Christmas was a holiday that Harry always tried to avoid honestly. Christmas was a time for family and before he didn't have a family so he wasn't very holly jolly. But now? Now Harry had his own family and a damn happy one at that. It wasn't even Christmas yet, rather it was an even more important day. The day before Christmas but that didn't mean anything.
It was Louis' birthday.
What even was this Christmas eve people are talking about?
All Harry knew was that he had a super busy day ahead of him. Louis' entire family was coming over and so was Gemma to help him throw a surprise party for him. Harry knew Louis wouldn't want anything big and he could definitely understand why. Louis had never been one to want to be in the center of attention and a big birthday bash would be a definite no. So he just assumed that having a small get together with the people who mean the most to him would be just fine.
Harry smiled softly as he fixed the breakfast he had put on the tray, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. Of course he was gonna bring his boyfriend breakfast in bed. Harry added just the right amount of milk to his tea, laying the daisy vertically by the fork and knife. He finally felt like it was suitable for Louis, slowly walking up the stairs. If he made one wrong move, Louis' breakfast would go flying and this day would very quickly suck.
Eventually he made it upstairs, smiling as he walked into their bedroom. Louis was still sound asleep and Harry really couldn't be any more in love. He definitely looked the most peaceful when he was either sleeping or with Jackson.
Harry bit his lip as he placed the tray on his small table beside the bed, a small grin growing on his face. "Baby?" He whispered, reaching down and pushing his hair off his forehead. "Love, wake up.." Harry smiled, kissing the tip of his nose.
Louis scrunched his face together, whining high in his throat. "Go away, leave me alone." He mumbled, pulling the blankets up over his head.
Harry rolled his eyes, sighing out heavily as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Fine. I guess I'll just eat your breakfast that I slaved over a hot oven for hours just for you." He breathed, puffing out his cheeks as he grabbed a piece of toast, holding it up to his lips just as he heard Louis speak up.
"Western omelette with some toast?" Louis whispered, peering over the top of the blanket childlike.
Harry grinned, holding up the cuppa. "No sugar." He said softly. "Because who in their right mind adds sugar to tea?!" Harry feigned mock, laughing as he grabbed his chest.
Louis pouted, huffing as he sat up and took the cuppa. "Only weird people like sugar in their tea." He pointed out.
Harry raised an eyebrow, pointing to himself because he liked a little sugar in his tea. But Louis simply waved him off. "My point exactly weirdo." He teased.
Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head, smiling as he placed the tray across his lap, kissing the top of his head. "Enjoy Lou, I'll be back in just a bit." He smiled before he stood up, stepping out into the hallway. Harry walked into the spare guest bedroom, biting his lip as he reached under the mattress for the small ring box, a shaky sigh escaping his lips.
He was absolutely terrified. He didn't know how Louis would respond or what he would do. It was the scariest thing he's felt and he's literally been shot before. But nothing could prepare him for this. Harry looked down at the box, smiling small as he looked down at the ring, nodding. He'd do it later when everyone was here and having a good time.
Maybe by then he can actually build up the nerve.
~~~
"Chicken!" "Goose!" Gemma shouted which caused Harry to laugh because his sister was such an idiot.
Louis was of course surprised when he walked downstairs and saw his family there, but was happy none the less. Besides, Harry was promised a blowjob later so life was pretty good.
They were in the middle of an intense game of charades and things were getting heated. It was Harry and Gemma against Jay and Louis. Harry and Gemma were up by one at the moment. Harry kinda wanted to let Louis win but he was such a sore loser. And he just knew that if they won, he'd hear about it for a week straight. Harry really didn't think he could endure that.
Harry shook his head as the timer went out, a loud groan escaping his lips. "Elephant! The trunk you twit!" He laughed, waving his hand in front of his face.
Gemma rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You suck at this game. At least give me a proper hint next time!" She laughed, nudging his side. "Next!"
"Actually." Harry interrupted, shaking his head. "I think its time for the gifts." He smiled, his stomach erupting into a hundred butterflies.
Lottie looked over at Louis, grinning slightly. "You should open my gift first." She hummed, pushing a gift bag in his direction.
Louis narrowed his eyes slightly as he reached out, dragging the bag over slowly by its handle. "It's not gonna explode in my face is it?" He asked, holding Jackson in his lap securely.
