Archive of Our Own

Louis shuffled around his flat, cup of tea in hand, music loudly thrumming throughout the space. It was a bright Saturday morning, and Louis had just woken up after sleeping an incredible thirteen hours.

“I’m a motherfuckin’ starboy,” Louis sang along to the track, and completed a small twirl in the middle of his hallway. The past few weeks had drained him physically, but Louis honestly couldn’t remember a time in the past few years when he felt so much hope, so much optimism.

Liam would be insufferable if he saw just how happy Louis was right now.

Liam Payne, Louis’ best friend and manager, eternally annoying optimist that he was, swore up and down to Louis that the trouble they went through switching record companies would eventually pay off. He promised Louis with everything he had, swearing on his own father’s life, that moving to Starry Night Records was going to change everything. Louis had bet his left nipple that it wouldn’t.

Now every time Liam greeted Louis, he would yell through laughter “That’s mine!” while trying to pinch Louis’ chest mercilessly.

Louis was too thrilled with the outcome of his new record company to really argue with him about it.

He continued to dance down his hallway with tea in hand, bopping his head to the beat of the music. Passing by his living room, he saw the remnants of last night’s writing session strewn about his coffee table – notebook lying face open covered in writing, bits of paper torn out and thrown balled up to the ground, three pens scattered about, and an empty mug sitting precariously close to the edge. Nearby the writing wreckage, letterhead from Starry Night was visible – a letter from the company welcoming Louis wholeheartedly to the family.

Starry Night Records: Louis never thought his name would be linked with a label that valued and respected their artists. Since he was eighteen, he had only ever associated with record executives and companies that made him feel like a product- something to be used, something to profit off of, but not someone who mattered.

For a while, Louis was able to compartmentalize all of that. He pushed away the gross feelings he got when the execs would talk about him like he wasn’t sitting right in front of them. He made excuses when they strategized about his image without once taking his opinion into account. And most importantly, he kept his mouth shut when they branded him as a teen heartthrob, printing stories about him breaking girls’ hearts left and right.

It will all be worth it eventually, he had told himself over and over. But one year turned into two which turned into five, and ‘eventually’ never seemed to show up.

It was on the eve of his twenty-fourth birthday that he admitted to Liam, drunkenly, secretly, that he was so tired of pretending – pretending to be straight, pretending to be okay with the way his career was handled. Louis thought Liam would give his typical pep talk and move on, but to his manager’s credit he started researching what they needed to do to be released of their contractual hold.

A year and a half and quite a few legal fees later, Louis was finally free.

“Hundred on the dash get me close to God, we don't pray for love, we just pray for cars,” Louis continued singing along as he entered his bedroom, steaming cup of tea still in hand. His floor to ceiling windows shed incredible light on his room, hardwood floors gleaming as his messy, unmade bed sat in front of him with his laptop in the middle. Louis sat his tea down on his bedside table and flopped onto his white duvet. He had spent the first half hour after waking up perusing social media, checking out the buzz surrounding his new song.

triangleankles:

 omg I can’t believe how amazing JHO is. Actually I can believe it. Because Louis is amazing and spectacular and deserves all the good things

darlingjustholdon :

 listening to Just Hold On on repeat for the next thirty hours

sassandass :

 can you believe that Louis was out there writing these lyrics, probably pouring his perfect heart into it, just so we could be blessed with it?

loubear :

 honestly let’s just adopt Steve Aoki. Bless him.

Louis chuckled as he sipped his tea, scrolling through Tumblr. His fans were the best, and ever since he left his old record company and started on this new path they had been with him every step of the way. He liked to lurk on social media every so often to gauge the reaction they were having to him, and his new collaboration with Steve was blowing up.

It was a far cry from where he was just a few years ago.

Starting out as a popstar in his teens was fun for a while, but as Louis grew older he wanted his image to evolve with him. He fought tooth and nail to get his own writing on his albums, trying his best to convey honest emotion in them. It was a shame that by the time certain lyrics were cut (with the argument they wouldn’t ‘market well’), sometimes his songs were unrecognizable fluff – reproduced for mass consumption.

With this record company switch, the CEO at Starry Night sat him down during their first meeting and made Louis swear he would continue to write his own music.

“I’ve read your stuff Louis,” Niall said, his Irish accent thick. “It’s perfect, just the kind of stuff we’re looking for.”

Louis was blown away and incredibly humbled. He and Niall discussed the direction they wanted his career to go, with Louis’ opinion being listened to for the first time in his career. He wasn’t opposed to pop music, he just wanted to do something different for once. And an EDM collaboration with one of the most talented DJs and producers in the world was what came out of it.

“We’re going to make this huge,” Niall had told him. “Steve is ready to collab with you whenever you are. He’s a busy guy, but he told me he would make room in his schedule whenever you’re free.”

And now, just six months later, here they were. The song had dropped two days ago, and the fans were blowing it up to astronomical proportions. He smiled as he scrolled through more praise for the song, switching over to Twitter to check out the buzz there as well.

His phone lit up with a text message, and he grabbed it seeing the message was from Liam.

Lima: reactions are looking excellent bro

Lima: why don’t you tweet something about the song? Just something simple is fine, thanks to the fans so excited etc. etc.

Louis texted back saying he would do it right away, and he pulled up his own Twitter page to type out the message.

@TheTommo: Thanks for all the kind messages about the song ! Glad you all are loving it as much as me !

Louis spent a few minutes liking some fan tweets about the song, and retweeted one from Steve linking it on iTunes. The song was climbing up the charts fast, and Louis was ecstatic.

Lima: go check out starry night twitter

Lima: interact with them a bit, they’re promoing hard today!

Clicking over to his new record company’s twitter, he laughed as he saw their feed completely full of things related to Louis and Just Hold On. The two most recent were a retweet of Louis’ message from a few minutes before, and a response directed at him.

@TheTommo We’re absolutely loving it! Playing it nonstop!

Louis liked and retweeted it for good measure, knowing the company’s reach would grow once fans saw Louis interacting directly with them.

He refreshed his feed one more time, and smiled as he started noticing the trend going on with fans.

Loving Starry Night’s support of Louis and Just Hold On

Steve is incredible, and Starry Night is a perfect new record company for our baby. Louis deserves support!

tbh I’m so impressed with Starry Night. THIS IS WHAT PROMOTION IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE. #thankgodforstarrynight

Louis couldn’t help but agree with them. He knew the fans would get frustrated when his old company focused solely on his fake relationships or party persona, and he wanted more than anything for interviewers to just ask him about the music – the writing he did, the people he worked with, the dedication he put in. But it seemed like no matter how hard he tried, all the attention he got in the media related to his personal life.

Seeing the fans acknowledge the shift in his narrative gave him hope.

He sighed as he finally closed his laptop. Promotion of the song and nonstop travel were just around the corner, so he felt no qualms snuggling deeper into his duvet and falling right back asleep.

--

“You know you’re going to have to stop eating that crap,” Liam said through a mouthful of lettuce.

Louis just stared at him as he chewed slowly on his burger, leveling him with a look that said plenty.

“I’m just saying,” Liam continued, “you’re about to be in front of cameras practically around the clock-” Liam trailed off, but the rest of his thought was left implied.

“Excuse me, Liam, that’s quite bloody offensive of you.” Liam held up his hands in a placating gesture, and Louis continued devouring his greasy lunch.

“So listen,” Liam said, pushing his salad aside and leaning his elbows on the table, “I want to talk about how you want to move forward with coming out.”

When Liam helped Louis start the process of finding a new record company, one thing he stipulated was that it needed to be somewhere that would unequivocally support him when he came out of the closet publically. Sometimes he felt like everyone must know by now, but in the music business (and especially the media) it seemed you were straight until proven otherwise, no questions.

Louis had discussed his wishes at length with Niall before signing a contract, and Niall was incredibly supportive.

“Louis,” he said, smiling at Louis from across his desk, “I want you to be happy here, and if being happy here means you come out, then you can come out tomorrow. Not to be callous, but I don’t give a fuck who you fuck.”

That was all it took for Louis to sign on the dotted line.

“I know you’ve got some ideas bouncing around in that big head of yours, so let’s hear ‘em Payno,” Louis said, continuing to shovel food into his mouth.

“Alright, well there’s a few ways we could swing this,” Liam started, gesturing excitedly with his hands to emphasize his points. Louis was certain he had spent a lot of time practicing what he would say. “You obviously have the option of going ‘Ellen’ big – splashy cover, “Yep, I’m gay” headline, the whole shebang.”

Louis tilted his head back and forth, weighing the option with some hesitance.

Reading his reaction, Liam barreled on, “I don’t think that’s much your style though. You could tone it down, let it come out casually in an interview in print. Let people catch on themselves.” Louis was starting to nod along, tapping his fingers on the table with nervous energy. “But if I’m being completely honest, knowing you like I do, I think the best plan is no plan at all.”

Louis’ face must have showed his confusion plainly, because Liam continued, “Look, we can make it obvious, have you come out officially, or we can just have you- ya know, live your life. Go out on dates with guys. Tweet about things you care about. Be seen holding someone’s hand. Organic.”

“Organic,” Louis repeated, staring at Liam with his eyes narrowed. The thoughts flew through his head at record pace. “I don’t have anyone’s hand to hold though, and you know how I feel about PR relationships-“

Liam cut Louis off quickly, waving his hands in front of him to dismiss the thought, “No, no, no. You know I would never make you do that again. All I mean is that you could start casually dating guys, or at least seeking guys out in public, and it wouldn’t be a big deal.”

Louis looked around the restaurant as if the answers to his questions were going to appear.

“So you’re saying I wouldn’t have to fake anything? No guided coming out? No PR bullshit?”

“Nope,” Liam said, moving his salad back in front of him and picking up his fork. “Now tell me how much you love me.”

Louis rolled his eyes as he took his straw out of his drink, holding his finger at the top to keep the liquid inside and surreptitiously dropping it directly onto Liam’s food.

“Don’t be such a twat about it,” Louis said, which Liam knew basically meant ‘I love you’ anyway.

--

Parting ways in the parking lot, Liam gave Louis a tight hug that lasted longer than usual.

“I’m really proud of you, ya know,” he said, speaking into Louis’ hair.

Louis’ face was hidden against Liam’s shoulder, but he could feel his cheeks redden.

“Oh shut up,” he said, trying hard to play it off.

“No, I’m serious Lou,” Liam said, holding Louis out at arms’ length. “What you’re doing is a really great thing. People are going to love it.”

“Well,” Louis said, not one for accepting compliments gracefully, “couldn’t have done it without you and your annoying optimism Payno.”

Liam smiled, knowing a high compliment from Louis was hidden in that sentence, and released his hold on him.

“Let me know when you’re free to go over your next month’s schedule. I figured I’d give you a little time to relax before we jump into it,” Liam said, turning to unlock his car as Louis stood watching with his hands in his pockets. “Oh, and if you remember when you get home, I think you should tweet about the song again. Maybe just some lyrics this time.”

“I can do that right now lad, cheers,” Louis said, fishing his phone out of his pocket and pulling Twitter up.

@TheTommo: The sun goes down and it comes back up

“Done,” Louis said, putting his phone back in his pocket. “Any other large tasks for me to complete? Makes me feel accomplished when I can follow orders so easily Payno.”

Liam laughed through the open window as he put his car in gear.

“No, no other request for now. The interactions with tweets has been great, just keep doing that. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

Louis nodded and waved goodbye as Liam pulled out of the parking lot. Heading over to his own car, Louis felt his phone go off in his pocket, and as he took it out he saw a Twitter notification for Starry Night Records. Liam had suggested he keep up with his record label’s social media, and Louis had alerts set for them so he wouldn’t miss any pertinent promotion.

He chuckled as he saw the tweet, sent mere minutes after his own.

@StarryNightRec: The world it turns no matter what #JustHoldOn

It made Louis smile to see the dedication to his song. Whoever was running their social media accounts certainly did a good job of keeping up with anything Louis posted. Louis kept smiling as he placed his phone back in his pocket and got in his car to drive home.

