So Louis accepted the offer. He applied to live in the dorms and Harry helped him pick out new bedsheets and a roommate. They spent all their time together and as relieved as Louis was to be moving to London, he was dreading the moment he would have to leave Harry.
Eventually, Louis graduated. Harry and Anne attended, along with Lottie and Fizzy. When Louis saw his sisters there, a surprise from Harry, he burst into tears. Happy tears, though. Louis knew he would miss his sisters and, through the summer, he and Harry spent more and more time with them. Lottie, at twelve, was technically old enough to babysit the twins but Jay opted to put them in daycamp for the majority of the summer, leaving Lottie and Fizzy at home to entertain themselves. After Jay and Dan left for work, Lottie would call Louis over and, more often than not, both he and Harry would go over.
Some days, just Louis went while Harry worked at his summer job (a bakery) and some days, neither of them went because they were both working (Louis had begun working as an assistant in some office closer to Sheffield). They tried to spend as much time as possible during the day with Louis' sisters, and their evenings were reserved for couch dinners in front of the TV with Anne. But the nights, the nights were just for them. Louis would drive them to diners and ice cream shops and drive in theatres and they would spend all their time disgustingly in love. But, in their defense, every day that passed was one day closer to Louis leaving and they wanted to make the most of their time together.
Eventually, the time came for Louis to leave.
"That's the last bag, mum," Harry said, closing the back door to Louis' small car. Through his many trips to his old house to visit his sisters, Louis had been able to swipe everything he wanted from his room. Now, almost all of Louis' belongings were packed into his car, save for the clothes that were still sitting in Harry's closet and dresser, waiting for his next visit.
"Okay, come give me a hug, Louis." Louis knew it would be hard for him to say goodbye to Anne, the woman that had taken him in and treated him as if he were her own. But when he saw Anne's eyes fill with tears and felt the way she pulled him in tight, he knew that he needed to be strong.
"I'll be back real soon, Anne," Louis said quietly into the hug. "Besides, you'll still have Harry and, trust me," Louis made eye contact with Harry over her shoulder, "He's so much better than me."
Anne laughed and Harry rolled his eyes. "I'll be expecting you before the end of the month, young man."
"Yes ma'am." Louis nodded before stepping to the passenger side door and opening it. He motioned to Harry, "Coming in?"
Harry grinned and nodded, slipping into the seat and letting Louis close the door behind him. Harry was driving down to London with Louis to help the older boy move, and would be staying the weekend before returning to Doncaster via train on Sunday.
It took them about three and a half hours to get to London given the moderate traffic and their stop to get gas and snacks. They didn't talk much during the drive. Sure there was the occasional comment but they mostly just basked in each other's presence, singing along to Louis' CD's with their fingers intertwined tightly.
It was nearing noon, Louis' scheduled move in time, when they pulled onto the campus. They parked close to the door of Louis' dorm building, which they had toured on a day trip to London in July, and Louis ran off to the registration desk while Harry started pulling Louis' stuff from the car and onto the sidewalk.
"Need some help?" Harry looked up to see a boy adorned in a brightly coloured university shirt.
"Um, sure," Harry nodded and the boy walked over to the open back seat, beginning to pull out boxes and bags onto the curb.
"So what program are you in?" The boy asked.
"Oh, no," Harry stuttered, "I'm just helping my boyfriend move in." Harry looked up to see Louis walking over.
The boy nodded and gave Louis a smile as he approached.
"Hey," Louis greeted, "I'm Louis."
"I'm Ben, upper year volunteer. I was just helping your boyfriend with your stuff."
"Alright, cool, thanks."
With the help of Ben, they got everything out of the car and then Harry and Ben waited with the stuff while Louis parked the car in the spot he had reserved when he booked his dorm. After that, Ben helped them move everything to just outside Louis' room, which was on the third floor.
"Alright, well if you need anything else, look for someone wearing this shirt."
"Thanks Ben," Louis replied, shaking the lad's hand. "Are you ready?" He asked, turning to Harry.
Harry nodded and Louis unlocked the door. The dorm was quite simple, there were two twin size beds and, between them, two desks against the windows. On the wall with the door, there were two wardrobes.
"Looks like your roommate isn't here yet," Harry commented.
