***Louis Tomlinson***
Thursday, July 26th, 2012 – North London, England

Liam, Niall, and Zayn came over for lunch that day so that Harry and I could tell them we’d gotten back together and thank them for being so great about everything. They didn’t know I’d be there, and Harry and I had set up a whole theatrical performance just for fun. I hid in my room when they first got there, and then once I heard them all sit down at the table, I marched down the stairs.

“What’s going on here?” I asked, acting angry.

“Louis, we didn’t know you were home,” Niall said, surprised.

“I invited the guys over because I have to tell them something,” Harry told me in a quiet voice, as though it were hard for him to talk to me.

“And you just conveniently forgot to invite me to your little party?” I demanded, putting my acting skills to work.

“It’s not a party,” Harry muttered.

“No?” I challenged. “You were just gonna keep letting me starve like I have been for a week and a half?”

“Well maybe if you learned to cook!” Harry retorted, standing up and facing me from across the table. I wanted so badly to smile, and I couldn’t make eye contact with Harry or I knew I would. I stared at his forehead instead to make it look like I was looking him in the eye.

“Whoa, guys,” Liam said, trying to calm us down.

“Maybe if you knew how to do the dishes then I would cook once in awhile!” I yelled.

“I know how to wash pots and pans, Louis!” Harry matched my voice level. “And I know how to clean the house, too, something you never do anymore!” I could see the mischievous twinkle in his eye, surprised the others hadn’t noticed it as well.

“Oh, well forgive me if I’m too busy washing all your stupid pots and pans every five minutes to worry about dusting the cabinets!” None of this was true, by the way – neither Harry nor I were super clean people, and when the house got bad enough we just called a maid service. The mess didn’t really bother either one of us.

“Enough!” Zayn said, standing up. “How have you guys been living in the same house this whole time and not killed each other yet?”

“You wouldn’t ever eat anything if it weren’t for me using all those pots and pans!” Harry yelled at me, ignoring Zayn. I saw Harry’s lips twitch, wanting to turn into a smile.

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Harry!” I said.

“Oh, please,” he scoffed.

“Okay, maybe one of you should come stay with me for awhile,” Liam suggested, and he also stood up. Niall was the only one still sitting, watching Harry and I go back and forth, and he looked about ready to cry. I knew it was time to come clean before the poor guy had a break down.

“Why would either one of us want to do that?” I asked Liam. I caught Harry’s eye, and he followed along.

“Yeah, unless you’re gonna cuddle with me as I fall asleep,” Harry took a step towards me.

“Or let me play with your hair all the time,” I took a step towards Harry. The looks of confusion on the others’ faces were priceless.

“What’s going on?” Zayn asked.

“Look, guys, there is something I wanted to tell you,” Harry said as we met in the middle, “or, we wanted to tell you,” he corrected.

“We’re back together,” I announced, as Harry and I put our arms around each other and two giant grins spread across our faces. The other three just stared at us, dumbfounded, and then Liam came and threw his arms around the two of us.

“I hate you both,” he said, but we knew he didn’t mean it. “And I’m so glad to hear that.”

“Not a funny joke,” Zayn said, but he was smiling as he came and joined in on the hug, too. “I thought you were going to tell us you were quitting the band,” he told Harry. Niall stayed glued to his seat, though, and when we all let go of each other, I looked at him.

“Niall?” I asked, gently.

“No, I’m happy for you guys, I am,” he forced a smile. Harry and I exchanged a look.

“What is it?” Harry asked him, softly, and we all walked over so we were standing around Niall.

“I mean, it – it sucked when you guys were broken up, don’t get me wrong, I know you were hurting,” he said.“But it was nice to be able to spend time with you guys separately.” I sighed. I didn’t know Harry had been hanging out with the guys one on one like I had been as well, but Niall made a good point.

“Niall, that’s not going to change,” Harry told him.

“Yeah, man, we’re going to keep doing that, I promise,” I said, but Niall shook his head, not believing us.

“We all know it’s just going to go back to the way it was,” he said, sadly. I put my hand on Niall’s shoulder.

“Niall,” I said. “We’re going to be better this time, all around.”

“Yeah, Mate,” Harry nodded in agreement. “We know how you feel about it, and so Louis and I are going to make more of an effort to share each other.”

“And as long as you promise not to try and steal Harry from me, then I don’t see a problem,” I joked, achieving my goal of making Niall smile. The others rolled their eyes, but I could always count on Niall to smile or laugh at my jokes.

“No offense, but you’re not really my type, Harry,” Niall said, and I knew he was okay. I lifted him to his feet, and the five of us convened in a group hug.

Notes

Boys are silly.
Niall, I think you might be the only one in the world who thinks that about Harry ;-)