The press conference

Chapter 17: Do you know who you are?

Harry's heart was shattered on the floor into a million pieces.

"Harry, mate, are you alright?", asked Niall with a concerned look on his face. Was he? Was he really?

"No, m' not", sighed Harry with his face in his hands, he really wasn't.

"What the fuck happened? I just saw El run out of the door, crying, and Louis was running after her."

"Uhm, I don't know if it's my place to tell you", mumbled Harry with his heart still shattered into a million pieces.

"What the fuck happened? Harry, talk to me, what happened here?"

"I", started Harry but he couldn't say much more before he erupted into sobs.

Zayn and Liam came rushing into the bathroom were he and Niall were sat on the floor with him crying into Niall's shoulder.

"Louis and I, we", started Harry again when Zayn started petting his head.

"We know."

"What do you mean "you know"? How on earth", asked Harry with a defeated voice.

"We figured it out last time as well to be fair, you guys are horrible when it comes to hiding your feelings, we were kinda waiting for it anyways", said Zayn with a small smile on his face.

"We're just a bit sad that you guys didn't tell us. Again", said Niall and Harry felt a bit of guilt rush through him.

"I'm so sorry, it's just I didn't know what it was and Louis kept ignoring me and you know Eleanor. It's a mess. But it's over now anyway I guess, he chose her, didn't he", sighed Harry and the tears threatened to come back.

"Hey Haz, don't cry, you don't know that for sure", reassured him Liam while nudging his shoulder.

"I don't think that I can do this tour when I have to look at the two of them every day. It would have been hard anyways but now, with everything that happened. I don't think that I can do it. I should've never went back there with him. Not that I could ever get over him completely, he really is my person, but I feel like I've just made everything worse."

"Whatever the two of you decide, we've got your back", said Niall and Liam and Zayn nodded along.

"He just needs time", said Liam and Harry knew that he was right, even though it would suck to wait.

"What if he chooses her after he had time to think?"

"We'll deal with that when it's here, now you need to get home, you're wasted", chuckled Niall. He was right. There was nothing Harry could do right now.

It's been 4 days, 4 days and 3 hours to be exact, since Louis had ran after Eleanor and left Harry behind. And to say that Harry wasn't dealing with it well was an understatement. He was a mess, he hadn't showered in days, he hadn't eaten properly and he had ignored every single call from his friends and his mum. It was bad. After leaving Louis behind because of the Hiatus level bad.

He knew that he couldn't keep going like that and decided to at least take a shower and maybe go for a walk since he hadn't breathed fresh air in what felt like ages.

He had put his damp hair into a beanie and was walking through rainy London without a direction. Kinda symbolic because he felt like his life didn't have a direction either.

The more he thought about it, the more depressed he felt, he was once again questioning the purpose of his life and he knew damn well that this wasn't healthy. When he felt the tears streaming down his face he saw a figure in the distance. Who the hell would go out in that rain, besides him obviously? His sight was clouded because he was crying but he could clearly see that the person approaching him was running. Who the fuck was exercising in this weather?

He had to admit one thing, the person had a remarkable speed because they were approaching really fast. When the person was approximately 20 feet away, Harry clenched his eyes to see more and his heart did a little jump.

Running towards him was Louis in soaking wet clothes.

"HARRY", shouted Louis through the rain.

"LOUIS, WHAT THE FUCK", shouted Harry right back at him.

"I went to your place and you weren't there so I just kept running around the neighborhood, hoping that you had just gone out for a walk, oh god, I can't breathe", panted Louis with his hands on his knees.

"Louis, again, WHAT THE FUCK", shouted Harry almost.

"Oh right, I need to talk to you!"

"So?", asked Harry and his heart almost jumped out of his chest.

"I am so sorry, so sorry for running away from you, leaving you behind in that bathroom. I am sorry for keeping you in the dark. I am sorry for running from you every time we shared a moment just because I was scared. I am sorry that I got with Eleanor after we broke up, fully aware that it would drive you insane. I am sorry that I didn't fight for you more when Syco announced the Hiatus. I am sorry that I never reached out over the last five years. I am just so sorry and I guess what I am trying to say is that I love you, always have, always will, it's you Harry, it had always been you", ended Louis his monologue and Harry was now full on crying again.

"You asshole, I thought that I had lost you, again, it would have killed me, you can't even picture how much I love you, you bloody idiot", half cried, half giggled Harry.

"This time, nothing will come between you and I. You're stuck with me", assured Louis with his forehead against Harry's.

"I fucking hope so."

And there they stood, in the rain, kissing, and Harry had never been happier.

All they did that night was kiss and whisper sweet I love you's  to each other and Harry knew that this is how he wanted the rest of his life to be like. With Louis.

They woke up and it took Harry a second to realize where he was and what had happened the night before. A grin broke out on his face when he remembered that Louis had chosen him, chose to love him.

He looked at the beautiful boy besides him and felt a rush of gratefulness run through his body. It all had fallen into pieces.

Louis opened one groggy eye but smiled at him with a happy expression on his face.

"Morning sunshine, slept well?"

"Like a baby, I always do next to you, it's ridiculous", said Harry with a giggle and Louis giggled with him.

"You're such a sap, Styles."

They were cuddled up on the couch when Harry remembered something.

"Wait, what happened between you and Eleanor after you ran after her at the party?", asked Harry while nervously fidgeting with his fingers.

"Uhm, at first we kinda just stared at each other and none of us said a thing but then she just asked me if I loved you and I said yes, I didn't even had to think about it, I just knew and I think she did too. She said that she saw it in my eyes when I was looking at you, always did, back then and now. I think she was sad but she said that she wants me to be happy and that she thinks that I can be only happy when I am with you, so we basically have her blessing. She said that she needed time but would like to remain friends with both of us once she kinda got over the initial hurt", explained Louis and Harry felt a rush of gratitude for Eleanor who he had treated so badly over the years.

"Lou, could you give me El's phone number?"

Louis looked rather confused but gave him the number nevertheless.

Harry typed a quick message to Eleanor without showing it to Louis. That was his business and he wanted to make things right.

Thank you for everything, I regret all the things I did that hurt you

but the thing I regret the most is that I never treated you the way you deserved it just because I was insecure.

You're a kind and bright person, please never change.

H. x