Red Brick Heart

6

Harry just laughs – because that's all he can do, really, without sobbing with frustration – and kicks his boots off before following Louis into the kitchen. To his surprise, however, Liam's made an absolutely giant pasta bake so nobody has to cook – "And to line all of our stomachs, I don't want anyone throwing up in my bin like last week" – and all he has to do is sit at the table and wait for it to be served.

"Is this what it's like to be you?" he teases Louis, whispering in his ear, and gets a little pinch on his thigh in return.

"Twat.  You love looking after me."

"Weirdly, you're right," Harry says, grinning as Louis reaches around to pinch him in the side. "Hey, what's that for, I didn't say anything mean that time-"

"You were gonna, I can feel it in my bones," he grins, and then they end up tickling each other, Harry's knees knocking the table painfully and spilling Leigh-Anne's drink.

"Oi, keep a lid on it lads, will you?" she says, throwing the paper towels at Harry's head. "You can clean that up."

They snip affectionately at each other through dinner, and Harry gets a weird buzz in his veins that's different to the heavy crushing feelingshe's been having recently: it's the buzz he felt when he first met Louis, the way they both click and play off each other and can be so stupid and have the most fun in the world. He's his best friend, he's thought this for a while, and he starts to think that maybe – maybe he is just confused, maybe he's just never been in this intense a friendship before, and that's all it is. That's it. The realisation lifts the heavy feeling from his veins for a bit, and he feels the most relaxed he has done in weeks: when Leigh-Anne pours the wine after they've all stuffed their faces, he has a couple of glasses so he can loosen up even more, and he doesn't even care that when they all go back to their rooms to get changed that Louis is wearing women's underwear. Nope. Not at all. It is not something that bothers him. It is not something he is thinking about at all, no sir, no.

"Hey, hey, hey," Harry says, grabbing his arm as he gathers up his costume in one hand and heads for the door. "Why'd you always go? It's not like – I'm not looking, I don't care," he says, maybe too emphatic. An expression of what looks like panic flits across Louis's face.

"Yeah, but..." he says uneasily, tongue flicking out to wet his lips. "All right, whatever. I'll stay. You say a word about my arse-"

"Lips zipped shut. Promise," Harry says, utterly sincerely, and then he has to remember the best friends thing, and why is it so difficult to notlook at Louis as he's pulling off his shirt and unbuttoning his trousers? He turns the music up a little as he wriggles out of his jeans, trying not to notice the way that Louis's eyes trail down his body, completely unguarded. He's not even trying to look subtle, frozen in the act of pulling his jeans down, and it takes inhuman effort for Harry to turn away, grab the Robin costume and start putting it on.

"Oi, Harry," Louis says, several minutes later as Harry's pulling the clinging latex over his abs, "I need a hand, with the – with this thing."

He turns around – and this, he thinks dimly, is where it all starts to go wrong – and Louis is standing there in a pair of lacy red knickers, corset wrapped loosely around his chest, fingers pinching the seams together.

"Fucking hell, Lou," is all Harry can say. His stupid costume is so tight he's had to be even more sneaky with where he's putting his dick, and he definitely can't afford to get a hard-on, which is apparently all he ever does around Louis. But this – it's just so confusing, that's what it is, and somehow Louis manages to look fitter than any girl would do and he's still only half dressed. Harry swallows dryly, forces his dick to cooperate by remember how Niall had looked in his Alice in Wonderland costume, and steps forward. "You want me to, um, tie this, yeah?"