The Future Is Now - Larry Stylinson

Chapter 6

"How old is he?" Harry asked after a moment. "Luke, I mean."

Louis glanced at him, brows furrowing, before looking back at Annie. "He's seven," he answered slowly. "You really don't remember anything, huh?"

"No," Harry said, shaking his head. Louis seemed to be under the impression that he'd lost memories or something, and he had to admit that maybe that was a plausible idea. He could try and convince himself it was all just a big joke all he wanted, but that wouldn't explain how different he looked. How much he'd grown, all the tattoos, the muscles. "So, uhm, he's my son and you're my… husband?"

Louis pressed his lips together, forming a thin line, and didn't answer for a few moments as he wiped Annie's chin with a cloth. "Yeah, Haz," he said eventually. "Obviously he's not biologically related to either of us. We adopted him. Same with Annie."

Harry pressed his fingers to his temples, shutting his eyes. "Look, Louis, I don't…" he let out a sigh. "I'm having a really tough time trying to process all of this. I really need to call my Mum."

Louis set the bowl of baby mash and the spoon down on the table, far enough away so Annie couldn't get to it. He pulled his phone from his track pants and held it out, looking tired. "Anne is number six on speed dial."

Harry hesitated before taking the phone and standing up. "I'll, uhm, take the call in a different room, if that's okay."

Louis just nodded and went back to Annie. "Don't get lost," he said quietly, picking up the bowl again.

Harry felt a twinge of guilt, because not recognising this person was obviously causing him some pain. But it wasn't like he could help it, he genuinely didn't remember ever meeting Louis in his life. He wandered out of the kitchen, past the living room where he could see Luke watching cartoons, and into a small room that looked like a study. It wasn't really even that small, but compared to the rest of the house it was.

Harry closed the door behind him and turned to look at the room. There was a bookshelf against one wall, a window on the other. A desk with  a computer and several different laptops was on the other side of the room and there was a couch pushed into one corner. He caught sight of several photographs lining the walls and Harry moved closer to one to get a better look.