Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Here we go. New year. New city. New start. New life.

That’s what Louis was thinking when he got off the train and saw the huge sign  “Welcome to Manchester Piccadilly Station”.

He started making his way to find the subway to go to his new flat when it struck him.
Oh right, no subway in this city. 

Subway. This was one of the many things Louis was running from. The tube in London is always so crowded, people in a permanent rush, not paying attention to anyone. The kind of stress he didn’t want to experience anymore. The bus would be just fine.

After a couple of minutes not understanding anything to the bus map he decided that he was going to walk there. Old school. Manchester was not a huge city after all and he’s only got 2 suitcases. Yep, his life just held in two suitcases.
The thought of it made him smile. He picked his phone in his pocket and started typing a text to his dear friend Zayn.

“Hey mate, just arrived and already lost. Remind me who told me it was a good idea? Already miss you dickhead.”

 To what he got an instant reply:
“Cmon bro, you’re gunna rule the city. Lve ya”

Typical Zayn, straight to the point. That’s what he liked about him the most. Not really chatty but always knowing what to say and when. He might be the person to know him the best on this planet. They’ve been friends for a while now and it’s him that has encouraged Louis to get the hell away from London and start something fresh in a new city. Even if that meant not seeing each other every day like they used to for four years now.

Get a grip man, not the time to get emotional, Louis thought as he realised that he just entered in his new street feeling both apprehension and excitement.
Relax, it’s not the first time you’ll share a flat with people. Although it might not have been the best idea to skip the visiting part before actually moving here. The Liam guy seemed nice on the phone though, he thought as he was approaching number 17.

A good surprise welcomed him in the lobby, a lift. Thank god he wasn’t feeling in the mood to carry those big suitcases, his laziness never far away.

First floor, second floor… Here you are, third floor, this is your new life, fourth floor, embrace it, he thought as he reached the final fifth floor. Louis has always loved cheering him up, but sometimes he thought it was getting weird, did everyone talk to themselves? Anyway not the point here.  And then he pressed the doorbell.

--

A guy wearing sweatpants welcomed him with a wide smile. He must be Liam, if his visual memory wasn’t failing him over. He looked like the profile picture he saw on the website.

“Hey Louis, come on in!” said the guy with apparent excitement. “You just arrive at the perfect moment, I’m just coming back from a jogging, welcome to your new home! You can put your suitcases here, and I’ll show you your room and give you a tour of the house and then maybe the neighbourhood and…”.

Was this guy ever going to stop talking?

“Thank you uh… you must be Liam?” he asked trying to stop the guy’s torrent of words.

“ Yes, sorry mate, I feel always so energetic after working out. That’s the endorphins, did you know that they were produced by the nervous system during physical…” said Liam taking the suitcases from Louis and going to what must be his new bedroom while keeping talking about some kind of chemical formulation.

Well, he’ll definitely need to get used to sharing a flat with people again.
As long as he doesn’t talk during breakfast, Louis thought.

After leaving his stuff in his room, Liam made Louis visit the rest of the flat. It was a nice 3 bedrooms apartment, with a small kitchen, not that Louis really cared considering the time he spent in his own kitchen in London for the past four years (that’s what frozen food is made for right?).

The living room was quite spacious with two sofas, a large TV, even a little balcony with view over the roofs of the city. Liam showed him his own bedroom near the entrance of the flat, way larger than the one he got, a poster of the Manchester United team spread out on the wall. Good point for Liam, he could get along with him after all, if he can regulate his stream of words that is.

They ended the tour with the last bedroom, at the end of the little hallway, on the other side of his own “…and this is Harry’s, I think he won’t mind if I show it to you, it’s always so tidy anyway, the guy is a total cleaning freak…”.
Oh right, Liam was still talking then. He really needed to start paying more attention.

The decoration of the room was quite different from Liam’s. Louis couldn’t even describe it, he was not sure if his unknown roommate was 10 or 40 years old, what with the weird posters and ornaments. A glittery plastic diadem was quietly sitting next to what must be the oldest camera Louis had ever seen, equally part of the decoration. Louis hoped he wasn’t going to live with a creepy dude, as he was sort of counting on his roommates to make new friends.

Louis was agreeably surprised with the flat, it totally matched with the pictures he saw. He just wondered how two guys could afford such a nice place in this renowned neighbourhood when they were apparently younger that him (He thinks he heard few minutes ago that Liam and Harry met at Uni, so luckily no 40 years old creep across the hallway). Was he such a life failure? This is something he’d need to ask Liam. Well not the failure one obviously.

--

Left alone in the flat, after Liam went to work, Louis started unpacking his belongings. He had the afternoon for himself before joining Liam for a drink in a pub after work, but wasn’t going to stay in his half empty bedroom. He knew that he would just start thinking of his old demons, and that was not what he wanted to do right now.

He knew that he would start thinking about his former life in London, which was promising at first, but became less exciting day by day. God he was so excited when he got his first job in this renowned architecture company. He remembered the smile and pride in his mom’s voice when she congratulated him. It was what he had always dreamed of after all. Louis Tomlinson, Junior Architect in London.

The first years were like a dream came true. The projects were amazing and he had the chance to express his creativity in his own way. But when Simon, his boss, his mentor who taught him everything retired to teach at university, his world sort of fell down.
His replacement was an utter twat, not that much older than Louis, but he knew from the first moment he saw him that they wouldn’t get along. He would always humiliate him in front the rest of the team, belittle him during clients meeting in a way that Louis started hating his job. And that was not okay.

He knew that he would start thinking about his non-existing love life. He was 26 years old and liked to think he was rather good looking but couldn’t remember his last serious relationship. He met a couple of nice girls but every time something was off and he couldn’t go further than a two weeks relationship. He even came to thinking that he was doomed. What was wrong with him for God sake?

He knew that the would start thinking about all his friends putting their life together, starting to get married, having babies, when he still felt like calling his mom crying every time he burnt his scrambled eggs. And that happened quite often.
The feeling of not belonging here anymore, like a hole in his chest, like this wasn’t enough, like he was aiming for more.

More sense, more passion, more excitement.

He didn’t know quite well what was missing and that was part of the problem. But he had to go, get a fresh start before all of this pressure would burn him from inside.
Maybe Manchester would help him finally find this missing piece. It had to, if he wanted to be happy.

So instead of thinking he left the flat and decided to get lost in the city exploring what it had to offer. He had one week to find his bearings before starting his new job.

--

Louis arrived a bit late at the pub, he really needed to ask for help reading this bus map. Wasn’t it supposed to be easy? Christ he was an architect he could understand lines.

He spotted Liam leant on the counter talking to a blond guy. Louis could actually hear him laughing from where he was standing and liked him right away. He always had a thing for cheerful people. He used to be one himself.

“Hey Louis! Come here, let me introduce you to the one and only Niall in town,” said Liam gesturing toward the blond one.

“That’s me you need to seduce if you want free beers!” yelled Niall from behind the counter trying to cover the loud music.

“Sorry mate, but you’re not really my type,” said Louis smiling. “Although the accent is doing his job!” he added winking to Niall.

“Dear Lord. You’ve just made the biggest mistake pal. Now he’s going to tell you the entire story of bloody Ireland” said Liam hiding his face in his crossed arms.

“My friend, you’ve just won you first pint. Welcome to Man City!” said Niall putting a huge glass of beer in front of Louis. “And YOU are a twerp and will pay for your beers from now on” he added striking Liam’s head. “Bloody Ireland my ass…” he muttered moving on to a girl waving bills.

It was going to be a fun evening Louis thought. And it was.
The three of them got along just fine. Louis had the time to really discover his new roommate who was the kind of person he enjoyed the company of. The guy was a real chatterbox but a good listener too, quality much appreciated by Louis.
And Niall was a proper riot. The guy was literally flirting with every single girl ordering something to drink and told the most embarrassing anecdotes about Liam when he could join them between two orders.

Louis found out that Liam and Harry were working together. They launched a blog as a final project at Uni a couple of years ago and it sort of skyrocketed. They wrote about cultural events, music, sports, and could now make a living of it, which was really impressive. They got to travel a lot to attend special events, reason why Roommate #2 was not here these days, on his way to interview Ed Sheeran, no less.

He also realised that even if Liam seemed like a confident man he could loose control too. Evidence being he blushing like a teenage girl when a fit bloke came to offer him a drink. The guy couldn’t even form a sentence that would make sense.

“Uhhh, nice this is of you but, um… boyfriend I have”. Following by a Niall bursting into laughter and a Louis confused as hell.

“Man I saw you eyeing him all night long what happened here?!” asked Louis trying to contain the giggles in his voice. This is definitely not something he was used to, comparing to Zayn’s practices with guys. Straight to the point we said. He could totally have one thing or two to teach Liam.

“Liam is looking for the one true love. Not picking random chums in pubs, am I right Li?” said Niall, tone affectionate.

“You’re just right my friend” added Louis, thinking about all the girls he met back in London only leaving an empty bed and broken hopes. Yup, Louis could be sentimental too. He was only human after all.

On their way back home the two roommates started singing their devotion to their beloved football team, like a proper remake of the Green Street Hooligans movie. I’m forever blowing bubbles being in Louis’s iPod for years and finally serving a purpose.
Don’t you dare praising Man United in London.
That is when Louis realised he was way more than tipsy and that his new friends weren’t the type of guys you want to play against on an alcohol contest.

Once in his bed past midnight Louis realised he hadn’t spent such a nice night in weeks and typed a quick goodnight text to Zayn.

“waisteeeeed broo”

He surely hadn’t hoped for a better start and it was only Monday.

***

Chapter Text

Louis’s first week went by as quickly as a blink of an eye.

He woke up on Saturday morning with a massive hangover, his head ready to explode and a taste in his mouth he won’t dare to describe. Niall had his night off, and no one messes with Niall’s nights off. He might have emptied the pub’s Guinness reserve, and still he’s been the only lucky one to bring back home a pretty brunette while Liam and Louis dragged their guts to the flat to find empty beds and spinning heads.

All Louis could think of right now was a cup of tea and some slices of bacon.
He checked his phone before getting up to find 3 texts from Zayn:

“STOP DRUNK-TEXTIN’ ME U TWAT.”

“hope u went home safe.”

“s noon answer me dickhead.”

He smiled to the screen and typed a quick reply:

“Stop worrying Mom x”

Right. Tea.

-- 

Louis made his way to the kitchen, realised he was the only one awake and put the kettle on. He started to search for something to eat in the fridge waiting for the water to boil when a raspy voice surprised him:

“God exists!”

