How Long?

Harry didn’t come back home that week and was a no show next week as well. Louise was relieved not have him around. After talking to Emma she knew what she had to do. To distract herself from all that craziness she busied herself with her thesis, which she ended up finishing early. She was also very busy with the NSPCC fundraiser. The center was collecting funds to start a sporting complex for the children. Louise had overheard Mrs. Hadley discussing with her staff the problems she was facing organizing the funds for the complex. Louise had volunteered to help them with the fundraiser, little did she knew after a month, she was spearheading the whole thing.

She was happy to help, really. While working on the paper she had gotten attached to a lot of these children and their families. If she could do anything to bring a smile on their faces, she was not the one to shy away from that. Due to her family, she was in position where she had a lot of connections in high places. Pulling a few strings here, making a few calls there had resulted in a wide variety of people being interested in helping them with the cause.

Louise had wished for Harry to be there as well. Having him or anyone else from his family could really help in getting the word out there. But, due to recent events she didn’t feel it was right to call Harry for this. She had already arranged a former minster, a few famous businessmen, socialites and some polo players, who were attending the event. She was also successful in tapping some sponsors for the event. She just needed a heavy weight name to endorse the cause, for it to get the kind of publicity it needed. After racking her brain for a few days Louise had come up with a list of potential people she could approach for it. On the top of her list was the name of Zara Phillips.

Louise had known Zara all her life. They had played together as children. Harry had always been very close to Zara because of which, in her teenage years Louise and Zara had spent some time together. Zara was different from Harry’s other cousins. She was a homebody like Louise. They always got along famously when together. Louise identified more with Zara than Bea or Eugenie.

Louise was not sure Zara would be interested but she still wanted to give it a try. To her utter surprise, not only was Zara keen on the idea, she confirmed her appearance without even looking at her calendar, giving Louise her word.

Louise was on edge on the day of the fundraiser. She had bought a dress especially for the event. She got ready and reached the venue a few hours before the guests were due to arrive. As she looked around the place she felt a sense of pride. The crew had done a great job with the place. Louise went to the kitchen to survey the food and bumped into Mrs. Hadley there.

“Miss Tomlinson”

“Louise, Mrs. Hadley. I am pretty sure after working with each other for two months you can call me by my first name”

The older woman gave her a small smile, which was a rare site. “Very well, in that case call me Blythe”

“Blythe, that’s a lovely name”

“Thank you, Louise” Mrs. Hadley said giving Louise a rare grin.

Louise got busy as the guest started arriving. She introduced the businessmen to Mrs. Hadley and other members of the board. Made sure the press got all the necessary information they needed for the papers and some great photographs of the guests. She checked up on the other volunteers and barked orders when things went slightly haywire. By the time Zara arrived, things were going pretty smoothly.

Louise told Zara all about center plans for this sports complex and how many children with will it cater to. She then went on to introduce Zara to Mrs. Hadley, who further explained Zara about the upcoming projects the center was working on.

“I was surprised when I got your call. I am so glad you thought of me” Zara said sipping her drink.

“Honestly, you were the first person on my list” Louise said.

Zara beamed “I will take that as a huge compliment” Zara said looking around. “You did really well, Louise. You’ve got a big fan there” Zara said tilting her glass at Mrs. Hadley direction.

“No way” Louise said shaking her head.

“Trust me; she was all praises for you. She couldn’t stop gushing about how invested you got in all of this, how dedicated you are to the cause and how much the children adore you”

Once the guests had taken their seats, a famous British classical singer started performing on the stage. Zara looked at Louise in astonishment. “I can’t believe that you managed to organize this whole thing in two months”

“I’ve had help” Louise said feeling embarrassed.

“You’re being too modest” Zara said.

As much as Louise wanted to sit around and chat with Zara, she had to excuse herself after sometime. There were a lot of people she had to entertain, she couldn’t stay with one person for longer that ten minutes. She really needed to work the room, to get the message out there and in process raise funds for the complex.

At the end of the evening when the guests were leaving Louise approached Zara and thanked her again for coming at such short notice.

“Don’t thank me. It’s a brilliant cause and I am honored that you thought of me” Zara said giving Louise a hug and a kiss.

“Next time you’re in town call me and we’ll make plans for coffee or lunch” Zara said.

“I promise” Louise said.

“I’ll hold you to that” Zara said.

The evening was deemed a success as by the end of the night they had raised sufficient funds for the complex and gained a few famous patrons in process. Mrs. Hadley thanked Louise in front of the board, staff and volunteers. By the time Louise reached home she felt such sense of euphoria that she couldn’t go to sleep. Picking up her phone she sent Harry a quick text. She didn’t know if he was going to reply and honestly, she didn’t care. She waited an hour for his reply but when no reply came, disappointed she went to sleep. When she woke up the next morning there was a text from Harry congratulating her.

