"Harry, it's Lizzie. We need to talk to you and Louis right now."

"What? Why?" I demanded down the phone, feeling my eyebrows knit together, but she had already hung up.

The boys looked at me in anticipation, eyes like golf balls. 

"Management wants to talk to us," I look at Louis.

He asks me why but I just shake my head, glancing around the darkened restaurant.

"You guys stay here," I tell the others. "We'll just catch you upstairs later."

I stood up and Louis followed after me. He patted my arm reassuringly and hid his face in my neck. I slide my arm around his waist.

"Whatever it is, it'll be okay," I half-whispered into his hair. 

He nodded in return. 

-

I knock hard on the office door. A short, bald man with glasses opens it and invites us inside with a cold stare. I look around the room and see many pairs of eyes staring back at me. I feel Louis staring at the back of me, not wanting to look at the people surrounding us. 

A girl I recognise as Lizzie gestures us to two seats placed across the desk from where she was sat. I pull Louis' out, watch as he sits down, and then take me own seat. 

"Thank you for coming, boys," She nods in our direction, but doesn't crack a smile. "We need to talk to you."

"What is it?" Louis asks, his eyes wide.

"As we're bringing the band back, we need to talk about your relationship," She stares through the gap between us. "We know you had a romantic relationship for a few years when the band was together, and we don't want it to happen again."

"Why does it matter to you?" I fire back.

"It matters. We're keeping you separate in interviews, and you don't be standing next to each other on stage."

"That's not fair. We're just friends anyway," Louis retaliated. Hearing him say 'just friends' hurt, and I'm not sure why, but at least he was making a point. 

"We don't care, to be honest with you, Louis. The fans think you're together, and we don't want them to, so we're keeping you separate."

My gaze was broken by the sound of Louis' chair scraping along the wooden floor. I look over and see Louis walking out of the room, swearing under his breath. Arms make attempts to grab him and pull him back to our meeting, but he's faster and more nimble than them, and before I know it, he's out the door. Part of me is secretly surprised that Louis cares so much, as he broke up with me. I stand up and run after him. 

When I leave the room, Louis has already disappeared. I go to the only place that he could be alone, our bedroom. I try the handle but the door is locked. I knock on against the wood, but there's no answer. 

"Lou? It's just me," I talk straight to the door, as if it was him. "Please open the door."

A few seconds later, a key turns in the lock and wide blue eyes meet mine. I look the boy in front of me. His hair was now dishevelled as though he had run his fingers through it many times. His eyes, filled with tears and bloodshot, were no longer shining. I said nothing, but pulled Louis into my arms, wrapping my arms around his waist, one hand going underneath his hoodie and resting on his lower back. He didn't say anything, but I felt a fresh wave of tears against my shoulder. I could feel his petite body shaking underneath mine.

"How come you're affected by this so much? You ended it with me anyway," I muttered into the top of his head, not really expecting a reply. 

"You think I wanted to end it with you?" He pulled away, made intense eye contact with me and shook his head. "I didn't want to end it with you, Haz."

"What?" I blink in disbelief. 

"I didn't want to end it with you. Management made me," His eyes pool again. "I wanted to stay with you, but the guys in management told me they would kick you out of the band if I didn't break up with you. I couldn't do that to you."

"Wait, really? I can't believe you did that for me."

"Of course I did, I loved you, Haz."

He loved me? I looked back down at him, and feel my own eyes filling with tears. 

"I loved you too."

"It's not about that anyway," He said, staring at his feet. "It's about the fact that they think they can control everything we do. I should never have said I would come back."  

"I know it's shit, Lou," I pulled the shorter boy back into my chest. "I wish I never said I'd do it either. If we hadn't said yes, this probably wouldn't be happening; there wouldn't be enough of us." 

Realising we're still stood in the doorway, I move forward, not letting Louis go, and kick the door shut behind me, hearing the lock click into place. We end up sat on the couch at the end of my bed, with me resting against the edge of the chair, and Louis leant against my side, my arm was slung over his shoulders and rested on his collarbone. He grabs my hand, asking it to stay. I can feel him trace my cross tattoo with his fingers. This is the closest we've been in eight years, and I didn't mind. I don't know if Louis meant that he still like me before but I haven't seen him in years, so I don't even know if I liked him anyway. He was special to me, but is that just because he was the first person I ever loved? I don't know. 

We stay for at least an hour, sat on the couch together. I feel Louis' weight press more heavily against me as he dozes in and out of sleep. At some point I here a knock on the door, but even though I am convinced it is only Niall, I ignore it, very aware of the sleeping body leant against me. 

"Louis?" I ask, without even thinking.

He stirred and looked up at me.

"Do you still like me?" I couldn't believe I was saying this; it was like I had no control over what was coming out of my mouth.

Louis took a deep breath in. "I don't know. I -" He shook his head. "I always liked you when we were in the band. Once we split I finally had a chance to get over you. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I loved you so much, Haz."

Fresh tears ran down my face, matching the ones already on Louis'. Closing my eyes, I feel his arms wrap around me. 

******

Kisses, Kat. x