Louis who hadn’t heard the guy entering the kitchen was fast enough to raise his head and catch the tall boy making a gesture of victory.
Dear Lord, if God really existed he’d undoubtedly choose this body to live in. Louis was not attracted by men but he could recognize a fit one. And this one definitely was.
The guy didn’t seem to have troubles with nudity. He was wearing the tiniest briefs Louis had ever seen, had long legs, muscled arms and a wide torso on which were drawn big weird tattoos.

Louis had ridiculous tattoos too, and okay he was only wearing his briefs as well, but the other one looked almost obscene. He opened his mouth to answer something when the tall guy shouted with a wide smile:

“Liam finally pulled his fingers out! Congrats bro you are the lucky one.”

“Sorry what?” asked Louis, confused as ever.

“I can’t believe it, I am leaving one week and everything goes crazy. I wasn’t even here to tease him! Wait, who was here with you? Niall? This Irish bastard, I am the one who is supposed to be Liam’s wingman, where did you guys…“continued the guy, not paying attention to Louis’s huge failure to understand the situation.

Was this a thing in this apartment, people just talking and talking and not leaving a room for Louis to say something?

This is the moment Liam chose to show up in the kitchen, brushing the tall guy’s curly hair (enlarging the total mess it already was) and cut him short to say:

“So, Haz you’ve already met Louis?”

“Indeed, and I was just telling Louis that I was so proud of you. It was about time Casanova!” said what must be Roommate #2 with a smirk spread out on his face.

“What?” asked Liam frowning to Louis who just shrugged in return. His head was pounding way to hard to handle this sort of conversation.

“C’mon don’t play shy with me Li, a pretty fit guy almost naked in our kitchen on a Saturday morning, if you tell me nothing happened I fire you from the company” said the guy, looking glad of this whole situation.

“Well, this is Louis our new roommate and you can’t fire me you twat,” answered Liam tone equally amused.

“Oh.”

In two seconds of time curly roommate went from Greek God to Punished Puppy. And wait, was it blush Louis could see on his cheeks?

“Nice to meet you too, Harry” said Louis, trying not to crack up.

It didn’t take long to Liam to burst out laughing, following from close by an almost crying Louis. He could still hear Harry mumbling with confused eyes:

“I was right though. I am leaving one week and everything goes crazy.”

At this moment he really looked like a 5-year-old child. Louis couldn’t resist and handed him the cup of tea he had prepared for himself. Harry’s face literally lit up when he took the cup and said:

“You’re my new favourite roommate.”

--

They took a late breakfast all together, telling Harry every details of their night out, including Niall falling off the counter where he was improvising an Irish dance with some girl he met.

“Well I am going for a run, need to get rid of all this alcohol. Don’t forget to drink lots of water Louis. Your body is trying to adjust to the rapidly dropping blood-alcohol and…” started Liam cleaning up his plate.

“We don’t care Li” interrupted Harry smiling to his friend.

“Too bad for you, that was becoming interesting” said Liam pouting.

“I really doubt it,” snapped Harry, smirking.

Liam answered with a punch on his shoulder and left the kitchen.
The familiarity of the scene made Louis smile, and he thanked silently whoever helped him to find these two lovely roommates. Harry then turned to Louis and whispered:

“Advice number 1: do not hesitate to cut Liam off.”

“My God, does he ever stop talking? I’ve been here for less than a week and I already know the percentage of professional athletes using steroid.”

To what Harry giggled and added: “Imagine my life when he was actually writing articles, now he’s dealing with the commercial side of the blog but man, the guy knows everything about sports!”

“Talking about, how was your trip? You met Ed Sheeran, didn’t you?” asked Louis in an attempt to bound with his new roommate.

And it was on. They started talking for hours about how a nice chap he was, the good advices he gave him for his music. Harry explained that he and Niall formed sort of a band, and got to play gigs in pubs sometimes. That’s how they met, Niall was playing guitar during his shift’s break two years ago, and the Irish guy was apparently so talented that Harry went to talk to him. Harry liked the writing process the most and he was the one singing. Louis could imagine just fine how his raspy voice would sound amazing accompanied by a guitar.

The conversation went by really smoothly, changing from one topic to another. They talked about tattoos, how many they had, comparing the outlines and sharing future projects. Harry had many more than Louis and wasn’t about to stop. He was thinking of a mermaid for his next one, what didn’t even surprise Louis what with the enormous butterfly he could see on Harry’s stomach.

They were confortable together but when Harry asked Louis the meaning behind what seemed to be his more recent one, noticing the darker lines of the sentence It is what it is on the boy’s chest, he could notice Louis tensing up.

“You don’t have to share it yet Lou,” said Harry in the gentlest voice and pinching Louis’s thigh.

That’s when Louis knew it was the beginning of a promising friendship.

***

Chapter Text

The thing is, it became quite true. The two boys got along more than well.
As the weeks went by Louis was not regretting his decision for a second. He loved his new job, it was a smaller company than the one he worked for in London, but way more human sized. He already made new friends in his department and he was currently working on the plans of a new museum in the city. 

At the apartment everything was perfect with the guys. He loved the company when he came back from long days at work, spending evenings playing FIFA or meeting directly at Niall’s pub. It seemed that they adopted him straight away in the gang.

There was Niall, always so cheery and ready to have a good laugh. Liam who kept company with him when both Niall and Harry found hook-ups in pubs, what happened quite often to be honest (Louis was really starting to re-evaluate the perception he had of himself). And Harry with whom he had endless conversations at night on the little balcony, squeezed on the little bench sharing a blanket.
He really liked talking with the younger boy, even if sometimes he might have fallen asleep on his shoulder due to the slowness of his flow of words. It sort of became a habit, those moments just talking about their days or simply looking at the sky in a confortable silence.

One night Harry took Louis by surprise asking: “Hey Lou, are you happy?”

Louis hadn’t properly thought about it for long time now, hadn’t felt the need to think about it but answered anyway: “I felt trapped for a while, and I don’t know if I am happy but right now I consider this moment as a happy one, yes.”

“So you think you have to be free to be happy? Or is it to be happy to be free?” continued Harry looking at Louis with bright eyes waiting for his answer like if his opinion really mattered.

“I don’t really know Hazza, I just think that we can’t hide ourselves behind our thoughts, we need to free our mind and find the power to act to fully experience our life. That’s when we’ll be able to find happiness, I guess.”

“Is it why you moved over here?” asked harry carefully.

“Yeah, I just wanted to reset, you know” answered Louis after what felt a decade.

“Well, you really deserve to be happy Lou.”

It was good to feel understood for a change.

--

They quickly started to be referred as HarryAndLouis, spending their free time together. Harry was more than happy to make him discover his favourite places of the city, his tattoo shop being one of them.

Louis accompanied him the day he finally got the mermaid on his forearm, looking for some inspiration for a future one. The tattoo artist seemed to be a friend of Harry’s, which wasn’t surprising considering the number of tattoos he already got and the fact that he was the more loveable person he’s ever met.

Still, he wasn’t expecting the question he was asked by the tattooer, finishing the mermaid’s tail: “So how long have you guys been together?”

Sorry, what?

Louis froze by surprise and noticed that his hand had been resting on Harry’s thigh during all the time it took to draw the black lines. He removed it slowly trying to formulate a sentence, when Harry answered to fill the beginning of an awkward silence:
“Oh! We’re only friends.”

 He turned to Louis with a questioning look on his eyes, to what the older boy just answered with a small smile.

“Did you like the shop? Sam is a super nice and talented guy, I’ll come back with you if you want? ” Asked Harry on their way back home.

He didn’t know if he was voluntary avoiding the little incident, anyway he was glad they didn’t have to talk about it.

“Super nice place they’ve got but Zayn would literally kill me if I let some other guy touch my body. I mean, tattoo my body. Like in Zayn my friend from London being a tattoo artist too.”

Well done, not making it more awkward at all, thought Louis feeling his neck reddening.

“Yeah I know Zayn Lou, you told me about him already” answered Harry. “Are you okay you seem quite off?”.

“Sure, I love your new tattoo, it’s really, well… you."

To what Harry’s smile widen and the younger boy continued talking about some music band he’d have to interview the next day. To be honest Louis wasn’t really listening.
This boy is going to kill me, he thought.

--

This is when things started to change for Louis.
Later in bed that night he replayed the scene of the afternoon and didn’t understand his reaction in the tattoo shop. He had already been asked the same question when he was hanging out with Zayn a couple of times, and he just had laughed about it.

Thinking about it, he started to notice how affectionate they’ve been with each other over the past weeks. Always seeking contact whenever they were sat next to each other or walking in the street. The other lads even made fun of what they called their “bromance”. But it was okay, they just had a friendly connection is all.

Still, Louis took his phone on the nightstand and typed a text to Zayn.

“Hey mate, quick question here: has it ever been awkward between the two of us?”

“wtf are u talking about” typed back Zayn.

“… with you being gay and me not?”

“you’ve just made it awkward fucker” answered Zayn

“Sorry I’ll call you tomorrow, night Zaynie”

“lve ya” was his friend’s final text.

Well, that wasn’t helping Louis much but that is something he could think about another day. Get a grip Tommo for God sake. For now he’ll just try to bury real deep those weird thoughts he just had.

That won’t necessarily prevent him from dreaming about enchantment, grace and mesmerizing mermaid melodies.

***

Chapter Text

The next weekend was about to be a busy one.

Two friends of Liam’s were coming over for the weekend, and with Harry being away for few days Louis thought it was the perfect timing to take a step back and stop overthinking about what he called the “Harry situation”. As the days had passed he realised that he was thinking about Harry’s dimples more often than he would admit.

It would be nice anyway to catch up with the other lads whom he had a bit neglected those past weeks. Plus, Jade and Perrie, who knew Liam from high school, were the type of girls knowing how to enjoy a night out. He could even try to find himself a bird for the night.

Everyone met Niall at the pub and things went crazy really fast. Louis didn’t know how the Irish man could still have a job with all the free shots he gave them. Quickly the girls started dancing on the counter, joined by a tipsy Louis yelling “THIS IS MY FAVOURITE SOOOONG” at the sound of Wannabe.

At the end of Niall’s shift they decided to continue the party in a club. Few minutes later they all arrived to a place Louis already knew.
He recognized the place from two or three weeks ago when they came with Harry trying to find a fit guy for Liam. God, Harry wasn’t joking with the wingman thing. He was literally on a mission here, talking to every guy in the club.
Louis remembered him dancing shirt almost unbuttoned on the dance floor later that night, both boys and girls staring hungrily at him. Not that he would judge anyone.
Nope, not thinking about Harry.

