The Contract

Five

Louis hadn't been on a date in two weeks. He was tired of it and it wasn't really his thing. He had always had the philosophy that he would meet the right guy unexpectedly and he would just know. Or at least there would be a moment where they made eye contact and that spark would be there. He knew that he was something of a hopeless romantic, but excessively dating to find a suitable partner felt so clinical.

Harry hadn't been on any dates either. Instead, they watched a lot of Friends together. Sometimes the guys joined them but usually, it was just the two of them and it was surprisingly nice. He had discovered that Harry was easy to talk to. He had a hard time remembering why they got off on the wrong foot in the beginning.

Liam had met Harry at the gym and brought him along on one of their nights out since Harry was new in town and didn't know anybody. He had been pretty drunk that night and didn't remember much of it. He had found him attractive. He had eyes for fucks sake. Harry was gorgeous. He could admit that much. Well, for some reason they hadn't gotten along but the rest of the guys liked Harry. He needed a place to stay and they had a spare bedroom. The rest was history.

It was his week to cook and he was panicking, staring into an empty fridge. He hadn't been home to Doncaster in a while, so his supply of frozen dinners from granny was long gone. He used the last of the lasagna the last time he had his cooking week. He better order some Chinese or something because the boys would be home soon starving as usual.

He opened the fridge. It was fully stocked but he couldn't think of anything to make. That was when Harry walked in.
"Hi, Lou. How was work?"

"Fine, you?" Louis replied absentmindedly.

"Good, making dinner?" Harry asked with a smile.

Louis gestured at the fridge.
"There's nothing there."

"We went grocery shopping yesterday!" Harry giggled.

Louis just sighed and put his tongue out. Harry glanced at the clock.
"Alright, I'll help you."

"Really?" Louis smiled.

"Absolutely. But I have a date in an hour so I'll help you get started. Burritos? Not even you can mess that up." Harry smirked.

"Watch me." Louis chuckled. He felt irritated all of a sudden. A date? Harry gathered the ingredients and put a cutting board in front of him. Louis picked up the knife and stared at it suspiciously.
"What am I supposed to do with this?"

Harry burst out in a loud cackle.
"Well, first of all, you'll turn it to the other side. Secondly, start shopping for vegetables."

Louis' cheeks turned pink. He smiled a bit amused and went to the sink to wash the vegetables first. He glanced at Harry who was busy by the stove.
"Date, huh? Who's the lucky guy?"

"His name is Frank. He's an accountant." Harry informed him.

"Geez, I'm falling asleep already." Louis teased.

He tried t cut the tomatoes.
"Oh, dear. This is a proper trainwreck."

Harry giggled and let go of the spatula and walked over. He stood behind Louis and took his hand where the knife was.
"Cut carefully, don't press. Then you just squish it."

"Right." Louis chuckled.

Time flew. Before they knew it an hour had passed. Harry panicked and rushed to his room to get ready. A couple of minutes later there was a knock on the door and Louis went to open it. He let Harry's date inside and brought him to the kitchen so he could keep an eye on the stove.
"Harry is getting ready. Just give him a couple of minutes."

Frank sighed and looked at his arm watch. Louis despised him already. Harry just needed a minute or two. He was worth the wait.
"So, I'm glad that Harry has found himself a new sugar daddy."

Frank swallowed air and started to cough. Louis hid a smile. It had been a risky move. He had no idea if Frank was into that. From the look of it, he wasn't.
"A word of advice from his former Daddy, he likes very expensive presents and he wants to be spoiled on a daily basis. I couldn't keep up with my shitty salary but you're an accountant, right?"

"Right." Frank mumbled.

That was when Harry decided to make an appearance.
"Hi Frank, I'm sorry I kept you waiting."

Frank looked a little pale.
"It's fine. We should go."

"Alright, do you have things under control here, Louis?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, have fun, baby." Louis winked.

Harry gave him an odd look before he left. Louis giggled by himself. Then he felt bad. He had destroyed another one of Harry's dates. He didn't have time to ponder over it. The guys arrive home and they all sat down to eat.
"Where's Harry?" Liam asked.

"On a date." Louis muttered.

"You don't sound happy about it." Niall smirked.

"I met the guy. He's not the one for Harry." Louis snorted.

"Really, who is then? You've been dating quite a lot." Niall said.

"Well, it's not exactly easy to find the right guy, is it?" Louis sighed.

"Sometimes they're right in front of you." Niall replied.

"What the fuck does that mean? Do you wanna date me?" Louis smirked.

Niall burst out laughing.
"Sorry, mate. Too much of... that." He waved his hand at Louis.

"You couldn't handle it, Nialler." Louis grinned.

"I don't want to handle it!" Niall replied dryly.

Louis just laughed. Then Zayn had to ruin his good mood.
"The food is great. Tastes a lot like Harry's cooking."

"Pffft." Louis huffed.

They cleared the table together and hung out in the living room for a while before Liam headed to the gym, Zayn wanted to finish his latest painting and Niall took a long bath. Louis didn't move from the couch. Ten minutes later Harry arrived back home. He threw himself on the couch with a sigh.
"How was the date?"

"Awful." Harry replied and rubbed his hands over his face.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Louis replied. He hoped it sounded sincere.

"Nevermind. Wanna watch Friends?" Harry asked.

"Sure." Louis agreed.