----

Louise’s last two days in London before she headed back to LA. Tonight she was going to Highgrove for a going away dinner that Uncle Charles and Camilla was hosting for her.

Louise entered smiling and nodding to familiar faces, Uncle Charles had not changed his staff since she was a child. She knew these people and the place so well. Harold, the butler guided her to the sitting room where Uncle Charles and Camilla were waiting.

“Louise” Charles greeted Louise, kissing her cheeks.

“You look very handsome today, Uncle Charles” Louise said.

“Oh, do I? Well, thank you dear. I did wear my best suit for you” Charles said with a wide smile.

“I feel very special knowing that” Louise said laughing.

“You are special and you look wonderful” Camilla said greeting Louise with kisses and a quick hug.

“You look beautiful Camilla” Louise said taking a seat opposite to the couple.

“It’s lovely to finally see you, Louise. You’ve been very busy this time around” Charles said.

“I am really sorry I couldn’t come down to meet you any sooner” She did felt bad about turning down
their numerous invitations.

“There is no need to apologize. Harry told us you’ve been swamped with school work” Camilla said.

With just the mere mention of his name Louise could feel her nerves starting to overtake her body.

“Speaking of Harry, Where is he?” Charles asked checking his watch.

“I am right here, Dad” Harry said entering the room.

Louise didn’t need to look up. The butterflies started whirling around in her stomach and she got
goose bumps all over her arms.

“You are late young man” Charles said greeting his son, followed by Camilla. When Harry finally stopped in front of Louise, she looked into his eyes and smiled.

“Hi” She said as he placed quick kisses on her cheeks. “I missed you” She whispered before he pulled away.

He looked at her, as though he wasn’t certain what he just heard. He searched her eyes trying to find
the answers he was looking for.

“Let’s move this party to the dining room, shall we?” Charles asked brining Harry back from his trance.

“I just need to freshen up, I’ll join you in a minute” Harry said excusing himself.

They were all sitting around the table by the time Harry joined them. He sat next to Louise, as that was how the table was set for the evening.

“I thought Wills was joining us” Louise asked.

“Unfortunately, William is busy with Kate at the moment. I don’t understand why the media doesn’t give that poor girl a break” Charles said shaking his head.

“They are being really awful to her” Camilla said.

“It’s gets hard on her as they don’t get to see each other for weeks at a time because of his training” Charles said.

“Why? Isn’t he spending his weekends with Kate?” Louise asked looking at Harry.

Harry’s face went beet red. William was not seeing Kate on weekends because they weren’t supposed to come home during their pilot training. Harry had made special arrangements for Louise’s sake.

Harry took a sip of the glass of water that was sitting on the table and cleared his throat.

“No, he doesn’t have the permission to come home on the weekends” Harry said not meeting anyone’s eyes on the table.

“How come you do?” Louise asked.

“You do?” Charles asked with a cheeky glint in his eyes. He could guess by now what is going on
here.

“I got….this is my last weekend off” Harry said.

Louise kept looking at him sideways but he didn’t meet her eyes. Charles and Camilla started talking about the wine Harold was pouring.

“Did you take the permission because of me?” Louise asked in a whisper.

“It doesn’t matter. It was totally useless with your busy schedule” Harry replied in chipped voice. He was still angry at her.

“Harry, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why would I?” He asked finally meeting her eye. “Was it going to change anything?”

“Harry” She said it with a sigh. She didn’t want to argue right now. She was touched by this new information. How could she not fall in love with him when he always put her first like that.

“Last semester, Louise. Are you excited for the future?” Camilla asked which made Louise tear away
her eyes from Harry.

“Excited and nervous” Louise said.

“What are your plans? You plan to study further or are you planning to look for a job when you come back” Charles asked.

“Honestly, I don’t have any plans as of now. I always thought of studying further but these last two months working with the center has changed my perspective”

“Zara told us what a splendid job you did with the fundraiser. She was very impressed” Camilla said.

“She is too kind”

“What kind of job would you’d be interested in?” Charles asked leaning towards Louise.

“I really don’t have a clue at the moment but something similar to what I did for the center, I suppose. I need to feel strongly about the cause though. I can’t possibly work for something I don’t believe in”

“If you’d be interested, when you get back I would love for you to join The Prince's Trust. I think you’ll be a great fit” Charles said nonchalantly.

Stunned, Louise kept staring at Charles for a moment. “Are you kidding with me Uncle Charles?”

