Chasing Sunsets // h.s. + l.t. || Larry Stylinson || louis and harry BoyxBoy

0.1

"Hello, I love you
Won't you tell me your name?"
-The Doors, "Hello, I Love You"

0.1 ~ Dusky Jewel

Louis was not a morning person, so when his alarm blared at five o'clock in the morning on the first day of fall term, saying he wasn't thrilled would be an understatement. He rolled out of bed, his hair tousled and an imprint of the edge of his pillow stamped on his cheek. Step one to Louis' routine commenced as he groggily twisted the shower nozzle and icy water careened onto his bare back.
"Fuck," he muttered. He'd forgotten to take off his sweats. They were soaked now, so he tossed them out of the tiny bathroom and onto the floor of his equally tiny kitchen. Louis was living in a flat in London while he finished up his last two years at university. He was starting his third year at school and it was his first year living alone. He liked it alright. The rent was a little steep, but at least he didn't have to deal with messy roommates and shared bathrooms. He was messy enough all by himself, and he hated other people's hair products clogging up his counter space.
On the topic of bathrooms, his shower water had finally warmed to an acceptable temperature. His hair was already washed, so he soaped himself up and scrubbed away last night's stint at the bar. Niall has been DJing at a dingy club called 'Mixxed', and Louis' boyfriend Parker had dragged him along. Clubs weren't really Louis' thing due to the fact that he couldn't hold his alcohol and he was a horrible dancer. Of course they had all gotten trashed, and Parker had ended up leaving Louis stranded and uncomfortable in the center f a mosh pit while he ran to the bathroom to vomit. Louis had walked home in the dark, cold and alone and a little drunk, and had passed out on his couch.
Louis' head pulsed with a hangover as he dried himself off and pulled on a pair of dark jeans and a tee shirt. Toms. Sweatshirt. Check and check. He toweled his hair, letting it air dry. He didn't care how he looked today. He was tired and his head hurt and dear God he needed caffeine. Breakfast...breakfast...check the fridge...sour milk and a partially rotted zucchini.
Louis considered for a moment before grabbing his keys and his satchel and shouldering his door open. Out for breakfast it was.
His flat was above "inkD", which was a tattoo parlor that sometimes sold pot out of the back. He waved to Zayn, who was bedded down on the couch in the corner, chewing on a bagel and watching something on his iPhone. Zayn was going to school to become a tattoo artist, and he was doing an internship at inkD. Sometimes he slept here when his roommate had his girlfriend stay the night and the sex got too loud.
Louis headed out the back door, bowing his head into the chilly morning breeze. It was still early, 5:45 am. Nobody was on the streets yet except for a lonely looking homeless man slumped against the side of a bench and a jogger making her way purposefully down the road. Her breath clouded white around her overly pink lips, and her blond hair bounced in a high ponytail.
Louis set off down Lane Street. Whoever had named the winding road had either had an over developed sense if irony or was just very, very stupid. It was a cute little neighborhood though, with an equal spattering of offbeat businesses and quaint brick building fronts containing little flats like his own. A lot of uni kids lived around here, but he rarely saw them. He was out at unusual times, mostly early like this, though he really rather wouldn't be, or late at night when he was stumbling in from a pub crawl with Parker.
Parker.
Parker liked to get drunk.
Louis liked to make Parker happy. So even though drunk wasn't really Louis' favorite thing, he ended up inebriated more that he would like to admit. Parker said it was edgy and cool and risqué. Louis thought it was stupid, but he never said so.
He rounded the corner and turned onto East James Street where he knew there was a bakery. He's been there once his freshman year with his step-brother, Liam, back when they were close. He wondered how Liam was doing. He should give him a call sometime.

