Wordcount: 7674 words.
Eventful nights (at the museum)
-Set in the year 2073 - Madame Tussauds - "Welcome, Mr Styles. Thank you for applying to the job as night guard. We don't have many employees these days." The man gave Harry a warm smile. Harry thought his name was Mr Anderson. "It's better than working at the zoo. At least you don't have to feed the wax figures", Harry joked. The smile slipped off Mr Anderson's face, but was quickly replaced by a seemingly forced one. "Of course wax figures cannot be alive, Mr Styles. Don't be silly."
Why did Harry get the feeling he had just been scolded by the man? "So, let's give you a little tour around the museum, shall we?" Harry nodded eagerly. He couldn't wait to see all the figures of people that had made it into history books since the twentieth century. "Eve, give the new night guard a tour around."
Harry decided he did not like this man. Did he feel too good to give the new night guard a small tour himself? "I have a museum to run!" He waved his arms around and walked off, only to stop and talk to a visitor.
Ah yes, it must be very hard work, letting your employees run your museum.
A small girl with long, curly, blonde hair and big baby blue eyes approached Harry carefully. "Are you the new night guard?" Harry nodded. "Ah, good. I'm Evanna, one of the tour guides. Anderson always gets my name wrong." He shook her hand. "I'm Harry. I still don't understand why he needs a night guard. It's not like those wax figures are tempted to run away at night." Evanna let out a laugh. "They are not indeed. Come on, I'll show you around."
She led him past a few rooms, telling they weren't really that interesting: only the royal family and some old super heroes. They arrived at a fairly small area. "Those are mostly politicians, but the room is officially titled as World Leaders. They're rather boring, but we do have Nelson Mandela. This room is the least popular. But I personally like the next room. Come on!" Harry caught a glimpse of Barack Obama's statue. He knew Obama was the first American president to legalize same-sex marriage in all of the United States and made a mental note to visit his statue one day. When it wasn’t dark.
Evanna led him out of the room. "These are from Hollywood, all actors and actresses", she said, opening the massive, wooden doors that gave access to a rather large room. "Is that-?" "Emma Watson? Yeah. Her figure was revealed in 2013. Luckily, we found a way to preserve the old figures. They're rather accurate. She was an amazing actress, starred in tons of movies. The Harry Potter-series, for example, and the Perks of being a Wallflower. I wish I could've met her." Evanna sighed deeply.
Harry examined the wax figure. It was, like Evanna said, rather accurate. Of course Harry had seen pictures of Emma Watson when she was about twenty-two years old, and the wax figure looked like her a lot.
"Come on, let's go to the next one." She skipped ahead of him, closing the massive, wooden doors once again. Harry noticed that the museum was almost clear of visitors. It must have been around closing time. Large, colourful doors hid the last room from sight. There were musical notes painted on the door and Harry knew it was the room with musicians. Evanna opened the doors and a large, brightly lit room was revealed. "Those are all musicians. Over there is Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen. They've been really important for the music industry. The cute ginger guy over there is Ed Sheeran. He made beautiful music."
Harry didn't know where to look first. A lot of his idols were standing in the same room as him, albeit as wax figures. "And those four blokes are also rather popular, especially with teenage girls. Their music wasn't necessarily that legendary, but they once were the most famous boy band in the world. That's why they have statues." "One Direction", Harry said. "You know them?" Evanna asked bemused. "Yeah." He blushed. "They have some decent music. The way they died is pretty sad, though."
Evanna nodded. "They all died within two years of each other. One died in a plane crash, one got shot at a pub, one committed suicide and one overdosed on drugs. Rather sad, really." Harry sighed, remembering the day he was scrolling through old news articles and an article had popped up about how the last remaining member of once world famous boy band One Direction had been found dead in his apartment. They suspected it was suicide, because he had left a note to his four sisters. He was only forty-eight at the time.
"Luckily, their statues have been saved throughout the years. They were made in 2013, about sixty years ago. I believe they were about twenty, twenty-one at the time", Evanna told him. "Want to take a closer look?" She winked at him and Harry turned beet red in the face, but nodded anyway. Evanna led him past the statues of Freddie Mercury, Ed Sheeran, The Beatles and many more. In one corner of the room, four statues stared up at Harry.
The tallest one had short, brown hair and brown puppy eyes. He seemed like the goody-two-shoes of the group and Harry thought he might have been friends with him, if he had still been alive. His name was Liam Payne and he had died at the age of forty-five in a plane crash, together with his wife.
The second one had a tanned skin, jet black hair with a blonde streak in it and stunning hazel eyes. He seemed like the bad boy of the group, but Harry knew he wasn't. He had read some old articles on them, and he actually was a bit of a puppy. His name was Zayn Malik and he had overdosed on drugs at the age of forty-seven. According to some old articles, he couldn't handle the pressure and the expectations everyone had of him and he searched his way out through drugs.
