Worth Fighting For

Chapter Sixteen

"Oh god," Harry whispers, the blood draining from his face. This is it, this must be his punishment. "No, no mum, it's not true. Listen, I have to go, but I promise it's not true."

"Harry-" He hangs up before she can get another word out, trembling. He shouldn't be surprised, really. Modest has been using him and Caroline for months, twisting their hardly-even-there friendship into a relationship that makes Harry sick to think about. Since even before Eleanor. Faked tweets, false media leaks. Scripted lines. Lies. And all of them orchestrated by Simon and his people. Caroline used the small amount of control she had to try and help squash the rumors, but even she had to bend to Simon's will. Harry likes Caroline, he truly does. She's a sweet lady, always apologizing profusely despite having about as much say in it all as Harry does.

So, really, Harry should not be surprised. But it still hits him like a punch to the gut and he feels tears sting his eyes. They're going to ask him in the interview. And he's going to have to simply play it off as a joke. But it'll still set off a fresh wave of rumors. Of the hateful comments, the threats. Harry can't tell people that he agrees with them, that a 17-year-old dating a 32-year-old is wrong and disgusting. He'll have to play into it. Harry wonders, briefly, just how far Simon will take this.

"Harry!" Louis' voice snaps him out of his numb daze with a jolt. He blinks away the tears, taking a shaky breath. He looks at Paul, the other boys. Anywhere but Louis. Louis, whose hands are still tight around his waist, whose gaze he can feel burning into him. Louis, who is doing so much for Harry. Harry can do this. He has to.

Otherwise maybe I'll be having this talk with Louis.

"I- uh-" What can he possibly say?

"Hazza what's going on?" Louis demands, a hard edge to his voice sending a shiver down Harry's spine. He needs to play this off, squash Louis' suspicions.

"Uh, apparently The Sun got the idea I'm moving in with Caroline." Harry forces a light chuckle into his words, an amused disbelief. It sounds fake even to Harry. Louis' fingers clamp down on Harry's waist, nearly painful with barely-controlled rage.

"That's bloody ridiculous!" Liam exclaims, voicing the thought running through every boy's head. Harry just nods. There's nothing they can do.

"It is what it is," Harry whispers. It's something he's been saying a lot, lately. As a way of brushing things off. He can feel Paul's gaze burning into him, urging him to tell them.

Otherwise maybe I'll be having this talk with Louis.

He can never tell them.

"I'm sorry, love," Louis murmurs quietly, directly into the skin of Harry's neck, his chin resting on the younger boy's shoulder. "I'm so sorry." Harry shakes his head, turning to finally look at Louis. He cups Louis' jaw, thumb brushing over his cheekbone.

"It is not your fault." Harry's voice is firm, his eyes fierce as they stare into Louis'. "Ok?" Louis swallows thickly, forcing back tears.

"Ok," he whispers, his voice rough. Harry leans in to kiss him, some of the tension leaving Louis' body at the touch. The other boys scrunch their noses but don't bother the pair, knowing they need the comfort of each other now. One of Louis' hands moves to the back of Harry's head, where the bump is starting to form already, and Harry yelps, jumping up, tears springing to his eyes at even the gentle touch. Louis' eyes immediately widen in concern.

"Harry, what happened?" Louis demands, standing up in front of Harry but not touching him, scared of hurting him again. Harry closes his eyes, draws in a deep breath. Drops his hand from the back of his head and looks at Louis. Smiles ruefully. And lies.

"Sorry, I bumped my head on the bunk leaving this morning." The words feel wrong leaving his mouth, the lie making something in his gut twist. Louis frowns, concerned.

"Harry that felt like more than a bump, you literally jumped out of my lap and I just brushed over it-"

"I'm fine," Harry insists. Louis opens his mouth to protest further, but at a pleading look from Harry, Paul cuts in.

"I got him some ice for the car ride, he's just gonna have a bump for a couple days. Those damn bunks are too small for growing boys." Harry shoots him a silent thank you, but Paul just looks at him sadly.

"We should eat and get going," Harry says softly, trying to change the topic from the bump on the back of his head. None of the boys look happy about it, but they don't push him further. At least not for now, Harry thinks, seeing the sharp, calculating look in Zayn's eyes as he watches him. Great.

-

The interview goes smoothly, for the most part. The interviewer is nice and polite, lighthearted and easy to joke around with. Harry sits with Zayn. He and Louis aren't allowed to sit beside each other. Then comes the question that Harry's been dreading. Zayn leans an elbow on Harry's shoulder, watching him carefully. A silent show of his unwavering support.

"Harry, this morning I read that you and Caroline Flack are moving in together-" the interviewer is cut off by Louis' loud, forced laugh. The other boys pick up on it quickly, cheering for him too enthusiastically to be taken seriously. Liam maintains his composure, but Niall and Zayn can't, their irritation manifesting in overzealous laughs and cheers. Harry goes along with it, grateful for his bandmates making a joke of it so he doesn't have to. And over it all-

"Where'd you hear that? Where'd you hear that?" Louis plays it off by forcing as much amusement into his voice as he can, but Harry knows it's bothering him.

"Ok, ok, ok," the interviewer laughs, quieting the boys, "so we thought you could clear up the rumors for SugarScape?" This is it. The boys all look at him and Harry takes a breath, avoiding looking at the camera or interviewer.

"Uh, no, no I didn't know anything about this, right? And then my mum, I got a text from my mum-"

"Your mum attacked you about it," Liam interrupts.

"-Saying 'I didn't know you were moving!' and I was like... what? So I don't know," Harry sums up, acting as confused as he can. "No idea," Harry's still talking, nerves stealing his ability to just shut up already.

"We didn't think it was true," the interviewer assures him. "We didn't think you'd move out from the boys." Harry quiets with a last, confused smile.

"From me!" Louis exclaims, putting as much overexaggerated offense into the words as he can in an effort to draw the attention away from Harry. It works, the interviewer shifting her focus to the older boy as Liam squishes his face, joking consolations coming from him and Niall. But Zayn looks at Harry with a grin.

"You'd never leave Louis, would ya?" He asks, making a joke out of the question over the interviewer commenting about 'splitting up the dream team'. She has no idea. Harry swallows, looks at Louis.

"Never," he answers quietly.

"But you've been teasing Harry quite a lot about this whole situation." This is directed at Louis, who manages to appear amused even as his face falls. Louis agrees, face brightening mischievously as he looks to Harry, all the boys chattering over each other to keep the attention off of Harry. "So how are you going to get your revenge?" Harry just smirks at Louis, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Then Louis is making a stupid joke, they're all laughing, Zayn is grinning widely.

"You're just so comically g-" Harry's heart drops and he covers the other boy's mouth.

"Don't say it!" Zayn frowns at Harry, confused.

"I was going to say genius, just calling him a genius," he reassures him quietly. Harry mentally slaps himself. Of course. Zayn would never do that. Mercifully, Liam makes a stupid joke then and the interview moves on. Harry catches Louis' eye, though, cerulean hardened with determination. And just a hint of sadness buried in their depths if you, like Harry, know where to look.