The sound of rain hitting the window filled Harry's flat and he looked out the larger window in his living room, sighing at the sight of the dark clouds hanging over the city and the rain coming down in waterfalls.
It had been raining for the last three days straight now, and the weather forecast had promised a clear day - it was only ten in the morning and they had already been proven wrong. A new record maybe.
He didn't know how much longer he could stay cooped up in the flat, he was getting restless - and so was Louis. The kid had been skipping around the flat not being able to sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. Amazingly Harry hadn't snapped at him yet, settling for biting his tongue when he had the urge to yell at him.
Even the regular visits to the gym with the others and the occasional grocery shopping failed to raise the mood - at times like these Harry really considered getting a car, his Bullet wasn't much of a joy ride when you're drenched and chilled to the bone. He loved his Bullet, bit he really wished motorcycles came with a roof, or a heating system.
"Harryyy!" Louis whined, dragging out Harry's name as he came trudging into the living room and flung himself onto the couch with a dramatic sigh.
If Harry had thought Louis was out of his shell before the whole 'hugging scene', he was certainly wrong - the smaller boy and turned out to be quite the drama queen - though sometimes it was like he remembered his situation and retreated back into his shell. It never lasted long though; he was really comfortable around Harry now.
It was quite annoying but Harry couldn't deny that it amused him too. Life wasn't as dull as it had been. It was kind of like having a pet who could, you know... talk.
"What?" he asked although he already knew the answer.
"I'm bored! And it's raining again, I wanted to go outside!" Louis complained and Harry suspected he would have actually stomped his foot childishly if he had been standing.
"Then go do something productive," Harry sighed. "I'm sure the flat needs cleaning somewhere."
"Can we go shopping?" Louis ignored Harry's suggestion and sat up, looking at Harry with his puppy face.
"We did that yesterday."
"Can we go to the park then?"
"Look outside Louis!"
"You're so boring!" Louis cried out with a pout and Harry glared at him, Louis instantly shutting up and shuffling into the corner of the couch. He was still afraid Harry would blow up and hurt him someday and Harry didn't blame him - he wasn't exactly a prime example in anger management.
Harry tried to soften his expression, something he found very hard since he was so out of practice, so Louis wouldn't think he was actually mad at him.
"Why don't you watch a movie instead?" He tried keeping his voice soft too but it sounded really off and even Louis looked a little confused before frowning and shaking his head.
"I don't like your movies!" He said stubbornly, shaking his head again and wrinkled his nose in distaste. Harry's movie collection wasn't exactly a gem and he rarely even watched movies in the first place, he just kept some in case he ever got the urge or if the lads came over. They usually brought over their own movies though, thinking the same about Harry's collection as Louis.
They had at one point gone to a flea market and come back with a box full of movies they meant Harry just had to see - Niall in particular - most of them had been kid's movies like Disney or stupid romantic comedies, so Harry had put them under his bed without watching a single one.
His mother had never watched movies with him so the Disney ones just reminded him of a childhood he never really had. The romantic ones should probably have shoved his lonely life in his face, mocked him about not having a relationship, but he actually just hated them because he found them so unrealistic. There was no such thing as 'love at first sight', soul mates or 'until the day I die'. People were just delusional and his solitude suited him just fine.
But if seeing some of those movies meant getting Louis to settle down, it would be worth it.
"Go look under my bed," he sighed and Louis gaped at him, not really believing he got permission to go into Harry's bedroom. "There is a box with some movies the lads gave me months ago. There should be at least one you could watch."
Louis nodded enthusiastically and ran into Harry's bedroom, probably afraid Harry would change his mind. He could hear Louis rustling around in there, but he wasn't really worried. It wasn't like he had anything to hide in there, that wasn't the reason Louis wasn't allowed to go in, he just wanted a place where he could be alone and not have to worry about Louis for a little while.
A couple of minutes later Louis came bounding back into the living room with the box of movies in his hands and a wide smile on his face, something Harry had seen more of lately. And had become quite fond of too if he had to be honest. It suited Louis to smile.
"This is amazing Harry!" Louis beamed as he plopped down to the floor and began rummaging through the movies. "There are so many I've never seen - oh I wanna watch The Little Mermaid... no, Just My Luck - oh, oh, Beauty And The Beast!"
Harry nearly laughed as Louis got more and more excited with each new movie he found. He really should have thought of giving him these movies earlier - it could have saved him a lot of whining about being bored.
