Chapter Text
"Act as if you're taking the shirt off," the photographer instructed Harry.
Harry did as told, keeping the same scowl expression on his face as the picture was snapped. The photographer gave him the thumbs up, meaning that he had a short five minute break to get changed into the next outfit for the shoot. Harry looked down at himself briefly, feeling as though he looked too suggestive.
The nearly naked photo shoots were something that he tried to steer clear from. They made him feel insecure about his body. Often times, he felt like he didn't have enough muscles or prominent enough abs to be taking those types of photos. On the rare occasion, he felt that he was too overweight compared to the other models. He knew that he wasn't fat or anything like that, but he wasn't like the twig size models that are often posing in certain magazines.
His old manager, Jamie, always tried to force him to change his looks. He tried to change Harry's way of life by telling him that he needed to run twice every morning, not to eat anything other than small helpings of lettuce, and on top of the barely eating, he wouldn't let Harry eat a day and a half before a shoot or a show. Of course, being young and wanting to get his status built up right away, Harry had tried to follow Jamie's antics because he was his manager. He knew what he was doing and Harry had been new to the business.
Jamie also was big into booking the sexual photo shoots. He believed that sex appeal would do Harry's modeling career wonders. Of course, Jamie was right in his thinking - but the only photo shoots that were majorly attracted to a "twink" posing basically nude were the pornographic magazines - especially the gay ones.
Harry didn't have a problem with posing for gay magazines because he had identified as homosexual. The only thing that he had a problem with was that the type of gay magazines that were courting him in the beginning of his career were normally gay porn magazines. He refused to pose completely naked. He didn't want to have the knowledge that some old pervert was wanking to his picture. Not only that, but he would feel uncomfortable just walking in the streets. He didn't want to get smirks or anything of the sort from people that read the magazines. It just gave him a gross feeling.
After about four months of the neglect and the pushing for porn photo shoots, Harry finally decided to fire Jamie. As much as he did help get Harry's career a good start, he couldn't keep starving himself or feeling uncomfortable doing something that he had originally loved. It was the best and one of the few biggest decisions that Harry had ever made for himself and he had only been eighteen years old at the time.
"How you feeling, Haz?" his current manager, Ellie, asked him, putting her arm around Harry's bare back.
"I'm alright," Harry answered after he had taken a sip of his tea from Starbucks. "These photos aren't too suggestive, are they?"
"No, not at all. You look great, Harry," Ellie told him with a wide smile, but ended up giving Harry a playful nudge on the shoulder when he gave her an unconvinced expression. "I promise you! If you don't believe me, I'm sure Ralphy would gladly show you. That is, after you change into your next outfit!"
"What is the next shoot about anyway?" Harry asked.
"Um, I believe it something to do with the same scene, but it's more of a posh country boy kind of look. Honestly, the outfit is going to look gorgeous on you," Ellie gushed, turning around as she grabbed it off the hook along with the picture of how it should look on Harry. "It's like it was made for you."
Harry looked at it, his mouth falling open in pleasant surprise. It was a sleeveless red and white flannel crop top paired with light acid washed ripped capri type jeans with shiny black loafers that resembled tap shoes. There was a few accessories, like a long silver necklace and a few thin gold bangles to go on his arms. The outfit was absolutely adorable and it was one of the few that Harry would actually want to leave the studio in.
"I'll be right back!" Harry said excitedly, rushing into the makeshift dressing room to quickly put on the outfit.
As soon as he came out, Amber Lynn the hairdresser was standing behind his chair with her hairbrush in hand. Harry looked at himself in the mirror, smiling at how wonderful he looked. He couldn't wait for the final result. He made a mental note to set them as his social media pictures.
He took a seat in the chair and Amber Lynn started combing threw his curly hair once again, making sure all of the snarls were still out. It was when she was halfway through his hair that Ralphy came running over with a distraught look on his face.
"Oh, Harry, I am so sorry," he apologized as he panted for air.
"What's wrong?" he wondered, not sure what it was that had went wrong.
"I completely forgot that I had booked Bella Hadid at one and it's five minutes to. It's the only time that she's available to do this shoot and I can't possibly cancel on her. Can we reschedule the rest of this shoot? Would that be alright?" Ralphy explained, being overly dramatic on every detail.
"It's completely fine, Ralphy. It happens. You're a busy guy and made a mistake. Don't worry about it," Harry said with a comforting smile. "You may want to tell Ellie though. She was making a call to her nanny."
