"Last year on my birthday" Louis starts, pulling the blue hoodie Harry hands him over his head. "I thought I was barking back to my dog"
"You have a dog?" Harry asks, eyes widening.
"Yeah, his name is Bruce, he went with my dad and my sisters." Louis says, smiling at Harry's excitement. "Anyways. Turns out it was just me and Zayn barking back and forth in different rooms of the house for an hour or so"
Harry laughs loudly, walking up to Louis and fixing his fringe. He eyes his hair for a long time, smiling lazily. "Quite a mess you've made here"
"Oh, it's my fault now?" Louis asks, raising one eyebrow playfully.
Harry only shrugs, pouting. "Of course it's your fault" Then he turns around and Louis shakes his head grinning. He still needs to get used to this.
This morning, his birthday's morning, he woke up, opening his eyes to see a pair of forest green ones staring back at him, along with a mop of brown curls surrounding them. Harry's fists were curled around the duvet to keep it close to keep them warm, pressed into Louis' chest.
When he saw that Louis opened his eyes, a wide smile spread on his lips. "You're awake!" He cheered, sat up and crawled off of Louis, sitting beside him cheerfully. "Happy Birthday" he sing-songed, although he had already congratulated him last night.
Louis only smiled and went through his hair with a hand. "And where's my present? And cake?"
Harry hit him with a pillow. "Patience, old man. The other lads didn't want me to give you my present earlier, so we agreed on doing it during breakfast. I don't think any of them are up yet, since after the party yesterday they stayed up a bit longer to watch Niall perform some Irish dance, I don't really remember" Harry keeps chatting, but Louis zones out a bit, smiling while he's staring at nothing in particular.
Yesterday, all of them went out to celebrate Louis' birthday, went to his favourite club and let him get cheered on by everyone who knew him. Come on, he just turned eighteen. Donny is small. Everybody knew him. All of them did a countdown until midnight, Louis standing on the surface of the bar as they cheered on him, Harry climbing up over a barstool to press a kiss to his cheek when the clock hit twelve.
They went home at about three in the morning, Louis and Harry staying a bit behind the group that was belting out Last Christmas into the quiet nightly street. Louis twirled Harry around and dipped him, both of them falling down onto the wet asphalt of the street (the snow melted quite a while ago).
Harry came up with the fun idea to recreate the famous dirty dancing move, so Louis distanced himself from the other boy and giggled, before sprinting back towards him. Harry actually managed to catch him, hands at his waist to lift him up into the air. For a second, Louis lost balance and thought he would fall, but Harry caught him, arms securely around him as he let him back down onto the floor laughing hysterically, drunk on the alcohol, drunk on the giddiness and adrenaline of the night, and drunk on something else. Louis just didn't figure out what it was, yet.
He believes Zayn took a few pictures of them hanging on each other as they walked, drunk off their asses and laughing at everything. Literally. They stood bent over watching some sort of worm... worming on the street and laughed at it for about five minutes.
Niall, Ashton and Luke then got emotional over some Kanye West drama they saw on instagram and said they had to sit on the porch for a while, to calm down.
"I'm not supposed to tell you" Harry had giggled as they stumbled into Louis' bedroom, the door banging into the wall next to it, Harry holding onto Louis' shoulder like a lifeline. "But I did bake you a cake. You'll get it tomorrow, shhh, don't tell anyone."
"What kinda cake?" Louis had said, trying to act seriously and sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"Just to declare" Harry had slurred, holding up a finger. He walked to stand between Louis' legs, looking down at him with his hands on Louis' shoulders. "We're not talking about my arse here"
Louis had gasped. "I would never talk about your arse" Hiccup. "At least not to your face"
Harry had a giggle fit, bent forward and lost his balance, his body falling on top of Louis, who fell back against the bed.
