#x factor larry

No Warnings!

A/N: This one’s just a silly little ficlet. Based of course on the Oops, Hi! Headcannon. As always, thank you to Akeyla for this fest and prompts!

Title from Louis’ ‘Always You’

Louis had known he would make it. It wasn’t anything specific that made him think that. Hell, he hadn’t even seen the boy’s face properly. But there was something about the curly mop of hair, the way he held himself at a slight angle, the voice floating across the crowd as he talked to one of the producers that made Louis feel sure of it.

He hadn’t been able to look at him for long, all the people he had come with quickly surrounded him, and besides, he had to warm up for his own audition. But had anyone asked him, he would have denied it. He would have blatantly denied having spent the whole day with his eyes trained on the waves of people passing through the door, hoping for a glimpse of the brown haired boy, whom he’d started referring to as ‘Curly’ in his head already.

And again, if he had spent any amount of time in fantasies revolving around how Curly would react if he called him that, about what he would look like… in some other scenarios, he had the full right to refuse and keep it to himself.

But standing here, in the urinals, of all places, Louis would have put his hand on a DVD of Grease and sworn to it. 

He was in love.

Yes, he was aware they hadn’t yet shared a single word, except for the awkward encounter in said urinals he didn’t want to elaborate on, but his mind was made up anyways.

“Hi,” he whispered as he stepped towards the row of sinks, voice wavering a little nervously as he turned the tap on, catching the boy’s eye in the mirror. “I’m Louis,” he smiled, trying not to stare when he saw how green the boy’s eyes were, “Tomlinson,” he added quickly.

“Harry Styles,” the boy smiled back, and Louis had the insane feeling that this was the only name he’d ever want to say for the rest of his life. It was always going to be him. He shook the thought away quickly, hoping Harry didn’t notice the colour creeping up his cheeks. 

They’d struck up an easy conversation, talking about what song they’d picked and how their auditions had gone. They had both gotten through to the bootcamp, and Harry was currently on a roll, drawling on about how he would miss a week of school for it. Louis wasn’t quite sure what the point of it all was, but he was perfectly content. He would gladly have stood there for hours, just listening to his slow, rambling voice. 

They’d stood facing each other a bit awkwardly at the end of the day, families waiting for them outside. 

“I wouldn’t worry about it if I was you,” Louis blurted out, “I mean, if anyone’s going to make it, it’s going to be you,” Sure, they were supposed to be competing with each other, but the funny thing was, he meant it. There could be no other name better suited to being in front of the masses, could there?

Louis found himself staring at his dimples, having physically stopped himself from gasping when Harry’s face split into a wide grin. Harry mumbled something back, flushing to the tip of his ears. He gave him an awkward little wave as he walked backward, the promise of seeing him the next day all that registered with Louis’ muddled brain.

He smiled to himself, unable to wait for tomorrow to come as he strode towards his family. He was truly, madly, deeply in love.