(Louis’ POV)
The next day is absolutely brilliant. I’d woken up to Harry, his breath hitting my hair. He likes to sleep in late and I certainly didn’t mind, so I’d cuddled closer and just enjoyed the steady rise and fall of his chest, the heat he was sharing with me, and the little snores escaping his lips. I’d gotten him awake by pressing butterfly kisses to his collarbone an hour later when I was getting impatient. He’d smiled at me, enough for those dimples I love so much to show, and nuzzled our noses together.
He hadn’t lied about the shower together. We’d stumbled in giddily and kissed until the water warmed up enough to properly stand under. I’d shampooed his curls, making sure to massage his scalp. When he’d done the same for me, I’d leaned backwards against his chest and shut my eyes as his free arm snaked around my chest to pull me closer. We didn’t do anything sexual, just snogged for god knows how long. Then we’d dried each other off, got into a mini wrestling match, and then fell onto the couch in a fit of giggles. Which turned into more kissing. Oops.
He’d made me breakfast just the way I like it, and we’d fed each other little bites. I know, I know. Grossly cheesy and romantic. But what I once thought was stupid and overly couple-y I now saw as sweet, and something special Haz and I can share.
The day was filled with banter, tickle fights and cuddling while watching movies. We didn’t have any interviews until 4 PM and we didn’t leave the city until tomorrow morning. So for a few hours we’d had nothing to do. And….we’d found our way back to bedroom and Harry (that horny idiot) had convinced me to let him give me a blowjob and vice versa. Man, once you start, you can’t stop. You’d think it would have been weird or awkward but no, not at all.
And now we’re hopping in the car with the other boys and I’m trying desperately hard to keep the blush off my face. I know it’s stereotypical but after freaking having sex with Harry, I can’t be around the others without going a deep scarlet. I think Harry feels the same way because he goes to sit in the row of seats ahead of me, and he’s red as a beet as well. But Zayn plops down there and he’s forced to sit beside me once again. Normally I’d be ecstatic. Not now.
“Well, well. You two look happy.” Liam says with a smirk. That wanker just couldn’t go without embarrassing us.
I flush further, and notice Harry fiddle with his hair, a nervous habit. Niall and Zayn glance back at our silence. Normally by now I would have quipped something crude back at them. But I’m so ridiculously nervous that I’m stuttering.
“Screw off Liam, eat your fucking crisps.” Harry snaps only half playfully, gesturing to the packet in the brunette’s hands.
“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Zayn mutters dejectedly and I bite back a grin.
“Are you saying I’m wrong?” I say before I can stop myself. God, I’ll be the death of us.
Niall spins around at the same time as Zayn, shooting each other wide eyed looks.
“So you two slept together last night?” They ask and both Harry and I sputter, coughing on nothing.
They only meant So you two slept in the same bed? but of course, their phrasing was far too accurate.
“Uh.” I stutter, too slowly.
“We cuddled, if that’s what you mean. Louis is quite comfortable I’ll have you know.” Harry covers for me and I smile, reminding myself to thank him later.
Liam seems to have caught on, and he’s looking at me with a raised eyebrow and a shocked expression that just screams YOU GUYS HAD FUCKING SEX? and I avoid his eyes, a smirk playing on my lips.
“Uhuh. And did you two enjoy that cuddling?” Niall asks, giddy suspicion in his voice.
Right. I forgot he and Zayn are still trying to get us together. Oh the cruel irony.
“We did, thank you.” I quip, wrapping an arm around Harry’s waist, which he snuggles into. I don’t have to look to know he’s smiling down at me.
“Mhm. And did you do anything else other than cuddling, lovebirds?” Zayn questions, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes.
I shoot him a stern glare.
“We fucked each other senseless, naturally.” I snap, back to my usual sarcastic self. Mostly. I still can’t fight off the blush.
Harry snorts into my hair, suppressing a giggle. Liam laughs as well, but Zayn and Niall roll their eyes and turn back around.
The rest of the ride is spent trying to seem normal and desperately avoiding Liam’s scandalized, slack jawed stare. Screw off Liam. I cuddle closer to Harry’s side, and he hums into my ear. I love it when he does that, because he rarely notices he even is. So it’s almost like seeing into his soul, y’know? I get to hear whatever he is inside his head, and I just…love it.