"Whoopsies"
"Yeah" Louis sighed, wrapping his arms around Harry and rolling them around. "Whoopsies"
Harry giggled again, looking so young and happy, glowing again. He stretched his arms over his head and yawned, closing his eyes. "Do you even know how much..."
Louis smiled down at him, but his smile slowly faded away. "Harry?" He gently poked Harry's cheek. "Harry." Harry did not reply and Louis bursted out laughing, rolling off of his body. "Did you just fall asleep mid sentence?"
Of course he got no reply, listened to Niall, Ashton and Luke sing Backstreet Boys for a while and heard them stumble up the stairs into the room next to his eventually. He just smiled, because he was exactly where he wanted to be, turned Harry around softly, took off his shoes and makeup for him and snuggled up behind him, wrapping one arm around his waist.
That's how they fall asleep now, every night. They didn't talk about it after the night and the conversation, but somehow, there was a silent understanding that they both liked it and they just kept doing it after that. In general, ever since the talk on the roof, they've just grown closer and closer, Louis would say they're way on the path to best friends, if it wasn't for the damn cheek kissing and flirting, and somehow always ending up in moments filled with sexual tension. They haven't kissed, because Louis just never felt like it was the right moment, but he kind of starts to get the feeling that Harry might like him. Apart from, that he quite literally told him as much.
He's happier than he has been in a really long time, and not this half pretend happy, he really is, inwardly, happy. He falls asleep easier, maybe it has something to do with the warm body pressed against his own, maybe it has something to do with that he's slowly making peace with the death of his mother, he doesn't really know what the reason is. He just knows something happened, something that caused glee to spread in his heart.
Louis zones back into reality quickly, noticing that Harry is not talking anymore, but patiently looking at him with one eyebrows raised and a smirk coating his lips.
"Hm?" Louis makes.
"Oh, nothing, I was just waiting until you felt like you're ready to listen to me again" Harry grins sarcastically and Louis lets out a chuckle.
"I'm sorry, I... kinda zoned out"
"Mhm" Harry makes, stubbornly crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Am I not interesting enough?"
"You're very interesting, babe"
"Then what was more interesting?"
"I just thought about... where I could tickle you"
That's all the warning Harry gets before Louis lunges forward and attacks his sides with his hands.
"Oh my God Louis stop! I'm ticklish! Stop it!" Harry laughs, losing his breath as he smacks Louis' back repeatedly. They fall back against the mattress and the soft pillows and duvet. His face is a beautiful shade of pink and he is fighting a losing battle as his laughter continues to weaken him and Louis continues to tickle his sides.
"Lou-is" Harry hiccups, his breath coming out short. "You just turned eighteen, you can't tickle me-e"
"Oh yeah?" Louis grins down at him. "Try me" He gets lost in Harry's dimples for a second and Harry seems to understand that they're his secret weapon because he uses Louis being frozen for a second to roll them around, easily switching positions and swinging one leg over his waist, Louis immediately trying to put up a fight as he realises what happened. The two continue to wrestle around on the bed, laughing and pinching each other on the mattress.
It ends in Harry on top of Louis, grabbing his hands and using his body strength advantage to play unfair and pin Louis' wrists above his head. "Gotcha" he breathes out, staring down at the older boy.
Louis raises his chin to glance at his hands, then looks back at Harry, biting bottom lip to try and keep his smile down.
Harry takes a few seconds longer, looking back and forth between Louis' eyes and hands, until he rolls his eyes. "You're a child"
"Oh" Louis laughs. "You really should not say that to the person you're pinning down on a bed"
Harry takes his free hand to cover his face, laughing into it. "You're so dead" He warns on a giggle, leaning down until their faces are inches apart.
"Oh, I'm so scared. I'm so- I'm sooo sca-"
He doesn't get to finish his sentence because Harry starts tickling him now, still holding his arms up while Louis is laughing, throwing his head back and squirming underneath him.
