Harry's lips turn down into a frown as the light buzz of chatter fills his ears, rousing him back to consciousness. His eyelids stay sealed shut, his emerald eyes not yet ready to be revealed to the morning light. Warmth surrounds him and he snuggles blindly into it, his lips stretching with a silent yawn. His nose scrunches up as his brain recognizes the uncomfortable feeling of his sweatpants twisting around his leg, the blanket covering him further heightening the feeling. A firm weight is circled around his waist, anchoring him down.
"Be quieter, babe." He hears someone whisper from across the room, barely concealed amusement laced in their voice. Harry's forehead wrinkles as his sleep-hazed brain tries to place who the voice belongs to. "You're gonna wake them up, and you know Louis will get mad if that happens." It dawns on Harry then that it's Zayn speaking, as he listens to the quiet chuckle that follows the statement echo through the room.
Harry sighs, the noise audible enough to reach Zayn and Niall's ears, as he slowly lets his eyes flutter open, having to blink a few times to adjust to the light streaming in through the windows. Belatedly he realizes his nose is pressed against a t-shirt that's pulled tight across a muscular chest. He flushes, remembering how he fell asleep against Louis last night during the movie. "Too late for that," He mumbles, low and gravelly. His eyes trail from the t-shirt, up to a tan throat, past a sparse coating of hair over a sharp jawline, thin pink lips parted as tiny puffs of air slip between them, before finally landing on the closed eyelids that he knows are hiding cerulean eyes. Louis' face is right above his, his chin nearly resting against the top of Harry's head. The back of Louis' head is propped up on a pillow that Harry doesn't remember being there when he fell asleep. And somehow during Harry's sleep one of Harry's legs got intertwined between Louis'. The strong vice around his waist tightens and Harry tenses, his eyes shooting back up to Louis' face, his shoulders relaxing when he sees that Louis is still asleep.
He lets his gaze drift away from Louis' face, propping up on his elbow to peer over Louis, over to the other couch. Zayn and Niall occupy the cushions, the two cuddled up together with a large blanket spread over their legs. They're both already looking back at Harry; a smirk is on Niall's face while Zayn is smiling at him.
"Yes." Niall speaks up after the stare down turns awkward (for Harry, at least). His voice is just above a whisper, but the words carry through the quiet room, as does the smug undertone in his voice. It sends blood rushing to Harry's cheeks, heating the skin uncomfortably. Harry shifts on the couch, the blanket bunching up as he closes his fist, pulling the soft fabric up so it covers his face from the nose down. He turns his head so he can press his face against Louis' bicep before he even realizes what he's doing. "You guys have been cuddled together all night. Got about a hundred pics to prove it too." The blond boy waves his phone in the air as an offering of proof, even though Harry isn't looking at him anymore.
Harry groans quietly at the news, his features twisting with his shock. Louis starts to shift beside him, causing Harry to realize where his face is hiding against. Zayn's lips twitch as he tries to swallow a chuckle, taking a second to school his features in an attempt to look exasperated, but fondness wins out. He looks back over to Harry, an eyebrow raising. "You up for going out for breakfast, Haz?"
Harry thinks it over, his head tilting to the side. Going out would mean having to wake Louis up, and he looks so peaceful. "Do you guys have anything to make for breakfast here?" He asks, chewing on his lip. "I can just cook if so, if you guys want me too. So we wouldn't have to go anywhere just yet." Harry offers, shrugging.
"You cook?" Zayn asks, his eyebrows raising in surprise.
"He's the best cook ever," Niall butts in, eagerly nodding his head. He peers up at his boyfriend, widening his eyes earnestly, "Please say you guys actually have food here."
"We do, yeah. Or we should, anyways." Zayn answers, scratching his chin. He looks back over to Harry, giving him a small smile. "That would be great, if you're sure you want to cook."