The third one was rather small, had blonde hair that was brown at the roots, blue eyes shining with happiness (as far as that's possible on a wax statue) and a wide smile. He seemed carefree and happy. His name was Niall Horan and, according to the plaque, he was Irish. He had been shot in a pub in Ireland at the age of forty-five by a madman who simply didn't like the man.
The last one was small and curvy, with caramel coloured hair styled up in a quiff and beautiful cerulean eyes. He seemed caring, but also a bit childish. His name was Louis Tomlinson and he had been the last remaining member of the band. He had committed suicide at the age of forty-eight because he had nothing to live for anymore.
Harry personally liked Louis best. He knew it was weird, but he had a bit of a crush on the boy. Even though he was long dead. "Are you going to keep making googly eyes at Tomlinson's wax figure?" Evanna chuckled. "Or shall we go and see if Anderson has all your stuff ready so you can start your first night at the museum?" Harry blushed deeply. "Y-yeah, let's go get my stuff", he stuttered. Evanna's laugh echoed through the empty room and Harry followed her back to the hallway.
"Mr Anderson, I think Harry is ready to start his job now", Evanna called as she pushed the door open. "Ah yes, thank you Anna." Evanna rolled her eyes. "Well, Mr Styles. Here is all the stuff you need. Torch, keys, pepper spray and instructions. And your uniform, of course." Mr Anderson pointed at the things on the desk in front of him. "Anna, do you mind giving young Mr Styles here his uniform? I have to go, a very important business meeting is waiting for me!"
Harry really didn't like the man. Evanna sighed deeply as Mr Anderson closed the door behind him and his footsteps sounded further and further away. She opened a wardrobe and pulled out a uniform on a clothes hanger. She examined Harry's body with squinted eyes and bit her lip, before she handed him the hanger. "I think it'll fit. Otherwise I'll order a bigger one in the morning", she said. "It'll do. Thanks for everything, Evanna", Harry said and he really meant it.
"No problem", she smiled. "I'll see you in the morning, yeah? Don't fall asleep." She winked at him, grabbed her coat and multi-coloured bag and left. Harry heard the front doors close behind her. Well. He sighed and a creepy feeling crawled over his skin. What if there would come burglars with guns or knives? Was it safe to leave him all alone in such a big museum like this one?
Probably, but Harry was still doubting his sanity. Why in the world did he take this job again? He didn't like being alone in a massive building. He sighed again and started changing into his uniform. It fit perfectly and Harry noticed he could clip the torch, keys and pepper spray onto his belt. He grabbed the instructions off Mr Anderson's desk and folded them open.
Step 1: Lock all the exits. Make sure they cannot be opened without keys.
Harry frowned. It was pretty logic to lock all the exits. He made a round through the museum, locking all the exits carefully. "Okay, done", he mumbled to himself. Harry glanced down at his instructions.
Step 2: Close all the windows in every area.
Harry swallowed thickly. That meant he had to go into every room. He wasn't really a fan of rooms filled with very realistic-looking wax figures. Especially not when it was quite dark already. He started walking towards the first room where all Hollywood people stood. Harry felt really uncomfortable with all the glass eyes looking at him as he made a run for the windows.
When he finished closing and locking all the windows, he glanced down at his paper once again.
Step 3: Lock the super heroes’ room.
On the top of the paper was written Complete all steps beforemidnight!!! Harry quickly glanced at his watch and saw it was 11.27 PM.
Not much time left to complete all five steps on the paper. He sped-walked to the super heroes’ room and quickly locked the door.
Step 4: Make sure to put on the flashing lights in the Royalty’s room before locking the door.
Harry frowned. What a strange thing to do when you're securing the museum. Oh well, the maker of the instruction surely knew what he was doing at the time. At least, Harry hoped so. He blinked his eyes a few times and slowly went to the Royalty’s room. And indeed, there was an installation with flash lights which he turned on. He was pretty convinced he was going blind because of the lights and he left the room quickly, fumbling with the keys whilst locking the door.
Step 5: Good luck.
Good luck? Good luck with what?
It was 11.49 PM by the time Harry spared his watch another glance. He shrugged and decided to go back to Mr Anderson's office. Surely he was allowed to sit there and eat? And maybe walk around every thirty minutes. Maybe. He plonked down in the large chair at the desk and took his food from his bag. He had just taken a bite out of his sandwich when he heard some noise. It sounded like people talking. But they were way too loud for burglars. What could it be?
Burglars were quiet, sneaky, not making any noise. Whatever it was that was inside the museum was loud, noisy and obnoxious. Not your typical burglar. Harry swallowed the mouthful of sandwich and got up, pepper spray gripped tightly in his hand. There was no way he would let someone steal something at his first night. Nope, not happening.
He opened the door of Mr Anderson's office carefully, peeking around the corner but he saw nothing. The voices continued talking though and it sounded like it was coming from every single room. What's going on?! Harry thought. Was he going mad? He walked into the musicians’ room and froze. The wax figures were moving, talking, singing. That's not normal.