"Woah"
They both turn their heads towards the doorframe, Zayn standing there with a cake in his hands, Liam, Niall, Ashton and Luke looking half asleep next to him. "Is this your form of sexual intercourse or something? Is this what you two call being intimate?"
Louis laughs and Harry sort of blushes, releasing his hands and crawling off of him, walking over to Zayn to take the cake from him.
The lads still gape at them, five pairs of eyes darting back and forth between Louis and Harry, until Harry elbows Zayn in the ribs and they start singing happy birthday for Louis, sitting down on his bed with him. They then eat Harry's cake (Blue and green frosting - the colours of the footie team - with the words Louis is 18! on it) for breakfast on his bed, all of them sitting crossed legged on the mattress, forming a circle and chatting about anything and everything.
When everyone is finished, all of them run to their rooms quickly, getting their presents. Except Harry, who just stays put, smiling at Louis.
"Thank you" Louis says, putting his plate onto the floor gently before straightening back up. "For the cake, I mean. Was quite a beautiful one."
"Well" Harry smiles. "The humblest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them."
Louis gapes at him for a few seconds, before his face spreads out into a huge smile.
"I'm wise" Harry shrugs nonchalantly, playing with the hem of the blanket.
"You are, but" Louis chuckles. "That wasn't you"
"Oh, really?" Harry raises one eyebrow, as if to challenge him.
"Yeah, really." Louis smirks, leaning forward on one arm. "That was Louisa May Alcott, Little Women"
Harry's head lifts slowly and he looks at Louis, his lips slightly parted and his eyebrows pinching together for a second. He seems to be at a loss for words, a smile slowly forming on his lips that twitch in terrible attempt to conceal it. Louis only smiles, his gaze wandering towards the door when the boys come back in.
The seven of them settle in a circle on Louis' bed, everyone with wrapped gifts in their lap, some more neat, some less.
Luke starts, handing Louis a small packet that feels soft when he takes it from him. Gently, Louis unwraps it, revealing a T shirt with black, half long sleeves, otherwise white. There are two skeleton hands on it, two rainbows connecting them, one smaller and one bigger.
"A gay shirt?" Louis laughs, moving to get onto his knees to hug Luke.
"Of course." Luke says. "Did you honestly expect anything other than that?"
Next is Niall, who has a small black box, and has foregone the wrapping paper entirely, only a small ugly bow sitting on top of it. When Louis opens it, he bursts out laughing. It's a ring. A simple silver band, one word engraved on it in cursive, beautiful letters. Niall. He seriously got Louis a ring with his name engraved into the silver.
Louis fakes a giggle and extends his left hand, relaxing his wrist a bit for Niall to slip the ring onto his finger, pretending to blush and wipe away tears.
"Are you engaged now?" Zayn asks, raising his cup to take a sip from his tea.
"I guess" Niall shrugs and Louis laughs again.
Next is Harry and everyone turns quiet, straightening up a little. Harry only smiles, one leg propped up with his foot on the bed and his arm hanging loosely over his knee. He hands Louis the neatest of all wrapped packets, a small smile decorating his face. "I've also got something else for you, but till then you'll have to be a bit more patient"
Ashton wolf-whistles. "You mean you two have to be alone for that?"
"Exactly" Harry says, smile still there. Louis almost can't concentrate on unwrapping the present he's been most excited for, but manages to do so eventually.
It's a book. My Policeman.
"I wanted to give you little women, but since you little shit forgot to mention that you've already read it, I had to improvise. This is my second favourite, and I thought you might like it..." He trails off.
"Thank you" Louis says, moving to hug Harry as well.
"Very romantic" Zayn sighs, leaning his head on Ashton's shoulder.
"And what did you get me, charmer?" Louis asks, cocking his head to the side.
"For your birthday this year, I'm giving you" Zayn spreads his arms. "All my love"
The room is silent and Louis looks at him as if to say 'seriously?'
"Just kidding" Zayn laughs and pulls a stack of Queen, David Bowie and Rolling Stones vinyls from behind his back.
