Chapter Twelve

He's sat with Mitch the morning before the first official photoshoot with the five of them. The sun has finally come out and they're sat outside of his home, a guitar sprawled across his lap and Mitch strumming quietly at his side. He doesn't think either of them have said a word in the past fifteen minutes but their friendship has always had this kind of dynamic.

His and Louis' appearance at the Brit Awards was still raging across the internet. Countless articles had come out which he'd made a conscious effort tot only read through three of them before dismissing the rest. He'd also only once given in to the temptation of logging into his secret Twitter account he'd created back in 2011 to see the proper reaction to their appearance. It was positive by a large majority, having come across almost no bad comments and even the ones he saw were fairly harmless. Mostly, the news was focused on two things; the possible One Direction reunion (which was very true but still six days away from being announced) and the fact that 'Larry Stylinson' was very much happening. At least, according to the fans.

It had been entirely overwhelming to wake up on the morning of the 19th to see seven hashtags trending worldwide on Twitter, all 'Larry' related, the number one being #LarryIsReal. It wasn't just the hashtags either, it was the fact that there were 47.8 million references to the hashtag. In twelve hours.

Harry had had several phone calls with Jeff about it, their group chat was having a field day about it, Liam had claimed that he didn't even know that Louis was going with him and felt cheated. Gemma and his mum had been a god send, he'd spent several hours on the phone to the two of them and their words had perhaps been the only thing that was keeping him mentally stable at the moment. But at least it had brought in a whole lot of interest to the band and Louis' upcoming album, which, in theory, was the whole purpose of him asking Louis to join him.

The thing which had truly sparked off the media, and his, attention however, was the now viral video of him signing the picture of the two teenage boys. Well, that and the words he'd written. He hadn't even thought to look at the titles of Louis' songs in the album, thought he'd learn them when the album came out. Sure, he'd read over the ones Louis had put forward as tour songs, but he now knew each of them by heart.

Only the brave.

Of all the fucking things he could have written. He'd thought it fitting in the moment, two young gay teenagers standing amidst a crowd of mostly screaming girls, their pride in themselves on full display. But he doesn't regret it in the slightest, is in fact glad that he'd written those words.

Of course the fans now simply presumed he'd heard the album and deliberately written the words, causing the name sake of one of the seven worldwide hashtags; #OTBLarry.

He hadn't seen Louis again. He'd been busy with radio shows and interviews before his album release and couldn't make it to the drinks the other four of them had had at Niall's two nights ago.

"You know," He distantly heard Mitch's voice, "You could just text him."

"Who?"

Mitch didn't reply, his eyes burning holes into Harry.

"What would I even say? Sorry I brought you along and now the whole world thinks we're together? Again."

"He agreed to come with you, knowing full well the reaction you'd both get. He doesn't need an apology, he needs to know you aren't cooped up and freaking out about it." Mitch says flatly.

"But I am freaking out!" He says halfway between a pout and a frustrated sigh.

"I know you two aren't together anymore, but shit H, from everything I know you were best mates, as well as partners, you know him. You're gonna tell me he isn't feeling just as flustered by all this?"

"I don't know, not now, not anymore. I did know him, but we've changed Mitch, a lot. I know a younger Louis, not the man he is now."

"So change that, it's clear you're still fighting some feelings for him, and maybe, just maybe, he doesn't feel the same way, but wouldn't you rather be friends with the man than nothing at all?"

"I... guess so." Harry says picking at the strings of his own acoustic guitar laid across his lap.

Wanting to avoid this particular conversation, he searches for his phone as he hears the faint sound of a notification coming through. Digging his hand into his shorts' pocket he pulls the device and out scans over the Twitter notification. It's from Zayn, a simple tweet that reads;

Blueberries or Raspberries?

It's been a long while since any of them have just tweeted out a random thing, apart from his infamous 'Do' incident a while back, he knows he certainly hasn't. It's the first time he's seen a normal tweet from any of the boys, he thinks over when their managers had asked for the boys to interact and before he can think better of it he swipes across on the tweet and waits for it to load up on the screen.

He opens up the comment section, forgoing liking the pic and simply writes;

@zaynmalik Frozen raspberries but fresh blueberries.

And quickly presses send.

Perhaps it was a way of side tracking the fans from the whole Brit Awards debacle which was still very much in full swing across the media platform. And the moment he presses send a wave of replies flood in across his screen. It's one thing for Harry to go out with Louis, who is still technically his bandmate, and another for him to publicly interact with his 'former' bandmate. As far as the public is aware, it's been years since he and Zayn have publicly addressed one another online without it being a forced interview question or nosy fan.

He sits for a moment, scrolling through the list of replies when a particular notification catches his eyes as it comes through.

@Harry_Styles I'm disowning you H, Raspberries straight up.

It's Liam who sends the reply and sparks off yet another round of frantic fan replies. The most prominent thing seems to be that Liam has managed to reinvent an 'iconic' moment with the use of 'straight up'. It takes Harry a moment to sort through what the fans consider through the bands iconic lines and sayings and remembers the whole Dinosaur thing.

@NiallOfficial If you don't side with Blueberries, this friendship is over.

Louis writes a second later, and ok, perhaps Harry has kickstarted something. He thinks briefly that at least management will be thrilled with them.

@Louis_Tomlinson Offended you'd even think I'd go for Raspberries over blueberries, @LiamPayne, you're on your own here mate.

Niall replies promptly, and yeah, management is definitely going to love them.

Harry watches for a time as the likes steadily climb passed 300k likes, rising rapidly and he wonders whether they'll break a record with the rate this is going, considering they're only five minutes into starting this.

@NiallOfficial, @Louis_Tomlinson - I'm siding with Liam.

Zayn's' next tweet comes through and they may as well be talking on their group chat now.

@zaynmalik, @LiamPayne Traitors.

He quickly types back out, liking the original tweet and going back through to also like each of the boys contributions. Within ten minutes, their conversation about the two fruits has officially surpassed a million likes and Harry definitely thinks that's got to be a record now.

He looks up at Mitch, the man sitting with his own phone in his hand, though his eyes meet Harry's and he flashes him a smile.

"Gotta give you guys credit for being the most unconventional band ever, a berry debate?"

"If it was strawberries I feel like I'd have had to answer differently." He says, face flat as he hides his own smile and Mitch barks a laugh at the reference.

"Not to mention had it been a Watermelon."

"Alright, now I think we're just being try hards."

"What about a Kiwi fruit?" Mitch says all seriously with a slight pout, "Or a Cherry? You can eat Sunflower's, right?" And Harry groans at all the references.

He glances back down to his phone then when a private message from their group chat, currently dubbed by its title (Niall's current doing) as 'Niall and the Brit's'.

Niall: I volunteer to pick our next topic of conversation, and I'm suggesting a discussion about seasons.

Liam: Not even surprised.

Zayn: Spring.

Harry: Summer.

Niall: What about snow!

Louis: Definitely summer, who the fuck likes bitterly cold weather when all it does for three months is rain and make you cold

Liam: Louis has a point.

Zayn: I hate you all, my phone is going off its head and I'm turning it off now

Niall: Mate we're all in that conversation, we're all getting the notifs, just fuckin mute em!

Zayn: Too much effort, bye losers.