"are you sure you guys are alright?" perrie asks, biting her bottom lip. "i mean, this is sudden. you guys were just not speaking to each other, and h! you we-"
harry cuts perrie off by pushing her back gently, towards the door, a smile on his face. "pez, we'll be fine, i'm sleeping on the couch. we'll take it slow."
perrie sighs, "i just... you're finally together, and i don't want anything... bad to happen."
"nothing bad is going to happen." harry assures her. "i will text update you until we go to bed."
perrie sighs, and nods. she pushes past harry, and kneels down to louis, who's sat on the couch, cuddled in blankets and yawning. "call me if you need me, babe."
louis nods. "m'kay, p."
"i love you." she kisses his cheek.
"love you, too." he smiles sleepily.
she sighs, and then goes to the door. "bye, harry. love you."
"i love you, too, perrie."
with that, she's gone, leaving the two alone - really alone, no pressure alone - for the first time in nearly a month. "hi." louis hums.
"hi." harry says back, smiling.
"so."
"its been a month, louis." harry says, softly.
louis nods, and sucks in his lower lip. "uh, i... i got another crib."
harry smiles. "oh?"
louis nods, and holds his hands out. "yeah, i want you to see it."
harry helps him up, and they walk to the nursery together, where the second crib is set up, but is sitting in the middle of the room, with the mattress in it, but no bed sheets or stuffed animals like the first baby's crib.
"its pretty, lou, baby. who set it up?"
"um, z did." louis says, running his fingers along it. "and... i was thinking about names. for mason's brother..."
"alright, lay 'em on me."
"well. um. evan, luca, jaden, stefen, payton, preston, uh... tate?"
harry hums, and rubs his hand over louis' swollen stomach. "alright, well, i like preston. and tate is good, too."
"i... i really... like tate." louis murmurs. "and, um, tate and mason... they sound good together... right?"
"right." harry agrees.
"and... i was... i was thinking, since mase got your middle name, i thought maybe the other one could have mine..." he trails off, before quickly look up, "i mean, unless... unless you wan-"
"william is a lovely middle name, louis." harry cuts the small boy off. "why're you so nervous, lou?"
louis looks down, to which harry tips his chin up. "i... well, like. i don't want you to get mad at me..."
harry smiles and dips down to kiss louis' nose. "i'm not gonna get mad, baby. william will be baby number two's middle name."
louis nods, and takes a deep breath. "o-okay. uh... f-first name?"
"what sounds right?" he trails off. "preston william styles... no."
louis nods, and bites his lip, "um. tate does. sound right, i mean. mason edward and tate william styles..."
harry kisses louis (and fucking yes, this time it fucking means something finally). then his hands are on louis' bump where the twins rest. "'lo, tate." a baby kicks at him. "and hi, mason."
❁❁❁
harry tucks the sleeping boy in, and presses a kiss on his forehead, before shutting the door quietly, and going to sit on the couch, where his bed is already made up.
he lays down, and then unlocks his phone, to find a text from gemma, asking if they can facetime.
he opens up the facetime app, and hits gemma's name.
"hey." he says when her face pops up.
"hey, babe." she says, pushing a piece of blond hair from her face. "you and lou...?"
harry smiles. "yeah. we're... working on it. had a baby scare, earlier, and... that's why... we're together, i guess."
gemma grins. "good." she hums. "and the twins...?"
"um, great." harry says. "they're... god, gems. they're... they're gonna be here in like... three and a half months."
gemma grins widely. "i know, little bro! 'm gonna be an auntie!"
harry smiles back. "and i'm going to be a father." he yawns. "g, what're we doing for christmas?"
"you're coming home, aren't you?"
harry makes a face.
"harry."
"lou!" he says, exasperated. "i'm not leaving him at christmas." he drops his voice back to a whisper. "gem, i'm gonna do the nursery! we've got the babies names, and so i'll ge-"
"you picked baby names and you didn't think to mention it to me?"
harry rolls his eyes at his older sister, "we didn't tell anyone."
"well, you're going to tell me." he watches as she leans forward, expectant look on her face. "so, baby bro?"
"tate and mason." harry sighs out.
"i'm so glad there's not a girl." gemma breathes.
"why?" harry furrow his eyebrows.
