Harry paces back and forth across Eleanor's living room floor. He drags his hands through his long brown hair and sighs loudly. This is not the way he wanted to spend his evening. Eleanor's sitting on the couch across from him, looking clearly upset. 

"What did he say exactly," Eleanor asks again. Harry's already told her a million times about the phone call with Simon. She keeps asking him to repeat it to find out some sort of clue on what the hell is going on. Harry stops pacing and looks at Eleanor. 

"He said, 'Do not leave the house. Do not use your phone. Only pick it up if I'm the one calling. I will call you back.'" Harry repeats. It's the same thing he's said the last eight times Eleanor's asked. She massages her temples soothingly. 

Harry can only guess what could be happening right now. Surely, Simon's calling Louis, but what the call will contain is something Harry doesn't know. He's sure it's something along the lines of what Simon told Harry. 

"Ugh! I don't know what that means! Obviously, he's mad at you, but how far? How angry is he? Did he sound mad? He must be losing his mind by now." Eleanor huffs loudly and slumps on the sofa. Harry's breathing is nowhere near even, but he tries to regulate it, as difficult as it is. 

Harry's phone dings loudly as he gets three notifications. He glances at Eleanor cautiously. Of course, he's been getting notifications all night, but all of them stopped after Harry turned off notifications for Instagram and Twitter. 

He opens his phone to find a new text from Louis. 

Boyfriend 💙

Simon tweeted something off my account. If you see the tweet, it wasn't me. I love you so much Gorgeous X

"What is it," Eleanor asks. Harry reads the text out loud, still trying to figure out what the hell he could be talking about. "Shit," Eleanor whispers. 

Harry looks up to see Eleanor's phone. She's pulled up Twitter and has opened a tweet. When Harry takes a step closer he can see the tweet clearly. 

@Louis_Tomlinson tweeted:

Harry Styles is fucking annoying and I hate him. He's just another person using me for fame. Sorry to anyone who actually thought he was genuine. 

reply   54k retweets   98k likes

Harry's heart drops. He goes back to his texts with Louis and types. 

You

Of course. I can't believe this is happening. Wish I could be with you. Love you. 

Harry sets his phone back down, but it isn't down for long. A loud ring rips through the room, causing both Harry and Eleanor to jump. They both glance at the phone, watching as it rings. Harry reaches out and reads the name 'Simon Cowell' typed across the top. So, this is it. 

Harry accepts the call and puts it on speaker. "Hi, yes Sir," Harry says. He dashes for the spot next to Eleanor on the couch. Eleanor leans into Harry, either to hear better or to give him support Harry can't be sure. 

"Harry, glad you answered. I would like to begin by saying that from here on out, you are prohibited from seeing Louis ever again. Never, and I mean never, should either of you two be seen out in public together or going to one another's houses. In order to spare any of shred of our narrative, we're pitting you and Louis again each other. Taylor has already been informed, but tomorrow night you and her are leaving on a trip together. I need you out of town. You can talk to her about the details. Excuse me while I finish cleaning all this up," Simon snaps. 

With that, the call is ended leaving Harry even more shattered than before. 

~_~_~

The following morning Louis finds himself at Simon's mansion. Looking out the office window, Louis can see that the sun has just started to peak across the horizon. He wipes his palms on his jeans anxiously as Simon enters the office. 

"Louis, how... horrid it is to see you this morning. I've spent all night coming up with a plan on how to handle this," Simon starts. He takes his seat behind his desk and spreads a lot of papers across the dark wood table top. 

"So, I've already sent Taylor and Harry off to France for a couple's getaway. Of course, paps will be informed of their location throughout their vacation. I've entrusted Taylor with making sure they get some good stuff. You, on the other hand is going to be a tough cookie to crack," Simon sighs. 

He moves a piece of paper towards Louis. Gingerly, Louis turns it around to read what the top of it says. Another contract. Goodness. Louis doesn't have time to start reading it before Simon plucks it out of his hand and sets it on top of a stack of papers. 

"This is just the beginning. The contract with Eleanor was a warning, Louis. A warning that, obviously, wasn't heard very well. Now, I'm resulting to this. This is a bundle of contracts pre-written for a number of girls to do a number of different things. 

"You see Louis, you have proven to be difficult to manage over the years. I've found that I need to be stricter with you than any of the other boys, but no matter what I do it always falls on deaf ears. I do know you cherish the shred of reputation you have left. These papers will squash that. 

"I do know how much you care for that silly boy of yours. Now, I will allow Harry to walk free and continue to be him. I won't push anything on him or force contracts. He'll be free to continue his career as if nothing happened. However, this comes at a price. You will do whatever I ask of you. Whatever I ask of you will be done. You will be my little puppet and your boy gets to walk free," Simon explains. 

Louis has no words. Nothing can come close to explaining how he feels. Anger, frustration, sadness, and worry with a mix of other emotions throw in as well. Of course Louis wants to protect Harry, it's the only thing he's been trying to do since day one, but this? Doing whatever Simon wants him to do. He knows, however, what he has to do. 

"Tell me Louis, protect your boy's heart and sign with me," Simon questions. Louis sits up straighter in his chair and crosses his arms across his chest. 

"Where do I sign?"

~_~_~

Hey guys! I know it's early, but I'm not going to be able to update tomorrow. Shout out to @Just_ship_larry and @nck1Dlarrie for commenting LOADS on the last part. You are both gratefully appreciated. 

We didn't really get close to the vote goal last week, but we did pass the comment goal so yeah! I'm also adding three questions and will probably add a couple questions each chapter now. I really want to know you guy's thoughts and predictions as we continue. 

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! ~B

Bonus goal: 15 votes and 27 comments

QOTC: How long do you think Louis will be able to do this for? 

What do you think Simon will make him do? 

What would you do in Louis' position?

Do you think Louis will tell Harry?