november 5, 2015. england.
on a day off from press interviews and work, harry decides to get up early and go for a run. it's been a while since he's had the time and motivation to spend some time by himself, and to him, an early morning run is the best idea.
harry is careful to not wake louis as he gets up. he has experienced the angry wrath of a grumpy louis one too many times to risk doing it again. he takes just a minute to appreciate how adorable and peaceful his husband is, wrapped in a pile of blankets and his feathery hair a mess across his pillow. harry thankfully didn't disturb him too much while climbing out of bed.
as quietly as he can, harry changes into a pair of workout clothes and makes his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth and tie his hair back. it isn't long before he is out the door, grabbing a protein bar to eat along the way.
once the protein bar is finished, he tucks the wrapper into his pocket to throw in the rubbish bin when he gets back home. he takes out a pair of headphones to shove into his ears and hits play on made in the a.m.
harry has always liked having the chance to listen to new music by himself before it is released. he likes giving himself the chance to hear everything objectively, without any other opinions butting in, to decide if he is truly happy with the finished product. this is his time to not be swayed by the opinions of management or any of the critics. it is something that harry has gotten in the habit of doing, and makes him feel more confident as release day approaches.
harry can't help but appreciate the beauty of london so early in the morning as he jogs. it is too early for the streets to be packed with bustling tourists, so he mostly passes people on their way to work or taking their dogs out for a morning walk. the leaves of the trees planted on every street corner are beginning to change color, to beautiful, vibrant shades of red and yellow.
there is something different about the city on a crisp, cool morning that harry absolutely loves. it makes the city feel so much smaller and more like home, but also makes him feel like an ordinary person. right now, he is not harry styles, famous boy band member. he is just a guy going for a nice jog. sometimes, it's nice to be just an ordinary person.
once the last track, a.m., concludes, harry decides to slow down to a walk, letting himself cool off before heading back home. he takes out his headphones, choosing not to listen to any more music. he decides that he is fully content with the finalized album. him and the other band members have stepped up and created something they can all be really proud of. harry is happy with that. they have faced a lot of challenges in the creation of this new album, but they persevered.
as he walks, harry notices that he's about to pass louis' favorite café. it is only a couple of blocks from their home, so harry decides to surprise louis with a little treat when he gets back home. waking louis up to his favorite coffee and pastries would definitely give him a good start to his day, especially since it has been so long since they have been to the shop. he checks the time on his phone, and decides that it is late enough that louis should probably be getting up soon anyway, and makes his way inside.
as it is still fairly early, the shop is mostly empty, which harry is thankful for. it wouldn't be the best idea to be meeting fans right now while he is all sweaty and buying breakfast for his sleepy husband.
within just a couple minutes, harry is out the door with two coffees and a bag of louis' favorite pastries. he hurries back home, with the hope that everything will still be warm by the time he gets louis out of bed. maybe they'll eat together, then harry can take a shower, and they can spend the rest of their day cuddled on the couch watching movies.
as soon as harry steps through the front door and the heat hits him, he realizes just how chilly it's getting outside. it's only the beginning of november, but they are back in england, so the sun is not in the picture anymore. harry sets the drinks and pastries down and makes his way upstairs to their bedroom.
louis woke to the sound of a door closing downstairs. his tired state has no interest in finding out what it is. maybe someone is breaking in. louis wouldn't care as long as he got to have a few more minutes in bed. he rolls onto his stomach, burying his face into his pillow, not wanting to get up. he reaches an arm out to harry's side of the bed wanting to cuddle, but is disappointed to feel nothing there.
frowning, he turns his head and opens his eyes, to be faced with an empty space in the bed where his harry is supposed to be. the bed is too cold now. he doesn't have too much time to worry about where harry is, because seconds later, he is opening the door to their room.
"morning, love," louis mumbles, sleepily.
"good morning," harry responds back. "i have a surprise for you," he says as he pulls off his sweaty shirt, chuckling as louis' eyes go directly down to his chest.