--

“See you standing over there with your body. Feeling like I wanna rock with your body,” Louis sang, swinging his hips in time with the music playing throughout his apartment as he bent over to grab another beer from the fridge. Wearing nothing but his Topman briefs, he did a little shimmy in the middle of his kitchen.

He was a bit drunk. Just a bit though.

After coming home from lunch with Liam, Louis just felt incredible. The thought of moving forward in his coming out without a big PR spectacle was beyond what he could have hoped for. In celebration, he was four (maybe five- alright, six) beers in.

“And boy, got me walkin’ side to side,” Louis swayed with the beat, his eyes closed up and a smile on his face. He thought maybe he should take it easy on the beers. Wouldn’t want people on social media to realize he was drunk.

He had this small habit (Liam would call it a ‘bad’ habit, but Louis vehemently disagreed) of getting a little drunk and going on a liking, retweeting, and following spree online. He had seen Tumblr posts before that called him out for it, but how were they really supposed to know whether he was drunk or not?

Walking back to the living room where his laptop was set up, Louis eased himself onto the couch and snuggled back under his blanket, putting his beer on the coffee table in exchange for his computer.

Pulling up Tumblr, Louis started scanning the usual blogs for what his fans were talking about today. When he first discovered Tumblr, he didn’t realize the huge opportunity it was for his fans to interact. He had gone back and forth for a long time about whether or not to create a secret Tumblr, but decided in the end that he could garner enough information by just checking out some of the largest fan sites surrounding his name.

He typed in his favorite to the address bar and hit enter.

Some awesome fan art, a few fan theories about promo season, and a lot of encouragement to continuously stream and chart his new song. Nothing too out of the ordinary. It was immensely reassuring to go onto these sites and see nothing of failed PR stunts, unhappy pap pictures of Louis, or the latest fan argument about Louis’ sexuality. It had always killed him a little inside to see how viciously people argued when someone (God forbid!) claimed that Louis might not be straight.

Luckily, things seemed to be pretty calm and focused on the music.

He paused when he got to a post that showed two screenshots: one of his own lyrics tweet, and the other of Starry Night’s that completed the line. He enjoyed that people were taking notice of that, too.

What made him burst into laughter, however, was the caption underneath.

girlalmighty:

 LOUIS AND STARRY NIGHT ARE DEADASS IN A RELATIONSHIP I’M SCREAMING

The post itself had gotten over 5,000 notes, and seemed to have only gone up within the past few hours. It was probably the beer, but Louis found it extremely hilarious. It was moments like this when he regretted not having his own secret Tumblr to reblog posts like this.

Still giggling, he pulled up the post on his phone so he could screenshot it and send it to Liam with the message “look at this. Fucking hilarious”

Lima: That is a good one.

Lima: I’m loving all the fan’s love of Starry Night. Let’s talk about how to tap into that more tomorrow. Get some sleep!

Louis rolled his eyes fondly at his manager’s message. Of course Liam wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to turn something hilarious into boring business chatter. Louis put his phone aside and went back to scrolling through Tumblr.

He couldn’t stop smiling at the fans’ reactions to his exchanges with his record company though. He wondered if the person behind the tweets had seen them yet. Whoever it was, he hoped they had a good sense of humor about it, because Louis was certainly entertained.

Getting an idea, and feeling slightly mischievous from the effects of alcohol, Louis navigated to his Twitter. Figuring he could handle the wrath of Liam (who would inevitably deduce that Louis was yet again tweeting under the influence) and deal with that tomorrow, he started to compose a new tweet.

@TheTommo: @StarryNightRec listening to some music at home, any recommendations??

Louis debated before hitting ‘Tweet’. He had written and deleted at least five different tweets, all with varying levels of cheekiness. He decided that tweeting about how he was becoming Starry Night’s biggest fan, or directly linking to the Tumblr post about them dating, was a bit too much even for him. He settled on reaching out to them about music – he figured it was a pretty obvious safe space.

He tapped his fingers on the coffee table, listening to the new song that came over the speakers.

“Girl you know I want your love, your love was handmade for somebody like me,” Louis sang along under his breath, bopping his head to the beat. Liam gave him such shit for listening to top 40 even when he didn’t have to, but Louis had no misgivings about his preferences.

Not even five minutes passed before he saw that Starry Night replied. Maybe it was the beer buzzing through his system, but he felt a thrill of excitement about what they might say.

@StarryNightRec: @TheTommo Our personal favorite right now is a smash called Just Hold On, have you heard of it? #JustHoldOn

Louis bit his lip to keep from smiling too big. Why was this anonymous person behind this account making him feel so giddy? He told himself it was just because of the promo – the tweets were already racking up huge numbers of likes and retweets.

He chuckled again as he took another swig of his beer, scrolling through the responses to this latest exchange.

Fans were tweeting things left and right like “LOUIS AND STARRY NIGHT ARE EACH OTHER’S BIGGEST FANS”, and it delighted Louis.

He tried to hold off on liking fans tweets, because that would be a dead giveaway, to Liam especially, that Louis was drunk. He couldn’t hold it in anymore, though, when he saw a fan tweet at him directly.

@louismuffin: @TheTommo Louis what are you doing???

He quickly hit reply and typed out a response.

@TheTommo: @louismuffin just a bit of banter  

He continued to watch his fans melt down as his phone buzzed with another message from Liam.

Lima: STOP DRUNK TWEETING

Louis quickly sent him back an emoji of the middle finger, followed by a thumbs up. He knew Liam would understand what it meant: that Louis received his message, and would stop with the drunken social media posts.

It was a little difficult to go cold turkey when he was in such a good mood, but he watched the fans tweets roll in for a while without actually engaging with them anymore. The retweet count on his and Starry Night’s interactions were climbing extremely quickly, and he saw more than few tweets insinuating that whoever was behind the social media accounts was in love with Louis.

Louis sincerely hoped whoever it was wasn’t getting inundated with anonymous or random messages. He knew first hand just how easily his fans could deduce the identity of people online that interacted with him, and if it was someone that they deemed unacceptable - the backlash could be very harsh.

He paused mid-reach for his beer when he realized that he wasn’t sure what attributes to assign this person when he thought about them. He had been mildly flirting with a faceless identity for a couple days, and of course to him that meant he had been thinking of them as male. But what if they were female? He rolled his eyes to himself when he realized that he was probably setting up some poor twenty-something girl for a mound of incoming messages from his online fan base.

Worried that he was going to subject some unsuspecting young woman to internet notoriety, he quickly pulled up Starry Night’s website. He thought maybe he could snoop around to figure out who was behind their Twitter account, and possibly reach out to them behind the scenes. That way, he or she (she, definitely she he thought) might be able to prepare themselves for the onslaught of virtual intrusion they could be facing.

Clicking around their ‘Contact Us’ tab, he found a link to a staff directory. Once loaded, he saw Niall’s professional headshot at the top beside his CEO moniker, with a brief description of his qualifications and history in the business. Scrolling down, he looked first at the pictures – middle aged man, middle aged man, middle aged woman (nope, accountant), young man, young woman (not this one either – A&R, good for her), young woman (another A&R – Starry Night was the best), young man, young man, young man…

Louis stopped scrolling when he realized that none of the women on the page were responsible for social media. He slowly went back to the top and started by reading the job descriptions instead of making assumptions based on sex.

“CFO, operations, accounting, A&R,” he read them to himself under his breath until he found the one he was looking for: Social Content Coordinator (which he huffed out a laugh at – honestly, couldn’t they just call it social media? He guessed even a cool company like Starry Night wasn’t immune to a little pretension).

And… oh shit.

Social Content Coordinator: Harry Styles. Originally from Holmes Chapel, Harry has always loved learning the ins and outs of the music business. A musician and songwriter himself, Harry joined the Starry Night family in 2015 as a way to explore more sides of the business. His favorite part of the job is the interactions he gets to have with fans and artists alike. Contact: [email protected]

A professional headshot accompanied the short description, and Louis felt his cheeks heating up just looking at it. Not only was the person he had sort of, kind of, been flirting with definitely a man – he was a man that was fit as fuck.

The picture showed Harry smiling widely (with a fucking dimple) at the camera, his glossy brown curls situated artfully around his shoulders. Louis couldn’t see his whole outfit, but it seemed to consist of a pink, floral button-up with most of the buttons undone. Louis could also detect the dark outlines of tattoos on his chest, although he couldn’t quite make out what they were underneath the shirt. 

What he could make out was that his own heartrate seemed to have picked up significantly.

Shit.

This was so not good. Not only had Louis drunkenly sent messages in a deliberate attempt to interact with this man, he was now insanely attracted to him without ever having met him in person.

Maybe Liam was right – drunk tweeting really was a horrible, rotten idea.

He pushed his laptop away from him and sank back into the couch to sort his thoughts out. It was going to be fine, he just had to tone down the interactions with Starry Night. There was zero chance his fans weren’t going to figure out Harry was behind these tweets, if they hadn’t already, and there was nothing like flirting with someone who wasn’t a woman to send some fans into a meltdown. His team would be on his case for sure, he-

Louis froze, a thought taking over him: he had a new team. He had a new record company, one who didn’t give a shit whether he was attracted to men or not. And Liam had literally sat in front of him just that day and told him that their plan for him coming out was one that was supposed to be organic.

What was more organic than drunkenly flirting through Twitter with a hot guy?

This could work out in his favor.

Leaning back over towards his laptop, Louis navigated to Tumblr to see if word of Harry’s identity had spread yet.

The screenshots of his tweets with Starry Night were all over, with varying degrees of endearment from fans. He scrolled around, and even typed Harry’s name in the search bar, but so far it seemed that his identity hadn’t gotten out (at least not to any of the bigger blogs that Louis followed). Perhaps Louis’ interactions hadn’t been as earth shattering to fans as he felt that they were. That was good – it would give Louis a chance to still reach out to Harry and warn him about the impending onslaught of interest over his personal life, although he figured he had less than twenty four hours to do so before the word was out about Harry’s identity.

Louis paused when he thought about contacting Harry, though. When he had it in his head that it was a young woman who he was going to be apologetically confessing to, it was no big deal. They could laugh about the fact that their harmless flirting was going to possibly trigger some passionate responses, but they could go about business after that (and she could have locked down her personal accounts – easy solution).

Now, however –

Now Louis was attracted to this person behind the tweets. He felt a deep responsibility to warn Harry about the dangers of engaging with Louis online, but if he was being honest with himself – he didn’t want the flirting to stop. The buzzy feeling he got whenever Starry Night tweeted about his song or responded directly to him was alluring, multiplied now by about a thousand with the knowledge that Harry Styles was the one behind the keyboard.

He thought perhaps this Harry had personal accounts that were already private, which would save him the trouble of having to reach out in the first place. Searching his full name (how many Harry Styles could there be in London?) he found a Twitter and an Instagram that seemed to match.

Looking first at his Instagram, Louis was met with mostly artistic black and white shots of seemingly random things – street signs, fruit, a pair of shoes. Interestingly, though, there was a shot of someone (he presumed Harry) holding up a braid of hair with the caption “Whoops” and a link to a wig-making charity.

Alright, so he didn’t have the long locks anymore, but what did he look like now? Finding no other clues about his identity from his Instagram, Louis tried his twitter.

Jackpot.

For whatever reason, Harry seemed to be less inclined towards his Instagram aesthetic on this social platform. He had only a few pictures shared, but one of them was a more recent shot of Harry with some friends – short, fluffy hair held back by sunglasses, the same dimple-infused smile across his face. Louis found himself smiling back at the picture. There was just something so endearing about this Harry Styles.

His tweets that weren’t pictures were somehow more nonsensical than his Instagram, which would normally cause Louis to roll his eyes, but instead he found it hopelessly charming.

Cake?

I study rainbows.

There will mainly be prancing.

Louis found that he had scrolled back almost two years by the time he pulled himself out of his reverie that starred Harry Styles.

A few things were abundantly clear to Louis now: 1. He most definitely had the responsibility to warn Harry about the inevitable onslaught of fan interaction. 2. He probably needed to stop directly tweeting him. 3. He absolutely, unquestionably did not want to do either of those things.

Groaning, Louis did the only responsible thing he could think of in the moment and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Liam’s number.

