The drive back to Harry's penthouse was loud with Louis' endless rambling. "Then he almost- No wait, I'm not going to tell you, then I'll just spoil the story," he said and slumped back in his seat with pursed lips, almost like the words were about to spill out.
Harry chuckled, "you've practically already spoiled the whole movie."
Louis huffed, "no I haven't, I just explained what it is about," he said and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yeah okay, so this homeless guy sees the princess once and instantly falls in love and then he stumbles across a creepy guy who tells him to get a lamp from a cave but he ends up getting stuck there and a genie-"
"Okay, okay! Shut up, don't spoil the story for me," Louis said with a smile playing on his lips. They soon arrived at the penthouse and Louis couldn't help but admire the beautiful house. It wasn't like he imagined his house to look like though he couldn't say that he was too surprised. Harry greeted the doorman as they entered and Louis gave him a little wave as they got into the elevator. The ride up was quiet and Louis fiddled with his fingers until they finally reached the top floor.
"Nice place," Louis commented as he looked around before throwing himself on the couch. There were two similar couches lining the walls forming an L shape. Louis really liked the huge window that covered almost the entire wall beside him, it must really light up the room he thought. Though it was probably a pain in the ass to clean, but he probably didn't clean his own windows anyways. He noticed how it was decorated in a similar fashion to his office with two abstract paintings hanging over the couches and a little square coffee table with a stone top. Though this place was more colorful, almost like the artist handed the brush to a two year old with buckets of paint.
"Thanks," Harry tried not to blush as he took off his hoodie and threw it carelessly on the other couch before taking a seat beside Louis. He started the tv and searched for the movie on 'Youtube Premium' as Louis continued to analyze every inch of the room.
"Your painting is upside down," he stated.
"What?" He looked behind him at the painting Louis was staring at. All the colours of the rainbow were smeared in the middle of a navy blue canvas. "It's not upside down, it's supposed to be like that."
"But it looks upside down"
"How is it upside down Louis? It's just paint"
"Don't you see? It looks like the paint is runny, but because you put it upside down it looks like it's running upwords. Last time I checked that's not how gravity works," Louis explained.
Harry looked at him with an amused grin before looking at the painting again, "huh, maybe you're right," he said as he studied the blob of colour on his wall.
"You should turn it"
"You do it, I'm fixing the movie"
"Yeah, cause that's so hard work," Louis rolled his eyes and stood up on the couch. He had to really stretch his arms to reach both ends of the painting, "you know, you should get smaller paintings," Louis said with a huff. "How am I supposed to fix them when your dumb ass can't even put them up right?"
"It's not my problem that you're so small, and besides I wasn't the one who put them up, it was my decorator. Now come on, the movie starts now."
Louis slumped back down and grabbed one of the pillows, holding it to his chest. "I'm not small, the painting is ridiculously big and you should get a new decorator if she can't even put up a painting right."
"Stop lying to yourself, you are small and you know it," he said and dimmed the lights with a little remote control.
"You're so mean," he whined and hugged the pillow closer to himself.
Harry chuckled, "no, no I was kidding. Of course you are big. You're a big boy, you're like 5'9!" He said in a baby voice.
Louis glared at him, "I am 5'9 thank you very much."
"Whatever makes you sleep at night," he smiled. Louis punched his arm but couldn't help his own smile from spreading across his face.
"Mean"
"Aw, I'm sorry. Did I hurt baby's feelings?" He asked in a mocking voice.
"Ugh, I wouldn't have come if I knew you were going to be such a pain," he said and slid down the couch so he was half on the floor with his back on the seat.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him up and closer to him until he was pressed against his side. "Is baby sad?" He asked and stated petting Louis' hair rather harshly.
"Ow, what is wrong with you? I came here to watch a movie, not being bullied by your stupid ass," Louis said trying to keep a sraight face byt faling misrably when a smile split his face.
"Stop calling me that Lou or I'll-"
"What?"
