(no subject)
Title: Young Adult Friction
Characters/Relationship: Stylinson
Synopsis: While away at boarding school, Harry and Louis form a tentative friendship (or something more) as they try to circumvent the typical high school politics.
Rating: PG-13
Notes: aimmyarrowshigh gets all the Stylinson.
Last Updated: 03/09/20 @ 02:27 a.m.
The twins have curled around Harry's feet, and Lottie has her head on his shoulder. Fizz is the only one showing any loyalty at all to Louis. She's curled up like a baby doll in his lap, and her breath is hitting his neck after each steady exhalation.
Louis's Mum ("Call me Jay," she'd said) managed to come out of her room when she heard her son's voice. Lottie stood sulking in the doorway, but when she saw Harry come up the path, she straightened up a bit and actually smiled. Louis was so taken aback by this that he didn't see the twins coming. Each one grabbed an arm and pulled him down to their line of sight. Harry stood back and watched the reunion. It was the dead of night in the middle of South Yorkshire, and here was his lover becoming someone entirely new right before his very eyes.
Now they're alone except for the throng of girls laying atop them. Phoebe keeps sucking at her thumb and kicking her sister in her sleep.
"Is this how you used to live all the time?" asks Harry. "A house full of women?"
"They came along after Mum and I were on our own for a bit. Not sure what happened to my biological father, to be honest," says Louis. "I imagine it was a pretty wild childhood in this house. Especially with Lottie over there. She used to say things that would make a sailor blush."
Harry laughs and drapes an arm around Lottie's shoulder. She curls closer to him in her sleep, and Harry wonders if she was as bad as Louis made her sound. She seems harmless, if not slightly scared. He can understand what it must feel like to be the oldest girl in the house, having to look after everyone, her big brother off at boarding school.
"I can't thank you enough for spotting me the cash to get back here," says Louis.
"It's worth it, seeing your family happy as they are," says Harry.
"I'll pay you back, yeah," says Louis.
Harry smiles and shrugs. "Do or don't. I'm just really glad I get to be here for you."
"Eventually we're going to have to get them back upstairs. I know Lottie's awake. She's just pretending to be asleep so she can see what we say about her. Old trick I taught her," says Louis. Harry feels her chest rattle with a stifled laugh and looks over at Louis.
"Come on, Lot. Can you get Phoebe and Daisy upstairs?" asks Harry.
"Only if you promise to make us breakfast in the morning," she says. "Louis says you know how to make real pancakes."
"I'll make you breakfast, yeah," says Harry.
She gives him a quick peck on the cheek and grabs Phoebe around the midsection. Daisy seems to wake up on instinct when her twin is removed from her side. They're halfway up the stairs when Lottie turns around and says quietly, "Thanks for coming back, Louis."
Fizz manages to cling to Louis until they've gotten her into her room. Harry thinks she's probably pretending to be asleep, but the way she clutches at Louis makes Harry think of the first night they slept together. Louis had refused to let go of him all night, and it had unsettled Harry to begin with. To be needed so profoundly was a responsibility he wasn't sure of at the time. Now, he got great pleasure from being so deeply necessary to one's existence.
"Harry's making pancakes in the morning, muppet. I'll be next door if you want me, okay?"
She nods and lets go, but her eyes open to stare at Louis for a long minute. "I missed you, Lou."
"I missed you too, muppet. I'll take you all out on a proper date tomorrow night, okay? Anywhere you want to go after you've done your homework."
"Promise?"
"Promise," he says and gives her an Eskimo kiss.
He tucks her in and then walks back outside. In Louis's room they strip down to their underwear and curl up on Louis's childhood bed, which he must have outgrown a long time before going away to boarding school. Harry has never felt someplace so homey, despite loving his family and his childhood home. This whole place is just alive with a little family that Harry wishes he knew more about. He and Louis fall asleep kissing.
***
Harry is touching his knee under the table, and Louis won't stop smiling. Lottie wore her best black jumper and a denim skirt and black tights for the occasion, but the rest of them are dressed in spring attire. Phoebe and Daisy chew pasta with their mouths wide open, and somehow one or the other has managed to get Alfredo sauce in her hair. Even Jay manages to smile, although it doesn't quite reach her eyes.
"So what are you learning this semester, Lou?" asks Fizz.
"Economics and statistics and law," he says.
"Sounds like you're gearing up for a life of servitude," says Lottie. "How does that feel, brother?"
"Lottie," says Jay in a warning tone.
"It's all right, Mum. Lottie is having a tough week."
Lottie seems more angry at this charitable comment, and so she chews on some overcooked chicken Parmesan. Harry is having the best time enjoying the family dynamic. Being stuck at boarding school for nine months without any sort of family dynamics--unless you count mob mentality--renews the thrill of family fights.
Harry gets a bit cocky and trails his hand closer to the inside of Louis's thigh during a lull in conversation. Louis had mentioned earlier he wasn't sure what his mom's rules were about boys in his bedroom. The conversation had never really come up before. But, Louis had said, if she didn't mention it, Louis refused to feel guilty for all the things he was going to do to Harry tonight in his childhood bed.
***
They get the girls all tucked away in bed. Phoebe and Daisy require a head bath in the sink because neither one will consent to a formal bath. Harry even somehow manages to get Lottie to wash all the muck off her face. Louis chases her down between hot cocoa and cartoons and manages to wrestle her to the couch in a hug. She actually giggles, even if she pretends to hate it. When Louis lets go of her, she punches him in the arm and storms upstairs.
"Well, boys, I'm going to get the twins to bed."
"Night, Jay," says Harry. She squeezes his shoulder and walks past him up the stairs.
"So, you ready for bed too?" asks Harry.
"Yeah," says Louis. "I forgot how exhausting it was to be around so many women."
"You're around women at boarding school."
"Not any that I care about," says Louis. He kicks Harry in the butt and nods up the stairs.
"Is that code for you want sex?"
"I want something. First I want a shower."
Harry's eyes are instantly mischievous. "Really?"
"Don't get too excited. I might fall asleep between the shower and the bed."
"Then I better accompany you to the shower. Make sure you don't fall asleep and drown in the shower."
"Yeah, all right, Hazza. Go grab an extra towel from the linen closet. I'm not sharing."
Harry stares at Louis and bites his lip. He's grinning wide and so many thoughts are dancing across his face that Louis wants to reach out and grab at one just to see if it will take hold. He tugs Harry's lower lip between his teeth and lets it go so that it pops.
Louis backs up into the bathroom and takes his time adjusting the temperature. When he stands up to start undressing, Harry's arms are already there.
"Let me," says Harry.
Louis turns around and looks at him. Harry is already naked, and Louis gives him a once-over. He's seen Harry before, but not in this environment. Not where he feels safe and comfortable and warm. He reaches out to touch Harry, but Harry shakes his head slowly.