"hmm, i must say i like this surprise," louis says, sitting up to get a better view of his husband. "waking up to a strip tease is exactly my idea of a good time."
harry rolls his eyes at louis' flirtatious comments. "funny, but i'm not the surprise."
he makes his way over to the closet to pull out a clean shirt. he'll shower after breakfast, but for now, he just wants to be out of his sweaty running clothes.
"woah, woah, woah," louis interrupts harry as he goes to put the new shirt on. "what do you think you're doing?"
harry raises an eyebrow, not knowing what louis is talking about.
"leave the shirt off," louis instructs, actually climbing out of bed to stop him.
harry can't help but laugh at his lover, amused by his actions. even though louis is focused on harry's body, harry can't help but find him to be completely adorable. the way louis caresses his bare chest so carefully, and looks at him like he is the most beautiful thing in the world. he makes harry feel so special.
louis fingers eventually trace their way up to land on harry's chin and he stands on his toes to reach to fit his lips onto harry's. the kiss is so loving and soft, harry melts into him and never wants to pull away.
sadly, though, they have hot coffee and pastries waiting for them downstairs, and harry had planned to enjoy them before they got cold. they should probably go to do that soon.
he pulls back from louis' kiss and takes hold of louis' hand. he decides to leave the shirt off, not wanting louis to stop being infatuated with his bare chest. he doesn't mind, of course. he thinks it's cute. he likes the attention. he also doesn't mind that louis, who is just wearing one of harry's shirts that is significantly too big for him and pants, makes no attempt to put on a pair of trousers.
hand in hand, the couple make their way downstairs, where harry leads them towards the kitchen. louis' feet drag as he walks, showing that according to louis' internal clock, it is too early to be awake. his yawn looks like one from a tiny kitten. harry loves it.
harry leads louis to where the pastry bag and cups of coffee are placed on the kitchen table. louis' face breaks out into a wide grin as he recognizes the logo on the bag, a smile that reaches all the way to his eyes. there is little harry loves to see more than this pure joy in his husband, and he loves being the reason for that happiness even more.
"thank you, love," louis exclaims, turning to pull harry into a kiss.
"anything for you," harry mumbles against his lips. "love you."
louis smiles. "i love you, too."
harry pulls out a chair for louis and then sits down next to him. their legs tangle together underneath the table. harry passes out the pastries and hands louis his coffee, and they begin to eat.
"i listened to the album again during my run," harry tells him.
louis nods, understanding harry's little ritual. harry has been doing it for a long time and louis knows how much it brings him peace of mind. "yeah? what did you think? still approve?"
harry nods. "still approve. you know which ones were my favorite?" he asks with a smirk.
louis raises an eyebrow. "which ones were your favorite?"
"the ones that you wrote!" harry exclaims, happily.
"yeah, yeah, you're biased."
harry gasps, pretending to be offended by louis' accusation. "how could you?its scientific fact. you can't argue with that."
louis rolls his eyes at harry and takes another bite of his pastry.
"im serious, though. i'm proud of us. this is a good one to say goodbye to the fans," harry says, his cheeky tone completely changed now.
"i don't want to say goodbye for too long. the fans deserve better than that," louis irriterates a point he has made several times before.
"we'd be stupid to not come back. the band has something special. we have to do it again," harry agrees.
"making music won't be the same without you and the others," louis says, thoughtfully. "i do think it would be interesting to write some new stuff that i wouldn't be able to for the band."
"i can't wait to openly sing about how in love i am with my beautiful husband."
"you're a sap," louis teases.
harry scoffs. "you're just jealous that my husband is the best in the world."
"no way," louis shakes his head. "my husband wakes me up with a strip tease and delicious breakfast. beat that."
"mine deserves to be spoiled and taken care of sometimes because he always does it for me," harry responds.
louis grabs onto harry's free hand and squeezes it. "i love you."
harry smiles at him and leans over to kiss his cheek. "love you, too, sunflower. did you have any plans for today?"
louis shakes his head. "besides some hot sex with my husband? no, nothing."
