"I really can't see why you thought this would be a good idea" Harry grumbled playfully as he was holding onto a street lamp.

"Àmber loves roller-skating and I've watched her skate many times and always wanted to try it but Zayn is scared of anything that could injure his hands. He would die if he couldn't paint" Louis watched Harry amusedly.

"So, you thought it'd be smart to take me roller-skating? Me, who can't even walk in a straight line? I won't just break a hand. Not everyone has the advantage of being a good skater" Harry threw him a reproachful look.

"Skateboarding and roller-skating are two different things, Haz" Louis bit back a huge grin.

"I'm bad at both" Harry pouted cutely.

"I'm not good at roller-skating either, Love. I'm just trying to have fun here and you should do the same. I'm right here and will fall down with you, Haz" Louis reached his hand out for him.

Reluctantly but with a tiny smile, Harry took his hand and let go of the street lamp. He was wobbly on his legs when he came over to Louis but he managed to stand up straight. Louis steadied him by the waist and pressed a short kiss to his lips because he could.

"I prefer that over skating, I must say" Harry grinned against Louis' lips.

"How about you get a kiss for every little route you manage to survive?" he puckered his lips, tracing Harry's like a feather.

"Sounds tempting but I'd like to survive today and not just little routes and I wanna kiss you all the time" Harry bit lightly down on Louis' bottom lip before kissing him for real.

"You're making this really hard right now" Louis shuddered into the kiss, going weak in the knees because Harry was addictive.

"Good" Harry smirked smugly, earning a slap from Louis.

"You dirty boy" Louis broke away from their kiss. "We have a purpose here. Stop distracting me".

"Good to know it's working this easily" Harry pulled him closer again and Louis just let him.

"Well, what can I say? You have me wrapped around your little finger, Haz. You only have to look at me and I'm distracted. It's really not that difficult" Louis admitted without a problem. Honesty has been their issue before. Now he'd do anything to get rid of that issue forever.

"You can't just say stuff like this and expect me to not kiss you" Harry turned crimson, kissing Louis again quickly.

"It's only the truth" Louis mumbled into the kiss.

"I like this truth quite a lot. Almost as much as I like you. Almost" Harry locked eyes with him intensively.

"We're getting completely off track here. We should keep going before people think we're part of the surroundings" Louis felt himself blush and looked to the ground.

"Don't hide from me, Lou" Harry lifted his head up again, studying all of his facial features closely. "I wanna see and know everything I do to you. I need to know".

Based on the shaky tone of his voice, Louis knew Harry's fears and doubts were speaking out of him, no matter how hard he tried to cover them up. He needed to know Louis was with him all the time and that this was the right thing to do. That they were worth it. Worth all the trouble that would come their way.

"Whenever you look at me you make my skin tingle and my heart beat faster and when you kiss me I feel warm all over, Haz. I feel safe and secure and seen. At the same time, it feels exciting and like a rush. You're like a drug to me and I'm already addicted. I can't get enough of you, Baby. That's what you do to me" Louis opened his heart up to him to make Harry feel safe.

"Shit, Lou. I feel exactly the same when I look at you and kissing you is the best thing I've ever experienced in my life and ... Fuck!" Harry cupped Louis' face with his hands and pressed his lips on top of Louis' with a newfound determination.

He was so gone in the kiss and the feeling of having Harry this close to him that he didn't notice how Harry had lost his balance while reaching for him. Before he knew it and could react at all, they were both crashing to the ground. Hissing in pain, Louis rubbed his left arm and immediately, reached for Harry next to him, who looked right out embarrassed.

"Are you okay, Love?" Louis checked worriedly but a laugh was threatening to breakthrough.

"My bum hurts and I hit my elbow but other than that only my ego is hurt. This is so embarrassing" Harry hid his face in his hands.

