three | the take off
Met a lot of people
But nobody feels like you
I'm so scared to fall in love
But if it's you then I'll try
~ 'it's you' by ali gatie
ツ
"You know the deal we had? No sex for a while?" Louis asked as he watched Harry grab his mobile and shove it into the pockets of his black slacks.
"Yeah?" he replied distractedly, searching for his wallet.
"Seeing you in this formal wear is making me feel stupid about it", Louis said casually, digging out the wallet from under the books piled on the desk.
"Oh," Harry blushed, biting his lip as he checked his wallet and pocketed it. "You look good yourself. For once, it's not streetwear."
"Harry, darling, my streetwear is my brand, love," Louis winked. He grinned like an idiot and pressed a chaste kiss to Harry's lips before taking his hand. "Ready, boyfriend?"
"Ready, boyfriend", he chuckled.
They grabbed a taxi and it took them half an hour to get to the designated, elite Italian restaurant. It was elegant and if it weren't for their formal dressing, Harry was sure they would've felt so out of place. In fact, he couldn't even read the name of the restaurant.
Trying not to let his jitters get the better of him as he followed Louis inside, Harry eyed the people already having a nice evening in an attempt to determine if he'd be able to relax and have a good time or not. He studied Louis, trying to figure if this kind of setting was his cup of tea.
"Tomlinson", Louis informed the host who met them at the door, handing her two coupons.
Welcoming with a brilliant smile, the host led them towards the back of the restaurant, away from the window and into a private corner where they wouldn't be visible to many people. Harry didn't exactly know which part of the city they were in but the view was pretty amazing, looking down at the busy city lit with bright lights. The candles lit on and around the table warmed the space quite good.
Louis waited for Harry to take a seat before he took his seat opposite him.
"We are very glad you have taken up our offer for a free dinner," the host smiled. "Your contributions to our charity mean a lot to us. Please take a look at the menus, we'll be back to take your orders soon."
"Thank you," Harry smiled before she walked away and turned to Louis. "You don't have to do that."
"Do what?"
"The whole sitting down after me thing," Harry rolled his eyes, teasing smirk on his lips. "I'm not some dainty lady who demands to be treated right before she'll put out. We're already past that, right? Besides, we're both equals here, anyway."
Louis huffed a laugh, but nodded in agreement anyway and opened his menu. Harry took the cue and opened his, and then just stared. He was sure he could at least guess what's on the menu but the names of the dishes looked like something straight from Dothraki language. He thought he was lucky when he saw the little description below, but unfortunately, it was also in Italian.
"Alright?" Louis asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just trying to decide what to get. There's so many to choose from", Harry chuckled awkwardly and turned back to the menu, squinting it into submission.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw the prices next to the dishes but remembered that this was all paid for already and calmed down. He had the pleasure to explore, then.
"Should we get a starter?" Louis asked a moment later. "I'm not sure about the quantity of these posh food. And I'm quite hungry."
"Well, we could always get some cheese straws", Harry shrugged.
Louis nodded and a minute later, a waiter came to their table to their orders. He ordered something with a really long and fancy name. As far as Harry was concerned and considering the waiter's face, it was pronounced perfectly. Harry, however, panicked and pointed to the first thing on the menu.
"My pronunciation isn't that great", he smiled at the waiter.
The waiter nodded politely, "How would you like it cooked, sir?"
"Uh...just tender? Please."
"And can we get some cheese sticks, please?" Louis added.
"Of course, sir. Your food will be here shortly", she said with a little nod and walked off.
"So," Louis spoke once they were alone. "Any plans for spring break?"
"It's a month away. But no, nothing yet. You got any games?"
"Not sure, either. Few guys are planning to stay and train for the matches after the break. If we do better in those games individually, we get a different set of training after the summer vacation, like an advanced one. And scouts will be there for next semester games. We best that and get into the team with promising guidance to a good career."
"Wow, that sounds like a lot of pressure", Harry said.
He never really gave a long thought about Louis' games, the strategy and the effort he made to score every game. He always had an opinion that people like Louis were lucking it out while just kicking a ball around. But since he's been more in tune with Louis' schedule for the past couple weeks, he's starting to understand that Louis was a hard-working individual.
As they talked about their plans further, the waiter returned with their food. He placed some kind of fish in front of Louis —it still had the head on with its ridiculous eyes, and delicious looking pasta in front of Harry, which the waiter kindly informed him were 'intestines'.
"Intestines?" Harry mumbled, poking at the long strings with his fork and looked up at Louis, noting that he was doing the same with his meal. "Something wrong?"
Louis blushed instead of answering.
"Louis?"
"I uh, I don't like fish," he murmured. "Especially the raw one."
Harry cocked his head, "They why did you order it?"
Blushing some more, Louis leaned forwards towards him, "I can only read Italian. I don't understand it. I thought this was lamb."
Harry couldn't help but burst out laughing, smacking a palm against his mouth when a couple sitting nearby looked at him.
"Oh my god, Louis! You honestly thought I would've ordered bloody intestines if I'd known what I was reading?" he poked at the food.