Lastly, Ashton and Liam announce that they got Louis one present together, and surprise him with a signed David Beckham jersey. When he disbelievingly asks them where the fuck they got that, they try to be mysterious and only answer with "We've got connections"
After celebrating Louis' birthday with another round of footie in the garden (Harry plays as well), Liam, Luke and Ashton have to leave, their parents insisting on them spending Christmas eve as well as boxing day with their kids. Since all of them live pretty far away from Doncaster, they're not yet sure if they'll come back for the rest of the holidays. Maybe it's just Harry, Niall, Zayn and Louis, otherwise.
The four of them walk the other boys to the small train station of Doncaster, wave dramatically with tissues and wipe tears, before they make their way back to Louis' house, a small stop to buy way too many pizzas included.
Since Louis is the star of the day, he decides that they should "get comfy in the living room, watch movies and eat snacks and pizza until we die", as soon as they walk back into the hallway and take off their coats and shoes, the house unusually quiet since they are now only four and not seven anymore. But Niall is still there, so it could definitely be quieter.
Easily enough, the others agree to Louis' plan because it's the best thing to do on Christmas Eve, with no parents around and also because Louis says that they have to agree either way because it's his birthday and they have to do what he wants to do.
"I wanna watch a scary movie" Zayn says, throwing himself onto the couch and placing the bowl with all sorts of snacks on the coffee table. They're all wearing incredibly ugly Christmas pyjamas they found in Louis' attic earlier, all green and red, little snowmen, reindeers and Santa printed on them.
"But it's Christmas" Harry whines, naturally sitting down next to Louis and leaning into his side. "Aren't we supposed to like... watch Love Actually?"
"Sorry to say it, H, but we've already watched that six times and we all hate that movie" Niall mumbles, mouth full of some baked goods Harry created in the last couple of days. That boy seems to be obsessed with Louis' kitchen.
"Then why did you agree the first six times" Harry challenges.
"I didn't" Niall says loudly, spreading his arms. "You just got the house owner and boss wrapped around your little finger, that's all."
Louis smiles and tightens his arm around Harry.
"Either way, I'm not going to watch that movie again, at least not for the next, let's say, seven years. And I think Zayn won't either." Niall says, crossing his legs.
"Louis" Harry whines, turning his head to him.
"Sorry Haz." Louis mumbles, lips pressed into a thin line. "I don't think there's much I can do today"
"Yes" Zayn and Niall sigh out in sync, Zayn reaching for the remote. "Horror movie it is, then"
"Why do you gotta be such... boys?" Harry mumbles, pulling the blanket higher and curling further into Louis just because of the movie's picture and title.
Then, about halfway into the movie that involves a haunted house, a few dumb kids and a lot of blood and screaming, Harry slowly detangles Louis' arm from around his shoulders and peels the blanket off of his body, slowly getting up.
"Where to?" Louis asks, eyes glued to the screen.
"Tea" Harry answers shortly and Louis nods, but the boy stays sitting where he is, until Louis eventually takes his eyes off the TV and looks at him in question.
"Can you come with me?" Harry whispers. "There's no way in hell I'll go into the kitchen alone right now"
Louis looks around, turning his head towards the open toor to the kitchen. Because of the bad weather and the season, it's turning dark pretty fast and inside the house with all the curtains drawn, it seems like it's already night outside.
If it was any other person asking Louis this question, he would tease them for being scared of horror movies, but it's Harry, so Louis just smiles and says "of course, love"
Zayn lets out a quiet whistle as they get up and leave the room, not having heard the whispered conversation. Louis only laughs and flips him off, following Harry into the hallway.
