Paparazzi

Chapter 17

They've been lying awake and entwined in bed for an hour now and Louis is so happy after last night that he feels like he's floating on a cloud. Here in their little nest of blankets and pillows, and knowing that they love each other, Louis feels invincible. Harry has kept from speaking to Louis since waking up for fear he might be grumpy again, but they filled the silence with lots of kisses and snuggles.

Suddenly Harry's stomach growls softly, making both men giggle. Louis breaks free from Harry, sits up to stretch and looks at him lovingly as a pout curls his lips at the loss of physical contact.

"Let's get up, love. Your body craves food and mine craves coffee," Louis says softly, leaning down to Harry's stomach where he places a gentle kiss.

"I'll be right there, just let me go to the bathroom. Can you make some coffee already?" Harry asks and both are now standing in front of the bed but can't break away and keep pecking at each other's lips.

This gives Louis the idea that the flowers he bought for Harry are still in his car since yesterday, as is his bag of fresh clothes. He hopes the flowers aren't quite wilted because he intends to give them to Harry when he comes down to the kitchen. And if they're wilted, at least he sees the thought behind it.

Since Louis doesn't have any fresh clothes on hand at the moment, he instead grabs Harry's worn clothes hanging over a chair. He chooses one of his comfortable shorts and a T-shirt from it and loves the smell of his boyfriend clinging to it. All under the fond gaze of Harry standing in the doorway to his en suite, watching him with folded arms.

"Do you like me in your clothes?" Louis asks with a grin and puts his hand on the hip which he's popping.

"Lovely," Harry says simply, and then finally disappears into the bathroom.

Louis quickly pulls out his car keys from yesterday's jeans and then heads straight downstairs. He just quickly slips his bare feet into his shoes and opens the door. And he would have preferred to close it again immediately because what awaits him there makes him become rigid and his guts freeze. It takes his brain some time to grasp what's going on, because it seems their luck doesn't last long.

Further away in front of the big fence of the driveway there are at least 10 paparazzi, all with their cameras in front of their faces shouting things that Louis cannot understand from a distance. And Louis knows that they will have photographed him several times with their wide angle lenses already. In Harry's clothes.

With a gasp, he finally comes out of his shock and slams the door quickly shut. Breathing heavily, he leans against it and slides down on it. What the hell is going on? Is it always like this? Or did something happen that his colleagues gather in front of Harry's house on Sunday mornings and hope to be able to photograph something? And what does that mean for Harry that Louis was photographed in his front door? Immediately he panics because he hasn't forgotten Harry's words that gay rumors only push him deeper into the closet and he definitely doesn't want that for the man he loves so much. Louis is so damn overwhelmed and even if he wanted to, he couldn't move away from the door right now. His only concern at this point is Harry and what the press will make of the photos of Louis, so he doesn't even realize he's on the verge of hyperventilating.

Unfortunately he doesn't have his phone with him to check social media to only get a glimpse of what the heck is going on. When he hears Harry's footsteps on the stairs and he finally steps into the hallway, their eyes meet and Harry stops abruptly.

"Babe, why are you sitting there?" he asks in a shrill voice, letting his gaze wander over Louis and his smile dies on his face as he seems to realize the condition Louis is in. Harry immediately rushes to him and kneels down in front of him. His hands rest on his cheeks only to search his body the next moment to make sure he isn't hurt.