Back to reality he spotted Niall sat in a corner, kissing a girl spread out over his lap. Damned it the guy was really fast. The girls were already dancing like crazy and Liam, oh, Liam was talking to a pretty fit bloke. Good for him, he didn’t need anyone after all.
Alcohol buzzing in his veins, Louis decided it was about time to find himself some company.

Luckily he was wearing his favourite outfit: skinny black jeans and tank top giving a glimpse of his tattoos. It had worked for him in the past, all he had to do was to find a nice brunette. Louis always had a thing for brunettes.

There he was, a couple of minutes later, talking to a pretty girl and things were getting closer between them. He thought he heard her name was Eleanor, but he wasn’t sure considering the fact that the music was very loud and himself very drunk.

They started kissing but Louis realised quickly that something was off. Everything in this kiss was odd and didn’t feel right. Reason why Louis was highly grateful when Liam patted his shoulder telling him Jade wasn’t feeling well and that they were heading home.

“Sorry love, that’s my signal” said Louis to the girl already moving to join her own friends.

Man, you really left your game in London.

--

Louis woke up in the middle of the night feeling a huge urge to pee. He could blame Niall for that, always giving him a fresh new beer when he hadn’t even drunk half of his own.

On his way back to his bedroom he totally froze at the sight of a dark blurry shape in the living room. Louis jumped to turn the light on and yelled “Who the fuck is here?”

This is when he saw Harry curled up on the sofa in what must be the least comfortable position ever, long limbs going over the armrests. The younger man woke up at the sound of Louis high-pitched voice, looking at him with an equally surprised face.

“Harry what the hell are you doing here?” asked Louis lowering his voice to avoid waking the rest of the flat up.

“Well, I live here” answered Harry with a lazy smirk.

“I know that dumbass, when did you arrive?”

“ Two hours ago?”

“Are you asking me?!”

“I’m just really tired Lou,” said Harry with a sleepy voice.

“Just go to bed you giant potato.”

“Sharing a bed with two girls might be exciting for you, but I’d rather stay on the couch.” 

Oh right. Perrie and Jade.

“Goodnight Lou” said Harry to Louis’s silence.

Looking at Harry squirming on the sofa only made Louis take pity on him.

“C’mon Haz, you’re staying with me tonight” he said with a fond smile.

“Are you sure?” asked Harry.

“Yeah.” No.

They had spent nights on the sofa together before, falling asleep after a movie or a FIFA game. Sharing a bed couldn’t be that bad. Right? Anyway Louis just wanted to go back to sleep, like now.

The curly boy didn’t hesitate for another second, stoop up and quickly hugged him on his way to the bedroom whispering a sincere “Thank you” to Louis’s shoulder.

Once in his bed Harry fell asleep like a rock after saying “Goodnight Lou” for the second time.

It wasn’t an understatement to say that having Harry half naked in his bed wasn’t what Louis had in mind earlier in the evening.

--

Louis woke up the next day with his entire body screaming for water, and a warm presence next to him. What the…oh. Fantastic, he thought when the event of the previous night resurfaced in his head.

He tried to free himself from Harry’ embrace - because that was not okay at all. He span around and all he managed to do was ending up face to face with a smiley face:

“Oops” said Harry tone sheepish.

“Hi” answered Louis with a little smile. Because how could he resist.

“I knew you were a little spoon” said the younger boy starting smirking.

 “You hold me when I was asleep so technically I didn’t choose which one I’d rather be.”

“Oh, sorry” added Harry all guilty, removing his arm from where it was resting over Louis’s body.

“I was joking Haz.”

“Right. Well, um, thank you for last night.” 

“Don’t worry, that’s what friends are for.”

That’s when Harry started singing along:

“Keep smiling, keep shining, knowing you can always count on meeee…”

“Oh God! Sometimes I forget you’re so weird” interrupted Louis tone affectionate.

“For suuure” continued Harry.

“Why did you come home early anyway?”

“I missed you.”

To what Louis quirked an eyebrow.

“No, the truth is the event go cancelled.”
“But I missed you!” added Harry after being hit in the ribs by Louis.

“Well, get up and go prepare me a nice breakfast to make up for your lack of sensitivity so early in the day.”

“Jeez, you’re so bossy!” answered Harry, but stoop up anyway making his way to the kitchen.

-

The girls’ second night in the city was quitter than the previous one, with the exhausting shopping session they all lived earlier in the afternoon. Louis hated shopping. Like really.

Harry wasn’t even helping Louis’s infinite boredom. The guy was trying on every single shirt he could find. And what shirts! Louis thought his grandpa had the same ones when he was 30. And he’s not sure it was even fashionable back then.

“Hey Lou, what do you think about this one?” had asked Harry.

“I think it needs to be buttoned.”

“It is buttoned.”

“There are 4 buttons left and I can see your nipples." 

“What’s wrong with my nipples?”

“Uh, nothing but you…” tried to answer Louis, abashed, but was cut off by a non-listening Harry:

“I’ll take it then!”

That has been a total disaster, even Liam went along with the crowd and didn’t entertain Louis with his silly stories. He would have listened for once. Never mind.

Later this evening they came back home from the pub leaving a pretty busy Niall.
Two nights in a row, really?
Everyone went to bed and suddenly Harry and Louis were the only one left in the living room, looking at each other, both of them waiting for the other one to say something. 

“One last beer?” attempted Harry.

“Sure, but this round is on me!” joked Louis making his way to the fridge.

“How considerate of you,” said Harry, mocking him.

They sat outside on the little balcony, drinking their beer huddled together against the cold. As the conversation went by easily, the two of them a bit tipsy giggling like teenage girls, Harry decided to give a more serious turn to it by asking: 

“So, we all saw too much of Niall’s game tonight, the guy has no shame. But, um, don’t you like our girls in Man City?”

“Your sister is pretty fit.”

“Heyy I am being serious here” shouted Harry bumping Louis’s shoulder.

“Well I don’t really know. It always had been so-so with girls anyway.”

“Come on, I don’t believe you, with an ass like yours” teased Harry.

Louis couldn’t suppress a snort but added: “Who was supposed to be serious?”

“I was” mumbled Harry.

The alcohol helping, Louis thought it wouldn’t hurt to unveil a bit from his past relationships. Well, “relationships”.

“Basically I am not the relationships kind of guy.”

“Not the one-night stands kind of guy either from what I saw.”

“Ouch!” exclaimed Louis, wincing.

“Sorry! That came out wrong. Please go on, well, if you still want to?”

Harry seemed truly sincere, deeply looking at Louis with his bright eyes that seemed so innocent under the dark starry sky, so the older boy went on:

“There’s not much to say anyway. Had a girlfriend at Uni, we broke up. Then found a job that took all of my time. Met some girls but it never really lasted." 

He turned to look at Harry and realised he hadn’t torn his gaze away from him the entire time so he continued:

“When I arrived here that wasn’t my priority. I wanted first to sort of ‘rebuild myself’ you know, be okay with my life before letting anyone in. I don’t know if that makes sense.”

“Yes it does, but sometimes you need to ease off a bit. I mean, maybe try to open up some more? You won’t know if something is worth it until you’ve given it a chance.”

“Look at you young Harold, all philosophic” Louis teased.

“Well I have my story too you know, but hey, we’re not talking about me tonight.”

“I don’t know, it seems that something is always missing” breathed Louis in a murmur.

Harry looked sad or disappointed, he couldn’t really tell so he added:

“Don’t look at me like that! I’ll stay optimistic I promise.”

After a short moment of comfortable silence Harry asked:

“I was thinking, don’t get me wrong, but um, have you ever thought about guys?”

“About what?” shouted Louis, not sure he properly understood. He wished he hadn’t.

“Guys. Like in guys instead of girls.” 

Louis stayed silent, his heart beating faster in his chest, not sure if he liked the path this conversation was taking, so Harry continued:

“You said that something was missing maybe you’re not looking for the good person.”

“Um, no I haven’t thought about guys, but anyway I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be a good match for me” said Louis with a voice he didn’t recognise.

“Have you ever tried?” simply asked Harry.

“No Harry, I haven’t, but I don’t need to.”

“Do you like corn?”

“What?!.”

“Do you like corn, yes or no?” asked Harry for the second time, a smirk starting to appear on his face and his eyes sparkling.

“No.”

“How do you know you don’t like corn Louis?”

“Because I tried… and I didn’t like it smartass” answered Louis pouting a little. No, he was definitely pouting.

“You should give it a shot” suggested harry between two giggles. ”I’m not messing with you, maybe there’s a reason you’re still single at 26. No offense.”

“Non taken.”

“Anyway, if you’d like to I can help you to find the perfect fit. A first time is important” managed to assert Harry, voice almost back to normal but eyes still glimmering.

“I am not a virgin Harry.”

“Well technically, yes.”

“Stop it already! No one is putting his dick in… damned it, I give up, I am going to bed” said Louis making his way to his bedroom cheeks burning.

Harry followed him like a puppy, removed his clothes and lay in bed in silence next to his friend just like the previous night. Oh, so we are sleeping together, again.

They hadn’t talked since they left the balcony when Harry tried:

“Hey Lou, can we cuddle? I am cold.”

“I thought you were never cold.” 

“Pleeease.”

“No.”

“Lou.”

“Okay.”

“You’re such a little spoon” teased Harry laugh in his voice, drawing closer to Louis and circling the other boy’s chest with his long arms.

“I hate you” he snapped in a tone way softer than he had attempted to.

“No you don’t.”

Even if Louis acted like all of this was bothering him, he couldn’t stop grinning to his pillow. He fell asleep for the second time with Harry’s warm body pressed next to his.

***

Chapter Text

It sort of became a habit. Without really paying attention Louis ended wrapped up in Harry’s warm body more often than he would admit.

At first it was mostly to Harry’s initiative, gently knocking on Louis’s door looking for a cuddle when he was coming home late and the older boy would have already been in his bed. Or them falling asleep tangled together after watching a movie in Harry’s bedroom.
For Louis, it was just about convenience. Going back to his room after the credits ended would have asked a huge amount of efforts when he was already so comfy in Harry’s arms. Convenience we said.

“Louis do you remember the place we went to two weeks ago for the concert you didn’t like?” asked Harry, an evening they were all watching a replay of a Friends episode in the living room.

“It’s not that I didn’t like it Haz, I told you a thousand times that I was tired this day” answered Louis overly rolling his eyes.

“Come on you were yawning every time I looked at you!”

“That is not true.” It was.