Harry squeezed his eyes shut and pinched his arm. It's all just a dream, it's just a dream and you'll wake up any minute now, he told himself. "Oh hello, you must be the new night guard", a voice said friendly. Harry let out a blood curling scream as he opened his eyes and saw the ginger guy standing in front of him. The noise quieted down and every single person in the room stared at Harry.
"Is he okay?" a rather high pitched voice asked. "I don't think so, mate. He sounded like a pig being slaughtered", another voice with an Irish accent said and a loud laugh followed. Harry stared at all the people with wide eyes. "That's not possible. You can't be walking and talking and living!" he said with a very high pitched voice. "You're goddamn wax figures!" "Don't get that wrong, my friend. We are wax figures by daytime. By night time, we're humans."
"Nope", Harry said and he started backing out of the room. "Nope, nope, not happening, nope." "I like him", the high pitched voice said. "Can we keep him?" the Irish voice asked. "Be nice, Niall. The poor boy is shocked", Ginger Guy said. Niall? Something clicked inside Harry's brain. "Niall Horan?" "Hey, the kid knows my name!" Irish Accent said. Harry scoffed. "You're the Irish bloke from One Direction, I studied your figure not three hours ago." "Creepy much", Niall mumbled. A smack followed.
"Ouch, Louis, that hurt! No need to smack me!" By the sound of his voice, Niall was pouting. "Can you all continue with your lives please?" Harry asked, as politely as possible in his shocked state. "I feel a little uncomfortable with all these people staring at me." A few people smiled and everyone picked up the conversations where they had left off. The crowd slowly split up and the four boys Harry had looked at earlier that day were left, looking at the curly-haired boy with curiosity.
"I have to say, you’re taking it better than the last one. He ran out of here screaming and Evanna said he had been put into a mental hospital", Puppy Eyes said. "Evanna knew about this? Why in the world didn't she warn me for God's sake?!" Harry exclaimed, but his anger was slowly fading away. "You wouldn't have believed her, now would you?" Niall said, laughing. Harry thought about it for a moment. "No, I probably wouldn't have." "See?"
"So, you over the shock now?" Quiff Boy said, cocking his head to the side. Harry shrugged. "Kinda. Still think it's rather impossible to see you all alive, walking and talking.” Quiff Boy laughed. “Oh, by the way. Did you follow all the instructions? Because you don’t want the Hulk and Wolverine to run around freely”, Gorgeous Eyes said. Harry nodded. “Yeah, I’ve locked some doors. But how about some proper introductions? Because I have only read the plaques with your names and some old articles on the internet. And no, I was not stalking you.” Harry turned beet red in the face as Niall laughed.
“Sounds good. Who starts?” “I’ll start”, Harry shrugged. “My name is Harry Edward Styles, I’m eighteen years old and I’m from Cheshire.” “I’m Liam James Payne, I was born in 1993 and I’m from Wolverhampton”, Puppy Eyes said. “I’m Zayn Javadd Malik, I was also born in 1993 and I’m from Bradford”, Quiff Boy said. “I’m Niall James Horan, I was born in 1993 and I’m Irish”, Niall said. “Well, guess I’m last then. I’m Louis William Tomlinson, I was born in 1991 and I’m from Doncaster”, Gorgeous Eyes said.
Ah yes, Harry now remembered their names. So Gorgeous Eyes had been the one to smack Niall earlier? No, bad Harry. His name was Louis, not Gorgeous Eyes.
“Where do you all stay by daytime?” Harry asked, suddenly curious. “We don’t know. ‘S like sleeping all day and waking up at midnight. Except for the fact we don’t dream”, Louis said. “It feels like not having any memory of the day.” “But we live at night, so that’s fine. We do remember all that. Suppose you’ll be living at night time now as well, innit?” Niall winked at him and Harry chuckled.
The colour of Louis’ eyes (deep pools of cerulean with golden specks, which gave away every single emotion Louis had at that very moment) was distracting Harry big time. He was developing a crush on the feathery-haired boy and rapidly at that.
Harry had never worried about his sexuality before. He had had boyfriends and girlfriends alike (not at the same time, of course). And, if he was being honest, he was more on the homosexual side of bisexual. But now, for the first time ever, he was worried. Louis was technically a wax figure (regardless that he was talking, walking and living) and falling in love with a wax figure is not a good thing. They would never have a future, unless Harry was made into a wax figure as well. And since he wasn’t famous, he would never have the honour of having his own wax figure in Madame Tussauds.
A living creature and a wax figure just didn’t work. And Harry knew it. But his heart decided to completely ignore those rules and was, as said before, developing a major crush on Louis Tomlinson, band member of boyband One Direction.
And there was nothing Harry could do about it.
