The Admiration Project

Chapter 7

"Of course, honey. Who's this?" She asked, holding her hand out to shake.

"I'm Harry, nice to meet you." Louis watched on fondly as Harry tried to restrain his excitement.

"I promise he's not on drugs, he just really likes kids," Louis reassured, even though Mrs. Sander seemed perfectly content with Harry's presence.

"No worries at all."

Mr. Sander appeared at the doorway holding her purse and sweater, politely explaining to the boys that they were going to be late if they didn't leave right then. Once the door was locked behind them, Harry followed Louis into the living room to meet the kids.

Upon their entrance, Emily, the youngest, jumped up and ran over to Louis, wrapping her short arms around his hips.

"Louis!" The other two shouted, following Emily's lead. Once they had all properly said hello, Louis began introducing them to Harry.

"Emily, Justin, Luna, this is Harry. He's going to be hanging out with us tonight," Louis explained carefully, unsure of how they would react to a new presence. They hadn't taken to Louis all that well at first.

Harry smiled his biggest, friendliest smile, and the moment Louis looked back down that the children, he knew they were hooked.

He bent down and they engulfed him in a group hug, Justin, the middle child, and Luna, the oldest, letting go first and leaving Emily to cling to Harry. She pulled away, only to hold his face in her small, pale hands and study him.

"You're pretty," she stated. She looked up at Louis, back to Harry, then back up at Louis again. "Isn't he pretty, Lou?"

Louis flushed immediately. He looked at Harry, who broke out into an even wider grin, if possible, but it had a bit of a smugness to it that wasn't there previously.

"Yeah, Em, he's very pretty," Louis agreed, his voice dripping with accidental fondness. He would've been embarrassed if Harry didn't blush and look down at his own feet.

Louis looked over at Luna, who was eying them in amusement. For thirteen, she was extremely intelligent. She could probably recognize Louis' crush the second she saw them.

Crush. Jesus fuck.

Emily let go of Harry and he stood to his full height, towering over all of them, including Louis. Louis watched him for a brief moment, the glee glimmering in his eyes, the stray curls poking out from underneath his headscarf, the happy tilt to his lips. He smiled before turning back to the kids.

"Alright, did you guys eat dinner yet?"

***

Even though Louis had insisted they ordered pizza, Harry was not going to budge. 'Kids need to eat healthy dinners, Lewis,' Harry had said. Louis gave in when Harry began searching the cabinets for ingredients.

Now, he was perched up on the arm of the leather sofa with the kids while Harry cooked in the kitchen. He could smell the chicken that was in the oven and it made his stomach grumble. He'd put his T.V. dinner in the fridge at home in favor of ordering pizza with the Sander's money. So much for that. Harry had better hope that he was the best chef in all of Kentucky, or else Louis was never bringing him around the kids again.

Plankton was in the middle of sneaking into the Krusty Krab when Harry called out that dinner was ready. Emily bolted out of the living room and into the kitchen, followed by a loud squeal. Either she was incredibly impressed by Harry's cooking skills, or Harry had picked her up. There were no other possibilities.

It turned out to be the latter. Louis walked in with Luna and Jacob in tow to see Emily almost upside down in Harry's arms, legs flailing in the air and a giant grin on her face.