The Contract

Two

Harry had gone on one date with Zayn's friend and declined a second one. Louis wanted to shout "I fucking told you so!" but he was more mature than that. Harry found a third guy to date a couple of weeks later. It didn't bother Louis at all, except it fucking did! There was no way Harry would find a partner before he did! Harry was only 29 for fucks sake. He had plenty of time to settle down. He on the other hand was 31 and he wanted to start a family. So he hit Grinder and found a date. Maybe it wasn't the best app to use but he had to start somewhere since their flatmates seemed to be rooting for Harry, throwing guys to date on him from left to right. Okay, only two so far, but still. Harry had a lead.

His date was a total bust. The guy was so boring that he almost fell asleep during dinner. He declined the offer to go back to his place. He would probably be boring in bed too but that was not the point. He was looking for a partner, not a one-night stand.

Everyone was out so he flopped down on the sofa and watched a couple of episodes of Friends.

Harry came home from his date. A third guy. Not that Louis was counting.
"How was your date?" Harry asked, all smiling and irritating.

"A total drag. Yours?" Louis retorted. He could at least be polite.

"Great actually! We're going out again on Friday." Harry beamed.

"Really? So he's the one?" Louis said sarcastically.

"It's too early to know that but he's nice." Harry replied.

"He probably has a small pecker." Louis smirked and wiggled his pinky in front of Harry.

"That wouldn't matter! Why do you have to be so shallow?" Harry huffed.

Louis didn't really care about that either but Harry didn't have to know that so he just shrugged his shoulders and pressed play on the remote to continue watching his episode of Friends, thinking that Harry would take the hint. He didn't.
"Oh, I love this episode!" Harry said and made himself comfortable on the couch.

They watched three more episodes together in silence before the boys arrived back home. It was Louis' turn to make dinner so he headed to the kitchen and heated a lasagna his grandma had made him a couple of weeks ago. Somehow his flatmates hadn't figured out yet that he couldn't cook. Whenever it was his turn for kitchen duties he either used one of his grandma's frozen dishes, made something from a can, or ordered something. It was his way to contribute without giving someone food poisoning. Still, they had been living together all five of them for six months by now.

Harry walked not the kitchen.
"How's it going?"

"It's almost ready." Louis replied.

"You know what I've noticed?" Harry asked.

"What?" Louis questioned.

"You never actually cook something, except pasta occasionally." Harry said.

So someone had noticed. Louis decided to act dumb.
"What are you talking about? I have a lasagna in the oven right now!"

"Heating it. You left the living room ten minutes ago. There's no way you made that from scratch." Harry pointed out.

"Maybe I made it earlier while you were busy with your hot date?" Louis retorted.

"True. Never mind. Can I help with something?" Harry said.

So he hadn't figured it out just yet. Good. It was a bit embarrassing being over his thirties and still not being able to cook properly.
"You can make a salad?"

"Sure." Harry agreed and walked over to the fridge to pick out some vegetables.

Two days later Louis had another date with a guy from work. It was a disaster. If the first one had been boring Alexander was even worse. He skipped dessert and declined a second date. When he came home Harry was the only one still up. He was watching Friends.
"My show!" Louis protested and threw himself on the couch.

"You own the show? Why on Earth are you sharing a sunky flat with four other guys then? Where's the secret penthouse?" Harry joked.

Louis chuckled lightly and grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl in Harry's lap.
"How was the date?" Harry asked.

"Awful. I hate first dates." Louis sighed.

"So there won't be a second one?" Harry wondered.

"Nope." Louis replied.

"Maybe you should give the guys a chance at least?" Harry suggested.

"He talked about his tonsils for 40 minutes!" Louis snorted.

Harry giggled.
"Okay, I get your point."

They finished the episode of Friends before they headed to their separate rooms. Louis had no idea how he ended up watching tv with Harry two days this week? They usually avoided each other.

On Friday Louis got off early from work and went home to wait for the guys. They were gonna go out and eat something, except for Harry who had his date. Louis took a shower and got ready.

Niall, Liam, and Zayn arrived at their apartment at five. They all headed to their rooms to get ready. Harry came rushing inside at 17.30. He was late. Usually, he got off an hour after Louis.
"Crap, Marcus is picking me up in twenty minutes. Can you entertain him while I get ready?"

"Uhm, sure." Louis agreed somewhat unwillingly.

Harry disappeared into his room and Louis listened to him arguing with the boys that he needed the shower first. Twenty minutes later there was a knock on the door and Louis went to open it.
"Hi, I'm here to pick up Harry. I'm Marcus."

"He's not ready yet. You can wait in the living room." Louis said and turned his back to him and walked back to the sofa.

Marcus followed him and took a seat. Louis small talked a bit to get a feel for the guy. He couldn't find anything special about him. Harry could do so much better. He has no idea what came over him.
"I'm glad that you are so open-minded."

Marcus looked confused.
"Ehm, thanks?"

"Most people would have a hard time accepting Harry's addiction to clown porn." Louis blurted out.

"Clown porn?" Marcus repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah, oh wait, he didn't tell you about that? Oh, dear." Louis said, trying to sound petrified for letting it slip.

"Ehm, no. We've only been on one date." Marcus mumbled, clearly uncomfortable.

"I thought that you met on that website for clown porn enthusiasts?" Louis lied.

"Definitely not." Marcus replied.

"I'm sorry. I thought... Please forget this conversation. I feel awful for exposing him like that. I really thought that you knew. He would be so embarrassed." Louis stuttered.

"Right... I won't mention it." Marcus said with a stiff smile.

Harry entered the living room.
"Hi Marcus, I'm sorry you had to wait. I had to work over. Are you ready to go?"

"Uhm, sure." Marcus said and got up.

When they had walked out the door Louis fell back on the couch, exhaling sharply. Why the hell did he do that? He felt awful.