“You okay mate? You seem a bit off”, Louis asked concerned. Harry nodded, his mind still rethinking everything over and over again. “Well, I guess it was a bit of a shock for you when you found out we were walking around and talking.” He let out one of the most beautiful laughs Harry had ever heard and Harry almost melted to a puddle at his feet. NOT GOOD. NOT GOOD AT ALL.
“Sooooo….” Louis rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet and Harry noticed the others had gone off to talk to other musicians. “Who’s the ginger guy again?” Harry asked. “Ed Sheeran. Absolute genius with lyrics and his voice is way better than the four of us put together. Very down to Earth too. Nice lad”, Louis answered. There fell a silence between the two boys. “Do you want me to give you a tour? I know Evanna already gave you one, but you know. You can actually meet everyone now”, Louis offered.
Harry nodded. “Seems like a plan. So I don’t need to, erm…. Babysit any of you?” He felt rather awkward asking it, but Louis smiled understandingly. “We’re all adults here, so no. But you do need to check on the super heroes’ room every now and then. They are tempted to run off into the night. But as soon as the sun comes up, anyone who’s still outside becomes a pile of dust.” Harry shivered. “That sounds creepy.” Louis shrugged.
“You could see it like that. But it’s like being at school. You can’t leave the grounds until you’re free to go. Except for the fact that we’re never free to go and we don’t sit in school benches day after day. God, that would be a living hell.” Harry chuckled. “Well, Curly boy, let’s go!” Louis pulled on the sleeve of Harry’s uniform and skipped out of the room. “Where to first, oh mighty night guard with the curly hair?” Louis exclaimed dramatically, spinning a pirouette on his heels in the middle of the corridor.
“You are one special kid, Louis Tomlinson”, Harry laughed. “I know, I know. Thank you, thank you”, Louis grinned widely. Harry liked him even more now. He was rather random at times, apparently, and a bit childish, like Harry had expected. It felt like Harry had known him for years. They were quite comfortable around each other, something Harry usually never had with people he just met. But they weren’t wax figures, a little voice in his head whispered to him. He ignored it.
“I want to meet some actors from the last century”, Harry said thoughtfully. “Very well. Most of them are nice, like Emma. There’s also a bunch of stuck up and arrogant actresses, but just ignore them. They’ll possibly come at you because you’re charming and cheeky, but you’ll find out they’re not nice”, Louis told him. “I’m charming?” Harry grinned, displaying his dimple for extra measure. “Curly, you have dimples. Maybe I should add cute to that list.” “’M not cute!” Harry protested. Louis tutted. “Of course you aren’t.”
He opened the doors to the Hollywood room and loud chattering sounded. A tall girl with dark hair and warm, brown eyes waved at them enthusiastically. “Hi Lou! How are you? Haven’t seen you here in a while”, she exclaimed. “Hi Em! Sorry, I felt lazy and Niall kept me busy with his food. You know that boy. Also, Evanna told me we were getting a new night guard. And here he is!” Louis spread his arms and pointed at Harry. Harry was utterly shocked. Emma Watson was talking to them. Well, to Louis, actually, but still! She was talking to them!
“Hello”, Emma said politely, walking towards the pair of them. “I’m Emma. And you are?” “Harry”, Harry managed to stutter. “Harry Styles. The new night guard”, Louis said helpfully. “He’s cute”, Emma stage-whispered to Louis. He rolled his eyes. “I know. It’s the dimples that are the finishing touch though.” “Dimples?” “Harreehh, give her a smile”, Louis said, smiling widely himself. Harry managed to smile at Emma, despite his shocked state, and she squealed. “He’s so your type, Lou!” Louis turned beet red. “Shut it, Em.”
On the other side of the room, Harry saw a few girls smiling flirtatiously at him. One of them even winked and made the come to me indication with her finger. He had to resist the urge to vomit. Did he really need to glue a paper to his forehead that said ‘As long as your name is not Louis Tomlinson, I AM NOT INTERESTED’? People are so tiring sometimes.
Louis poked his arm and whispered “Told you. They even tried with me. I guess their gaydar doesn’t work properly. I mean, I basically scream gay”, he added, seeing Harry’s face. Harry chuckled. “That outfit is rather subtle. I’ve seen worse in some pictures”, he said. Louis laughed loudly. “You mean the red pants and the striped shirt?” “Definitely”, Harry laughed. “Though the outfits on your second tour were much better.”
“Did you like those jeans?” Louis wiggled his eyebrows at the younger lad and Harry blushed furiously. “Your ass looked good in those jeans”, Harry muttered. “I knew it!” Louis shouted triumphantly. Emma had heard everything and she was winking at Harry. “Let’s go meet some royalties”, Louis said in a creepy voice, skipping out of the room.
“You so like him!” Emma exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Harry. “I do not”, he said defensively, but it was no use. Emma was jumping up and down. “Finally someone who’s perfect for Lou! I’ve tried to set him up with a few guys but neither of them were nice to him.” “Why are they all gay?” one of the girls complained. Another one sighed deeply. “We’re stuck in this stupid museum. Otherwise we could have found at least five straight, cute guys by now.” A third one nodded, clearly agreeing with the second one.