"No touching. Let me do this for you."
Louis takes a deep breath as Harry trails his fingers--such long fingers--up Louis's chest. The shirt follows, and suddenly there's one less article of clothing between he and Harry. Harry leans down and kisses his collar bones.
"What are we going to do with you?" says Harry.
"What do you mean?"
"You take care of everyone else, but no one takes care of you."
"You take care of me," says Louis.
"I do now," says Harry.
Louis gasps as Harry's hands slide down the back of his boxers and then back up again. He pulls Louis closer and rakes his fingers up up up until he's clawing at the skin above Louis's shoulder blades. Harry's arms are so long, and Louis just feels so at ease.
"Shower is going to get cold," says Harry.
"Suddenly you want a shower?" asks Louis.
"The faster we get cleaned up the faster we can get dirty again," says Harry.
Louis smiles. "We could get dirty while we clean up."
"We sure could, big boy," says Harry and kneels to pull down Louis's boxers. Louis watches those mischievous teeth sink into the flesh just above his knee. Louis whimpers.
"Okay, Hazza, get in the tub," says Louis. Put the stopper in," he says without conviction.
Harry looks up at Louis. "But I'm already here."
"If you want to do this, get in the bath."
Harry reaches out and gives Louis's penis a quick flick of his tongue. "I am doing this. You're not getting out of it."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
Harry stands up and steps into the tub. He puts the stopper in the tub and turns to look at Louis. The water is running over him, flattening his curls against his head. Louis steps into the tub and reaches around to switch the spout so that it's the bath running and not the shower.
"Sit," says Harry.
Louis listens to Harry and sits on the edge of the tube. When Harry sits down, the water sloshes around in the tub. Louis has to hold back a giggle as Harry starts sucking on his knee. He wasn't sure he was ticklish before, but then again, no one has ever really tried to explore as much of him as Harry. He's so transfixed by the sight of Harry's lips forming a little O on his knee that he doesn't realize Harry's hand is around his cock until he starts wanking Loius off.
Louis has to catch himself. Getting sent to the hospital with a concussion might be hard to explain to anyone without telling lies. Harry laughs and moves one of his arms around to clutch Louis's hip. Louis closes his eyes as Harry's mouth moves closer and closer.
"Fuck, Haz," says Louis.
Harry gives Louis's thigh one last little nibble before placing his mouth around Louis. Harry's tongue is searing hot under his penis, and he can't remember the last time he felt so much at once. There's pleasure, obviously,and then there's a bit of jealousy as he realizes this is not Harry's first time doing this. Then there's a niggling little worm of greed that gets under Louis's skin that wants to claim Harry as his own forever. Then it's pleasure again, and pity. Pity for all the poor bastards who exist in the world who will never get to know what it's like to be sucked off in a tub by Harry Styles.
Louis hands find Harry's shoulders. He digs crescent shaped bruises into the boy as he holds onto him for support. The longer this goes the more he loses control, and the slippery rim of the bathtub is becoming almost too difficult to sit still. Louis's thighs tense up, and Harry stops moving except for his tongue. He swipes his tongue across the underside of Louis's penis quickly. The sensation is so surreal he thinks this must be one of his particularly naughty schoolboy dreams. When he finally comes it's almost a relief because that's a feeling grounded in absolute reality.
He waits a minute before opening his eyes. The water in the tub is high so that it spills over when Louis slips into the bath. Harry is biting his lip again and contemplating Louis with dreamy eyes.
Louis grabs the shampoo and squirts a huge dollop in Harry's hair. He scratches his fingernails in Harry's scalp and then fashions the boy's hair into a Mohawk.
"You really know how to make a boy swoon," says Louis.
"Just you. From now on, I only want to make you swoon."
Louis laughs. "Well, I don't know that you really have any control over who you make swoon, but just ... no sexy stuff with other people.""
"You either," says Harry. "I've got dibs."
"Dibs? Like I'm a chocolate bar or a chair?"
"No, like you're a really good person who makes me happy, and I'm selfish. And I don't want you to make anyone else feel the way you make me feel."
"I suppose we could settle on that," says Louis. "Come on. Turn off the bath."
"Was I good?" asks Harry as he dips his head back. He and Louis are brought closer by the waist, which makes Louis squirm a bit in the water.
"For fuck's sake, Harry, you have to know the answer to that."
Harry grins. "Yes, but I wanted to hear it from you."
"Yes, you're the best ever," says Louis. He leans forward and tugs on a few of Harry's curls. "Now pass me the conditioner. I want to find out what the secret is behind these curls."
***
Harry is purring.
Louis can't remember the last time he just sat there and snogged. No pressure of sex, and no want of it really.
They started out trying to bake cookies for the girls, but somehow the flour got all in Harry's hair. Louis somehow got batter down his shirt and stripped down to his jeans. Then Harry started writing in chocolate on his chest. Once that happened, Louis insisted he lick it off. So Harry spent roughly an hour or so eating raw cookie dough and chocolate sauce of Louis's chest. It's hot, Louis thinks, in a sticky sort of way.
The eating turned to kissing, and Louis has just found Harry's spot. It's right where the clavicle connects to the shoulder, and when Louis bites at it, Harry hisses. Then he starts sucking on it, and Harry actually starts purring. They're both shirtless on Jay's counter. Louis's one leg is wrapped around Harry's waist while the other dangles and knocks into the cabinet every few swings.
And they just kiss.
Louis only breaks away when he hears several door slam in quick succession. The girls start screeching, and all Louis has to offer is burnt cookies as an afternoon snack. Harry eats the cookies, bless him, but Louis isn't that interested. He prefers pound cake or chocolate or anything really.
"Why are you both in your underoos?" asks Phoebe as she contemplates her glass of milk.
"Yes, Louis, please tell us," says Lottie.
"It got hot in the kitchen," says Louis stone-faced. Harry chokes on a cookie, and Daisy has the good sense to slap him on his back with her tiny hand.
Jay comes in after talking with the neighbor, takes one look at the state of her kitchen, and gives Louis a look. "Between this and the bathroom this morning, I'm going to be glad to see you boys gone!"
The girls all get mopey after that, and Lottie shifts a bit closer to Louis. He pretends not to notice.
***
Louis and Harry take the girls out again the night before they have to return to school. Lottie sits right by Louis at dinner without any qualms, and Phoebe and Daisy hardly pay any attention to Harry at all. Jay puts a hand on Harry's shoulder and watches her kids fling bits of lettuce at each other.
"Why didn't you visit your parents while you were home, love?" she asks.
"I didn't want to bother them," says Harry.
Jay is great for two reasons: she doesn't contradict them, tell him he must be mistaken because how could a parent be bothered by her children, and she wraps an arm around him like she actually gives a damn.
"I want you to do something for me, Harry," says Jay quietly. Louis is watching them, but he can tell by the puzzled look that Louis can't hear what his mother is saying.