“No, I am not kidding with you” Charles said with a chuckle.

“You are offering me a job?” She asked in disbelief.

“Yes, I suppose I am” He said with a smile.

“Oh my god! Thank you, thank you, thank you” Louise said jumping out of her seat and hugging
Charles. “You are the best!” She said planting a kiss on his cheek.

After that the dinner was pretty much uneventful. Harry kept his distance from Louise. Louise couldn’t stop staring at him. The ride back to the house was even more awkward. Louise was psyching herself up to say what she needed to say to him. Emma’s words rang in her head on a loop. Harry drove quietly and only replied when she asked him something.

Once they reached home Harry said a quick goodbye and started to move towards his room.

“Harry” Louise said.

He stopped at the door and turned.

“I know you’re mad at me and I am sorry. I didn’t mean to shut you out like that. I was…”

“Don’t worry about it” He said waving his arm dismissively.

“Harry, stop” She said taking his hand. “Stop okay. We need to talk. I have to tell you something” She said.

Harry sighed. He knew that this talk is going to turn into an argument as he himself had a lot to say, he was afraid that it might even turn into a fight. He was too tired for that at the moment. “Can’t it wait till tomorrow? I am so knackered right now. I just want to get some sleep” Harry said earnestly.

“Tomorrow?... I just…” Louise said biting her lower lip. “Okay, tomorrow. We will talk tomorrow”

“Good, now if you just let go of my hand, I can go to bed” Harry said pointing his chin to his hand that was still clutched between Louise’s hands.

Flushing, Louise released his hand. He nodded and went inside his room.

Later that night, Harry rolled onto his side, facing the wall. He was exhausted, the last two weeks of the training had been brutal and he really needed the sleep. He closed his eyes when he felt the bed dip behind him.

Louise snuck into Harry bed thinking he was fast asleep. She wanted to be closer to him. She was going in mere days and that too for months, she just needed this, she needed him. She turned around facing the other way. After moments, a strong arm curled around her waist, pulling her back into a strong warm body. Harry’s inviting scent enveloped her as strongly as his body did. Her bottom was cupped by his pelvis. Neither of them said anything. In a matter of minutes they were fast asleep.

The next morning Harry woke up with Louise in his arms. He smiled at the site of her. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful. He ran his fingers through her lustrous hair, god he loved her hair. He didn’t even move an inch in the fear of waking her up. He just lay there, looking at her for god knows how long. He knew he was still angry at her but right now he couldn’t care less about that. His face scrunched up when her phone beeped, he quickly reached for it, to shut it off before it woke her up, but when he saw Max’s name flashing on the screen the anger surged through his body again. Putting the phone on silent he got out of the bed.

----

Louise wore a dress that she not totally comfortable in but Natasha had insisted that she had to look the part as this was a huge deal and it was. It was opening for Guy’s club and everyone she knew was going be there, including half of Britain. Natasha had dragged Louise out of the flat to get ready, when all Louise wanted to do was to wait for Harry to come back home. Louise was not only annoyed but disappointed when she woke up to an empty bed. She had no idea where he had gone to. When she called him, he told her he had some errands and will be home soon. He didn’t turn up by the time Natasha had dropped by and took Louise with her.

This was not how Louise envisioned her last day in London. She wanted to talk to Harry. But now, looking around the swanky club Louise forgot about that for a moment. The fancy club was intimidating. There was a long line at the entrance. Who’s who of Britain could be seen here. Natasha tugged on Louise’s arm, as the entered.

Louise found herself quickly distracted. The club was breathtaking. Long couches flanked all over the place, a huge waterfall at the centre of it all. It was by far the most impressive club she had ever seen. She could see touches of Guy everywhere in the club. From the décor to the uniforms the waitress wore, Guy was everywhere.

“Louise!” She heard Guy yelling over the loud music. “You made it” He said giving her a hug.

“How could I miss this, this place is insane Guy. I love it” She said beaming at her friend.

“Thank you very much” Guy said waving to someone over her shoulder. “You go right upstairs to the VIP area. Nobody will disturb you there, it is less noisy too. Hazza is there already”

“He is? I thought we were early”

“He is been here since six. I am sure he’s pissed by now” Guy said shaking his head.

Harry could see her enter the club from where he sat. He could see pretty much everything from here. Her eyes sparkled as she took in the place. He had to give to Guy; he had really outdone himself with the club. It was one of a kind. He saw her looking up his way when Guy pointed to the VIP area, though he was sure she couldn’t see him from there. She smiled and made her way up the stairs.

Harry took a gulp of warm liquid in his hand. He already had too much to drink but he couldn’t stop. He was furious with Louise due to her behavior. He hated that she was leaving tomorrow morning. The fact that she was talking to that moron again enraged him.

