Secrets / Black & White / Playing for Keeps

“So you’re with Louis?” Harry asked. “Isn’t he supposed to be sick?”

“Uh yeah… kinda…” Lara murmured.

“Kind of?” There was a long pause. “So what are you guys doing?”

“Nothing… just hanging out.”

Lara could see Louis watching the conversation with interest and she rolled her eyes at him.

“What?” Louis mouthed to her as if he was not sure if she was rolling her eyes at him or Harry.

“Well at least you’re not with Ben.” Harry said.

“Why would I want to see him?” Lara asked impatiently.

“Sometimes I don’t know what you want Lara.”

Lara could not help but sigh.

“I can’t believe you’d say that.” She told him.

“Well I can’t believe you’re running off to Louis as soon as I’m out of town.”

The conversation went back and forth until it reached a dead end.

“Just don’t do anything stupid, like going out in public with him.” Harry said gruffly before hanging up.

“Oh shit.” Lara said, her mind flashing to their doughnut run.

“He’s mad, isn’t he?” Louis asked without even bothering to conceal his amusement.

“You don’t have to look so happy about it.” Lara said, sounding annoyed.

“Do you wanna give him an even bigger reason to be mad?” Louis asked, pulling her into his
arms, his lips dangerously brushing over her cheek.

“No.” Lara said tightly, pushing him away.

“Yeah yeah, okay. The spare room is yours then.” He said making a face at her.

X

“Just do it.” Louis urged.

Lara bit her lip as she regarded the phone in front of her. She had just spent fifteen minutes listening to Louis trying to convince her to call James at work. With a sigh she dialled the number and it wasn’t long before her manager answered.

“Hi James.” Lara said in a slightly croaky voice. “How are you?”

“I’m fine… doesn’t sound like you are though.”

“No I’m not.” Lara said, clearing her throat for added effect. “I’m not feeling well at all… I don’t think I can make it to work today.”

“What’s wrong?” James asked, sounding concerned.

“Stomach bug.” Lara said the first words that came to mind.

“Oh really? That’s awful.” James commiserated. “No problem, Lara… take it easy. Are you at Harry’s?”

“Yeah… he’s back in a couple of days.”

“Good. Well, take care of yourself okay? If you need anything let me know.”

“Thanks James.” Lara said and hung up to see Louis doing a little dance.

“Woo hoo… now you get to stay.” He sang.

“So what? It’s not as if we can go anywhere.” Lara sniffed.

The rest of the day was spent watching bad movies, munching on junk food and going through Louis’ stash. They were going through Twitter and looking at the photos taken of Louis buying doughnuts when Lara spotted the comment.

“Spotted Louis at the local corner store and he smelt like pot!”

Lara’s eyes widened and she turned to Louis who was sprawled on the couch next to her.

“You are so busted.” She said accusingly. Louis did not flinch as he continued to scroll through the fan photos.

“Me? This looks like you, doesn’t it?” He said and Lara squinted to see a photo of Louis. Two
seconds later she spotted herself in the background, hoodie, hat and all.

“I think you’re more busted than I am.” She said, although her tone was now a little uncertain. It was obvious the fans had taken photos of her and Louis well before they approached him. It went without saying that Louis had some explaining to do, but she wondered if the same could be said for her as well.

Louis reached for his joint and leant back on the couch again, letting a long breath of smoke escape from his lips. Lara watched as he stared at the ceiling, deep in thought.

“Does Julian know about all this?” She asked.

“About what?” He asked and then indicated the joint in his hand. “This? Yeah he knows… he knows about half of it… Eleanor kept saying she was gonna tell him everything but she never did.”

“What do you think he’ll do now?”

“Maybe I’ll get another intervention.” Louis said and then laughed to himself as though he were recalling a past memory. His expression suddenly turned icy and he spoke with a determined edge. “But you know what? I can do whatever I want in my time… he doesn’t own me. And he doesn’t own Harry… or even you. It’s our lives, isn’t it?”
Before she went to bed at Louis’ house again that night, she checked her phone to see a message from Harry.

Seriously? Just saw the pictures… you are fucking unbelievable

Lara swallowed nervously as she wracked her brain for a suitable explanation. She quickly tapped out a message and sent it without hesitation, instantly cringing when she heard the beep indicate the message had gone through.

