The Magic Within You

December 6th

"Louis, come to us!"

Puzzled, and with a hand over his heart, he turns to see Bessie and Arthur back at the bar, waving wildly. Cheerfully, he waves back and rushes towards them both.

"But no alcohol for me today," he grins as he first leans down to greet Bessie and give her a light smack on the cheek.

Arthur pets Louis's cheek with a fond smile and Louis has the feeling that his family has grown by two grandparents.

"Have a seat boy," Bessie says, pointing to the chair next to her. Louis immediately drops in and sees what the two are drinking.

"I can see you're good today and drinking coffee. How did you feel after our evening?" Louis asks and orders a cup of tea when a hotel employee comes to their table.

"Oh don't ask. The day after gets harder and harder with age," Arthur laughs.

Louis scoffs, "That doesn't give me much hope for when I'm old."

"Now tell me how are you? Any news on the angel?" Bessie asks, looking at him expectantly.

"His name is Harry," Louis breathes dreamily, seemingly unable to pronounce his name in any other way when it comes to the man.

"And he's two years younger than me. We have a date today and I'm so damn nervous," he adds.

Bessie claps her hands enthusiastically and pats his thigh with a proud look while Arthur nods in amazement.

"You put your money where your mouth is, huh? But love takes courage, you did everything right."

"Oh then it's a good thing you didn't see me yesterday. I was a mess, literally heartbroken waiting for a message he had promised me and thought I had no chance after he didn't answer me," Louis says sheepishly and takes a sip of his tea.

"What happened sweetie?" Bessie asks.

Louis talks about his hours in which he thought everything was over in all drama, leaves nothing out, not even how his sister forced him to go to the shopping centre with her and how overjoyed he was in the evening.

Arthur and Bessie laugh softly at his tales, which he underscores with sweeping hand gestures and cooing towards the end as Louis' cheeks turn pink just from being able to talk about Harry.

"And what are your plans for today?" Bessie asks as Louis finishes.

"We want to go for a walk together and I hope he will keep me warm. I hate the cold," Louis smirks and waggles his eyebrows. "And then we'll go to his flat!"

"Uh," Bessie chirps and Arthur clears his throat.

"Not for that," Louis laughs.

But then he suddenly thinks about what if Harry is just looking for a one night stand? Or a quick fling while he's here? He hadn't even thought about that possibility. What does Harry even want? And what would a future look like for the two of them now that Louis thinks about it. They would be hours apart, he only has time on weekends for one to visit the other.

But Bessie quickly distracts him from his concerns.

"And even if. At least that way you can tell right away if the chemistry is right," she winks. "We were young once too, right Arthur?"

"Hmm," he just nods but doesn't seem to want to elaborate on the subject.

Louis nods. "I mean yeah, you're right about that but... I don't just want to sleep with him. It's not what I'm after. As far as I'm concerned, we could just sit next to each other and hold hands for a lifetime and I'd be happy."