may 3, 2015. england.
louis wakes to a pair of soft hands gently massaging out the tension in his back. louis sighs softly, burying his face into his pillow. skillful fingers start working out the knots in his tired muscles. he feels his mum's weight sit down next to him on the bed and she kisses the back of his head softly.
her soft touches do wonders in relaxing him, making the difficult few weeks he has been having seem to fade away for just a moment. louis keeps his eyes shut, hoping to keep the tranquility of his environment right now for as long as he possibly can. this massage combined with the soft blanket he has himself wrapped in are the perfect distraction for him.
"morning, mum," he finally mutters sleepily after a few minutes of comfortable silence, so relaxed he is barely awake.
"not your mum, but we can always talk about it if this is a new kink you've discovered," a deep, slow voice drawls out.
louis jumps up and turns around, his eyes meeting the deep green ones that he had been longing for more than anything.
"harry, what the fuck?" louis gasps in surprise, throwing his arms around harry's neck, in disbelief that the love of his life is here with him right now. "am i dreaming? is this real?"
harry chuckles, burying his face into louis' shoulder. "of course this is real. i'm here, sunflower. i'm here."
louis' eyes start to water as he clings onto his husband like a lifeline. "you're here, you're actually here," he cries, unable to express his gratitude of finally being able to hold harry in his arms again. he thought it was going to be another month before they got to see each other again. every day, the distance seemed to be harder and harder to deal with, and he never imagined that harry would show up in his childhood bedroom out of nowhere. this is the happiest he has been in a long time.
harry starts placing kisses to the side of louis' neck. the comforting touch is everything louis needs. "i missed you so much, lou. being apart from you is so fucking hard."
louis finally loosens his grip on harry and pulls away from the hug just enough to press their lips together. both of them have been so deprived of each other during the past month, they have only been a shell of who they are. physically, their bodies have been apart, but neither of their hearts matched their locations.
the pair kiss each other so passionately, trying to make up for the lost time. neither even care about louis' morning breath as their lips move together. louis hands tangle themselves in harry's hair and harry runs his hand up and down louis' back, until it finally comes to rest on his hip. both of their faces are wet with tears, but they don't care. every kiss between them is magical anyway, but this is on another level.
when they finally pull away, they stare deep into each other's eyes and louis runs his thumb across harry's cheek. "how are you here?" he asks softly, knowing there is no way that management would have agreed to this. part of him worries that this is just a dream and he's going to wake up alone, desperate for his husband who is so far away.
"i had a three day break, and then one day of writing, and then another two days off, so i called the writer i was going to work with and asked if we could reschedule without telling management so i could come home, and she agreed, so we have six days together that management never needs to know about," he explains. "i fly back on the eighth."
"thank you, thank you, thank you," louis repeats, still clinging onto harry. "i can't believe you're here."
"being away from you was killing me," harry admits. "i needed to see you. of course i wish i could stay with you until the tour starts up again, but this is better than nothing."
"so much better. you are my favorite person in the world."
"i better be," harry responds, cheekily. "that is why you married me, isn't it?"
louis rolls his eyes fondly. "of course not. i married you because you're hot. you being the actual best person to ever exist just happened to be a bonus."
"oh, shut it," harry pulls himself out of louis' grip and stands up from the bed. "i planned this all out with jay. i thought we could go stay in london and maybe spend a day visiting my mum, robin, and gemma?" he suggests. "it's all up to you. we can stay here if you want, or stay at a hotel in scotland. anything you want. except i had to promise to bring you back here when i have to fly back to america."
"that sounds perfect. i don't know what i ever did to deserve you," louis smiles at his husband. "these last few weeks have been so incredibly shitty and this is exactly what i needed. thank you."
"i know," harry answers, sadly. "i needed to do what i could to cheer you up. i've been worried about you."
