AO3 AUTHOR'S NOTE: Epilogue <3
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There are pros and cons of having Harry home.
Cons. Louis doesn't get nearly enough work done. His classes are planned at latest possible moment, he doesn't get much fresh air, he can't be barefoot if he is going to have his feet on the kitchen worktop, and the fridge runs out of milk far too soon.
Pros. He is home. He is clingy, steals his food at dinner, listens to strange music, cleans the kitchen worktop twice after Louis has sneakily had his feet there, smells like apples, sings so it echoes through the house, and he is home.
Winter has come and gone, and spring is nearing. Early March is still cold, but the sun is starting to peek out more and more. They have been together for almost seven months, and it's been both easy and hard.
The first weeks apart when Louis was in Manchester and Harry had to do promotion work for his album were rather miserable. At first Louis could indulge in spending time with his family and the friends he hadn't seen in months, but missing Harry quickly turned difficult. There were too many abroad phone calls to pay for, hours of FaceTiming that didn't quite feel enough, and the yearning to be near one another was trying. New couples are supposed to get the time for the honeymoon phase, but they never really got longer than a week.
Louis moved into Harry's London house at the end of October, a little more than a month after they decided that was the way to go. At the start it was hard to treat the place as his own, and it took him almost a month before he had guests over when Harry wasn't there. It does feel like home these days, even though the house can feel empty being there alone for sometimes weeks at a time.
Finding work was not as easy as he had hoped, either. He had a substitute position at a local school for a couple of weeks in November, but afterward the drought of work got rougher, leaving him unable to join Harry for award season in America as he was doing interviews almost on top of one another. However, either the jobs he was offered were temporary, or the available ones were too far away or were not in his subjects. He finally got a permanent position at a public school forty minutes from their house, a place he had been interviewed at once before. He started by spring term, it's been working out so far so good.
During break in February Harry flew him out to Jamaica, where an industry friend of his had lent him his holiday house. For a sixth-month anniversary it was not too shabby. Louis had to be home for school again after just a week, coming home tan and relaxed, but luckily Harry is still home with him for a while more before duty calls in America. The upcoming tour for their album is starting in July, and there are still decisions yet to be made, including rehearsals that won't begin until another couple months.
Louis is scrolling through his photo album on his phone, choosing which one from their holiday to post. He knows colleagues, parents and teenagers from his school might have a look at his social media, which is why his Facebook and Twitter are now private, but he keeps his Instagram opened because Harry's social media manager insisted on it, seeing as it's a perfect marketing tool. It's now cleaned from any disputable photos it once held.
Of course there are fans of Harry's at the school. The adults are professional enough not to ask more about his private life than they would any other colleague, but the kids are a bit more difficult. He knows there are some students tweeting about him after classes, if he yelled at them or said something about his weekend or whatever random anecdote, but it has been surprisingly okay. Most of them have grown out of the initial curiosity he garnered the first few weeks.
He picks a colourful picture of Harry, adjusting the filter only slightly. He knows he will be teased about the caption by the three girls in one of his English classes, no doubt. He has been asked about the music video for Harry's song at least fifty-two times, and he has tried not to get flustered at their not exactly respectable inquires.
As it is, the details of their relationship have been kept private. Harry revealed in an interview that his first kiss was indeed Louis when he was a teenager, but he said they didn't get together until a while later. The number of months they had been 'together' for before his coming out have not been disclosed of, and neither how it happened. Jeff's magazine got their big exclusive of course — the first kiss pictures and direct quotes from Harry about coming out to the world. There were not more than a few mentions of Louis in the article, which mostly regarded how supportive he has been through Harry's decision to come out.
It's still a thing in the press. Any time Harry's PR team drags them out for papped dates they are on the front page of magazines around the country, which is admittedly a lot less frequent nowadays than around the time of his coming out. As Louis has not been paid to do work since October, he doesn't work directly for Harry's PR firm anymore, and picture dates are by choice to participate. However, usually these days private photos have been used instead, and they haven't been papped together since January, probably. Harry's fans call it a dry spell.
Posting the picture, he garners a few thousand likes within minutes. It still feels a bit mad.
He takes a short moment to stare up at the ceiling of their bedroom, blinking at the purple paint. It feels a bit like a galaxy, similar to the way Harry's Los Angeles bed feels like. There are white see-through drapes around this bed, but they have lavender sheets and a big fluffy comforter. Harry made him help with the remodelling in December. He wanted it to feel more like the house was theirs, saying it should look like both of them want it to. It's been a bit strange, moving from a tiny flat to a large, fancy London house, but he has gotten used to it. It feels like home the most when Harry is there.
There's a squeak from the bathroom that interrupts him, sounding like someone slipping on wet tile. He sits up, hair a bit on end. Saturdays are spent mostly in bed.
"Honey?" he calls, a bit of worry rubbing at him. "You alright?"
"Fine! Just a bit — jeez, Snoops!"
Louis stands from the bed, slipping out through the closed drapes and ambling toward the door leading into the bathroom. The next room is spacious and bright, a large padded seat in the middle, and the bathtub, where the action is currently happening, at the far end, large windows facing the their beautiful garden (which is rather pale at this time of year, to be quite honest).
Louis sighs, hands settling on his hips. "So, you're in the tub with the cat?"
They got a cat two months ago. Right. It's beginning to feel like she's been there all along.
"She kept shaking her fur. I got wet anyway."
She was mainly to keep Louis company — how pathetic, honestly — but he is starting to think of her as a family member these days. She's in yellowish orange, with large eyes and a pink little nose. She is not too mischievous of a cat, but baths are usually not welcomed. Harry is crouching in the ankle deep water inside the tub, having bubbles and soap up to his elbows. His rolled up trousers are soaked and patchy, his shirt left abandoned on the wet tile floor.