Louis blinked for a moment, finally catching on that Harry didn't know Italian either and relaxes with a chuckle, "We're idiots."
"We totally are. You are the one who got us here", Harry grinned.
"Not my fault I won coupons for this place after bidding highest for your awesome painting of our room", Louis sassed back.
"Think we can ditch here and go to the diner down the road?"
Louis looked like he was contemplating it but shook his head instead, "There's Tesco nearby and a park. Come on, we're going on an artless date. I'll buy you a milkshake."
"Milkshake sounds awesome", Harry smiled and didn't hesitate to take Louis' hand, twining their fingers together as they walked out of the restaurant.
ツ
"Where did you get this idea?" Harry asked as Louis dropped the Doritos bag into the basket.
Louis shrugged, "Niall showed me some TikTok video. Isn't it brilliant, though? C'mon, your turn. It's sweets!"
Harry closed his eyes and walked along the aisle, a hand hovering on the packaged chocolates. When Louis told him to stop, he picked the packet just under his hand. Bounty. Sweet coconut wrapped in chocolate.
"Yum. Are we taking the whole pack? I think we should. They are minis."
Harry looked at Louis incredulously, "Are you kidding? Bounty is the worst!"
"Hey! Don't insult coconut goodness. Besides, you are one to talk. Twix addict", Louis chided him, grabbing the packet from Harry's hands and dropping it into the basket. "But fine. I'll make an exception here. Only for you. Grab any sweets you like. You clearly have a bad taste."
"Are you sure about that?" Harry smirked as he picked the Mini Eggs.
Louis squinted and huffed, "Bad taste in candy, Harry. Not in picking boyfriend. Obviously I'm awesome."
"That you are", Harry mumbled, following his boyfriend who was stomping into the beverages section.
ツ
Harry groaned as he stepped into the room, falling face first onto his bed. Louis snickered from where he was lounging on his bed.
"I need a break!" Harry yelled into his pillow and sat up with a frustrated sigh. He combed his fingers harshly, lips pressed thin and jaw set tight as he tied his hair back. Once done, he pulled his bag over and took books out, slamming them onto the desk and shuffling through the notes. "I can't believe this."
Louis watched him go on like that for a while before calling him, "Oi." It was like Harry was in his own world of frustration and exasperation. "Oi, Harry," he called again, sighing when Harry glared at him. "Come 'ere."
"What."
"I said, come here", Louis looked at him expectantly. He sat up and folded his legs when Harry made his way over to sit on the bed in front of him. "Take a deep breath. Good. Now, what's gotten you grumpy, huh?"
Harry sighed deeply, "I have a group project. Six members, Louis! And I only know three of them, who are so rigidly opinionated when it comes to teamwork."
"When does this project start?"
"We're meeting for lunch on Sunday. We're supposed to review an author's all works and make a blog. The deadline's in two weeks. We haven't even decided the author yet! When I said we should give it a thought and make a list at least by tonight, no one agreed. Hell, we didn't even meet. It was all on the group chat", Harry complained.
"Well, you said you don't know two of them. Maybe you can make friends with them and have a little space at least," Louis reasoned with him, which probably made him a little calmer. "How about this? We have a game in a couple hours. I'll be leaving in a few minutes. You finish up any work you have and can by then. After the game, we'll grab dinner at that new Indian place Niall and Liam are gushing about. And I'll listen to you rant on about this project and stupid professors. Deal?"
Harry stared dumb at him, not caring how stupid he probably looked with the glasses sliding down his nose.
After many months of fighting with his own instincts and thoughts, denying the truth in front of his eyes like it was nobody's business, Harry finally accepted the fact that Louis Tomlinson, the asshole roommate he slept with a number of times, could possibly be falling in love with him. That he, himself, could be possibly falling in love with his roommate.
It took some time, but he's finally understanding what the warmth that tugged at his heart when he saw Louis smile was. Even after confessing that night, Harry's had a hard time believing that Louis was, in fact, not kidding about the seriousness of their relationship. A month of spontaneous dates and no sex, and all the little things he kept noticing gradually started to give him confidence that maybe this wasn't a false fairy tale.
"Harry?"
"But I heard Luke's throwing a party...", he trailed off. It made more sense for Louis to party after game with his team rather than having a boring dinner with him. They'd probably win.
"Eh," Louis shrugged. "Parties get boring when you're not single."
"But—"
"No buts. Unless you have any other plans."
Harry sighed with a relaxed smile, "Thanks, Lou. It's a date.
"You got it!" Louis beamed, pressing a quick kiss to Harry's lips before standing up. "I've gotta go now. I'll see you in the bleachers?"
"Yeah, yeah", Harry smiled.
ツ
author's note: heyyyy guys :))
So, I'm back. So is the sequel. I won't and can't promise fast updates. But I'm giving this a shot again. Not gonna abandon this work. I've changed the plot a little. So, there's no character death. Good news !
So far, how do you like it?
I hope you're all staying safe and healthy.
word count: 2000