"Don't act too weird, please mum!"
Harry's mum stared back at him with a fake (or at least he hoped it was fake), offended look.
"Don't be daft Harry. Contrary to popular belief, I know how to act in social situations, unlike you," She smiled at him, raising her eyebrows.
Harry returned the look. He didn't know if she could tell, but it was a real offended look. His mum just raised her eyebrows further and they both burst out laughing at the same time.
Harry could already tell it was going to be a good day.
He stepped onto the snowy porch and knocked on the door, taking a step back to wait. The door swung open, revealing the unfamiliar face of a young teenage girl.
"You're not Louis," Harry blurted out.
"And you're not Marlena," she frowned.
Harry stood there awkwardly, not completely sure what to do. Thankfully, Louis appeared behind the girl, giving her a playful shove.
"Lots, what are you doing?" He chuckled.
"I thought that was Mars," She frowned.
Louis laughed again. "How do you mix up this lanky fella with your tiny five-foot tall friend?"
Lottie let out a little 'humph' and walked back deeper into the house, leaving Louis at the door.
Harry, with his gifts still in his hands, tried to give Louis a hug, Since he had no free hands, it didn't really work, so he settled with a quick kiss on his cheek.
"Happy birthday love," Harry whispered gently into his ear, stepping back and leaving Louis with a soft blush on his cheeks.
Then there was another moment where all three of them, Louis, Harry, and his mother, were just standing there.
"So uh, are you guys going to come in?" Louis asked, quite uncertainly. The sentence kicked everyone into motion. In the blink of an eye, coats were hung up, boots were off, and presents were sat in a neat pile underneath the Christmas tree.
The tree was a beautiful live fir tree. It was extremely well decorated, covered in ornaments, both fancy gold ones and homemade crafts. Chains of lights were wrapped around, illuminating the large room.
Harry stared in awe. It was the kind of trees you saw in the movies. The kind that you could see reflected in someone's eyes when they looked at it. Sure Harry's had a few trees before, but they had one pack of twelve ornaments and no lights. It just wasn't the same. Not even close.
Harry and his mum decided to stay over the night before Christmas. Louis' dad wouldn't be able to make it, and Lottie invited her own friend over, so it just worked out that way.
Harry's mum needed to get some work done, so she went off into a separate room to do that.
Harry was sitting on his phone on a puffy couch in the living room when Louis walked in and sat on his lap. The smaller boy looked at the tree, then looked at Harry and smiled. Harry wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him closer.
"Soft," Harry whispered, referring to his sweater. Louis was wearing a dark blue knit sweater that engulfed his tiny frame. It was absolutely adorable. "I like it."
"Me too," Louis smiled tiredly and yawned.
"Why are you so tired love?" Harry kissed Louis' hair gently, running his hand through the soft, brown locks. It was only three in the afternoon, but Louis looked like he was ready to pass out.
"Working on your present last night," Louis slowly tilted his head up to look at Harry.
"Take a nap," Harry commented. When he felt Louis start to stand up, he snaked his arms back around the brunet, pulling him back in. "No, don't go. Stay with me!"
Louis chucked, but laid down, resting his head on Harry's lap. He watched the Louis slowly doze off. His breathing got steadier and slower. Harry focused on every breath Louis took, and every breath entering his own lungs. Slowly, his own eyelids got heavier and heavier. He slid down the couch, resting Louis' head on his stomach, and dozed off.
~
"If you boys are done with naptime, some help in the kitchen would be nice," A voice came from directly above them.
Harry reluctantly opened his eyes to meet the face of Louis' mother. Louis shuffled a little bit but kept his eyes close.
"I'm useless in the kitchen," Louis mumbled, probably still half-asleep. He attempted what looked like a waving motion. "Harry, this is all you."
Harry groaned, but got up anyways. Louis whined from the couch.
"Pillow," Louis pouted sleepily, eyes still closed on the couch.
"You're ridiculous," Harry scoffed, smiling. He grabbed a pillow from the other couch and threw it at the younger boy.
"Ow," Louis mumbled, but shoved the pillow under his head and went back to snoring.
Harry proceeded to follow Louis' mom to the kitchen, where a whole array of wonderful smells was wafting from it.
"You eat meat right?" She turned around from the turkey suddenly."
"Yes ma'am," Harry nodded.
"Harry! I've told you this before," she let out a little 'tsk tsk'. "Call me Jay, I'm not to keen on feeling old."
Harry laughed, "right, sorry Jay. What do you need help with."
"Alright Harry, here's the rundown. We like to do Christmas dinner on Louis' birthday. Usually, I have my husband here making the turkey, but since he's out of town, I'm down a set of hands. I'm going to need you to help me out. Are you alright with finishing the turkey while I start on the cake?"
"I'm pretty useless with turkey," Harry admitted. "I can make the cake though."
"Are you sure?" Jay bit her lip, "It's a little hard."
"Yea no problem," Harry smiled. "I work in a bakery actually."
"Oh, Harry you just saved my life. I have no idea how to make a cake, so that would be wonderful," Jay let out a visible sigh of relief.
Harry laughed, then pulled out his phone to get a basic recipe. He decided to make a basic yellow cake as the base.
He made the batter, scraping it into the pan. He shoved them in the oven, dramatically wiping his brow.