We get to the interviews and after the boys get out of the vehicle I hop out as well, squeaking when Harry slaps my bum playfully.
“Wanker.” I laugh as he links arms with me, kissing my hair (which normally I’d kill him for, but our stylists are here so one of them can fix it) and chuckling with me.
It takes us the usual twenty minutes to switch outfits (and debate with them in order to let me wear a long sleeved jumper helped only by Harry kinda sorta yelling at them), styling our hair, putting light makeup on to cover up blemishes and then just sitting around getting ready.
It’s two of those radio interviews that get filmed as well, so double the pressure. Look good, sound good, and don’t fuck up. We sit down in a semi circle for the first one and I frown slightly when Liam (probably strategically) plops down between us.
“Hello and welcome One Direction! How are you boys today, enjoying being is the USA?” The interviewer asks in a strong accent. Then again, to him I suppose we sound strange as well.
“We’re doing great, thanks.” Liam answers, as well as Zayn saying “Awesome.” and me adding “It’s lovely, thanks.”
“Alright, so we’ll hop right into the questions here. We let fans send in questions on Twitter, and we figured we’d do it a little differently this time. We picked the oddest questions, and instead of you answering them personally, we’d like you to answer for each other.” The man says.
I raise an eyebrow. That’s a new one. Harry shoots me an amused look and I bite back a grin, reminding myself that there are indeed cameras here. And those cameras don’t know we’re together, and that we’ve kissed, and been naked, and has sex and Get it together Tomlinson, you’re redder than your skinny jeans.
“So here’s one from a girl names Adrienne. She wants to ask Harry what his favorite prank he’s ever pulled is. Who wants to answer for him?” The guy, Mark I think, asks us.
I raise my hand immediately. “I’ll take that. Ehm, I’d say…..well to be honest, while we do play lots of pranks, it’s the small things that we love the most. Harry and I often share the bunk above Niall’s on tour, and he’s a light sleeper. So Curly and I will just stay up all night talking and nonsense until Niall has an absolute fit. He just kicks the underside of the bed until we shut up, but after a few seconds we just get back to it. Niall gets seriously pissed off, and I was hysterical by the end of one night. Harry was in tears laughing.” I finish, breaking off into a small fit of giggles then and there.
Harry starts laughing too, Zayn and Liam grinning, and Niall scowling at us.
“Did you really? Is he correct, Harry? And how did Niall feel about that? Get you back?” The interviewer asks all at once and I try not to roll my eyes.
“He’s right, yeah.” Harry says, sending me a love filled smile and I blush a little.
“And there will be payback. Just when they least expect it.” Niall says, trying and failing to sound ominous.
“Alright well, next question. This is from Pam. She wants to ask Liam, if he could be any animated or cartoon character, who would he be?”
Zayn speaks up immediately. “Woody from Toy Story.”
“Yep.”
The questions keep going and we answer for each other, getting them all at least half correct. They’re fairly simple things like favorite dessert, weirdest dream, funniest joke, best and worst date, etc. And I begin to relax, feeling like this is going well. It is, really.
But then, of course, it isn’t.
“Alright, Amber has a question for Louis. She wants to know, what are the most random things you like in a girl? Whether it be something about them, or something they can do while with you.” Mark asks and I feel my grin falter as nobody speaks for a moment.
Harry comes to my recue and I love him even more for it. “I’ll answer. Um, he likes when someone will just be really honest. Like, not put up any false, ehm, pretences. And when someone is with him, he has a sensitive spot behind his ear. He likes when people play with his hair there.” He answers and I literally want to kill him and hug him at the same time.
“Is that so? Do any of the boys purposefully play with you? Pull at your hair to be annoying?” The interviewer questions and I sigh.
“Uh, none of them knew up until now, so thanks for that, Curly. And uh, Harry does, but it’s not to be annoying, I don’t mind when he does it.” I finish, trying to stop the blush creeping up my cheeks.