"no need to be worried. you're here now. i'm perfect."
harry giggles at his husband. "that's a good idea for a song. we're perfect," harry ruffles louis' hair, making his bed head even worse. "you better get ready and pack anything you need. i'm going to help mama jay with breakfast."
louis stands up on his toes to reach to give harry one last quick kiss. "i love you."
"i love you too. i'll see you in a few minutes," harry gently brushes louis' hair away from his eyes before leaving the room and heading downstairs to help jay and say a proper hello to all of the kids.
as soon as he had arrived to louis' childhood home in doncaster, he could barely say anything to anyone after jay let him into the house. his thoughts were too set on getting to see louis that he couldn't focus on anything else. the moment he had been waiting for ever since he got in that car after the last show has finally arrived. harry feels lost when he is away from louis. no matter where in the world they are, louis always makes harry feel like he is at home.
harry makes his way down to the kitchen where the rest of louis' family is busy setting up for breakfast. daisy and phoebe immediately run over to harry to greet him in a hug.
jay, louis' stepdads, and all of the kids have so openly accepted harry into the family, which harry could not be more grateful for. he loves having six kids that he can treat as his younger siblings and spoil as much as he possibly can. jay, dan, and mark have also welcomed him with such open arms and have made their love for him very obvious. he makes their son happy. that's all they could ever ask for.
after greeting all of the kids, harry makes his way over to jay to help her finish making pancakes for the family to eat for breakfast. jay pours the batter onto the skillet, while harry carefully arranges chocolate chips to make smiley faces on all of the pancakes. that is a great way to keep winning over the young children, as well as his very childish husband.
soon enough, the plate of pancakes is set on the table and the kids dig in, not waiting for louis to show up. harry leans against the counter and makes small-talk with jay while dan sits at the table, feeding doris and ernest.
"how have you been doing, harry? we haven't really had the chance to talk about you lately. i never was able to make sure you're doing okay," jay asks, her motherly instincts kicking in.
harry smiles at her. "a lot better now that i'm here. this has been a rough time for everyone. mostly lou. i just need to make sure he's alright."
"you make him really happy, you know? there's not many people i would trust with my louis, but you are the best possible person he could have. he would do anything for you," jay explains, turning away to busy herself with washing the dishes in the sink.
harry grabs a towel and starts drying. "i'd do anything for him. i'm glad he's been here. i never like the idea of him being cooped up in london by himself."
jay nods. "he's always been so good with other people. especially the girls when they were young. he's happiest when he can make other people smile. he has always been the brightest light i have ever known."
"my sunflower," harry whispers to himself with a fond grin.
jay shuts off the tap and turns to look at harry. "i want to thank you for doing all of this for him. he's been dealing with a lot lately and really needs something like this right now. thank you for loving my boy."
harry puts down his towel and wraps his arms around jay. "i'm doing this just as much for myself as i am for him. i'm lucky we get to tour together. i can't imagine what it would be like if i couldn't see him most days," he pulls away from the hug. "i love him more than anything."
"you better be talking about me," louis' voice makes all of them turn towards the kitchen entrance. louis watches his mum and harry's interaction with a small grin on his face.
harry smirks. "actually, we were talking about niall, right jay?"
"oh, yes. he's such a sweet boy. i hope i'll get to see him soon. he always laughs at my bad jokes jokes," jay plays along.
louis rolls his eyes, but makes his way over to get a kiss from harry anyway. phoebe and daisy quickly turn away from them, still being innocent enough to think that kissing is gross, especially if it is their big brother.
"eat up, sunflower. we have a long drive to london," harry nudges louis towards the table, where there are only a few smiley-face chocolate chip pancakes left for him. louis pulls harry over with him and sits on his lap as he eats, not wanting a single second to go by without him touching harry.
soon enough, louis finishes his pancakes after sharing a few bites with harry, and the couple are ready to leave.
"you better take care of my baby," jay warns as she pulls harry into a tight hug.
"of course i will," harry promises. "i'll see you when i drop him off at the end of the week."
