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Landing in London Heathrow felt like dumping a bucket of ice water over Louis’ head. (And he knew what that felt like, no thanks to Niall Horan himself.) Everything was so painfully familiar and Louis couldn’t help the sense of home home home that took over his brain. No matter how long he was away for, and no matter his newfound realization that he would never live here again, that feeling of finally being home after months away hit him like a ton of bricks.

The familiar accents, the familiar airport announcements, the M&S lurking around the corner.

Everything was painfully British and Louis ached with how refreshing it was.

He could see the rainy sky outside the massive windows covering the front of Heathrow as he stood waiting while Harry collected their bags, and he stopped for a moment with his eyes closed to let himself take it all in. Truth be told, it hadn’t been too long since he was back here. He had definitely been gone for longer stints of time back when One Direction were off touring the world, but it had been just long enough that he kind of wanted to sit down and cry about it.

But he wouldn’t.

Because… he was a grown-up.

With grown-up emotions.

Who had a handle on his grown-up… emotions.

Yes.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, breaking Louis from his thoughts.

im outside loser. hurry up.

Louis grinned at his phone, quickly sending Lottie back a thumbs-up emoji before locking his phone again. He slipped his phone back into his pocket before looking around for Harry, his eyes instantly catching on him as he pulled Louis’ suitcase off the luggage carousel. Harry was dressed up again, in his tight black trousers and blazer, and Louis really didn’t understand his fashion choices in the best of times, let alone right now.

Wouldn’t you want to be comfy for an eight-hour flight?

Louis looked down at his track pants and hoodie and just had to laugh.

“Lottie’s here,” he said, once Harry had made his way over to them with their bags in hand.

Harry smiled brightly at him, then nodded towards the doors. “Lead the way.”

The two of them made their way outside into chilly, wet London. Thankfully the rain was only drizzling as they walked down the line of waiting cars, Louis looking for Lottie’s Mini in the sea of vehicles before he finally spotted it. “Ah, here we go,” he said, nodding towards the end of the line.

As they approached the car, the door opened and a platinum blonde-headed Lottie got out and smiled widely at the two.

And just like that, Louis felt more at home than before.

“Bring it in!” he cheered, opening his arms wide and waving her over. She rolled her eyes, acting as if the big smile on her face didn’t give her feelings away, before stepping into his embrace and returning the hug just as tightly. “What a lovely sister you are, picking your old brother up from the airport. What a lad, really,” Louis teased with a blinding grin when they pulled away from their hug.

“I still don’t understand why you couldn’t just hire a car,” she said, her eyes narrowed but her grin still present.

“And deny you the quality time? I would never.”

Lottie huffed, shaking her head. “Pain in the arse, more like.”

Harry cleared his throat behind the pair, and it was only then that Lottie looked over his shoulder at Harry.

And, right.

They hadn’t seen each other in a very long time.

Louis had obviously phoned his sister shortly after they had gotten back together, to spill the tea and to cuss her out for partaking in Niall’s betting pool, so she knew they were back together. But seeing him in person, after all these years, must be weird for her; Harry, too.

He could only watch as Harry set their bags down on the rainy street and hug-pounced Lottie before anything could be weird. “I’ve missed you so much! It’s so good to see you! Look how grown up you are!” He said all of this quickly, into the back of her head while they hugged, and when he pulled away he just stared at her with a dropped jaw. “You’re a grown woman!”

“Fuck off.” Lottie rolled her eyes. “I was grown last time you saw me.”

“No, you weren’t! You were a wee little baby! Look at you now!” Harry said, as if they didn’t follow each other on Instagram now.

Louis loved him.

He had to bite down hard on his bottom lip to contain his fond smile.

“You’re so weird,” Lottie groaned. “You’re still so weird. I’m only a few years younger than you, mate.”

“But look at you!” Harry said, his hands against his cheeks now as he looked over at Louis. “Do you see this?!”

“My sister?” Louis laughed. “Yeah, mate, I’ve seen her.”

“Can we go now?” Lottie asked, her tone sounding annoyed, but her flushed cheeks told a different story. “Or is he gonna lose it when he realizes I drove here?”