The sign for the bakery was green and yellow and gaudy as hell, and the bright colors beamed Louis in the brain and almost sent him sprinting back to his flat for an aspirin and a nice round of self pity. But his stomach rumbled and he honestly didn't think he'd have enough energy to get back to his flat unless some coffee came into his life very soon, so he opened the door and shuffled inside.
The inside of the bakery was a little dimmer than he had expected it to be, but that was fine with him. Everything was dark wood with the occasional splash of lime and it actually looked quite nice. He could sit in here all day, he thought. Maybe read a book. Maybe write a play. Maybe finish an essay. Such was the life of a English/Theatre double major.
"Good morning! Welcome to ButterFlower Bakery and Coffee House! How can I help you?" The voice that rang out from behind the dark wood counter was so perky Louis felt that it required one of those little smiley-face emoji to be inserted in between each sentence. He blinked his eyes once, hard, to clear his still blurry vision, before glancing at the person speaking to him.
And then glancing again.
And again.
A triple take. That was a new level of surprise for Louis.
Maybe it was because it was so early.
Maybe it was because he was still a little drunk.
Maybe it was because the boy behind the counter was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Dark, curly hair, and too pink lips just like the jogger earlier but on him it was okay because it just made his smile look like it was made of the most adorable kitten's noses all smooshed together and stuck to his face and Jesus that was a horrid metaphor but Louis didn't care because all he could think was "God, why do you make people like him exist and then say in the Bible I'm not supposed to like boys?"
"Hi?" The boy tried again, smile turning from practiced to unsure.
"Sorry." Louis fumbled. "Hi. Too early to think straight."
The boy laughed, lines crinkling around his green eyes. "Yeah. For sure. I've been here since four."
"Jesus." Louis said, grinning a little and running a hand through his hair and tasting his morning breath and realizing he hadn't brushed his teeth. Parker was still on his tongue, and the though made him cringe. "I can barely function, and I only woke up at five."
The boy shrugged, dimples deepening on his cheeks. "Oh well. I worked at a bakery in Cheshire and I had to get up early then, too. I'm used to it, I guess."

Louis nodded as he ripped his eyes off of the boy and inspected the pastry case. "Can I get one of those ham and cheese croissants please? And a cappuccino. Extra dry. Extra shot. Please."
The boy nodded and lifted the croissant out of the case with a pair of tongs, placing it on a little wax paper.
"For here or to go?"
Louis considered for a moment.
"For here."
The boy handed him the food on a lime green plate.
"M'kay. That'll be two pounds, please." Louis nodded and handed him the money, sinking his teeth into his breakfast. "I'll have your drink right out, if you want to take a seat."
Louis headed to a table by the window that looked out onto the street. It was still mostly deserted, with the occasional lonely car disregarding streetlights and crosswalks. He had finished half the croissant by the time the boy brought his drink over. There was music playing softly in the background. It sounded classical, and it was soothing. Tranquil. What he might listen to before going to bed.
"So why'd you move here?" Louis asked as the boy set his drink down.
"What?"
"You said you were in Cheshire. Why'd you move to London?"
"Oh." The boy dimpled again, and Louis felt something hot ooze up next to his heart. "I'm taking a gap year before I start university. My family lives in Cheshire, but I wanted a little bit of independence before I start school, you know?"
Louis nodded. He did know.
"What about you?" The boy asked as he moved back behind the counter and started cleaning the espresso machine. "You don't have a London accent."
"I'm here for uni." Louis told him. "Just starting my third year. I'm from Bradford originally."
"What's your major?"
"English and Theatre split."
"Nice."
"What about you?" Louis asked. "What are you going to major in?"
"I'm not quite sure yet." The boy said, grabbing a rag and coming out to wipe down a few tables. The boy was tall, Louis noticed. And he looked cute in his apron.
(Stop thinking like that, Louis. You have a boyfriend.)
"I'm thinking of something culinary, maybe. I like to cook. Or maybe, like, I don't know. Music or something."
"Oh, my friend Niall is majoring in music production and he loves it. What school?"
"University of London." The boy was finished wiping the tables of non-existent crumbs and now he was leaning against one, facing Louis.
"That's where I go. It's great." The boy smiled, and Louis grinned back, and they just looked at each other for one moment that morphed into two, but then Louis' cheeks warmed and he turned away, taking a long sip of his coffee.
Ugh. It was absolutely awful. The boy did not know how to make a dry cappuccino. It took all of his willpower not to spit it out.
"That bad, huh?" The boy wasn't smiling anymore, and he looked a little disheartened. "I just can't figure out about the whole milk-steaming thing, and Martha--my manager--doesn't have time to teach me."
"No!" Louis choked, smiling and simultaneously trying to scrape the bitter taste off of his tongue. "No, it was fine."
"Really?" The boy brightened, and Louis felt warm. He nodded. "Oh, okay! I just...are you..."
Louis glanced down at his phone. 6:35. Class started at seven, and he would have to walk there. He jumped up.
"Shit! I've gotta go!"
The boy straightened, cheeks a little pink. "Okay. Have a nice day, um..."
"Louis." Louis said as he gathered his things. "You too, uh..."
"Harry." The boy said, tugging on his curls and opening the door for Louis. "My name's Harry."
"Well then, have a nice day, Harry."
They smiled at each other, and then Louis hurried out the door.

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-a.f.