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Chapter 1: Louis

He didn't bother to knock on the door, he was over here so much that it wasn't necessary. Besides, he wouldn't mind catching Harry at a bad time, he thought with a smile.

Tonight was supposed to be a quiet one. Harry had been begging him for months to watch his favorite romantic comedy, The Notebook, with him, and he had finally agreed. If he was being honest he didn't mind them too much, but Harry was so cute about it that he had let it drag on for a while before finally giving in.

He could hear the shower running so he walked into the kitchen to make tea. While he waited for the kettle to warm he climbed the stairs and stepped into the bathroom. Steam filled the room, fogging the mirror. He could see Harry's silhouette behind the smokey glass of the shower, unwitting that Louis was in the room.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, making Harry jump. He didn't wait for an answer and starting stripping off his clothes.

"Louis-you're early-" he stumbled out. Louis ignored him and continued undressing, despite how flustered his boyfriend seemed.

He pulled back the door and stepped into the shower, his eyes roaming over Harry's tattoos. His body was blocking the steady stream of water, small droplets sitting on his tan skin. His long hair dropped into his eyes and his face was flushed.

Louis ran his hands across Harry's abs, slowly moving them down to his hip bones and even lower, but stopping himself before going there. Instead, he grabbed the bar of soap off the walls and rubbed it over his skin. When he looked up, Harry was staring at him, his eyes full of lust.

Louis tilted his head at him, pretending to be innocent. "What?"

Harry leaned forward and pressed him lips against his, his mouth hungry and longing. Louis didn't protest when Harry's tongue roamed his mouth. His hands were on Louis' back and he sighed with pleasure into Harry's throat, feeling his own hands running over his flexing muscles.

Finally, when he had no choice but to breathe, he pulled away. As he sucked in gulps of air they heard the scream of the kettle, signifying it was boiling. He flicked his hair off his forehead and grinned, stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel low around his waist.

"Tea," he explained. Harry's eyes were still on him, but he nodded in understanding. Louis turned back and saw him shiver, probably having turned the water cold.

By the time Harry was finished, Louis had served the tea, set up for their movie, and was shuffling through the pantry in search for something to eat. Harry was wearing skinny jeans and a white tee, and he threw a pile of clothes at Louis. His hands went up and caught it on reflex. There was an over-sized sweatshirt, and pair of boxers, and some sweatpants he had left here some other time.

He stepped off the stool he was using and let the towel drop, pretending not to notice Harry gasp. He pulled on the clothes slowly, making the moment last longer before finally turning around.

"Ready for our movie?"

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. Harry spent more time staring at Louis than the screen, but he just told himself it was because he had seen it so many times.

The movie itself was okay, better that the other Rom-cons he had seen, but still relatively boring. He didn't tell Harry that though as he kept nudging him and whispering spoilers about the characters. Even though the movie wasn't the best, it was still fun to see how happy Harry was. Louis never said it, but he was proud of who Harry had become. When they first met he had been sexy and relatively quiet, but he had finally stopped giving a damn about what others thought and was doing whatever he wanted. It was one of the things Louis loved the most about him.

He sighed, resting his head on Harry's chest and closing his eyes. He felt a blanket being draped over him but he hardly noticed, his ears full of the sound of Harry's heartbeat.

When he opened his eyes the credits were rolling and he was curled up, practically on Harry's lap. He looked up, slowly blinking his eyes to wash away the grogginess. He must have fallen asleep. He had no idea what had happened at the end of the movie, but he didn't really care because he'd hardly been paying attention anyway.

"Hey Lou," Harry breathed, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Hi," he whispered back, holding back a yawn. Unfortunately, Harry saw it. He picked up his phone and checked the time, his face falling. 

"You probably have to go now, you'll need some sleep." Harry sighed. Louis had a photo shoot tomorrow at eight. He groaned, burying his face in Harry's shirt.

"Another hour can't hurt," he tried. For a moment Harry faltered, then his resolve hardened. He opened his mouth to protest, but Louis was already pulling himself up.

"Ugh, fine. I hate modeling," he grumbled, and Harry grinned.

"I mean you could always just not have an album cover..." Harry poked him, making him smile even though he was annoyed.

"I'm sure the fans would appreciate it," he replied sarcastically. Harry's face softened.

"I'm sure they'd appreciate me dragging you there to get your picture taken cause you're the most beautiful man they've ever seen."

Louis snorted, but gave in. Almost. "Second most beautiful to you." He leaned forward and kissed Harry softly on the nose, smiling when he giggled.

"Fine, I take the title. But you should get your beauty sleep if you want to beat me."

Harry rose and followed him, even though Louis could walk himself out without any problem. They both ignored his abandoned clothes on the bathroom floor. It would give him an excuse to be back later, not that he technically needed it.

He grabbed the keys out of his cap and slipped them into his pocket before pulling it on. He turned to leave but Harry caught his arm. He spun him around and kissed him, his breath tickling his neck as he pulled away.

"I love you Lou," he whispered. Louis shivered onto his touch, then lifted on his toes and brushed his lips against Harry's again.

"I love you too Haz." Then he pulled away and headed towards his car. As he started the engine he looked up to see Harry, still in the doorway, waving at him. He shook his head and smiled, then pulled out of the driveway.

He had been thinking about it for a while, but he was unsure until now. Everything had felt like a dream for the past six months, and he had worried it was going to fade away, that another fight would create a rift between them. But since coming out to the world everything had been perfect between them, and tonight, even as plain as it was, had decided his mind.

Tomorrow he would wake up to Harry's texts of good luck, go to his shoot, and then meet up later at the park. It was simple, but Harry had always wanted to have normal moments.

His mind drifted to the ring at the bottom of his drawer as he planned for tomorrow.