He watches Harry peak around the corner before he walks into the kitchen and he can't hide the fond smile that makes its way onto his face, but quickly turns evil. Louis walks up behind Harry on tiptoes and soft socks, not making a sound on the cold kitchen tiles, and puts his hands on the boy's shoulders with soft force. "Boo"
"Oh my god", Harry jumps, too invested in looking if there's anyone or anything behind the fridge to have been able to predict what Louis was trying to do. "Louis!" He whines, pushing his forehead into Louis' chest and boxing his arm. "This is not funny"
Louis laughs quietly and wraps his arms around Harry's shoulders protectively. "Remember what I said about my house being haunted?"
Harry only hums, staying like that.
"It was not true. It was a lie. My house is not haunted"
Harry finally lifts his head, looking Louis in the eyes in the dark kitchen. "Promise?"
Louis bites his lip and tilts his head jokingly. "Well... There has been these moments where-"
"Don't you dare" Harry interrupts him and Louis bends forward laughing.
"Oh, and I wanted to tell you" He says when he's able to form sentences again. "About the book you gave me, My Policeman. I read that one too, twice"
Harry's jaw drops and he spins around in a circle once. "Jesus Christ, Louis, this is so bad" He sighs and rubs his face with his hands.
"Why is it bad?" Louis asks, smiling because Harry looks so cute like this, his hair getting longer and longer, curling around his ears already and he's wearing a fucking Christmas pyjama with Santa on his sleigh on it.
Harry drops his hands again and looks down at Louis, sighing exhaustedly. "Because this whole time I thought you were like stupid or something and annoying and that you never read or do your homework or pay attention in class and only play footie and scream about how amazing you find yourself" He's talking faster than Louis has ever heard him talk, the sentence rushed and every word stumbled over. "But this whole time you've been like this like-" He gestures vaguely over Louis' figure in the dark.
"What is 'this'" Louis asks with furrowed brows.
Harry sighs again, biting his lip. "Um.... cool?"
A slow smile forms itself on Louis' mouth, stretching his cheeks. "You're falling in love with me right now, aren't you?"
Harry makes some sort of pig noise and throws his head back, before he smiles down at Louis again. "I just think you're cool," He says. "That's all."
"Uh-huh" Louis grins and leans back, his bum resting against the edge of the counter. "What about tea?"
"Hm?"
"You said you wanted to make tea, instead you only had a crisis about how amazing I am and now we're missing the entire plot of the movie"
"Oh" Harry says, suddenly seeming nervous. "I didn't want to make tea"
"What else, then?" Louis asks, cautious because of Harry's sudden mood change.
"I just" Harry says, and swallows. "I don't like scary movies"
"I figured" Louis smiles warmly and hops onto the kitchen counter, crossing his legs underneath him and taking a cookie out of the bowl to his left.
Seriously, Harry just keeps baking the whole time, yesterday they ate self-made bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner. All seven of them. Everywhere around the house are small plates or literal bowls filled with cookies and in the middle of the kitchen island is another cake.
"We don't have to go back and watch the rest of it, if you don't want to" He offers softly, while Harry leans against the kitchen island, right in front of Louis. "I'm sure Zayn and Niall don't miss us"
"But you wanted to watch that movie"
"I mean" Louis says, mouth full and he places the half eaten cookie on his knee. He raises both arms, one at about the height of his own chest. "The movie," And he raises the other arm far above his head. "You. Sooo..."
Harry lets out a cute laugh, looking down and causing a few curls to fall into his eyes. "Did you ever braid someone's hair before?" He asks out of nowhere and Louis stops chewing.
"Only about" He pretends to think, his index finger at his chin. "Two million times or something like that"
Harry smiles and chews on the inside of his cheek wordlessly. Louis raises his eyebrows and motions towards him vaguely. "You want to?"
Harry nods, a smile that he tries to keep down visible through his dimples. "Mhm"
Louis braids Harry's hair, ending in two cute little buns on his head. He almost freaks out several times because Harry's hair is so soft and curly and shiny and Harry leans into the touch when Louis starts off just going through it with his hands because he doesn't have a brush right there.
