There are a few moments that will always hurt before you can remember it with love. This is one of them. He is already aching and hurting and the moment is still alive as the blood coursing through his veins. harry needs a ride. louis is one call away.

When trying to figure out who the love of his life is, Harry’s brain brings back a specific name from his past.

That’s why, a decade after a messy divorce, Louis opens his door to find his ex-husband standing on the other side, asking for a second chance.

Or a This Is Us AU starring Harry as Kevin and Louis as Sophie, but I selectively choose to use only some parts of what’s cannon on the show.

In the fall of 2017, Louis and Harry briefly reunite. Staying apart is difficult, but coming together is no longer the same.

Louis doesn’t really feel it at first.

He is in traffic and thinks the swaying is just the usual car movement, but then people start leaving their cars and they all look worried. When he stands on the pavement, he finally understands why.

A look at the woman standing next to him confirms what he had been thinking, it has been a while since one this strong, or this long.

What if the world ends today and I never get to talk to him again, is what goes through his mind.

Louis knows that letting go of Harry was the right thing for both of them. And he shouldn’t still be so upset after all these months. How could he be sad about losing something that caused him so much pain? But now he finds out that Harry is in rehab and Louis can’t help but feel responsible. Will revisiting his past be a mistake?

“It’s the same routine every single time, man.”

Louis stared off into the distance and agreed, yeah, nothing seemed to ever change.

Just tired of this.

Louis was tired too. One moment Harry was possessive and all over him and the next he was throwing a tantrum and pretending Louis was at fault for everything. It’s an old fucking routine. Maybe Louis had a hand in instigating it more than half the time, but that was beside the point.

~ ~ ~

Louis and Harry are college students who haven’t been the same in the past two years.

It’s the final OTRA Show in Sheffield. They’ve played their last song, the fans are screaming, and the boys have given each other warm embraces, all except Harry and Louis that is… because they don’t do that. Not anymore. Not for a long time. Just as they’re about to roll out their well-practised avoidance tactics and bypass each other, a blinding light flashes across the arena and in an instant Harry and Louis find themselves alone, in a tower, in the middle of a raging sea, with no way out and nowhere to go.

On the table in front of them is an hourglass with the sand running out and underneath that is a note…

You’ve been given a moment in time, an opportunity few get, to right the wrongs of actions past. You have twenty-four hours until your return. Use it wisely.

OR the one where Harry and Louis used to be together, until they weren’t, but with a twist of fate and a bit of magic, could this be their chance to find forever in each other’s arms?

Harry and Louis have a tradition. Every spring they stand below hundreds of dazzling cherry blossom trees in Kew Garden, and year after year they come back to walk amongst the trees and experience that love over again.

This year everything changes. Louis is offered a once in a lifetime opportunity in Silicon Valley, California.

Only after Louis has left does Harry realise he made the biggest mistake of his life breaking up with Louis, and he has to live with the consequences of his actions.

Four years later, Harry discovers that Louis has returned to London, and in an effort to find the closure he desperately needs, he must tell Louis the truth behind their break up so he can move on with his life.

Harry still thinks about the one who got away. Louis still wonders what went wrong with the man of his dreams. A year after their breakup, fate intervenes in the form of a photographer looking for strangers to pose as a couple.

He’d always been in love with Louis.

From the time he was old enough to understand attraction, he’d been attracted to Louis, not that he’d been ready to do anything about it at the time. Instead, he’d just supported him like a best friend should. He was there for Louis when he came out to his mom. He was there for Louis when he landed the leading role in the school play. He was there for him when Louis didn’t have a date for the prom. He was there when Louis got his heart broken.

And he waited. He’d waited until he couldn’t stand to wait any more.

A college au where Liam and Louis went from childhood friends to lovers to exes and back again.

Louis tries to deal with his break up with Zayn when his best friend Liam invites them both to his wedding.

When Harry’s mother convinces him to attend his ex’s wedding, he must enlist support in the form of his handsome and charming best friend, flatmate and convincing fake boyfriend, Louis. With Louis by his side, the ever present sun and the plenty of open bars, an all expenses paid week long cruise doesn’t seem like the worst he could do.

Harry slammed the door behind him and immediately pressed his face into his hands, before dropping them back to his sides and staring blankly at the wall.

Louis had gone.

Harry slammed the door behind him and immediately pressed his face into his hands, before dropping them back to his sides and staring blankly at the wall.

Louis had gone.

Louis tries to deal with his break up with Zayn when his best friend Liam invites them both to his wedding.

He’d always been in love with Louis.

From the time he was old enough to understand attraction, he’d been attracted to Louis, not that he’d been ready to do anything about it at the time. Instead, he’d just supported him like a best friend should. He was there for Louis when he came out to his mom. He was there for Louis when he landed the leading role in the school play. He was there for him when Louis didn’t have a date for the prom. He was there when Louis got his heart broken.

And he waited. He’d waited until he couldn’t stand to wait any more.

A college au where Liam and Louis went from childhood friends to lovers to exes and back again.

Harry still thinks about the one who got away. Louis still wonders what went wrong with the man of his dreams. A year after their breakup, fate intervenes in the form of a photographer looking for strangers to pose as a couple.

Louis doesn’t really feel it at first.

He is in traffic and thinks the swaying is just the usual car movement, but then people start leaving their cars and they all look worried. When he stands on the pavement, he finally understands why.

A look at the woman standing next to him confirms what he had been thinking, it has been a while since one this strong, or this long.

What if the world ends today and I never get to talk to him again, is what goes through his mind.

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson

Wordcount: 16k

It’s the final OTRA Show in Sheffield. They’ve played their last song, the fans are screaming, and the boys have given each other warm embraces, all except Harry and Louis that is… because they don’t do that. Not anymore. Not for a long time. Just as they’re about to roll out their well-practised avoidance tactics and bypass each other, a blinding light flashes across the arena and in an instant Harry and Louis find themselves alone, in a tower, in the middle of a raging sea, with no way out and nowhere to go.

On the table in front of them is an hourglass with the sand running out and underneath that is a note…

You’ve been given a moment in time, an opportunity few get, to right the wrongs of actions past. You have twenty-four hours until your return. Use them wisely.

OR the one where Harry and Louis used to be together, until they weren’t, but with a twist of fate and a bit of magic, could this be their chance to find forever in each other’s arms?

In the fall of 2017, Louis and Harry briefly reunite. Staying apart is difficult, but coming together is no longer the same.

When trying to figure out who the love of his life is, Harry’s brain brings back a specific name from his past.

That’s why, a decade after a messy divorce, Louis opens his door to find his ex-husband standing on the other side, asking for a second chance.

There are a few moments that will always hurt before you can remember it with love. This is one of them. He is already aching and hurting and the moment is still alive as the blood coursing through his veins.

harry needs a ride. louis is one call away.