Lottie rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Just open it!" She smiled, licking over her glossed lips.
Louis laughed but nodded as he removed the tissue, a deep blushing tinting his cheeks as he realized what it was. "I hate you!" He groaned, pulling the shirt out. Louis held it up for everyone to see, hiding his face in the process. It was a bright pink shirt that had, 'Harry's Baby Mama', and if that wasn't embarrassing enough, on the back of the shirt it read, 'Back Entry Only'.
Harry on the other hand was absolutely loving the shirt. He gave Lottie a quick high five before avoiding the punch which was aimed directly for his arm. "Come on babe! It's cute!" He laughed, shaking his head as he stood up. "My turn now."
He bit his lip nervously as he walked into the kitchen, grabbing the box and slipping it into his pocket. "Mines' uh..mines' not actually wrapped." Harry mumbled with a small smile as he slowly sat beside him, reaching over and grabbing his hand, lacing their fingers together. "I love you Louis Tomlinson. I love you and I love our beautiful dysfunctional little family." He whispered with a small smile, leaning over and kissing his cheek before he reached into his pocket, pulling the box out.
Louis' eyes widened and he gasped softly, shaking his head furiously. "Harry, stop. Don't. Please don't." He whispered. The absolute last thing he wanted to do was to hurt his feelings but he just wasn't ready to be married. Now wasn't the right time. "Harry, I...I-I'm so sorry..I wanna marry you someday but just...just not right now."
Harry furrowed his eyebrows as he listened to him before he realized the mistake he had made. "Oh Louis, no. Nonononono. This isn't an engagement ting." He assured, opening the box to reveal the small promise ring nestled between the cushions. "It's just a promise ring and I wanted you to have it." Harry murmured with a small shrug. "Neither of us are ready for that step. Maybe one day, but not anytime soon."
Louis' lips parted slightly as he listened to him, his smile growing. "You ass! You made me feel so bad!" He laughed, shoving his shoulder before he looked down at the promise ring, nodding. "It's beautiful Haz. It really is."
Harry smiled as he took the ring from the box, tossing the now empty box off to the side. "I promise to stand by your side through thick and thin. Promise to always be here for you and Jackson whenever you need me. Promise I'll do the best I can because god only knows, I'm not perfect." He chuckled, shaking his head as he slipped the ring onto his finger. "I promise to one day take this ring off and replace it with a wedding band." Harry smiled, squeezing his hand gently as he looked up at him. "I promise to love you, Louis Tomlinson, unconditionally." He whispered.
Louis was an emotional guy, okay? His boyfriend was literally telling him everything that he could only ever dream about and Louis was fucking crying. Fuck Harry Styles.
"Lou, don't cry. It's a great thing." Harry cooed, not minding Gemma any attention as she answered the door when the doorbell rang. "I love you." He whispered, kissing away his salty tears.
Louis sniffled and smiled as he buried his face in his neck, closing his eyes. "I love you too. So much you fucking sap." He whispered, giggling as he pulled back and pressed their lips together, kissing him gently.
The only reason he pulled away was when he heard Gemma walk back into the living room.
"Um, some delivery guy just came and dropped this off?" She said slowly, holding the wrapped box up. "There isn't a name or a card on it, I don't really know if you should even open it." Gemma said honestly because the whole situation was just weird. A package delivery this late at night?
Louis frowned as he sat up, shaking his head. "It can't be anything too bad, can it?" He murmured, reaching down and carefully unwrapping the gift. "Probably just some joke Niall's playing on me." Louis shrugged, smiling small when he saw what the gift was.
It was a beautiful picture of an island sunset.
"Ohh, Haz. We can hang this up right above the fireplace, don't ya think?" Louis hummed, smiling as he looked down at the picture. "I'll have to make sure and thank Niall next time I see him. It was probably something Casey helped him pick out."
Harry frowned as he picked the picture up, observing it closely. "Casey gave you that best friends bracelet yesterday though." He reminded.
Louis nodded. "Yeah, but that was just from Casey. This is probably from both Niall and Casey." He said simply, not really thinking much about it.
Harry licked over his lips as he looked down at the picture, frowning when slightly when he saw the caption of the picture which was something that really caught his attention.
'See you soon x'