They didn't know what he was capable of. All they thought of was success and happiness, when in reality they would get quite the opposite.

Simon seemed nice at first. So nice. In their eyes, he was the one who would give them jobs, how they would make money. But that cover didn't last.

Contracts. This word made them cringe and have a bad taste in their mouth. This word made them fume with anger and melt with sadness and disappointment. They were piled under dozens of contracts, all forcing them to be who they aren't, and they just had to go with it.

When they were put in the band with the other amazing lads and given a record deal, they thought everything would go ever so smoothly.

That's when he made the first comment, the first of many that ruined two young boys lives.

"Don't dress so feminine"

That hit Louis like a ton of bricks. He had never really thought about how he dressed, he just wore what was comfortable and what he thought looked nice.

Next was the personality changes.

"You're acting too flamboyant. Stop laughing at everything. Stop being so jumpy and fidgety"

Harry and Louis didn't know what happened to their perfect lives, because a month into dating, Simon got worse.

"What do you mean you're gay?" Simon boomed

"I uh- I like boys?" Louis stuttered, scared from Simon's sudden outburst. He had never yelled at him before.

"Oh, is that the new trend now?" He laughed

"Um, no? I'm gay Simon, I'm 18...an adult. I think I would know" he replied

"You can't be gay Louis. If you didn't notice you're in a boy band. Your target audience is teen girls, if you're gay you will lose fans and popularity. Do you understand?" He said seriously

"Well, I cant really help it-"

"I SAID YOU'RE NOT FUCKING GAY, OKAY?" Simon bellowed

"I will send you to conversion therapy if you keep acting gay, don't test me" he sneered

That night Louis was laying in his bed, tears brimming his eyes

Him and Harry had just started dating, things were going absolutely perfectly. Too good to be true, of course.

"Hey boo I got us some food-....Louis? Are you okay" Harry said walking into the room, his smile immediately dropped and his voice softened when he saw his boy crying in bed

"Hm? Yeah I'm fine" he said sitting up and wiping away his tears

"Baby, why are you crying?" Harry said concerned, wiping the tears from his face

"I'm not. What food do you have" he replied, trying to change the subject, but his voice wavered

"I got pizza, and we can eat it together once you tell me why you're crying. You know you can tell me anything" Harry said, sitting beside Louis on the bed

"It's nothing, don't worry about me" he said, his voice cracking

"Louis. Please tell me what happened" Harry tried again

"Nothing happened" Louis replied

Harry was quiet for a moment, just looking at Louis. He placed a soft kiss on his temple and pulled his body into his chest

"I love you, don't forget that okay?" Harry said

"I love you too" Louis sobbed

That was the beginning of the downfall of their relationship. Louis didn't want to tell Harry what Simon said because he didn't want him to worry and he didn't want Simon to say the same thing to Harry. Harry was 16 and ever since the first day, Louis had taken him under his wing and swore to protect him.

If Simon sent Harry to conversion camp because of Louis, Louis wouldn't be able to live with himself. So he kept it a secret.

He kept it a secret from Harry for years. Even when Simon sent him to conversion therapy and made him get a girlfriend. They broke up a few months later. They remained friends but it was....awkward. Because they still loved eachother, they just needed a 'bit of time apart'.

Louis came back home at about 11pm. Tired, sad and mad from his therapy appointment, he immediately collapsed onto the couch

"Where were you?" Harry asked, Louis didn't see him, but by his voice he could tell he had been crying

"Just doing a bit if recording at the studio" Louis said. He couldn't keep lying to Harry and he immediately broke down into violent sobs. All the years of built up anxiety and stress from taking all the hurt had finally caught up to him

"Baby?" Harry said, running up to him and taking him into his arms

"H-Harry, I-I can't take this a-anymore" he sobbed into Harry's chest

"Shhh, shhh. Deep breathes okay" Harry said, trying to calm him down

He stroked the back of Louis' neck and he immediately calmed down

"Please tell me" Harry whispered. Louis could see the hurt and betrayal in his eyes. By not telling him, Louis thought it would help him, but he realized now that it was hurting him more.