"Which means I get the first pick of the beds." Louis grinned and immediately jumped onto one of the beds, testing it for a moment before jumping onto the other whilst Harry gathered the stuff from the hall and brought it into the room.
Eventually, Louis decided on the bed pushed against the right wall and began to help Harry put away his clothes and books.
"Hello." Louis and Harry had just finished putting away Louis' things when someone knocked on the door.
"Jack?" Louis asked.
The boy nodded, "Louis?"
"Yup. And this is my boyfriend Harry." Harry smiled at Jack and gave a little wave.
"Nice to meet you both." Jack said with a smile before starting to bring his things in from the hallway.
"You want some help?" Louis offered when he noticed Jack was alone.
"You sure?" The boy replied, "I don't want to be a bother."
"It's really no problem," Louis said with a smile, turning to Harry who nodded in agreement.
They helped Jack move all his stuff in before they sat down to get to know each other. Harry sat on Louis' bed with his back pressed against the wall with Louis just beside him, sitting a bit more forward, while Jack sat on his own bed facing the two.
They spoke about their upcoming classes and discovered that even though Jack was majoring in Biochemistry, they both had a psych class together. Jack also seemed to already know a lot of people at the university as many of his friends stopped by to say hi. But Jack was very nice and introduced them all to Harry and Louis, and promised to bring Louis to the pub with them later on.
"So where are you guys from?" Jack asked.
"Doncaster."
"And Harry, you still live there?" Harry nodded.
"Actually, Jack, I meant to ask you, is it alright if Harry stays the weekend here? We can get a hotel room if it's a problem." Louis asked.
"No, no, of course he can stay here."
"Thanks," Harry said with a smile.
"It must be hard for you guys to do long distance so, really Harry, any time you wanna come for the weekend or anything is fine with me. Just let me know when you want me out of the room." Jack winked, making Louis laugh and Harry roll his eyes and tug on the back of Louis' shirt.
They spoke for a while longer before deciding to head out for dinner as it was nearing five pm and none of them had eaten lunch. Luckily, they didn't have any orientation activities until Monday, meaning that they had all of Saturday and Sunday to relax. Except Harry was leaving on Sunday and Louis really didn't want to think about that.
So Louis and Harry went to a pub with Jack, where they met up with his friends. They ordered a bunch of food and watched the footie game on TV and, even though he was underage, Harry filled himself with beer and ended up absolutely smashed and in Louis' lap.
"Your boy's a lightweight," One of Jack's friends, Alif, commented with a chuckle. At that point, Harry was completely passed out in Louis' lap, arms wrapped tightly around his boyfriend's waist and his face pressed into Louis' neck.
"Well it's your fault," Louis shot back to the group, "You kept giving him more drinks."
"He's just so cute," Another one of the boys commented. Louis rolled his eyes but nodded. It was true.
It was approaching one in the morning when they decided to all head back to their homes and Louis had to wake up Harry.
"Haz," He whispered into the boy's ear, although the bar was loud, "Time to get up." Louis shook him slightly and Harry roused, confused but he smiled goofily when he saw Louis staring down at him.
"Louis!" He said, startling their group as it was the loudest thing he had said all night. "My lovely Lou!"
Louis blushed as he heard the guys start to tease them. "C'mon baby, we gotta go."
"No Lou! I don't want you to go!" Harry's eyes filled with tears. He was way drunker than any time he had ever been before.
"No, baby," Louis couldn't help but chuckle, "You're coming with me, back to my dorm."
"Come home with me, Lou," Harry insisted, eyes mostly dry now. Louis just sighed and forced the boy out of his lap. He followed the group out of the pub, Harry tucked into his side to keep the younger boy from tripping, something he had done the moment he stood up.
Luckily they weren't too far from the dorm and with the help of Jack and Alif, who also lived in their building, they were able to get Harry into bed without much of a fight. Louis thanked them as Harry fell right asleep and then Alif went back to his room and Jack left to shower in the communal bathrooms.
Louis pulled off a sleeping Harry's jeans and shoes before doing the same with his own and climbing into the bed with his boyfriend. He wrapped his arms around Harry and tried not to think about the fact that this was his second last night with Harry for who knows how long.
He pressed his face into Harry's skin and inhaled, trying to remember how to breathe.
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I don't even proofread anymore lol
when this story is over ill probably move over to ao3 so go check me out over there @/beccca