Emma cackled loudly at that and waved Harry off. “Go on, your boyfriend is waiting for you!” “He’s not my boyfriend!” Harry protested, but the overenthusiastic brunette girl was already pushing him out of the room. “Bye Harry, I’ll see you around. Don’t have too much fun!” And with that, she shut the doors in his face, winking just before they slammed shut. That girl…
“Where were you?” Louis asked, head cocked to the side. “Oh, just talking to Emma. She’s nice”, Harry said casually, like Emma never tried to make him admit he had a major crush on the boy in front of him. Louis stared at him suspiciously, but decided to drop it anyways. “Let’s go! These royals are absolutely hilarious sometimes. Did you put on the flashing lights?” Harry nodded.
Louis cackled. “Good, good. That’s even funnier.” Louis grabbed Harry’s wrist and Harry felt tingles shooting up his spine. Louis either didn’t feel it, or ignored it and pulled Harry to the door of the Royals’ Room. “We can’t go in, because they will panic. They still think they are famous and well-known”, Louis whispered. Harry nodded, but Louis wouldn’t see it anyway, since he was in front of Harry.
Louis carefully pushed open the doors and Harry saw some princesses prancing around the room, smiling sweetly at the flashing lights, which Harry now realized must have been the replacement for actual cameras. Who even thought of this?!
“Look, it’s absolutely hilarious”, Louis whispered. Harry chuckled quietly. “Oh shit, it’s almost sunrise”, Louis suddenly whispered. “How do you know?” Harry wondered. “I can feel it. It’s strange, I know, but there’s this feeling in my gut that tells me it’s almost sunrise”, Louis told him. He shut the doors of the Royals’ Room and together, the two boys walked back to the Musicians’ Room.
“Well, Curly boy, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow!” Louis smiled at him and Harry smiled back. He felt like a teenage girl with a crush. Louis poked Harry’s dimple as Harry noticed everyone around them was slowly returning to his or her stand. “See you tomorrow, Lou”, Harry said softly. “See ya tomorrow, Harry!” Niall called. Harry waved at him.
The first sunrays slowly started seeping into the room as Harry hugged Louis. “It’s nice to have a new friend for once”, Louis smiled. “What do you mean?” Harry asked, but Louis had already frozen in place. He was an ordinary wax statue once again. Harry didn’t realize he had kept staring at Louis’ face until noises sounded from downstairs.
“Harry, are you there?” Evanna’s voice sounded from downstairs. Harry noticed it was almost seven in the morning. “Yeah”, he called back. Her light footsteps came closer and closer and eventually, she noticed him staring at Louis’ face. “I see you met them then”, she smiled. Harry nodded with a giddy smile on his face. A silence fell, in which Harry couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from Louis.
“How did you find out?” Harry asked the small, blonde girl suddenly. Evanna smiled. “Well, it must have been when I just started working here. One day, I arrived early. We didn’t have a night guard back then. I heard voices from upstairs and thought there were thieves trying to steal some figures. So I went upstairs, armed with a fire extinguisher and entered the musicians’ room. I was just in time to witness them getting back on their stands and slowly freezing as the sun came up.
“The next day, I stayed after work and waited for them to come alive. They did, at twelve P.M. exactly. I was rather shocked, but they were exceptionally friendly, especially Ed and the One Direction boys. A few weeks later, we lost a statue. Anderson thought it was stolen, but I knew it must have been outside by sunrise. I managed to convince Anderson to hire a night guard, but they never stayed long. All of them were terrified of the figures. But now you’re here and judging by the look on your face, you’ve made some new friends. Who are they?”
Harry kept quiet. He needed a little moment to digest all the information Evanna gave him. “Who are your new friends?” Evanna repeated patiently. “Louis and Emma”, Harry answered mindlessly. Evanna smiled widely. “I already guessed that. You were ogling Louis’ statue a bit too eagerly a few minutes ago.” “Was not!” Harry protested. “That’s okay. He’s really nice and handsome. You should get some sleep, you look exhausted. I’ll see you tonight, yeah? Sweet dreams, Harry.”
Harry knew Evanna was sending him home. He sighed deeply and slowly walked to Mr Anderson’s office. He took off his uniform, changing back into his regular clothes and got in his car. He was immensely tired of all the things that had happened tonight. As soon as he got home, he fell into bed, only taking off his shoes before drifting off to sleep, dreaming of a certain pretty, cerulean-eyed boy.
x x x
The next night, Harry quickly closed all the windows, put on the flashing lights and locked some of the doors. The statues weren’t as frightening anymore, not now Harry had seen them walking, talking and breathing. He entered the musicians’ room and a quick glance at his watch told him it was almost midnight. Harry was, if he was being honest, really excited to see Louis again.