"Yeah?"
"He's playing brave for us, but I know he's breaking up. Mark is as much of a father to him as he is to the girls. Make sure he doesn't crack up?"
"That's a lot of responsibility," says Harry.
"It is, and it's unfair of me to ask you to take it on. You're just a boy. But he's my boy and, I suspect, yours too. So when he's here at home he's my responsibility. All I ask is that you take care of him while he's away with you."
Harry flushes and looks up at Jay. She's smiling and plays with a curl at the base of his neck. It's been a very long time since he's had any motherly affection, and he wonders if this is what his own mum used to be like before his dad walked out.
"Mum, Louis wants us to come with him to the airport tomorrow," says Lottie. "Can we go?"
"Yes, button. We'll take the boys into the airport and make a day of it. A mental health day, isn't that what the Americans call it?"
***
Harry watches Louis fold little squares of sparkling paper into origami flowers. He's getting quite good at it, and as he finishes the little lotus flowers, he hands them to Harry. Once it got out that Louis had an actual worthwhile talent, the graduation committee jumped on the opportunity to integrate other cultures into the ceremony.
"Do you have to graduate?" Harry whines.
"Yes. I'll come visit you on break. You can come visit me too. We've talked about this," says Louis. He's struggling to maintain a grasp on his inner calm. Between Mark and graduation, Louis has been an absolute stick in the mud since holiday. Harry has kept him afloat despite it all, and Louis has officially fallen in actual love.
Real and true love. With a boy he will have to say goodbye to in just a few short weeks.
Louis had imagined several scenarios in his head that involved Harry living around his house for a few months while school was on summer holiday. That plan was shattered when Harry had been dutifully informed that, because of his absence in the spring, he would need to make up credits over the break or else not graduate on time. The news had startled Harry out of his daydream long enough to throw a tantrum in Louis's bedroom that night. Then they had kissed each other, and Harry came perhaps too quickly when Louis gave him a sympathy hand job.
Harry still pouts as he stacks another box of origami flowers outside the doors. The graduation committee keeps sending members by to grab the boxes. Harry turns and watches Louis carefully licking a sharp crease in the paper and then tearing the paper gently over the corner of his desk. He belongs someplace better than Doncaster. That's why he's glad Louis has accepted a spot at Sheffield. The commute between Holmes Chapel and Doncaster is about the same, and Harry sort of feels like he'll have to fight Jay for joint custody of Louis once university starts.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" asks Louis.
"Like what?"
"Like I've got cancer and you want to remember me just like this for always and ever," says Louis.
"That's not funny, Lou," says Harry.
"I know it's not. Come here," says Louis. He holds out his arms, abandoning a opalescent piece of paper with burgundy accents. Harry bolts across the room and flings himself into Louis's arms and just squeezes him so tight he feels like he'll squeeze the air out of him. Louis strokes the hair at the base of Harry's neck and breaths in his skin until he can't breathe at all.
"I don't want you to go," says Harry.
"I know. We have three more days. I have an orientation, but then I'll come back."
"No you won't," says Harry quietly. "You can't afford to fly back and forth to visit. You need to save up your money for school."
Louis holds Harry tighter then, and neither of them has the courage to break the hug.
***
Harry feels like his world is falling apart when he sees Louis cross the stage. Only Lottie and Jay are present from his family. The others are staying behind with Mark because airfare was a bit expensive for even just the two of them, but Louis is only going to graduate from a prestigious boarding school once in his life. Jay seems to know that Harry is playing brave because she keeps tapping him on the knee and dabbing her eye makeup away with a kerchief.
Louis accepts his diploma and looks for his mom in the audience. Harry can see some mischievous twinkle behind his eyes, but Jay shakes her head no. No shenanigans when she and Lottie have spent all the money to come here. It's all said with a look, and Harry envies them that closeness.
Afterward, Harry and Jay surprise Louis and blindfold him. Lottie appears to find this a delightful thing and keeps pinching Louis in the hip and cackling like this is some sort of serial killer movie. What it really is is a surprise graduation party at the cafe. Louis looks genuinely surprised and blushes when they usher out a massive sheet cake decorated with Louis's favorite junk foods.
After a glass of wine (or two), Louis raises a toast to all the people who have helped him get this far. He looks for a long moment at Harry and then settles on Lottie. "I wouldn't be here without you."
He says it to his sister, and he means it. But he means it for Harry too. And the owners of the bakery, who taught him enough that he can actually whisk an egg now, which is more than anyone would have said before.
"I'm really going to miss this place despite the rocky start," says Louis. "Just ... thank you."
People emote, and Harry goes into the pantry to find some candles. When he turns around, Louis is there with a mischievous grin on his face.
Harry attempts to give him the same stern look as Jay, but he dissolves into a frantic laugh that is half-forlorn and half-lovesick.
"What is that look?" asks Harry.
"It's love, true love," says Louis and locks the pantry door.
"No, it's drunken lust, and you're not getting my dress pants all messy."
Louis steps forward and nuzzles Harry's neck. He coos and plants a trail of wet kisses leading up to Harry's chin. Harry shakes his head and pushes him back gently.
"I'll let you moan my name later, big boy, but right now, it's time for you to go out there and thank all the other people in your life who love you."
Louis grabs the candles and shoves them in his back pocket.
"Fine," he says. "But, later, you will play doctor with me? Or librarian? Or pastry chef?"
"What, are you unsure about what you should list as your major in university?"
Louis nods. "Yes. You should help me decide my major."
"Does it involve dressing up?"
Louis nods slowly. "It can. I could be persuaded."
"I look forward to it."
Later can't come quickly enough. Jay and Lottie are the last to file out of the little cafe, and Louis walks them to their taxi and kisses them each goodnight. Lottie has warmed up to him recently. Harry gets a kiss from Jay as well, and then it's just the two of them.
Louis is sobering up and takes his time with Hazz. He's starting to come to terms with the fact that seeing his boyfriend, a term they've both clamped down on like a vise since graduation became more real. They hold hands as they walk. No one worth mentioning is going to catch them out here at this hour.
"What are we going to do, Lou?" asks Harry. He seems scared, and Louis doesn't quite know how to comfort him. He hears music playing across the campus and pulls Hazz into a hug underneath a giant oak. Harry starts swaying to a beat much more subdued, and they dance there for a while without saying a word.
"We'll make this work, Harry," he says and drapes his arms loosely around Harry's waist.
"Do you mean that, or are you just saying it?"
"I mean it. It has to work. It has to."
"But, what if--"
Louis puts a finger to Harry's lips and shakes his head. "If you plan on falling in love with someone else, I don't want to know about it. If you plan on breaking up with me, let me be surprised. I don't want to know now. Let's just have hope that we love each other enough to try."
"All right, but Katie Miles is really popular with the lads. I might not be able to control her."
