No Strings Attached

Chapter Eight

“And you’re a natural at giving head.” 

Harry’s cheeks blushed and he grinned uncertainly at Louis’ compliment. “Thanks?” 

“No problem, babe.” Louis surprised himself with the use of the word, which seemed a little too endearing for their casual arrangement. However, Harry offered him a sweet smile that seemed to indicate he didn’t mind the title, after all. Louis filed that away somewhere in the back of his head, and reminded himself to keep from getting that comfortable again. 

Harry shifted back slightly and leaned back on his elbow, looking up at the clock mounted on the wall opposite the bed. 

“Oi, you need to go and pick up Rosie. And I’ve got to head back to the flat; it’s my turn to cook for the lads tonight.” 

“Thanks for this, then,” Louis said while he watched Harry roll off the side of the bed and search for his clothing on the floor. 

As he tugged his shirt over his head, Harry asked, “Do you have two hours to spare tomorrow?” It was another part of their agreement that Harry could only stay over for two hours at a time. Louis didn’t like leaving Rosie with a sitter longer than he needed on days when he didn’t have work. 

“Sadly, no. I’ve got Rosie in the day then work at night. Maybe the day after that? I’ll see if Zayn can take her to the park or something.” 

“I’ll see you the day after tomorrow then,” Harry said, fully clothed. He flashed a quick smile at Louis before ducking out of the room and leaving. 

***

Two days later, Harry was back in Louis’ flat. By the time they’d finished a particularly quick and rough session of Louis bending Harry over the couch, they had another hour to spare and chose to spend it in the kitchen to satisfy Harry’s post-coital hunger. Zayn had mercifully taken Rosie out to the park for two hours, though not without reminding Louis several times that he owed him. 

“This is fucking good,” Harry said distractedly, munching loudly to Louis’ amusement. 

“It’s cereal, Haz.” 

“Fucking good cereal.” 

Louis enjoyed Harry’s company more than he expected to. More and more, they were spending that last hour just hanging out, either eating something in the kitchen or watching a random program on the television. They weren’t exactly on the level that Louis was with Zayn, but it wasn’t exactly like Louis and Zayn had the same arrangement, either. The more they spent time together, the more Louis got comfortable with the notion that they had actually become friends with benefits. 

He watched Harry eat, paying careful attention to the way he looked even when he was fully dressed. By this point, he knew that Harry was happiest in a simple white tee and a pair of jeans, a look that he repeated often whenever they met up. But because Louis’ flat had somewhat of a draft, the younger boy had grown accustomed to raiding Louis’ closet and wearing one of his jumpers, sort of like he was doing now. Louis thought he would have minded that Harry Styles, who surely had jumpers of his own, was wearing his clothing without permission. But all he ever paid attention to was how green his eyes were today, or if his hair was more unkempt than usual. 

Simple thoughts.

“You’re staring again, Lou.” Harry glanced over at him and winked. 

Shit. Louis found himself doing that more and more recently. It wasn’t intentional; it was only when his mind wandered and his eyes glazed over that he found his attention drawn to the boy before him.