"I love cooking," Harry tells him, smiling, shrugging again. He sets about untangling himself from Louis without waking the man up, easing his legs over the edge of the couch until his feet hit the ground. He shifts his weight forward, trying not to put too much of his weight on Louis as he stands up. Louis grumbles under his breath, shifting around on the couch. Harry holds his breath, watching Louis' face carefully for any signs that he accidentally woke him up. But Louis just rolls over on his stomach, burying his face in the pillow.
Harry sighs in relief, tugging his shirt down over the exposed bit of belly his shirt had slid up to reveal. He runs his fingers through his hair in a failed attempt at taming the wild mess that he knows is on top of his head.
He heads into the kitchen, quickly scanning the contents of the cabinets and the refridgerator to see what ingredients he has to work with. Its actually fairly stocked so Harry decides on pancakes, with a side of sausage (though there isn't really a ton of that), as it's fairly easy and fast to make. And he knows Niall loves when he makes him pancakes.
He's stacking the finished pancakes on one plate when he hears Louis' voice, "where's Harry?" from the living room.
Harry turns around just in time to watch Louis stroll into the kitchen, bare feet pitter-pattering across the floor. He pauses in the doorway, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, a lazy grin on his face. His eyes are soft and sleepy, his arms crossing over his chest. Harry's own lips pull into a matching smile. "G' morning," He greets shyly, letting his gaze turn back to the food.
"Good morning, gorgeous." Louis rasps, sending shivers down Harry's spine. He pushes off of the doorframe and walks the short distance over to Harry. He wraps his arms around Harry's waist, pulling the b oy back into his chest and burrowing his face into the crook of his neck. Harry freezes in surprised, his breath catching in his throat as he nearly drops the empty skillet in his hand. Louis' nose nudges against his jaw and Harry subconsciously tilts his head to the side, allowing him better access.
"So, you're very cuddly in the morning time then?" Harry asks after a beat, working to keep his voice normal. He mentally curses himself when even he can hear how effected he sounds.
Louis freezes then like he just realized what he's doing, letting go of Harry's hips and taking a step back to put some space between their bodies. "Sorry." He chuckles sheepishly, scratching his jaw. "A bit, yeah."
"It's fine, I like it." Green eyes go wide and he slaps a hand over his mouth, his body going rigid as his brain catches up to what just flew out of his mouth. Louis chuckles and Harry forces himself to peek over at him, the tension leaving his body at the sweet, happy smile on his face.
"Good to know, love." Louis replies, leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to Harry's cheek. The featherlight touch leaves Harry's mind reeling, his cheeks flushing. Niall and Zayn saunter into the kitchen, talking quietly to themselves, heading right for the table.
"Good morning to you too, Louis." Niall calls out as he pulls his chair out, sitting down in the seat. "Since you couldn't even say that before rushing in here to get to Harry." The blond boy shakes his head, not even trying to hide his amusement. Louis laughs quietly, his eyes crinkling in the corners from the force of his smile. He clears his throat, before he returns the greeting. Harry's blush deepens and he focuses intently on rinsing out the skillet with cold water, before moving to start putting food on different plates for everyone.
Louis' thin fingers wrapping around his wrist stop him from doing so and Harry looks up at him, his breath stuttering when he sees how close his face is. "We can get our own food, love, you've already done more than enough by cooking for us all."
"Louis," Niall starts to groan, his head falling back and nearly hitting the top of the chair, but cuts himself off when Louis sends him a stern look, eyebrows raised. He pouts, but turns a pleading stare to his boyfriend when Zayn starts to stand up.
"You can get your own food, Niall." Zayn laughs, planting a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek, before he heads over to the stack of pancakes. Niall hops up and follows behind him, both of them filling their plates up with food.
Once they're done, and Harry turns the faucet off, Louis gestures for him to get his food first.
Harry takes the chair straight across from Niall, grabbing his fork, but waiting before he stuffs it in his mouth. Louis sits down in the seat beside him, instantly working on cutting off a bite. "This is so good," Niall moans, his eyes fluttering shut as he swallows his mouthful. "Harry's pancakes are always the best."