"Not funny," says Louis with a furrowed brow.
"You ass, I'm not going to break up with you. Or cheat on you. Or fall in love with someone else. No one else can compare."
"Is this where a pianist pops out from behind the bushes and helps you convey a heartfelt song to me?"
"A penis? Why would there be a penis in the bushes?" asks Harry.
"Pi-an-ist, as in, one who pianos. Pi-an-ist."
Harry flushes red, and Louis kisses his cheeks. He's trying his best not to laugh, and really, he's meant to be the drunk one. Louis grabs both Harry's hands and kisses his knuckles. Then his wrists. Then his little elbows.
"Would you like to go to our old spot in the garden and get one last Japanese lesson in before I have to leave?" asks Louis.
Harry sighs and puts a hand on Louis's cheek. "I suppose. As long as you don't make any jokes about an oral final exam or spring rolls or--"
"Playing chopsticks?" asks Louis with a mischievous grin.
Harry groans and pushes him backward. "Let's go. Off to the garden with your terrible jokes."
"You love it," says Louis.
"Yes. Yes, I do."
***
Louis pushes his glasses up and adjusts the book in his lap. School hasn't begun yet, but he moved up into a tiny flat a stone's throw from campus so he could attend orientation. He's met a few people, none of whom are particularly interesting except for a boy called Zayn, who comes from South Yorkshire too.
Zayn is perhaps the strangest straight boy he's ever met. He doesn't like football or any sports, really, and Louis often finds himself wondering where the scars on Zayn's back came from. After a few moments talking, though, both boys decided to choose a room together because it beat the hell of living with someone from London or Suffolk.
Zayn wants the flat to himself for the afternoon, and Louis knows better than to ask questions. So he's sitting on a lovely bench under a massive tree and taking in some of Harry's recommended reading.
They haven't physically seen each other for a month now. They video chat as often as possible, but Harry's mom insisted he go with the family on vacation somewhere. Harry became gradually more tan over the weeks, but Louis gets the impression he's too embarrassed to tell Louis how extravagant his "vacation" actually is.
So Louis sits under a tree on a bench. He's more interested in reading all the little notes Harry's scribbled in the margin of the book. His reactions are laid out in squiggly black pen, and items he was particularly passionate about are accentuated with blots of ink that bleed through the previous pages. Louis thinks of this almost like a love song. Harry has been sending him cheap paperbacks all summer, and it's better insight into Harry's personality than Louis ever got when he was with the boy in person.
The sex was admittedly distracting, but Louis had been constantly enthralled with Harry's look and feel. He liked Harry's wrists and his hair, his ankles and his hips, his fingertips and his nose.
But he is now beginning to miss the boy's wit and his charm. It's a rare insight into Harry, three years younger and scribbling insightful notes alongside dirty pictures in the margin of his book. Louis actually laughs aloud, and the sound echoes across the empty campus, carried along by the wind in the trees.
When he does finally decide to head back home, hoping Zayn has finished up whatever strange affairs he coyly hinted about over breakfast. He shoves the book into his tote bag and slings it across his chest. There's a bite to the air that makes him walk fast and keep his hands tucked close.
He's about ten yards from his flat when he sees a mop of curls whip up. At first, he thinks nothing of it other than that's a good head of hair. Then the junction between ear and neck comes into view. More tan than he remembers, but his heart stops beating in his chest when he realizes that it's not just some boy with curly hair.
It's his boy. Well, not his boy.
"Harry?" he says quietly, then shouts it again. "Harry!"
The body spins around, and Louis almost stops dead in his tracks. Harry is tanned, but not in a Jersey Shore way. The color is delicate on his face like it soaked into his skin after several long weeks abroad. He looks leaner too. They meet each other halfway and stand staring at each other for a minute. Harry grins and is the first to break the silence.
"Louis, I thought ... I couldn't figure how to get into your flat. No one was answering."
"I think my roommate is with his boyfriend?"
Harry laughs, and Jesus, Louis has missed that laugh. "Leave it to you to have a gay security blanket even before school has started."
"Be nice! We've only just been reunited. You're meant to tell me lovely things about how much you've missed me and--"
Harry leans forward and kisses Louis gently. "Of course, I missed you. Mum dragged us all away to Cozumel and spent so much money that I feel like we could have sponsored twenty children for university. Then, when I insisted that I start going to college closer to home, she nearly lost her shit."
"What?"
"Yeah, she went completely mental."
"No, I mean ... you're coming back here for college?"
"Not here, but in Holmes Chapel, yeah. It's better than being hours away, and we can have weekends together. Although Jay said I had to split you with her. We've come to a custody arrangement. She gets you every other weekend."
"Who gets me for Christmas then?" Louis asks.
"Joint custody. We have dinner in Doncaster first, then I drive us to my house in Holmes Chapel. Where you will wear sweaters with the rest of the family. I hope you like horizontal stripes," says Harry. He runs his hand across Louis's stomach.
"I've just been reading your book. Quite the artistic rendition of the female protagonist, I might say."
"You love it," says Harry.
"I missed you," says Louis. The cool air isn't even affecting him now.
"Well, I still have two years of college. You might decide to change your mind when we're both at university studying for midterms."
"No, I won't. I may not know a lot about who I am, but most of what I want to do involves you. I want you to be proud of me. I want you to root for me. I want you to tell me when I'm being a git."
"You're always being a git. Mostly. Mostly always," says Harry as though he's discovered some incontrovertible fact about Louis. Louis's face rumples up.
"Not nice, Hazza."
"Let me make it up to you? I saw a cafe on the drive in."
"When did you learn how to drive, by the way," says Louis.
"When I learned that I would be making two-hour trips to see you on weekends. Mum said I'd have to have all my homework finished, and she thinks I'm sneaking away to meet a girl. Gemma swears Mum would be okay, but I'm not really ready for that conversation yet. And, before you say anything about my car," Harry says.
Louis looks up as a little beep indicates Harry's unlocked his car doors. But it's not just a car. It's ...
"A Range Rover?" asks Louis.
"Don't. Just ... I tried to get some plain little Yugo, but Mum said that I wasn't going to be driving around looking like Euro trash especially not if I was going to public school, go figure. Just ... we're going to accept this as my vehicle, and when your roommate asks about your rich boyfriend, you can say that I inherited money from a dead relative. I just don't want to make a big deal out of this because I already feel bad enough."
"Harry, stop," says Louis. "Let's just ... enjoy the night."
"The weekend."
"The year," says Louis, and somehow just the promise of sharing the latter half of the year together is enough to silence them.
Louis climbs into his boyfriend's ostentatious vehicle and buckles his belt. Harry nearly ruins the transmission trying to shift the car into gear. Louis hides his smirk behind his hand and wonders if this is how it will always be with Harry. Flawless. Open. The threat of forever being in love always clutching at his heart. As long as he can help it, he decides.