But how are you supposed to listen to a girl literally moaning for an hour and a half with nothing but a synthesizer. No one was even clapping. You couldn’t even clap. Indie music sucked. Period.

“Anyway it happens that the premiere of next Thursday’s concert got cancelled, and Niall knowing everyone in this city sort of got us booked instead.”

“And you’re telling us just now?” asked Liam joining the conversation and raising his head from where he was seated on the carpet.

“Um, I forgot?” said Harry in a sheepish voice shrugging a little.

God, he needed to stop answering to questions by other questions, this was driving Louis crazy. And maybe a little bit fond. Just a little bit.

“You forgot you were going to play in one of the coolest venues in Manchester?”

“Well, to be honest I am a bit stressed about it. For now it just has been small pubs and we haven’t played in a while so…”

“You got stressed? C’mon Hazza I’ve seen you many times you guys rock on stage!” shouted Liam trying to encourage his friend.

“Wait, it will be the first time I ever see you perform since I arrived!”

“Not really helping here Lou.”

“I promise I won’t yawn love” said Louis pinching Harry’s cheek waiting for a dimple to appear. Love, well that was new.

“Don’t you dare” answered Harry grinning under Louis’s touch.

“You know, I read once that fresh fruits and vegetables are often recommended to reduce stress because of…”

“Shut up Liam” said the two other boys with a common voice before bursting into laughter.

“That’s it. I am looking for new roommates” stated a pouting Liam.

--

There they were, on the aforesaid Thursday night, Louis and Liam with a couple of his friends invited for the occasion waiting for Harry and Niall to go on stage.

As the room got more and more crowded Louis felt a light buzz in his pocket. He pulled out his phone to see 3 unread texts from… Harry.

“Hey Lou would you come over backstage please? xx”

“Please? x”

“LOUIS COME NOW”

Worried that something may have happened he left Liam chatting with his friends and hurried backstage to meet Harry.
He spotted Harry from far and waved at him because of a bouncer unwilling to let him go further. “C’mon bro this is not Wembley” had said Louis to lighten the mood which had been unsuccessful that is to say.

“Louis!” yelled Harry literally running toward him to make him pass security and dragging him in the dressing room. Louis might have winked at the bouncer in a sign a victory, just for the sake of it.

Louis suddenly realised that Harry was shaking as a leaf, his face blanker than usual.

“What is wrong love?” asked Louis, and well, the surname was becoming a thing then.

“I am totally freaking out Louis. I feel like this is the first time I am going on stage. I know that this is not a huge venue but this still is a big deal for us. And people are not here to specifically hear us, everyone gets bored during premieres, you got bored last time, what if no one likes us? I think I wouldn’t….”

That was the longest sentence Louis had ever heard Harry saying, and surprisingly the fastest too. He interrupted him putting his two hands on each side of his head, and getting closer tried to calm him down:

“Hey, hey Haz, look at me. You need to breathe. Relax. Everybody is going to love you. I don’t see how they couldn’t. You know how to do this, just show everyone what you’ve got. If you need a friendly face, look at me in the crowd, okay?”

“Okay” answered Harry a little bit calmer.

“Stage in 5!” they heard a voice screaming in the back.

“I need to go, you’ll look at me yeah?” said Louis on his way to join Liam in the crowd. 

“Yeah.”

--

A couple of minutes later Harry and Niall appeared on stage, the Irish guy holding his guitar and Harry making his way to the mike. He waited 5 seconds scanning the crowd, and once he spotted Louis he said:

“Hi everyone, this is Niall and I am Harry, we have a few songs for you tonight, hope you’ll like it.”

The least you could say is that it caught Louis unprepared.
Harry’s raspy voice resonating in the entire room only emphasised what Louis was looking at. He couldn’t realise that this confident guy on stage was the same one he was talking to five minutes ago.

Earlier in the darkness of the dressing room he hadn’t noticed Harry’s hair tied up in a lovely bun, nor the almost entirely unbuttoned black shirt tucked into the skinniest pants he’s ever seen Harry wearing.

Then he started singing and it was over for Louis. Of course he heard him before humming in the kitchen or to the radio, but this was really something else. Louis was mesmerised by the scene of his friend literally owning the crowd.
Harry had this effect on people, this indefinable charisma that would just make anyone listen to him. The sort of aura that would turn a straight man gay.
Funny but not funny.

One could say that Harry sang his first song to Louis only. The older boy couldn’t break the eye contact after the promise he made, but was actually drawing on his inner resources not to give in.
Louis was starting feeling dizzy, overwhelmed by a new kind of emotions he never experienced before, and didn’t quite understand what was happening. What was this weird feeling inside? Was it even okay to be under the spell of his best mate?
All he could say is that when Harry tore his gaze away, apparently ready to face up to the crowd, Louis felt that something was ripped-off his chest.

--

At the end of their fifth song Louis left Liam for the second time that night and made his way to meet his friends backstage. The bouncer seemed to recognise Louis and let him past after rolling his eyes.

He spotted Niall first and went to congratulate him with a small hug.

“Did you like it?” asked the blond guy smiling.

“For sure, just as everyone else!” answered Louis

“Sick!”

That’s when Louis felt someone coming to hold him from behind, and well, that must be Harry:

“THANK YOU” whispered an excited Harry in Louis’s ear.

“Ugh, get a room!” shouted Niall making a face. 

Louis couldn’t help but blushed a little and was grateful for the dark light surrounding them.

“Well, come on you two, beers are on me tonight” said Louis making his way to the main room.

“Thank you but beers are free for rock stars Lou” explained Harry all proud of himself.

“Sadly I don’t see any in here” answered Louis in a smirk.

To what Niall burst out laughing, and everyone in the place could hear the Irish guy’s loud and raucous laugh.

After a quick stop to join Liam and his friends who congratulated them as well, they made their way to the main bar to order their drinks. And okay, beers were free for Niall and Harry. No need to show off, thank you very much.

They all started chatting waiting for the main band to set up their gear. Some people came over to quickly compliment their performance and it seemed that the two hadn’t stopped smiling since they went off stage.

Louis was involved in a deep conversation with Niall explaining him the overwhelming feeling of being able to play his own songs on stage when he realised that Harry was currently talking eagerly with a non identified bloke, dimples out.
Louis started to feel a weird reaction in his chest, and what the hell was that again. He was tired of experiencing those new feelings lately. He wasn’t used to be the overemotional kind of guy. 
Jealousy maybe? Shut the fuck up already.

Suddenly the lights went off announcing the next band coming on stage. The boys made their way to get closer to the scene as Harry was still talking to this guy, and wait, was it a hand on his waist? Louis knew it shouldn’t bother him, but still.
He decided to let Harry know that they were moving, and maybe take the opportunity to make this hairy hand go away.

“Haz you coming? It’s about to begin.”

To what the young singer answered, looking to the bloke and back to Louis, smiling:

“I’m gonna stay with, um, Jeff for a bit, I’ll catch with you later yeah?”

“Sure” said Louis, voice too high. 

Louis was upset. He didn’t want to be upset. Which made him even more upset.
He wasn’t paying any attention to the band playing, didn’t really like it anyway. He was more focused on the picture of Jeff – what name was that anyway? – whispering to Harry’s ear.
It was supposed to be him congratulating Harry, they didn’t really have the time to properly talk after the show and Louis was pretty annoyed. Wasn’t he the one who had cheered him up before going on stage?
He saw Liam checking on him a couple of times so decided it would be great to at least pretend to listen, and smile a little maybe.

The third time he allowed himself to look in Harry’s direction, he wasn’t here anymore, nor the Jeff guy. Saying his name actually hurt. Jeff. Jeff. Jeff. Anyway.
Louis gave up at the fifth song, it was too dark to find them and he couldn’t know where they would have gone. He thought that if he had to go through the entire show, might as well try to enjoy it.
He didn’t.

At the end of the last song Louis felt his phone buzzing and saw straightaway Harry’s name on the screen. He unlocked it quickly to read his text:

“Ending the night at Jeffs, hope you liked the show! Thank you again Lou :) :) xx”

Great.

It wasn’t the first time though, Harry hooking up with random guys during a night out. He remembered that in his first weeks at the flat it was quite common to see Harry’s bed intact early in the morning or he flirting vigorously with some blokes in clubs.
Back then Louis wasn’t even paying attention or jealous for a second. Even if he knew that Harry didn’t owe him anything, tonight felt different though what with this heavy feeling in Louis’s chest.
Liam snapped him out of his thoughts asking:

“Lou we’re leaving, do we wait for Harry?”

“Guess not” he answered trying to show some composure.

--

Louis was glad to walk back home with Liam. Even if he sort of wanted to be alone he knew he wouldn’t have to do the talking. Indeed Liam was currently telling him how good their friends had sounded on stage and how proud he was of them. Easy peasy. Louis just had to nod every now and then.
But Liam knew how to be surprising too because he asked totally out of the blue –or maybe it had to do with Louis not really paying attention to what he was saying:

“I noticed that you were quite off during the second part of the show, was it something to do with Harry?”

“No, why?” answered Louis, taken aback.

The moment he realised he made a mistake was too late to take it back.

“You’ve been pouting since that guy came to talk to him and were looking for him every five seconds during the main act. And don’t deny it I’ve been watching you” added Liam before Louis could say something.

Louis knew this conversation was taking a wrong direction and started to walk faster. He wanted to hide in his bed, like two minutes ago.

“I am not pouting” he said instead, and well, really mature.

“You know that you can talk to me, yeah? I know that Harry and you are very close but you’re one of my best mate too so if you need me I’m here okay?”

“Yes, thanks Li but I’m fine” said Louis trying for a smile and hoping that this would end the conversation. Apparently not because Liam continued:

“I am telling you this because since you arrived I can see that Harry is feeling better, your friendship brings him good…” Wait, Harry feeling better? From what? “and I noticed that he has less one-night stands than he used to. But be careful Louis because although he seems confident, Harry gets attached quickly. Are things clear between you two? I mean I know that you are straight but I haven’t really seen you with a girl recently and I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“We’re really good friends is all. Talking about girls, I wanted to get my shit together before looking for someone. Don’t worry about Harry you know that I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him” was all Louis managed to answer at this time of the night, when himself didn’t know what to think anymore.

“But I worry about you too” added Liam tone concerned.

“Well there’s no need Li, I am okay.”

“Sure?” 

“Yes” answered Louis with a forced smile not sure about whom he was trying to convince.

Going to bed later that night Louis thought it’s been a while since he hadn’t been so glad to find his pillow, and for once fell asleep almost instantly.