“You have a driver's license?!” Harry exclaimed sarcastically, laughing loudly afterwards because he was just being a twat now. Louis laughed along with him, unable to contain it, and watched as Lottie reached out and punched Harry on the arm before flipping him off.

Ah, yes, the Tomlinsons were full of charm.

“Come on, you idiots. London traffic is gonna suck at this hour,” Lottie groaned, opening the boot of the car so Harry could put their bags inside. Louis had to bite back another grin when he watched Harry try to pinch her cheeks, telling her how adorable she was when she was mad.

It was like no time had passed between them at all; any grudges held long forgotten as the two of them fell back into the exact relationship they had back when they were all teenagers. (Harry would heckle Lottie, Lottie would pretend to be annoyed. It was the perfect relationship.)

Louis was so relieved.

“You know Fiz threw a party at your house the other day?” Lottie tattled once they were all in the car.

Louis laughed. “Why does that not surprise me?”

“She’s practically been living there.”

“Stop trying to get her in trouble,” Louis said with a roll of his eyes. “I know she’s been living there sometimes. Someone ought to be getting use out of the place.”

“If anyone should get to live there, it’s me. I’m the next oldest.”

“You have a lovely flat,” Louis pointed out.

“Right. A flat. Meanwhile, Fiz has been held up in your mansion.”

Louis just laughed, reaching over to ruffle Lottie’s long hair, laughing even harder when she smacked him away. “Let’s just hope she cleaned up after her party,” Louis said, leaning back into the seat and glancing over his shoulder at Harry. Harry looked up from his phone, his long legs folded into the tiny backseat, and he blew an exaggerated kiss at Louis.

“I can’t believe that Niall is getting married. And I can’t believe that I’m not invited,” Lottie said, glaring over at Louis as if it was his fault.

Louis just laughed. “He’s a right prick, that one.”

“You can be my plus one,” Harry offered from the back.

“Excuse you, Harold, I’m your plus one,” Louis said, looking over his shoulder again to glare at Harry.

“You’re the best man,” Harry said flatly.

“So?”

“So that means you’ll be busy doing best man things. Lottie can be my date and keep me company.”

“I wasn’t invited,” Lottie repeated, pouting as she looked over her shoulder before switching lanes.

“I’ll share my dinner with you,” Harry offered with a shrug. “Hope you like fish.”

“I happen to love fish,” Lottie said, grinning at Harry through the rearview mirror.

“Great! Can we coordinate outfits? I brought a few different ones with me because I couldn’t decide.”

Louis just looked between them with a dumb expression across his face, because… they couldn’t be serious.

But then Lottie said, without a hint of amusement, “We totally can! I can bring some dresses over tomorrow morning and we can decide?”

“Perfect!” Harry said, reaching his fist up through the space between their seats to bump against Lottie’s.

“What the fuck?” Louis asked, holding his hands up. “You are actually ditching me for my sister?”

“I’m not ditching you, darling,” Harry said, leaning forward to press a kiss against Louis’ cheek. He was quick to bat it away, causing Harry to laugh as he fell back into his seat. “You’ll just be busy. You don’t want me to get bored, do you?”

Louis pouted and then begrudgingly said, “No.”

“Then it’s sorted.”

The rest of the drive to the house was spent with happy chatter floating between the three, and a lot of sibling bickering between the Tomlinsons. When Lottie finally pulled the Mini up to the gate of Louis’ house, rolling the window down to punch in the code before pulling into the driveway, Louis was struck with how long it had been since he’d been here.

The last few times he had visited, he had pointedly not stayed here.

The only people who got any use out of it now were his siblings.

Lottie lived in the city with her long-time boyfriend Tommy, and Félicité (who did not like going by Fiz anymore, but Louis and Lottie were stubborn), slept here most weekends instead of her dorm room at uni. In between those guests, Louis had hired people to tend to the house, to make sure nobody had broken in and stolen his pants or something, but to his knowledge the house sat mostly untouched.

Until now.

Because he was back with Harry.

