Late Night Talking
◎ February 1st, 2022 ◎
"Happy Birthday." Louis' voice is deep and husky, having just woken up. Harry grins at him, smiling so widely that Louis wonders if his cheeks hurt.
"It's my birthday!" Harry claps. "What'd you get me?"
"Nothing, you weirdo. Twenty-eight isn't a special birthday." Louis groans, wanting to go back to sleep. Harry huffs and crosses his arms, reminding Louis of a small child or toddler who didn't get their way. "I'm surprising you with a trip to Target later. And dinner afterward." Louis admits, watching Harry's pouting lips turn back into a smile. It makes Louis smile too.
"Really?" Harry chuckles. "Is it one of those trips where I get a trolly and fill it with whatever I want?"
"Yes, Harry, now go back to sleep for a little bit." Louis groans.
"No way! You're supposed to make me breakfast in bed and spoil me all day."
"Where did my normal boyfriend go, and who is this clingy man in my bed?" Louis laughs. Harry's mouth drops in an offended glare, but he's still smiling. He jumps on top of Louis and starts tickling his hips, Louis' weak spot. Louis laughs loudly, flinging and thrashing to try and get the more prominent man off of him.
"Okay! Okay! I'll make you pancakes!" Louis roars out between giggles. Harry laughs along and shakes his head.
"It's way past breakfast time. We slept in until two. Can we stay in most of the day and go to Target tonight?" Harry asks. "For my birthday, I want to stay in bed with you, watch silly romcoms and eat all the junk food you store away in the cabinets where you think I can't find them."
It's true. Louis keeps a stash of Little Debbie cakes and chocolate bars in a cabinet that he thinks Harry is clueless about. They both follow a strict diet most of the time, but Louis needs something sweet now and then.
"I guess I should find a new hiding place." Louis giggles, leaning up and kissing Harry's cheek. "I'll still make brunch for you. Pancakes in bed, okay?" Louis asks.
"How could I ever say no to pancakes in bed?"
◎
They fell asleep around five in the afternoon due to their bellies being full of chocolate chip pancakes and a rather dull rom-com left playing on their bedroom television. Louis wakes up first, around eight forty-five at night, to his phone blowing up.
Zayn: Still on for tonight?
Niall: Where are you, Louis?? I have been waiting to hear from you or Harry all day!!
Anne: Are we still having Harry's party tonight with your family? Let me know x
Louis wipes his eyes before responding to each text.
Louis had failed to mention to Harry that they were having a pretty late surprise party at Harry's mum's house. The party is being pushed to later in the night because Louis realizes what time it is, and they still have a Target trip in the works.
"Harry, wake up, love." Louis gently shakes him awake. "It's late; we need to get to Target before they close."
Harry groans but sits up in bed. "Okay, give me ten minutes."
The two quickly get dressed. Both are standing by the bathroom sink in their tiny shared bathroom, brushing their teeth and styling their hair. It takes Harry a bit longer to finish getting ready. Louis throws on one of his black and white striped tracksuit pants with a white/grey sweater, and Harry dresses in blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a dark blue bandana tied around his neck.
"You look nice," Louis says to Harry, grabbing the keys to the car. "A bit overdressed for a Target, maybe?"
"Not my fault you look like you're going into a Dollar General," Harry remarks but shakes his head as soon as the words leave his mouth. "I'm sorry, I'm still tired."
Louis laughs as he locks the door to their apartment behind him. "It's okay. Should I change?"
"No, baby, you look good too."
On the way to Target, they sing a little too loudly to Kendrick Lamar, even sitting in the parking lot for a few minutes to finish the rest of the album. When they finally walk past the big red balls and into the double sliding doors, it's already forty-five minutes to closing time. A fact that both men are very unaware of.
"Where to first, babe?" Louis asks, grabbing one of the red trolleys.
"Kitchen and home decor." Harry grabs the trolley away, walking fast toward the home decor department. Harry holds several items, from new kitchen washcloths to picture frames to new throw pillows for their living room couch. Louis knows they don't need the things, but he promises Harry' anything his heart desires.'
