I think the news of my baby is going to possibly outweigh all other news the lot of you have?"

"Okay yeah, I get it. But really, Lou. Are you going to release this already? What, is she like a month, two months along? How do you know it's your-"

Louis shushed him, "Enough of that. Look, I'm going to get you out of this mess."

"And create an even bigger one?"

Louis shrugged, "That's life, mate."

"Lydia's going to kill you."

"Not if she doesn't know who leaked it to the press."

Harry looked at him wearily, "So not only do you plan on creating this mess, but you plan on making it without informing Lydia whatsoever."

"Or Reagan. You can't tell either of them. You just have to go along with whatever Lydia wants for now."

Harry hesitated, "I don't know."

"Harry, they can't know that I leaked it."

"But you are going to tell them that it's true though, right?"

"Well of course. But you know that Lydia wants you in no way to be associated with Reagan right?"

Harry nodded.

"Yeah, well, if we leave this in her hands she'll have you still dating that Australian airhead while she spins my story."

"Be nice." He muttered.

"Look, all I'm saying is that if I do this my way, she'll be so preoccupied with me that she'll have no time to focus on you."

"But I can't tell Rae?"

Louis shook his head, "You know she'll want me to tell Lydia, besides, didn't she tell you to just listen?"

Harry hesitated, "But..."

"I know things are weird between you two right now, but weren't you contemplating do this anyway just to spite her last night?"

"I thought no such thing!"

"Okay, to make her jealous then."

"I-I..."

"Look, you want Reagan to realize if she wants to be with you, or not?"

Harry shook his head, it was just so manipulative. This was not him, not at all. He didn't want to make her realize that she loved him, he wanted her to figure it out on his own. He had been childish, and stupid, and fuck his moral compass was just so rigid that he wouldn't possibly consider Louis' offer, would he?

"What if she finds out?" Harry asked.

"We tell her the truth."

"You don't think she'll be mad!?"

Louis shrugged, "Do you want to escape Lydia's grasp? Do you want to really be with Reagan?"

Harry nodded.

"If Lydia's distracted with me, she can't stop you from doing as you please, can she?"

Harry didn't know what to say, he didn't know what to do.

"You think this is the only way?" He asked.

Louis nodded, "If you ever want to be with Reagan, it probably is."

"Just one date with Hailey, right? Just one and you'll leak your story?"

Louis nodded, "Just one."

"Okay, let's do it."