“Thanks for the ride, baby sis,” Louis said, pulling Lottie into another hug when they were standing outside the house, car still idling in the driveway. “You’re the best Uber I’ve ever hired.”

“You’re so embarrassing,” Lottie groaned, pulling away from their embrace and acting like she was too cool for his compliments. Even though deep down they both knew how much they’d missed being together. Louis reached over and pinched her just to show how much he cared. She easily retaliated by stomping on his foot.

“Now, now, children,” Harry chastised, grinning at the two. “We can’t show up to the wedding with a bunch of bruises, can we?”

“Okay, dad.” Lottie rolled her eyes.

Louis coughed. “Anyway,” he said frantically, “you should get going! Traffic’s only getting worse! Drive safe!”

“Rude,” Lottie mumbled, flipping him off before turning on her heel and getting back into her car. When Louis turned around, ready and willing to make a daddy joke at Harry, he stopped in his tracks when he saw Harry staring up at the front of the house with an unreadable expression on his face. Louis just watched him for a moment, his eyes flicking from the brown leather duffle hung over his shoulder to the sunglasses holding back his hair, before he finally sighed and took a step forward.

“You ready to go in?” he asked gently, reaching down to grab the handle of his own black suitcase.

Harry smiled at him, and Louis couldn’t tell if it was forced or not, but all the same he said, “Sure.”

They silently made their way up the steps to the front door, Louis fumbling with the keys for a moment before inserting the correct one and turning the lock. He paused with his hand on the doorknob, a sudden wave of panic washing over him when he realized what a fucked-up situation they were in.

They were about to enter the house they bought together when they were teenagers.

What was Harry thinking?

How was Harry feeling?

What was he expecting? Oh, god…

He let his hand drop from the doorknob, quickly turning around to a confused looking Harry. He opened his mouth to say something, to say anything, but all that came out was an awkward little squeak.

Harry, always-perfect Harry, just smiled softly at him. “It’s okay, love.”

“Harry--I. Like.” Yeah, those weren’t sentences.

“I know,” Harry assured him, with a gentle nod of his head. But, how could he know?

Louis continued anyway, feeling like he had to say something before they walked in. “It’s just--like--I don’t live here anymore.”

“I know that, too,” Harry chuckled quietly, his gentle smile still present.

“It… looks different.”

“I imagine it would,” Harry said.

“Fiz lives here more than anyone--who knows what she’s done to the place since I’ve last seen it, and--”

“Lou, love,” Harry breathed, pausing for a moment before he said, “just open the door.”

“...Okay.” Louis nodded, turning around and finally pushing the door open. They silently stepped inside, Louis allowing Harry to step past him before closing the door behind them. He squeezed his eyes shut, breathing in deeply for a moment before letting it out and turning around. He placed his keys down on the table next to the door, gently toeing his shoes off before finally finding the courage to look at Harry.

He watched as Harry silently looked around, his expression still unreadable, and the more time that passed between the two of them, the worse Louis felt. Louis knew how this place made him feel, and it was still technically his home. He was the one who had made all these changes. He couldn’t imagine what it was like for Harry to be back here after all these years.

When Harry first moved out, Louis made it a point to try to make the place feel completely… different.

Because everywhere he looked he saw them.

He saw Harry.

So he tore all the art down and replaced it with something new. When that didn’t work, he repainted the entire house. Then he changed out the furniture, bit by bit, room by room. When none of that worked, he decided to just drink instead. Those were the dark times. Those were the times when he’d get drunk enough to stumble into the spare bedroom that held all of his One Direction awards and memorabilia, and would spend the first hour cussing out Harry’s stupid face in all their band pictures and throwing his empty bottles around, followed by a few hours of crying.

He knew that however Harry had been imagining this place to look like, it was probably nothing compared to the real thing.

Because nothing was familiar. Not even to Louis.

“Are you mad?” Louis finally asked, his voice small.

That finally had Harry turning back around, frown deep on his face. “That you… painted?”

“Yes.”

Harry smiled then, but it looked tired. “Of course not,” he said, hesitantly reaching out and holding on to Louis’ elbow. Louis relaxed into the touch, stepping closer until they were nudged together. “I didn’t expect it to be a shrine or anything.”

