Guns & Roses (Larry Stylinson)

Give & Take

"How was the food?" She questioned, the soft clatter of plates being stacked the only sound breaking through the immediate silence.

"Delicious, Joan," Harry complimented, shooting her a winning smile. He was such an expert at plastering them on when he needed to. Was I truly the only one who recognized the underlying ache in his eyes?

"Good. I'm glad. Do you two have any plans after this?" She asked, offering us a smile as she finished collecting the plates and glasses.

"Not really," I dismissed, wishing she would stop lingering. She was a motherly figure to Harry, I knew that, but she was also overbearing at times.

"I actually have floral orders to work on. I'm doing house calls today, so you don't have to help if you don't want to," Harry said, glancing over at me before looking back at the table.

"I can help out," I decided, placing my hand in his once more and seeing a small smile tug on the corner of his lips.

"You two are so adorable together! I am so glad you decided to give this whole thing a try. Oh, let me pack you two some lunch before you go. On the house!"

"Thank you, but we wouldn't want you to work any harder than you have to," Harry politely declined. I saw Joan about to protest and insist on the act, so I quickly spoke up.

"Actually, I was going to make something for us."

Joan's eyebrows rose in surprise, and Harry looked pleasantly confused. Meanwhile, I was mentally cursing myself for even bringing up the topic of cooking. I didn't remember the last time I cooked a full meal for anybody that wasn't myself. Why the fuck did I volunteer myself now?

"Really?" Harry wondered aloud with a genuine smile on his lips. It was too late to take it back now.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "You've done a lot for me, figured it was about time to pay it back."

"You already have," He divulged in a small whisper. The softest smile was on his face, and I found myself wanting to kiss him more than ever before. Unfortunately, Joan was still lingering around.

"You two are just so adorable!"

Harry gave her a bashful smile, a pretty blush on full display, and I had to hold back my look of irritation. Joan was a great person, but she was far too concerned in something that wasn't any of her business.

"Okay, I'll leave you two alone now. Have a good rest of your day, boys," She offered before taking all of the dishes with her and walking off toward the kitchen.

I squeezed Harry's hand in mine and motioned to the door. "Ready to go?"

He gave a nod before standing up and allowing me to lead him out of the diner. We walked back to his car and climbed inside. The first few moments inside of the car were quiet, but I could practically hear Harry thinking a mile a minute. Finally, he voiced his thoughts.

"I want to know more about everything with Zander and that bar," He confessed. "I just need to know what's in that bar. I need to know what you two talked about."

"You don't," I supplied instead, staring out of the car window as we drove back down the streets to Harry's house. It really wasn't a far drive. In fact, within minutes I could already see the familiar neighboring houses that led to the rose-covered one.

"I know that you want to protect me, Louis, but I-"

"I can't risk putting you in danger. Telling you any more than I already have would be doing exactly that."

"It bothers me that you're so willing to put yourself in danger first," Harry admitted, pulling into the parking space outside of his house.

"I can handle it," I assured. "It's the life I was born into. I know what I'm doing, Harry."