Louis
"Say it again." Harry smiled childishly as he signed to me. It has been half an hour since we both said those amazing three words to one another and I don't think either of us could be any happier than we are right now. We have made our way to the living room couch, Harry's curly hair laying haphazardly across my lap.
"I love you." I can't seem to stop the smile on my face while I watch the dimples in his cheeks deepen as his grins up at me. I giggle softly at his reaction and run my fingers through his curly locks.
"I don't know which I like better, the full sign for 'I love you' or the shortened version." Harry had a thoughtful look on his face and I couldn't stop myself from bringing my lips to his softly.
He seemed completely fine with the sudden affection because he wrapped his hand through my hair and kept my lips firmly against his. We shared loving kisses for a few minutes and both pulled back with beaming smiles. I made the sign for 'I love you' with my hand that wasn't tangled in Harry's curls and placed it against his chest. He glanced down at my hand and I didn't miss the adoration and happiness in his eyes once he was looking back at me.
"I think that's my favorite way." He stated and brought me down for one more kiss. He sat up from my lap and announced that he was going to pour us some celebratory glasses of wine before making his way into my kitchen.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms firmly around my legs, hugging them into me. I couldn't stop thinking about the moment we had in my shower earlier. Not the sex, of course that was amazing, but when Harry spoke to me for the first time. Not to mention, his first words to me were the most important ones you could say to someone.
I felt overly emotional about that moment because now I knew, Harry has put his full trust in me. It took a lot of courage to speak to me and I really want to know if he's been practicing. I was still thinking of this when my boyfriend came back to the couch, carefully handing the wine glass to me.
"Have you been practicing speaking?" I asked him once he had settled himself onto the couch. He nodded in confirmation, sipping his wine before placing the delicate glass on the coffee table in front of us.
"I've had some help with speech therapy from Niall and Liam over the past couple weeks but I'm still struggling with using my voice." He explained.
"Yeah, it's going to take some time but I thought you did really well earlier. I noticed you were a little frustrated but that's understandable." I placed my glass beside his and was surprised when Harry took my chin in his hand, turning my face toward him and smacking his lips against mine.
"I love you." He signed once he pulled back and I furrowed my brows.
"What was that for? Don't get me wrong, I loved it but why?" I turned my body to face his and threw my legs over his lap.
"I just really like how you are patient with me and you are so understanding." He smiled at me softly and I returned the gesture.
"You mean you looooove how patient and understanding I am?" I signed 'love' dramatically and he laughed loudly. Oh how I love the sound of his laughs. He nodded and grabbed his glass of wine once again. We sat chatting and drinking for a while, laughing and kissing often. Harry had just finished telling me a hilarious story about Niall and a stripper pole when the front door opened. I knew it was Oli so I called out his name so he would stop to talk for a second. I glanced at the time on my phone and saw that it just turned midnight.
I saw Oli quickly try and run up the stairs to his bedroom but I called his name loudly again, thinking he didn't hear me the first time. He stopped in his tracks and turned his head slightly, signaling that he had indeed heard me. I was confused as to why he wasn't coming to talk so I made my way over to him on the stairs. When I made it to him, I said his name and tapped him on the shoulder, trying to get him to turn around.
"What do you want Louis?" I was taken aback by his harsh tone.
"If you would turn around, I could sign to you and actually have a conversation." My speech was loud but patient. I heard him take a large breath before turning around slowly to face me.
When I could fully see his face, I gasped.
"What the hell happened to your face?!" I signed and spoke loudly, grabbing the sides of his head and turning it different ways to inspect the damage. He shrugged off my hands and took a step away from me.
"It's nothing, barely a scratch." He signed lazily and winced slightly. I scoffed.
"A black eye, swollen lip, and a cut down the side of your face is not what I would consider 'barely a scratch'." I took his hand and lead him to the living room where Harry had witnessed the encounter and had already retrieved things to clean up Oli's face.
"Who did this? Why would someone do this?" I signed while Harry took over tending to Oli's injuries. Oli huffed and pushed Harry's hands away.
"I said it's nothing Louis! Why can't you let it go?" I was trying to keep a calm composure but his attitude was pushing me over the edge.
"Because you are my baby brother and I don't want to see you hurt! Now tell me what happened!" Oli rolled his eyes and didn't speak a word. Harry glanced between the two of us and told me he was going to give us some privacy to talk. I nodded and watched him walk toward my bedroom before returning my attention to Oli.
I felt my eyes water slightly at the sight of my brother. His eye hadn't swollen too bad yet but I could tell by morning that it was likely to swell shut. The cut above his brow was inflamed and I could see a hint of blood in his hair near the cut. His lip looked very sore and painful, I hope that he didn't have any broken teeth. I watched him try and cross his arms but he winced and decided against the gesture.
"Is your torso as bad as your face?" I asked him once he was looking at me again. He shrugged lazily and tried to look away. I sat in front of him on the coffee table and gave him no choice but to pay attention to me.
"Oli, I'm not going to be mad at you. Just please, tell me what happened." I signed and made sure that my face had no traces of anger. He watched me, trying to read my expression. He eventually sighed and hung his head.
"I went to a party with some new people and things got a little bit out of control." I nodded and gestured for him to keep going.
"I had Valerie with me and we were having a really good time, the best time. I went to the bathroom for two seconds and came back to some older guy coming onto Val. I got really mad, punched the guy and took Val away from the party. Apparently that guy had friends and they followed me and Valerie and..." He paused and looked at me unsure. I widened my eyes and gasped.
"Oh no! Please don't tell me what I think you're going to say!" He looked confused but shook his head quickly.
"No no! Nothing happened to Valerie! I dropped her off at her house and was halfway home before they decided they wanted to get back at me." I was relieved but also still upset at his explanation. I stood up and paced in front of him, trying to absorb all of the information.
"How old were these boys? How many were there? Did anyone see what was happening to you? Why didn't you text me to pick you up?" I was firing question after question at him and barely gave myself enough time to think properly.
"Can you stop pacing? It's hard to see what you're signing when you're moving around so much." Oli told me, causing me to resume my position on the coffee table quickly.
"There were three guys, I'm not sure how old they are. Maybe like 16 or 17? I think someone yelled at them to stop because they all ran from me and I took off before seeing if anyone had witnessed them hitting me." I watched him push his hair away from his face before continuing to sign. "I didn't text you because I didn't want you to be mad at me for going to a party." I shook my head.
"For future reference, always text me when you need me. I won't mind if you're at a party or drunk off your ass, at least I know you're safe. Then I can be pissed at you the next morning when you're safe at home." He nodded in understanding before apologizing profusely. I stopped him with a tight hug that made him groan in discomfort.
"That kind of hurts." I heard him say while I squeezed him a little tighter.
"I don't care. I'm just glad that you're home." I pulled back from our hug and he looked at me hopefully.
"Does that mean you aren't mad at me?" He signed with his award winning smile. I looked over his face one more time before replying.
"You're lucky that you look like someones punching bag or you would've been in deep shit for going to a party without telling me." I picked up the supplies Harry retrieved to clean up Oli's face and got to work.
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