Characters/Relationship: Stylinson
Synopsis: While away at boarding school, Harry and Louis form a tentative friendship (or something more) as they try to circumvent the typical high school politics.
Rating: PG-13
Notes: aimmyarrowshigh gets all the Stylinson.
Last Updated: 03/09/20 @ 02:27 a.m.
The twins have curled around Harry's feet, and Lottie has her head on his shoulder. Fizz is the only one showing any loyalty at all to Louis. She's curled up like a baby doll in his lap, and her breath is hitting his neck after each steady exhalation.
Louis's Mum ("Call me Jay," she'd said) managed to come out of her room when she heard her son's voice. Lottie stood sulking in the doorway, but when she saw Harry come up the path, she straightened up a bit and actually smiled. Louis was so taken aback by this that he didn't see the twins coming. Each one grabbed an arm and pulled him down to their line of sight. Harry stood back and watched the reunion. It was the dead of night in the middle of South Yorkshire, and here was his lover becoming someone entirely new right before his very eyes.
Now they're alone except for the throng of girls laying atop them. Phoebe keeps sucking at her thumb and kicking her sister in her sleep.
"Is this how you used to live all the time?" asks Harry. "A house full of women?"
"They came along after Mum and I were on our own for a bit. Not sure what happened to my biological father, to be honest," says Louis. "I imagine it was a pretty wild childhood in this house. Especially with Lottie over there. She used to say things that would make a sailor blush."
Harry laughs and drapes an arm around Lottie's shoulder. She curls closer to him in her sleep, and Harry wonders if she was as bad as Louis made her sound. She seems harmless, if not slightly scared. He can understand what it must feel like to be the oldest girl in the house, having to look after everyone, her big brother off at boarding school.
"I can't thank you enough for spotting me the cash to get back here," says Louis.
"It's worth it, seeing your family happy as they are," says Harry.
"I'll pay you back, yeah," says Louis.
Harry smiles and shrugs. "Do or don't. I'm just really glad I get to be here for you."
"Eventually we're going to have to get them back upstairs. I know Lottie's awake. She's just pretending to be asleep so she can see what we say about her. Old trick I taught her," says Louis. Harry feels her chest rattle with a stifled laugh and looks over at Louis.
"Come on, Lot. Can you get Phoebe and Daisy upstairs?" asks Harry.
"Only if you promise to make us breakfast in the morning," she says. "Louis says you know how to make real pancakes."
"I'll make you breakfast, yeah," says Harry.
She gives him a quick peck on the cheek and grabs Phoebe around the midsection. Daisy seems to wake up on instinct when her twin is removed from her side. They're halfway up the stairs when Lottie turns around and says quietly, "Thanks for coming back, Louis."
Fizz manages to cling to Louis until they've gotten her into her room. Harry thinks she's probably pretending to be asleep, but the way she clutches at Louis makes Harry think of the first night they slept together. Louis had refused to let go of him all night, and it had unsettled Harry to begin with. To be needed so profoundly was a responsibility he wasn't sure of at the time. Now, he got great pleasure from being so deeply necessary to one's existence.
"Harry's making pancakes in the morning, muppet. I'll be next door if you want me, okay?"
She nods and lets go, but her eyes open to stare at Louis for a long minute. "I missed you, Lou."
"I missed you too, muppet. I'll take you all out on a proper date tomorrow night, okay? Anywhere you want to go after you've done your homework."
"Promise?"
"Promise," he says and gives her an Eskimo kiss.
He tucks her in and then walks back outside. In Louis's room they strip down to their underwear and curl up on Louis's childhood bed, which he must have outgrown a long time before going away to boarding school. Harry has never felt someplace so homey, despite loving his family and his childhood home. This whole place is just alive with a little family that Harry wishes he knew more about. He and Louis fall asleep kissing.
***
Harry is touching his knee under the table, and Louis won't stop smiling. Lottie wore her best black jumper and a denim skirt and black tights for the occasion, but the rest of them are dressed in spring attire. Phoebe and Daisy chew pasta with their mouths wide open, and somehow one or the other has managed to get Alfredo sauce in her hair. Even Jay manages to smile, although it doesn't quite reach her eyes.
"So what are you learning this semester, Lou?" asks Fizz.
"Economics and statistics and law," he says.
"Sounds like you're gearing up for a life of servitude," says Lottie. "How does that feel, brother?"
"Lottie," says Jay in a warning tone.
"It's all right, Mum. Lottie is having a tough week."
Lottie seems more angry at this charitable comment, and so she chews on some overcooked chicken Parmesan. Harry is having the best time enjoying the family dynamic. Being stuck at boarding school for nine months without any sort of family dynamics--unless you count mob mentality--renews the thrill of family fights.
Harry gets a bit cocky and trails his hand closer to the inside of Louis's thigh during a lull in conversation. Louis had mentioned earlier he wasn't sure what his mom's rules were about boys in his bedroom. The conversation had never really come up before. But, Louis had said, if she didn't mention it, Louis refused to feel guilty for all the things he was going to do to Harry tonight in his childhood bed.
***
They get the girls all tucked away in bed. Phoebe and Daisy require a head bath in the sink because neither one will consent to a formal bath. Harry even somehow manages to get Lottie to wash all the muck off her face. Louis chases her down between hot cocoa and cartoons and manages to wrestle her to the couch in a hug. She actually giggles, even if she pretends to hate it. When Louis lets go of her, she punches him in the arm and storms upstairs.
"Well, boys, I'm going to get the twins to bed."
"Night, Jay," says Harry. She squeezes his shoulder and walks past him up the stairs.
"So, you ready for bed too?" asks Harry.
"Yeah," says Louis. "I forgot how exhausting it was to be around so many women."
"You're around women at boarding school."
"Not any that I care about," says Louis. He kicks Harry in the butt and nods up the stairs.
"Is that code for you want sex?"
"I want something. First I want a shower."
Harry's eyes are instantly mischievous. "Really?"
"Don't get too excited. I might fall asleep between the shower and the bed."
"Then I better accompany you to the shower. Make sure you don't fall asleep and drown in the shower."
"Yeah, all right, Hazza. Go grab an extra towel from the linen closet. I'm not sharing."
Harry stares at Louis and bites his lip. He's grinning wide and so many thoughts are dancing across his face that Louis wants to reach out and grab at one just to see if it will take hold. He tugs Harry's lower lip between his teeth and lets it go so that it pops.
Louis backs up into the bathroom and takes his time adjusting the temperature. When he stands up to start undressing, Harry's arms are already there.
"Let me," says Harry.
Louis turns around and looks at him. Harry is already naked, and Louis gives him a once-over. He's seen Harry before, but not in this environment. Not where he feels safe and comfortable and warm. He reaches out to touch Harry, but Harry shakes his head slowly.
"No touching. Let me do this for you."