Just when Louis is finished braiding, sitting on the kitchen island with Harry on a chair from the dining room in front of him, and pats the buns twice, there's a loud noise coming from the living room, a thud and a clatter.
Harry's previous laugh at one of Louis' awful jokes immediately vanishes as both of them turn their heads towards the door. There's nothing, just silence and darkness.
"What..." Harry starts but doesn't finish, sentence hanging in the air.
"I don't know" Louis answers and jumps down from the kitchen island, starting to walk towards the door.
"What on earth are you doing?" Harry whisper shouts from behind him, getting up from the chair hastily to walk after Louis.
"It's probably just Zayn and Niall. Maybe they dropped something"
Harry looks uncertain and comes closer, right behind Louis while they peak around the corner. The couch is empty and the TV is still on, flickering lights filling the otherwise dark living room.
"I swear to god if they're about to pull a prank on us, I'm going to-"
Harry is interrupted by two figures jumping up from behind the couch, screaming loudly. Harry shrieks and Louis feels him colliding with his body. He turns around and wraps his arms around him, Harry's face in his chest, his own heart a big shocked as well. "It's alright Haz, it's only Niall and Zayn. I've got you"
Said boys roll around on the couch, laughing loudly and Louis turns his body around half heartedly, arms still secure around Harry. "Fuck you" he says. "Both of you"
The holidays go on like that, their group of friends reduced to four, Zayn, Niall, Louis and Harry.
The morning after Louis' birthday, they have breakfast together in the dining room, before they move into the living room to give each other their Christmas presents. Louis, being the dramatic little shit he is, has gone extra with all the presents.
He gives Niall a guitar, one he found in a vintage store when he went shopping with Luke and Zayn while the others where at a trampoline park. He gives Zayn a collection of amazing spray paint, brushes and acrylics. Last but not least, he gives Harry a small satin box.
"What's this?" The boy asks with a suspicious look.
"Well" Louis replies, still smug about this idea. He just knows Harry is going to love this. "You'll find out when you open it, love"
Harry rolls his eyes playfully and opens the box, agonisingly slowly. Inside, is a necklace. Harry's jaw drops, and he stands still for a few seconds, until he comes back to his senses and laughs slightly, his fingers grasping the filigree silver chain of the necklace and pulling it up from the soft satin pillow inside the box.
"Is this..." He asks, turning his head to look at Louis. "A dick?"
Louis grins and Niall and Zayn burst out laughing as well as soon as they see the little silver and yellow banana dangling in the air.
"Yeah..."
Harry gapes at Louis some more before he breaks out into a huge grin, setting the box down and grasping the necklace in one hand while he shuffles over to Louis on the sofa. Louis sits up as Harry turns around and pulls his hair up from his neck. He takes the necklace Harry holds out for him and clasps it around his neck, the small banana/dick hanging down on his chest over his sweater.
Harry lets out another breathless laugh as he looks down at it, fingers reaching out to touch it.
"This is honestly the best thing I've ever gotten"
Zayn awes loudly, but the sound is cut off by a strangled yelp. Louis and Harry look up and over to the other two boys. It turns out, Zayn has stolen the last piece of chocolate Niall has claimed about an hour ago, which was apparently a very bad idea because now Niall is trying to bite Zayn's hand.
Since the two of them are now occupied wrestling around on the floor, having fallen down from the couch, Harry turns around bends down to pick up a small packet from the floor where they'd collected all the wrapped presents.
He sits down, facing Louis with his whole body while he hands it to him.
While Louis starts to unpack it, wondering what on earth could be this light, he starts rambling.
"Please tell me if this makes you uncomfortable or if you don't like it, you don't have to keep it and I would completely understand, I just thought it'd be a nice gesture but I'm really not so sure anymore and maybe you shouldn't open it at all-"
He doesn't get to finish because the wrapping paper falls down onto the couch, opened successfully and revealing the present Harry got for Louis. It's a small blue piece of satin, the dark colour shimmering in the light when Louis turns it in his fingers. At the end of it is a small metal ring, and when he turns it around, he sees the word 'Louis' embroidered on it.