"This," Louis swallows, groaning quietly, his eyes fluttering shut. "Is so good, H." He compliments, sticking another bite of pancake in his mouth as soon as the last syllable is out. Harry grins, about to take another bite when he realizes what he forgot to get out, his hand freezing in the air. "Oh! Drinks. What do you guys want to drink?" Harry asks.
"Orange juice." Zayn and Niall say at the same time, barely stopping long enough to get the words out. Harry looks over at Louis, already beginning to lift himself out of his seat, as he waits for his request as well.
Louis sends a quick glare to the two steadily eating, but neither one of them pay him an inkling of attention. "Keep eating, love, I'll get the drinks." Louis tells him, setting his fork down on his plate. He gently guides Harry back into his seat. "What do you want to drink?" He asks, heading over to the fridge.
"Just a glass of water." Harry answers, hesitating for a second, before slowly reaching for his fork again.
Louis changes course, heading to the cabinet that contains all of the glasses, which Harry found earlier in his quest for ingredients. He grabs the pitcher of water out of the fridge, passing Harry the first glass of water once it's filled. He fills another glass with water, setting it beside his own plate for himself. He exchanges the water for the orange juice, pouring Zayn and Niall each a glass and setting it down beside him. He uses his foot to kick the door shut.
"What's this I'm walking in on?" Harry hears an unknown voice say, and his head jerks around to see the entrance of the kitchen. A tall man stands there, a man that Harry has never seen before. Light blond curls sit on top of the man's head, much more put together than Harry's sure his own are, and dark brown eyes stare amusedly at the table.
Harry takes a quick glance around the room, not at all sure who this guy is or why he's in the house, but none of his companions seem shocked by his presense. Not even Niall. Louis sits back down in his seat, turning to look at the man, one eyebrow raised. Niall and Zayn don't even look up from their plates.
"Are you guys actually eating Louis' food? WIthout having to rush off to hover over the toilet?" The guy says after a beat of silence, save for the scraping of forks against plates.
Louis rolls his eyes, sighing heavily as his fork drops to his plate with a loud clank that rings through the room. "How many times have I told you to knock before you enter our house?"
"Well, that depends. How many times have I entered without knocking?"
Louis leans back in his chair, one of his hands falling in his lap, the other hand landing on Harry's thigh, causing the boy to jump in surprise. "My cooking isn't that bad." He defends himself grumpily, scoffing quietly to himself.
"Yes, it is." Niall speaks up for the first time since the plate was sat in front of him, taking a big gulp from his apple juice before he sets it down next to his empty plate. "Even I won't eat it."
Harry's lips twitch up into a smile at his friend's input, desperately fighting back a laugh that's working it's way up his throat. Louis rolls his eyes at Niall and the unknown man, even at Zayn who is snickering under his breath. Louis turns to face Harry, nudging his side gently with his elbow to get his attention, the hand on his thigh lightly squeezing. "They're being mean to me. You're on my side, right?"
"I've never tried your food," Harry answers quietly, listening as the unknown man declares a loud 'you don't want to, trust me' and Niall declares 'lucky you'. Harry laughs quietly, shaking his head. He looks back over at Louis, taking in the smile on his face. "But if Niall won't eat it, odds aren't looking too good." Harry scrunches up his nose playfully, biting back the silly grin that threatens to take over his face when Louis yelps and playfully pinches his side.
"You guys are all so rude to me." Louis tries to pout, but a smile sneaks onto his face. He gazes fondly at the curly haired boy beside him, green eyes sparkling as he peers down at his lap. He shakes his head after a second, clearing his thoughts. "Harry, this is Drew. Drew, this is Harry." Louis gestures with his hands as he talks, pointing to each person as he says their name.
"It's nice to meet you," Harry tells him, giving Drew a small smile. Drew returns the greeting, grinning, nodding his head as well.
"So, what did you come here for?" Louis asks, cutting up another piece of the pancakes that lack most of their warmth now, the heat having left during the conversation.