Louis takes a deep breath as Harry trails his fingers--such long fingers--up Louis's chest. The shirt follows, and suddenly there's one less article of clothing between he and Harry. Harry leans down and kisses his collar bones.
"What are we going to do with you?" says Harry.
"What do you mean?"
"You take care of everyone else, but no one takes care of you."
"You take care of me," says Louis.
"I do now," says Harry.
Louis gasps as Harry's hands slide down the back of his boxers and then back up again. He pulls Louis closer and rakes his fingers up up up until he's clawing at the skin above Louis's shoulder blades. Harry's arms are so long, and Louis just feels so at ease.
"Shower is going to get cold," says Harry.
"Suddenly you want a shower?" asks Louis.
"The faster we get cleaned up the faster we can get dirty again," says Harry.
Louis smiles. "We could get dirty while we clean up."
"We sure could, big boy," says Harry and kneels to pull down Louis's boxers. Louis watches those mischievous teeth sink into the flesh just above his knee. Louis whimpers.
"Okay, Hazza, get in the tub," says Louis. Put the stopper in," he says without conviction.
Harry looks up at Louis. "But I'm already here."
"If you want to do this, get in the bath."
Harry reaches out and gives Louis's penis a quick flick of his tongue. "I am doing this. You're not getting out of it."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
Harry stands up and steps into the tub. He puts the stopper in the tub and turns to look at Louis. The water is running over him, flattening his curls against his head. Louis steps into the tub and reaches around to switch the spout so that it's the bath running and not the shower.
"Sit," says Harry.
Louis listens to Harry and sits on the edge of the tube. When Harry sits down, the water sloshes around in the tub. Louis has to hold back a giggle as Harry starts sucking on his knee. He wasn't sure he was ticklish before, but then again, no one has ever really tried to explore as much of him as Harry. He's so transfixed by the sight of Harry's lips forming a little O on his knee that he doesn't realize Harry's hand is around his cock until he starts wanking Loius off.
Louis has to catch himself. Getting sent to the hospital with a concussion might be hard to explain to anyone without telling lies. Harry laughs and moves one of his arms around to clutch Louis's hip. Louis closes his eyes as Harry's mouth moves closer and closer.
"Fuck, Haz," says Louis.
Harry gives Louis's thigh one last little nibble before placing his mouth around Louis. Harry's tongue is searing hot under his penis, and he can't remember the last time he felt so much at once. There's pleasure, obviously,and then there's a bit of jealousy as he realizes this is not Harry's first time doing this. Then there's a niggling little worm of greed that gets under Louis's skin that wants to claim Harry as his own forever. Then it's pleasure again, and pity. Pity for all the poor bastards who exist in the world who will never get to know what it's like to be sucked off in a tub by Harry Styles.
Louis hands find Harry's shoulders. He digs crescent shaped bruises into the boy as he holds onto him for support. The longer this goes the more he loses control, and the slippery rim of the bathtub is becoming almost too difficult to sit still. Louis's thighs tense up, and Harry stops moving except for his tongue. He swipes his tongue across the underside of Louis's penis quickly. The sensation is so surreal he thinks this must be one of his particularly naughty schoolboy dreams. When he finally comes it's almost a relief because that's a feeling grounded in absolute reality.
He waits a minute before opening his eyes. The water in the tub is high so that it spills over when Louis slips into the bath. Harry is biting his lip again and contemplating Louis with dreamy eyes.
Louis grabs the shampoo and squirts a huge dollop in Harry's hair. He scratches his fingernails in Harry's scalp and then fashions the boy's hair into a Mohawk.
"You really know how to make a boy swoon," says Louis.
"Just you. From now on, I only want to make you swoon."
Louis laughs. "Well, I don't know that you really have any control over who you make swoon, but just ... no sexy stuff with other people.""
"You either," says Harry. "I've got dibs."
"Dibs? Like I'm a chocolate bar or a chair?"
"No, like you're a really good person who makes me happy, and I'm selfish. And I don't want you to make anyone else feel the way you make me feel."
"I suppose we could settle on that," says Louis. "Come on. Turn off the bath."
"Was I good?" asks Harry as he dips his head back. He and Louis are brought closer by the waist, which makes Louis squirm a bit in the water.
"For fuck's sake, Harry, you have to know the answer to that."
Harry grins. "Yes, but I wanted to hear it from you."
"Yes, you're the best ever," says Louis. He leans forward and tugs on a few of Harry's curls. "Now pass me the conditioner. I want to find out what the secret is behind these curls."
***
Harry is purring.
Louis can't remember the last time he just sat there and snogged. No pressure of sex, and no want of it really.
They started out trying to bake cookies for the girls, but somehow the flour got all in Harry's hair. Louis somehow got batter down his shirt and stripped down to his jeans. Then Harry started writing in chocolate on his chest. Once that happened, Louis insisted he lick it off. So Harry spent roughly an hour or so eating raw cookie dough and chocolate sauce of Louis's chest. It's hot, Louis thinks, in a sticky sort of way.
The eating turned to kissing, and Louis has just found Harry's spot. It's right where the clavicle connects to the shoulder, and when Louis bites at it, Harry hisses. Then he starts sucking on it, and Harry actually starts purring. They're both shirtless on Jay's counter. Louis's one leg is wrapped around Harry's waist while the other dangles and knocks into the cabinet every few swings.
And they just kiss.
Louis only breaks away when he hears several door slam in quick succession. The girls start screeching, and all Louis has to offer is burnt cookies as an afternoon snack. Harry eats the cookies, bless him, but Louis isn't that interested. He prefers pound cake or chocolate or anything really.
"Why are you both in your underoos?" asks Phoebe as she contemplates her glass of milk.
"Yes, Louis, please tell us," says Lottie.
"It got hot in the kitchen," says Louis stone-faced. Harry chokes on a cookie, and Daisy has the good sense to slap him on his back with her tiny hand.
Jay comes in after talking with the neighbor, takes one look at the state of her kitchen, and gives Louis a look. "Between this and the bathroom this morning, I'm going to be glad to see you boys gone!"
The girls all get mopey after that, and Lottie shifts a bit closer to Louis. He pretends not to notice.
***
Louis and Harry take the girls out again the night before they have to return to school. Lottie sits right by Louis at dinner without any qualms, and Phoebe and Daisy hardly pay any attention to Harry at all. Jay puts a hand on Harry's shoulder and watches her kids fling bits of lettuce at each other.
"Why didn't you visit your parents while you were home, love?" she asks.
"I didn't want to bother them," says Harry.
Jay is great for two reasons: she doesn't contradict them, tell him he must be mistaken because how could a parent be bothered by her children, and she wraps an arm around him like she actually gives a damn.
"I want you to do something for me, Harry," says Jay quietly. Louis is watching them, but he can tell by the puzzled look that Louis can't hear what his mother is saying.