"Don't say that, Darling. It's okay. Everyone falls down sometimes, especially when they're distracted and you really made me forget where we are for a second. Otherwise, I would have caught you in time, hopefully," Louis took both of Harry's hands and moved them away from his face, revealing a very red Harry.

"I'm a hopeless case, Lou. You should skate without me" Harry sighed out dejectedly.

"I won't skate without you. This day is about the both of us. C'mon, I help you up and then we go for another try. This time, we won't get lost in each other. So, no kissing until you earned it" Louis stood ungracefully up from the ground, almost falling back down a few times. He wasn't good at this either, no matter what Harry said. This was his first-time roller skating, too.

"Not fair" Harry pouted like a little child. "I want a kiss now!".

"You have to stand up for that. I'm up here and you're down there. That won't work, Haz. I thought you were smart" Louis teased him fondly, reaching his hand out for him.

"I'm very smart. Thank you very much" Harry huffed cutely.

Because Louis was busy fonding over Harry and his adorable ways of being fakely mad, he didn't realise that Harry grabbed his hand a bit too forceful before it was already too late. He let out an embarrassing squeak, stumbled over his own skates and crashed right into Harry's open arms on the ground. Instinctively, he nuzzled his nose into Harry's chest for only a second before he pushed himself off of Harry to glare at him but he was met with a loudly laughing Harry, which was a beautiful sight to witness, even if he had been dragged down to see this.

"You're such an asshole" Louis slapped Harry's chest.

"Thank God you seem to like assholes" Harry cackled idiotically.

"That was your worst ... I don't even know what to say anymore. No, just no. I don't like you anymore and I definitely prefer another asshole from now on" Louis shook his head in disbelief, glancing around them. Luckily, no one was around to witness their weird behaviour. It definitely has been a good idea to go skating this far away from any crowded places.

"No, please, Lou. Don't leave. Sometimes my brain thinks stupid stuff and I say it before I can stop myself. I never ...".

Smiling to himself, Louis threw himself back in Harry's arms and shut his nervous rambling up with a passionate kiss. Completely gone for this boy, Louis moaned into the kiss and swiped with his tongue over Harry's bottom lip, causing him to open his mouth and let Louis in. When their tongues met for the very first time, Louis couldn't quite grasp the situation. This has not been how he had pictured their first really deep kiss to go down but he wasn't complaining. Everything about this just felt so right.

Footsteps in the background and the lack of air made them break away from the kiss. With red cheeks and heavy breathing, they climbed back onto their feet with a lot of effort and many giggles in between. Standing back on his feet, Louis was directly attacked by Hayden again, who wrapped his whole body around him in a tight embrace, almost falling down again because he seemed to forget that he was wearing skates and not shoes.

"Careful, Love" Louis tightened his grip on him.

"Wanna give this another try?" Harry murmured into his neck.

"You didn't like the kiss?" Louis frowned downcast.

"God, Lou, No!" Harry let go of him to take Louis' face back into his hands and look him directly in the eyes. "I meant the skating. I loved that kiss. Every second of it. Best kiss of my life".

"Oh," Louis blushed crimson but couldn't look down to hide it.

"You're so cute" Harry kissed Louis' nose before he connected their lips again. "So, so cute".

"M' not" Louis protested weakly.

"You're my cute little hedgehog baby and there is nothing you can do about it" Harry rubbed their noses together.

"If I'm a hedgehog baby what are you? A frog princess?" Louis raises an eyebrow at him to tease him but Harry actually squirmed under his intense gaze and blushed a deep shade of red. "So, you like that, mh? Wanna be my princess?".

"Yes, so bad, Lou" Harry whined out, which quite literally turned Louis on in ways he couldn't explain and way too quickly.

In the regard to missing the words, Louis kissed him again and swallowed those thoughts together with Harry's shaky breaths. "We should get going or we'll never leave this spot".

"I wouldn't mind but my feet would kill me in five minutes" Harry sighed contently into the kiss.

