Harry had been spending all of his free time with Louis for the past 2 weeks, whether it was was at Louis' flat, at a restaurant, coffee shop, pub, or anywhere in London, it was always with Louis.

Except when he was working of course.

And even when he wasn't with Louis, they were constantly texting and FaceTiming, so Harry felt like Louis was part of his day every day, and all day.

And he liked that, he liked it a lot.

But, as he had come to know, being around Louis wasn't drama free, but Harry was slowly but surely learning what made Louis happy, what made him sad, and most importantly, what made him angry, and with that knowledge, it was easier to keep the drama at a minimum.

But also, Louis was so much more than his drama; he was fun, and lovely, and so cute sometimes, not to mention incredibly beautiful, and the things he could do in bed...

Harry just sighed as he thought of Louis when he went to bed that Thursday night.

And maybe Louis felt that Harry was thinking about him, because that was when he FaceTimed Harry.

"Hey" Harry greeted him after he took the call.

"Hi" Louis smiled "Are you in bed already?".

"Yeah, I got home like 20 minutes ago, and I came straight to bed, I'm so tired" Harry complained.

"I just wanted to see you for a little while, but I'll let you go to sleep" Louis told him.

"Not yet" Harry told him "I'm happy to see you".

"You are?" Louis smiled.

"Yes, I've missed you" Harry said truthfully, even though they had met up on Tuesday for a late dinner.

"I've missed you too" Louis said softy "Are you coming to see me tomorrow after work?".

"Yeah, I will" Harry confirmed "I mean, I'm gonna go grab drinks with the other interns first, and then I'm coming to yours".

"Wait, what?" Louis frowned.

"That I'll go to a pub with-" Harry started again.

"No, I heard that" Louis cut him off "But why are you doing that?".

"What do you mean?" Harry asked feeling confused.

"Why are you going out with the other interns instead of me?" Louis questioned "You rather hang out with them than with me?".

"No, of course not, love" Harry denied.

"Then you should come straight out of work to see me" Louis decided.

"Lou, I already told them that I'd go for drinks tomorrow" Harry explained.

"But why, Harry? You spend all day with them, why do you need to also have drinks with them?" Louis asked, and he was clearly very upset now.

"Because when we're at work we don't talk that much, and it's a very serious place, so we want to be able to let lose together for a few hours"

"And what about me? You barely see me during the weekdays, and you only have 3 more weeks in London" Louis reminded him.

"That's why I want to go see you right after having drinks with my friends" Harry reasoned.

"You should want to come see me right away, not after the drinks" Louis insisted.

"Oh my god, Louis, you're not the center of the universe" Harry rolled his eyes.

"I hate you" Louis muttered.

And just like that the FaceTime call ended.

Harry huffed as he set his phone down on the nightstand, feeling pissed.

Why was Louis like that?

Sometimes Harry honestly felt like he was dealing with a child, because that was absolutely not the way a 20 year old should react.

But right now he wasn't going to give him more attention, and he just turned the lights off and went to sleep.

The next morning thought, when Harry's alarm went off, and he turned it off, he realized he had two new texts from Louis, which had been sent at 2:30 AM.

From Louis Tomlinson: I don't hate, I'm sorry

From Louis Tomlinson: will you still come? It doesn't matter the time

Harry left the phone back on his nightstand, and decided to go take a shower to wake up properly and also so he could clear his head.

But the time he came out of the shower, Harry knew exactly what to reply, and so he did.

To Louis Tomlinson: I'll come by after having drinks with my friends

That was probably not the reply that Louis wanted, but Harry wasn't going to give into Louis' tantrums, he was a grown man and had to accept that not everything was about him.

By the time Harry arrived at the internship, Louis hadn't reply, but Harry didn't send another one and set to work like he did every morning.

Around midday though, he just got an 'ok' text from Louis, which to Harry meant that the tantrum was over, and he was pleased by it.

And so, when work was over, he went with his intern friends to a pub, the same one they had gone to a few times, and he had a couple pints, and had fun with them, as he always did, they were a fun group, and they had a lot in common.

"Are you going to Louis' after all?" Daphne asked Harry.

She was sitting next to him, and she knew about the latest episode with Louis, he had been confiding in her a lot lately.

"Yeah" Harry replied "I want to see him".

"So what are you going to do when you go back to Uni?" Daphne questioned "You're going to try a long distance relationship".

"That would require us to be in a relationship, and we're not really in one" Harry pointed out, and took a drink from his pint.

"Does Louis know that?" Daphne raised her eyebrows.

"Of course he does" Harry replied.