At exactly twelve o’clock, he saw Louis’ statue slowly starting to move. Not only Louis’, all the others as well. It was a strange experience, watching all the statues slowly unfreeze. Liam was the first one to step off his stand. The others quickly followed, all of them smiling or waving at Harry, but he couldn’t see Louis anywhere anymore. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around Harry’s waist and a voice said “Hi Curly, how are you?”
Harry flipped around and wrapped his arms around Louis’ shoulders. “Hi”, he mumbled into Louis’ hair. “I missed you.” “Did you sleep well?” Louis asked. Harry nodded. “Did you dream of me?” “Cheeky”, Harry said. Louis chuckled into Harry’s chest. “Did you?” “Yes”, Harry mumbled, blushing like mad. “Aw, you’re a cute Curly boy”, Louis smiled, slowly letting go of him. “’M not cute!” Harry protested.
“Yes, you are. Let’s go say hi to Emma and maybe after that we can hang out? You know, get to know each other better. If you want to, of course. I mean, I understand it if you don’t want to hang out with me all the time-” Louis stuttered, but Harry interrupted him. “I would love to hang out with you.” Louis turned beet red in the face and smiled. “Really? Because I’m not that interesting.” “I think you are. Come on, let’s go.”
Louis smiled widely and grabbed Harry’s hand. The familiar tingles shot up Harry’s spine and Louis dropped his hand immediately. He must have felt it as well. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-” “Yeah, that’s okay.” A silence fell until Liam approached the two boys. “Weren’t you two going to see Emma?” Harry nodded. “Give her my greetings. She’s a nice girl.” “You know, you can go visit her yourself as well”, Harry said confusedly. Why couldn’t Liam go to visit another room?
“I can?” “Yeah?” Harry said slowly. “Why wouldn’t you?” “Well, one of the night guards before you ordered us to stay in our room. We weren’t allowed to walk around freely.” “You are now. You’re free to walk around, just don’t leave the museum. After all, you are human and it’s only normal”, Harry said. Liam cheered loudly and climbed on the couch in the middle of the room. “Everyone, listen up! Harry here has given us permission to walk around freely!”
The entire room broke out in cheers and a lot of people left the room in small groups. “Just don’t leave the museum!” Harry called. “Will do mate, thanks!”, Ginger Guy said. “Who is he again?” Harry whispered to Louis. “Ed Sheeran, was famous in our time”, Louis whispered back. “Oh right, thanks.” All around the museum, cheers were heard and within a few minutes, Emma came running into the room. She threw her arms around Harry and hugged him tightly. “Thank you for letting us walk around freely. Now I can finally visit my friends.”
Harry missed the jealous look Louis threw Emma. “Alright, enough hugging the Curly boy. That’s my privilege”, Louis joked, but there was an honesty to it. “Come on, let’s go somewhere private.” Louis wiggled his eyebrows. “Planning something cheeky here, Curly?” Harry blushed. “No, I didn’t mean it like that!” “Shame, because I wouldn’t mind if you did”, Louis whispered in Harry’s ear. He skipped off, showing off his bum and leaving Harry with rather inappropriate thoughts.
That boy...
After a few minutes of trying to rid his mind of inappropriate thoughts, Harry left the room. Louis was outside, leaning against the wall with one foot against it. He grinned when he saw Harry. “Got rid of the thoughts?” he winked. Harry blushed again. “Oh come on, Curly. It’s fun to tease you”, Louis laughed. “Your cheeks turn the nicest shade of pink when you blush.” And Harry blushed even deeper and Louis laughed even harder.
“Come on, let’s go to Anderson’s office.” “How do you know his name is Anderson?” Harry asked. “The sign on the door says B. Anderson, manager.” “Oh, I never noticed that.” “Yeah, in all the two days you’ve been here”, Louis laughed. The two boys walked down the stairs and Harry saw people everywhere, chattering and smiling. It must have been a long time since they were allowed to walk around. Louis opened the door to Mr Anderson’s office.
“Well, Curly boy, how about twenty questions?” Harry nodded. “Sounds like a plan.” “I start, I start!” Louis said excitedly, jumping up and down. Harry chuckled and pulled Louis over to the couch in Mr Anderson’s office. “Family?” “Mum Anne, sister Gemma and stepdad Robin”, Harry answered. “Yours?” “Sisters Lottie, Fizzy, Daisy and Phoebe and Mum Jay. She divorced my stepdad Mark in 2010”, Louis said. “Favourite colour?” “Deep cerulean with golden specks”, Harry answered immediately, blushing afterwards. “Like the colour of my eyes?” “One question at the time! Yours?”
“Jade green with emerald specks”, Louis said without thinking. “Like the colour of my eyes?” Harry asked cheekily. “One question at the time”, Louis mocked him. Harry pouted. “Not fair.” Louis grinned. “I know. Like the colour of my eyes?” Harry turned beet red and tried avoid the question, but Louis wasn’t having any of it. “Okay, yes, like the colour of your eyes. Happy?” “Was that your question?”