"We wouldn't want that" Louis kissed him one last time.

When they finally let go of each other they tried to focus on the skating part of the day. At first, Harry stumbled more over his own two feet than skate even the tiniest bit but he was trying and Louis thought it was adorable and oh-so endearing. With many more little falls and a lot of cursing, they ended up on the promenade and slowly skated along the beach without knocking anyone down, not even themselves. Somehow they managed to reach a takeaway stand close to the spot where they've started and Louis' car with their shoes inside was parked.

"How about some food to restore our energy before we go back to the car?" Louis suggested hungrily.

"Sounds like the perfect idea but I want a kiss first" Harry pursed his lips in anticipation.

Louis only rolled his eyes fondly at the idiotic boy he was in love with. "You really can't get enough of me, mh?".

"No" Harry shook his head shamelessly, fisting Louis' shirt. "Now kiss me, Lou".

Said and done. Louis closed the gap between them and kissed Harry like it was the first time. Like every time they kissed, his heart was beating out of his chest and he felt stupidly warm all over. He would never get tired of this feeling.

"Harry?".

At the sound of that familiar voice, both boys were startled apart from each other, which almost ended in Harry crashing back down to the ground but Louis caught him in time and steadied him by the waist although Harry's mother was walking toward them with an unreadable look on her face and Harry's sister Abigail in tow.

"Mum, what are you doing here?" Harry cleared his throat.

"Your sister and I wanted to enjoy some time on the beach before she leaves for the weekend but what are you doing here?" Annabelle let him know, switching her gaze over to Louis. "Is that you, Louis? Wow, I haven't seen you in ages".

"Hi, Mrs Stone" Louis greeted her awkwardly.

"Dear, I told you years ago to call me Bella. This hasn't changed only because life has changed" Bella offered him a friendly smile.

"What are you two doing here though? Since when do you skate, H?" Abby eyed them suspiciously.

"Since today? Lou suggested it and we just tried it and now we're hungry and wanted to eat some chips and ...".

"How about I treat the both of you to a burger at the restaurant over there? That's way better than simple chips and I would love to catch up with you, Louis. We have so much to talk about" Bella came up with an idea and if she had her mind on something she would get it, no matter what.

"I'd love to but first, we should take off our skates and get our shoes. We can't skate into the restaurant" Louis looked down at their skates.

"That wouldn't be a good idea, no. They'd think we're all weird" Abby laughed at the mere thought.

"And Harry would only fall down and take some poor waiter with him" Louis grinned cheekily.

"Ey!" Harry huffed offended, wanting to slap Louis but he only lost his balance and Louis had to catch him again. "Whatever".

"I'm not sure Harry will survive long enough to get his shoes back" Abby mocked her brother.

"I'll manage" Harry crossed his arms over his chest.

"C'mon, Haz. Let's go" Louis nudged his side.

With Bella and Abby right on their heels, Harry and Louis drove toward Louis' car. Or at least, Harry tried to but had to hold onto Louis every few seconds, so Louis simply took both of his hands and tried to skate backwards, which worked semi-good but they made it to the car and only crashed into each other right at the car. Giggling and laughing, Louis opened the car and helped Harry sit down by the open trunk door to switch the skates for his shoes. Nudging Harry with his hip, Louis sat down next to him and finally took off the skates. His feet felt so heavy but it has been worth it.

"You have leaves in your hair, Love" Louis smiled at Harry, taking out the little leaves from his curls.

"Thanks, Lou" Harry blushed again.

"When you're done with whatever that was can we finally leave? I'm hungry. Starving actually" Abby destroyed their moment.

"Be nice, Sweetheart" Bella scolded her daughter amused.

"We're done. Let's go" Harry jumped up, hitting his head on the open trunk door. "Ouch".

Abby only laughed at her brother while Bella looked like she couldn't decide if she should be worried or amused. Louis could only feel the worry overtaking his body. "Baby, are you hurt? You have to be a bit more careful, Haz".