"Yeah?"
"He's playing brave for us, but I know he's breaking up. Mark is as much of a father to him as he is to the girls. Make sure he doesn't crack up?"
"That's a lot of responsibility," says Harry.
"It is, and it's unfair of me to ask you to take it on. You're just a boy. But he's my boy and, I suspect, yours too. So when he's here at home he's my responsibility. All I ask is that you take care of him while he's away with you."
Harry flushes and looks up at Jay. She's smiling and plays with a curl at the base of his neck. It's been a very long time since he's had any motherly affection, and he wonders if this is what his own mum used to be like before his dad walked out.
"Mum, Louis wants us to come with him to the airport tomorrow," says Lottie. "Can we go?"
"Yes, button. We'll take the boys into the airport and make a day of it. A mental health day, isn't that what the Americans call it?"
***
Harry watches Louis fold little squares of sparkling paper into origami flowers. He's getting quite good at it, and as he finishes the little lotus flowers, he hands them to Harry. Once it got out that Louis had an actual worthwhile talent, the graduation committee jumped on the opportunity to integrate other cultures into the ceremony.
"Do you have to graduate?" Harry whines.
"Yes. I'll come visit you on break. You can come visit me too. We've talked about this," says Louis. He's struggling to maintain a grasp on his inner calm. Between Mark and graduation, Louis has been an absolute stick in the mud since holiday. Harry has kept him afloat despite it all, and Louis has officially fallen in actual love.
Real and true love. With a boy he will have to say goodbye to in just a few short weeks.
Louis had imagined several scenarios in his head that involved Harry living around his house for a few months while school was on summer holiday. That plan was shattered when Harry had been dutifully informed that, because of his absence in the spring, he would need to make up credits over the break or else not graduate on time. The news had startled Harry out of his daydream long enough to throw a tantrum in Louis's bedroom that night. Then they had kissed each other, and Harry came perhaps too quickly when Louis gave him a sympathy hand job.
Harry still pouts as he stacks another box of origami flowers outside the doors. The graduation committee keeps sending members by to grab the boxes. Harry turns and watches Louis carefully licking a sharp crease in the paper and then tearing the paper gently over the corner of his desk. He belongs someplace better than Doncaster. That's why he's glad Louis has accepted a spot at Sheffield. The commute between Holmes Chapel and Doncaster is about the same, and Harry sort of feels like he'll have to fight Jay for joint custody of Louis once university starts.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" asks Louis.
"Like what?"
"Like I've got cancer and you want to remember me just like this for always and ever," says Louis.
"That's not funny, Lou," says Harry.
"I know it's not. Come here," says Louis. He holds out his arms, abandoning a opalescent piece of paper with burgundy accents. Harry bolts across the room and flings himself into Louis's arms and just squeezes him so tight he feels like he'll squeeze the air out of him. Louis strokes the hair at the base of Harry's neck and breaths in his skin until he can't breathe at all.
"I don't want you to go," says Harry.
"I know. We have three more days. I have an orientation, but then I'll come back."
"No you won't," says Harry quietly. "You can't afford to fly back and forth to visit. You need to save up your money for school."
Louis holds Harry tighter then, and neither of them has the courage to break the hug.
***
Harry feels like his world is falling apart when he sees Louis cross the stage. Only Lottie and Jay are present from his family. The others are staying behind with Mark because airfare was a bit expensive for even just the two of them, but Louis is only going to graduate from a prestigious boarding school once in his life. Jay seems to know that Harry is playing brave because she keeps tapping him on the knee and dabbing her eye makeup away with a kerchief.
Louis accepts his diploma and looks for his mom in the audience. Harry can see some mischievous twinkle behind his eyes, but Jay shakes her head no. No shenanigans when she and Lottie have spent all the money to come here. It's all said with a look, and Harry envies them that closeness.
Afterward, Harry and Jay surprise Louis and blindfold him. Lottie appears to find this a delightful thing and keeps pinching Louis in the hip and cackling like this is some sort of serial killer movie. What it really is is a surprise graduation party at the cafe. Louis looks genuinely surprised and blushes when they usher out a massive sheet cake decorated with Louis's favorite junk foods.
After a glass of wine (or two), Louis raises a toast to all the people who have helped him get this far. He looks for a long moment at Harry and then settles on Lottie. "I wouldn't be here without you."
He says it to his sister, and he means it. But he means it for Harry too. And the owners of the bakery, who taught him enough that he can actually whisk an egg now, which is more than anyone would have said before.
"I'm really going to miss this place despite the rocky start," says Louis. "Just ... thank you."
People emote, and Harry goes into the pantry to find some candles. When he turns around, Louis is there with a mischievous grin on his face.
Harry attempts to give him the same stern look as Jay, but he dissolves into a frantic laugh that is half-forlorn and half-lovesick.
"What is that look?" asks Harry.
"It's love, true love," says Louis and locks the pantry door.
"No, it's drunken lust, and you're not getting my dress pants all messy."
Louis steps forward and nuzzles Harry's neck. He coos and plants a trail of wet kisses leading up to Harry's chin. Harry shakes his head and pushes him back gently.
"I'll let you moan my name later, big boy, but right now, it's time for you to go out there and thank all the other people in your life who love you."
Louis grabs the candles and shoves them in his back pocket.
"Fine," he says. "But, later, you will play doctor with me? Or librarian? Or pastry chef?"
"What, are you unsure about what you should list as your major in university?"
Louis nods. "Yes. You should help me decide my major."
"Does it involve dressing up?"
Louis nods slowly. "It can. I could be persuaded."
"I look forward to it."
Later can't come quickly enough. Jay and Lottie are the last to file out of the little cafe, and Louis walks them to their taxi and kisses them each goodnight. Lottie has warmed up to him recently. Harry gets a kiss from Jay as well, and then it's just the two of them.
Louis is sobering up and takes his time with Hazz. He's starting to come to terms with the fact that seeing his boyfriend, a term they've both clamped down on like a vise since graduation became more real. They hold hands as they walk. No one worth mentioning is going to catch them out here at this hour.
"What are we going to do, Lou?" asks Harry. He seems scared, and Louis doesn't quite know how to comfort him. He hears music playing across the campus and pulls Hazz into a hug underneath a giant oak. Harry starts swaying to a beat much more subdued, and they dance there for a while without saying a word.
"We'll make this work, Harry," he says and drapes his arms loosely around Harry's waist.
"Do you mean that, or are you just saying it?"
"I mean it. It has to work. It has to."
"But, what if--"
Louis puts a finger to Harry's lips and shakes his head. "If you plan on falling in love with someone else, I don't want to know about it. If you plan on breaking up with me, let me be surprised. I don't want to know now. Let's just have hope that we love each other enough to try."
"All right, but Katie Miles is really popular with the lads. I might not be able to control her."
