As promised...
Five years later
Louis and Harry lived in a mansion a few miles away from London. A large garden surrounded the building, filled with apple trees and the sound of the swans swimming in their lake in the back of the garden. On the right of the house, was their stable, where five horses stood. One of them was a little Shetland pony named Golden. Two others were retired horses from the royal guard and the last two were none other than Cupid and Athena.
Landon had passed away two years before, making the horses need a new home.
Of course, Louis and Harry had bought them, giving them their one last home.
At the front of the house, were was their mailbox.
Louis was walking toward it, humming a low melody. It was morning, the air brisk and cold. Harry was still in bed, sleeping, except for when he had slowly opened his eyes and smiled at Louis when he got out of bed.
"Morning, my love," Louis had whispered, stroking Harry's hair. "Go back to sleep. I will go feed the horses and Clifford. Get some rest, ey?"
Harry had mumbled some nonsense into his pillow.
"What are you saying, love?" Louis had chuckled, scraping his fingers over Harry's scalp.
"Come back to bed after?"
"Of course."
And so here Louis was; in front of their mansion, having just fed their horses, and their, by now, old dog Clifford. And now, he was going for the mail.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets, shivering against the cold.
It was early October.
The leaves had fallen off the trees, crunching underneath Louis' feet as he finally stopped in front of the mailbox.
He withdrew his hands from his pockets, pulling out his key as he did so. He unlocked the mailbox and looked inside. There were a few envelopes with 'Royal shit' on them as Louis preferred to call them, but there was also one from-
Rose Canyon boarding school.
Louis furrowed his brows as he turned said envelope around in his hand.
It was addressed to him. And Harry.
To Harry Styles, Prince of England
And Louis TomlinsonRose Canyon boarding school
Out of curiosity, Louis tore the envelope open, letting his eyes skim over the few lines of words inside. His mouth formed a small O.
Dear, Louis and Prince HarryI am happy to inform you that you have been invited to the 'back to school' day for old students. It takes place on the 19th of December shortly after this year's students have travelled home for break.We hope you can make itSincerely, the staff at Rose Canyon
The small O formed into a big grin.
***
"Are you excited, darling?" Harry questioned as they drove up the driveway to Rose Canyon. It was just like Louis remembered it.
"Don't think I have been this excited in my life," Louis admitted. "We are gonna see the school again."
"It's not like it has been that long," Harry grinned, placing his hand on Louis' thigh, dangerously close to his groin. Louis let out a low gasp. Leo, their driver, gave them an unimpressed glance in the back rear mirror.
"Well, still," Louis said, shrugging. "It was where I met you. It holds a special place in my heart."
Harry's smile softened, his hand finding Louis'. Their fingers intertwined. "Same for me, love."
"And we are gonna see all the lads," Louis grinned, resting his head back on the headrest.
Over the years Louis and Harry had stayed in contact with Niall, Liam and Zayn, but the chances of meeting up were rare. Especially since Niall decided to move to Australia to continue his education and then ended up finding a wife and staying there.
But tonight they were all going to be under the same roof. The same roof where they met each other so, so long ago.
"Damn right, we will."
Leo parked the car in front of the school together with all the other cars that held parked there. And as the gentleman he was, or maybe because it was his job, he stepped out of the car and held the door open for the prince and his boyfriend.
There were people around them, but since it was dark (it was after all evening and December) Louis couldn't make out any faces.
But it wasn't long before he felt a body colliding with his. "Louis freaking Tomlinson!"
Louis could recognise that voice everywhere and with a grin, he enveloped the lithe body that was glued fast to his.
"Eleanor!" Louis laughed. "Long time, no see."
Louis hadn't seen Eleanor since his twenty-first birthday, which had been quite a few years ago at that point. But they had continued to text and call on a regular basis.
Life had come in the way of meet-ups.
"You still with this old jerk?" Eleanor said, gesturing to Harry as they pulled apart. Her grin was wide, big and teasing.
"Yes, he is," Harry said dryly, snaking an arm around Louis' waist. "And it's Your Highness."
"God," Louis groaned, resting his head against Harry's shoulder. "I hate when you do that."
Harry lowered his mouth to Louis' ear. "Do you? I remember it as you are quite keen on calling me it in the bedroom, or is it just me?"
Louis' cheeks flushed red. "Let's get inside."
They went into the cafeteria, which was filled with people. And just like Louis remembered.
"Hasn't changed one bit," Louis wistfully sighed, leaning against Harry's side. "God- Not even Headmaster William. Look!" He pointed into the mass of people that were chattering, his finger directed at the same man who had called them into his office and multiple occasions. He was chatting with a person Louis didn't recognise.
"Yeah, you are right," Harry grinned. "Shall we try and find the bo-"
"Well, if it isn't the Prince of England and his partner in crime."
Louis and Harry turned around in unison, watching as Liam and Zayn stepped toward them; arms linked.
Still together as a couple, just like Louis and Harry.
"Payno, Zaynie," Louis grinned, stepping away from Harry and engulfing them both in hugs. "God, it's good to see you both."
"Ditto," Liam grinned, patting Louis' back. "We met Niall in the hall, snogging his wife's face off. Newly married people." He rolled his eyes fondly.