"I know, Lou. But you don't have to worry about me. It still hurts a little bit but it's okay, Sun" Harry assured him softly.

"Sun?" Louis cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Sun?" Abby and Bella asked at the same time.

"Yeah. Don't you think he is like the sun?" Harry blushed coyly.

"Harry" Louis wailed embarrassed, hiding his face in his chest.

"I've never really thought about that, Darling" Bella bit back a laugh for Louis' sake.

"Not everyone thinks about Louis every second of the day, dearest brother" Abby winked at him.

"We should really get going and get something to eat. We have a lot to talk about" Bella led them over to the restaurant.

It was a simple, not very fancy restaurant luckily because none of them was dressed particularly good. They were led to a table by a window and given the menu. To avoid the tension-filled conversation Louis knew was coming up, he focused mostly on ordering food and everyone else seemed to do the same thing. In absolute silence. But after they ordered Bella simply looked at them and Louis wanted to sink into the ground and disappear.

"Mum, can you stop staring at us? Please?" Harry whined.

"I'm sorry, Darling. I just haven't seen you two together in the same room for seven years and I can't believe you're both here. We've missed you, Louis. How come we haven't crossed ways for so long although we live in the same town?" Bella tried to word her thoughts, causing Louis to feel really guilty and kinda shitty.

"Mum" Harry warned her quietly.

"It's okay, Haz" Louis patted his hand with a forced smile plastered on his face, causing Harry's face to fall. "To be quite honest, I've tried really hard to not cross your way and avoided you the best I could. I'm really sorry for that but I'm trying to be honest with everyone and don't lie anymore to protect anyone. But um ... Harry obviously hated me. I wasn't keen on running into you and seeing the same hatred in your eyes".

"Louis, I never hated you and I would have loved to see you again. You were like a son to me, no matter what happened between you two. Or between you and the band. It still doesn't matter to me. I'm just happy you're back to being friends. You look happy" Bella told him surprisingly, warming his heart. But at the word friends, he almost choked on simple air.

"Thank you, Bella. I am happy" Louis brought out emotionally.

"Mum" Harry drew their attention to him in a meaningful tone. "We are not friends. I really thought you got that at the car".

"I did but I also didn't want to assume anything because you've always been quite close and touchy. And I wanted you to tell me yourself to be sure" Bella leaned back in her chair.

"Sure of what?" Harry crinkled his nose adorably.

"That you are aware of your feelings towards Louis this time and don't still confuse them for friendship," Abby said randomly.

Louis couldn't help but laugh at her comment. Harry only glared at her. "You have no idea how I felt back then or how aware I was of my feelings. A lot of shit went down and clouded reality".

"I'm a nosy fucker. I wanna know all about that shit and ...".

"Abigail!" Bella admonished her in disbelief.

"What? I'm very happy for them now but I still remember that Louis left overnight and never came back, avoided us and apparently lied to someone about something. I still remember how sad and broken Harry was when he thought Louis left his life forever without a word. Excuse me that I'd like to know what really happened and how they got from hating each other to being a thing and skating along the beach giggling like teenagers" Abby justified her own curiosity.

"This is really none of our ...".

"This is none of your ...".

"It's really okay" Louis cut Harry and Bella off calmly before addressing Abby. "I'm gonna tell you everything".

"You really don't have to do that, Louis" Bella insisted urgently.

"She is right, Lou. This is between me and you and no one else" Harry sided with his mother, glaring at his sister.

"They're your family and for a short amount of time they were part of my life, my family as well. They deserve the truth or they will never understand how you can be with me after everything" Louis tried to soothe him, feeling the nerves rushing over him.

"No, Louis. I don't wanna know that to understand ...".

"I get it, Abby. Really" Louis interrupted her before he chickened out. "I'm gonna sum the whole thing up and keep it short or we will sit here for hours before we can eat in peace. Okay. Let's just start with saying Jackson wanted me gone from the start because I didn't obey the way he wanted me to".

