14 Fourteen

Louis sat on his uncomfortable chair and glanced at his "girlfriend" Eleanor in front of him. He was supposed to be on a "date" with her.

Apparently, while he was a judge in the X-Factor, the public haven't been receiving enough "Elounor" moments, so he was making up for them right now with this fake date.

Right now, he was daydreaming about his real boyfriend Harry.

"Louis," Eleanor said. "Are you even paying attention to me?"

"Uhhh," Louis shifted his attention back to Eleanor. "Yeah. Can you repeat that?"

"Ugh. I was asking how Harry was."

"Oh. He's fine actually. He's in LA right now signing a contract with management."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

They sat in comfortable silence until Eleanor spoke.

"Have you told him about the closeting?"

"No but he's one of those smart fans so he already knew."

"Oh."

"But I'm still worried about him."

"Why?"

"Because he's basically signing away his freedom."

"And? So did you."

"Yeah, but I had no choice."

"Well neither does he."

Louis sighed. He knew Eleanor was right. Harry had no choice. He had to sign the contract or else he'd be stuck with no label. No label to push his work.

Also, he knew of no other labels or management companies that are willing to sign X-Factor contestants.

Harry had to sign with SYCO and Modest.

Louis didn't want this to happen to Harry of all people. He knew Harry would be molded into something he's not. After all, it happened to him.

Louis was young and innocent when he signed with SYCO and Modest. He signed with them with absolutely no idea how the industry worked.

Sure enough, Louis ended up with this "bad boy" image. In reality, he's this sweet innocent guy who loves his fans. However, his management made the media portray him as this bad boy who doesn't care about anyone and flips everyone off.

And don't get him started on the closeting. He's gay but can't come out of the closet. Eleanor was hired as his beard to help closet him. Eleanor's sisters Gretchen and Tina were also hired for whenever Eleanor wasn't available.

Eleanor has a boyfriend but can't be out with him thanks to her job. Louis feels bad for her but he knows that Eleanor offered for the job so she knew what was gonna happen.

He wondered if Harry would have a beard as well. He most likely would thanks to his looks. With how handsome Harry looks, the girls would totally want him, so he definitely would have to be straight.

"Hey," Eleanor said. "You still have to walk me home, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Louis recalled his schedule for today. Later on he would go to the park with Gretchen and to the bar with Tina. They'd take pictures and send them to Eleanor, who would post them on Instagram.

"Let's go."

Louis put an arm around Eleanor and faked a fond smile. Over the years he's been "dating" Eleanor, he's gotten used to acting fond around her. They've become good friends, but nothing else.

They walked out the restaurant and back to their "shared" flat. Louis dropped Eleanor off and put on a big hoodie to stay hidden as he walked back to his own flat.