Eventually Louis put in a movie and hopped onto the couch beside Harry. "I couldn't really choose just one, so I picked out three I'd like to watch if that's okay? You can choose another one if you'd like, that's okay, I wouldn't want you to get bored!" He didn't give Harry time to answer before he turned his attention to the movie starting up and Harry just rolled his eyes.
Beauty And The Beast started up on the screen and Harry suppressed a groan. He would really like to take Louis up on the offer of choosing a movie, but Louis would most likely not like at very much and not be able to sit still through it - exactly what Harry wanted to avoid.
So he was trapped the next hours watching Disney movies. Joy.
* * *
"Harry?"
Something nudged Harry's shoulder and Harry grunted displeased, rolling onto his other side to get comfortable again. He hated getting woken up.
A few seconds later something poked his side and few times accompanied by another soft "Harry..."
Harry sighed and opened his eyes, looking around confused when he realized he wasn't in his bed sleeping like he had thought.
Louis smiled nervously as Harry pulled himself into a sitting position, and he noticed he had been taking up the longest side of the L shaped couch - also the side that was directly across the TV. Louis must have moved after he fell asleep.
"You've been asleep for about three hours," Louis said, sitting back down beside Harry. "But you usually eat lunch around one, so I thought you'd be hungry. And if you sleep now you won't be able to fall asleep tonight."
Harry just nodded, still feeling a little groggy. He hated sleeping in the middle of the day, he always felt so dazed and out of place when he woke up and, like Louis said, it would take hours to fall asleep later. He swung his legs out over the couch to get up but felt a restriction and looked down to find a blanket folded neatly over his lower half. He frowned, not remembering having a blanket near him when he fell asleep.
"You looked cold..." Louis explained shyly as he saw Harry's expression.
"...Thank you," Harry mumbled as he removed the blanket and quickly moved to the kitchen so he wouldn't have to face Louis. He wasn't sure he could look him in the eyes right now.
He had fallen asleep in front of Louis, showed the weakest side of himself. The most vulnerable side. And to Harry, that was one of the most embarrassing things that could have happened. He wasn't supposed to be weak.
Lunch was quickly made and Louis only joined him in the kitchen after it was done, something Harry was grateful for. That meant he had some time to rebuild his walls.
They ate in silence, Louis humming some cheery melody to himself as he happily ate his sandwich. This was something that was quite easy about him - Harry could pretty much feed him anything and the kid would think it was the best thing in the world. Apparently Harry was a way better cook than any of the people Louis had been living with - and Harry had never really made an effort to actually show what he could do in a kitchen. For a self-taught cook, he considered himself quite
good. Niall always said so anyway.
"They say it's going to snow soon!" Louis suddenly said, breaking the silence. "And get really cold too."
Harry raised a brow at him, wondering if he was serious - talking about the weather was like the most used excuse to start and already awkward conversation. People should rather just keep their mouths shut if they can't think of any other topic than weather.
But Louis didn't seem to care that much and continued with a huge smile on his face. "Oh I hope it's gonna snow on my birthday! Then everyone'll get a white Christmas and I can go make a snowman!"
This caught Harry's attention. "Your birthday's coming up?"
"Yeah! December 24th," Louis nodded enthusiastically but then his face fell and he looked down at his hands sadly. "My parents always took two days off at Christmas so we could celebrate together. It was the only time they ever really paid any attention to me. They didn't celebrate birthdays at the orphanage though, so I would just make a snowman I could celebrate with."
"That's um... I'm sorry?" Harry stuttered, not really knowing what else to say, but Louis just shook his head and smiled again.
Silence once again filled the room, this time without Louis' humming, but it wasn't awkward and Harry could take a minute or two to get his thoughts together.
He would have to remember to tell the lads about Louis' birthday. Knowing them, they would make sure he finally got the celebration he deserved. Harry's birthday was never celebrated when he was younger either, but unlike Louis he never really cared. The lads would always remember to bring him a present or two, but they knew not to go over the top. The first time they threw him a surprise party and Harry had kicked everyone out after only ten minutes.
Louis however deserved to be celebrated properly - he was almost too kind for his own good, sweet, innocent and he didn't deserve the life he had been given. And wow, Harry could not believe that just came out of his brain.
"Can we watch the next movie now?" Louis asked excitedly as he put the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth.
