Chapter Twenty Four

Double update - make sure to read chapter twenty three first !!

Present Day

"Alright, you both need to come together in that final line otherwise it's going to distort the sound." Their vocal coach, Helene, hums to Niall and Liam. "Start over from the top of the verse."

The five of them are sat in a small studio in Paris, having been here for an hour already in the early morning for their vocal run throughs of the setlist. The band hasn't joined them for these first rehearsals, their contributions to the songs will come in later once they properly start rehearsing the set list and choreography but that it's till the start of next month. They'd flown into Paris early the previous morning and had spent the day in interviews, as well as most of this morning.

Despite everything they were immersed in with album and tour promotions, he'd found his thoughts snagged on Louis more often than he would have liked. It was all just too much stuff to try and sort through. If only Louis had told him back then, been honest instead of letting things build up before he'd finally cracked. Harry was angry, and upset. He'd been so hurt by what Louis had thought was good intentions when he couldn't have been more wrong. Maybe he'd realised that now if his words that night had suggested anything, but it didn't erase the fact that he'd still done it. He definitely stills needed time to sort through his thoughts.

It's been two weeks since they left LA, the middle of February well upon them and countless interviews for the promotion of the album and tour, regardless of their pleas that since the tour has already sold out all seventy shows it seemed somewhat pointless doing all this promo. Their management however had made a valid enough point that it was less about promoting the tour and more about providing content for a loyal fandom which had been waiting for this moment for nearly five years. When they'd argued it was for the sake of the fans they'd all relented and none of them had brought it up again.

It had been easy enough to arrange flying Helene over form the UK to begin their vocal rehearsals, each of them knowing it would take a while to fall together again. They'd been solo artists for long enough now, working with their own backing vocalists that their voices would need time to blend together again. Especially now that they were older and more sure in each of their own vocal ability but it was fascinating watching it fall together as they each found each other's rhythm.

He was sat on a bench stool in the middle of the room, the four other lads spread out around them as Helene stood before them, eyes scrutinizing them as they sung over What A Feeling.

"Ok and now Zayn comes back in and you sing through the chorus once more."

She studies Liam, Niall and Zayn as they join their voices together and sing through the chorus.

"Alright you know what, Louis and Harry go next door and move through to Walking In The Wind because I want to spend some time with these three sorting through this and your wasting your time sitting here with this. The sheet is on the table, colours marking your names as usual and I'll join you soon." Helene says to them and gestures towards the table behind her which is scattered with marked out lyric sheets of all their individual parts in the songs.

Harry wonders briefly whether Helene knows what she's just asked of them.

He doesn't comment as he stands from the stool and grabs for one of the sheets for the song lying in a pile on the table. He blindly follows Louis out of the room and into the adjacent booth across the hall. They're in a popular recording studio, having rented out the room weeks prior but thankfully word hadn't got out to the public so they'd been able to slip inside with minimal notice from any press or wandering photographers. Not that Paris was anywhere near as bad as the UK or America.

He's still so unsure how to act around Louis. They haven't been alone like they are about to be since their talk back in LA and he's still very much processing everything he was told. Being with Louis had always been easy and natural, but there was such a strain between them currently that he just had no clue how to progress past.

At least, he thinks as he walks into the room trailing behind Louis, they hadn't been asked to sing Spaces.

There's a Bluetooth audio system equipped in each of the room and Harry busy's himself connecting his phone to it, avoiding any chance of stilted conversation. He glances down at his sheet as he waits for it to connect, knowing he has the entire first verse to sing by himself before Niall is meant to come in before everyone joins for the chorus.

He makes it through two of his verses before he's had enough of the tension in the air.

"This isn't working." He says and watches as Louis' head snaps up towards him.

"We've got seventy shows to perform on stage together in just over a months time and you're telling me you can't make it through a single verse with me here?" There's an underlying sense of bitterness laced in Louis' tone.

"I don't know what you want me to say Louis this is fucking hard!"

"You think I don't feel that way too?" Louis snaps and they really are about to get into this.

"Honestly I don't know what you're thinking anymore, that's if I ever did in the first place seeing I never realised you wanted to end things!"

"Now who's being unfair? You fucking know that's not how it happened, we've been through this."

"Have we? We says leaning forward towards Louis, "Have we really covered exactly what we've both been through over the past four years? Because it's been fucking hell and I've had to find some way to deal with thinking that I fucked up when it was you who couldn't just talk to me!" He knows he's raising his voice and he gives a brief thought to being overheard but remembers that these rooms are in fact soundproof.

"That's fuckin' bullshit Harry you know just as well as I do what Modest! Was like to deal with and throwing that in my face is a fuckin' low blow. This isn't you."

"How would you know that? You don't know me anymore Louis, I struggle to see how you ever did with how you threw everything we had in my face when you broke up with me!" He's being unreasonable now, he knows this but he's spent so long with this pent up anger that having Louis here before him, willingly going along with this ridiculous argument , he can't seem to stop the words as they tumble from his mouth.

"I know you because I spent five years of my life by your side and listened to your god dam album. It was my role getting pissed off in our relationship not fuckin' you." Louis says before his eyes widened at what he'd said.

"Don't you dare tell me I can't be pissed at you because of what you did when you broke my fucking heart and left me scrambling to find my way for years."

"And has it crossed your mind for a split bloody second that doing so broke mine too? We've been over this before Harry, I know I fucked up by being manipulated into believing that bullshit but I think you're forgetting how tired we were of fighting them by that point. We'd spent years hiding and forced apart in the public eye and we were fuckin' over it! I'm sorry I did what I did, I'll never forgive myself for it but it's fucking unfair of you to be throwing this all back at me right now when I'm trying to fix this and you're only tearing us down." Louis spits at him and he falls silent.

The fight dies out of him, he'd never been someone for conflict and watching as Louis' entire body had crumbled in on himself as he'd spoke brought some sense back into him. Louis was right, he was being unfair and despite his anger it wasn't right of him to throw this all at Louis.

When he speaks again his voice has lost all its former bitterness, instead he speaks slowly and tiredly, "We can't go on like this, something needs to change."

"Honestly I don't know what more you want me to do." Louis says tiredly as he runs a hand down his face.

"Nothing. I don't want you to do anything more."

He sees the hurt flash through Louis' eyes, he was trying, he really fucking was and all Harry had done since LA was throw it back in his face.

"I want to be able to be around you and not feel like I'm struggling to breathe, I want to be able to sing the songs we wrote together and about one another without feeling like I'm drowning, I want my best friend back."

"Then have me back." They both know how he means that. "Because I'm fuckin' hurting here too, yes this is my fault, yes I haven't done shit to fix what came between us but I'm dam well trying now."

"I know, and I'm sorry I just threw that back at you. I did it too cause you hurt, not because I truly meant it."

"Infinity."

"What?" He blurted before he could stop the word.

"Let's go through Infinity."

"Louis we haven't even started going through that song, and Helene..."

"Helene won't care as long as we're doing something productive." And the mischievous grin which Harry had, does, love so dearly is bright on Louis' face, and for the first time in a long while, his eyes are equally as bright.

Harry doesn't argue further, just grabs for his phone and clicks play for the new track to begin.