It's a keychain.
A self made keychain that looks almost exactly like the one Louis lost when they moved towns, the one that was so important to him.
Harry made him the keychain because Louis told him how crushed he was after losing it and how much it meant to him.
He listened to everything Louis told him that night on the roof, even though it had been three in the morning and cold and exhausting. And he didn't forget a thing Louis said, apparently. He thought deeper about it and eventually decided that this is what he wanted to get Louis for Christmas.
Right in that moment, Louis decides that this is not a crush anymore.
In that moment, he decides that he will keep Harry forever, if Harry lets him.
"Thank you" He whispers, swallowing hard and clearing his throat. "Uh, thank you"
They go on like that, the four of them.
They go out partying every once in a while, cook together in Louis' kitchen and let ninety percent of those cooking sessions end up in food fights.
They have game nights and movie nights, dance parties in Louis' room and sing karaoke in the living room. Louis and Niall play table tennis across the dining table while Zayn paints Harry's nails, Niall Louis and Harry model for Zayn to draw them.
They race down empty town streets at night and drunkenly play pirates on the playground at three am.
They dig around various rooms in Louis' basement and find the girl's old play dresses, try to fit into them and rate each other's catwalks.
They even write a song together, in the attic with Niall playing guitar, Louis and Harry writing the lyrics and Zayn singing so angelic they're all speechless for a while.
Zayn takes Lottie's room and Niall the guest room, while Harry keeps sleeping in Louis' room even if there are more than enough other spare bedrooms. They keep waking up with their limbs tangled together and they keep cuddling when they watch movies together, Harry brings him pancakes up to have breakfast in bed one morning and more than once, they spend almost the entire night on Louis' spot on the roof, with a blanket around them and Harry listening to Louis rant about everything and anything while they watch the stars.
Niall freaks out because Louis "forgot to mention" that he has a "giant ass fucking indoor swimming pool in the basement" and they do a diving competition, splash each other with water and Louis and Zayn wrestle, Louis on Harry's and Zayn on Niall's shoulders in the warm water.
They even go swimming in the lake once, the sunset painting the sky the most beautiful colours, but they leave after about three seconds because it's freezing, who would have guessed.
Louis thinks it's safe to say that it's been the happiest weeks of his life and he's dreading everything when he wakes up the morning of when Niall and Harry planned to leave to spend the last couple of days with their families back home.
The whole morning, they're still joking around and laughing, but at the same time there's a sadness laying over the house like a cold blanket.
"C'mon boys" Niall says with mild encouragement in his voice, when they're waiting for Niall's and Harry's train on the platform at the train station. "We're going to see each other in less than a week in school"
"Yay, school" Zayn cheers monotonously. The plan is that he and Louis stay at Zayn's house as soon as the other two boys are gone, spend some time with Zayn's family until Louis' family comes back from vacation in a few days.
"Ten minutes left" Niall says, hopping up and down on his feet. "I say we race towards the end of the platform and back?"
Zayn agrees and Louis does as well, but Harry grabs his arm and holds him back as soon as Zayn and Niall start sprinting. Louis furrows his brows as Harry drags him behind the train information column.
"Remember when I said I've also got you something else for your birthday? Like, beside the book that you've already read?"
Louis lets out a small chuckle, that being his only answer but still a confirmation that yes, he remembers.
Harry nods, more to himself it seems and pulls off his backpack, unzipping it and pulling something out Louis can't see because he's covering it with his hands, before he hides it behind his back. He seems nervous, all of a sudden.
"Um" He makes, balancing his weight from his heels to his toes and back and not meeting Louis' eyes. "Knock knock"
Louis raises an eyebrow, taken aback by that. But Harry looks so nervous so he doesn't question it and just goes along. "Who's there"
"Where when"
"Where when who?"
