Silent Gem (Larry AU)

Chapter 4

"So can I?" Louis asked Anne nervously.

"It will be good for Harry. Maybe he'll have fun." Anne said, more like thought out loud.

"Is that a yes?" Louis was hopeful as ever. When Anne saw him being like this, she chucked and thought "why not?".

"Sure. But you'll have be back before ten." She instructed, a smile never leaving her face.

"Nine. I promise." Louis was ecstatic.

He was informed by Harry a few days back of how much the silent lad would love to go to an arcade once. He hadn't been there for years. He missed the games though and since Anne was never mostly around, neither did he have any friends, he couldn't go. Louis, being the charming man he was, thought of taking the boy to an arcade. And here he was asking permission from Harry's mum to allow him to take out Harry for the day.

"Lou, make sure he doesn't have one of his panic attacks. It's really hard to control and it's harder for him to handle it. He gets them when around a lot of people and in an arcade..." Anne trailed off knowing well enough that Louis understood perfectly.

"You don't have to worry about anything, Anne. Harry will be with me, I won't leave his side. And in all the five- almost six months I've been with him, we never got to go out, you know?"

Anne watched Louis speak and her eyes tried to find something in Louis' eyes. She was worried about her child, only son, not because he would be out with Louis but because she had her suspicions about Harry's feelings for the lad. Harry had never told her anything but the way he was always happy to have him around was new. She needed to know if they were true and she also needed a confirmation on Louis' intentions. She needed to look out for her son, it's what a mother does.

"And maybe Harry would enjoy himself. Plus I've been thinking about this since he told me about it three days ago. What do you say?" Louis crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping for a yes. He really wanted to take Harry out and have the sweet boy have fun.

"Okay. But you have to ask Harry too, you know?" Anne pointed her index finger at Louis, smiling once seeing Louis' eyes widen in excitement.

"Of course! Thank you so much!"

Anne chuckled. "Not a problem. Well now can I go to work?" She playfully asked. Yes, Louis stopped her at the door so Harry wouldn't be there when he asked.

"Yes." Louis smiled widely.

Anne's heels clacked along the porch as she headed to her car, sat in and drove away, waving a goodbye to Louis who still stood by the opened door, still smiling.

Great! Louis was so happy and relived that Anne allowed him. Now he had to ask Harry and hopefully he'll agree too.

He closed the door, locking it, and ran upstairs to Harry's room where he had sent him. He opened the door and saw the boy sat by his desk and was going through some notebook. Louis came from behind him quietly and was about to poke him when he saw what Harry was going through.

The notebook was a small photo album which had some beautiful shot pictures. Louis could only see the one of a sun rise, a zoomed one of two birds sitting on the tree branch and one of some fruits arranged beautifully in a small plater before Harry turned around. Louis saw Harry's eyes dilate for a second but he recovered quickly enough and coolly played it off. He casually slipped the album into an already opened draw and smiled at Louis who was taken aback by the reaction.

"What was that?" Louis asked.

"Just an album. What were you talking to mum about?" Harry quickly skipped the topic.