"Oh, gracious, Harry. Thank you ever so much," Ralphy gushed, rushing over to tell Ellie the situation.
Amber Lynn let Harry out of the chair and he went back into the dressing room to put on his normal clothes that he came in. He was hoping that there wouldn't be any paparazzi around, even though Bella Hadid was coming. He was rather well known the industry because he did a lot of shoots for different things and also because he was going to be joining the cast of an upcoming movie. Apparently, it was a jaw dropping topic for a model to go into filming.
Once he was changed, Harry put his sunglasses on his head and found where Ralphy was by the camera, getting it prepared for his next appointment. When he saw Harry walking towards him, he got the largest smile on his face.
"Harry, what can I do for you?" he asked.
"Could you show me the very last shot we took? I'm anxious to see it," Harry asked.
"Well of course!" Ralphy said, bending down to bring it up on the Mac laptop.
When Harry looked at it, he got a big smile on his face. He wasn't at all disgusted by the picture like he had thought he would be. It was beautiful in his eyes. It was almost better than the ones he imagined with the flannel outfit. He would have to check with Ellie, but he wanted to put that one as his social media profile pictures.
"This is absolutely beautiful," Harry gushed. "This isn't at all like I feared it would be."
"I'm glad that you like it! It's one of my favorites," Ralphy said with pride. "While I love photographing your gorgeous face, this just catches you naturally and that's what is so beautiful."
Harry thanked Ralphy for taking the time to photograph him and bid him goodbye. His day was done much earlier than he had planned and he didn't know what to do. Teavana seemed to be calling his name, despite just having some. Tea was Harry's favorite drink and he could never get enough of it. Oh, and he was British after all.
He waved at Ellie and left the building out of the back entrance to avoid Bella and her entourage. It's not that he had anything against her, he just wasn't in the mood to deal with more people than necessary. Once he was outside, he put his sunglasses on and started walking towards Oxford Circus, determined to get his extra fill of tea.
People (particularly his family and close friends) always wondered why he chose to walk everywhere instead of getting a cab. It would keep him from getting bombarded with the paparazzi that would be out and hunting or any fans that he had, but Harry didn't want to. He knew that after the movie was filmed and released, he would have to, but he didn't want to now. He liked being able to go out in public and walk around town like any other London resident. It was a freedom and he was going to use it as long as he would be able to. It was also fun and made Harry smile if he were to be stopped by a fan. It wasn't like he did anything other than pose for a camera and he had fans by just doing that. It was a humbling feeling.
When he got to Teavana, the barista that was normally there gave Harry a welcoming smile. He returned it and she began making his usual tea.
"You're early today," Zoey said as she got the tea ready.
"The photographer I was working with accidentally booked Bella Hadid over my time frame," Harry told her.
"How do accidentally book Bella Hadid? It's not like she's famous or anything," Zoey laughed.
"I'm not exactly sure," Harry laughed.
After a few more minutes and some chatter, Zoey passed Harry his tea. He was about to leave when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He stopped, pulling it out and saw that it was his best friend.
"Hey, K," Harry greeted.
"Woah. I didn't expect you to answer in all honesty. Aren't you working?" Kendall asked.
"Got let out early. Are you in London?" he wondered, figuring that he might as well fill his time with his best friend.
"Well, yeah. There isn't a time I wouldn't be," Kendall laughed. "Why? What's up?"
"Want to come over to mine? I don't have anything to do for the rest of the day. I can pick you up a tea and a bagel if you want," Harry offered.
"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. See you in a few."
Harry turned around and went back to the counter, earning a confused look from Zoey. He gave her the new order and patiently waited for it to be made. He was excited that he got to see Kendall again. It had been two weeks since he had last hung out with her and he was beginning to miss her. She had gone back to America to visit her family - it was more of a forced visit because the producers of Keeping Up With The Kardashians were filming and they hadn't gotten a lot of Kendall in the upcoming season.
Harry didn't like that they made her interrupt her life in London just to film a reality show. She didn't like to do it, but it wasn't like she could up and quit. It would be like quitting the family and she would never be able to go home to see them because the cameras were always around.
His studio apartment wasn't that far from where Teavana was, so it gave him time to clean up the basically clean area before Kendall arrived. Harry had to admit that he was a neat freak. He was always cleaning in his free time. His floor was so clean that he could eat dinner off it. Not that he would try it. That was unsanitary, no matter how clean it was.