Harry refused to look at her when she entered the area and sat next to him on the couch. He kept staring at the people below. She kept quiet too. A waitress came to take their orders; Louise ordered a vodka tonic while he asked for more scotch. The sat in silence for sometime before Natasha barged in trying to drag Louise to the dance floor but Louise insisted she can’t possibly dance with the shoes she was wearing. Natasha left defeated when Louise refuse to budge from her seat.

“Those shoes are kind of ridicules” Harry found himself saying after Natasha’s departure.

“We are talking now?” Louise asked arching her brow.

“We weren’t before?”

“You haven’t said a word since I got here”

“Whereas you’ve been a great conversationalist” Harry said taking a swig of his drink.

Louise huffed crossing her arms. “I don’t want to fight” Louise said softly this time.

“Who’s fighting?”

“Harry! Why are you being so impossible?” Louise asked.

Harry just shrugged his shoulders dismissively.

“I can’t believe Guy actually opened a nightclub. Remember when we were little he use to talk about it all the time. The bugger actually did it” Harry said shaking his head.

“He is not the only one doing what he wanted to. It’s still hard for me to imagine you as a soldier” Louise said smiling.

“Thomas is a broker” Harry said laughing now. “I never saw that one coming”

“Well, I always knew Natasha will have her own fashion line” Louise said. “That girl can talk about
clothes for days”

“Growing up sucks” Harry groaned.

Louise laughed, “I am going to graduate in months” She said burying her head in her hands. “I feel
so old”

“Graduation, that’s big deal. I am sure your boyfriend will be very proud of you”

“My boyfriend? I don’t have a boyfriend”

“You don’t?” Harry asked still not looking at her.

“No, I don’t. Harry…”

“Why are you talking to him then?”

“We are trying to be friends. That’s not important. Can we go home...”

“Why?” Harry asked.

“Why?”

“Why are you trying to be friends with him? If my memory serves me right, he dumped you” Harry
asked.

“It’s complicated, Harry. We were together for a long time”

“I am not friends with Chelsy. I barely see her anymore. We were together a long time as well.
Longer than you were with him” Harry said finally looking at Louise.

“That’s different”

“How is that different?”

“God! Harry” Louise said exasperated. “I am trying to talk here but you’re looking for a fight, aren’t you?”

She was right; Harry was deliberating pushing her buttons. He kept his mouth shut and continued to look down at the dance floor.

“Is that Zoe with Jake?” Louise asked.

“You know about Zoe?” Harry asked.

“Jake told me about her in one of his mails. They met at some music festival. He was totally smitten by her. She looks exactly like how I envisioned her” Louise said remembering Jake’s mail a little over a year ago. It was the longest mail she ever received from him.

“Jake…mails… you kept in contact with Jake?” Harry asked. This was something he was not aware of; he assumed that Louise had no contact with Jake after they split up and she left for LA.

“Sure, we emailed each other quite frequently”

“Since when?”

“Pretty much since I moved” Louise said.

With that something in Harry snapped. “So let me get this straight” Harry said his jaw clenched with anger. He angled himself in the way that he was looking at Louise now. “You kept in contact with him for all those years when I didn’t even know where the hell you were. You talked to the man who was the reason you left in the first place but you refused to talk to me, acknowledge me for three years. Three years Louise! I thought I had lost you”

“Harry, it was not…”

“You pretended I didn’t exist while you were happily swapping emails with the man who broke your heart” Harry said, anger sweeping out of his every pour.

“Jake is not the reason I left for LA. Jake is not the man I was in love with” Louise said now losing her own patience.

“Then who the hell was it!?” Harry yelled.

“Who do you think!?” Louise yelled back.

Louise’s eyes went wide in shock then her face flushed red. Harry had no idea what just happened.

“What are you saying?” Harry asked entirely confused.

Louise closed her eyes like she is debating telling him something, she took a deep breath “Harry”
As soon as she said his name, his mind exploded with thoughts. He could feel his insides going cold and his whole stomach tightened. His hands started shaking; he had to put his drink down.

“But you’re my best mate” He whispers.

“I know” She said.

Harry shook his head and ran his hands over his hair. This could not be happening.

Louise closed her eyes again “This was not how I wanted to tell you”

Harry knew he was getting angry now, not at her but at himself and he couldn’t help but the rage was all over his face.

Louise stopped talking when she saw Harry’s face. She looked at him hard and sad. He had never seen her look at him like that before.

“Harry” Her hands tightened at her sides. “You wanted to know why I left for LA?”