It rang twice before Liam answered.

“Lima,” Louis started, not letting Liam get a word in edge wise, “I have a big problem.”

“What is it?” Liam’s voice was dripping in concern, professional mode engaged immediately.

“The guy who tweets for Starry Night is fit as fuck and I’m sort of in love with him.”

Louis was met with silence, and pulling his phone away from his face, he saw that Liam had hung up on him.

“Bastard,” Louis said, redialing Liam without even a shred of insecurity about it.

“What,” Liam said, foregoing a greeting with a very monotone voice.

“So anyway, as I was saying,” Louis continued as if their conversation hadn’t been interrupted, “this guy- his name’s Harry, and he’s their social media coordinator or whatever it’s called. And you told me to interact with Starry Night, so I did, but now people think we’re in love and they’re sort of half right because he’s incredibly good looking and I’m very interested. What do I do?”

Louis anticipated Liam would hang up on him again, but instead he heard the telltale signs of Liam listening to one of Louis’ rambling stories – heavy sighs, followed by a shuffling around in the background that was probably Liam pouring himself a drink.

“Okay, we need to back up,” Liam said. “I know you sent me that screenshot, but all I saw were tweets of lyrics. Did you tweet something inappropriate that somehow flew under my radar?”

“No, of course not Liam, don’t be rude,” Louis said, as he contemplated getting up to grab another beer, although he knew he should be switching to water. Compromising, he made his way to the kitchen and filled a glass with tap water, then grabbed a beer to alternate it with from the fridge, as he listened to Liam’s voice of reason.

“Well unless you’ve tweeted that you want to have his babies, I doubt that anyone actually thinks you’re in love with the social media guy-“

“Don’t underestimate my fans Liam, they’re very perceptive,” Louis made his way back to the living room with his phone tucked between his ear and shoulder, double fisting his drinks as he carefully sat back down on the couch.

“Oh trust me, I’m well aware,” Liam said, a fond tone in his voice. “Now as much as I love these slow, meandering conversations with you, I’d rather like to go to bed. So let’s get to the point, shall we? Are you calling to tell me this because you’re genuinely concerned that fans are going to think you’re flirting with a guy? Or are you calling to ask me if you’re allowed to flirt with this guy because your fans are going to find out either way?”

Damn Liam and his perception abilities. How did he always know what Louis was trying to say underneath his sassy dialogue?

“See,” Louis said, smiling, “this is why I pay you the big bucks, Lima. You get me. Granted, I am concerned that when fans find out who Harry is, they’ll give him a hard time. But I’m probably not going to stop flirting with him now that I know how gorgeous he is, you’re probably right. So do I have the Payno stamp of approval to do so?”

Liam sighed again.

“Please don’t tweet anything inappropriate, or offensive, or stupid in your quest to impress this anonymous person Louis,” Liam said, sounding exhausted all of a sudden.

“When have I ever done any of that?” Louis asked in mock outrage, because both of them knew very well that he had indeed tweeted inappropriate, or offensive, or stupid things in the past- sometimes all three at once.

“In all seriousness though,” Louis continued after he heard Liam bark out a laugh, “I think I need to warn this guy about the wave of interest that’s about to wash over him. And to be honest, I was thinking about what you said earlier – about me pursuing guys in a normal way. Chatting them up, going on dates-“

Louis trailed off, hoping that Liam would use his perceptive abilities once again and finish Louis’ thoughts for him. He was cheeky when it came to things like breaking PR rules, but opening up about how vulnerable coming out made him feel wasn’t something he was used to.

“I get it, mate,” Liam said, and Louis let out a relieved breath. “I was actually thinking that too when you first mentioned him. Although there’s something to be said about the fans’ reactions to you dating someone in the business. They might cry “PR stunt”. Just something to think about.”

“Yeah,” Louis said, not sure how to process all his thoughts. “I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t really matter. I’m sort of jumping the gun, I’ve never even met the guy. He could be straight. Or taken. Or less inclined to jump into this romantic fantasy I’ve cooked up based on social media interactions.”

Liam laughed at that as he said, “Well look, Lou, whether you decide to keep interacting with him on Twitter, or to tone it down, it doesn’t really matter to me. I trust you, and I know how good you are at navigating fan interactions and things like that.”

“Aw Lima,” Louis said, but Liam cut him off before he could say something snarky.

“But as for the concern about not having met him, I actually have something that might cheer you up. Or scare you shitless, depending.”

“What are you on about,” Louis said, a tone of warning in his voice.

“Got an email from Niall’s assistant a bit ago, I was going to just tell you tomorrow. But since you called, this is the perfect time to let you know there’s a party tomorrow night for you and Steve. Little last minute, but Niall really wanted to throw a ‘Starry Night family get-together’ as he calls it. Some other artists will be there, and potentially, it would seem, the whole staff.”

Louis’ heartrate was racing by the time Liam finished explaining. He felt like he couldn’t catch his breath.

“You arsehole,” Louis sputtered, “You’re joking.”

“I’m ‘fraid not my friend,” Liam said, clearly enjoying Louis’ panic over this new piece of information. “So it would seem you’ll be able to warn him about locking down his social media accounts and confess your undying love for him. Two birds, one stone.”

This time Louis hung up on Liam, but not before squawking out an indignant noise that had Liam bursting into laughter.

--

Louis knew he should have gone to bed straight after hanging up with Liam, but his panic over maybe meeting Harry Styles the next day (combined with his continued buzz of alcohol) led him to stress-surf the internet and devour all things related to this mystery boy that he could.

He went to hit “Follow” and pulled his hand back more times than he could count. Directly linking Harry to Louis was a terrible idea, at least before he had a chance to meet the guy in person and give him a chance to run in the other direction. (He also thought about DM’ing him, but figured whatever garbled nonsense he typed out wouldn’t make the best first impression.)

It was 2:40 in the morning when Louis, in an exhausted haze, said fuck it and tweeted a message to his record label, instead of the very cute boy he wanted to direct it at. His fans might give him hell for it, and Liam would for sure, but he couldn’t be bothered anymore.

@TheTommo: Hope you’ll show some massive love to @StarryNightRec – incredibly supportive place !  I’ve turned into their biggest fan !

Knowing that it was way too late for anyone except his fans in other time zones to respond, he willed himself to get up off the couch and stumbled his way to the bedroom.

Flopping onto his soft, cozy bed, he blindly reached for the power cord sitting on his bedside table and fruitlessly tried to plug in his phone. Huffing in frustration, he sat up in the dark room and tried again, surprised when his screen lit up with two notifications in quick succession.

Starry Night Records liked your Tweet!

Starry Night Records replied to your Tweet!

Now very much awake, Louis felt his stomach flip flop in anticipation. He couldn’t believe that Harry was awake, let alone replying to Louis’ middle-of-the-night posts.

Unlocking his phone and clicking on the notification, Louis’ eyes scrunched up so tight he almost couldn’t see – his smile was overwhelming his face, his teeth biting into his lower lip to try and control it. Showing a huge amount of self-restraint, he locked his phone and placed it on his bedside table, vowing to get some sleep while he could, but unsure if he would be able to with this strong, fuzzy feeling coursing through him now.

@StarryNightRec: @TheTommo the feeling is mutual!

--

“I don’t think you quite understand Liam,” Louis spoke through clenched teeth, almost hissing out the words he was so wound up. “You need to be here with me so I don’t completely lose it.”

The volume of his voice went up substantially at the end of his sentence, and an elderly woman passing by him in the hotel lobby looked affronted as she passed Louis and hurried to the front door.

“Sorry, sorry,” Louis called to her, waving halfheartedly before turning his back to the lobby and secluding himself even more in the corner he was in. “I was under the distinct impression you would actually be here tonight, you know, because you’re my fucking manager.”

He did his best to keep his voice down this time, but emphasized the final two words so fiercely that Liam actually laughed. What a fucking prick. Louis was going to fire him immediately. As soon as he got down here to support him through this night. Immediately after that.

“Lou,” Liam said, using his most placating voice which just pissed Louis off even more, “you’re going to be fine. I’ve already spoken to Niall, he knows I’m not going to be able to make it, he understands.”

“Oh, he understands? Niall, the CEO of Starry Night understands why my manager isn’t going to be there, that’s very interesting, because I sure as fuck don’t,” Louis said, as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, his eyes shutting to block out the light. He was going to absolutely lose it in about two seconds.

“I meant,” Liam said, stretching his words out like he was explaining something to a child, “he knows that you’ll be there by yourself, well aside from Steve being there, so I’m sure he’ll keep an eye on you. Introduce you to all the right people.”

Liam put such a particular tone on the phrase ‘right people’, that Louis would have bet his life he was waggling his eyebrows right now.

“Oh fuck off,” Louis said, not wanting to think about Harry right now.

Louis had spent all morning (after spending all night), and then all afternoon, thinking about Harry Styles: was he going to see Harry tonight? What should he wear to impress Harry for their first meeting? What was Harry going to be wearing? Was his hair going to be doing that cute fluffy thing that Louis stared at for hours online? Or was it going to be tamed for the business event?

This inevitably devolved into just thinking about every part of Harry Styles’ body from his head down to his stupidly long legs – any part of him that Louis had been lucky enough to catch glimpses of in pictures posted online. It hadn’t been a very productive day.

His thoughts were interrupted by Liam’s voice, no longer condescendingly gentle but rather concerned, “Louis? Look, if you really do need me there I can cancel my dinner meeting. You know I’m not trying to abandon you, but I’ve been trying to meet up with John and Laura for so long, and you know he’s been flying back and forth to LA so much, and with promo coming up I wanted to finalize things for you-“

Louis cut Liam off, “Nah, mate,” he took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, “I- I understand. You’ve been talking about this meeting for weeks. I get it. I’m just- I’m really-“

“I know,” Liam said, relieving Louis of the responsibility of confessing his nerves. “But you’ve never had any problems charming the pants off everyone you meet. Maybe not literally, but I’m sure it’ll happen with Harry tonight.”

Louis let out a chuckle, even though he was still feeling quite overwhelmed.

“Alright,” Louis said, taking a deep breath and turning back to face the lobby where people were milling about. “I might as well get this the fuck over with.”

“That’s the spirit, Lou,” Liam said, and Louis laughed again, this time a little more genuinely.

“Thank God Steve will be here,” Louis said, mostly to himself. “I might have had to get blackout drunk otherwise.”

“Please don’t,” Liam said, but Louis cut him off before he could berate him about drinking.

“Oh stop, I’m only joking Payno. I promise to be on my best behavior tonight. Wouldn’t want to scare Harry Styles away first time I get to meet him, right?”

“Right,” Liam said, and Louis heard the noise picking up in the background of Liam’s call, like he had just walked into a crowded place. “Listen Lou, I’m about to meet up with John and Laura at the restaurant, so I’ve got to go. As long as you’re sure you’re going to be okay-” Liam trailed off, leaving Louis with the opportunity to bail if he needed it. Louis took a deep breath and shook his head, though Liam couldn’t see it.

“Nah, you go ahead. I’ll be fine. Go do your job like you’re meant to.”

Liam laughed and said goodbye to Louis, hanging up soon after.

Standing alone in the hotel lobby, Louis braced himself for what was about to happen. The rented space for the party was in one of London’s swankiest hotels, and Louis pulled at his collar nervously. His black skinny jeans, paired with a blazer and tie, gave off what he hoped was a ‘casual but still invested in this evening’ look.

He could see people heading into the double doors that led to the event space, and he counted to three in his head (then to five, then to ten) and started making his way across the lobby, trying hard not to fidget.

It was going to be fine. Maybe Harry wouldn’t even be there. He told himself that would be the ideal scenario, ignoring the feeling in his gut that felt like disappointment at the thought that he might not even get the chance to talk to Harry Styles.

Opening the door, he heard music that hadn’t been able to cross the lobby, although in the large room it filled the space. Loud chatter layered over top of it, along with the clinking of glasses and silverware. Louis was surprised to see more than fifty people in the space, and he was silently grateful that it wasn’t going to be such an intimate gathering that he couldn’t excuse himself without being noticed.