"thank you," jay whispers in his ear before pulling away from him and going to get a hug from her son.
"love you, mum," louis tells her.
jay squeezes him tightly. "i love you, too. if you need me at any point, you better call. please at least text me to let me know how you're doing every day. make sure you're taking care of yourself."
louis sighs at his mum's worry. "i will. i'll be fine, mum. don't worry."
jay gives louis a silent glare, knowing louis will pick up on what she wants to say, but not have to say anything out loud that harry would be able to hear.
louis gives his mum a kiss on her cheek. "i'll be fine. i promise," he says, softly.
harry picks up louis' bag that he has left near the door and takes louis hand. they say one last quick goodbye before heading out the door to harry's car. harry hurries slightly ahead of louis so he can open the door for him, being the true gentleman that he is. harry then places the bag in the backseat and climbs behind the wheel.
"when did you get here?" louis asks.
"a few hours ago. i had my car driven to the airport so it would be ready for me as soon as i landed," he explains. "i had to get here as quickly as possible."
"are you going to be okay to drive all the way to london, love? you must be exhausted," louis frowns, concerned with the well-being of his husband.
harry shakes his head. "don't worry, lou. i slept on the plane. i'm just going to need lots of cuddles when we get home."
"i can help with that," louis giggles, lacing his fingers through harry's hand that is not on the steering wheel. "why didn't you tell me you were coming?" louis inquires.
harry shrugs, taking a quick look away from the road to glance at his husband. "wanted it to be a surprise. i was trying to find ways to come see you and then after what happened with zayn the other day, i knew i had to make that happen."
"i truly am so lucky to have you," louis says. "i love you."
"i love you, too. now, i don't have too much planned for us to do. mostly cuddling on the couch. we can do anything you want," harry explains.
"i just want to spend time with you, love," louis answers. "i don't care where we are or what we're doing."
"maybe we can work on a song together at some point," harry suggests. "management has never scheduled us to write alone together, so we just never have bothered. i've heard great things about you. i think i should get a chance to witness that greatness in action."
louis raises an eyebrow. "if that's what you want to do, of course we can," he agrees.
harry smiles, staring at the road ahead of them. the three hour drive is the perfect time for them to adjust to being together again and talk about whatever they want. even though they spoke over the phone every day, that is completely different than being physically with someone. it's a whole different level of intimacy that they have both missed so much.
once they finally arrive at their house in london, the couple grab their bags from the backseat of the car and make their way inside.
"i'm sorry it's such a mess in here. the last time anyone was here was when liam came to get whatever i was going to need when i went up to donny," louis apologizes, hating how much of a disaster the place is. louis has never been the neatest person, but this is worse than usual. the last time he was here, he was drunk off his ass and never had the chance to tidy anything. he feels bad that harry just came home to this.
"i honestly couldn't care less about the mess. i'm exhausted and all i want to do is go to bed and cuddle," harry says, the clutter being the last thing on his mind.
louis takes harry's hand and leads him up to their bedroom. they drop their bags on the ground. those can be sorted out later. the two fall into their large, comfy bed, louis with his arms wrapped tightly around harry.
it isn't long before harry drifts off to sleep. even though he slept on the plane, he is still jet lagged and exhausted. it has been a long day for him.
louis can't sleep yet, though. his thoughts are racing too much. the last thing he expected from his day was to end up in bed in london, with his husband in his arms. he can't be more happy it ended like this, though.
louis eyes the empty bottle he left on the bedside table, but the bad thoughts don't flood his brain like they usually would. he is just so happy and thankful that harry is here with him to focus on the bad shit that has happened lately. harry just makes him so ridiculously happy, he feels like he's on the top of the world.
usually when louis is saddest for seemingly no reason, it's when he's alone. he's had such a bad month because he's been alone and has had to deal with too many things that were breaking him down by himself. now, as he holds harry in his arms, he finally feels okay again.
w.c. 2748
:)