Love Me Please (Larry Stylinson)

2

They found out the hard way, in front of a crowd. Given the amount of people, there was no way for Louis to just dip out and pretend it had never happened. Even though that's what he wanted so badly he could hardly stand it.

Louis will never forget how stupid he felt, drawn forward by some invisible pull that took away his volition. He hadn't left his dorm that night with the intention of making a fool of himself but it happened anyway. There was something beyond reality urging him—no, forcing him—to go out that night, even when he desperately wanted to have a quiet night in. He wanted tea and blankets and Law and Order reruns. He wanted to snuggle with his labradoodle and to sink into the couch until he fell asleep. He wanted to rest after a stressful week of exams and projects due, a break from social pressures and obligations from his friends and family. He wanted to exist with no eyes on him, just for a while.

Instead, he got a crowded event room filled with people who liked Harry, people who would do a lot of embarrassing things just for him to give them the time of day. It felt as if he was a celebrity, with the way people hung onto every word he said like he was the next coming of Christ or something.

Instead, he got bright lights and soft acoustic music and an infuriatingly handsome man with ridiculous tattoos singing about love. An expensive guitar in his hands, one that cost thousands. It was a college event, for God's sake, no one should be that serious about anything.

Instead, he got the humiliation of pressing himself through the crowd until he was right at the edge of the makeshift stage which was really just a bunch of table pushed together, staring up at his soulmate hoping desperately to be noticed by him. Because he knew by then. There was no denying it. He couldn't help it.

Louis knew for sure, no more doubt, ever since he felt that sinking feeling in his stomach driving him out of his dorm that night, down the path, cutting through the quad, and to the evening's venue, to which he had never been before, just to buy cheap tickets to see a student perform solo on a Friday night. Louis knew ever since Styles climbed on the shaky stage in his stupid ripped jeans, loose tank top, and snapback. Louis knew ever since he first saw him and all the breath was knocked out of him as if someone had squeezed his lungs until they deflated like popped balloons.

Louis knew it was over when Styles met his eyes mid-croon and he smiled. His eyes twinkled as he stopped the song halfway through just to slip off his stool and crouch down on his knees at the edge of the stage, caressing Louis' shocked face in his big paws. Not stroking his cheeks—just holding him there. Looking at him like he hung the moon and painted the stars.

There were confused mutters and disbelieving gasps in the audience of college students but Louis didn't hear a single thing. His ears were ringing with a high-pitched sound that was deafening enough to make him only focus on the man in front of him. His soulmate. It didn't help that Styles was already lit up by the bright lights shining on him, illuminating him in a halo of luminosity, making him otherworldly. Godly.

Louis was stunned into stillness but Styles sure wasn't. He smiled gently and ran his fingers along Louis' jaw, down his neck, and across his shoulders. He slipped his hands beneath his armpits and heaved Louis up onto the tables with ease. Louis stumbled, but Styles steadied him, and met his lips with a kiss.

Louis didn't want to kiss him. Not completely. Only the part of him screaming SOULMATE! wanted to kiss him. The rest of him just wanted to shrink away from the embarrassment and have the earth swallow him up without hesitation. He had spent more than a year grimacing every time someone brought up Styles in casual conversation, gagging when he heard people talking about how beautiful he was, even though it was true, and vehemently denying his friends insistence to introduce them. He didn't want anything to do with the ultra-wealthy frat boy heartbreaker who got everything he wanted without even having to ask.

But there he was, in front of a crowded room full of his classmates watching on as Harry fucking Styles pulled him on the unstable stage, caught him as he stumbled, and attacked him in a passionate kiss. The music had been forgotten, guitar trapped between them and digging into Louis' tummy, and not even the crowd cared anymore to hear the songs. Soulmatching was much more fascinating.

The audience must have found it just as astounding when Louis yanked himself back out of Styles' fervent grasp and bolted off the stage.

Not looking back, not even just once.