Louis watches in amusement as Harry attempt to rinse the little animal of cat shampoo, placing a finger over his lips to keep himself from snickering. Harry is not too agile or flexible in the tub — in bed, oh yes, but not with a four months old kitten trying to escape him.
"Snoops!" Harry protests when she shakes her fur again, droplets of water landing all the way over at Louis' bare feet. Louis can't contain himself anymore and laughs, getting his phone out and taking a quick snap. They have yet to share the fact that they have a cat together, but he figures this is as good time as any.
"Snoopy, be a good kitten and let Papa clean you up, yeah?" He scratches her under the chin, extracting a little mewl.
Harry huffs. "She likes you more than me."
"Yes, that's right," Louis croons, petting her with his finger on top of her head. "Because I don't bathe you, yeah? Yeah. That's right. I don't bathe you, darling."
"You're indirectly making me the bad parent, Lou."
"Just don't bathe her then," he shrugs as Harry starts to once again rinse off the shampoo, taking advantage of Louis distracting her.
"So, we're gonna have a nasty smelling kitten between us when we go to sleep. Is that what you're implying?"
"Snoopy doesn't smell. No, you don't. Papa is being mean to you..."
Harry rolls his eyes and turns off the showerhead, releasing a breath of relief. "Get the towel, will you?"
He fetches it and holds it open as Harry lifts her up with one hand, rolling her into a little burrito. She does love a snuggle... Louis wrinkles his nose. Perhaps not when she smells like wet fur, though. He dries her up as best he can, following Harry out into the bedroom with her in his arms. The boy strips from his soaked jeans, shoving his pants down with them and dumping his clothes in the hamper. Louis' eyes shamelessly trail from his neck to thighs, lingering on his abdominal muscles for a moment.
"Are you gonna join me?" Harry asks, nodding at the bathroom door.
"Let me just let this monster loose. The kitchen door's closed, right? And the laundry room?"
"Yeah, I'm certain."
"Go refill the tub. And bath bombs! The pink ones!" he calls behind him as he exits the room.
With Snoopy in his arms, already prepared for her trying to escape as soon as she sets eye on the rug on the floor by the top of the staircase. It's her favourite spot to roll around and lick her paws on when she's wet, for whatever reason. He sets her down as gently as he can manage with her writhing in his arms, even though cats are pretty good at landing on their feet. She dashes toward fluffy rug instantly, jumping into the air and shaking her fur simultaneously. Louis leaves her too it with an endeared smile.
He closes the bedroom door behind him so Snoopy doesn't wet the bed if she for some reason wants to lie somewhere else. He pulls his t-shirt and boxers off, leaving them on the floor for Harry to inevitably pick up some time during the afternoon, and enters the bathroom. His boyfriend of nearly seven months is already in the tub, surrounded by pink bubbles. He smiles as he sees Louis enter, biting his lip and moving from the end of the tub to make space. Louis slips in behind him, sighing at the hot water in pleasure. He wraps his arms around Harry's chest and pulls him toward himself, hooking his chin over his shoulder.
"Today's a good day," he hums, closing his eyes.
"Only five until I have to go again."
"Don't do that," Louis chastises quietly. "I hate when you do that."
"Sorry."
"Don't miss me when I'm already here."
"Sorry." Harry slides down slightly, snuggling back against him. "I want to be with you all the time."
"Me, too, baby."
"This is good, too," he says. "It's the best way, yeah?"
"It is. Don't forget summer break, either." Louis smiles against his ear. "Just you and me, and the rest of Europe every other night."
Harry chuckles, and they sit in silence for a long moment, enjoying the warm water and comfortable playlist Harry seems to have put on, playing from the little stereo. Louis can feel his hand stroking his outer thigh, and though it doesn't make his heart pound in that nerve-wrecking way anymore, it still makes him warm. Being touched by Harry is the loveliest, and touching him back is just as sweet.
They have had sex, in both positions. It took them about a month to work up to it, and with being away from each for two full weeks, the wish to be as close as possible brought them there. They have learned quite some since then, developing favourites of different kinds, and learning what they don't enjoy as much as other things. Louis has never been a relationship this long before, but he is certain there are many who have never been in a relationship like theirs, either. There are certain perks to falling in love with your best mate.
"Can you believe I was a virgin until I was twenty-two?" Harry hums quietly, as though he's been thinking along the same lines, sitting there in the warm tub, chest to back.
"Yes," he whispers into his neck, giving the spot a little kiss. "And that's normal. You're just a kid."
"Gemma had sex when she was fifteen..."
"Yeah, well, not everyone gets the chance to do that. Or want to... Besides, isn't it kind of wonderful that you got to have your first time with the love of your life?"
Harry giggles. "Presumptuous, aren't you?" he whispers. He angles his head back to look at him, touching his face with light fingers and sparkling eyes.
"You and me, love," Louis murmurs, kissing his lips and hugging him closer.
"Can you believe how everything has turned out?" Harry asks. "A year ago could you believe this?"
Louis watches him for a long moment, taking in the damp tendrils having freed themselves from his loose bun, his big green eyes, and his pink plump lips. "You've got no clue how lucky I feel," he whispers.
Harry blinks back at him, swallowing. "I think I have an idea."
It is hard to comprehend how incredibly fortune his life is these days. Being with Harry is wonderland. That he gets to be his best friend and boyfriend is that and then some. To Harry's question he has no answer, or... perhaps he would have been able to believe it, actually.
He has always believed in fate, and fate has a way of working itself out.
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AO3 AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you so much for reading! I am always up for constructive criticism so go ahead :) Kudos, and comments in general are greatly appreciated too xx If you want, there is a post on tumblr to reblog if you'd like :)