Harry eyed his still only half-eaten sandwich and shook his head. Even though he could finish eating in front of the TV, he didn't really feel like watching another movie at the moment, and if Louis started watching the movie on his own, Harry wouldn't have to sit through the whole thing.
Louis however had other ideas and after he had washed and put away his plate, he sat back down by the table and started humming again.
"You don't wanna watch the movie?" Harry asked surprised.
"I do, but I'm waiting for you to finish so we can watch it together!" Louis answered with a beaming smile and Harry felt all his resolve melting away. One movie wouldn't kill him...
He got up and took the plate with him to the living room, Louis following him with a cheer and a little jump. The kid would be the death of him... How did he go from hoping Louis would vanish into thin air to not being able to say no because he was afraid it would make him sad? And in only two weeks? Surely he could not be getting soft already. Hell, he wasn't even supposed to be going
soft in the first place! What the fuck was happening to him?!
Louis put in the next movie and before they knew it, it was two movies and a burnt pack of popcorn - that Louis had tried and failed to make - later. As the credits to The Little Mermaid started rolling, Louis jumped up with a little too much enthusiasm and clapped his hands excitedly.
"Do you wanna watch another movie? Or we could do something else? Oh, I saw some board games under your bed too, can I go get them?" He was gone before Harry could even think of an answer. Mental note to never give him sugar - he was high enough as it was.
Did that kid never get tired? They hadn't done anything physical all day and yet Harry felt like he would fall asleep in a second if he closed his eyes for a little too long - even with his nap earlier. He couldn't even send Louis outside as it was still raining heavily. Maybe he could just pretend to have fallen asleep again and then Louis would have to entertain himself. Surely he wouldn't be brave enough to disturb Harry again.
So that's what he did. He closed his eyes and relaxed his body, trying to even out his breathing. It wasn't really that hard - he had used it to get out of a lot of Niall's made up drinking games when the lads where over. They probably thought he couldn't hold his liquor and was a real light-weight, but that didn't matter. It was better than playing Truth Or Dare.
It didn't take long for Louis to come back, his footsteps giving away his presence. Harry wasn't surprised when he could hear a skip in his step. That kid was way too perky.
"I found them, what do you - ... Harry?" Louis paused in front of Harry and kneeled down, leaning in to see if he was really asleep, his breath fanning over Harry's face. A finger poked Harry's chest gently and he willed his body not to tense up "Oh..."
He sounded so disappointed it took everything in Harry to not sit up and play it as a joke, feeling really guilty just imagining the sad look on his face. He really was a horrible person. And what? His brain was really fucking with him today, he was way too soft.
The sounds of what Harry believed was a game being set up was for a little while the only thing breaking the silence in the room and Harry debated with himself whether or not to 'wake up'. He didn't wanna play though and he did kind of want to see if Louis was brave enough to wake him up - or maybe go do something else now he thought Harry was out for the count.
Nothing exciting happened though. Louis finished setting up the game and was quiet for a little while, when there was suddenly a blanket being draped over Harry and gentle fingers tucking it around him. Was Louis seriously tucking him in?
Louis then curled up on the other end of the couch, close enough to Harry for him to smell his own shampoo from Louis' hair. Citrus suited him and Harry kind of wished he would be able to smell it more - it was harder to notice a scent when it was on yourself.
His eyes opened wide for a split-second when he realized what he had just thought and quickly pushed it away. He was not going there! No way in hell!
* * *
Louis stared at the Clue game he had set up for when Harry woke up. He had really hoped Harry would have played with him - Zayn and taught him how to play the game at one of their visits to Paul's and Louis had been really happy when he saw Harry also had the game. It wasn't that childish and he thought Harry might actually like it too.
They had gotten along great after they had made up - if you asked Louis anyway. Harry wasn't as grumpy and Louis could tell he really was trying to be nice. And just like Niall, Liam and Zayn, he now considered himself Harry's friend. He knew it wouldn't change his situation, but he might as well get the best out of it now he was there.
He briefly considered waking up Harry but quickly dismissed the thought. If he did that again, Harry would most likely be mad at him. It was clear he wasn't a morning person - even if it wasn't morning anymore.
Maybe he should just put on another movie? It didn't have to be that loud for him to hear so it wouldn't disturb Harry - it was either that or trying to play Clue by himself.