"Stop interrupting me," he huffed and pulled Louis' arm again so he was laying with his head in Harry's lap. "Or I'll-"
"Shh, the movie has started Harry," he cut him off again. Harry groaned but didn't say anything as 'Arabian Nights' started playing. He absentmindedly played with Louis' hair and he made himself comfortable in Harry's lap.
"Isn't he in the Hall of fame?" Harry asked.
"Who?"
"The Genie. What's his name? William Roberts?"
"It's Robin Williams, how do you not know this? He's really famous."
"I don't know? I don't keep track of every single celebrity out there," Harry defended.
"Right, right, cause you have so much more important stuff to do. You don't have time for fun."
"Celebrities aren't fun"
"You are a celebrity, are you saying you aren't fun?" Louis asked with a grin.
Harry rolled his eyes, "Of course I'm fun. That's not what I meant. I meant following celebrities."
"Yeah whatever, stop interrupting my masterpiece."
"Your masterpiece? I like how you talk about it like you had anything to do with the movie," he chuckled. Louis shot him a little playful glare but didn't say anything as he returned his attention back to the movie.
"So what did you think?" He asked, excited.
"I mean it was good but it wasn't that good."
Louis gasped, "what are you talking about? Did we watch the same movie?"
"I mean there are better 'Disney' movies."
"Like what? Give me one example?" Louis said, quite offended.
"Like the little mermaid, or The Lion King."
"The little mermaid? Really? It's about a fish turning into a human," he said defensively.
"It's about a girl sacrificing her voice for love," Harry corrected.
"Love? That's not love. They had never even talked! What does that teach kids? Dump your family to chase after some dude you don't know shit about cause he's just soooo handsome," Louis said in a sarcastic tone.
"No, it teaches kids to follow their hearts and do what they believe in even if the people around them don't agree with them."
"No, you're wrong," Louis decided.
"See what I mean? If you just watched The little mermaid a little more as a kid you would agree to disagree"
"No"
"No? No what?"
"Aladdin is better and the fish is a bad influence on kids. Look what it did to you, turned you into a complete airhead is what it did. Can't even appreciate a good piece of art," he mumbled.
"Are you always this dramatic?" He asked with a laugh.
Louis frowned and stiffened in Harry's lap but didn't say anything, Harry immediately noticed the change. "Louis I-"
He got up and moved to the other side on the couch and sat with his knees to his chest, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Great, now he had ruined the mood.
"What? No, Lou! I was joking," Harry was quick to reply. Louis nodded but didn't seem to believe him in the slightest.
"Louis," he tried again, "you're not dramatic. Or you are. But not in a bad way!" He was quick to add. Louis still looked totally unconvinced. Harry sighed and opened his arms, "Come 'ere," he said and he could see the hesitans cloudning Louis' eyes as he moved across the couch and Harry wrapped his arms around him.
"You know, you just get very excited about the thing you like and frankly I think that's a pretty good trait," Harry said. "And I haven't really seen you get that excited very often and I would really like to see it more. I think It's cute." Louis hid his crimson face in Harry's chest and mumbled a quiet "thank you."
Harry smiled down at him, "you know what I think you need? You need a little bit more Ariel in your life." Louis was about to protest but Harry continued before he could. "You just don't get it cause you're not part of that world."
"My God, you're such a dork," Louis said quietly and turned around in Harry's arms so he was facing the tv.
"Soooo, The little mermaid?" Harry asked hopefully.
Louis giggled, "fiiiine," he replied and grabbed his pillowed that he had dropped to the floor.
"Yes!" He exclaimed. "It's not a horror film you know," he said when he saw the way Louis was clutching the pillow.
"It's about a fish turning into a human, that's about how scary it can get," Louis said.
"She's not a fish she's a mermaid."
"That's basically a fish Harry"
"No, she isn't, she's half fish half human. That's like saying she's human. She's a human turning into a human."
"No,"
"No what?" He asked as he searched for the movie.
"No, you're wrong. And besides, if everyone around you tells you you're wrong maybe you should at least listen to what they have to say and not run to some witch to cast a spell over you. And she has like seventeen sisters who nobody cares about cause they are in like two minutes of the movie. Like why are they even there?"