“Bro, so glad you’re here,” he felt a hand on his right shoulder, and suddenly Steve was pulling Louis into a tight hug. Louis had clicked with Steve immediately upon meeting, no awkward phase to get over when it came to the DJ, and Louis was so relieved to see him right away.

“I’m glad you’re here too mate,” Louis said, muffled a bit against Steve’s long hair. “You’re looking good.”

Steve wore black jeans with a Dim Mak graphic t-shirt underneath a fitted blazer. He had a knack for looking all at once put together and very cool.

“You too brother, loving this look,” Steve had unwound his arms from Louis’ shoulders, but kept one in place to guide him further into the space. A few people looked at the pair of them as they walked towards the bar, but most people were too caught up in their conversations to notice the two of them. “Seems like it’ll be a pretty sick get together tonight. Oh, Niall, what’s up man?”

Louis hadn’t noticed the Irishman approaching the two of them, but as they came upon the bar, the blonde CEO of Starry Night was suddenly upon them, huge smile glued in place.

“Louis, Steve,” Niall said, reaching out to shake both men’s hands in turn. “My two favorite artists. How the hell are ya?”

Louis couldn’t help but smile, Niall’s positive energy was contagious.

“Doing great, thanks so much for putting this together Niall,” Louis said, as Niall ordered the three of them a round of shots. Louis was surprised at the gesture, but Niall insisted that everyone was to have the best time possible, which he claimed was only going to happen if lots of alcohol was involved.

“Just don’t tell Liam,” Louis said quickly before tossing the shot back at the same time as the other two men. Wincing a bit from the burn, Louis placed the empty shot glass back on the bar as Niall turned to face him directly.

“Got some people I want you to meet,” he said, gesturing to the room at large. “Steve’s already met most of the crew. You mind if I steal him away Steve?”

“Not at all, bro,” Steve said politely. “I’ll grab another drink and just mingle a bit. See you two later?”

“Absolutely,” Louis said, reciprocating the fist bump that Steve offered to him. Niall covertly ordered the two of them each a beer before they turned away from the bar, and Louis walked close to Niall as he guided him around the room with a hand on his back.

As they walked, he muttered names and titles of certain people to Louis, but it was all too much for Louis to remember. They stopped and chatted here and there, Niall excitedly introducing Louis as “Starry Night’s newest sensation”, which made Louis blush quite a bit. Once Niall had introduced Louis to all the other chief executives of the company, he began to shuffle him around to meet the other staff – assistants, A&R representatives, even members of Starry Night’s custodial team were invited and enthusiastically greeted by Niall.

Louis couldn’t help but beam at the CEO, because no matter who he was introducing Louis too, no matter their position or rank in the company, Niall treated them like royalty. He knew everyone’s name and information about their personal lives, and would ask them things like “How’s your mom doing after surgery?” or “Excited for that vacation coming up?” Louis was beginning to see the truth behind Niall’s frequent statement of Starry Night being one big family.

The nerves that Louis had before walking into the room were melting away, thanks in no small part to Niall’s calming presence. It helped that Louis hadn’t gotten a chance to be by himself since he walked into the room, and he was enjoying getting to know people without the stress of having to start conversations himself.

Louis was so caught up in the most recent conversation that Niall started with a young woman who was also newly signed to Starry Night that he didn’t even notice the person walking up beside them.

It wasn’t until Niall said loudly, “Ah, Harry, perfect. I wanted to introduce the two of you” that Louis turned to look into the face of the man standing very close to him. All at once, a barrage of greeneyesHarryohmygod ran through his mind, and he got so flustered that he dropped the beer bottle he held in his hand.

“Oh- oh shit, sorry,” Louis stammered, face heating up embarrassingly. The bottle was empty, but it still clattered to the ground with what felt like a deafening noise above the din of music and voices. “I’m so sorry.”

Louis knelt down to grab the bottle, but Harry beat him to it. They both straightened up at the same time, and Harry looked right at Louis with a blinding smile and said, “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” He held the empty beer bottle out to Louis, and Louis’ brain took far too long to realize that he should have been reaching out to grab it back from the man.

Niall saved Louis from having to open his mouth and embarrass himself further when he cut in to introduce the two of them properly.

“Louis, this is Harry Styles. Harry’s in charge of all our social media content and online presence.” Harry was still smiling brightly at Louis, and Louis hoped that his face wasn’t contorted too badly in embarrassment. Louis finally grabbed the bottle back from Harry and quickly placed it on a table nearby. The woman that Louis had been chatting with excused herself when someone called her name, but Louis barely noticed her leaving. “And Harry, I would introduce you to Louis Tomlinson, but we both know that would be pointless.”

Niall said this with a mischievous look on his face, and Harry spared only a millisecond to direct an angry glare at Niall. Louis thought maybe he wasn’t supposed to see the exchange, but it made him wonder what kinds of conversations Niall and Harry might have had about Louis prior to this evening. Louis could feel the butterflies swooping around his stomach dangerously.

“Louis,” Harry said, holding out his very large hand to shake, “I’m so glad to finally meet you in person. Like Niall said, I’m the person behind all our social media.”

Louis took Harry’s warm hand, and his stomach tightened up into knots at the size of it – it easily engulfed Louis’. He and Harry held on a bit longer than was strictly necessary, never breaking eye contact, until Niall cleared his throat beside them.

“You two are ridiculous,” Niall said, rolling his eyes.

Louis dropped his hand from Harry’s, embarrassed and redirecting his gaze to the floor, but Harry looked unashamed as he kept staring right into Louis’ face.

“Oh fuck off,” Harry said casually, and Louis was surprised to hear someone talk to the CEO like that. Niall being who he was, though, took it in good humor and croaked out a laugh.

“Gladly,” he said, grabbing a flute of champagne off a tray from a passing waiter. “Louis, I think I’ve stolen enough of your time tonight, so if you’ll excuse me I’ve got some more arses to kiss around this very large room.”

Louis nodded his head, still unable to really gather himself appropriately, and Niall clapped his shoulder jovially before strolling off in the opposite direction from the pair of men. 

Suddenly finding himself in the company of Harry Styles with no one else around as a buffer was surreal. Louis was having trouble making the connection between the person he had tweeted (alright, flirted) with and this gorgeously tall man in front of him.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, he noticed Harry offering him a flute of champagne that he must have grabbed from the same waiter as Niall. Louis accepted it, nodding his head in gratitude.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, taking the opportunity to sip it in order to delay conversation once again.

“So I guess I should start with ‘surprise!’,” Harry said, and Louis looked up into his face confused. “I’m the person you’ve been interacting with on Twitter.”

Right, Louis thought, he doesn’t know I knew who he was.

“I felt a bit weird talking with you online when I knew exactly who you were, but you didn’t know me,” Harry said, chuckling self-deprecatingly. Louis could use this opportunity as an out, and pretend like this was the first time he had even heard Harry’s name, but that felt a little hollow to him.

“Actually,” Louis said, but it came out scratchy and quiet so he cleared his throat and tried again. “Actually, I did a little snooping online.” He smirked a little as he watched Harry’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “You didn’t expect me to keep up the chat without knowing who was on the other side, did you?”

Louis smiled now, eyes crinkling, because Harry had let out a laugh at that. Louis’ nerves were settling ever so slightly, and he was now just caught up in the orbit of Harry Styles. It was very hard to look away from him when he held eye contact so fiercely. 

“Been spying on me?” Harry asked cheekily. “I guess that’s only fair.” He took another sip of his champagne and Louis mimicked the action. The noise around them was still as loud as ever, but Louis barely noticed anything outside the bubble surrounding the two of them.

“Oh, absolutely,” Louis said, as Harry continued to sip from his glass. “I must say I was surprised you would put those kinds of pictures on the internet where anyone could see them, Styles.”

Louis watched as Harry took in what he said mid-swallow, choking on his champagne. Louis brought his free hand up to cover his mouth as he barked out a laugh, because even though he hadn’t wanted to traumatize Harry, the effect that teasing him produced (his ears turned bright red, his green eyes opened comically wide) gave Louis a very warm feeling in his gut.

Wiping his mouth furiously after catching his breath, it looked like Harry was about to open his mouth and defend himself, but Louis took pity on him first.

“I’m joking, mate,” he said, placing a flirty hand on Harry’s upper arm to console him briefly. “I’m so sorry, you should have seen your face.” Taking his hand away, Harry started smiling along with him.

“Oh my god,” Harry said, closing his eyes in relief. “I was going through all possible scenarios in my head. You’re officially the worst.”

Louis would have believed him if Harry hadn’t been smiling so brightly, biting his bottom lip to contain it after he finished speaking. Louis thought briefly that anyone looking at them from outside this bubble would see them both smiling idiotically at each other, unable to look away.

“Well, I must say Harry I’ve been very impressed with your social media management,” Louis said. “You’re quite on top of the tweets. Don’t think I’ve sent one out in the past week without you responding.”

Louis wasn’t trying to embarrass him again, but Harry’s cheeks reddened once more.

“I, uh,” he stammered, looking a bit flustered. “I was just trying to stay on top of promo, you know. Always need to be engaging the public.”

“Oh definitely,” Louis said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Honestly, I think it’s great. Fans are eating it up. In fact-“

He clicked around until he had his photo gallery pulled up, selecting the latest screenshot from the bunch and showing Harry with a playful glint in his eye. The photo showing the Tumblr post about Starry Night and Louis dating still amused Louis, and the post had continued to accrue reblogs by the hundreds. He watched Harry read it, and was relieved when Harry released an unflattering honk of a laugh, immediately reaching up to cover his mouth in shock.

“Oh my god,” he said through his fingers, “I can’t believe I just made that noise.”

Louis smiled and put his phone back in his pocket, pleased with Harry’s reaction.

“That is a good one though,” Harry said, running his free hand through his hair, fluffing it up a bit at the top. Louis noticed appreciatively that Harry had styled his short hair artfully, accentuating his chiseled jaw line in a beautiful way.

It occurred to Louis then that he should probably use this time with Harry wisely. As much as he wanted to keep staring at each other with dopey smiles on their faces, he knew that it was only a matter of time before every one of his fans knew who Harry was and started filling his inbox.

“Speaking of fan theories,” Louis said, finishing up his champagne and placing the empty glass on the nearby table, “I’m glad I got to meet you in person. I feel like I should warn you about interacting with me online.”

Harry’s smile fell a bit, and his brow furrowed, looking concerned. “Should I not be doing it? I’m sorry, I can stop.”

“No, no,” Louis said, shaking his head vehemently. “Nothing like that. I just- I have some very, um, dedicated fans.”

“I’ve noticed,” Harry said quietly, in a kind tone.

Louis smiled at that. “Yeah,” he continued, “they’re really great. Love them. But they have this uncanny ability to dig up information on just about anything. And if they haven’t figured out you’re behind Starry Nights Twitter by now, they definitely will. And I did notice that all of your accounts are public. So, I mean, uh- you might want to put them on private? Just to be safe?” Louis spoke with uncertainty, but Harry was giving him a knowing look.

“So you looked at my accounts, huh?” It was Louis’ turn to blush.

“I mean,” he mumbled, shifting his weight on his feet nervously, “all in the name of protecting your privacy Styles. Don’t let it go to your head.” He added a wink for good measure, and Harry shook his head in an amused gesture.

“Oh sure, well in the name of privacy,” Harry said. Louis felt like his cheeks were going numb from smiling so much, but he just couldn’t help it. “Honestly, I’ve been getting so many messages from fans on Starry Night accounts. I’ve loved it. Makes my job much more interesting. So far none on my personal ones though, so you don’t have to worry. And I promise to make them private as soon as I get home, alright?”

Louis caught himself staring at Harry’s mouth, fascinated by the slow, meaningful way he formed words, mesmerized by Harry’s plump lips.

Feeling flirty, Louis sighed and said, “I suppose so. Although now I won’t be able to keep tabs on your personal accounts anymore. Guess it’s for the best though.”

Not missing a beat, Harry leaned in close to Louis and lowered his voice, ensuring that Louis craned his neck towards Harry’s mouth to hear him better. “Guess you’ll just have to hit that follow button then. Wouldn’t want you to miss out on those kinds of pictures in the future.”