As quietly as possible, he started sorting through the movies, trying to find the Finding Nemo he had seen earlier. He suppressed a giggle at the thought of Harry watching any of these movies - he didn't seem like the type who would watch Disney or sappy romantic movies. That was probably why he had hidden them under his bed.
Putting the movie in, he suddenly felt a cold draft and he shivered, rubbing his arms to try and get rid of the chill. The heat in Harry's flat wasn't as good as it could have been and with winter approaching, he just hoped Harry had a lot of blankets and warm sweaters.
There was only one blanket in the room - the one Harry was using and Louis didn't want to take it from him. If Harry got sick he wouldn't be able to fight and Louis would be doomed. There was probably a blanket or a sweater, as there wasn't any between the clothes Niall had given him, in Harry's room but he didn't want to go in there when Harry wasn't awake to stop him. It was an invasion of privacy.
Se he sat down beside the sleeping Harry, as it was directly in front of the TV, grabbing a pillow from the couch so he wouldn't have to sit on the cold, wooden floor.
He couldn't seem to get rid of the chill though. No matter how tightly he had wrapped his arms around himself, he was still shivering. Hopefully Harry would wake up soon so he could get a blanket or something else to keep him warm.
"You are such an idiot..."
Louis squeaked and scrambled up in surprise as Harry spoke up behind him. Wasn't he just sleeping? Harry sat up with a sigh and stretched his arms.
"Why haven't you put on something warmer at least?" he asked, eyeing the thin jumper Louis was currently wearing. The warmest thing Niall had given him actually, but he wasn't complaining. At least he had clothes.
Louis shrugged, a little embarrassed for some reason and started picking on a loose thread on the jumper. He didn't really know what to say and it made him nervous that Harry was looking at him.
"Go find a sweater in my room," Harry said, waving his hand towards his room and stood up. "I think I have so I can make some hot chocolate or something if you want."
For someone who had been dead asleep only seconds ago, he seemed really awake. But maybe that was just Harry. Louis imagined he was sleeping with one eye open so no one could sneak up on him. Metaphorically of course, he had seen him sleeping before - twice just this day - and both his eyes had been closed.
He did as Harry told him and went into Harry's room for the third time that day. He couldn't
believe Harry let him in there at all. Maybe Harry was warming up to him too?
There was a sweater on Harry's bed, one Harry had worn a day or two ago, and Louis decided to use that one. Then he didn't risk messing up Harry's closet and they wouldn't have another shirt to wash.
Surprisingly Harry hadn't ordered Louis to do anything around the flat other than clean up after himself. Louis liked to try and help anyway - do a bit of picking up here and there if Harry was busy with something else. It made him feel not totally useless. And he got a lot of cleaning experience when he lived at the orphanage. It was practically all he did there. That and get yelled at. Living with Harry was so much better - if you ignored the reason at least.
The sweater was too big on him, the sleeves falling down over his hands. He kept them like that, wanting to get some warmth back in his fingers, and walked back into the living room. Harry was still rustling about the kitchen but Louis set on the couch to wait for him. He would only annoy Harry if he tried to help - he was barely allowed in the kitchen as it was. Which was probably for the best, he had never cooked before.
Finding Nemo was still playing and Louis curled himself around a pillow on the couch and put his attention on the TV. It was one of the movies he had actually seen before and he really liked it.
"I don't really know when I bought this, but it shouldn't have gone bad yet." Harry sat down beside Louis, placing a mug of hot chocolate with a little whipped cream on the table in front of Louis. "It's actually been a while since I've had something like this."
Louis beamed up at him as he grabbed his mug with his still sleeve-covered hands and brought it to his lips. The liquid burned his lips and tongue a little but he didn't care - it was so good! But a hand reached out and stopped him from guzzling it all down. "Slow down, you'll get a stomach ache."
Oh no he didn't! Louis glared up at Harry, doing his best I-really-want-you-dead look, but for some reason Harry just chuckled and Louis' mouth fell open. Harry was smiling an actual, genuine smile. It was like looking at another person!
Something else caught his eye and he couldn't stop himself as he reached out and poked Harry's cheek, exclaiming a cheerful little "Dimple!".
The smile immediately vanished from Harry's face getting replaced by his usual scowl and Louis frowned sadly. He liked it when Harry smiled.
Harry must have noticed Louis' disappointed look because he sighed deeply, shaking his head and turned towards the game on the table. "So, how do you play this?" And Louis lit up like a Christmas tree again.