7 Up

“Louis, there’s no reason for you to be cross with me,” Harry says, and immediately wishes he
hadn’t.
“Hey, I’m not fucking cross with anyone,” Louis spits. “A little annoyed you never mentioned him,
but it’s whatever.” Harry clenches his jaw, trying to think of the right way to word his next
sentence, but Louis beats him to it. “Fuck, I am such a hypocrite.”
Harry coughs out a laugh. “A bit, yeah.”
Louis looks pained. He puts his elbows on the counter and bows his head down. “Sorry, just…
Surprised, is all.”
He nods, even though Louis isn’t looking at him. “It’s okay. I get it.” Neither of them speak for
several moments. Harry sighs. “We’ve been dating almost a year and a half.”
Louis’ head snaps up at that. “And this is the first time he’s heard about me? I'm flattered.”
Harry frowns. “How do you figure that?”
“He just said, ‘He’d never really mentioned he had such a close friend from home.’ Meaning, you
haven’t mentioned me prior to this weekend. What’s that about, Hazza?”
Harry’s frozen. His mind is a total blank. “I guess, uh, I’d never talked about you before because I
didn’t want to get into the specifics of, um, my ex.”
Louis blinks. He doesn’t ask why. Instead, he asks, “So why bring me up now?”
“I didn’t want him to wonder why I was inviting a stranger he’d never heard of to our flat. Had to
talk you up somehow.”
Louis smirks when he connects the dots. “He still doesn’t know we dated, does he?”
Harry scoffs. “Oh, don’t look so smug. I just didn’t know where to start, is all.” Louis is still
smirking. “Piss off, Tommo!”
Louis laughs. “That’s a little risky there, Styles. What if I slip up and tell him about the time we
were snogging in your bedroom and you took your pants off but then you heard your mum walking
up the stairs so you jumped out of bed so quickly that you tripped and smacked your head on the
corner of your desk?” He reaches up to touch the mostly faded scar at Harry’s hairline. “Has he
never asked where this came from?”
Harry wants to be mad, but he’s nearly shaking from laughter. “Don’t you even dare tell him that
story. In fact, don’t tell anyone that story. Ever.”
“Zayn knows.”
Harry rolls his eyes. “Of course Zayn knows. Is there anything Zayn doesn’t know?!”
Louis’ smile fades. “Not really, no.”
He puts his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, that’s kind of like me and Ellis.”