“No! Favourite song?” “Erm... That’s a hard one. I think Drunk by Ed Sheeran.” “Oh, I like that song! No, seriously. I found it on the internet once and it’s been my favourite song ever since”, Harry said enthusiastically. “Really? You listen to old music like Ed’s? I like you, Curly boy. You have good taste in music”, Louis said, smiling at the younger boy. “Sexual orientation? Or is that a strange question to ask when we’re playing twenty questions?” “No, not at all”, Harry smiled. “Bisexual, but more on the homosexual side. Can you sing for me?”
“Sing for you? You ask a lot of me, Curly boy.” “Please?” Harry jutted out his lower lip and gave Louis the eyes. “Don’t use the eyes on me, Curly! It doesn’t work!” Louis looked away from Harry and Harry went to sit on Louis’ lap. “Can’t avoid me now”, he mumbled. “Oh Christ, alright, I’ll sing for you! Stop giving me that look!” Harry smiled widely. “That’s what I thought. I’ve heard you sing before, of course. But I want to hear you live.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll sing for you”, Louis muttered. “Though my voice isn’t as good when I haven’t done some exercises to warm it up-” Harry gave him a pointed look and Louis sighed. “Fine.” And he started singing Drunk by Ed Sheeran. Harry was quiet throughout the whole of Louis’ singing. He was mesmerized by the way Louis seemed to get sucked into the song while he sang and how Louis’ cerulean eyes were focused on Harry’s hair, not looking directly at him. He noticed Louis’ pink, thin lips moving perfectly and his small hands were gripping his jeans.
Louis was nervous, singing for Harry. And Harry didn’t understand why. Louis had a beautiful voice, it was soft and raw and a bit high and perfect. Harry knew his crush wasn’t as small anymore. Every minute he spent with Louis, he fell more and more for the older boy.
It weren’t just his eyes. It wasn’t just his voice. It wasn’t just his personality. It wasn’t just his small frame. It was the entire package. And Harry knew it.
In Harry’s eyes, Louis was the definition of perfection. He was sweet, he was kind, he was childish, and he was pretty…. Harry was sure he could go on about him for years. Right now, at this very moment, when Louis was singing for him, Harry knew he had to get him. He liked him too much to let him go. But they wouldn’t have a future together. Harry knew he wouldn’t live forever, and Louis probably would. Because wax figures did not age. And Harry did.
He noticed Louis had finished singing and was staring at him nervously. “How was it? You seemed deep in thought”, Louis said, biting his lip. “You were perfect”, Harry said softly. “Your voice is absolutely wonderful. I really don’t have any other words for it.” Louis smiled shyly. “Thanks.” “I mean it”, Harry said seriously. Louis waved the compliments off with a red tint to his cheeks and said “Let’s continue with twenty questions. It was my turn, wasn’t it?” Harry nodded.
Louis bit his lip as he thought. “Actually, I’m out of questions. I will just get to know you by spending time with you.” Harry smiled widely. “I’d like that.” Louis smiled as well. “It’s almost sunrise. Have we really spent the night sitting here and talking?” he asked. “Jup”, Harry said, popping the p. Louis smiled. “You’re still sitting in my lap.” “I know. That was my plan.” “Sure it was, Curly. Now, come on. Get up. I have to get back to my stand, otherwise I can’t get back in the proper position.” Harry snorted and it didn’t take Louis long to catch on.
“You dirty minded bastard”, he laughed. Harry got up eventually and took Louis’ hands. “I’ll walk you back.” “Are you also going to kiss me on the doorstep?” Louis asked cheekily. “If you want me to”, Harry said seriously. Louis peeked up at him, estimating if he really meant it. The two boys started walking back to the musicians’ room and Harry was still holding Louis’ hand. This time he hadn’t pulled away.
“You know”, Louis said after a short silence, “I feel like we’ve known each other for years.” “I have the same feeling”, Harry smiled. Louis let out a breath he’d been holding. “Wow, I’m glad. It would’ve been awkward if you didn’t.” The two boys laughed and Harry swung their intertwined hands back and forth. “It was nice, spending the night with you”, Louis said when the sun was about to come up.
Niall wolf-whistled. “Getting it on, boys?” “Shut up, you Irish leprechaun”, Louis snapped, but he was blushing. Harry wrapped his long arms around Louis. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Louis nodded into his chest, his arms sneaking around Harry’s waist. They pulled back and Louis stepped on his stand. And then, Harry did something that even surprised himself. He leaned forwards and pressed his lips to Louis’ cheek.
And before Louis could ask what had just happened, the first sunrays seeped into the room and he froze in place.
And Harry was left staring at his perfect face, frozen in the beautiful smile he always seemed to have on when he was around Harry.
x x x
Over the next few weeks, Louis and Harry spent more time together at night and they grew closer and closer. Evanna had long predicted the two boys would fall for each other. And one night, Harry realized she was right. He had fallen deeply for the older boy.