"Not funny," says Louis with a furrowed brow.
"You ass, I'm not going to break up with you. Or cheat on you. Or fall in love with someone else. No one else can compare."
"Is this where a pianist pops out from behind the bushes and helps you convey a heartfelt song to me?"
"A penis? Why would there be a penis in the bushes?" asks Harry.
"Pi-an-ist, as in, one who pianos. Pi-an-ist."
Harry flushes red, and Louis kisses his cheeks. He's trying his best not to laugh, and really, he's meant to be the drunk one. Louis grabs both Harry's hands and kisses his knuckles. Then his wrists. Then his little elbows.
"Would you like to go to our old spot in the garden and get one last Japanese lesson in before I have to leave?" asks Louis.
Harry sighs and puts a hand on Louis's cheek. "I suppose. As long as you don't make any jokes about an oral final exam or spring rolls or--"
"Playing chopsticks?" asks Louis with a mischievous grin.
Harry groans and pushes him backward. "Let's go. Off to the garden with your terrible jokes."
"You love it," says Louis.
"Yes. Yes, I do."
***
Louis pushes his glasses up and adjusts the book in his lap. School hasn't begun yet, but he moved up into a tiny flat a stone's throw from campus so he could attend orientation. He's met a few people, none of whom are particularly interesting except for a boy called Zayn, who comes from South Yorkshire too.
Zayn is perhaps the strangest straight boy he's ever met. He doesn't like football or any sports, really, and Louis often finds himself wondering where the scars on Zayn's back came from. After a few moments talking, though, both boys decided to choose a room together because it beat the hell of living with someone from London or Suffolk.
Zayn wants the flat to himself for the afternoon, and Louis knows better than to ask questions. So he's sitting on a lovely bench under a massive tree and taking in some of Harry's recommended reading.
They haven't physically seen each other for a month now. They video chat as often as possible, but Harry's mom insisted he go with the family on vacation somewhere. Harry became gradually more tan over the weeks, but Louis gets the impression he's too embarrassed to tell Louis how extravagant his "vacation" actually is.
So Louis sits under a tree on a bench. He's more interested in reading all the little notes Harry's scribbled in the margin of the book. His reactions are laid out in squiggly black pen, and items he was particularly passionate about are accentuated with blots of ink that bleed through the previous pages. Louis thinks of this almost like a love song. Harry has been sending him cheap paperbacks all summer, and it's better insight into Harry's personality than Louis ever got when he was with the boy in person.
The sex was admittedly distracting, but Louis had been constantly enthralled with Harry's look and feel. He liked Harry's wrists and his hair, his ankles and his hips, his fingertips and his nose.
But he is now beginning to miss the boy's wit and his charm. It's a rare insight into Harry, three years younger and scribbling insightful notes alongside dirty pictures in the margin of his book. Louis actually laughs aloud, and the sound echoes across the empty campus, carried along by the wind in the trees.
When he does finally decide to head back home, hoping Zayn has finished up whatever strange affairs he coyly hinted about over breakfast. He shoves the book into his tote bag and slings it across his chest. There's a bite to the air that makes him walk fast and keep his hands tucked close.
He's about ten yards from his flat when he sees a mop of curls whip up. At first, he thinks nothing of it other than that's a good head of hair. Then the junction between ear and neck comes into view. More tan than he remembers, but his heart stops beating in his chest when he realizes that it's not just some boy with curly hair.
It's his boy. Well, not his boy.
"Harry?" he says quietly, then shouts it again. "Harry!"
The body spins around, and Louis almost stops dead in his tracks. Harry is tanned, but not in a Jersey Shore way. The color is delicate on his face like it soaked into his skin after several long weeks abroad. He looks leaner too. They meet each other halfway and stand staring at each other for a minute. Harry grins and is the first to break the silence.
"Louis, I thought ... I couldn't figure how to get into your flat. No one was answering."
"I think my roommate is with his boyfriend?"
Harry laughs, and Jesus, Louis has missed that laugh. "Leave it to you to have a gay security blanket even before school has started."
"Be nice! We've only just been reunited. You're meant to tell me lovely things about how much you've missed me and--"
Harry leans forward and kisses Louis gently. "Of course, I missed you. Mum dragged us all away to Cozumel and spent so much money that I feel like we could have sponsored twenty children for university. Then, when I insisted that I start going to college closer to home, she nearly lost her shit."
"What?"
"Yeah, she went completely mental."
"No, I mean ... you're coming back here for college?"
"Not here, but in Holmes Chapel, yeah. It's better than being hours away, and we can have weekends together. Although Jay said I had to split you with her. We've come to a custody arrangement. She gets you every other weekend."
"Who gets me for Christmas then?" Louis asks.
"Joint custody. We have dinner in Doncaster first, then I drive us to my house in Holmes Chapel. Where you will wear sweaters with the rest of the family. I hope you like horizontal stripes," says Harry. He runs his hand across Louis's stomach.
"I've just been reading your book. Quite the artistic rendition of the female protagonist, I might say."
"You love it," says Harry.
"I missed you," says Louis. The cool air isn't even affecting him now.
"Well, I still have two years of college. You might decide to change your mind when we're both at university studying for midterms."
"No, I won't. I may not know a lot about who I am, but most of what I want to do involves you. I want you to be proud of me. I want you to root for me. I want you to tell me when I'm being a git."
"You're always being a git. Mostly. Mostly always," says Harry as though he's discovered some incontrovertible fact about Louis. Louis's face rumples up.
"Not nice, Hazza."
"Let me make it up to you? I saw a cafe on the drive in."
"When did you learn how to drive, by the way," says Louis.
"When I learned that I would be making two-hour trips to see you on weekends. Mum said I'd have to have all my homework finished, and she thinks I'm sneaking away to meet a girl. Gemma swears Mum would be okay, but I'm not really ready for that conversation yet. And, before you say anything about my car," Harry says.
Louis looks up as a little beep indicates Harry's unlocked his car doors. But it's not just a car. It's ...
"A Range Rover?" asks Louis.
"Don't. Just ... I tried to get some plain little Yugo, but Mum said that I wasn't going to be driving around looking like Euro trash especially not if I was going to public school, go figure. Just ... we're going to accept this as my vehicle, and when your roommate asks about your rich boyfriend, you can say that I inherited money from a dead relative. I just don't want to make a big deal out of this because I already feel bad enough."
"Harry, stop," says Louis. "Let's just ... enjoy the night."
"The weekend."
"The year," says Louis, and somehow just the promise of sharing the latter half of the year together is enough to silence them.
Louis climbs into his boyfriend's ostentatious vehicle and buckles his belt. Harry nearly ruins the transmission trying to shift the car into gear. Louis hides his smirk behind his hand and wonders if this is how it will always be with Harry. Flawless. Open. The threat of forever being in love always clutching at his heart. As long as he can help it, he decides.