“Awe, that’s sweet. Now, we have a few rapid fire questions that you can all answer and then we’re out of time, alright?”
“Yeah, bring it on.” Zayn teases.
“Alright. Messiest?”
“Louis.” Harry answers immediately.
“Cleanest?”
“Zayn.”
“Funniest?”
“Uhm, normally we say Louis but Niall’s just a genuinely funny person. He’s really cheerful all the time.” Liam says and I laugh.
“It’s called rapid fire for a reason, don’t be so slow Liam.” I tease.
After a chuckle, Mark starts again. “Best singer?”
“None of us, we’ll all say different people.” Niall answers, tousling his hair.
“Worst singer?”
“Nobody.” Liam says immediately.
“Sometimes I think me.” Harry mumbles.
Instinct and shock taking over, I reach over Liam and put a hand on Harry’s, eyes narrowing with worry. He blushes and looks away.
“Harry gets self conscious, but he shouldn’t. He’s got nothing to be worried about.” I say reassuringly, smiling at my stupid boyfriend.
“Aw, very sweet. That’s all the time we have, but thank you so much for stopping by, we hope you have an amazing tour and keep exceeding expectations! Thanks boys.” Mark says and he cuts off the radio after we say goodbye.
He grins and waves, walking out. The camera shuts off and as soon as that red light disappears I nearly trip over Liam in my haste to fall onto Harry’s lap.
I kiss his forehead. “Why do you still think like that, babes?”
“Because I do. I don’t like the way I sound. I mean, people say it all the time, my voice is weird.” He admits into my neck and I sigh.
“No it’s not.” I deny, pulling at his curls.
“It is.” He says strongly. But I shake my head.
“That’s it.” I say angrily, standing up and storming out of the room. I know our second interview is down and across the hall, so I head that way, ignoring looks from management reps and stylists. When I find the second studio I see a woman sitting behind the desk.
“Oh hello love, I didn’t think you boys would be in for a few minutes.” She greets and I brush it aside.
“We’re not. But I need a favor.” I ask, fairly desperate. “I need you to ask a specific question during the interview. Please.”
************************************
Twenty minutes later and we’re sat in the second studio, me on the farthest side of the table away from Haz. Not by my choice. By his.
This interview is more the norm. What you look for in a girl, best thing about being famous, favorite song, idol, etc. But then it gets into the more specific questions and the interviewer, Marsha, looks at me once to get my attention.
“Alright, now, I have a question for you guys. Could you describe each others’ sound? You all have very different singing voices and we’d like to hear how you’d describe them.” She asks.
I send her a pointed look, clearly asking for her to direct this a certain way. She sends me a quick not-so-subtle smile, but nobody notices. “How about….Niall, you do Liam, Liam describe Zayn, Zayn do Niall and Harry and Louis can describe each other.”
“Uh, alright.” Liam says, shooting me a look. “Well, Zayn is incredible at scales, and he can hit higher notes so it comes in handy for our songs. Gives us a good sound.”
“Yeah and Liam is great at hitting lower notes and keeping a steady voice, so he’s great for almost any intro we could throw at him.” Niall explains with a grin, and gets a thank you.
“And Niall is great at putting a ton of emotion into his voice. No matter what the feeling is he can show it perfectly, and it adds to the songs, y’know.” Zayn says, making Niall blush.
I finally look to Haz, who seems unsure. I gesture to him, offering him to go first and the camera pans to his gorgeous face.
“Well, ehm, Louis’ voice is…amazing. I tell him all the time. He does this thing where he can hit a note and then break his voice, in a good way of course, and it just…he can make you happy and sad at the same time, I think that’s a rare thing to have.” Harry finishes.
Normally he speaks rather slowly in interviews, and he gets made fun of for it, but for whatever reason, this subject has gotten his attention and he says all of this while sending me pointed looks of honesty.
“Thanks, man.” I say, and take a deep breath, sending him the best loving, honest, soulful look I can. “Well here’s the thing about Harry. He tends to be insecure about his voice, and it drives me bloody insane. He has the most incredible sound…ever. He can hit any note, and he’s just so shot full of feeling and, what’s the word, soul I suppose. I knew it from the day I first saw him try out for X Factor that he was going somewhere with it. To be very bluntly honest, while I was watching a lot of the auditions I was nitpicking like a lot of people do, but then when Harry…when he sang I just kind of got stuck and couldn’t do anything but listen and just…smile. So yeah. Without him, we wouldn’t be anywhere.”