"But considering the things he says and expects from you, I get the sense he thinks of you as his boyfriend" said Daphne.

"No, no one has even mentioned the word boyfriend" Harry explained "And Louis has always known that I was only in London for the summer".

"But you've been spending so much time together lately, maybe he expects that whatever you have won't end when you go back" Daphne considered.

"We're still going to be friends, it's not like I'm going to cut him off my life when I go back, but a relationship isn't what I want, specially not a long distance one" Harry pointed out.

"I get it, everyone I've met that has done long distance says it's very hard" Daphne told him "I'm just saying, talk to Louis about it, so you guys are on the same page".

"Yeah, you're right" Harry agreed "I should do that".

They ordered one last round after that, and when they were done, they called it a night and went home, well, in Harry's case, he went to Louis' home.

He arrived there at around 10:30, and he rang the doorbell and waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened. So he waited some more, and still nothing, so he rang again.

Harry backed away from the house a little, to be able see the top floor, and surely enough, the lights were on, which meant Louis was home.

But why wasn't he opening the door?

Harry sighed and decided to call him, and thankfully Louis picked up.

"Hello?" Louis said.

"Hey, I'm outside" Harry told him "I've been ringing the doorbell, can you open the door?".

"Why should I?" Louis dared.

"Because I told you I'd come see you today and you said okay" Harry reminded him.

"It's kind of late...".

"I told you I'd come after having drinks with my friends" Harry reminded him "If you still had a problem with that, you should've told me, and I wouldn't have wasted my time coming all the way here".

"So I'm a waste of time now?" Louis asked.

"Louis, honestly, I'm tired and I'm not up to your games right now, so I'm gonna leave" Harry decided, and ended the call.

And with that, he turned around and walked away, and he was almost at the end of the street, when he heard his name being called.

"Harry!".

Harry turned around, knowing it was Louis, and he saw him jogging up to him, and he wasn't even wearing shoes, just socks.

"What?" Harry asked him.

"I'm sorry, can you please come back?" Louis begged "Please?".

"I want to, but not if you're going to be acting out all night" Harry told him.

"I won't, I promise".

"What's going on with you?" Harry questioned "Why have you been acting like this?".

"It's just how I am, you know that" Louis mumbled.

"Do I?" Harry questioned.

Louis didn't say anything, and just bit his lip nervously.

"I just wish you tried not acting out like this, it's exhausting" Harry told him.

"This is me trying, Harry, if I didn't try you wouldn't want to see me at all" Louis explained.

Harry shook his head, because he didn't believe that.

"Will you please come in? I've been waiting for you, I even have leftovers for you" Louis declared as he reached out and held Harry's hand.

"Alright" Harry sighed.

Louis smiled, and didn't let go of Harry's hand until they got upstairs, when Louis let go to be able to take off his socks, and Harry did the same with his shoes.

It was true that Louis had been waiting for Harry with food, which he ate while sitting on the kitchen counter while Louis talked about his day at work, and how he had gotten a huge tip for doing a very simple design on a woman's nails.

Then they went to bed, and Harry just wanted to sleep because he was tired, but Louis wanted to do more, it was evident by his eagerness, and so they ended up having sėx, even though Harry was tired, but Louis seemed really eager, and then they just fell asleep.

The following morning, Harry was woken up by Louis with a kiss on the lips, which was sweet, and a Harry was happy to see him when he opened his eyes.

"Good morning" Louis told him.

"Hey" Harry said sleepily, as he stirred.  

"How did you sleep?" Louis wondered as he gently playing with Harry's hair.

"Great" Harry smiled.

"So you're not so tired anymore?" Louis questioned.

"No, I'm well rested now" Harry smiled.

"Good" Louis smiled "Then maybe I can get a redo from last night?".

"What do you mean?" Harry asked confused.

"Last night wasn't your best performance in bed" Louis laughed.

"Rude, much?" Harry said feeling offended.

Louis laughed again, and although Harry knew he was falling right into Louis' trap, he started kissing his neck, and his hands started going down his bum, because he wanted to show him what he was capable of doing.

"How's that for a redo?" Harry asked when they were done.

"Perfect redo" Louis said, his breathing was ragged, but he was smiling.

Harry took the condom off, and got up to throw it away, and then went back to the bed, where Louis was still naked, and they cuddled in the bed just like that.

And they were doing that, and Harry was slowly tracing his fingers across Louis' back, when his eyes focused on Louis' left arm, which was bare and completely visible. And just like Louis' other arm, this one was also covered in old white scars, but also there were ones that didn't seem that old...

"You can ask" Louis whispered.