Something in Drew's expression changes, the playfulness that had been seen completely gone now. "Need to talk to you about something."
"Let me finish eating real quick and we'll go talk." Louis replies, taking another bite.
"There's extra if you want some," Harry offers when he notices Drew hovering around near the table, looking unsure of what to do. He nods his head towards the stack of pancakes over on the counter, returning the smile that Drew sends him. "But you might want to heat them up, they've gone cold."
"They're still delicious." Niall says, grabbing two more pancakes off the top of the stack, munching on one before he's even sat back down.
Drew chuckles. "Thank you," He smiles, heading over to the food.
The room goes quiet as Drew takes a seat, digging into the food. Louis finishes first, taking his plate to the sink. Harry and Zayn finish around the same time, and Zayn grabs Harry's plate before the boy can get up. Niall goes back for thirds while Drew works on his last pancake.
"Hey, Lou?" Harry calls out quietly, crossing his ankles under the table, his hands resting in his lap. Louis' head snaps over to him, his eyebrows raising in question. "Do you mind if I use your restroom?" He asks, scratching his dull nails against the back of his neck.
"Course I don't, love." Louis replies, standing up from the chair. "I have an extra toothbrush in the bottom right drawer if you want to use it." Louis tells him, stretching his arms over his head and arching his back until a quiet pop is heard. His shirt raises with his movement and Harry finds his eyes glued to the exposed skin inches from his face. He swallows hard. The quiet sound of someone clearing their throat drags him out of his stupor and his eyes dart back up to Louis, blushing fiercely at the playful smirk on his face.
He lets his gaze drop to the ground, trying to ignore the uncomfortable heat in his cheeks. Louis takes pity on him, throwing his arm around his shoulders and pulling the boy into his side, giving him a little nudge to start moving.
The curly haired boy stumbles out of the room after Louis, crossing his arms over his chest. "You remember the way to my room?" Louis asks, pausing beneath the staircase. Harry nods, peeking up at Louis. "Alright, love. If I'm not down here when you're done, I'll be up in my office talking to Drew about whatever. But I'll be back down as soon as we're done." Louis tells him, letting his arm fall back to his side. He leans forward, pressing a quick kiss to Harry's temple. Harry gives him a small smile, before he walks up the stairs. He goes in the bedroom Louis took him to the day before, heading right for the bathroom.
He does his business, thoroughly washing his hands, before he goes on search of the extra toothbrush, finding it right where Louis told him it would be. He grabs the tube of toothpaste, wetting the bristles before squeezing some toothpaste on it, wetting it once more before scrubbing his teeth clean.
He braces himself before taking a quick peek in the mirror, cringing at the mess that is his hair. He runs his fingers through it multiple times, trying to style some resembelance of normalcy back to his curls. It looks a little better than it did when he came in, so Harry sighs, giving up and counting it as a win.
Niall's stretched out on the couch when Harry walks back into the living room, the tv turned on the game channel. He can hear Zayn in the kitchen, water streaming out of the faucet, but he doesn't hear or see Louis or Drew. So Harry walks over to Niall, lifting his legs up and sitting down, letting them fall in his lap.
"Oh, hey, Harry! Guess what I found in one of the cabinets," Niall says, taking his attention off of the tv in order to twist around and meet Harry's eyes. "Cake mix!" He yells excitedly, throwing his hands up. A huge smile is on his face.
Harry chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. "Maybe later, Ni."
-
It's about half an hour before Louis and Drew come down the stairs. By that time the other three boys have migrated around on the couch. Harry curled up on his side on one end of the couch, and Niall halfway laying across Zayn on the other end. Their feet bump into one another, but neither is that bothered by it. All of their attention is on Family Fued, but it shifts to Drew and Louis when they march down the stairs.
Louis' eyes land on Harry as he steps off the last step and he doesn't even bother looking at anyone else, he heads straight for where he's at, climbing on the couch and curling up behind him, his face instantly pressing into the crook of Harry's neck.
