"So..."

"So?"

"I, um, have to leave in three days to fly to LA. Meetings and all that for my new album. Promo, too."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

It's awfully quiet in the bedroom, just the distant car honks and the steady breathing of the two men laying tangled up together beneath the satin sheets being heard.

"That's, um... cool?" Louis doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know why he suddenly has to take deep breaths in order to not let his heart beat too fast so that the singer would feel it hammering against his ribcage. He doesn't know why all he wants is to hold the older male and never let him go. He doesn't know why he feels an ache deep inside himself at Harry's words, doesn't know where all this is coming from.

He should have expected this, is the thing. Harry would only be in London for a few days, then flying to the other end of the world, doing who knows what. Writing new songs, having meetings, recording new music...

But now that the curly haired lad said it out loud, it feels like a slap to the face.
Hard, unexpected, hurting.

And Louis doesn't know what to do, what to feel. He feels nothing, and then everything at once. It's too much and not enough at the same time, and he really thinks he is having a panic attack right now.

"That's what you think? That it's... cool?" Harry's voice whispers into the quiet room, sounding breathless and a little bit hurt, and his grip on Louis' waist loosens.

The younger one looks up from where his face laid Harry's exposed chest, locking eyes with questioning green ones staring right at him. Immediately, he shakes his head, grazing Harry's jaw in his right hand, his other one caressing his mess of curls.

"Of course I don't, H", he whispers back, leaving a soft peck at the older one's chin, then the tip of his nose. "I just don't know what to say. I... I'll miss you."

Louis holds his breath, fearing that maybe this declaration was too much, that the singer would laugh at him for feeling this way, but when Harry smiles up at him fondly and grips his neck to draw him in for a slow kiss, he thinks that maybe it was just the right thing to say.

"I'll miss you too, Boo. But I promise I'll be back as soon as I can. We'll facetime as often as your study time and my work allow it, alright?"

"Alright."

•

After staying in bed for a little while longer, just enjoying each other's presence, the two decide to get up, both having to do seperate things for the day.
After showering and having breakfast together, Harry drops Louis off at his flat before driving to where he has an interview for BBC as a promotion for his upcoming album.

"Have fun with Niall and Zayn today, baby", he smiles when the dark car stops at the side of the road.
"I will. See you tomorrow. You're picking me up from the train station, right? Gotta say goodbye to Zayn when he goes back to Doncaster."

"Of course."

With that and a quick goodbye hug (paparazzi have already spotted them so a kiss would not really be beneficial when convincing people they are just friends), Louis hops out of the car and makes a bee line to the house door with his hands shielding the paparazzi's view of his face.

Seeing Louis getting into the apartment complex safely, Harry starts up his car again, driving away to where the BBC radio station is, already looking forward to the next day he gets to spend with Louis and planning what the two could do.

Sorry for the long wait!
I have some issues in my life right now that take a greater amount of time to be solved than I thought, and also the whole situation with Fizzy and her funeral just broke my heart.
Praying for the Tomlinson-Deakin's family to have the power to stay strong during this time 🙏❤