teacups for the wine

1

Louis' mood is already pretty shit when he's returning from work because apparently Linda cannot tell the difference between lace and tissue paper and got an order mixed up. And of course, Louis had to profusely apologise to the customer for it. Running a flower shop is better than most professions he'll admit and he enjoys his weekend trips out of the city to the gardens where he gets his supply from. And guess what? He loves his home, it's cosy and warm and smells just like him. What more can an omega living alone ask for? What he didn't expect was to be hit in the face with a brick which was the heady scent of his supposed new neighbour when he comes close to his door. That, of course, gets on his nerves as most things do.

He walks determinedly over to the alpha unloading boxes from the truck and while he is pissed, he can't admit that he isn't good looking.

"You know you don't have to scent the goddamn area just because you moved in here like some bloody barbarian," he says calmly, tapping his foot on the ground as he waits for a response. The alpha looks up. Mossy green eyes. Oh.

"What are you on about, love?" he asked, voice so deep Louis could drown but no. Focus is important.

"My front yard reeks of alpha. What did you do?"

"Oh, you live next door then? I'm sorry, mate. I really didn't mean to, my cat just ran off and was waiting on your doorstep. She's inside the house now so I promise I'll never bother you with this again," he said sincerely and Louis couldn't possibly be more attracted to him.

"Okay, what is her name then?"

"Whose?"

"The cat's and now, yours."

"Dusty and I'm Harry," he smiles, holding out his hand for Louis to shake. Dimples. Louis takes his hand and it is completely engulfed by Harry's.

"I'm Louis," he returns the smile with equal vigour. This alpha's not half as bad as he thought. "Hey, do you wanna come in for a cuppa? I make a mean one," he offers as a blush creeps up to his cheeks.

"Yeah, I'll come in like ten minutes. I have this box left to take in and would rather not have it stolen, mate." Louis nods, still standing there like some fool. "Don't you wanna go in? It's pretty chilly out here," Harry points out after a while and Louis shakes his head in 'no'.

"I'll wait for you. It's pretty rude to just walk out on someone after you've invited them in for tea don't you think?" he asks and Harry just smiles.

"So what do you do for a living then?" Louis asks as he fills the mugs with hot water.

"Oh, I'm an architect. How about you?"

"I'm a florist," he says, walking over to Harry who is sitting on a futon. He hands a mug over, smiling as he does. "Careful, it's hot, wait I'll put it on the coffee table," he says suddenly, slightly jerking the mug away from him.

"I think I can handle a hot mug for a couple seconds, love," Harry smirks at Louis' candour and Louis has half a mind to tell him to shove it.

"Do you want digestives?" he asks, changing the topic and Harry shrugs. He does get up and get them though.

Once comfortably sitting, Louis leans back a little to observe Harry. He is a beautiful alpha, there is no doubt about that. His chocolate brown hair curls towards the end, his jaw cuts sharply and the stubble he probably hasn't gotten to shave due to the business of moving all add up to paint the image of a man so infuriatingly beautiful. That and his heavily inked arms.

"You're staring, Lou," Harry says after a while, placing an arm on top of the sofa and it almost touches the back of Louis' neck. Almost.

"I'm sorry for calling you a barbarian earlier, Harry." His expressions have softened, looking down into the tea in his mug. He's not going to lie and say he doesn't feel bad about calling Harry a barbarian because, in all honesty, he feels terrible about it.

"Hey now, it's okay. I understand. I would've reacted the same way if I were in your position. I'm not mad, trust me, just a bit embarrassed about the way I scented the place." His arm is still in that position and Louis should be more bothered about the fact that Harry just accepted his apology but all he sees are the damn muscles so clearly defined on his arm. "You're doing it again, love," he sighs, leaning his head back as he closes his eyes. Louis just hums, looking away for a while before fixing his gaze on the alpha again.

As life would have it, Harry happened to be shit tired and in the few moments that he had closed his eyes, he fell asleep. Louis waits for a while, contemplating what to do. Waking up someone when they're so tired and asleep is the move of an asshole and letting Harry sleep like that would make his neck hurt. Finally, he decides on getting up and helping Harry lie down. It's a difficult manoeuvre but he manages, all while biting the inside of his cheeks. He places a cushion underneath his head and drapes the crocheted blanket over his sleeping form. He could worry about the consequences of his actions when Harry woke up.

Louis is cooking pasta for two when Harry happens to awake from his deep slumber. Even if it's Louis' vague guess, Harry had been asleep for over four hours. He knows because he cleaned up the place a little, took a shower and his pasta's almost done all while Harry lay snoring.

"Fuck shit I'm so sorry I fell asleep like that. Why didn't you wake me up or something? " Harry groans, voice scratchy from the sleep.

"It's rude to wake people up from their sleep, Harold. I assume you don't have dinner plans so you can eat here. I always make too much food for one person," he says, back still facing the living room. Oh only if Harry knew Louis was never wrong with portions and he only cooked more to keep Harry with him a little longer.

"You are unbelievably kind for someone who just called me a barbarian a few hours ago," he sighs, hand lazily rubbing his face.

"Go wash your face, you drool in your sleep," Louis says as he turns to face him with a slightly cheeky smile and he watches Harry's face go a bit red. Yeah, he likes him.