"Okay" he whimpered

They sat on the couch and Louis layed down on Harry's lap, finally feeling like home. Harry softly stroked his hair until he was calm enough to form sentences.

"I'm sorry" he whispered

"I don't know what's going on, but you don't need to apologize. None of it's your fault" Harry reassured him

"Hes been sending me to conversion therapy. He said our relationship wouldn't be good for publicity and he made us break up. Eleanor is a stunt" Louis said, tears brimming his eyes once more

"Oh Louis" Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in

He held the shaking boy in his arms, looking up to suppress tears, his chin and lip quivering

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea" he replied with a shaky voice

Louis was crying too hard to reply, instead he just buried his face into Harry's neck, his tears seeping through Harry's shirt onto his skin.

Louis told him everything, and Harry understood completely. They got back together but had to keep it under wraps.

They were forced to sign a contract. That was a mistake. Simon made loopholes and fine print, saying they were not allowed to be together and they had to date girls for publicity.

Harry had to date Kendall Jenner and Louis had to date Eleanor Calder. It was difficult to see the love of your life with another person, even if it was fake.

They always had to deny "Larry" and the second the camera turned off, they were all over eachother.

"Now Harry. There had been some rumors that you and Louis are in a relationship? Is that true?" The interviewer asked

Louis always was the one that denied it, because Harry cant lie for shit.

"Erm, no" he said

"What about these photos?" She said, showing him a few pictures that were leaked of him and Louis

"That's...weird" Niall said. He was the one who leaked the photos

"That's umm, photoshop" Harry said, leaning forward and squinting his eyes to see the pictures

After the interview, Harry broke down in tears. Cameras were still being shoved into his face, but Niall took Harry into a warm, embracing hug, trying to calm him down. Louis was the only person to make him feel better, but because they were still on camera, he couldn't run into his arms.

The stress from hiding their relationship and being in the band was becoming too much, but none of them admitted it.

"Harry can we talk for a bit?" Liam asked

"Mhm, what is it?" He replied

"Look. I know you aren't going to like this but....I think the band should take a break" he said

"N-no! We can't break up the band!" He retaliated

"Harry, calm down. Think about it. If we weren't in the band, you and Lou could spend so much more time together. Plus we wouldn't be so overwhelmed and overworked with everything. I'm not asking you to choose, because this is a big deal. But please think about it. I can see how bad this is affecting your relationship with him, and I don't want you guys to break up over an asshole like Simon. I've known you guys for so long, and I've never seen a stronger love then between you guys. For the sake of your relationship. Please, just think about it" Liam spoke, patting Harry on the knee and walking out of the room

Harry was left speechless. Did he actually notice a strain in his relationship?

At that moment, he didn't care about his career, only about Louis.

The next week they collectively decided to take a well deserved hiatus.....for 18 months.

That 18 months turned into 3 years, then 4, then 5.

They knew they couldn't go back under the same management, because they would just fall into the same depression and same schedule as before.

Zayn had developed problems of his own from the stress. He had extreme anxiety from the over working, plus seeing 2 of his best friends crying almost every night didn't help him either. About a month before the band broke up, he decided to leave.

There were tears, but the boys understood why and they supported him 100%. They kept in touch and talked every day.

Harry's solo career had picked up majorly, he was selling out stadiums and making hit songs. He was enjoying himself so much, but always wanted to be in the band.

Liam, Louis and Niall had also started solo careers and they were very successful in them as well.

The 5 year contract, tying them to Modest and Simon ends in a month. Once it ends, they can finally come out and get the band back together under diffrent management.

Harry and Louis were asleep in bed. It was about 4am, the sun wasn't up yet, but it wasn't pitch black either. The birds were singing quietly. It was cold, but the men under the covers kept eachother warm. Louis and Harry were facing eachother, Harry's face buried into Louis neck. This is how they slept almost every night, worried that if they weren't touching all the time that the other would slip away from them.

