Elf Bites ❄ l.s. AU

32: Explanations and Ed

He was met with only one of those two things. It was essentially as cold inside as it was outside, only there was no wind. Louis cursed, slipping his boots off but leaving everything else on as he flipped on a light switch and scanned the room for Ed's stash of firewood. Once he found it, he quickly went to work building a fire, fearing the eminent loss of his fingers if he didn't warm them up soon.

This wasn't his house, and he obviously didn't want to touch anything, as he didn't know Ed very well yet, but he decided Harry's best mate probably wouldn't care if Louis found something to drape Harry's scarf over in front of the fire to dry. So he did that, and then he resigned to sitting on the sofa and waiting.

And really, this was what he'd wanted anyway. He was finally alone...and not halfway towards becoming the next Captain America.

Sighing and letting himself fall back into the comfort of the old, worn, obviously lived-in sofa, Louis finally let himself replay his entire conversation with Harry. He wanted to see if there was something he missed, some kind of key thing he might have said that would have made Harry think this could be a laughing matter. But there was nothing, there was abso-fucking-lutely nothing.

And it was ridiculous. The whole thing, the North Pole elf thing was genuinely the most ridiculous thing Louis has ever heard. He still couldn't believe Harry had said it. His pulse began quickening as he shook his head slowly to himself. Heat crawled up his neck, his face. Just...what had gotten into him? Louis wanted to understand only this, if nothing else. What changed?

Fuck, he's got a raging headache. So he closed his eyes, even though he knew what would be waiting there for him when he did.

For the first time in over a year, Adam was there in his entirety now that Louis had acknowledged him earlier. He was...he was...exactly how Louis remembered him, which isn't surprising, because this was all in his head. But he was wearing that outfit he wore that day out on the bridge, and he was wearing the hat Louis had given him, and he still had week-old scruff along his jaw, his chin, his upper lip. His eyes were still that icy blue.

But to Louis' surprise, Adam was not alone. Beside him, though a few steps behind, stood someone Louis hasn't seen in almost two decades. His father. And in the blinding white light of the world he and Adam currently existed in, his eyes were the same blazing blue. The same but different, because that blue was Louis' blue.

Louis felt the hairs on the back of his neck, his arms, stand up. His fingers curled in, hands clenching into fists at the sight. He wasn't angry about it. He was sad.

He didn't like thinking about it anymore because it didn't matter, but this was a sight he'd always hoped to see someday, back before the Adam thing happened. He used to feel like Adam was exactly the type of person his father would have hoped he'd have ended up with. And he didn't like admitting it, but perhaps he even hoped marrying Adam would be enough to make his dad come back into his life. To want to, since nothing else could ever make him.

With his eyes closed here and now, with Adam and his father standing so close together and in the same place, nothing really happened. At first they both just stared back at Louis like they're waiting for something, and he's about to try and figure out what, and then Adam said, "Open your eyes." And a moment later, Louis' dad said, "Open your eyes."

So he did. The front door was creaking open, a gust of that frozen, festering wind whipping into the small house. For some reason, Louis half expected it to be Harry.