There was a knock on his door and he quickly threw away the disposable rag before rushing to the door to let Kendall in. He opened the door and Kendall was standing on the other side, looking almost unrecognizable without her red lipstick and usual makeup on.
"I missed you, Har!" she said, wrapping her arms around Harry in a hug.
"I missed you too, Ken," he chuckled.
The two walked into the apartment, Kendall taking a seat at the breakfast bar while Harry gave her the take away cup of tea and grabbed out the poppy seed bagels, setting them on two plates.
"Strawberry cream cheese?" Harry asked, walking over to the fridge.
"Harold, you know that I don't like cream cheese," Kendall said with a matter-of-factly smile.
Harry chuckled as he grabbed the jar of Nutella next to the refrigerator and a knife from the drawer. He slid it across the counter and the two ate their bagels in silence for a few seconds. It wasn't a rare occurrence for them to be quiet around each other. They were both the type of people that didn't normally say too much. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was more of an "I'm-comfortable-with-you" silence.
"So, how did the shoot go?" Kendall asked, picking at her bagel.
"It went great. It was a more risque shoot. love the results of it," Harry smiled.
"Can I see?" she asked, eager for Harry to show.
"You're going to have to wait like everyone else," Harry said with a proud smile.
"You're no fair," Kendall pouted, flicking Harry's bicep.
"Says the one who won't let me see any of her shoots until they're released!" the boy defended.
"That is not my fault, mister," she said with a joking demeanor, even if it was fact.
Harry looked down at his watch, seeing that he had more than half the day left. "I don't know what I'm going to do with myself for the rest of the day. I have all this time and nothing to fill it with."
"How late was the shoot supposed to go to?" Kendall asked.
"It was supposed to go until four, but then I was going to go to Ellie's and we were going to try to put applications in for some fashion magazines. But now that that isn't going to happen, I have nothing on the schedule," Harry told her.
"Well, a few friends and I are going to be going to the Selena Gomez concert tonight if you wanted to tag along," Kendall offered. "I could get Bella to easily give up her ticket. She doesn't really like me anyway."
"Who else is going?" Harry asked.
"Zigi, me, and you," she told him.
Harry let out a mental groan. It wasn't that he didn't like Zayn or Gigi; they were both good people. At least, in Harry's mind. Zayn didn't really like Harry for some unknown reason. It wasn't like Harry did anything to offend him. If anything, he was a big fan of his music. Zayn just didn't like to be around Harry. There was nothing he could do about it, but it just confused him. Gigi took after Zayn in that aspect. Before the two had gotten together, Gigi treated him as a good friend, but when Zigi became a thing, it was like Harry was irrelevant. She still treated him with respect, they just weren't as close as they used to be.
"Why is Zayn even going? Selena is his ex," Harry prompted. He wasn't one to complain about things, but he didn't really want Zayn's attitude to kill his vibes.
"I honestly don't know. Gigi invited him and he's just pleasing her, I think," Kendall shrugged.
"Gigi invited him, even though she knew that Sel was his ex girlfriend?" Harry repeated, trying to make sense of it.
"I don't ask questions," she said quickly.
Harry chuckled and then sighed. He wasn't in the mood for a concert, but he didn't have anything better to do with himself. "I suppose I can go. What time are you heading there?"
"We can be here by six-thirty? If that's not a problem," Kendall suggested.
Harry slowly nodded, agreeing to the time. Guess his night was planned.
~
"The fuck is that supposed to mean?!" Louis snapped, throwing down the magazine.
"It means that you were caught being an immature dumbass," Kyle, Louis' agent, barked harshly. "You are helping make people think that the stereotype is real."
"What fucking stereotype?" Louis asked.
"That all child stars go fucking nuts," Kyle snapped. "I can't say that I don't believe it because what I've seen from you, it's fucking true."
"Really? I'm the only one that's proving it? Have you not seen Miley Cyrus in the past six years? How about 2007 Britney? What about Justin? The guy's my best mate and all, but he's done some stupid shit in his day," Louis tried to defend. "I am not the only one to make a fucking mistake. Go ask people in their twenties; I can guarantee you that they've done equally as dumb shit."
"Oh, really, Louis? So, what you're trying to say is that ninety-five percent of twenty-somethings have punched paparazzi, got caught being high and streaking through a neighborhood, and last but certainly not least, have flashed their genitals at paparazzi while claiming that you smoked so much hard weed? Do you realize how stupid you're sounding right now?" Kyle repeated, only adding fuel to Louis' fire. "You're idiocy is why you don't get bookings."
