Larry Stylinson One Shots II

Double Take

"Dammit, Louis," Harry sighs. Louis sits up and celebrates, and Harry puts his phone down and pouts.

"What's up, honey?"

"You ignored me," Harry sulks. It was embarrassing enough to fall on stage in front of his boyfriend, but it was even more embarrassing when his boyfriend didn't even help him up. "Chivalry is dead."

"Don't be so dramatic. You're a big boy, you got up on your own," Louis patronizingly says.

"You could've helped me," Harry counters.

"Fine, let's reenact it." Louis gets up and pulls Harry with him. Reluctant at first, Harry carefully pretends to fall. Louis walks towards him, just like he did on stage. However, it's different this time. Instead of walking past him, Louis stops, brings his hands up to his cheeks, and dramatically gasps. "Oh my gosh! Harry! Are you okay?" Louis theatrically exclaims. He falls to the floor and inspects Harry's body, lifting his limbs and checking for a heartbeat. "Did you break anything? Did you bump your head? Are you crying?"

"I'm not crying-"

"Shh, don't talk. It's alright. Oh, my poor baby. Come here." Louis picks up his lanky boyfriend and drags him to the bed, where he cradles him and rocks him back and forth.

"Louis," Harry giggles. Louis is acting like a distraught housewife whose child just broke a bone.

"It's okay, Harry. You're going to be okay," Louis promises, leaving kisses all over Harry's face.

"Louis!" Harry shrieks, laughing wildly now. "And, scene." Harry claps his hands together like a clapperboard.

"Is that what you wanted me to do?" Louis asks in a normal voice, letting go of Harry.

"Yes," Harry says, and Louis laughs sarcastically.

"I'm sorry for not helping you when you fell," Louis says.

"And for ignoring me," Harry adds.

"And for ignoring you," Louis repeats. "I promise that the next time you fall on stage, I'll look in your general direction." Harry giggles, and Louis kisses his boyfriend.

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2
The weather is nice, the kind of nice that makes the sunshine seep into your skin and makes you feel lighter. Louis is sitting on a woven chair across from Harry in the sunroom of Anne's home; beams of warm sunlight lay across their bare legs and on the table between them. Louis sips his chilled Diet Coke, then studies his cards carefully.

"Do you have any fours?" Louis slowly asks with squinted eyes. Harry keeps Louis' gaze for a moment, peering over the fanned cards in his hands. With a defeated sigh, Harry surrenders two cards. Louis completes his set of four before clapping his hands together. "Better luck next time, Hazza," Louis smiles, remaining humble amidst his victory by using one of the oldest nicknames he has for Harry.

"I'm gonna beat you one day," Harry pledges.

"Right," Louis doubtfully says. As Harry gathers the cards to shuffle them for a third round, a visitor jumps onto the table.

"Dotty!" Harry happily says in his silly baby voice reserved for talking to pets. He immediately leaves the cards on the table and picks Dotty up, despite a small meow from her. "Hello baby girl," he says, annunciating every syllable. He holds her like a baby and she simply allows it to happen. In the rays of light, Louis can see black and white cat fur floating in the air from when she jumped onto the table. "You are so cute. You are just the cutest little thing I've ever seen." Harry kisses her head while Louis begins to sniffle, then he gently sets her back on the ground, not without a quick back scratch.

"And three, two, one..." Louis holds up his finger, then sneezes twice into the crook of his elbow.

Whenever they go to Anne's house, Louis' eyes always itch a little and he sneezes a few times, but it's nothing he can't handle. His allergies really only get cumbersome when he is in close proximity to the cats, like he is now.

"Oh, sorry," Harry realizes. He always forgets Louis is allergic to cats until they're at Anne's house and Louis' eyes are watering and he's sneezing up a storm. "Bless you," he says when Louis sneezes a third time. Dotty jumps up onto Harry's lap, and he smiles and scratches her head before shuffling the cards. He deals a few of them and sets the remaining stack in between him and Louis, and a new game of Go Fish begins.

Louis can feel his eyes itching and beginning to water the longer Dotty stares at him. He tries not to sneeze so much, but a few sneak out here and there; Harry says "bless you" after each and every one. When Dotty decides Harry has had enough of her love and attention, she jumps onto the floor and sits in the warm sunshine by the window.

"Hi boys," Anne says when she enters the sunroom. "Oh, I didn't know Dotty was in here. Are you doing okay, Louis, or do you want me to take her to another room?"

"I'm doing okay, thank you for remembering," Louis says, sounding a little nasally and congested.

"I forgot. Sue me," Harry quietly says.

"My mother-in-law knows me better than my husband," Louis shakes his head. "Got any tens?"

"You poor thing," Harry mournfully says. "Go fish." Louis suddenly feels something soft rub against his calf. He looks under the table and sees another black and white cat, but this one is a little bigger and much older.

"Is this Dusty?" Louis asks.

"Yes," Anne says. "Dusty, come here." She makes a kissing sound, and Dusty looks in her direction. However, Dusty is more interested in Louis.

"I'm allergic to you, Dusty," Louis says in a gentle voice. Dusty looks at Louis' lap and promptly crouches. "No," he says. Dusty ignores him and jumps onto his lap, head-butting his chest and leaving a few stray hairs behind on his white t-shirt. He looks at Harry and gives him a tight, pursed-lip smile, cocked head, and squinted eyes, silently demanding that he take Dusty off of his lap.

"Sorry," Harry apologizes again. He sets his cards face-down on the table, then walks around to Louis and slowly lifts Dusty off of his lap. "Come on, Dee-Dee," Harry says in that same sweet pet voice and carries her out of the room. Soon, Louis' eyes water even more and he relinquishes a string of sneezes. When Harry returns, he closes the door behind him so no more cats can enter, then hands Louis a lint roller. "Just in case," he says as he sets a small box of antihistamines on the table. He lovingly squeezes Louis' shoulder before returning to his seat.

"Thank you," Louis says, sniffling as he runs the lint roller over his lap and the front of his shirt.

"Is Dotty okay in here?" Anne wonders. Louis sneezes again, and Harry pouts.

"We're gonna go get some fresh air," Harry decides. Louis takes an antihistamine and takes a long sip of his Diet Coke before going outside; Harry follows behind him, book in hand.

The boys sit close together on the cushioned porch swing. Harry takes the liberty of lazily rocking them back and forth, since his feet comfortably touch the ground.

"Want me to read to you?" Harry asks.

"Sure," Louis nods. He curls his legs up beside him and rests his head on Harry's shoulder as the boy begins reading. The bright sunshine on Louis' bare legs keeps him warm, and Harry's gentle rocking is lulling him into serenity. Harry's voice is calm and steady as he reads aloud, and everything wraps Louis in the most perfect state of comfort.

"That was a good chapter. Lou?" Harry looks down when Louis doesn't respond, and only then does he realize his husband has fallen asleep; antihistamines do make him drowsy, after all. "Oh," he whispers. One of Louis' hands is resting on Harry's thigh, and his thumb lightly twitches. "I'll read in my head now," Harry whispers, then presses a soft kiss to Louis' head before silently starting the next chapter. He keeps gently rocking the porch swing, letting Louis doze while the two of them bask in the beautiful summer sun.

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