In that instant, by the seriousness in Louise’s voice, Harry knew that he didn’t, in fact, wanted to know. He tasted bile in his mouth as soon as the realization hit him. The nausea washed over him in a rush. All he wanted to do was leave.

Louise took one last breath, reached out and brushed her fingers to Harry’s arm. Their eyes lock hard and they stared at each other for the longest time before Louise finally whispered, her eyes misting with tears “I left because I was in love with you”

When your best friend tells you she loves you, you can do a lot thing:

1) You can tell her you love her too and then snog her all night long.

2) You can just run away.

3) Or you can just stare at her for what feels like a century without speaking a word like a senseless idiot.

Guess which one Harry opted for? Ding ding ding, third is the correct answer.

Harry just sat there for solid five minutes just gawking at her, not knowing how to respond; not knowing what the hell is he suppose to say. His heart was hammering now, his tongue refused to work because as much as he tried to open his mouth and speak, no words came out. Beats of sweat started dripping down his neck, and the throbbing in his head pounded harder.

“You know what? Just forget I said anything” Louise said when Harry didn’t react. She shook her head and picked her purse. “This was stupid. Forget it ever happened”

“Louise, wait” Harry said, reaching blindly for her arm.

She pushed past his grip. “No, no…” She said getting up from the couch and started walking fast towards the stairs. “I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have said anything”

“Lou” He called after her but she was already rushing down stairs. Harry’s whole body screamed at him to do something. To fucking fix this, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t move. “That’s not…”He started to blurt out, but she was already gone disappeared in the crowd down stairs.

Harry stood up and looked for her in the throngs of crowd. His mind was still racing 100 miles per hour. This was not how he pictured this night going or any night for that matter. She is the most important person in his life and somehow she was now running away from him, again. Something kicked in Harry, the next thing he knew he was running downstairs asking everyone he knew if they have seen Lou.

He pushed past stranger after stranger, keeping his eyes out for Louise. He finally spotted her exiting through the back door and ran after her.

When he finally caught up to her, she was still walking fast at the lone back alley of the club, speeding up with each step. Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her back, breathing heavily.

“Hey” He said. She tried to fight his grip. “Hey”

“Let go of me!” She shouted jerking away from him. “I told you I’m sorry. What more do you want from me? Do you want my dignity too? Because I am sure that’s just up for sale at this point” She said facing him, her eyes wild and sad at the same time. Tears stung her eyes, and it wounded Harry to see her like this.

She looked at him exasperated. Louise, the strong one who always kept him in balance was now looked like a crumpling doll.

“What? Say something goddamnit!”

Harry was consciously aware of his hand on her arm, his skin touching her skin. She was warm and shaking, rattled in a way he’d never seen her before. He had no idea what to say or do. He felt pathetic all of a sudden, because she just told him something so monumental and he couldn’t even find words to respond.

“You really left because of me?” He finally asked like a blundering idiot, too scared to even meet her gaze.

“I did” She said slowly, watching him with those big brown eyes. He nodded. She sighed and he watched her turn her head to look at the sky above.

“I’ve been in love with you since I was sixteen, Harry. I left because I thought I could stop feeling that way if you’re not around. I don’t think that ever happened. I don’t think I ever stopped” Louise said forcing a small smile.

Harry stood there, his mouth hanging open, still trying to process everything she was saying. Harry didn’t say a word, still dumbfounded like a fucking moron.

Louise took a step back. Harry’s head was throbbing by now. He could feel his blood getting hotter by the minute. Lou loves him. He is the reason why she left. How was he supposed to feel about that? Happy? Shocked? Scared? But he didn’t felt any of that; mostly what he was felt right now was confusion. His heart wouldn’t stop thumping and his mouth refused to work.

“I don’t know what to say?” He said looking up at her. She looked small, so small even in those long heels. Harry eyes searched her face, looked at her lips for that perfect smile but it was just a line now, a twisted, sad line.

Her eyes leveled with his. Her breathing was even and she sounded somewhat pained as she whispered “Don’t say anything. I’ve already gotten my answer”

Harry looked at her but didn’t speak. He knew what she was implying but he still couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He felt so sick, so empty and tired. He had no idea if he ever will be able to process all this. He had no idea how to respond to her, either.

“Okay?” She asked him, still with that sad smile playing on her face.

Harry took a deep breath, his jaw clenching. “Okay” He finally said.

All at once, Louise’s smile slipped from her face, she shook her head a little. “Thought so” She said quietly, in a way that was so serious and empty at the same time that Harry felt like he had done something horribly wrong. She then turned around, brushed past him inside the club until she disappeared out of his sight. He almost didn’t see the tears in her eyes.