Louis subconsciously places a kiss on the top of Harry's head once in a while, just making sure hes still there and that he loves him.

The tranquility and atmosphere was perfect, as the broken boys slept deeply. When they woke up, they would be in for a surprise. They were counting down the days until the contract ended. Louis even went out a week before and bought an advent calendar, it was like counting down to Christmas morning, but this gift was bigger then they had even imagined. They have been waiting 10 years for this gift.

Harry silently stirred in his sleep, squeezing his eyes shut because of the light coming through a crack in the blinds

He nestled closer into his boyfriend and softly kissed his neck, making Louis smile.

They stayed there for a while, just admiring the others presence.

"Morning Haz" Louis smiled

"Mmhm" Harry replied, clinging tighter onto him

Louis laughed and reached for his phone. This was their little moring ritual. They had a fan account, and every moring they would scroll through Twitter, laughing at all the crazy fan theories and manips. Some of the theories were actually correct, and some of the manips looked too good to be fake. Well, actually a few of the pictures that fans thought were manips were actually real pictures, Niall had leaked them years ago.

"Harry look" Louis said, slapping a hand against his mouth

"Oh. My. God" he said, stunned

They scrolled through Twitter, seeing a trend

Louis clicked on a news article and began reading

"Simon Cowell is in the hospital, after a fall off of a motor bike. Doctors report that he has broken his back and will be unable to attend to business for the next 2 months"

They couldn't help but to suppress a laugh

Just then, Louis got a call

He answerd it and put it up to his ear

"Hello?"

"Hello Louis, this is Kimberly. I'm Simon's publicity manager and because he is unable to do his job, and because you are second in command, you will be taking over for him" sh said

"Excuse me, what? Louis asked, his eyes wide

"You were the only person to sign the contract as an adult, and if you had read that contract more closely, you would read that if Simon was ever to get seriously hurt, you would take over Modest and any side company's affiliated with it. Meaning you now own Modest, Syco and all the TV shows like the Xfactor" she said

Louis was speechless, same ad Harry

"Now, that does not cancell out the other parts of the contract, because you did sign it when it was under Simons name. But after that contract is up, you can do anything you wish with the company until Simon is healed.

"Now, that's all I have to say Louis, call me if you have any questions. Have a great day Louis, and Harry too because I'm sure you're there!" She laughed

"T-thank you Kimberly" Louis stuttered

She smiled and hung up the phone

"Baby" Harry whispered

"Do you know what that means?" He said

"We can come out" he spoke again, almost inaudiblely

Louis still didn't beleive this, he just pulled Harry in for a sweet passionate kiss. He was mixed with emotion.

Louis' phone buzzed again and he saw an email from Kimberly

"Hi Louis and Harry,

Just letting you know, the original contract expired on December 31st, 2020. You aren't allowed to officially come out before then, but you are allowed to drop hints. I'm sure you guys can handle that yourselves because you've been so exposed to it for the last 10 years, but call me if you need any help" Lous read out the email

"HAZ! WE CAN COME OUT!" He shouted in glee as he attacked Harry in a big bear hug

"I love you so much" Harry said, happy tears streaming down his face

"I love you more" Louis replied

They spent the rest of the day calling the boys to let them know the good news, and they had a few good ideas for clues to give the "detective" fans who look into anything and everything, and over analyze every picture and Instagram stories.

"Harry" Louis cried. Harry was sprawled out on the couch texting his mum and Gemma as well as Louis' sisters to tell them.

Harry turned around and stood up, embracing the smallet boy in a hug

"Those are happy tears I hope?" Harry laughed, kissing away the tears on Louis' cheeks

"Mhm, I-I just love you s-so much" he sputtered

"I love you too. It's all over now boo, no more hiding. We can go on cute little dates and kiss in public and hold hands" Harry whispered happily into Louis ear, kissing the top of his head

Louis nodded, thinking about all the happy memories they would make

"So I geuss the first step is breaking up with El publicly?" Harry asked

"Yeah" Louis laugh cried

Harry laughed, and sighed in relief, still not believing the words coming out of their mouths

Louis took out his phone and emailed a news source saying that him and Eleanor were broken up. That immediately went viral on Twitter, the fans trending many Larry related things. All the Elounor stans were fuming, but it was hilarious to see the Larry's prove them wrong. Stan Twitter is a crazy place.