Harry realized he had been staring too evidently, and Louis had noticed.

"I don't" Harry denied.

Because he didn't have a right to ask, this was something that was too personal, and he had no business asking.

"You know what they are, right?" Louis suddenly asked.

"I know" Harry confirmed.

"I used to do it a lot when I was younger... almost every day" Louis explained, his voice barely there.

"Why?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.

"As a release for the pain" Louis replied.

"Why were you in pain?" asked Harry.

"I felt alone, like nobody cared about me, nobody loved me..." Louis explained, his voice cracking "I had no friends, and no one liked me at school, my mum was away with her husband, and then she got pregnant with kids that she actually wanted, unlike me, I was always a burden for her and for my grandparents, not even my dad thought I was worth him sticking around... you know he didn't just die, he killed himself".

"I'm so sorry, Lou" Harry said feeling heartbroken for him, and he held him tighter.

"Yeah..." Louis said as he wiped tears from his face.

"Did you get help or...?" Harry asked, not really sure what to say.

"My grandparents sent me to therapy when they realized what I was doing, and she said I have abandonment issues" Louis explained, and scoffed  "And I was like... wow, you don't say? I would have never guessed it".

Harry didn't say anything to that, what could he say?

"And then my grandparents got my mum involved, and she started acting as if she was concerned about me, which she wasn't, she just felt guilty" Louis said bitterly "And she would try to call me all the time, which she never did before, but I didn't answer, so then she started sending me stuff instead, she even does that now, she sends me a ton of money each month, and I just spend it all because I don't really want it, that's why I always want to pay for stuff... that and because I want people to like me, because I'm pathetic".

"You're not pathetic" Harry denied "You're amazing and strong".

"I'm not strong" Louis denied "I'm 20 years old, and I still cut my arms when I can't handle my feelings".

"Why do you still feel the need to do that?".

"I still feel alone most of the time, and I can handle it better now, but not always" Louis shrugged.

"Do you still see a therapist?" asked Harry.

"Yes" Louis replied.

"Does it help?".

"Sometimes" Louis sighed.

Harry kissed Louis' head, and held him tighter, because he didn't know what to say or how to really help, but he guessed being there for him was a way to help.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm not an easy person to deal with" Louis said after a long silence.

"Don't talk about yourself that way" Harry told him "I don't deal with you, I spend time with you because I like you".

"I don't want you to go back home" Louis whispered.

"We still have 3 more weeks together" Harry told him.

"And then?" asked Louis.

"We can keep being friends" Harry assured him.

"I don't want to just be your friend" Louis confessed "I wanna be with you".

"Be with me?".

"I want you to be my boyfriend" Louis told him, and he let go of Harry, and looked at him "Would you be my boyfriend?".

"Lou, I'm gonna be hours away..." Harry started saying.

"So what? We can still make it work, I can visit you and you can visit me" Louis explained.

"I'm going to have to study a lot this year, I won't have time to come to London for weekends at a time" Harry explained.

"Then I'll go to you all the time, I don't mind" Louis insisted.

"I like you so much, Lou" Harry said, and he stroked his cheek "But you need someone that can be there for you all the time, someone who makes you their number one priority, and I can't do that, I have to put school first".

"But I don't need that" Louis denied, and now he's eyes were glossy with tears "I just need someone that cares about me, that understands me, and that doesn't judge me, and you're all of that".

"Lou..." Harry sighed, this was killing him, but he knew he was making the right call "Why don't we just enjoy the three weeks we have left?".

"Why? So I fall in love with you, and my heart breaks even more than it's already breaking when you leave?" Louis asked as tears fell down his eyes.

Harry felt so guilty for doing this to Louis, he never wanted to hurt him...

"I think you should leave" Louis said while he cried.

"I don't want to leave you like this" Harry told him.

"I want to be alone" Louis said as he hugged his legs to his chest.

"Lou..." Harry started.

"I asked you to leave" Louis told him.

"But...".

"Just fücking leave!" Louis yelled.

Harry didn't want to go like this, but at the same time he didn't want to make Louis even more upset, so he got up from the bed, and as he kept his eyes on Louis, he started getting dressed.

But Louis had turned his back to him, and covered his body with the bed covers, so Harry couldn't see his face anymore.

"I'll be available if you want to call me or get together" Harry told him as he reached the door.

Louis didn't reply, and even though he didn't want to do it, Harry left.

————————————
A.N. I know this chapter is really sad, but this story is not exactly happy, in case you haven't figured that out yet.

What do you think about all the things Louis said to Harry?

And what about Harry not wanting to have a long distance relationship?

Thank you for reading!

Xoxo