She spent the next couple of days at Louis’ house catching up on sleep, doing drugs and skipping school until the time of Harry’s return was imminent.

“You want me to drive you home?” Louis asked..

“Nah, you don’t have to.” Lara replied.

“You sure?” He said glumly.

As she sat in the taxi, Lara could not help but smile at the memory of Louis’ puppy dog eyes. He had seemed sad as he bid her goodbye. Her leaving not only signified the end of his temporary freedom but he also now had to face the prospect of being alone. Eleanor had not been in contact since she had stormed off and now that Lara was returning to Harry, he was now effectively alone.

Lara dashed into the shower, where she tried to scrub away the scent of weed from her hair and body. She lathered herself in her coconut body lotion and took her time blow drying her hair and letting it fall long and loose. A quick check of the time told her that Harry was due back any moment, so she quickly slipped on a tank top and short skirt she knew Harry liked.

A quick swipe of lip gloss and she could hear the keys jiggling in the front door. Lara entered the living room to see Harry walk in, dressed in black, his hair swept back by a brimmed hat. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her and simply stared. Lara nervously tried to gauge his mood.

He reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone and looked down at it as though he were searching for something.

“We… were… hungry…” Harry slowly read out the reply Lara had sent him. “I get mad about you guys getting papped buying fucking doughnuts and that’s your excuse? ‘We were hungry’?”

Lara bit her lip in a bid not to smile, still unsure about how to respond. When he stared at her expectantly, she merely gave a small shrug,

“It was true. We were hungry.” She told him.

“Do you know how hard it is for me to stay mad at you?” Harry asked, slowly approaching her. They stood face to face and his hand reached out to gently tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear.

Lara blinked innocently at him as his other hand lowered to the small of her back where he gripped her tightly pushing her toward him. The gentle caressing of her hair changed when he grabbed a fistful of her hair long hair. He tugged on it until her head tilted back, her eyes firmly fixed on him. His green eyes were dark as he brought his hand down on her, slapping her on the behind and then squeezing it tightly. Lara jumped at the sensation, her fingers digging into his arms in anticipation when she felt his hand rear back again.

“But why do you always have to test me?” He murmured before his hand struck her ass again. She held her breath when it then disappeared up her skirt. He pinched her and gave her a satisfied smirk when she squeaked in response.

“Making me jealous.” He continued.

“Jealous?” Lara breathed.

“You know what I’m talking about.” He said dryly as he backed her against a wall. Her skirt was by now halfway down her knees, his fingers now dipping into her underwear. “Why do you do this to me?”

Lara tried to answer, only to find she was holding her breath. It was easy to say that Louis was just a friend and that he didn’t mean anything to her, but they seemed to share a connection that grown stronger over time. Drugs had brought them together at first until their shared realisation of how fucked up they both were completely sealed the bond.

“And here I was about to ask you to be my date.”

”Your date?” She repeated.

“Yeah.” He smiled at the surprised look on her face. “Remember that charity dinner we went to a couple of years ago? Well it’s that time of the year again…”

“You want me to go with you?”

She recalled their first official date as a fake couple and how Harry had mostly ignored her the whole night. They barely interacted and then had to face the wrath of Julian who blasted them the next day over their awkward display as a couple.

“What about Julian?” Lara asked.

“What about him? I’m not going to ask for his permission.” Harry said. “Are you going to come with me or not?”

“This is a weird way to ask someone out on a date,” Lara responded as she looked down to see Harry’s hand still between her legs.

“Yeah well, it’s a first for me too.” Harry said and they both quietly laughed.

“Okay I’ll go.” Lara said ignoring the gnawing feeling of doubt.

“Good.” Harry said.
Lara breathed in sharply as his fingers danced over her warm skin, tensing for a moment before completely succumbing to his touch.

“Now show me how much you missed me.” He whispered as she slowly began to reach her high.

Notes

I know you guys don't agree with all the decisions my characters make, but I hope you're still enjoying this story. I honestly like to hear any kind of feedback so please feel free to let me know what you think.

Nothing is definite, but the story should be ending in a few chapters time. Not sure how many are left as I don't usually outline my stories beforehand (I kind of know how I want it to end though!) To be honest, I've been stretching it out a bit because I know I'll miss this story once it's finished :(