--

The next day Louis didn’t see Harry. He left the flat a bit earlier than necessary to go to work. It was going to be a busy day anyway with Louis going to see his family for the weekend. He told himself the reason he took his suitcase with him to work was to avoid a risk of missing his train later in the afternoon, nothing to do with avoiding a certain person.

This little gateway was more than welcome, it would be so nice to see the girls again. He couldn’t even remember the last time he was at home with the entire family. He should go home more often but time just flies. This break would be a perfect distraction to clear is head away from the flat and from Harry.

He wasn’t counting on the younger boy texting him like nothing happened. Well, nothing actually happened. Duh.

Friday
“Louu, sorry I didn’t see you much yesterday night, fancy some pints tonight? xxx”

“Hey, not coming home?”

“Okay forget it, Liam just told me you were joining your family this week-end. I forgot, enjoy your time off! :) xx”

 Saturday
“Hey Lou, having a good time? Must be pretty busy with the entire family, take pictures! :)”

“Liam just blushed like a 12 yo girl when a bloke offered him a drink, hilarious. Wish you could have seen it! xxx”

“I’m bored and you’re not here to cuddle, miss you xx”

“Lou?”

Sunday
“Are you mad? Please answer? xx”

“I hope I didn’t do something wrong, I am sorry if I did.”

All the texts were left unanswered.

At first he just wanted to ignore him. Pouting like a teenager for no real reason.

Then he realised he was pouting for no real reason. For God sake Harry was a grown man allowed to do what he wanted. It’s not like he made a vow.

Then he started to miss him, just a little. He even smiled imagining Liam’s face in the pub. Even so he didn’t answer.

On the last day it was too late anyway.

Three days was the longest period of time they had spent without talking to each other since they met. He wasn’t sure what to think about this entire situation, should he talk to Zayn or figure it out himself? The only thing he was sure of is that he missed talking to Harry.

***

Chapter Text

Louis came back to the flat Sunday late in the evening not really proud of himself. This week-end was supposed to help him clear his head. The fact that it wasn’t so successful was the least you could say. The only conclusion he drew was that he let the situation slip through his fingers and not answering to Harry’s texts was so childish he might hit himself thinking about it.

He thought that maybe his two roommates would be asleep already, and he’ll just have to sneak into his bedroom and die there. But fate had another plan in mind. 

The “not really proud of himself” part came back to him as soon as he entered the living room and noticed the sad look in Harry’s eyes and the disapproving glance Liam gave him. He didn’t actually know which one was the worst.

It’s not that he was expecting a warm welcoming but he was just clueless with how to handle this situation. A casual “Hi guys!” was what he opted for.

Even after acting like a total douche, he still got an answer from Harry:

“Hey Lou” which actually sounded more like a question, great expectancy in his voice.

Maybe it was an invitation to tell more but instead of continuing the dialogue he just said: “I am going to unpack my stuff, see you guys later.”
Confrontations weren’t Louis’s forte.

Few minutes after he was in his bedroom, Liam popped a head, dark look in his eyes and said in the most serious voice Louis had ever heard coming from him:
“Hope you ran out of battery ” and left him alone again.

Perhaps it wasn’t going to be that easy.
You’re a fucking idiot. You’re making a scene for nothing you fucking drama queen. Just fix it now before it gets worse.

He continued to call himself every name under the sun for a couple of minutes more when it was Harry’s face’s turn to appear in the doorframe.
He simply said “I am going to bed” but didn’t move for a few seconds like he was waiting for Louis to say something.

After hearing “Goodnight Harry”, the younger boy just let out a sigh, made his way to his own bedroom and closed the door.

Thinking he was the one who put this look in Harry’s face made his heart ache a little. Why was it complicated again? He quietly finished unpacking his suitcase and got ready to go to bed. Before switching the lights off he decided it was time to do something to make up for his 3 days of silence.
God he was 26 he could talk to his best friend. Get a grip dickhead.

-

There he was, standing in the dark in front of Harry’s door. As the last thing he needed was to get his ass kicked by Liam, he knocked the lightest he could. Indeed, he guessed he wasn’t his favourite person at the moment with the look he gave him earlier. Jeez, he could be scary sometimes.
No answer. Louis was seeing some light behind the door so he suspected Harry wasn’t asleep. He must be reading some weird book he was used to, poetry maybe.
Louis opened slightly the door peeking a head and whispered:

“Can I come in?”

“Are you going to sit here and pretend I’m not here or actually talk to me?” asked Harry feigning indifference. (To be honest it wasn’t really successful.)

“Ouch.”

“Sorry” said Harry in a softer tone.

“I deserve it. Cuddle?”

“Is there a reason with you avoiding me those past days? Did I do something wrong? Cause I don’t like it when we are fighting.”

No cuddle then.

“We are not fighting I am just a stupid moron,” answered Louis making his way to the bed and sitting at the footboard.

“Tell me something I don’t already know,” said Harry with a smirk. Okay so he could be cheeky too.

“I’m sorry I wanted to but it’s always complicated at home with all the girls, my step-dad and my Mom running everywhere. Sort of abandoned my phone for the weekend. I‘m sorry Haz.” Was omitting considered as lying?

“Nothing else?” asked Harry concern in his wide eyes.

“Nope!” answered Louis, fully aware of his lie this time.

“Okay”.

He seemed to review Louis’s answer and added after a short silence “Come here then” putting his book on the nightstand and opening his arms to invite Louis.

--

It didn’t take Harry a long time to smile again. It was like he had amassed tones of stories to tell Louis during the weekend and actually couldn’t stop talking.

He talked about the good feedback him and Niall had after their gig, that it would potentially be possible to play at the venue again. He made Louis promise that he would come if that happened because he did a pretty good job to calm him down the first time.

He talked about this new music band he discovered earlier in the day to prepare a future interview and assured Louis that he might like it this time. He made him listen to one song, and okay it wasn’t that bad. The fact that Louis was literally lay down over Harry’s chest had absolutely nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.
Louis asked the younger boy to send him the name of the band so he’ll be able to listen to their songs at work, which only made Harry’s grin widen.

He didn’t talk about his night with the Jeff guy though. And Louis didn’t ask.

Louis was amazed by every word that came out from Harry’s mouth and wish he hadn’t behaved like a total idiot this weekend, avoiding his friend for three days. He decided he preferred to be confused by his side rather than not in his life at all. Everyone needed a Harry in his life who made every moment worth living it.

After a short moment of silence when Harry seemed to have finished telling stories for the day, Louis asked in the gentlest voice while brushing Harry’s bare chest:

“Haz, can I ask you something?”

“Sure Lou, anything.”

“How come a guy like you doesn’t have a boyfriend?”

Harry took his time to answer Louis’s question and said in a calm voice:

“We could say that someone broke my heart and I won’t let that happen again.”

“I don’t understand how someone would dare hurting you” said Louis tightening his embrace.

“I’m okay now” added Harry with a soft smile looking at Louis.

Just a few minutes later as Louis was about to fall asleep he heard Harry saying in a murmur:

“Don’t disappear on me again." 

“Okay.”

“That wasn’t a question.”

“Oh.”

That is when Louis knew he was gone for this boy.

-

The next day after being totally unable to focus at work, Louis decided it was time to ask his oldest friend for some advice. On his way back home he searched for Zayn’s name in his contacts (because yes, he couldn’t quite have this conversation at home with the lads in the next room) and waited for his friend to pick up:

“Oh you didn’t forget about me after all” was how Zayn answered the call.

“C’mon Zaynie, I wouldn’t do such thing, I was busy is all!”

They talked for a bit about Zayn’s work, his boring life in London without Louis – not so surprising – and Zayn’s coming in Manchester in a couple of weeks. They haven’t seen each other in months, and how did they let that happen?

After few minutes Louis decided to go for it and asked what has been in his mind for days now:

“Zayn, I had something to ask you actually.”

Silence. Okay then.

“We didn’t really talk about it at the time but um, how did you know that you liked, well, guys?” continued Louis.

“Don’t tell me you’re in love with me.”

“What? God no!” shouted Louis in the phone.

“Great, cause you’re not really my type,” joked Zayn.

“Can you be serious for a second?”

“I was.”

“ZAYN!”

“Okay sorry, I don’t know, I guess I’ve always knew. I grew up like that, never really been interested in girls you know.”

“Mmh” said Louis, not finding his friend’s explanation really helpful.

“Something to do with the Harry guy?” tried Zayn.

“Why does everyone keep asking that?” asked Louis, irritation in his voice.

“Because maybe it does?”

“Okay, well yes. Happy?”

“God tell me already Louis!” And it was Zayn’s turn to sound exasperated.

“Okay…”

And then Louis told the whole story. How they clicked really quickly when they met and sort of began inseparable, spending their free time together. That he realised that he liked when Harry’s hands were brushing his. That even sometimes he was the one looking for contact. He talked about Harry’s hook-ups the first weeks, how he didn’t care back then but now cannot think about it. That they slowly began to fall asleep in the same bed, and that he couldn’t stop thinking about him. He told Zayn about the little incident and he not answering Harry’s texts for days.

Louis couldn’t stop talking. It was like he’s been holding everything inside for weeks and was just glad to talk to someone who won’t judge him.

Thinking about it, it might not have been necessary to list every detail he liked about Harry. The dimples and crinkles by his green eyes when he smiled, his long legs wrapped in too skinny black jeans, his body always so warm that fits perfectly with his own when they cuddled at night trying to find some sleep. Well, too late anyway.

“Have you ever thought about something more than cuddling with him?” asked Zayn after Louis finished his monologue.

“I am being serious here Zayn.”

“Hey, I am too Lou okay? I mean you know what that would imply right? Is it something you’d like to do?”

“God I don’t know, I didn’t think about logistics Zayn.”

“Lou, I am not messing with you, only trying to help you out. That’s why you called right?” said Zayn, tone affectionate.

“Yes, sorry for being a jerk, that’s… complicated. I just know that I like him more than I would be supposed to like a friend.”

“If your feelings are deep you should tell him. From what you’ve told me about him he seems like a clever guy, he won’t turn his back on you even if he doesn’t feel the same.”

Louis was silent for a few beats so Zayn continued:

“I know it’s hard. Just be careful yeah? For you, and for him too. It’s really tough to be a straight-guy’s experiment, trust me. And you wouldn’t want to loose his friendship. But do what you think would make you the happiest yeah? And Lou, can I say that I am not 100% surprised?”

“How come?” asked Louis, confused.

“Well to be honest I’ve always suspected something with how you weren’t happy with the girls you met and all. I know I’m not the best friend you could hope to talk to sometimes but I’m here if you need me, okay? You can call me, anytime.”