Louis took a sharp breath in, overwhelmed with Harry’s breath on his cheek, the smell of his cologne.

Looking up into Harry’s eyes, Louis was rendered speechless. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the sound of Niall’s Irish accent loudly coming up behind him.

“Hope I’m not interrupting boys,” he said cheerily, as Harry pulled himself back to a respectful distance from Louis, looking calmly at Niall like he didn’t know how flustered Louis was. “Louis, can I steal you away again? Got some more people who want to chat with you and Steve about promo season.”

“Uh, yeah,” Louis said, clearing his throat and taking another step back from Harry. “Absolutely.”

“It was so nice to meet you Louis,” Harry said, staring intently at Louis with a small smile on his face.

“Um, yeah- yes,” Louis said, still stumbling to recover. “You too, Harry.”

Niall ushered Louis away quickly, and Louis took a quick peak over his shoulder for one last look at Harry. Harry’s eyes snapped up to Louis’ face in an obvious attempt to cover up the blatant ogling he was doing of Louis’ arse. Louis smiled devilishly, and Harry gave him a small shrug as if to say can you blame me?

Louis was distracted the rest of the night, unable to retain much about the people he met, his brain stuck on the charming and enthralling person that was Harry Styles.

--

Quicker than he expected, Louis found himself falling into his own bed still fully clothed. The energy and buzzy feeling he had from his time with Harry had quickly worn off when he suddenly found himself at the end of the night: he hadn’t gotten a chance to speak with Harry again or tell him goodbye.

He was kicking himself the whole ride back to his flat, because Niall had floated him around to so many people the rest of the evening, that by the time he was able to come up for a breath, Harry was nowhere to be found. The venue had mostly cleared out, and Louis figured that Harry had left at a reasonable hour like most people.

Sulking, Louis couldn’t be bothered to get up to shower or change his clothes.

“At least you spoke to him,” Louis said out loud, trying and failing to give himself a pep talk. He groaned in frustration, flipping around onto his stomach and pulling his laptop closer to him. He hadn’t bothered to make his bed before he left, and his laptop was still sitting open on his duvet from where he had been scrolling aimlessly through Tumblr before the party.

 Instinctually, Louis navigated to Twitter and immediately pulled up Harry’s page. He felt a sharp pang of disappointment when he saw that Harry had indeed switched his profile to private.

You told him to, you idiot, Louis thought, can’t be surprised when he does it.

He was about to go check Harry’s Instagram (just in case he hadn’t gotten to that account yet), when he noticed the small words next to Harry’s username that hadn’t been there before tonight:

FOLLOWS YOU

Smiling, Louis only hesitated for a few seconds before clicking Follow, wondering how long it would be before Harry approved his request.

Grabbing his phone to pull up Instagram, he did the same with Harry’s (now private) page, requesting to follow him immediately.

He scrolled mindlessly through his feed for a few minutes, liking a few pictures that Steve had posted of some recent shows he performed. Louis opened his own camera and snapped a selfie of himself lying in bed with his tie and blazer still on, his eyes squinting with exhaustion, but a small smile on his face. He quickly posted it with the caption:

Too knackered to be bothered with changing. A great night spent with the folks from @StarryNightRec and my bro @SteveAoki

Switching back to his laptop, Louis perused Tumblr for a bit, chuckling at fans’ swift reactions to his newest selfie. He was alerted to a new tweet from Starry Night when his phone lit up beside him, instantly snatching it up to see what Harry had tweeted.

A great night with some phenomenal artists and staff! Thanks @TheTommo and @SteveAoki for joining us!

Attached was a group picture that Louis vaguely remembered posing for in between hand-shaking.

He liked the tweet quickly, and went back to Harry’s page to see if he had been approved yet. His stomach did a funny somersault when he saw that he had been.

Knowing that Harry wouldn’t be able to message him on his account (he had long since disabled that feature after getting one too many inappropriate messages from strangers), he boldly composed a quick note to Harry, hoping he wasn’t wrong about the chemistry he felt between the two of them.

Hey mate, sorry I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye – Niall was set on me meeting just about everyone in that room I think ! Was a real pleasure getting to chat with you . Sorry you had to put your accounts on private, but trust me – it’s for the best !

Not knowing what else to say, whether he was being too forward already, Louis quickly hit send and shuffled out of bed. The exhaustion he felt just moments before was replaced with a jumpy energy, and he had to get away from his computer so he wouldn’t explode from nerves.

He forced himself to undress and hop in the shower, washing quickly and changing into joggers and a loose t-shirt.

Still not wanting to check his messages, Louis made himself a cup of tea very slowly in the kitchen, loitering around a bit before finally slinking back to his room nervously.

His heart thudded and he swallowed audibly seeing that Harry had messaged him back not once, not twice, but three times. Louis hesitated briefly, psyching himself up to click on the messages.

It’s alright! I looked for you to say bye, but I noticed Niall had you roped into more chats. figured you were busy enough without me bugging you. but I’m glad you messaged me. the pleasure was definitely all mine! ps-putting my accounts on private isn’t a big deal, it’s really no trouble at all. I’m glad you warned me honestly.

pps – I like your selfie. you look cute even when you’re tired.

ppps- at the risk of seeming like a huge nerd, here’s my number if you ever want to chat off of social media.

Louis could swear he heard his own heartbeat it was thumping so strongly. He took in a large breath as he read the digits that followed Harry’s last message. He almost couldn’t believe it. Someone as charming, funny, kind, and fit as Harry Styles wanted Louis to have his number? He reread the message Harry sent calling him cute, and felt his face warm up substantially.

He buried his face in his pillow as he squealed loudly in excitement.

Wishing desperately he could play it cool, but knowing the chances of that were slim to none, Louis grabbed his phone from beside him and typed in Harry’s number with shaky hands. Saving him in his contact list, he pulled up a blank text message and strategized what he should open with. Something flirty? Something nonchalant?

He wrote and deleted about ten messages before settling on something simple:

Hey Harry, it’s Louis :)

It had taken him at least three full minutes of deliberation on whether to include a smiley face or not. Without it, the message seemed too serious, but he worried that including it might make him seem too eager.

“Fuck it,” Louis said out loud to himself, hitting send before he could rethink his message once again. Louis only had to endure about thirty seconds of sweating and second guessing before his phone was buzzing in his hand.

Harry Styles: Hiiii :)

(Louis felt validated that Harry seemed to be on board with the smileys)

In quick succession, Louis received two more texts from Harry.

Harry Styles: glad to hear from you

Harry Styles: was worried when I didn’t get a message back right away that I had overstepped

Louis felt a pang of guilt thinking about how he basically bolted from his computer to shower and avoid Harry’s potential response. It seemed that Harry was just as nervous to talk with Louis as Louis was to message him. Flopping back onto his pillows, Louis snuggled under the covers and settled in to chat with Harry.

Nah, not at all – I decided sleeping in my clothes wasn’t the best idea, so I hopped into the shower right after messaging you . sorry for the delay !

Harry Styles: it’s okay :) just happy to hear from you. did you have fun tonight?

I did ! was a bit overwhelming to meet so many people, not sure I remember anyone’s name . but everyone is so nice !

Did you have fun??

Harry Styles: of course I did, I got to talk to you didn’t I? ;)

Louis couldn’t believe that Harry Styles had the ability to fluster him even when they weren’t in the same room. There was just something about this guy, his confidence maybe, which had Louis’ tummy in knots from something as small as a text message.

Before he could think of a flirty response, Harry texted again.

Harry Styles: people are sending me messages like crazy to Starry Night acct asking about you being at the party tonight

Harry Styles: think I should stir up some trouble??

trouble? What kind of trouble ??

Harry Styles: just wait…you’ll see! ;)

Louis felt a jolt of excitement, wondering what Harry could be planning. He didn’t have to wait long to find out, as his phone lit up with another notification that Starry Night had tagged him in a tweet. Harry had apparently responded to one of the many fans inundating the company’s account with questions about Louis.

@meep234: @StarryNightRec whats Louis like in person??? 

@StarryNightRec: Just as charming and cheeky as you’d imagine! @TheTommo

As Louis was typing out a text to respond to Harry, he saw that Starry Night tweeted once again, responding to yet another fan.

@heartlouist: @StarryNightRec && HANDSOME TOO RIGHT!?

@StarryNightRec: Obviously! @TheTommo

Louis stared at the tweet with his mouth hanging open. If people weren’t freaking out about Harry’s tweets to Louis before, they most certainly would be now. Quickly switching back over to their text conversation, Louis sent five exclamation points in a row as his reaction.

Harry Styles: hahaha

Harry Styles: hope those are good

Harry Styles: sorry if that was too much – I can delete them if you want…??

Nah, they’re fine. Just surprised is all. People are definitely going to have a field day over this ! What happened to not wanting to rile up the fans ?

Harry Styles: it’s okay, let them speculate. everything I said is all true anyway.

Biting his lip, Louis rolled his eyes fondly at Harry’s not-so-subtle compliments of him. Looking at the time, he was shocked to see it was approaching almost one in the morning. He regretted having to end the conversation with Harry, but knew that he should let them both get some much needed rest. They chatted briefly for a few more minutes before saying goodnight, with Harry signing his final text with two x’s.

Louis took it as a good sign.

Putting his phone aside finally, he sighed as he stared up at his ceiling. It was official – he was totally in way too deep, just arse over teakettle for Harry Styles. Despite the late hour, his body was thrumming with energy, and there was no way he was going to be able to fall asleep as thoughts raced through his head about the whole night.

Giving in to temptation, Louis grabbed his phone once more and pulled up Harry’s personal Twitter one final time. Not expecting anything new, he was surprised to see a retweet from only a few minutes prior that mentioned an artist’s showcase at a small local pub. The original tweet tagged Harry, implying that he would be performing the next night with two or three other people.

An idea sprang to Louis’ mind, and he was unable to fall asleep for a long while after that, imagining scenarios well into the morning that all involved Harry Styles falling madly in love with him.

--

“Look Liam, as interesting as all this is, I’ve really got to go,” Louis interrupted Liam for the fourth time in as many minutes, trying and failing to get his manager to stop babbling on about the previous night’s business meeting.

“But I haven’t finished,” Liam said, sounding distinctly disappointed. Leave it to Liam to get excited over the most boring details of the business, but Louis genuinely felt bad for hurting his friend’s feelings.

“I’m sorry Payno,” Louis said, softening his voice substantially. “I promise we’ll hang tomorrow, and you can tell me all about whatever it is that’s got you all excited.”

“You haven’t even been listening, Lou,” Liam said, clearly annoyed. He was right, too. Louis had called Liam on his journey to the pub, hoping that talking to him would help alleviate some of the nervous energy he felt walking through the streets of London. The pub was only about a fifteen minute walk away, but Liam had kept him talking for at least ten extra while Louis loitered out on the sidewalk. Worried he would miss the showcase, he tried to wrap it up quickly.

“Look, if you must know,” Louis said, rushing, “I’m about to see Harry Styles perform, and I’d really rather not miss any of it, so I’m going to hang up now, alright? And before you cut in with a million questions, I promise to answer every single one of them at brunch tomorrow. My treat.”

Liam sighed, but Louis could sense that victory was finally his.

“Alright,” Liam said finally, “you’re right, I have about a million questions, but I know you’re just going to yell at me if I ask them. So I’ll see you tomorrow. Be safe, alright? You sure it’s okay for you to be there?”

“Don’t worry Payno, I’m incognito.”

That was sort of the truth, at least. Louis had been careful not to wear anything that would draw attention to himself, opting for joggers, a nondescript hooded sweatshirt, and a dark baseball cap. He hoped that not only would he be able to watch Harry Styles without alerting him to his presence, but also that any fans who could potentially be in the vicinity wouldn’t immediately recognize and swarm him.

Finally getting Liam to hang up (after reassuring him three times that he was going to be fine and not to worry), Louis slipped into the dark pub, looking around at the people gathered. It was a small place, but quite full of patrons milling around at both small tables and the large bar across the room. There was a small stage to the left, which the tables faced, with a mic and speakers set up for musicians to play. Noticing that no one was on stage, Louis hoped he hadn’t missed Harry performing.