"a. you would've whined and whined until louis agreed to name the child darcy." gemma visibly shudders. "such a noob, you are."
"i don't understand what's so wrong about the name darcy!"
"nothing. except you're obsessed with it, and you're stupiiiiiiid."
harry rolls his eyes, "i am done with you."
"good. i was done with you when you were five and peed on my bed."
harry rolls his eyes, "goodbye."
"night, little brother."
"goodnight." harry says. "i love you."
gemma smirks, "i know." before she's pressing the end button, leaving harry to an empty screen.
❁❁❁
its two twelve when harry wakes up to screaming. louis' screaming from the bedroom.
he's screaming harry's name over and over again. harry's up in an instant running into the bedroom where the small boy is thrashing around in the sheets, whining.
"louis, louis!" harry yells, placing a hand on his shoulder, shaking him awake carefully.
louis' eyes pop open, unshed tears slipping down. when he sees harry he pulls him forwards and sobs into his shoulder.
harry climbs on the bed, and pulls louis into him, cradling him against his shoulder. "what's wrong?"
"nightmare." he sobs.
harry kisses his hair. "you're okay. i'm here. what happened?"
"y-you left us. you were here, and t-then i gave... i gave birth, and t-then y-you left us."
harry tips his chin up, so louis' looking at him. his eyes are puffy, and his lower lip trembles, but fucking god, he is the most beautiful person in the world. "never." he whispers, before leaning forward to kiss his lips, slow and sweet. "never." he says against his lips.
louis hits their foreheads together, and closes his eyes. "i love you."
and alright. this is the first time louis' said this since they got together, and harry's stomach does a flip. "i love you, too." he whispers. "are you alright now, baby?"
"stay in here."
"loui-"
"please."
harry bites his lip, but nods. "okay." he croaks, laying down louis, and tucking him in. "okay." he repeats, as he tucks himself in, and slots his chin in louis' collarbone. "okay?" he bites his lip. "want to... um... talk about it?"
"i... i dunno." he sounds nervous. "it... it... harry?"
"yes?"
"i... i didn't." he hesitates. "i didn't... sleep with ashton."
and oh. "oh?"
"um, we... well, like, he stayed here, and sometimes we'd both watch tv and fall asleep, but. not like... not like how i would want to sleep with you. we didn't have sex." louis breathes. "i just. i thought that if you knew that. that you'd... you'd be like 'no, what the fuck, louis' not fucking yours'. and like..." louis trails off and sits up so he's looking at harry. he's crying, a little bit. "i really wanted you to want me. like, i'm having your babies, and i just thought that you did. i mean.... i guess you do, because right now we're... together? i mean, i think?" he looks at harry. "i didn't. he did not fuck me." he murmurs. "i lied, because i thought you'd... you'd get jealous."
harry's heart is beating fast. its two seventeen and louis didn't sleep with ashton? what? what? harry can't think straight.
"i'm... i know it was like. a dick move, but er." louis sighs. "i... h, i was in love with you, i was like... head over fucking heels and you went with that stupid bitch. and i lost it. i was so jealous. and like, ash helped me. he did help me get in and out of the bath, but... he didn't. he did not like have sex with me. we... he kissed me and i... h-"
harry leans forward to kiss louis' lips forcefully. "hi. i still love you." he murmurs against the soft, pink flesh. "i still want you. i'm not mad. i'm over it. its okay. relieved you didn't have sex with him. little confused as to why you lied to me." he rubs his nose against louis' cheek. "but i love you. and i've been head over heels much longer than you, sweetheart." he tips louis' chin up. "its alright. its okay. ashton is in the past. let's just... let's just try not to think about it, okay? i love you, i promise."
louis bites his lip. "i. um. really?"
"mhm."
louis goes towards him quickly, and kisses him roughly. "i love you." he murmurs. "so much."
"i love you." harry tells him. "so much more."
❁❁❁
a/n: hey so. i had to tie up the loose ends with the ash thing. they didn't do the dirty, but they did kiss etc etc. so yeah. that part was kinda weird bc i just added it today soooo. ps thanks for all the gr8 comments on last chapter. and i'm glad y'all caught my oops hi reference ok i thought it was super cute
dedication; @loveisequal bc i half fixed the name crisis she was havin in this chapter. i hope its all gucci with you now. x -h.x