"Time check Jay?" Harry yelled across the kitchen to the woman who was preparing the stuffing.
"Four thirty! Damn Harry, that was fast!" She ran over, giving him a high five.
Harry decided to be ambitious.
"Hey, Jay?" He yelled out again.
"Yea?"
"Do you have almond flour?"
"No, but we have almonds."
Harry looked into the pantry and found roasted peeled almonds. Those would do. He was going to make some bomb ass macarons for Louis' cake.
He blended the almonds with the powdered sugar and made the meringue at the same time. Working in the bakery really taught him how to bake efficiently. It was awesome.
He added everything together with a drop of raspberry essence and piped them neatly onto a baking tray.
Satisfied with his work, he set them aside to dry. With the cake in the oven and the macarons drying, he had a little bit of time to check on Louis.
He was still passed out on the couch. In fact, Harry poked a finger near Louis' face a few times, even touching his cheek once or twice.
"Do that again and I'll bite your finger," sleepy Louis threatened.
"I dare you," Harry giggled, poking Louis' lip.
His finger was suddenly bitten by a hard, painful set of teeth.
"Ow," Harry pouted, cradling his poor, assaulted finger.
"Mm," Louis hummed. "Why is your finger so sweet?"
"Oh, no reason," Harry smiled. "Just making someone's super duper special birthday cake."
"That person must be super lucky then," Louis mumbled, then fell back asleep.
Harry kissed his forehead, then went back to the kitchen. He whipped up a quick chocolate ganache for the macarons, adding more raspberry essence to that. Then he made an Italian meringue buttercream for the cake.
The oven timer beeped, and Harry went back to baking.
~
"Alright Jay, the cake is all done," Harry fell back onto a chair at precisely six thirty that evening.
"Ooh, let's see it." Jay slowly made her way over. "Pretend you're on Masterchef or something."
"Okay," Harry took the cake out of the fridge where everything was set. "We've got a simple yellow cake with an Italian meringue gnache. I topped it with chocolate raspberry macarons and my love."
"Damn!" Jay yelled. "I'm impressed, Harry."
Shortly after, dinner was ready, so they sat down and placed all the food on the table.
~
Needless to say, dinner went great. Thanks to Jay, everything was delicious. They had potatoes, turkey, stuffing, you name it. The smell alone was enough to get Louis awake and at the table.
The conversation was good too. Harry's mother was very likeable, which was a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders. He knows that it shouldn't be his weight, but it still was worrying him. Lottie's friend Marlena was incredibly nice as well. She was a small girl around Lottie's age. They mostly talked to each other, but once in a while, they joined in on the conversation.
"I hope you saved room, there's one more thing," Jay stood up, clearing plates. "Harry, would you like to do the honours?"
Harry nodded, standing and walking to the kitchen. He grabbed the cake from off the counter, showing a few candles in it. The amount didn't really matter. It was just the thought that counted. That, and the fact that at least something had to be on fire for the true experience.
He slowly walked the cake into the dining room, into everybody singing Happy Birthday, including Louis for some reason.
The smaller boy smiled brightly and blew out the arbitrary amount of candles. Harry sliced the cake, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the three even layers.
"This is gorgeous," Louis commented. "Thanks love."
"Always gorgeous for you," Harry smiled back at him. What he said really didn't make any sense, but who cares?
They ate, they enjoyed, they laughed, they talked, they shared stories. Everything a Christmas should be. Everything Harry wished his Christmas could be. Now he had it, and he was the happiest person in the world.
~
"I'm gonna call it a night," Jay yawned, standing up from her seat at the table. "We'll do presents first thing tomorrow."
"I think you all know your sleeping arrangements," She did full spin, stopping at Harry. "Harry, you can sleep on the couch, or in the basement, or anywhere you want really."
"Thanks, Jay, goodnight!" Harry waved as she walked away. The table dispersed, everybody heading off to bed.
"That cake was so delicious, thank Hazza," Louis smiled, snuggling into his chest.
"Anything for you LouLou, Harry birthday," Harry whispered softly in his hair. "Also, I was kind of an idiot and wrapped your birthday present in with your Christmas one, so you'll get that tomorrow morning."
Louis chuckled softly. "My mom does that too. You guys are dumb."
"Hey..." Harry pouted, pretending to be offended.
Harry grabbed his bag from the living room, standing there awkwardly. "So am I sleeping on the couch tonight?"
Louis scoffed, "Fuck no, you're coming with me."
"That's what I like to hear."
The pair got ready for bed, washing up and changing into comfy clothes. They crawled into Louis' bed, which Harry had to admit was very comfortable.
He wrapped his hand around Louis' waist, pulling his body closer.
"Mm," Louis sighed happily. "You're warm."
"Are you still tired?" Harry remarked, amused. "After that long ass nap?"
"Shut up Harry, I need my sleep."
They were silent for a while, but neither fell asleep. They were just kind of breathing and enjoying the time they had together. Enjoying how close they were in space and time. Today was a big win for Harry. It was a huge step forward in his life.
Suddenly, Harry started laughing. "Louis, you're such a loser."
Louis shifted in his arms. "I don't know if I should ask, or just be offended."
"I mean, who sings happy birthday to themself?"
"Shut up."
Continue?
Ahh! This was supposed to be done last week, but then life hit me with a curveball and I got the flu. Whoops! my bad!