"Anything?" Harry had asked.
"Anything and everything," Louis answered.
When they reach the store's clothing department, Harry grabs many clothes to try on. Harry is too wrapped up in wearing silly graphic t-shirts and jeans to hear the employee over the intercom system say: "Attention Target customers, the store will be closing in ten minutes. Please make your final selections and make your way to checkout. Thank you for shopping with us."
"I'm going to run to the bathroom while you try these on," Louis says after a few minutes of watching Harry pick up clothes and put them back on the racks. "I'll be back." He gives Harry a quick peck on the lips before walking away. Harry gives him a small smile and watches him walk away. Harry grabs his handful of clothes to try on and makes his way inside a dressing room.
After another few minutes, the lights go out, and both men jump. Louis quickly washes his hands and leaves the bathroom; Harry rushes to put the clothes he wore to the store back on and leaves the dressing room. When Louis finally makes his way back to Harry, he gives his boyfriend a worried look.
"We gotta go. The store is closing now," Louis says.
"Okay," Harry says disappointingly. He wanted to do some more shopping.
The couple makes their way to the front of the store, but no employees are in sight.
"Where is everyone?" Harry asks.
"I don't know, were those not the warning lights going out?" Louis asked.
"I'm not sure." Harry leaves his shopping cart behind to check the automatic doors. When he walks in front of them, they fail to open. They're locked.
"Louis, I think we got locked in."
◎
Louis started a group chat with Zayn, Liam, Niall, Anne, and Mum.
Louis: We have a problem...
Zayn: What happened? Where are you guys?
Niall: Uh oh, what's going on?
Louis: Harry and I are locked inside Target right now.
Louis: We can't get out at all. We must've gotten distracted and missed the final warning.
Liam: Oh shit
Mum: What??
Mum: Louis, are you joking?
Anne: Do you need us to call the police?
Louis: No! Don't call the police. They'll think we're breaking in or something!
Anne: No, they won't!
Anne: Not if you explain it was an accident!
Niall: Looks like you and Harry are doing one of those overnight challenges, lol
Niall: I wish I were with you guys. Shit sounds mad fun.
Louis: So we're here all night, I guess
Louis: Let's have a surprise breakfast. The store opens at seven in the morning. We'll sneak out then.
Anne: That is a horrible idea!
Mum: Don't do that! Call the police to let you out!!
Liam: I'm with the mothers on this one. You might get in more trouble if you stay overnight.
Zayn: The overnight thing sounds so fun though
Niall: This is such a funny situation. Stay overnight! Please keep us updated.
"What's everyone saying?" Harry asked.
"Mum, your mum, and Liam say we should call the police. Zayn and Niall want us to stay overnight." Louis explains. "What do you want to do?"
"I mean-stay," Harry admits. Louis tilts his head.
"You want to stay?" He asked.
"Why not! We have a whole store to ourselves for the night. We have everything we could need. We could have lots of fun here. It's a once-in-a-lifetime situation, and we should make the most of it. We'll pay for whatever we use."
Louis sighs, knowing Harry is going to get his way.
Louis: Looks like we're staying
"There's a surprise party for you with friends and family," Louis admits to Harry. "Are you sure you want to stay?"
Harry contemplates the situation but ultimately says, "I'm sure."
Louis: I told him about the party, and he still wants to stay.
Anne: Okay, well, you boys, be safe.
Mum: seriously! Stay safe! This is a horrible idea
Niall: have fun! Eat some ice cream for me
Louis checks the time on his phone.
10:15
"Well, Hazza," Louis says. "We have eight hours and forty-five minutes to kill. What do you wanna do?"
Harry grins, pushing the shopping cart to the self-checkout section of the store. He says he will leave it there for the morning and grabs a second empty cart for the store.
"Game plan," Harry starts. "First, I want to get some music going." Harry pulls out his phone. He walks over to one of the phones at the registers and clicks the intercom button. "Testing, testing, I love Louis, testing." He giggles.
Louis' lips turn upright, and he blushes his cheeks as he hears the sentence over the store's loudspeaker. Harry cackles, realizing his plan works.