"Jackson is at fault for all of this? Why am I not surprised?" Abby threw in already mad.

"Let him talk, Abby" Harry hissed at her annoyed.

"Chill" Abby held her hands up in surrender.

"You're done?" Louis grinned kinda amused before getting serious again. "He never let me be who I really am. He refused to let me write on our songs and gave me the shortest parts to sing. He wanted me to be the dumb but funny member of the band, who would be forgotten next to Harry and Zayn. Guess he kinda succeeded with that plan, mh? Anyway. Harry and I had a moment but then he called me into his office. I promised Harry I'd be back but there I didn't know how that conversation would end. He ... He put me down in every possible way and made me feel bad about myself, told me I was a terrible singer and shouldn't sing at all and was only in the band because of my loyal friends. He said I should also act less gay or it would harm the boys, harm Harry. He wanted me to stay away from him in public, give me a beard and create a false narrative of us being mortal enemies. Only because I was too gay and made Harry look gay with my behaviour towards him. He made sure to tell me that Harry could never feel the same and that I was pathetic for even crushing on him. I just ... I couldn't handle any of this. The thought of ruining Harry's career by being close to him made me feel sick to the stomach. I wanted what was best for him, so I gave in. I left without a goodbye because I wasn't allowed to say goodbye. I broke off any kind of contact with the boys because I knew Jackson would tell them horrible lies about me and my exit. Through Zayn, I got to know how bad it really was. I felt useless and so out of place. My dream had turned into a nightmare in such a short time, only for Jackson to come back and force me to write the band's songs for the rest of their time and due to the NDAS I signed I'm not allowed to talk about any of this but Zayn made sure to let Harry in on what really went down after an incident. I'm happy he did. Now the truth is out between us and Harry knows everything I did was for him, no matter if it was the right thing to do. It was for the best".

Stunned and shocked silence was between them but then Abby exploded, hands balled into fists. "I hate this man so much. This is fucking horrible. How could he treat you like this? Jackson Robinson is the worst person I know. I'm so sorry, Louis".

"I agree with my daughter, Louis" Bella spoke up a lot calmer than Abby but she looked furious. "You didn't deserve this. I can't believe he went this far and broke you enough to make you leave. He used your feelings against you and played with your mind. I can't believe he forced you to work for him after he did that to you. I wish you could have said no but I guess you didn't have a choice".

"Not really but he also made sure to remind me I'm nothing and have nothing or no one to care about me. No one who would fight with me, for me. He made sure I'd never forget there was no family to have my back and that my only friend was under his control. I had no will left to fight him, not that there actually was a chance to get out of this. By now, he is out of my life for good" Louis shrugged, feeling the tears threatening to fall down.

"Louis!" Harry gasped. "You never told me that!".

"It really didn't matter" Louis fiddled with his fingers.

"Oh, but it does, Louis. Using this against you to get what he wants is so low. I can't even put that into words. Please always remember that you have us and Zayn. You're not alone" Bella grabbed for his hands across the table, caressing them.

"Thanks" Louis croaked out emotionally.

"Harry, I know you hate when I tell you what to do but you have to leave Jackson. Don't sign with him again. If he goes this far with Louis, I don't wanna know what he could do to you when you don't do exactly what he tells you to ...".

"Calm down, Abby" Harry cut her off, avoiding the topic at hand. "I can smell the food. Ah, there it is".

Before Abby could react the food was brought to their table and like this, the conversation about Jackson was over. Harry managed to direct his mother's attention on a different topic while Abby just eyed him sceptically while eating. Louis couldn't blame her. This wasn't the first time Harry avoided the talk about his future with Jackson and a part of Louis was scared Harry would actually sign with him again even with everything he knew.

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So, Larry is being cute but will Harry actually sign with Jackson again?