"Are you done?" Harry asked and layed down so he was sandwiched between the couch and Louis. He snaked an arm around Louis' middle as he rambled on.
"No, sush. And her hair. You know when she gets out of the water, that makes no sense, no way it would look like that. And how come she is wearing clothes when she gets out of the water. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that she does but nothing about this makes sense."
"But it makes sense that a blue magical blob can turn some dude into a prince?"
"It doesn't have to make sense, it's an old tale like Cinerella and Snow White. Do you think fairy godmothers exist as well?" Louis asked.
"And The little mermaid is a kids movie, you're reading into it to much"
"No, Aladdin is best," Louis said with finality.
"Whatever you say," Harry said, finally giving up. The movie began and Louis absentmindedly snuggled closer to Harry who found it way too hard to focus on this movie about a non-fish. He wondered if Louis could hear his heartbeat speeding up like crazy. If he was, he definitely wasn't showing it, he seemed totally consumed in the movie and Harry wanted to coo over the way his nose scrunched up when Ursela started singing. He just quietly admired Louis as the movie went on until he started squirming in his arms.
"Harry?"
"Mm?"
"Let go," he said and squirmed around. He immediately loosened his grip around Louis' waist with a concerned frown on his face.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"I need to pee," he said and wiggled out of Harry's arms.
"Oh," Harry said, relieved. He was scared he had triggered Louis again.
He bounced on the heel of his feet, "the bathroom?" He asked awkwardly and wrapped his arms around himself, shivering now that he was deprived of Harry's body heat.
"Oh. It's just behind there," he pointed around the corner and Louis scurried away, wanting to be back into the comfortable warmth as soon as possible. Harry paused the movie and grabbed the discarded blanket and pulled it over his body.
Louis soon returned and wiggled back into Harry's arms and he swore he could physically feel his heart swell in his chest. He loved how Louis was already so comfortable around him.
"That's a stupid plan, getting married wont stop him from falling in love with her," Louis said, bringing him out of his thoughts.
"Hmm, what?"
"Are you even watching? You were the one who wanted to watch this movie," Louis said and turned around so he was facing Harry's chest. "You know what? I'm just going to sleep if you aren't even watching," Louis huffed and closed his eyes with a little pout on his lips. Harry stared at him for a moment before poking his cheek.
He could see Louis' face twitching so he poked it again and this time he couldn't hide the smile that spread across his face. "Stop bugging me 'Arry, I'm sleeping," he whined. "If I'm too tired at work it's your fault. And then you'll have to fire me and that will be your fault. And you'll have to find a new assistant and do all that work just because you wouldn't let me get my beauty sleep and you'll be regretting it all. That's too bad, isn't it? So I suggest you just let me sleep," he said and brought his little hand up to cover his mouth as he fake yawned.
Harry smiled, "you don't need beauty sleep so I don't see that happening anytime soon," he said and grabbed Louis' hand and brought it down from his face and their eyes locked.
"Are you saying I'm not beautiful Mr.Styles?" He asked teasingly.
"I'm saying you're the most beautiful Lou," he said, never breaking eye contact. Louis could feel his neck heat up as a hot blush crept onto his face. Harry played with his little fingers as they both waited for the other to say something and the air suddenly felt heavy, the few seconds of silence slowed down to the longest of infinites as Harry's gaze flickered down to Louis' pink lips for just a moment. When Louis copied his movements, Harry slowly lowered his head until he realized what he was doing and quickly pulled back, averting his gaze.
"Look, this is the best part, he stabs her with the front of his boat."
Louis was blushing furiously as he turned to face the tv, "don't spoil the movie Harry," Louis tried to sound playful but it came out in a shaky whisper.
"Sorry." He started to card his fingers through Louis' hair and he leaned into his touch. "Are you really tired?"
"A little," Louis said and tried to hold back a yawn.
"Maybe we should call it a night"
"Let's finish the movie first, there is only a little bit left"
"Told you it wasn't that bad," Harry grinned.
"Shut up. I only want to finish it cause otherwise I've wasted like two hours of my life," Louis explained.
"Sure. Whatever you say."