"I don't need you giving me shit, Kyle. You're not supposed to tell me how to live my life. You're only here to get me roles in shit, which you've sucked asshole at doing," Louis hissed, standing up from his chair. "I don't need you to pretend to be my father. If I wanted my father, I would've looked him up a long fucking time ago."
Louis stormed out of Kyle's office, ignoring the man's snide comments about the magazine. People he passed were giving him scared looks - probably because he resembled an angry bull. At least, that's what he felt like.
After Louis got out of the building, he quickly climbed into his black Porsche sports car, squealing away from the curb. Driving angry wasn't the most ideal thing to do, but he was pissed and he wanted to get away from all the bullshit. Much to his dismay, there was dead-stop traffic on the interstate, making more steam billow out from his ears.
After huffing, Louis decided to scroll through Twitter for a minute. It was a terrible idea because he was trending - and certainly not in the good way. He was getting a lot of shit for what he did and all of these "fans" pretending to mother-lecture him. Much like Kyle had done. Fed up with the shit, Louis decided to be the big man and post something to steer away the shit comments. He was going to make the paparazzi look like the bad guys.
louist91: biggest load of bullshit i've ever seen. the media/AGENTS make us say shit to make us look bad & get pr. i didn't want to do it. i was forced. sorry to those i've offended :( xx
Louis read over the post three times before hitting the share button. He knew that Kyle was going to call him as soon as he saw the post, but Louis felt that's what he deserved. Kyle was a shitty agent in all honesty. If this was what it took to get rid of the fucker for good, Louis was all for it. He didn't like L.A all that much anyway.
Once the traffic was finally moving, Louis gave a sigh of relief. He just wanted to go back to his home and be away from the shit and piss of the world and the media.
He had been a celebrity since he was eleven years old, being the main character on a show called School's In Session. It was a rather famous show that went on for five years before the producers tried to do a spin off called College's In Session, which ended up being a flop after one season. After the show finished, he got one big movie gig that was about a teenager having a secret job as a porn star. It had big box office success, but being he had been only seventeen years old, it ruined his career because, according to the media, he was a bad influence to young people and promoting sexting and everything along those lines, just because he had been completely nude in the movie. That was the downward spiral of his relationship with the media.
As much as he loved acting, he never wanted anything more than to be able to live like a normal citizen. He loved his job (when Kyle would actually book him for something), but he didn't like the hell that came along with it. He wanted to be able to be an actor, but still be able to walk down the street without getting scrutinized and swarmed by paparazzi.
Since he hadn't gotten any big roles since that movie, people would always claim that he was only using his famous friends to keep his name in the spotlight, which was complete and utter shit. Just because Louis was friends with Justin Bieber and people of the likes didn't mean that he was just taking advantage of the extreme fame surrounding them. His friends meant everything and then some to him.
When he finally got to his house, he made sure the gate was locked tight so nobody could get in if they wanted. He usually kept the gate closed, but never necessarily locked it unless he was gone for a long period of time or it was night. If anyone had wanted in, all they had to do was hit the intercom and Louis would let them in. Now that it was locked, they needed the code in order to open it. It didn't seem like much, but locking everything up when he normally didn't made him feel empowered.
His maid - a sweet sixty year old woman named Grace - was in the kitchen, most likely making Louis a fresh pan of apple crisp. She would do that once a week as thanks to Louis for hiring her and also to look after him because his mother didn't believe that he ate that much, so it was both of their ways of looking after him. Usually, it made Louis happy to smell the warm and comforting scent, but it was a bad day and nothing would be able to make him happy. Well, other than angry sex, but he didn't have anyone to do that with and he wasn't in the mood to court some whore off the street.
With a snap of his wrist, Louis threw the keys into the clay bowl underneath the rarely used coat rack. Within seconds, Grace was emerging from the kitchen, a warm smile on her face as she wiped her hands dry with a dishtowel.
"Welcome home," she greeted.
"Hey, G," he responded, not sounding as angry as he felt.
"I scrubbed the floors in each of the bathrooms and also did the dishes. I'm making you some apple crisp right now," Grace told him. "How was your day? Did the meeting with Kyle go alright?"
"Alright my ass. If anything, it sucked dick. I hate that guy more than anything in the world," Louis hissed, his anger stewing once again.