He quickly purchased a beer at the bar, the bartender doing a small double take at his ID and face but not saying anything, and found an empty table near the back to sit at. He occupied himself watching the groups of people around, most of them chatting amiably with one another. It seemed this was a place full of regulars, people who came here often and knew one another well.

It wasn’t long before he heard clapping start at the front of the room and make its way back to him, and his head snapped up to see Harry ambling his way onto the stage, a guitar slung round his shoulders.

Louis couldn’t help the smile that overtook his face as he watched Harry stand in front of the mic and adjust it up to his height.

“Um, hello,” Harry said to the room, craning his neck a bit to speak closely into the mic, and people clapped and cheered in response. It was clear most of them knew who Harry was already. “Thank you. ‘M Harry Styles, and here’s a couple tunes for you.”

Without much preamble, Harry launched into his first song – an acoustic cover of Barbie Girl that had everyone laughing and clapping along, Louis included.

It wasn’t just the funny choice of song, though. Harry was good – really good. Louis had to consciously close his mouth a few times, because he couldn’t seem to stop staring fixedly at the way that Harry moved as he played and sang. He was mesmerized by Harry’s mouth, even more so than when they had been talking at the party.

When Harry finished, the whole bar went crazy for him, some people standing up to applaud.

Harry quietly thanked the crowd for being so kind, and Louis thought his own smile might be permanently attached to his face now. This boy was something else.

“I have one more song for you if that’s alright,” Harry said, and a few people cheered and whistled for him, which seemed to reassure him. “I haven’t played it for anyone yet, so go easy on me. It’s a cover of a song that I haven’t been able to stop listening to lately. It’s a message I think everyone really needs to hear every once in a while, so I hope you’ll listen closely to the words because they’re quite amazing.”

Harry started strumming his guitar once more, and Louis audibly gasped as Harry began to sing the lyrics he himself had written.

Wish that you could build a time machine

So you could see the things no one can see

Feels like you’re standing on the edge

Looking at stars, and wishing you were them

Harry Styles was singing Louis’ song. Harry Styles was standing on stage in front of people and singing words that Louis had written. Harry had called them amazing, and told people he couldn’t stop listening to it.

Louis didn’t even know what to do with himself, he was frozen in place watching Harry perform. Harry had his eyes shut tight, singing each word with such feeling. With nothing he could do to control it, tears sprang to Louis’ eyes.

The emotion that Louis had put into those words, Harry was singing it back to him. Harry got it, and Louis was powerless to stem the flow of tears that rolled down his face now. He was a famous popstar, someone whose lyrics were known by millions around the world, and yet he had never felt until this very moment like someone else truly understood what Louis had meant in his writing.

Leave it to Harry to take an EDM song and turn it on its head right in front of its creator.

When Harry sang the last line, Louis was surprised to hear other people around him cheering and stomping their feet. It was like in those few minutes of Harry performing, there was no one else in the room but the two of them.

Of course, Harry didn’t even know Louis was there. Louis had to remind himself of that as he applauded hard and whistled along with the crowd. Harry thanked everyone profusely once more and introduced the next act, clumsily tripping a bit as he attempted to exit the stage.

Louis half stood from his chair, craning his neck to see where Harry went, and was relieved when he saw Harry striding towards the bar, now sans-guitar.

Wiping his face with his hands to catch any rogue tears he might have missed, Louis stood up and nervously made his way over to where Harry was standing. His back was to Louis, and he was chatting with the bartender, a colorful drink in front of him already.

Louis came up behind him and stood on his tiptoes to whisper in his ears, “That was quite the cover.”

Harry turned around so fast Louis heard his neck pop, and he winced sympathetically. Harry didn’t seem to notice, however, as he took Louis’ presence in and his face erupted into the biggest, brightest smile Louis had seen yet.

“Louis!”

Without a second’s hesitation, Harry pulled Louis close to him, enveloping his body in a tight hug. Louis was surprised, but his body didn’t need any time to adjust – he pliantly molded himself into Harry’s embrace, going a bit dizzy at the wonderful smell of Harry’s cologne as he turned his face into his neck a bit.

“What are you doing here?” Harry asked, gently pushing Louis back and holding him at arm’s length, but not letting go of his tight grip. Harry’s eyes widened and he rushed to clarify, “I mean, I’m so happy you are, but I’m just so surprised to see you.”

Louis chuckled at Harry’s expression and shrugged one of his shoulders.

“To be honest, I saw your tweet about this and thought I might come check it out. I hope that’s alright.”

“Of course it is,” Harry said, finally releasing Louis from his grip and indicating that Louis should take the stool next to him at the bar. Hopping up onto it, Louis saw Harry gesture to the bartender for two drinks, and was presented with a shot immediately.

“I had a few drinks before I went up on stage,” Harry admitted sheepishly, and Louis wondered if the hug they shared was inspired by some liquid courage (not that he was complaining). “What should we drink to?”

Louis thought for a second before smiling and holding up his shot towards Harry.

“To the best interpretation of Just Hold On I’ve ever heard, including my own,” Louis clinked his shot glass with Harry’s, looking him right in the eyes. As he pulled his glass away to take the drink he quickly added, “And the cutest person to ever cover one of my songs.”

He tossed back the shot, using the few seconds to avoid looking at Harry’s reaction. When he finally placed his shot glass back on the bar, he noticed that Harry was still holding his – completely full, in midair where Louis’ glass had touched his just a moment before. Harry was staring at Louis like he couldn’t believe he was in front of him, and Louis waved his hand in front of his face to get his attention.

“Harry? Y’alright?”

Harry seemed to snap out of it, blushing and mumbling a quick ‘sorry’ before downing his shot. Making a disgusted face (which Louis still found endearing), Harry slammed his now-empty glass on the bar as well.

“Ugh, hate taking shots,” Harry admitted.

“You ordered it!” Louis said, laughing through his words which Harry joined in on.

Harry shrugged, and went to take a swallow of his very colorful drink.

“That looks dangerous,” Louis said, indicating the fruity concoction that Harry was now sipping obscenely. Louis had to tear his eyes away and forced himself to stare at the counter instead of where Harry’s pink lips wrapped around the straw.

“Want to try it? ‘S my favorite,” Harry said, holding out the glass for Louis to take. Instead of grabbing it from him, Louis covered Harry’s large hand with his own small one, keeping the glass in place and sticking the straw in his mouth using his tongue. Looking Harry in the eyes, he took a long pull of it, sucking his cheeks in deeply.

“Fuck,” Harry breathed out, clearly affected by Louis’ display. Letting go of the drink and Harry’s hand, Louis smiled innocently at him, which seemed to fluster Harry even more. Harry fish mouthed a bit, and Louis wondered if he would have to save Harry from whatever internal struggle he was having, but Harry managed to stutter out, “We should get drunk.”

Louis agreed.

“We definitely should.”

--

“Alright, alright. It’s my turn,” Louis said as he laughed at Harry. He and Harry had been steadily drinking for about an hour now, and somewhere between shots three and four they decided it was a great idea to play a game of Truth or Truth (with Harry adorably pouting that ‘dares’ would mean getting up from the stools, and he didn’t want to move anywhere).

Harry had just finished admitting that his first crush had been Shawn from Boy Meets World, which Louis understood but still gave him shit about.

They had been gradually moving into each other’s spaces, scooting incrementally closer on their stools, taking small opportunities to lean over to each other and whisper over the loud sounds of the pub. The people around them paid them no attention, save for a few patrons coming over to clap Harry on the shoulder and congratulate him on his set earlier in the night.

Now, as Louis leaned in to share his next Truth, Harry placed a large, warm hand on his thigh and Louis froze a bit. Harry questioned him with a look, and Louis took the opportunity to reassure him by casually brushing his fingers over Harry’s hand – not lingering for long, but hearing the way Harry’s breath caught in his throat at the gesture.

He was going to tell Harry something about when he first got into the music business, but feeling the solid weight of Harry’s hand on his body emboldened him. He leaned back in and placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder, tilting his head conspiratorially towards Harry’s ear as if he was sharing his deepest secret.

“Truth: I couldn’t sleep last night. I stayed up basically all night thinking about coming to see you here.”

Louis pulled back slightly to see Harry’s expression, and Harry looked surprised but incredibly pleased. Not wanting to put more space between them, Louis kept his hand on Harry’s shoulder and squeezed gently, just barely applying pressure. Harry responded in turn with a small squeeze to Louis’ thigh, which gave him tingles.

Harry didn’t respond to Louis’ truth, but leaned in to whisper against his ear:

“Truth: I retweeted that on purpose. I wanted you to see it. Was hoping you would come, but I was too afraid to invite you.”

Louis smiled, shivering a little at the feeling of Harry’s breath on the side of his face. Harry pulled back just enough to give them space to look at each other, and Louis tilted his head questioningly.

“Did you play my song hoping I would be here?”

Harry looked a little embarrassed, but smiled as he said, “Sort of. I wanted to play it either way, because I really have been kind of obsessed with it. You hearing it was just a bonus.”

Louis smiled and admitted in almost the same breath, “I cried during it.”

Harry’s eyes widened and he looked concerned, “You did? Why?”

“Because it was so beautiful, Harry,” Louis said, now rubbing Harry’s shoulder gently in small movements. “I don’t think anyone has ever interpreted one of my songs like that. You’re so fucking talented.”

They both looked at each other for a beat, neither of them speaking until Harry took a sharp inhale like he was trying to catch his breath.

“Truth,” Harry said, almost whispering now, “I had a crush on you before you signed with us. When you joined Starry Night I almost had a heart attack. That’s why Niall gave me shit when we met.” Harry looked shyly at Louis, gauging his reaction. Louis didn’t know what to say, but instinctively his tongue shot out to wet his lips.

Harry’s gaze flitted from Louis’ eyes down to his lips and back again. The energy between them had been charged all evening, but nothing as electric as it was now. They were close enough to feel each other’s breath on their faces, both heavy with the alcohol they had consumed.

This is it, Louis thought as he slowly leaned in toward Harry.

“Harry, mate,” someone yelled loudly beside them, clapping Harry on his other shoulder and making both of them jump back from each other. Louis removed his hand from Harry quickly, and Harry slowly slid his hand away from Louis’ thigh.

Harry’s friend drunkenly rambled on about how amazing Harry’s set had been, asking if he could buy him a drink, totally oblivious to the moment he had just ruined. Harry politely declined the drink and promised the friend he would come find him before he left to say goodbye. The man stumbled off away from the bar, and Harry chuckled awkwardly.

“Sorry about that,” he said, running a hand through his hair. It was much fluffier tonight than it had been at the party, and Louis desperately wanted to run his fingers through it.   

“It’s alright,” Louis said, checking his phone for the time. “Honestly, it’s getting late. I should probably get going.”

Obvious disappointment flashed across Harry’s face, and Louis understood exactly how he felt.

Not wanting Harry to think it had anything to do with him, Louis placed a small hand on Harry’s knee and looked him in the eye as he said, “I had a really good time with you tonight.”

Harry’s smile lit up his face, the disappointed look fading away quickly.

“I did too, Louis,” he said, placing his large hand on top of Louis’ and squeezing slightly. “I don’t know what your plans are tomorrow, but, um- would you maybe want to, like, go out somewhere? Like on a, uh, a date with me?”

Harry stumbled over his words, whether from the alcohol or the nerves Louis didn’t know, but it didn’t matter to him.

“Absolutely,” he said quickly, matching Harry’s growing smile with one of his own. 

The rest of their short time together was a blur to Louis, his mind only truly capturing the moment that Harry hugged him close to say goodbye, neither of them wanting to let go. Louis ended up stumbling into bed later than he had the night before, a feeling of complete bliss washing over him as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

--

Blinking his eyes open, Louis’ first thought upon waking was something’s not right.

The light was all wrong in his room – it was way too dark for him to have woken up on his own. He hadn’t fallen asleep until after three, so it was odd that his body was now awake without the sun even being up. He looked around his dark room for clues, and suddenly became aware that his phone was going off nonstop. It buzzed so rapidly he thought at first someone must be calling, but when he picked up his phone his eyes widened at the number of missed messages and alerts.