"we can take care of that later," harry says with a smirk. "movie day?" he suggests.
"sounds perfect," louis agrees, happily.
harry downs the last sip of his coffee and gets up. louis has already finished eating. "i need to have a quick shower. then we can start."
"great. i'll go have a cigarette while you're doing that and i'll get everything set up."
"okay. see you in a few minutes," harry kisses louis cheek and makes his way out of the room.
"think of me!" louis calls out behind him.
"i will!"
once harry leaves, louis gets up to put the pastry bags in the bin and recycle the coffee cups. he can't keep the smile off of his face, even with harry gone. breakfast is far from the most extravagant or romantic thing harry has ever done, but it's such a simple gesture that means so much to louis. he really is the luckiest man in the world.
louis steps out onto the balcony to light his cigarette and stands there, watching over the city for the few minutes it takes for his cigarette to burn out. the morning air is cold, but louis doesn't care. this has been a good day so far. it seems like there haven't been enough good days recently, but because of harry, this one is a good day.
once the cigarette is out, louis heads back inside to prepare for the movie. he grabs a bag of crisps from the cabinet and a couple of beers from the fridge and takes them over to the sofa. harry might decide it's too early for a beer, but louis would have no problem drinking both of them. he grabs the fluffiest blanket they have out of their blanket basket and lays it out over the sofa.
he lays down and cuddles himself into the blanket, waiting for harry to get out of the shower. it's only a few more minutes before harry is joining him. he shuffles under the blanket and allows louis to cuddle into his side.
harry turns on the tv and they scroll through netflix until they decide on something to watch.
for the first half of the movie, they sip their beers and pick at the crisps. harry watches along with the movie intently, while louis doesn't pay too much attention. he is too comfortable and relaxed to care much about the film on the screen. he eventually even falls asleep in harry's arms.
when louis wakes, he has his head on harry's chest just as the credits start rolling. he lets out a yawn and sits up, slightly dazed from his nap. harry brushes the hair out of his eyes and gives him a quick kiss on his forehead, humming along to the end credits song as louis finishes waking up.
"i think i'm going to make some cookies. want to join?" harry suggests once the credits conclude, starting to get up from the sofa.
a mischievous look appears on louis' face as he quickly nods in affirmation. they head back to the kitchen and louis takes a seat on one of the stools. this is how he usually helps in the kitchen. he is a great supervisor.
louis watches as harry makes his way to the vinyl player and sorts through a few records. soon enough, fleetwood mac is playing out through the speakers.
harry dances and sings along loudly as he pulls the ingredients out of the cabinet. louis sings along quietly as well, but mostly spends his time in awe at his husband. he doesn't understand how one can be so perfect while carelessly dancing and baking.
they don't say much as harry measures out the ingredients. he knows the recipe by heart. he works without even having to think about it.
eventually, he steps away from the counter where he was working and pulls louis to his feet. harry sings louder and forces louis to dance along with him. of course, louis complies, but not without giggling over how terrible they both are at dancing.
they stumble around the kitchen, trying to not be too destructive as harry twirls louis.
harry tries to dip louis, but loses his balance as louis falls back. in a desperate attempt to not fall, louis sticks his hand out to grab onto the counter, which happens to knock the bag of flour over, making it spill out in a puff. as it settles, it coats all of the surfaces, including louis and harry's hair.
laughing, louis ruffles harry's hair, making the flour fly everywhere again. he then sticks his hand in the flour spilled on the counter and touches harry's face, leaving a handprint behind.
"hmm, cute," he decides, admiring his hard work.
harry scowls at him. "you should know better than to mess up my hair," he whines, just before taking a handful of the flour to throw right back at louis.
louis throws his hands up to try to block himself from the flour, but it doesn't do much. he gets covered anyway. he retaliates by throwing even more flour at harry and then pulling him into a deep kiss.
they are there, kissing while standing in the middle of their kitchen, covered in flour. it would be such a strange sight to any outsider, but to harry and louis, things could not get more perfect than that moment.
w.c. 2722