“You’re actually the best Zaynie. But I’m going to hang up because that doesn’t seem like us, getting all emotional,” said Louis to lighten the mood, himself not far from crying.

“Sometimes we can.”

“See you soon right?” asked Louis, referring to the beginning of the conversation.

“Yeah, so I can kick Harry’s ass if he hurts you.”

“Love you.”

“Same here” said Zayn before hanging up.

--

Falling asleep in Harry’s bed later that night after watching Love Actually for the third time this month Louis remembered what Zayn had asked him on the phone.
More than cuddling. The thought of it made him smile and sent shivers down is spine.

Well, he didn’t know if everything Zayn said was helpful but he knew he should tell Harry about his feelings before going totally crazy. 

He would, when he’ll be ready.

***

Chapter Text

As the beginning of the week went by Louis started to see a bit clearer in this “Harry situation”. He didn’t consider himself gay, hasn’t been a fan of labels anyway. He just knew that he wanted to be with Harry in every way possible.
He wasn’t ready to tell him though, and probably wouldn’t ever dare to make a move. Fear of rejection that is.

He would just wait for Harry to say something if he eventually, hopefully, shared Louis’s feeling. How brave. The thing is, it was kind of hard to read in Harry’s behaviour. The guy has always been touchy-feely with everyone. Even if they had been closer than ever those past days, it was really difficult to tell what was the younger boy looking for when hiding his face into Louis’s neck at night.

Louis had counted on Wednesday night to bring him back the testosterone he lost those past weeks moaning about his lot in life. Proper football night with the lads.

All three roommates, joined by a cheerful Niall, were on their way to the Old Trafford, for a special Champion’s League match. Not even arrived at the stadium that Liam was already pissed off by Niall, who dared to bet on a win from FC Barcelona rather than the team close to his friends’ heart. That was too much to handle for Liam who sat next to Harry, the further away from the Irish guy, to avoid any kind of ill fortune.

They couldn’t dream of a better match, the score was really tight: 1-1 only five minutes to the end of the game. One could feel the tense atmosphere in the stand, every supporter silently praying for his team to win. The boys weren’t talking anymore, just waiting for an action from Manchester United.

Their prayers must have been heard because it was at the 88^th minute that Rooney snapped a shot into the top corner, bringing his team closer to the victory. The boys got up at the same time than half of the stadium to yell and clap their joy.

Two minutes later Harry and Louis literally fell into each other’s arms, celebrating the win of their team. When they loosened their embrace, that might have lasted a bit longer than necessary, their eyes met like magnets. They stared intensely for what seemed decades for Louis, excitement of the past two hours making their eyes sparkle like a starry sky. They were only few inches apart and Louis thought he could kiss Harry right now.

He reconsidered it when he felt the glance of Liam on him, who was standing behind Harry, reminding him that he better not mess with Harry a second time. Okay then, it may not be the right place, or the right moment.

The four of them ended in a pub to have a proper celebration. That was only the quarterfinal but still, good supporters must encourage their team right?

At some point during the night, alcohol buzzing in his veins, Louis pulled out his phone and typed a quick text to Zayn:

“SNAFU. Almost kissed H tonight. Haven’t talked to him yet. Need to pull my fingers out. Pun intended. Xx”

Harry might have noticed the frown on Louis’s face as he was waiting for Zayn’s answer because he asked:

“You okay Lou?”

“Sure love” he answered too quickly with an over exaggerated smile that even seemed fake to him. His phone saved him from Harry’s questioning look with a reply from Zayn:

“making jokes already! go for it bro, I have your back anyway. haha”

Which made him smile a little.

--

The rest of the week was sort of stressful for Louis who’s been busy at work, working for a really important presentation. He stayed at the agency late on Thursday night and has been waiting to lay in his bed all day.

As he was walking home he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket to find a text from Harry:

“Lou, meet at the pub at 7pm?? Liam and his friends are coming too :) xxxxx”

“Sorry love, way too tired, gonna stay at home, say hi to Niall for me? xx”

“But I am leaving tomorrow :( I won’t see you for a week. How sad is that? xxx”

“Very.”

“Please? :) :) :)”

Louis hesitated for a beat and realised he’ll have the week to rest and get ready for Zayn’s arrival next Friday. So he replied:

“Okay then but you’re paying for everything I’m drinking.”

“Was counting on it anyway  :) See you there xxxxx”

God he really couldn’t say no.

Louis just had the time to take a shower to wake up a bit and change his clothes for something more casual, and then it was time to leave for the pub.
He spotted the boys in a booth not far from the bar, and as he was making his way to join them he saw Harry standing up and meeting him halfway from the table. And oh, Harry had his hair tied up in a bun again.

“Hey Louuu, thanks for coming! You look really nice” said Harry in a quick hug.

“Objection. I look really tired.”

“You look really nice when you’re tired” he added with a mischievous look.

“Shut up and buy me something to drink” answered Louis with a small smile.

I am so screwed.

After chatting a minute with Niall at the bar, the two of them finally joined the table and as Louis was going to sit on an empty stool next to one of Liam’s friends he heard Harry asking Liam:

“Li, would you budge on your right so I can sit next to Louis?”

“Jesus Christ you two” answered Liam rolling his eyes. But he did it anyway.

They were all having a nice evening, Liam reviewing every actions of the previous football game they went to two days ago. And Harry explaining Louis his program for the upcoming week where he’d be in San Francisco for work.

Louis was actually kind of jealous of all these travelling plans but wasn’t really paying attention anyway considering that Harry’s hand had been resting on his shoulder from the beginning of the conversation, slowly brushing his collarbone. But the younger boy didn’t seem fully concentrated either, giving quick serious glances at the pool table behind Louis once in a while. But like previously said, Louis wasn’t really paying attention. 

After his third beer Louis decided it was time to hit the toilets, trying not to think about the cold his body was feeling after breaking the contact with Harry.

Making his way back to the table trying to persuade himself that he needed to talk to Harry before his departure, he spotted him leaning on the bar all tense, a taller guy talking to his hear.

It seemed that they both noticed that Louis was looking at them because they were suddenly staring at him back, the tall one smiling and Harry, well Harry with really dark eyes. Then the stranger waved at Louis, whispered few last words to Harry’s ear and turned back to meet some people apparently waiting for him to leave the pub. Weirdo. 

Louis decided to go to check on Harry and joined him at the bar.

“Well that was awkward, what happened here?” asked Louis tone light.

“You okay Hazza?” he added to Harry’s silence.

Harry wasn’t looking at him anymore and it was quite hard for Louis to tell if his friend was a) going to break something or b) to cry his eyes out. It was the first time he saw Harry like that, all withdrawn and clenched jaw, and didn’t know how to handle it.

After another beat of silence that was starting to make Louis quite uncomfortable Harry turned to finally meet his eyes, said “I am going home” curtly and started to make his way to the front door.

Taken aback, Louis received Harry’s words like a slap in the face but still followed him, grabbed his forearm and asked again gently:

“Hey wait Haz, are you okay? What happened with that guy?”

“Nothing happened and I am going home” answered Harry sharply.

“But we were supposed to go back home together? C’mon talk to me.”

“Well Louis, I think you’re old enough to go home on your own. You can even find a nice shag. That bloke at the pool table had been checking on you all night long. You know, experiencing new stuff and everything” said Harry, challenging look in his eyes.

“ Hey, ease off!” Exclaimed Louis, visibly hurt. “I wanted…”

“Just leave me alone” cut off Harry leaving Louis alone in the middle of the pub.

--

Well that was not what Louis had expected his night to be. He was glad not to have talked to Harry after having being ditched this way. Now it was his turn to hesitate between showing his angriness to the world or going back to the toilets and cry.
What the actual fuck happened?

Confused as ever Louis went back to the booth to meet the other guys and sat quietly next to Liam who asked:

“Where is Harry?”

“Um, he came back home, wasn’t feeling very well” answered Louis trying to sound unaffected by what happened.

Truth is he was. How couldn’t he? Harry who was all warm and friendly had suddenly changed completely. This cold and offensive man wasn’t the Harry he knew.
Louis tried to convince himself that Harry didn’t mean what he told him earlier but still, he couldn’t hide the fact that he was clearly hurt.

He wasn’t paying attention to the conversation the guys were having when suddenly Liam awaked him from his thoughts asking:

“Earth to Louis, you’re with us?!”.

Louis turned his head to meet Liam’s eyes and answered:

“Yeah sorry, was thinking about something.”

Then Louis spotted behind Liam a guy who must probably be the aforesaid PoolTableBloke, who was indeed staring at him with a wide smile. He added to Liam, still looking at the guy:

“Actually, I’ll be right back alright?”

He didn’t wait for Liam’s answer and stood up to join the PoolTableBloke.
What the hell am I doing, was all he could think of during the few steps he took to meet the guy, who was waiting for him leaned over the pool table.

He didn’t know what had pushed him to do that, maybe the challenging look in Harry’s dark eyes, the wish to compensate for his rejection, or the curiosity to find out if he could be attracted to another person than his roommate. Anyway he was about to find out soon because the PoolTableBloke welcomed him with a smile even wider, biting his lip a little.
The guy was pretty fit actually, tall and blond-haired, but not fooling anyone, nothing compared to Harry’s look.
They started to talk lightly and the least you could say is that the guy was really flirting with Louis. It was nice to be the one wooed for a once, but sort of weird coming from a stranger bloke.

Louis was playing along with the game anyway, because what the hell, but suddenly when he was angling his pool cue to aim at the orange ball he felt the guy getting way too close behind him. At some point he was literally wrapped around Louis’s body and when he touched his hand to shift the cue a little he said: “This angle would be better love.”

And that was enough for Louis.

Everything felt just wrong, the touching, the love thing. The guy was nice but clearly wasn’t a good match for Louis considering the fact that he just wanted to kick him in the balls after having being touched like that. So, yes, maybe not a good match.

He shot at the ball and missed the hole, and well, who was talking about angles? He took it as a signal to leave, turned to look at the guy and said apologetic:

“Sorry mate this is it for me, need to go back to my friends.”

“Are you being serious?” asked the guy getting upset. Well, that was not surprising.

“Sorry love” answered Louis shrugging little.

He waved quickly at him and made his way back to the booth where he was relieved to see that Niall had joined them at the end of his shift. He’ll need a drinking buddy.

-

It must have been around 3 am when he finally collapsed in his bed, the walls of his bedroom shifting a little around him. Liam had left earlier leaving him and Niall alone in a one go contest. No need to mention who won. Not what he had in mind when he woke up the previous day, but man, being pissed does you good sometimes.