Harry shifts without even thinking about it, tilting his head back so his throat is further exposed. His hand reaches back, tangling in Louis' hair, and he lightly scratches his scalp.
"What's wrong?" Harry vaguely hears Zayn ask, but all he can focus on is Louis. Louis' chest rises as he sucks in a deep breath, the hand resting on Harry's hip squeezing gently.
The two stay like that for who knows how long, as Louis slowly calms himself down. "Sorry." He mutters against Harry's jaw, pressing a quick kiss to the skin, before he pulls back.
Harry turns his head as much as possible, nudging his nose against Louis' jaw. "It's okay, are you okay?"
Louis smiles, cupping Harry's jaw, rubbing his thumb against his cheek. "I'm okay." He presses a kiss to Harry's nose, before he nudges him to get comfortable again. Harry shifts back around, wincing at the ache in his neck from the awkward angle he held it in.
Drew leaves after a little while, after informing them that he wanted to get back to his boyfriend. Niall and Harry stay for a little while longer, various game shows playing, before Louis takes them both home. Harry's house is on the way to Niall's, so he gets dropped off first. With a kiss on the cheek from Louis and a 'see you in class' from Niall, he jogs up his driveway, pushing open the door.
"Hey, darling." Anne greets him as he's heading for the stairs, causing him to pause on the bottom step. He turns around, giving her a small smile, as he rests his hand on the railing. "Did you have fun?"
Harry shrugs, running his free hand through his hair. "Yeah, it was alright. Parties still aren't my thing. I mostly just hung out with Louis." He admits, shifting his weight, resting most of it against the banister.
A mischievous smirk appears on her face, and Harry lets out a loud groan at the sight of it, already knowing where this conversation is headed. "You and Louis, huh? What do you think about him?" She asks him, wagging her eyebrows, not even trying to be subtle.
Harry rolls his eyes fondly, shaking his head. "Not now, mum." He calls out, turning around and heading up the stairs. Behind him he hears her declare that they'll take about it later, which he definitely doesn't plan on doing.
He stays in his room until it's dinner time, and as soon as he's finished eating he escapes back up the stairs, shutting his door and locking it. Harry flops down on his bed, eyeing Louis' clothes that he's still wearing. He debates for a minute, trying to decide if he should change. With a sigh he gets a pair of his own sweatpants and a random t-shirt, heading into the bathroom to change.
As he's climbing back into bed, he notices movement out of the corner of his eye. He jerks around to look out the window, seeing the leaves on the bushes shaking. Harry squints, trying to make out what it is, when the wolf steps through. His shoulders instantly relax and a smile takes over his face. He's heading down the stairs and sneaking out the back door before he even realizes it.
The wolf yips when it sees him, standing up on it's haunches as he walks near. "Hey, buddy." Harry says, chuckling as he feels the wolf's paws rest against his stomach, the weight of the wolf nearly making him stumble. He lightly scratches behind it's ear, before nudging it until it falls back on all fours. Harry moves his hand long enough to take a seat on the ground, resting his back against the rough bark of the tree. He can feel it digging into his back through the thin fabric of his shirt, on the verge of being painful, but he's able to ignore it as the wolf curls up beside him, laying it's giant head on his lap.
"How are you doing, buddy?" Harry asks, resuming his light scratching. The wolf whines, pressing his head against Harry's stomach. Harry laughs quietly, resting his head back against the tree. "I'm only gonna be out here a minute, boy, I'm sleepy."
He stays there, petting the wolf for a little while longer before he stands up with a sigh. The wolf follows his movements, licking his hand. Harry chuckles, fighting the urge to wipe the slobber off on his pants as he turns to head back into his house. The wolf hangs back by the bushes, and Harry gives it a wave before the door shuts behind him.
He heads upstairs to his room, ducking under his covers and turning the lamp off. He's asleep not too long after.
I don't know if I like this chapter that much jfhfjkd. I'm sorry if it's terrible
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