Harry finally meets his eyes. "Holmes Chapel, December 28th, you and me"
He then takes his arm from behind his back, pushes some paper into Louis hand and turns around.
Louis stares at his back for a couple of seconds before he looks down at what Harry just gave him so that he can read what's on it.
When he does, his heart stops.
Two cinema tickets. Some cinema in Holmes Chapel, Harry's hometown, Louis recalls from one of the late night talks on the roof, but it doesn't even matter right now, because.
The tickets are for Spiderman.
Louis looks back up so fast he almost gets whiplash and walks around Harry to face him again, because the boy still stands with his back towards him. Harry stares at the floor, chewing on his bottom lip.
"Is this..." Louis asks quietly, motioning towards the tickets with his eyes. "What?" It only comes out as a breath, his heart beating right out of his chest.
"Are you that slow?" Harry asks, equally quiet.
"Yes"
Harry groans, looking up at the sky. It takes a few seconds, a few breaths and way too many heartbeats on Louis' side until he looks back down to make eye contact.
"Do you want to go out with me?"
"Yes" Louis says immediately, voice louder than they've spoken since what feels like forever and startling both of them. "I mean" He clears his throat, leaning against the brick wall to his left that separates the smoking area. "I mean, yeah, cool, I need to check my schedu-"
"Pick me up at seven"
"Okay"
"The movie starts at eight"
"Okay"
"I'll send you my address later"
"Do that"
"Okay, I'll do that"
"Text me when you're home"
"Maybe"
"Harry"
"Okay, I will"
"Sooo" Niall says, coming to a halt next to them, out of breath with Zayn right behind him. "What excuse do you two pussies have for not participating in the race?"
"Um"
"Uh"
"Well..."
"Yeah..."
Zayn looks back and forth between Louis and Harry with a look that tells Louis he will definitely have to endure some questions on the way back.
The train then comes to a halt and the doors open, Harry and Niall get their luggage in and say goodbye to Zayn and Louis. Niall is already on his seat, his hand on the window dramatically with Zayn standing on the other side of the glass, the two of them having some Jack and Rose type of moment when Harry turns around and jumps back onto the asphalt, slinging his arms around Louis.
"Thank you" He mumbles, so quietly only Louis can hear. "Seriously"
Louis chuckles, quickly wrapping his arms around Harry. "If anything I need to thank you"
For listening. For understanding. For giving me a chance to change your mind.
Harry pulls back but keeps his arms around Louis' shoulders for a few seconds longer. "I should get on now"
"Yeah"
Harry squeezes his shoulder, eyes darting over Louis' face as if he's never going to see him again. "I'll see you on December 28th" Louis says.
"Yeah. Seven o'clock"
"Seven o'clock" Louis repeats, and gets on his tiptoes to press his lips to Harry's temple. It's a short touch, gone as quickly as it came, but when he pulls away, Harry's cheeks are coated with a rosy blush.
"You should really get on now" Louis says and reluctantly removes his hands. Harry clears his throat and nods, straighten back up and running a hand through his hair. He smiles back at Louis breathtakingly when he walks up the two steps into the train, and these fucking dimples are everything Louis sees before the door closes and the train leaves the station, leaves Zayn and Louis alone on the empty platform.
"So" Zayn says, slinging one arm around Louis' shoulders.
"I'm screwed"
Zayn chuckles as they start walking. "You're absolutely mental for him. That's nothing new."
Louis lets out a humourless laugh that ends in a helpless whine and he buries his face in Zayn's shoulder. "What" Zayn laughs. "He likes you too"
Louis only snorts but Zayn isn't ready to drop it yet. "Louis, it's literally so obvious. He likes you. Like that. In that way."
Yeah, maybe he does, Louis thinks, his hand feeling the paper of the movie theatre ticket in the pocket of his sweats.
Maybe he actually does.