your lipstick stain is a work of art » stylinson

twenty-four⚤

harry's guess proves true, because as he nears the restroom, the sound of running water fills the air. there's no sound of the water bouncing off a body, just splatting straight to the ground, going down the drain.

gulping, harry musters up enough courage to knock, a little beat, and puts his ear to the door. waiting for a few moments, he doesn't hear any movement on the other side of the door, and he goes to knock again, but decides to just go on and open the door, in the knowledge that the door's lock doesn't work. "hey! someone's in here- what the-," louis yelps, peeking out from the shower curtain, clamping his mouth shut as he notices that it's harry. "oh," he murmurs, his mouth barely moving, "you should be out there... your mum just got in..."

harry sighs and squeezes his bottom lip between his thumb and his index finger, then uses the same hand to reach up, seamlessly pulling his hair from the holder keeping it in a bun. louis doesn't comment as harry's hair falls down his shoulders. he never understood how harry's hair doesn't look crunchy and knotted up like his sister's did whenever they removed their hair buns.

he also doesn't comment when harry removes his shoes, one by one, more clumsy trying to toe off the shoe on his prosthetic, then his socks, and steps into the shower with louis, who releases his grip on the shower curtain, letting him in without question.

harry looks down at louis once he's under the stray, keeping it from hitting him, towering over him, and silently closes his eyes for a few seconds, breathing through his mouth, and louis blinks several times, his heart thumping in his chest with how much adoration he has for harry.

still fully clothed, water soaking through, also soaking his long hair, cascading down his face, dropping off his nose and lips in a way that puts a buzz in louis' eardrums, makes him feel disoriented. he stops blinking as soon as harry opens his eyes, green in a way they rarely are, water dripping off his forehead, catching on his eyelashes in a very distracting manner. "you're so beautiful," harry whispers, surprising louis, who didn't even realize harry was looking him over in the exact same way.

except louis knows that harry is just trying to make him feel better. his mascara is probably running down his cheeks, his lipstick smudged - he probably looks like a drowned rat, honestly. "harry...," he whispers, his lips folding downwards, and his eyes water up again, his throat beginning to feel raw from holding in the tears. he whimpers in the back of his throat as harry gently takes him by the arm, leading him into his chest, which is on display since his shirt is mostly unbuttoned. they wrap up in each other, and louis snivels sadly, completely distraught.

he remains quiet for a while, just crying softly from time to time, and doesn't fight it as harry starts to slowly peel his dress over his head.

he registers the wet splat as he tosses the garment out of the shower, and he feels harry moving himself, taking his own shirt off. as soon as he hears the other boy's shirt hit the floor he's back on him, welcoming the heat that is coming off of his boyfriend's lean, strong body.

even though the only things they're wearing is harry's denim jeans and louis' dark, lacy underwear and socks, the atmosphere is anything but sexual.

louis doesn't want to release harry as he distances himself just a but, using one hand to unbutton his jeans, the other to slid them off. louis reaches for him immediately, and harry kicks the jeans out of the small, wet space that they're in, and lets louis grab him again.

they stand like that for a while, like they previously had, but they eventually sink to the floor, and louis clutches onto harry's neck, his nose buried right under his jaw, being lulled as harry rubs soft circles in his back with his thumb.

harry notices that he's drifted off when his snivels let up, and his grip slackens around his neck.

slowly, trying not to wake up the sleeping baby, harry stands up, which is quite difficult since his prosthetic leg doesn't get good traction on the tile in the shower. but, he does end up upright, and he winces as louis stirs a little, and the grip on his neck tightens. making quick work of turning the water off, harry looks around to make sure no one is still there (forbid one of their mums see them like this. forbid niall see. harry honestly couldn't imagine the ways he would torture them) before tapping the light switch, closing the door after them, telling himself to remember their wet clothes in the morning.

louis starts to shiver before they get to the bedroom, and harry's slightly chilly, too - louis always keeps the thermostat quite low, to save them power bills.

as soon as they get into the bedroom does harry lay louis down, taking his socks off first, delicately, making sure they, dripping wet, make it into the clothes bin beside the closet. then, with a little more hesitancy, he puts his fingers on louis's hip, shaking him slightly, and he opens his eyes groggily. "do you want to change or do you want me to take them off, poppet?," he asks quietly, and louis' eyes flutter closed.

"you," he answers after a few moments, putting his left forearm over his eyes, "'nd hurry. 'm cold..."

harry gulps and blinks slowly, gently peeling off the underwear that wants to stick to his damp skin. breathing evenly as he can, he doesn't want to disrespect louis, so he keeps himself from staring, gently reaching up to caress louis' chin with his thumb, tossing the panties into the clothes bin with the socks. "so beautiful," he says, crossing to his side of the bed, removing louis' arm, which is placid - he's asleep again. harry chuckles to himself, fondly, and wets his thumb on his tongue, gently wiping away louis' ran mascara as best he can, pulling the blanket up to their noses, bringing louis to his chest, so blissed out by how warm he is. "i love you," he says to louis' sleeping head, kissing his ear gently.

louis reaches over and grabs harry's hand from his waist, pulling it to his chest - startling harry - kissing his knuckles. definitely not asleep. "i love you, too, hazelnut."