That night, Louis kept shuffling and fidgeting and awkwardly coughing until Harry had had enough. “Lou, what’s going on?” “What do you mean?” Another awkward cough. “You’re nervous. You keep fidgeting and shuffling and clearing your throat”, Harry pointed out. “You’re never nervous around me, only when I ask you to sing.” “I’ve got something to tell you”, Louis blurted out. Immediately after that, he smacked his forehead and started pacing around in circles, mumbling things like “Stupid Louis. Why did you need to say that? He doesn’t need to know. He will hate you.”
“Lou, I could never hate you and you know it”, Harry sighed. Louis didn’t reply. “Lou!” Harry bellowed, grabbing the older boy by the shoulders and forcing him to look at Harry. “’M sorry”, Louis mumbled. “It’s just- Can we go somewhere private? I need to talk to you.” Harry did not like the serious tone Louis was using, not one bit. But he nodded. “Yeah, sure.” Louis didn’t grab Harry’s hand like he normally did, but he did beckon Harry to follow him.
The two boys entered Mr Anderson’s office after a small walk and Harry plonked down on the couch. “Okay, tell me!” Louis was pacing through the office and stopped in front of Harry. “Promise me you won’t hate me.” “Louis-” “Please Harry, just promise me”, Louis pleaded. Harry was confused. “Alright, fine. I promise I won’t hate you.”
“Harry, I think I might be in love with you”, Louis breathed out. Harry laughed. “I knew it”, Louis mumbled. “Oh no, baby, I’m not laughing at you!” Harry exclaimed. “It’s just- It took you so long to realize and you haven’t even noticed yet that I’ve been in love with you since the beginning.” “You have?” Louis whispered. “Of course, silly. Come here.” Harry patted his lap and Louis shyly came over and sat down.
“I’m in love with your eyes, your lips, your voice, your personality… Your eyes are the most beautiful colour I have ever seen and they always tell me more than your words do. Your voice is soft, raw and perfect and I just want to hear you sing all the time. Your personality…. Where do I even start? And your lips…. I’ve been wanting to kiss them since I first met you that night.” “So do it”, Louis whispered. Harry softly grabbed Louis’ hands and intertwined his fingers with Louis’.
“Only if you want me to.” “Don’t be stupid Harry, of course I want you to kiss me”, Louis smiled. Harry smiled back and leaned in. “I love you”, he whispered. “Just kiss me, you fool.” And Harry closed the gap between them. Louis’ lips were everything Harry had ever hoped or imagined.
After pulling back, breathless, Harry kept pecking Louis’ lips while muttering “You’re perfect.” “I love you”, Louis whispered back. “I love you, I love you, I love you. It sounds so perfect.” Harry wrapped his arms around Louis’ waist and buried his face in his neck. The two boys stayed in each other’s embrace for a while, not talking, just enjoying the other’s presence.
“Don’t you mind that I’m a wax figure?” Louis asked after a long silence. “You’re not a wax figure to me, Lou. You’re Louis Tomlinson, the boy I’m in love with. Not Louis Tomlinson, the wax figure in Madame Tussauds.” Louis blushed. “I love you, I really do.”
“Harry, you do realize we don’t have forever to spend together, right?” “I know”, Harry whispered. “I know. I wish we did.”
x x x
“And this is the best night guard we ever had, Harry Styles”, Evanna said proudly. “Why is he here? He’s not famous or anything”, a kid said bored. “No, he’s not. But he did a lot for Madame Tussauds. He kept thieves from stealing statues, protected the museum from burglars and therefore we decided to honour him by giving him a statue of his own!” “He’s boring. I want to see Spiderman”, the kid complained. Evanna sighed deeply. Kids were so ungrateful and impatient these days. Didn’t the parents know how to raise their kids?
Apparently not.
A lot had happened since 2073. Harry had told Evanna he and Louis were a couple and she had been immensely happy for the two boys. But, she had noticed, they weren’t as happy as they could have been. The realization of Harry not being able to live forever had a great impact on the two of them. So Evanna made a plan. If Harry and Louis were still madly in love by 2078, she would try to convince Anderson (or whoever was in charge by then) to have a wax figure of Harry been made.
10 years later and Evanna’s plan had worked. As long as human Harry was alive and inside the museum at night, Harry’s statue would just be a simple, not living wax figure. Louis had ensured his boyfriend (after a panic attack) that once Harry passed away, his soul would live on at night in his statue.
“Boo, would it be weird if I turn eighty and you’re still twenty-one?” Harry asked the cerulean-eyed boy in his lap that night. Louis laughed loudly. “It probably would be weird, yeah, but it’s us. We’ve had a very strange relationship for the past ten years. I would love you just as much though, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Harry smiled happily. “That’s all I wanted to hear. I love you so much.” “I love you too, babycakes.”
The two lovers knew they had forever to spend together.