Everyone pauses for a moment. Liam and Niall are grinning at me, Zayn has a purposeful smirk playing on his lips, the interviewer looks like she’s torn between smiling and ‘awwww’ing and then Harry…looks like he might bloody well cry.
Then the interviewer goes back to her fan questions and we go back to answering. Except Hazza and I. We exchange little looks (mostly on my part), trying to keep it to a minimum because of the cameras, and I struggle with the need to kiss that unsure look off his face.
When we’re finished I send him a quirked eyebrow that clearly says Follow me, idiot. and leave the room. I keep going, sensing him behind me. I put my arm backwards without a glance and feel his hand grip mine, causing me to smile as I pull us into the room we used to get ready.
There’s just one lady from our team in there and she smiles politely before leaving, probably sensing we need time alone. I shut the door behind her and turn to face Harry, who’s leaning against the wall looking at his shoes as if they’re incredibly interesting.
“Harry.” I mutter.
“I see what you did there Louis. Real clever.” He mumbles. He doesn’t look up.
“And what, you’re mad?” I ask, seeing as though he won’t acknowledge me. When he doesn’t answer, I keep talking. “Because I tried to do something nice? Be honest? Show you how much I care about you? How much I love you?”
“No.” He says, keeping his head low. I step closer but his hand fins his fringe, blocking his face from view.
“Then what?” I snap.
“I’m not…I’m not mad. I’m not even upset. I’m happy.” He admits, and I bite my lip in confusion. “I’m really happy.”
“Then why won’t you look at me?” I ask, voice cracking.
And then he does, and I understand. His eyes are red from crying and he’s visibly trying to hold back his emotions. Because he’s embarrassed, like the insecure idiot he is.
“Because I don’t want you to see me…see me like this. Like a mess.” He sniffs.
I envelope him in my arms, letting him cry into my shoulder, absolutely ruining my shirt (not that it matters at all) as he does so. I rub circles on his back, ‘shhh’ing in his ear softly. He shakes slightly and I squint my eyes shut, trying to will away all the shit he’s feeling.
“You’ve seen me as a mess. I’m broken, Hazza. That’s a fact. So why are you so scared of being a mess in front of me?” I ask, gripping him tighter.
I slide us down to the floor until we’re sat beside each other, Haz leaning on me as I run my fingers through his curls.
“Because then I won’t be…you need someone to protect you right now. And if I cry and…If I need you then you can’t need me anymore.” He weeps, breath catching at random intervals.
I shift us so that he’s no longer leaning on me, and put our faces as close as possible, noses brushing together.
“We can need each other, babe. I love you and I want you to be able to lean on me if you need to. You’ve been amazing since you found out about me hurting myself but you’re not Superman, Harry. You’re human and sometimes you get insecure, and sometimes you cry, and you know what? Sometimes you need someone. Me, preferably. And that’s okay.” I explain, watching as he cries further, sniffling.
“I love you. So much.” Harry admits, voice cracking. “And I need you.”
I pull him into a fierce hug, kissing his hair over and over, knowing that he needs the comfort. “I need you too.”
He pulls back, his orbs glistening as he stares. And then he leans in quick, our lips colliding wetly. My hands run up and down his back, still soothing him even as his fingers find the sensitive spot behind my ear, making me jump slightly.
“You really are sensitive there, huh?” He mumbles against my lips, kissing them sweetly a few times.
“Mhm. And you really are insecure, huh?” I ask sadly, kissing his cheeks, down to his jaw and then his neck.
“Mhm.” He whimpers as I suck on the skin there lightly. Nothing deep, nothing sexual, and nothing over the top. Just the reassurance that he needs.
Our lips find each others’ again, no tongue, just moving softly with each other. His fingers thread through my feathery hair and I scoot closer, allowing him to nearly sit on my lap.
And that’s when the door opens and two people gasp.