He puts his phone next to the intercom speaker.
"I have my playlist going on shuffle, so there's no telling what's going to play," Harry says. Louis shrugs his shoulders. "T-Swift is playing right now. I won't be surprised if Kendrick is next."
"Sounds good to me. Now what?" Louis asks.
◎
Harry grabs Louis' hand and drags him to the store's toy section. There, they goof around and play with the little toys made for toddlers.
"A is for apple!" One of the toys cheer, making both men giggle.
"Shh!" Louis shushes him.
"Why are we whispering? There's no one here!" Harry whispers, pressing another button on one of the light-up toys.
"B is for bumble bee! Buzz buzz!"
"I don't know," Louis protested. "I just feel like we should be quiet!"
"You're boring then. Here." Harry says in a normal volume voice, handing Louis a Nerf gun. "We're going to war."
"Like hell we are!" Louis says. "I don't want to make a mess."
"Oh, would you relax? We'll clean it up and add it to the buggy to pay for later. Come on. It'll be fun." Harry says, trying his best to get Louis to loosen up a bit. Louis grabs the plastic gun and furrows his brows. "You're just scared you're going to lose," Harry smirks. Louis' jaw drops, and his inner competitive self awakens. Louis takes off behind one of the display islands holding rubber balls and starts shooting the plastic bullets toward Harry.
"Hey, I didn't say start!" Harry calls, laughing loudly. "You're cheating, Lou!"
"You're just mad because you're losing!" Louis echos.
Harry rounds the corner and shoots Louis a few times with a few bullets, Louis taking off down one of the isles to get away. The two laugh loudly as they run around the toy section of Target, running and ducking to avoid the suction cup plastic bullets.
"Ow! Fuck Harry! Stop, you've shot my eye!" Louis drops his gun, sinking to the ground.
So they should stop doing that.
"I'm so sorry!" Harry drops his own gun, leaning down next to Louis to help him. Louis smirks, pull out the mini Nerf gun pistol he hid in the back of his pants, and starts shooting Harry with the bullets. Harry falls to the ground, using his arms to shield himself from the shells. Louis cackles loudly along with Harry, shooting until the gun goes empty.
"Well played." Harry laughs.
"You lost, so you're on clean-up duty," Louis says.
"No way!" Harry protested. "You're going to help. There are bullets everywhere."
Louis rolls his eyes and sighs. "Fine, I will."
◎
After what feels like hours of cleaning up orange bullets, which is more complex in the dark, Harry and Louis make their way back to the front of the store. Harry turns off the music because Louis insists that it's too loud.
"Let's go to the skateboards," Louis says.
"You're finally going to teach me?" Harry asks as they start walking. Louis promised when they first got together that one day Louis would teach him how to skate. Now it's going on two years, and Louis has yet to do so.
"Yes, love, sorry it's taken so long." Louis chuckles. When they finally reach the skateboards, Louis finds a black and white plaid skateboard and places it on the floor. He hops on the skateboard for a moment to test how hard Harry will be to balance on the slick floor under the wheels.
"Okay, hop on." Louis extends his hands out for Harry to hold onto while Harry balances himself on the board.
Harry's legs shake, and the board wiggles back and forth. It takes all of Louis' body strength to keep Harry onboard and ensure he doesn't fall.
"Relax, Harry! If you think you're going to fall, you're going to fall!" Louis chuckles. Harry whimpers a bit, his arms shaking as well.
It takes a moment for him to steady himself, but eventually, he does. He relaxes and holds Louis' arms close. Louis moves his hands to Harry's waist.
"There we go." Louis smiles, giving Harry a slight push down the aisle. "I'm going to let go now."
"No!" Harry says. "I'll definitely fall."
"Falling is part of learning," Louis says. "You'll be okay." He steps back from Harry. Harry whimpers again, his knees bending slightly.
"Louis!" He whines.
"You're doing good. Push with your other foot to get more momentum!"
Harry does as said, but before he can lift his foot back onto the board, the board flies backward, causing Harry to fall forward. He catches himself with his hands and knee, quickly getting up and dusting himself off.