Him and Eleanor weren't exactly friends. She was nice enough, but they never really mad a very strong connection.

Suddenly Louis' phone rang. It was Eleanor.

"Hi" he said

"HI Louis. So I have to tell you something" she said excitedly

"What is it?"

"So, as you know I'm a model, but I also have a degree in sociology" she said

"Uhh, yeah? What about it?"

"Look, I'm sorry what Modest did to you, and I'm sorry that I was part of it. They hired me to be your girlfriend because we were doing a social experiment. We were doing research to see how far fans would go into the whole Larry thing, and turns out it was very far" she laughed

"Wait a second, they were experimenting on us?" Louis asked in disbelief

"Yeah, but they wasn't the main reason. My department are all Larry shippers and we know what kind of things that publicity managers do, so we knew they would make you guys get fake girlfriends sooner than later. Our department was going under and we needed a big story and a rumour to keep people invested, bringing popularity to you and me. So they volunteered me to do that so I could get info and we we could see the fans reaction, because this is probably the biggest scandal in the music industry" she explained

"Oh my-"

"And again, I'm really sorry for being a part of your closeting, but there really wasn't a way around it, and why not get some research in while were at it, you know what I mean?" She said

"Uhm, yeah...I just wish you told me sooner" Louis stuttered

"I was under a confidentiality contract too, because we couldn't let the fans know. I mean, some of them caught on. I'm really sorry Louis, and I wish all the best to you and Harry. I've got to go now, nice meeting you" she said, then hung up

Louis lowered the phone from his hand and his eyes widened

Harry heard the whole thing. Things just kept on getting weirder and weirder.

Eleanor wasn't nice, but she wasn't mean. She was very self centered, but she wasn't the worst beard, at least she didn't yell at Louis and she wasn't homophobic.

Still surprised, they called the boys over for lunch. Niall came first, followed by Zayn and Liam.

"Ughhh I'm so proud of you guys" Niall said, acting emotional to mask that he actually was emotional

"Awe, thanks Ni" Louis replied. He was leaning into Harry and he looked up into his eyes.

Harry looked down and smiled ear to ear. He tilted Louis' chin up and they connected their lips for a few moments

Liam made a pouty face, fonding over their love, while Niall snapped a photo

"We need ideas on how to come out" Harry said

"Well you guys need to build suspense so everyone is expecting something y'know? Like you can just drop it out of nowhere" Zayn said

"Yeah, they need to drop hints and stuff so the Larry's get excited" Niall said with a smile

"How can we do that?' Louis said

"Well, I mean you guys have already done it kind of secretly. The whole 'Louis The Fish' and the word 'Styles' in the Miss You music video. Just keep doing things like that, just more obvious" Liam said

"Oh my god remember when I was on that radio interview and he showed me a picture of Louis but they broadcasted it as the Chelsea boots? And you were right behind the camera laughing your ass off!" Harry laughed

"Yeah! Remember when you literally walked behind me during an interview?" Louis asked

"What about the lyric video for Always you? It was obviously me in that picture!" Harry laughed, throwing his head back

"Or when fans got pictures of you at the set of Dunkirk?" Niall laughed

The boys talked about plans on how they should come out, it felt just like old times again. It was very therapeutic and nostalgic.

"I think you should start with somthing like....posting a selfie in his jumper" Liam suggested

"Here wear this one. It's the matching one to the sweat pants that Harry was wearing on the set of Dont Worry Darling" Zayn said, tossing Louis the colorful jumper

He put it on and did his signature pose to the camera, adding in a little smirk, and posted it to his story.

He sat back and smiled