He was about to fall asleep when he heard a light knock at the door. He tried to focus on the blurry shape he saw in the dark when he realised that Harry was standing in front of the bed and asked in a murmur:

“Lou can I come with you?”

All he could see was Harry’s wide eyes imploring him, and well, how could he say no?

Harry lay down carefully next to Louis but didn’t move to hold him like he usually did. After few seconds he started to apologise clumsily mumbling words Louis didn’t really get. He thought he understood most of it though:

“I am really sorry about what I said earlier, I was really pissed after talking to Nick and I don’t know why I flew off the handle. Didn’t want to be mean, hurting you is the last thing I want. You believe me right?”

“Right?” asked Harry again panicking, because yes, Louis hadn’t answered yet.

Louis was surprised by his protective urge, maybe the alcohol was helping, and was the one to reach for Harry, holding him by his waist and resting his head in the hollow under his ear. He nodded in his neck as an answer.

Louis waited for Harry to relax a bit and asked in a gentle voice:

“Was Nick the one who broke your heart?”

“Yes.” Harry answered, to what Louis tightened his embrace. 

After a short silence Harry was the one to speak again:

“Don’t get it wrong though, I don’t have any feelings for him anymore, it’s just that he told me something I didn’t appreciate.”

“About what?” tempted Louis.

“You.”

“Oh.” 

“And I lashed out at you, which isn’t fair and I am sorry about it” added Harry turning to face Louis.

“It’s okay. The only thing I blame you for is me feeling I’m on a boat right now.”

“Why that?” asked Harry a bit confused.

“I might have drowned my sorrows in alcohol, and got pissed with Niall” answered Louis giggling.

“Sorry about that” said Harry smiling and getting even closer.

“So, um, about the pool table guy, did something happen?” asked Harry after few beats of silence where they were just holding each other.

“You are an idiot.” Louis answered, smiling in Harry’s shoulder.

“It’s just that I don’t want any other guy to touch you” said Harry sincerely.

“Good, cause I like it better when it’s you.”

They both fell asleep promptly after that tangled together, Louis giving light kisses on Harry’s bare collarbones.

--

Louis woke up around noon with a little headache, alone, sheets cold next to him. He was starting to think that yesterday night was just a dream, what happened was too surreal anyway to be true, when he spotted a note on the pillow next to his.

“Left to catch my flight, didn’t want to wake you up sleepyhead :)

Text me, yeah? xxx

PS: sorry for being an idiot.”

Louis didn’t really know how to understand what Harry said the night before; but this little note brought a smile on his face anyway. He was tipsy and didn’t know if some things Harry told him were actually true or just the fruit of his imagination. Maybe it was time to stop overthinking everything, which was really tiring, and just follow the flow.

He searched for his phone on the nightstand and typed a text to Harry:

“Travel safe love, go kick some American ass. And hey, all forgiven :) xx”

Text sent he stood up and made his way to the kitchen, God he needed a cuppa.

***

Chapter Text

The next week went by pretty quickly. Louis had a tone of work he wanted to finish to leave early on Friday and welcome Zayn as he deserved. Without Harry at the apartment he just went to bed early after watching some crappy TV show with Liam or playing FIFA.

They kept texting though, even if it was quite difficult to be on the same page with the different time zone thing. But every time they had some free time in common they would just chat for hours. 

Louis had laughed his ass out when he received a picture of Harry wearing a blue shirt with pink flamingos all over it.

“I think you went too far this time love”

“Heyyy. This is my new favourite shirt!”

“Trust me if you were here with me I’d rip it off of you”

“And it would be my pleasure.”

“God Styles you are killing me”

The tone of their texts had shifted a little, which was fine by Louis as long as he was keeping control of the situation. He decided that so far it has been harmless. Harry was just entertaining him instead of being bored to death in his bed at night. No need to talk about Louis’s heart beating a little faster every time his phone was buzzing.

But there he was standing in the train station waiting for Zayn with a sign he made quickly at work, knowing perfectly that his friend would hate him for that. It was actually really cute but people seeing the scene could think that he was waiting for his little brother.
Louis had written “ZAYNIE” on a pink paper and glued all the glitters he could find at the creative department of the agency. They hadn’t seen each other in a long time so Louis had two days to tease him and make up for all the time he couldn’t do it those past months.

He spotted him right away on the platform, wearing his usual leather jacket and already preparing his cigarette to smoke. Louis noticed from far that his hair were tied up in a small ponytail, and jeez, was that a new trend?

“Are you fucking serious?” were Zayn first words to Louis. He couldn’t prevent a small smile from appearing on his face though.

“Come here baby boy, welcome to Manchester!” he answered opening his arms to hug his friend. Zayn wasn’t long to lean into Louis’s arms and added with a soft voice: “Glad to see you mate.”

“Do we talk about this ponytail of yours?” asked Louis.

“Do we talk about this Harry of yours?”

“Bloody bastard.”

And it was like they never left each other.

--

Even if Louis was looking for a new life coming to Manchester it was actually really nice to be around a familiar face. And anyway Zayn could only remind him of good memories.

They headed home, opened a couple of beers and ordered pizzas – because yes, none of them could actually cook – and didn’t really see time going. They chatted about anything and everything and realised it was past eleven when Liam arrived at home all sweaty from his gym session.

The least you could say is that the guy made quite of an entrance. It was like time had stopped for a second and everything was in slow motion around Louis.
Liam had frozen when he spotted Zayn lay down on the couch, and Zayn had stopped talking the second he saw Liam in the doorframe of the living room.
Well this is going to be fun.

It was actually the first time he saw his friend speechless in front of another guy, Zayn usually knowing his game with boys. Apparently it could happen to the best of us.

Louis began to feel uncomfortable by this intense long-lasting glance they were giving each other and decided it was time to interrupt it before Liam would jump on his friend, even if the probability was almost non-existent. But well, he should be careful with all the things happening lately.

“Liam- Zayn, Zayn-Liam” was the only thing he could think of at the moment.

Suddenly things went back to normal, like someone pressed the play button again and Liam was already shaking Zayn’s hand.

After taking a quick shower Liam joined them in the living room, opened his own beer and join the conversation by asking:

“So, Louis didn’t tell me how you guys met?”

“Zayn did my first tattoo four years ago and we sort of clicked” answered Louis in a rush, knowing perfectly that Zayn wouldn’t mind adding some more facts to the story.

“That is not exactly what happened Lou” he said with a smirk. And well, he should have bet. Zayn just loved telling the story to every new person they met.

“What happened then?” asked Liam getting all excited.

“Well Louis over here, came to my tattoo shop four years ago…”

“That’s what I said…” interrupted Louis an exasperated tone in his voice.

 “Shut up I am telling our story baby” he cut off, winking at Louis. “So he came to my tattoo shop and asked for this lovely tattoo - show him the tattoo Louis, thank you. Everything went just fine…the first five minutes. Then he became all blank and just passed out, right here in front of me.”

“Are you kidding me? Is this true Louis, you never told me!” asked Liam containing the laughs.

“Of course not” he answered.

“Of course it is, you wanker. But this is not the end. When he woke up I asked him if he wanted to continue or if he’d preferred coming back another day…”

“Finish it already Zayn” said Louis looking annoyed.

“Tenacious he is. I started again few minutes later and this time it took him no more than two minutes to puke on my boots. I knew this was the beginning of a great friendship.”

Zayn hadn’t even finished his last sentence that Liam was bursting into laughter, tears in his eyes.

They chatted some more for another hour, Louis really surprised with how Liam and Zayn were getting along. He hadn’t even imagined once setting the two of them together but now that he was thinking about it they would be great together. He made a mental note to tell Harry when he’ll be coming back the next day.

Time to sleep approaching Louis installed everything his friend would need in his own bedroom and left him to sleep in Harry’s. He wasn’t here anyway so that couldn’t really bother him.

--

« Who the fuck are you? » was the first thing Louis heard waking up on Saturday morning.

If he wasn’t dreaming anymore this voice belonged to Harry and his tone was quite angry so early in the morning.

Oh Zayn.

Louis stood up and opened the bedroom’s door to find a really weird scene in the hallway: Harry was standing in the lobby still holding his suitcase, staring at Zayn only wearing briefs who was coming out from Louis’s bedroom, looking confused and not enough awoken to elaborate a proper answer.

“Have you met Zayn?” asked Louis to light up the atmosphere.

Harry looked from Zayn to Louis, and again from Louis to Zayn, then said:

“Zayn? Oh Zayn! Thought you were… never mind. Sorry mate, I’m Harry!”

“Yeah, I figured it out” answered Zayn passing in front of him and going to the kitchen.

A guilty look appeared on Harry’s face as he was making his way to his own bedroom. Louis didn’t like it when Harry was not smiling. Harry should be smiling all the time.

“Good morning sunshine” he said when Harry was standing in front of him.

“Zayn doesn’t like me” moaned Harry hiding his face in Louis’s neck.

“You just yelled at him love. Give him some time to drink his coffee and he’ll like you just fine” added Louis in a gentle voice, patting Harry’s back.

“Coffee?” asked Harry raising his head.

“I know right” answered Louis in a smile. “I thought you would be okay with me sleeping in your bed so I left my bedroom to Zayn. You don’t mind?”

“Of course not.”

--

With Harry taking a nap trying to fight the jetlag and Liam attending a special event about something Louis wasn’t paying attention to, it was just Louis and Zayn for the afternoon wandering around the city. Zayn had already been in Manchester so they were just enjoying a good time together, sometimes popping a head in an art gallery to Zayn’s greatest pleasure.

Louis still feared the moment where Zayn would ask about Harry. He knew his friend would ask but was waiting for the right moment. He didn’t mind talking about it but as he didn’t do a single move since he asked him for advice he was expecting Zayn’s sermon. And he was right.

As they were drinking a beer in a nice hipster place in the Northern Quarter, Zayn asked:

“So tell me Lou, any update on the Harry situation?”

“Not really I am afraid.”

“Did you tell him something since we talked?”

“Not really I am afraid,” answered Louis making a face.

“And you are waiting for…?”

“I don’t want him to reject me.”

“Come on Lou you’re not a fourteen year old girl waiting to be invited to prom.”

“I’m not sure you got to go to prom at fourteen though” said Louis smirking.

“Bloody hell Louis! Well, since you won’t do anything about him I was wondering maybe I could? I mean the guy is pretty fit.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he shouted almost spitting out his beer.

“I am yeah. Too soon?”

“Way too soon!”

