larry smut

baby look what you've done to me

"Hi Mum," he says.

"Darling! You haven't called me in ages, I was so worried," she answers.

Louis rolls onto his stomach and breathes a hot puff of air into his phone. "Sorry, sorry. Just busy with the move is all." Busy, yes. He eyes the boxes strewn haphazardly across the lounge. Very...busy.

"How's it going?" she asks. "Do you need any help unpacking? Decorating? Do you need me to bring some meals up for you?"

He smiles to himself at his mother's babbling, drumming his nails on the floor as she lists possible things Louis might need. "I'm fine, Mum. Promise. Made some progress." Lies. "I'm eating actual food." Bit of a lie. "Almost done everything. I'll have you and the kids up in a few weeks to see the finished product." Nothing like a bit of pressure to get him motivated, he thinks.

"Oh! That would be wonderful, love. I can't wait to see the place. Have you checked the post recently, by chance?"

Louis frowns and wrinkles his nose at the question, unsure of where he should even check for his mail now. "Haven't set that up yet, to be honest. I think there might be a mailroom on the first floor. Guess I should get the key for that."

"Please do," she responds. "The kids and I sent something special for you."

Louis grins and finally picks himself off of the floor, ambling to his feet with a low groan. "I'll get right on that, Mum. Love you."

"Lots of love, dear. And get unpacking, I don't believe you've been working on it one bit." She ends the call with a giggle, leaving Louis to gape at his phone in disbelief. He supposes he is a bit predictable.

With a burst of energy, Louis grabs a trash bag from the kitchen and throws all of the pizza boxes away. He tackles his unpacked boxes next, shoveling his comics onto the wooden bookshelf built into the wall and putting pictures of his family and random decorations on top of the small fireplace mantle.

Within an hour almost the entire lounge is unpacked, cardboard boxes folded down and lying flat on the floor next to the bag of trash. He picks the boxes up in one arm and the trash with another, stumbling down the hallway with the added weight as he leaves his flat. He notices with more than a little irritation that the building's elevator is now fixed; it's just his luck, really. He heads down the basement with his disposables, intending to get his mail key on the way down as well.

Getting the key is easy enough, but he's a bit nonplussed when he opens his box and sees it's stuffed, filled to the brim with envelopes and postcards. Most are from his extended family wishing him well in his new home. He opens the one from his mum with a smile, unfolding it right then and there and letting out a loud squawk when glitter rains from the card and onto the floor. "The twins," he groans, toeing at the mess on the floor. The inside of the card is decorated with little messages from the girls and crayon scribbles at the bottom from Doris and Ernest. The other side of the card reads:

"Happy Housewarming, Love!
Please unpack. Neatly.
Love, Mummy

P.S. Use this gift card wisely."

Said giftcard to IKEA is taped to the bottom, next to a bunch of X's and O's. He pulls out his phone and sends a quick thank you text to his mum and then tucks the card back into its envelope. The rest of the mail is mostly acknowledgement of his change of address notifications from different places and a nice note from his landlord welcoming him to the building. The bottom of the stack, however, makes him pause. There are a bunch of letters addressed to "Harry Styles." Louis glances around at the other boxes, searching for any with his name on it but none are to be found. He shrugs, hoping they're nothing of major importance to this Harry Styles, and tucks them under his arm, making his way back to his place.