Something had happened.

 Clicking over to his text messages, he saw no less than twenty from Liam, all varying degrees of warnings about something all over the internet. Groaning loudly, he knew it was only a matter of time before his manager called to chew him out, and he wanted to remain in front of whatever information was causing this uproar.

Leaning over the edge precariously, he grabbed his laptop from the ground beside his bed and pulled up Tumblr. He knew from experience that it was the best place to go to find all the information that he needed in one place.

It didn’t take him long to deduce where the chaos originated: blurry pictures of him and Harry from the bar the previous night were everywhere. Multiple angles of snaps, all of them with Louis and Harry in various stages of intimate conversation, were posted and reposted at an alarming rate.

Sighing, he clicked over to his favorite blog, seeing what other damage might have been done.

Anonymous asked: Annie what happened??

flamboyantandsinister:

 Here’s what we know so far:

-Louis and Starry Night tweeted back and forth directly, with the first direct interaction appearing around the 10^th (x) (x) (x) – the tweets were mostly harmless, promotion of Just Hold On, lyrics, etc. People joked on tumblr that whoever was behind the account loved Louis a whole lot.

-On the 11^th, Louis tweeted them directly (there was speculation he might have been having fun/drinking and liking tweets from fans). When someone called him out on it, he tweeted the “just a bit of banter” line (x)

-That same night (but technically the 12^th, because it was after 2 am London time), Louis tweeted that he was becoming Starry Night’s biggest fan, and they replied “The feeling is mutual” with a heart (x) (x)

-fans did some digging, and discovered that Harry Styles is the social media manager for Starry Night, and definitely is the one tweeting based on this post by the lovely @darlingstarrs – this information wasn’t really widespread until later that evening BECAUSE--

-The evening of the 12^th, Starry Night hosted a party for artists and staff at a hotel in London based on these fan photos of Steve (x) (x) and Louis’ cute/tired selfie afterwards tagging Starry Night and Steve (x). Starry Night also tweeted a group photo that Steve and Louis were in (x) (People assume this is where Louis met Harry and the post about Harry started circulating)

-THIS IS WHERE THINGS GET INTERESTING SO BUCKLE UP

-Sometime around the time that Louis posted his late night/post-party selfie (still the night of the 12^th, but technically the 13^th because it was after midnight London time), he followed Harry’s personal accounts on Twitter AND Instagram (and @darlingstarrs, in the post above, assures us that Harry’s accounts were NOT private until late evening on the 12^th/early morning on the 13^th, because she was able to take screenshots before that. So they were public the morning before he met Louis, and private immediately after meeting him). Louis seems to have not followed Harry until AFTER he made them private (Here’s screenshots of the newest follows). Harry also follows Louis on both accounts (x)

-After Louis followed Harry, Starry Night’s Twitter/Harry responded to a fan asking how Louis was in person with “Just as charming and cheeky as you’d imagine!” (x)

-Another fan asked “Handsome too right?” to which Harry responded “Obviously!” (x)

-The next evening, the 13^th, Louis is spotted at a pub with Harry where Harry performed at an open mic night. There was speculation the pictures might not be him, but enough detail is shown that it’s pretty obvious it is (x) (x) (x)

-That’s pretty much it. You can draw your own conclusions, but as I’ve said before (and will continue to say) I think we’re seeing a side of Louis that’s REAL, and being part of Starry Night is finally letting him show that. I’m not going to get into the discourse over Harry working for Starry Night or the complete ugliness of HetLouies (you’ll get blocked!). I’ll just say – I hope my son is happy and loved and that whoever this Harry is, he knows how special Louis is and makes Louis happy (he looks happy to me – that’s all I’ll say, I swear! I’m done!)

It took Louis quite a while to sift through all the information and screenshots his fans had gathered, and by the time he was done, his head was spinning. He never knew whether to be appalled or impressed that there wasn’t a single detail they left unturned. Leave it to his fan base to put together even the tiniest particulars of his social media to come to (basically) the right conclusion.

Sighing, he navigated back to his messages, which were overflowing from people like Liam and his sisters – wondering if he was okay, wondering who Harry was, wondering what was going to happen now that he had been photographed “getting cozy” with a man. He rolled his eyes at that last statement, and would have bet anything that the online rags were running that very headline nonstop since the blurry pictures surfaced the night before.

He knew he would have to take the time to speak with each of these people individually, but dreaded having to do it. He sent a quick message to Liam letting him know he had seen the information, and wanted some time to clear his head before they met up (Liam had cancelled their brunch for that morning so he could do some damage control, and warned Louis to lay low for at least the next 24 hours, which Louis was grateful for).

Figuring his sisters would understand if he didn’t respond right away, he searched his messages for the only other person he could think of right then. His breath caught when he saw Harry had texted him already, an hour before he woke up.

Harry Styles: see what you mean about your fans gathering information…

Harry Styles: little bit overwhelming

Another message had been sent just twenty minutes ago, and Louis’ heart dropped reading it.

Harry Styles: would you mind calling me when you see this? Not really sure what to do right now…

His pulse climbed as he scrambled to hit the call button. What kinds of things had Harry been subjected to in the past few hours? Had he even been able to get to sleep with messages probably rolling in nonstop?

The phone rang for an agonizing three rings before Harry answered with a quiet, “Hullo?”

Louis breathed out a sigh of relief just at the sound of Harry’s voice.

“Harry,” Louis said quietly, almost afraid to speak at a normal volume. “Are you okay?”  

He heard Harry breathe out a sigh as well, not sure whether his was in relief or anxiety.

“Yeah, I’m glad you called.”

“I’m so sorry it took me so long, I just woke up to these messages and saw all the shit that’s happening.”

“It’s okay,” Harry said, but it didn’t sound convincing. Louis ran his free hand through his hair in frustration, cursing himself for putting Harry in a position like this.

“I’m so sorry Harry, truly. What’s been going on, what can I do to help?”

“You don’t have to do anything, I’m really okay, I just- could we maybe,” Harry was stumbling over his words, obviously unsure of what to say.

“Anything you want, what can I do?” Louis quickly tried to untangle himself from his blankets, scrambling to get up out of bed and throw some clothes on. 

“Could we meet up to talk? I mean if you don’t want to, I understand but I-”

“Shit,” Louis said, interrupting Harry. “I’m so sorry Harry, but Liam’s told me to lay low for at least 24 hours, I’m not supposed to leave the house.”

“Oh,” Harry said quietly, sounding incredibly disappointed. Louis’ heart lurched in his chest. “I- I understand.”

“Would you mind coming over here?” Louis asked hopefully.

“Oh,” Harry said, sounding surprised and a little bit brighter than before. “Yeah, yeah that would work. I can be over in like thirty minutes?”

Louis agreed and said he would text Harry the address. He quickly brushed his teeth and tidied up his bedroom a bit before resorting to pacing. Unlike a usual morning for him, there was no upbeat music coursing through his flat; only the grey light of daybreak and his occasional frustrated groans accentuated his echoing steps around the living room.

Harry had only just finished knocking when Louis wrenched the door open, startling Harry a little.

“Hi,” Louis said, incredibly relieved to see the man in front of him. Even without much sleep, clad only in loose joggers and a well-worn hoodie, Harry was incredibly beautiful. Louis got a little flustered just taking in the sight of him, and it was a moment before he realized Harry was waiting to be invited in. “Please come in, make yourself at home.”

Harry didn’t offer Louis his usual dimpled-smile. He looked tense and upset, and Louis’ brain went haywire imagining the worst.

Harry had seen firsthand how overwhelming things can get in the spotlight. Fans said who-knows-what to him, and inundated him with messages, and now he didn’t want anything to do with Louis. He wanted to meet up only because he was a decent guy who preferred to let Louis down in person. There was no way he wanted to be a part of this circus.

Louis resigned himself before either of them even opened their mouths.

Leading Harry over to the couch, they each took a seat on opposite sides, an awkward silence falling over them.

“So, uh,” Harry started, clearing his throat. Louis’ sense of self-preservation kicked in and he interrupted before Harry had a chance to say anything else.

“I’m really sorry all this happened, Harry,” he said, picking at a spot on his joggers instead of looking across the couch at the man beside him. “I really didn’t mean for you to get caught up in the whirlwind of… well, bullshit I guess.”

Harry breathed out a small laugh through his nose, but it didn’t sound amused, just discouraged.

Louis took a deep breath in and continued.

“I should have thought this through more. But to be completely honest, I’ve been a little crazy over you ever since I found out who you were, even before we met in person.”

Louis still refused to look at Harry, unsure if he was even looking at Louis. Louis couldn’t stop now that he had opened up his mouth, though.

“And it seems so stupid now, in retrospect, because Liam and I had talked about how being at Starry Night meant I could come out organically, and it just seemed… I don’t know, like fate I guess that I met you so soon after that. And you’re just so lovely and perfect, and I think I got excited that there might be someone I could, ya know like, well, date I guess. And I had never really had that. Not in public anyway. But I let my stupid ideas about what could happen get in the way of reality. And I dragged you into it. And now you want nothing to do with me, and I totally understand. I just hate myself for not stopping to fucking think, for once-“

“Louis,” Harry said quietly, but Louis barreled on.

“I always do shit like this, and it always comes back to bite me. I was an idiot for thinking things would be different this time, and I ruined any chance I had of being with someone wonderful like you.”

“Louis,” Harry said, much more forcefully this time, and Louis couldn’t help but look up at him. Somehow Louis hadn’t noticed that during his rant, Harry had moved from the farthest cushion to the one right beside Louis. They now sat only a foot or so from each other, and Louis’ breath was taken away yet again seeing Harry this close.

Harry stared at Louis intensely, an unreadable look on his face.

Louis was sure he had messed up even further, scaring Harry away for good with his speech, until Harry let out a resigned sigh and reached up to cup Louis’ face with both his hands. Louis was frozen in place as Harry gently rubbed a thumb over his cheekbone, pausing only a few seconds before bringing their lips together gently, so gently.

Louis was instantly lost in the warmth and softness of Harry’s lips, both their mouths tentatively exploring each other with hesitant movements. Louis reached up to hold one of Harry’s hands in place with his own, and Harry deepened the kiss, tilting Louis’ head to get a better angle.

Louis didn’t mean to release a noise of pleasure, just a small whimper lost into Harry’s mouth, but Harry’s reaction was incredible. The noise that Harry sent in return was full of longing, a drawn out groan that stirred arousal at Louis’ core. Harry’s confident and sure mouth was doing things to Louis, making him feel things, that he couldn’t believe. He licked at Harry’s bottom lip curiously, and Harry welcomed him without hesitation, their tongues exploring each other’s mouths reverently.

Louis had no idea how much time passed between them, could only focus on the way Harry’s hands felt on his face, his neck, his waist – his own hands roaming simultaneously, kneading and rubbing Harry’s broad back. Louis snaked his left hand up under the thick sweatshirt Harry had on, feeling the warmth erupting from underneath his thin t-shirt, and Harry practically growled with desire.

Slowly, their passionate kisses gave way to lingering pecks, and finally to short kisses interspersed with breathless giggles. Pulling back from each other only slightly, Louis looked Harry in the eyes and they smiled at each other, with Louis placing one final small kiss on Harry’s nose to elicit a laugh from him.

“Yeah, so, uh,” Harry said, his rich voice even deeper with desire. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your speech, I just thought maybe you should know how crazy I am about you before you came to any conclusions.”

“I, uh, yeah. I got that. Thanks for that.”

Harry laughed at Louis’ inarticulate response, and Louis could think of nothing other than kissing him again, so he did. Now that he had experienced what Harry’s mouth felt like on his, he didn’t think he’d ever want to stop.

“This was not the reaction I was expecting when you walked in,” Louis admitted, regretfully pulling back from kissing Harry to speak. “Thought you came here to tell me to fuck off.”

“What? No,” Harry said, sound scandalized. “I’ve been overwhelmed with what people have been saying, but it really didn’t change the fact that I’ve wanted to kiss you since pretty much the second we met. Maybe even before that.”

Louis blushed, feeling the warmth spread through his cheeks, and Harry reached his hand up once again to cup Louis’ face, thumbing over his cheekbones gently.

