The Contract

Prologue

"Why is it so difficult to find someone? I'm a good person. I look decent. I always thought I would be married by thirty! I don't want to be too old to be able to pick up my kids." Harry complained loudly. He had one too many to drink.

"Maybe you're too whiny? Ever thought of that?" Louis snorted and finished his beer.

"Fuck you. You're older than me so you should really be the one panicking over this." Harry retorted.

"Wow, thanks for reminding me." Louis huffed.

"Guys, stop bickering for once. I wanna have a nice night out." Liam complained.

"We are having a nice night out." Louis replied.

They ordered a new round of beers and some shots. They downed the shots and turned the glasses upside down. Suddenly Niall jumped up.
"Oh! I have an awesome idea!"

"Does it require you to stand up?" Louis smirked.

"No, just hear me out." Niall said and took a seat again. He had everyone's attention.
"Harry? You're turning 30 a year from now, right?"

"Eleven and a half months from now. We celebrated my birthday two weeks ago, remember?" Harry chuckled.

"That's what I said. Well, if you're both single when you turn 30 you can marry each other!" Niall grinned.

"Who?" Harry asked, sounding confused.

Niall pointed at Louis who looked up and spit out his beer.
"What? Have you fucking lost it?"

"Second that, we can't even be in the same room for five minutes without arguing." Harry said.

"Just smoke and mirrors." Niall mumbled.

"I'm with those two, it would be a disaster." Zayn agreed.

"I don't know. I actually think they would be a good match. They have the same values and want the same thing." Liam commented.

Harry and Louis glanced at each other and immediately looked away.
"This is stupid." Harry muttered.

"Hey! I'm a catch!" Louis protested.

"You're at least full of yourself." Harry snorted.

"I knew that both of you would be too much of a coward to make a deal like that." Niall said and drank half his beer in one go.

"I'm not a coward but that would be one hell of a thing to do. You don't just marry someone. On the other hand, Harry here would be a lovely trophy husband." Louis smirked.

Harry rolled his eyes at him.
"In your dreams, Tomlinson."

Louis just grinned at him and finished his beer. They ordered another round and started to talk about something else. They were pretty wasted by now. A half-hour later Harry spoke up.
"It's actually not an awful idea."

"What... wait, I thought we left that discussion behind?" Zayn grunted.

"Just hear me out." Harry slurred. He took a big gulp of his beer before he continued. "Having kids is expensive, especially if you're looking at adoption or surrogate."

"So you want me for my money?" Louis said, sounding amused.

"Hush, I'm making a point here. Where was I? Right, let's face it, it's easier to either adopt or use a surrogate as a same-sex married couple than as a single gay man. Just saying, and Louis, I know we don't get along most of the time but I have seen you with your siblings, you love kids and I think you would be a wonderful parent." Harry said.

"Oh... Thanks, Harry. So would you." Louis replied, sounding surprised over the unexpected compliment.

"We both have a decent salary but I wouldn't be able to buy a house by myself and I'm guessing that you're in the same situation. That wouldn't be a problem if we were married." Harry pointed out.

"Sounds like you're already proposing. I have one more for you though. Celibacy for the rest of your life." Louis smirked.

"Open marriage." Harry shrugged.

"You would be okay with that?" Louis asked, staring at Harry.

Harry showed off his dimples in an amused smile.
"Well, I'm not having sex with you. Of course, with some rules obviously. No sex partners in the house. We would have to be discreet about it."

"Huh. This actually starts to sound like a great idea." Louis commented.

"Seriously? It's an awful idea!" Zayn protested.

"Yeah, I don't think it will end well, guys." Liam agreed.

"Party poopers!" Louis yelled, stopped mid-sentence when he got the hick-ups.

"This is plan B! I'm sure I will find a future spouse until then. I just have to start dating... A lot. I'm up for a challenge!" Harry grinned, looking a little windy-eyed.

"I will date too!" Louis proclaimed.

Niall just sat there looking pleased. He got up to get them a round of new beers to drink and came back with a pen and a piece of paper.
"Look what I have here, a contract!"

"Niall! I swear to God, what hell are you up to?" Zayn muttered.

"We need it in writing. There's a big possibility that they won't remember this tomorrow." Niall smirked.

"And that's bad? Come on!" Liam questioned.

Niall put his tongue out and started to write something on the piece of paper. When he was done he read it out loud.

Louis William Tomlinson and Harry Edward Styles agree to get married and start a family if neither of them has found a suitable partner before February 1, 2024.

"Signatures please."

Harry grabbed the pen and paper and wrote his signature on it. He handed it over to Louis who looked at him for a moment before he signed the piece of paper as well.
"Let's celebrate!" Niall shouted.