#@allwaswell16 if you care to signal boost

[turnyourankle]

Hard at work on my exes-to-lovers fake relationship fic, so why not post a teaser to perhaps entice a beta and/or Brit pick 👀

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Louis could feel his teeth; actually feel them, his mouth dry and chest tight.

He kept his expression as neutral as possible, even as he tried to keep the panic at bay. He looked at his phone again, the offending email not having left the screen since he opened it seconds ago.

The first shock came when he saw it was from Harry. A forward, no less, and he initially assumed it was an error, a hack, a virus. Something other than what it actually was.

But no, the email was intended for him. Harry hadn't added anything, letting the original email speak for itself. It was a courtesy notice that an old photoshoot of theirs was being released.

There were only so many unreleased photos out there, and since no one else had been notified, he knew exactly which photos this was about.

He swallowed, pressing his tongue into the roof of his mouth. He looked out the car window, the overcast winter sky that previously felt cozy now seeming oppressive. Oli was driving him home after a productive studio session, so at least he wouldn't have anything important to do for the rest of the day that required his focus.

Then again, he wouldn't have anything to distract him from spiralling.

"Maccy's or curry?" Oli's voice pulled him back to reality.

On autopilot, Louis said, "Sounds good." He picked his phone back up and hit forward on the email, quickly typed up a five-word message can we talk to azoff?  and sent it to Matt.

"Dealer's choice it is," Oli continued.

Louis made some sort of sound of agreement, even as he tried to remember his upcoming schedule. If Matt got a hold of Jeff, how soon could they meet? Tomorrow?

He opened Twitter; closed it, opened his texts, closed them. He had more business emails to read and process but— he couldn't stomach it right now. At some point, his leg started to bounce, and just trying to stay still took some effort.

"Y'alright?" Oli asked, glancing in Louis' direction.

Louis' phone lit up with a call from Matt before he had a chance to answer. He held a finger up to Oli before answering. "What do you think?"

"We can have a conference call in two weeks."

"Two weeks?!" Louis laughed out of frustration. "That's bullshit."

"Yeah. I agree. But we don't have much leverage."

Louis pinched the bridge of his nose. Why was this happening? Because they'd been foolish and naive enough not to take precautions before agreeing to a cover shoot to tell the world. Stupid. He'd been stupid. Of course, it would come and bite him in the ass.

Louis sighed. He could sense the weight of Oli's eyes on him. He closed off the call with Matt saying, "Send me the invite," before hanging up.

There was a beat of silence before Oli spoke. "So."

"Can we park somewhere?" Louis pressed his fist against his chin.

"Sure thing, boss."

Louis watched the road as Oli steered their way to a nearby car park. It was empty enough that their presence shouldn't be odd to anyone.

"What's up," Oli said once they were parked. Louis brought his fist to his face, pressing his knuckles against his brow before rubbing his temples.

Oli was tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. Mouth tight, even as it pulled to the side. He wasn't going to pry, Louis knew.

"The spread is being released."

Oli remained silent as he mouthed the words himself. Then, out loud, The spread." The surprise was evident. He knew exactly what Louis was talking about. He turned away, looking out into the distance while letting out a low, “What the fuck.”

“Yeah. that’s, uh--” Louis barked out a laugh, a laugh that hurt coming out. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

"Okay, what now?"

A calendar invite popped up on his phone from Matt. Conference call with Full Stop, two weeks out. With his free hand, he pressed the heel of his palm against his eye. Two bloody weeks.

“Tommo?”

Louis rubbed his face. “Two weeks. They're making me wait to weeks to talk."

“They're making you wait," Oli repeated. It was a habit of his to process information. Normally, Louis might roast him for it, but today he got it. Sometimes you just needed to say things out loud to make sense of it.

"Does the 'they' include Harry?"

Louis shook his head. "He's the one who told me." Oli looked surprised at that, eyebrows knitting, prompting Louis to, "I mean, he forwarded the email about it. We didn't talk."

"Maybe you should." Oli said it so casually that Louis almost thought he'd misheard.

"I'm sorry, you're gonna have to repeat that, because that goes against everything the Oli I know would say."

Oli mock-rolled his eyes, bracing himself, "It's a special case, innit?"

"Just a little," Louis conceded.

"So call him. We can do it right now. I can go get the food if you want privacy."

Louis shook his head, he appreciated the support, but—"This isn't a phone conversation. It shouldn't be. And I don't think I could help myself if I got him on the phone. We need to share space or something.

"Right." Oli nodded, fingers tapping against the steering wheel. After a pause, "Okay. We can go to him."

"If he's even in the country."

"Right. Right. Okay, I got it— let me follow up with Jefe, play a bit of hardball."

Louis tipped his head, eyes narrowed. "Go on."

"I can narrow down his coordinates, or whatever, and we go from there." Oli plucked his phone out of his pocket, "Hopefully we don't have to jet a plane to where he is, or whatever."

"Hopefully," Louis repeated.

"Okay," Oli said, mouth tugging to the side. He didn't give Louis any more time to protest, saying, "Stay tuned," before he opened the car door and stepped outside to handle the call.

The cold air was a welcome reminder of the world outside. He took a deep breath and let it go with intent. There was a plan, kind of.

Louis watched Oli pace in the car park, gesturing wildly, as he was wont to do on the phone. A way to keep his tone even, regulating it with every wave of his arms.

When Oli got back into the car, it was with a curse and a shudder. "Christ." Dropping his phone in his pocket, he went on to rub his palms against his thighs. "Okay, so. He's on location in Hampshire. Leaving tomorrow, so not available for in person meetings. As if we can't make it to Hampshire."

"Right."

"He also said," Oli started with a broad smile, "that he'd have called if he wanted to talk."

Louis laughed. "He did email."

"I think he's just bitter he didn't get to drop the news on you."

Louis laughed harder. "I think you're right."

"What next?"

Louis bit his thumbnail, thinking about action giving him breathing room. "He won't go home before the flight."

There were few options for where Harry might be staying. He had his preferences, and he could never turn down some nice hotel amenities. He might not be alone, though. Louis wasn't sure what was going on on that front, had intentionally stayed out of the loop. That band-aid would have to be ripped off soon, anyway, might as well get it out of the way.