“You’re so lovely,” Harry said, almost to himself.

“Have you seen yourself mate?” Louis asked, still not great at taking a compliment, trying to divert the attention away from himself. Harry, however, was undeterred, staring fondly at Louis as he continued to softly rub his thumb back and forth.

“Honestly, I thought I had read things wrong. I was nervous to come over here, because people kept sending messages saying awful stuff about how I was using you, or didn’t deserve someone like you, and I,” Harry stopped to sigh mid-sentence, and Louis rubbed his thigh encouragingly to get him to continue. “I just let it get to me, I suppose.”

He shrugged, as if trying to lessen the hurt that people’s words had obviously caused him.

“I started to think ‘of course they’re right, why would he want me?’ and it just- it was just a lot.”

“Oh Harry,” Louis said, and he couldn’t help the urge that overcame him to reach out and pull Harry closer, kissing him thoroughly once again. It was only after a few more minutes of this that he pulled back to say, “I hate to be the one to break this to you, but it’s going to be very hard to get rid of me.”

Harry’s answering smile lit up his whole face, and Louis reached out to poke his dimple.

“I hate that people said awful things like that to you, though. Wish I could just erase that kind of stuff completely.”

“S’okay,” Harry said. “I know we have a lot to talk about, a lot to sort out, but being here with you... I mean, I just- we’ll figure it all out, right?”

“Right,” Louis said, and he didn’t hesitate to pull Harry in once more.

--

Six Months Later:

Louis knew he was being too loud, knew that anyone in a surrounding room or innocently passing by in the hallway could hear him, but he couldn’t be bothered to care at the moment.

“Fuck Harry, yeah, oh fuck,” Louis scratched at Harry’s chest, overwhelmed with all that he was feeling. Harry looked up at him with determination written on his face, his lower lip bitten cherry red, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled and exhaled unevenly.

Harry’s large hands grabbed at Louis’ hips, bouncing him easily up and down on his cock, his knees bracketing Louis’ small body as he thrusted hard up into Louis each time he came down to meet him.

Louis whimpered and his mouth fell open as Harry continued to fuck into him, eliciting sharp gasps from him every time he went particularly deep.

Louis could feel his impending orgasm coming, and he was helpless to stop the continuous little sounds that dropped from his mouth as Harry roughly fucked him. Whether it was the noises Louis was making or the look on his face, somehow Harry could tell he was close to the edge and deliberately slowed his pace down, which made Louis whine obscenely.

“Haz, baby, don’t stop,” Louis pleaded, reaching for his own cock with one of his hands, the other coming up to play with his sensitive nipples.

“Don’t want you to come yet,” Harry said, quickly grabbing Louis’ wrist before he was able to touch himself, which made Louis whine yet again. “You’re so gorgeous, Lou. Want to keep fucking you.”

Louis rolled his eyes affectionately at the boy beneath him.

“Well I want to come,” he said, trying and failing to release himself from Harry’s strong grip. He moved his hand that had been squeezing his nipple back to Harry’s chest, pressing down to try and gain leverage as he bounced himself a bit onto Harry’s cock.

“I’ll make you come baby,” Harry said, holding Louis still enough so that he couldn’t bounce up and down, but guiding his hips in a filthy grinding motion, which Louis closed his eyes at in pleasure. “Been thinking about this all day. Couldn’t wait to come here and fuck you, fill you up so good, huh?”

“Yeah, yeah, fuck,” Louis answered. There was nothing like Harry’s dirty talk while they fucked to set him over the edge.

“Missed you so much this week. Couldn’t believe how lonely it was in our bed without you. Got off thinking about you so much, thinking about your arse, about you sitting on my face. S’nothing like the real thing, though. God you’re so fucking hot, Lou.”

Harry was getting himself worked up, Louis could tell. Despite not wanting to make Louis come too quickly, Harry seemed to be having a hard time controlling himself from thrusting up in short little bursts, which had Louis going mad.

“Thought about you too, baby,” Louis said, breathless. “Fucked meself with my fingers, always wishing it was your lovely cock. Came all over my tummy just this morning thinking about you being here. So glad you’re here. Never want you to leave.”

That seemed to push Harry over the brink, because without warning he pulled Louis close to him and flipped them over, his larger body now covering Louis’ underneath him.

“Never want to either, Lou,” Harry said, now driving into Louis once again with fervor, with Louis screaming out loudly. “Want to stay forever, want to fuck you forever.”

It was far from the first time Harry shared something so significant while having sex, but it never failed to make Louis completely lose his mind.

“Oh fuck, I love you Harry,” Louis said, the volume of his voice once again reaching earsplitting levels. “Right there, oh fuck, fuck, fu-”

Louis was cut off mid-yell by Harry’s mouth roughly covering his, their kiss a messy blend of tongue and harsh breaths traded into each other’s mouths.

Harry pulled back only slightly to return the sentiment. “I love you too Louis. Love you so much, fuck I love you.”

“Ah, right there – Don’t stop, gonna make me come Harry,” if Louis hadn’t been receiving the dicking of a lifetime, he might have been concerned that someone would complain, his screams now ricocheting off the hotel walls.

“Yeah, come Louis, come for me baby,” Harry reached down between them to strip Louis’ cock quickly, their bodies a mix of sweat and spit between them, precum dripping from Louis’ tip over his stomach.

It took only three more hard thrusts from Harry, his large hand never stopping on Louis’ cock, for him to come between them, covering Harry’s fist. Harry followed soon after, groaning loudly and stilling his body with his free hand cupping Louis’ neck in a gentle way, their foreheads resting together as they caught their breath.

“Shit,” Louis said, a tremor running through his body as he came down from his orgasm. “That was fucking amazing babe.”

Harry smiled at Louis and leaned down to kiss him sweetly, soft tongues brushing each other’s lips briefly before Harry pulled out. Louis winced at the loss, but Harry didn’t go far, draping himself halfway over Louis, snuggling him up close so Louis could still feel the warmth radiating between them.

Harry lazily kissed Louis neck, hands tracing his side until Louis squirmed from his ticklish tendencies. Harry chuckled and got up only briefly to grab something to wipe them both off with.

Louis sighed as Harry flopped down once again beside him, looking around the darkened room, the TV throwing flashes of light on the walls while on mute.

“Bet you woke the whole floor up babe,” Harry said, teasing Louis.

“Can you fucking blame me?” Louis’ sarcastic tone was cut down to a gentle, quiet one when he added, “Missed you too much.”

Harry turned Louis’ face with a soft hand on his chin and caught his mouth in a tender kiss.

“Missed you too, love,” he said, stroking Louis’ face comfortingly. “But I’m with you for a week. Can’t wait to see what promo’s like on the road.” He looked so excited, a puppyish enthusiasm written across his face, and Louis laughed warmly.

Having Harry in his bed, even if it was a hotel bed, was a welcome change from dirty pictures and late night skype sex. Everyone on his team, Steve included, had bent over backwards to accommodate Harry tagging along for a week, and he was incredibly grateful.

He probably couldn’t say the same thing for his team at the moment, as his phone lit up on the table beside him, and Louis barked out a laugh at his manager.

Lima: JESUS FUCKING CHRIST ARE YOU DONE

Lima: the whole fucking hotel can hear you

Lima: I’m really happy you two are in love but SHUT THE FUCK UP I WANT TO SLEEP

Lima: Thank god I told steve to buy noise cancelling headphones

Lima: EVERYONE IS TRAUMATIZED

Lima: goodnight I loveyou both

Showing Harry, and sharing a giggle, he turned his phone back off and plugged it in, glad to fall asleep next to Harry.

--

The past six months had changed Louis’ life in unimaginable ways. Truly, his life looked so different now than it had a year prior, he almost couldn’t believe it. After he and Harry kissed for the first time, nervously admitting their feelings to one another, he knew that coming out was no longer a dream for someday – he had to get serious about his plans so that he and Harry could be a proper couple, in front of everyone.

 He had done the first thing he could think of in any situation like that – he called Liam…

…who promptly yelled at him for ten minutes for the shitstorm of PR he was having to deal with at the moment, yelled at him for not thinking about what the repercussions of going on a date with Harry before he was out were, yelled at him for being a general dumbass, and then yelled at him for calling Liam in the first place because Liam was “dealing with it” and needed time and Louis knew that, and-

Louis had to scream to get Liam to shut up, apologizing for being a dumbass (he could own up to that one), but not for calling Liam in the first place (“You are still my manager you twat,” he told him).

Liam took a few deep, cleansing breaths, and repeated an apology back to Louis, admitting that all of this would have happened eventually, he just would rather have known about it in advance.

After promising to tell Liam in advance the next time he decided to out himself (which had Liam laughing finally), they ended up on the phone for close to an hour. Apparently, Louis was right when he guessed some small online outlets were already dropping the story, and Liam was working with their publicist to get an official statement out there.

In the end, what Louis had simultaneously dreamt of and feared for years – coming out of the closet publically – happened much more quietly than he thought it would.

Liam helped guide Louis and Harry in their public interactions, including social media, and Louis got to drop subtle hints in interviews over the first few weeks.

Finally, when a picture was published of Louis and Harry kissing after a dinner date, the backlash that Louis had always anticipated once he came out was almost nowhere to be found.

His fans who had known he was gay, the ones who could see him fighting to get out of the closet for years, were ecstatic –throwing parties all across Twitter and Tumblr.

(He couldn’t stop laughing late one night a couple days after the picture dropped, could only pass Harry his phone – a cute fan art of Louis drawn as a cartoon, with a rainbow, and the caption ‘My son is gay’ linked to a YouTube video. For days after that, Harry and Louis would both throw out “My son is gay? My son is gay” at the most random moments, laughing at each other’s attempts to mimic the American accent)

And those who had fought so fiercely to prove he was straight? Well, they sort of had a choice – they could get on board, or they could jump ship. Some of them jumped ship, and Louis spent an evening or two being snuggled close by Harry to comfort him in his sadness over it. But a lot of them (more than Louis expected) climbed on board, congratulating Louis for being his true self.  

And of course, he had Harry. Lovely, perfect Harry who made everything, every single second of the past six months, completely worth it.

Harry, who Louis had told he loved after only three weeks of dating.

(“Is that too soon? Oh my god, it’s too soon, why did I say that?” Louis scrambled to get up out of bed where he and Harry were naked-cuddling after a very wonderful, lazy afternoon fuck. Harry laughed and grabbed Louis around the waist, yanking him back onto the bed as Louis yelped loudly. Harry kissed him deeply, pulling back only to say, “I love you too, you idiot.”)

Harry, who Louis’ fans had fallen in love with – as he knew they would – just as much as Louis had. Sometimes, he thought, maybe more.

(“Louis why is my phone background a cartoon version of myself?”

“HAZ LOOK HOW CUTE YOU ARE. Someone drew you. They love you more than I do!”

“Just because you hate that squishy face picture of yourself – stop changing my background!”

Louis pouted heavily.

Harry sighed, “You’re right Lou, it’s very cute.”)

Harry, who Louis couldn’t believe was his. Who inspired him, and challenged him, and who wrote beautiful songs about Louis that he performed at open mic nights; who Louis wrote pages and pages of lyrics inspired by, that weren’t edited out or changed for marketing. Who Louis now had tattooed all over his body in complementing images, permanent reminders of their love for one another.

Harry, who Louis still flirted with while drunk on social media. Except now when Louis tweeted him, he didn’t have to be cryptic, and Harry was often sitting in the same room as him.

“Really Lou?” Harry asked, a month or so after official promo had ended. Louis was finally back in London for an extended period of time, holed up with Harry at his flat, getting steadily drunker on wine and trading sloppy kisses on the couch.

Louis giggled from where he had moved to a different seat, his face lit up only by his phone screen, a large glass of wine in his other hand.

“It’s rude not to answer your tweets Harold,” Louis said, sipping on his drink loudly. “Niall will be upset with you.”

“You’re the worst.”

“I think you mean that you love me, because I certainly love you.”

Harry rolled his eyes, from behind his laptop, but leaned over to kiss Louis on the lips sweetly anyway.

“I love you, too.”

 *