Louis' eyes were heavy by the time the movie ended. "It's pretty late Lou, do you wanna stay the night?" He asked carefully.
Louis pondered for a moment, he didn't really like spending the night at other peoples places and frankly hadn't done it in years, except for Zayn that is but that doesn't count. He didn't feel like driving home now either, or call an uber because he realized he doesn't even have his car here since Zayn drove them to the bar and Harry drove them here.
"What time is it?" He asked tiredly.
"Around four I think"
"Oh, alright"
"Alright what?" Can this man ever talk clearly Harry wondered.
"Alright, I'll stay," Louis said and Harry was pretty sure he would be rolling his eyes right now if he would actually manage to keep them open.
"Okay, I'll prepare the guest bedroom," he said quietly and left Louis on the couch. By the time he was back Louis was already sound asleep and Harry was not planning on waking him up. He grabbed the comforter from the guest bedroom and draped it over Louis, he really wanted to bend down and kiss his cute little button nose but decided against it.
"Tomlinson," he looked up from his screen to see Mr.Adams staring at him. "My office, now." He demanded before turning around and leaving, not even casting a glance to make sure he was following. Because he knew, what else would he do? Louis gulped down the lump in his throat as he followed Mr.Adams into his office, he didn't want to get yelled at again. Their eyes met as he locked the door behind him and Louis couldn't help his hands from shaking by his side. What did he want? Had he done something wrong? Mr.Adams slowly walked over to where he was standing, stopping merely a foot away. "Do you know why I called you here?" He asked, bringing his rough fingers to brush at his fringe. Louis wanted to cower away, to back down but he stayed put.
He shook his head slightly and watched his lips pull into a little smirk. "Sorry, what was that?" Louis swallowed, "no sir, I don't know," he answered timidly. "That's alright, I'll tell you," he said playfully, smirk never leaving his chapped lips.
"You see," he began and brought his hand to his shoulder, slowly running it down his arm and his voice drowned out as Harry's hand moved to settle on his hip, pushing him back towards the desk. Louis' heart was thumping in his ears as their eyes connected. Louis couldn't tear away his gaze as he stared into Harry's dark forest green eyes, almost like something was hiding in the shadows but it was too dark to tell.
He moved closer and all Louis wanted to do was run but right now he couldn't even lift his finger, let alone his legs and get them to move his entire body out that door that seemed to have moved a mile away. It was like time had stopped. The sun stopped rising and the world stopped turning as the entire universe stood still and just watched. Watched as Harry's cold lips moved closer to his face, whispering in his ear. Watched as his hand inched across his thigh. Watched as Louis did nothing but letting Harry touch him with a shuddered breath.
"Louis!" His eyes shot open and were met by Harry's concerned ones. "You were mumbling a lot in your sleep and you looked kinda- Um are you alright?" He asked when Louis showed no sort of response. "Louis?" He asked again.
That seemed to snap him out of it as he scrambled back until his back hit the armrest. Harry was growing more concerned by the second. "Are you alright? Did you have a nightmare?" He asked in a soft voice. Louis nodded and looked around the dark room, seemingly calming down. He looked back at Harry with a wary look before nodding again, as if reassuring himself. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a nightmare," he whispered. "Just a nightmare."
But Harry didn't seem convinced and a deep wrinkle settled on his forehead. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm sure. Sorry for waking you," he said and looked down at his lap.
"You didn't wake me Lou, I got up to get water," he explained.
"Oh"
Harry got up from where he was kneeling on the floor and sat down on the far end of the couch before looking at Louis hesitantly. He was staring right back at him with big droopy eyes, Harry was glad he seemed to be calmer now. He opened his arms inviting Louis into his comforting embrace which he just couldn't decline when he looked so warm and comfortable. Louis crawled across the couch and rested his head in Harry's lap and let him play with his hair reminding himself that it was just a dream. Harry would never do that, he just had to keep reminding himself. He would be fine. He let out a little sigh as Harry grabbed the comforter and draped it over him again. "Did you get your water?" Louis eventually asked in a quiet whisper.
"I've got everything I need, don't you worry"