“Seriously Lou I saw his face this morning when I came out from your bedroom half naked, the guy was about to faint.”

“The fact that we are close friends doesn’t mean he has feelings for me.”

“Do you sleep in your other friends’ bed every night?” asked Zayn quirking an eyebrow.

“Nope.” Answered Louis after a short beat. 

“Well I can’t decide for you but you cannot keep moaning for the rest of the year about Harry’s eyes and Harry’s dimples and Harry’s smell and…”

“Jesus Zayn I got it!” interrupted Louis half amused half annoyed.

“Perfect, what do we do tonight?”

They kept talking for an hour about Louis’s current project he was so proud of or Zayn’s brand new tattoo when Louis received a text from Liam telling him that he and Harry were heading to Niall’s pub.

“Fancy another round with the lads?” asked Louis.

“For sure.”

“Gonna meet Niall, you’ll love him the guy is a proper riot.”

On their way to the pub Louis decided it was his turn to tease his friend about his love life and prepare the ground for a potential match with his other roommate, so he tried:

“You know, Liam is a really nice guy.”

“I’m not the one who need help here.”

“Fair enough.”

Okay then, maybe it was not the best timing to play this game with Zayn.

--

They arrived at the pub that started to feel like a second home to Louis and joined Harry and Liam in their regular booth. It was strange to see Zayn in here but he liked the thought of doing this more often. Maybe he would try to put the idea in Zayn’s head at some point, he was sure that his friend would love the life here.

After a minute Louis realised that Harry was looking quite uncomfortable all squirming on his tool. It seemed like he had lost all the confidence he usually had around people. That was the first time Louis saw him like that and didn’t have a clue why.

He drew closer to Harry’s ear and whispered: “You’re okay?”

Louis only received a small nod in answer and suddenly heard him telling Zayn:

“Hey I am sorry about this morning, didn’t mean to yell at you.”

Oh. Harry was still embarrassed about the previous event of the day. How cute.

“No worries mate, I am glad someone is taking care of my boo bear.”

Louis quickly raised his head and looked sternly at Zayn, silently recommending him no to take that path.

“Boo bear?” asked Harry, a bit surprised by the nickname.

“Don’t pay attention to him love” and well finally he could see a dimple appearing.

Even if Harry relaxed a bit it still seemed that he was restraining himself. Obviously he was part of the conversation but Louis couldn’t prevent himself from noticing that Harry seemed to clench his jaw every time a common memory of he and Zayn was brought up.
And wait what was that? A twitch Louis just noticed or jealousy maybe?

Louis found his answer when Zayn was telling the story of the past scandalous New Year’s Eve they had together. That was well, epic. But perhaps it wasn’t necessary to mention the part where Louis and Zayn snogged when the clock rang midnight.

They were drunk and it was a joke since they were both single and well that is tradition right? They both hated it and had burst into laughter when they split apart.

Harry didn’t hear it that way though because he came closer to Louis and told him sounding upset:

“You lied to me.”

“About what?” asked Louis confused.

“You told me you never tried guys.”

“We were pissed and it was New Year’s Eve!” he said to lighten Harry’s mood.

“I don’t snog my straight friends when I am pissed Louis.” He stood up and said to no one in particular: “I am tired from the jetlag, I’ll just go home.”
He leant one last time to Louis’s ear and added “Maybe you should stay with him tonight” and just left the pub. It weirdly felt like déjà vu.

That was enough for Louis, Harry could be sensitive but he would not snap him like that, not again. He got to his feet quickly and tried to catch up with Harry who was already outside. Once he spotted him he walked a little faster and grabbed his arm to stop him.

“What the fuck does that mean Harry? Why are you doing this again?” he asked, his turn to sound upset.

“I don’t know Louis, it’s just that from what I heard and saw tonight you two seem already intimate, so I don’t get why you couldn’t stay with him” answered Harry with dark eyes.

“Because I prefer staying with you.”

“WHY LOUIS?” shouted Harry exasperated.

“BECAUSE I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU, YOU TWAT!” answered Louis loosing control.

“Did you just call me a twat?”

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Can you say it again, just to be sure?” asked Harry a smirk on his face.

“Twat.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening” said Louis fully annoyed now.

When his eyes met Harry’s he realised that he was looking at him in the fondest way with a sweet smile. They just stared at each other for few seconds that seemed like hours to Louis who was feeling warm everywhere. He said though, before totally loosing control of his brain too:

“I’ve known you chattier Styles.”

That’s when Harry decided to come closer. He bent his head down, putting his hands on each side of Louis’s face, and pressed his lips lightly to his.

When he pulled apart, he stared into Louis’s eyes and said: “I love you too.”

Louis couldn’t take it anymore, he grabbed Harry’s face and brought it back to his. The sensation of Harry’s manly lips on his was strange at the beginning, different in a good, very good way. Harry opened Louis’s lips with his tongue looking to explore every corner of his mouth in an eager kiss, enable to let go of each other. At some point Louis could feel Harry smiling against him and when he pulled back again, Louis couldn’t remember how to breathe. 

They stayed like that, looking at each other with goofy grins, for an entire minute before Harry said:

“Sorry for yelling at you.”

“Sorry for calling you a twat.”

They kissed one more time, because they could.

***

Chapter Text

Harry decided to go home anyway because he was not kidding about jetlag hitting like a bitch in his head. It took Louis all the strength he had to release Harry’s embrace and go back inside to join Zayn, who had made the trip to see him after all.

He had just left Harry that he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket announcing a text:

“Bring back your ass quickly. xx”

To what he answered:

“You’re really something Harry Styles.”

He spotted Liam and Zayn talking eagerly like they knew each other for years, both of them holding full glasses in their hands, probably not even having noticed that Louis and Harry had left. Well don’t mind me.

When Zayn realised that Louis had sat next to him he turned his head and asked, concern in his voice (okay so maybe they had noticed):

“Is everything okay?”

“I just kissed Harry” answered Louis grinning.

“Considering the stupid smile on your face I think that went well!” said Zayn bumping Louis’s shoulder with his.

“Niall, NIAAAALL!” shouted Liam looking for Niall behind the bar. “IT HAPPENED!”

Niall’s face lightened like a Christmas tree and five seconds later he was bringing five shots to their table yelling:

“Oi! Oi! Congrats mates it was about time! Wait where is Harry?”

“He went back home to have some rest” answered Louis.

“And what are you doing here?” asked Liam with wide eyes.

“Um, spending some time with Zayn,” he said sheepishly.

“Don’t worry about him he seems to enjoy his company too” laughed Niall.

And well, seeing Liam’s face getting all red was the second best thing of Louis’s night.

“Yeah he’s right Lou, drink your shot and get the fuck out of here” ordered Zayn.

“SHOT! SHOT! SHOT!” they shouted all together.

“You are all insane, I am leaving this place” said Louis with a smile. “Love you guys” he added before leaving the pub smile getting even wider.

--

When Louis opened Harry’s bedroom door, he was already asleep, lying half naked in his bed, face hidden in the pillow.

Louis tried to slip under the covers the more quietly he could but that didn’t seem to be enough because he heard Harry saying, raspy voice already full of sleep:

“You here?”

“Sorry love, didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“Glad you did” Harry said, shifting to face Louis.

Staring at each other grinning like idiots seemed to be their new thing, because that’s what they did for the first five minutes. Then Louis came closer and dropped a light kiss right on Harry’s dimple, before aiming for his smiling lips the second time. They kissed gently for a while like they had all the time in the world.

“I’ve always known that we would end together” said Harry proudly, pulling apart the kiss. And oh, he needed to stop doing that.

“How presumptuous of you Harold” teased Louis. “Why didn’t you say anything instead of letting me die to kiss you for weeks” he asked gently.

“I didn’t want to push you. I had a complicated position too Babe” said Harry softly brushing Louis’s cheek.

The new nickname made Louis’s heart almost miss a beat. He turned his head lightly to kiss the palm of Harry’s hand. They kissed some more for the sake of it and fell asleep bodies pressed together.

-

It was still dark outside when Louis felt a warm wet feeling in the hollow under his ear waking him up. He tried to focus on this sensation when, oh. He opened his eyes to see that Harry was lying on top of him, his arms on each side of his face holding himself carefully, his muscled body pressing onto his.

Harry’s lips travelled on Louis’s jaw line to end on his own in a deep kiss, leaving him breathless and fully awake. Without a word he slowly continued to give warm kisses to Louis’s body, heading down to Louis’s parts. Louis closed his eyes at the feeling and when he opened them again it was to see Harry in the most obscene position he had ever seen.

There he was, lying between his two thighs, looking at him with sparkling eyes, holding the base of Louis’s dick with one hand and his mouth almost touching the top of it.

Harry was staring at Louis, waiting for a signal to move. The little moan that escaped from the back of Louis’s throat at the sight of the scene encouraged Harry to swallow it all, circling the rest of Louis’s dick with his mouth.

When Louis let out his final gasp, Harry went back to his initial position, spread out over Louis’s body, kissed him lightly and the first words he said, voice raspy as ever, were:

“Sorry I couldn’t sleep.”

“I want to feel you inside” was Louis’s answer almost imploring, words coming between two breathes.

“I need to take you on a date first” said Harry smiling.

“But sucking someone off is fine before a date?” asked Louis, struggling to catch his breath.

“You are not someone Lou." 

“Sap.”

“Are you free tomorrow night?” asked Harry not waiting for Louis’s answer to kiss him again.

They ended in their first position, Harry’s long arms wrapped around Louis’s body and Louis’s arms holding him too so they could face each other. After one last kiss Louis rested his head against Harry’s chest and the last thing he heard that night was Harry’s soothing heart beats.

--

Louis woke up with a warm sensation all over his body. They hadn’t moved during the night and well, that could be a feeling he could get used to. Harry was awake though and was staring at him with fond eyes.

“You need to stop staring at me when I am sleeping” Louis said in a soft voice.

“I love you.”

“That’s not the point love. But I love you too” he said smiling.

After a couple of lazy morning kisses they got out of bed and decided to go prepare breakfast, what consisted in Harry cooking and Louis looking at Harry cooking.

On their way to the kitchen they spotted Niall vegging out half naked on the carpet holding his guitar, sleeping mouth opened. The real surprising scene was Zayn and Liam making out on a kitchen chair, only wearing briefs, warm coffee cups left aside on the table.
They raised their heads in synch when they heard Harry and Louis coming in the room, giggling like teenage girls taken on the spot.

Harry bent his head to whisper in Louis’s ear with a smile:

“Looks like Liam finally found what he was looking for.”

“Looks like we all did.”

*** END***