"I meant to do that." He shrugs. Louis laughs, packed and loud. He bends over, holding his stomach in laughter.
"Okay, okay, you can stop laughing at me now." Harry puts the board away.
◎
"I can't help it. That was too funny!" Louis grins. Harry rolls his eyes and walks toward the store's back.
"Where are you going?" Louis follows behind. Harry doesn't reply.
"Harry, I'm sorry, alright!" Louis tries. Harry stops at the electronic section of the store.
"Let's change the background photos to us!" Harry says. Louis questions in his mind how Harry can change moods so fast.
"Oh, um, okay?" Louis says.
One by one, they take selfies on each display, smartphone, and laptop. They change the lock screen to themselves, grinning and smiling goofily.
"These Target employees will have the time of their life tomorrow morning." Louis chuckles.
"That's true. They're going to be so annoyed." Harry laughs back.
◎
"What now?" Harry asks. "I'm getting bored."
"Are you hungry?" Louis asks. "I can't cook anything right now, but there's plenty of snacks to choose from."
"Ooh, you want to make ice cream sundaes?" Harry chimes. "Come on. It'll be fun!"
"It'll be messy!" Louis protests. "The ice cream will melt before the store opens to buy it. And I'm not going to put open tubs of ice cream back into the freezer."
"Not the big tubs! The tiny ones. Pint-sized!" Harry already starts making his way to the food. He grabs a banana, peanuts, a pint of vanilla ice cream, and chocolate syrup.
"No sprinkles?" Louis asks.
"I got peanuts." Harry motions, taking a seat on the floor and leaning his back against the freezer door. Louis takes a seat next to him.
"We should've grabbed some bowls," Louis says. "And spoons."
"That totally flew passed my mind. I'll run and grab them." Harry rises. Louis waits for him to return, patting his thighs and shivering next to the freezer doors. Why did Harry have to choose next to the freezers to sit and eat the ice cream when there are patio displays that look so comfortable to relax in?
"I have returned," Harry announces, holding two red plastic bowls and two silver spoons.
"Thanks, baby," Louis grins, taking one of the bowls and utensils. "Come sit." He pats the floor next to him. Harry does as he says, bending his knees and sliding his back down the clear freezer door. They peel their bananas and scoop their ice cream into their bowls. Topping their treats with too much chocolate syrup and chopped peanuts, they start talking.
"What are you thinking about?" Louis asks.
"How good this ice cream is," Harry answers, his mouth full. "And how this is one of the most, um, memorable birthdays ever."
"I wonder how that is." Louis chuckles.
"Well, I took the day off from work, got to spend the day napping and in bed with my lovely boyfriend-" Harry trails off, spinning his spoon in the air. "Getting locked inside a Target and finding shit to do."
"You sure this didn't ruin it? We were going to party it up." Louis asks.
"Not at all. You hit the target with this birthday."
Louis rolls his eyes and shakes his head at Harry's lousy pun. "You are so fucking lame."
"Yeah, but you love me." Harry smiles. Louis shrugs his shoulders.
"That I do, unfortunately." He laughs. Harry makes a tsk sound with his tongue, hitting Louis' shoulder with his own.
After finishing their ice cream, they rinse their bowls in the store's bathroom and grab a few blankets and pillows. They make their way back to the front of the store and set up a place to lie down for the rest of the night.
"Thanks for today. I had fun, despite this little mishap." Harry says, lying next to his boyfriend on the hard floor. They lie on a fluffy duvet, but it's still uncomfortable.
"No problem, I did too." Louis smiles.
"Goodnight." Harry kisses Louis.
"Goodnight, baby."
◎
In the morning, Harry and Louis are awakened by someone kicking them gently awake.
"Good morning." The woman says. "What are you two doing here."
Harry yawns and rises, outstretching his arms.
"We got locked in last night. So we figured we would spend the night. Quite the experience." Harry laughs.
"I'm sorry you got locked in." The woman says. "Is there anything I can do?"
Louis shakes his head.
"Check us out? No offense, but I'm tired of seeing the color red."