"I don't understand why you don't fire him if you don't like him," Grace pointed out.
"Because I'm stuck in a fucking contract with his ass. I have to fork out a hell of a lot of money in order to break it and I'm not going to do that. Sure, I still get paid from reruns and shit, but it's not near as enough as I would be getting if that fucker were to land me a fucking job," Louis vented as he explained to her.
"Well, what happened today that made you hate him so much?" she asked.
"He tried to tell me that I was one of those child stars that goes bat shit crazy," Louis told her. "Just because I made a fucking mistake last night. It's like the end of the world if I do something wrong."
"You did flash around your goods, Louis, but I do understand why you're angry. He has no right to belittle you just because of something stupid you did. In fact, if he was any type of agent, he would be trying to help you get out of this mess and keep a good reputation," she said.
"Fuck, my good reputation took a nose dive years ago," Louis snorted.
Grace just frowned, not particularly enjoying the fact that her boss was upset and stressed over something that he should be getting help with. She didn't condone his actions, but she knew that he was just a young soul that had grown up, surrounded by cameras and that he was going to make stupid mistakes like such. There was no way that he could handle it on his own and that was one of things that Kyle was supposed to help him with, but always failed to do.
"My suggestion to you would be to have a night in with Justin. He seems to be a better influence on you than your other friends," Grace suggested.
Louis rolled his eyes at the last comment, but knew that Grace just didn't like his other mates. "I suppose I could give him a call and see what he's up to."
Louis left the kitchen, heading towards his balcony so he could call his best friend. Justin was the kind of chill guy that he needed to be around. When Louis was outside, he took his phone from his pocket, his lock screen filled with three missed calls from Kyle. He wasn't about to answer them. He's had his fill of Kyle and he wasn't about to overindulge.
Ignoring the rest of his notifications, Louis pulled up the dial pad, typing in Justin's number. While he would normally text him, Louis wasn't in the mood. He wasn't about to get frustrated with autocorrect's horse shit.
"Hey, Tommo," Justin answered after about three rings.
"Hey, Justin. Are you busy for the rest of the day?" Louis asked with a slight sigh.
"Nah. I just got home actually. Want to come over?" he offered, saving Louis the trouble of asking.
"Took the words straight out of my mouth. I'll see you in a bit, mate," Louis responded, a small smile forming on his face.
~
Louis plopped down on Justin's comfortable all white sofa. He always loved sitting in it because it was just the right amount of softness. There were a few magazines on the all glass coffee table that Louis nearly put his feet on. Since Justin had told him that he was going to take a shower, Louis decided that he had time to skim through one of the magazines. He never pinned Justin as one to be a reader, but as they say: learn something new everyday.
Louis picked up the top magazine, seeing that it was a fashion magazine. It caused Louis to cringe. Why the fuck would Justin read a fashion magazine? He could understand if his mum were to be the main decorator of the house, but she was back with her parents in Ontario. Without anymore questioning, Louis opened the magazine, skimming through it. At least, that was until he nearly dropped it. It landed open on a page where there was a man, looking so poised and so...perfect, for lack of a better term.
Louis looked looked at the picture, admiring how beautiful the man was. His hair was thick and the curls were in perfect placement. The man's eyes were captivating Louis in every sense of the word. It was like someone had drawn what the perfect person would look like. There was no way that someone that looked like that existed.
Louis was bisexual, so there was no denying the fact he was attracted to him. He had had one or two relationships, but it was nothing serious. His one night stand list included quite a bit of good looking people. But he had never been so engulfed into someone's beauty such as the person in the picture. He felt as though a spell was cast on him so he couldn't look away.
"Lou? Are you good?"
Louis broke his trance, looking up at Justin, who was giving him a concerned expression. "Fine. I was just reading this magazine."
Justin quirked his eyebrow. "You're into fashion?"
"I should be asking you that," Louis retorted.
"It's to make the place look sophisticated and classy. Like a woman lives with me even though one doesn't," he explained. "You want a beer or anything?"
"Since when do I turn down alcohol?" Louis smirked.
"That's true."
After Justin had left the room, Louis looked down at the picture again. He wanted to know if this fellow was real, if he actually looked as beautiful as he did in that photo or if it was some dingus playing around on Photoshop. He would ask Justin since he was friends with people in the modelling industry, but he would wait until he felt the time was right. If anything was to happen that night, it was to relax and forget about anything and everything while sipping on an ice cold Corona.
~~~