Let Me Show You How to Love Yourself (Larry Stylinson) ✅

Baking Again

Harry struggled to put on the apron -- it was so loose he had to tie it around his middle twice over to get it to stay up. Louis shot him a pitiful look, but he didn't seem to notice, as the next thing he did was walk over to the countertop, carefully examining each item. 

"You really don't know how to bake," he said with a slight giggle. "This is baby powder Louis -- what the fuck?" 

Louis jumped up in embarrassment, grabbing the baby powder from Harry's hand. "Oh my god, I thought it was baking soda, Jesus," he said, his face flushing red. 

"'S alright, Lou," Harry replied. "I'll teach you all you need to know about making a vanilla Funfetti cake. Didn't learn this at the bakery, that's for sure," Harry said with a smirk.

Harry began to set up the ingredients, his thin hands flitting from item to item, nearly causing Louis to get dizzy. "Okay, so pour that in and then we'll add the eggs and whisk it," Harry instructed. "Do you know how to use a whisk Lou?"

Louis made puppy dog eyes and shrugged at Harry, sending him into a fit of laughter. "Okay, well I'll show you, then," he said, taking out a whisk and gently stirring the mixture until it was liquidy. "You try," he said to Louis, handing it to him.

Louis immediately lost his grip and dropped the entire whisk into the mixture. "Fuck," he said, reaching for it. "Nooo -- you'll make a mess of it," Harry cried as he grabbed a clean spoon to scoop it out. Louis, whose fingers were now covered in batter, giggled as he smeared some on Harry's nose. 

"Oh, it's on," Harry said, dipping his finger in batter and wiping it on Louis' cheek. Louis lunged towards Harry, ready for another attack, but Harry blocked him and wiped some on his forehead. "Okay, okay," Louis said, still laughing. "Let's stop before we destroy my brand new kitchen, yeah?"

Harry nodded and began to pour the batter into the pan, carefully evening it out with a fork afterward. "Then we set the oven to 325 and put it in for 30 minutes," he said to Louis, who began to set the temperature on the oven. "And now we can make the frosting. Do you like buttercream or cream cheese?" 

Louis shrugged. "I like everything. What do you like?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I'm not having any," Harry said, matter-of-factly. "Yes, but if you were to have some, what would you have?" Louis asked, curious as to how he would answer. 

"Well, buttercream used to be my favorite...." he began, scrunching his nose as he tried to remember. It had been so long ago. "Buttercream, then," said Louis, putting away the cream cheese. "Okay," Harry said with a smile. 

Harry instructed Louis to put the ingredients in the bowl and whisk them, watching intently to make sure he didn't drop the whisk this time. "If anything, I'm more likely to drop it with you watching me like that," Louis whined, rolling his eyes. "Too much pressure."

"Yes, but then I can scold you as soon as you do," Harry said with a laugh. "Are you always this sassy?" Louis asked, cocking his brows. "Almost never, honestly," Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I used to be... I used to have a really bold personality. They'd always find me starting arguments with the other bakers because I liked to sass people so much..."

Louis smiled sweetly at Harry. "Well you can still be sassy, you know. That's your personality, you don't have to hide it from the world," Louis told him, gently reaching out to grab his icy hand. "I sure don't."

"Yes, you sure don't Mr. 'Why Menswear suits are the new orgasm.' What possessed you to write such a sexy article?" Harry asked, a smutty look spreading across his face. "Oh, that. You read my writing?" Louis asked in surprise. 

"Yeah, well I looked you up. I wanted to see your work," Harry admitted, still holding onto Louis' hand. "That's so sweet, Hazza, thank you," Louis said as he put down the whisk. Harry blushed a little, but didn't feel as embarrassed as he thought he would be. Something about baking with Louis made him feel calm, at peace.