Louis scoffed. "Like you're one to talk. Remember when you and Zayn tied the knot two years ago? Unbearable to be near!"
"We were not," Zayn scoffed.
"You so were," Harry added.
"Just wait to try it," Zayn said. "Then you can't blame us. Being drunk on... marriage is great."
"Whatever." Louis rolled his eyes fondly. Harry stayed silent, a small smile on his lips.
Shortly after, Niall joined them, together with his wife, Sheila. Both were panting and adjusting their clothes.
"Newly married," Harry whispered into Louis' air. "Drunk on marriage."
Louis sent him a small smile over his shoulder.
The night was well spent. There was served dinner, after a long speech by Headmaster William, followed by them being let out on their own, rediscovering the school. Louis and Harry walked up to their old room, spending minutes just looking at the door. They didn't go in. After all, someone else lived in there now.
That was a weird thought.
To Louis, it would always be theirs.
But it wasn't.
They had grown up.
"Remember the time you walked in on me wanking my dick off?" Harry asked randomly as they looked.
Louis stuttered out a laugh. "Of course, I do, darling. Queer awakening number one."
"Hmm," Harry hummed. "Have I ever told you what I was thinking about?"
"No," Louis chuckled, looking around them. "And I don't think this is the place to say such matters."
"Yeah," Harry mused. "You are probably right." He held his hand out for Louis. "Can I take you somewhere?"
Louis gladly took his hand. "Always."
Of all places, he didn't expect Harry to take him to the greenhouse. It was cold in there and Louis shivered. He looked around at all the plants, memories of this place flooding his mind.
He hugged Harry close to his chest while the boy cried, unsure of what else he could do. Probably nothing.
After some time, Harry's breathing steadied and he let out one last sniff. "Thank you," he whispered.
"Any time," Louis whispered back.
"You don't mean that, though," Harry whispered. "Tomorrow we will go back to hating each other."
Louis was silent for a few minutes, but then mumbled into Harry's neck, "Have you ever hated me?"
"Um-" Harry let out a shaky breath, "-I did in the beginning, but after the detention in the library... no. I took a... a liking to you there." He was silent for a beat, but then, "Do you hate me, Louis?" His voice was so utterly small and Louis felt like someone had stabbed him in the heart.
He held Harry a little tighter to him. "I think I stopped hating you a long time ago, Harry. I was just too stupid to admit it."
Louis still couldn't believe that a part of him once had hated Harry.
So long ago. So much had happened.
"Are you planning on telling me what we are doing here?" Louis asked, scraping his boot against the floor. "It's freaking cold out here."
He turned around to face Harry who was behind him and let out a gasp. Harry wasn't standing behind him. Harry was down, on one knee, holding a small box in his hand. Inside, a shining ring was.
Louis was stunned.
Harry was trembling as he said a low, "So..."
"So..." Louis repeated after him, his heart galloping out of his chest.
Was this really happening?
"Are you gonna slap me in the head for doing this, or can I go on?" Harry asked, biting his lip nervously. He was beautiful as he sat there, his dimple on display from the nervous smile. His teeth quivering from the cold. Hands trembling.
"Yes," Louis hastily nodded, "Yes, yes, you can."
"Okay," Harry breathed. "Um, so." He let out a deep breath. "Louis William Tomlinson, I have been waiting to do this for bloody ages, let me start by telling you that."
Louis let out a watery chuckle, holding his frozen fingers to his mouth.
Harry gave him a crooked smile, his voice growing with confidence. "But nowhere seemed as perfect of a place to propose as the place you held me for the first time; the place where I felt alive again for the first time in what had felt like forever. And... the place where I, on Halloween, began to slowly fall in love with you."
Great. Louis was crying. Sobbing.
"You liked me already, then?" he choked out.
Harry gave him a watery smile. Louis was happy he wasn't the only one crying. "Yes, of course, I did. How could I not?"
"To me, it seemed a lot like hate, Haz."
"Hate turns to love."
"I fucking hate you."
"Do you?"
"Yes."
"Do you also love me?"
Louis gave him a tiny smile. "More and more every day."
"Okay," Harry breathed. "I can live with that. Now, let me continue my very romantic speech."
"Right, of course, go on," Louis urged him.
"Right." Harry nodded slightly to himself. "Louis, I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. These years... have been the happiest of my life. And I wanna spend the rest of it with you. You mean everything to me and I want you to be by my side forever." One last deep breath. "Will you marry me?"
Louis let out another choked-up sob, stumbling down on his knees before Harry so that they were at eye height. He grabbed the hand that held the box, holding it tightly in his grasp as he nodded. "Yes, yes, Harry. Of course, I will. I wanna have you by my side for the rest of my life, too. I love you, so, so much."
"Really?" Harry's face erupted in a relieved grin.
Louis smiled softly at him. "Was there ever any doubt?"
Harry shrugged. "Not really, no."
Louis kissed him, long and hard, until his head swirled with the need for oxygen and he had to pull away, yet, he still kept his forehead rested against Harry's. "Put the ring on my finger, love?"
Harry, eyes glistening wet, nodded. He took the ring out of the box and slid it onto Louis' finger. "To the rest of our lives?"
"Yes," Louis nodded. "Forever." And then he kissed him again.