“I know, but… “ Louis shrugged. “I hate everything about this place.” Harry tensed and Louis instantly felt worse. Louis gripped Harry’s hips gently, looking up to meet his eyes. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean that, like, this place is…” bad memories.

“I know,” Harry whispered, giving him another tired smile.

“You’re mad,” Louis confirmed, frowning up at him.

“I’m not, I promise,” Harry said, leaning down to press their lips together in a quick kiss.

“Everywhere I looked I saw you,” Louis said, feeling as though he had to explain himself. “That’s why I changed everything.”

“Babe, really, I get it,” Harry said, reaching up to stroke Louis’ cheek. “I really didn’t expect it to look the same. I--I don’t know what I was expecting, really, but it’s fine. It just…”

“What?” Louis whispered.

“It makes me sad.”

Louis frowned, his throat burning now with the tears that wanted to fall. “I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be sorry.” Harry shook his head. “It makes me sad because, like, I made you sad. You did all of this because of me. You were sad because of me, and that just. It makes me really fucking mad at myself.”

“Harry,” Louis said, swallowing roughly. “Don’t. Please don’t, okay? We’re--we’re past this. We’re together now, that’s all that matters.”

Harry sighed, turning his head away and blinking his glassy eyes away from Louis’ gaze. Louis watched his Adam’s apple bob harshly in his throat. He knew he needed to say something, needed to make Harry smile again, because seeing him like this was tearing Louis’ insides apart.

“Hey,” Louis whispered, waiting until Harry looked back at him before he smiled. “I love you, you know.”

“I love you, too,” Harry said quickly, wrapping his arms around Louis and pulling them together. Louis leaned into it and rested his head against Harry’s collarbones. He closed his eyes again, focusing on the feeling of Harry rubbing his back. “Past Harry was such a dick,” Harry whispered.

That had Louis laughing for real, pulling back just far enough so he could look up at Harry. “Past Louis wasn’t anything to write home about either,” he chuckled, his eyes flicking across Harry’s features to make sure they really were gonna be okay. He leaned up to press their lips together again, because he had to, and they stayed pressed together for a few moments before he finally pulled back.

They kept their eye contact this time, Harry smiling softly down at him, Louis’ fingers sneaking up the back of Harry’s blazer to touch the warm skin underneath. That made Harry smile brighter. Louis cleared his throat before he asked, “Are you gonna be okay staying here?”

Harry nodded. “Are you?” he asked, raising both eyebrows at Louis.

Louis paused. “I think so.”

“Hmm,” Harry hummed, rubbing his back again as he considered Louis’ answer. “Why don’t we see if we can stay with Lottie?”

“Her flat is too tiny,” Louis said, shaking his head.

“We could get a hotel, if you’d be more comfortable?”

Louis thought about it for a minute before finally letting out a puff of air. “Seems silly, doesn’t it? I mean, this is my house…”

Harry shrugged, smiling at him again. “It’s not silly if it’ll make you feel better.”

“It’s okay. As long as you’re okay, I’m okay,” Louis said, scratching at the base of Harry’s spine. Harry leaned down to kiss him again, this time bringing up one hand to rest against his neck as he deepened the kiss, his other arm wrapped tightly around Louis’ back.

The next night was Niall’s stag do.

Louis had offered to throw Niall a proper stag do, including party busses and strippers, but Niall had insisted he just wanted a casual night out at a club downtown. Louis was half disappointed that Niall didn’t want him to throw him a rager, because Louis definitely remembered how to party, but the other half of him was relieved that he didn’t have to watch women gyrate around a stage all night long.

“Those jeans are doing wonders for your arse, by the way,” Harry said, smirking at him from the other side of the room.

Louis rolled his eyes fondly, going back to fixing his fringe in the mirror. They had about another hour before they had to meet up with everyone at the club, but they would have to leave soon due to Friday night traffic.

This time, Louis did hire a car. Because he planned on getting completely pissed and dragging Harry right along with him to drunk town, so the last thing he wanted to worry about was being sober enough to drive them back home at the end of the night.

He also planned on making a completely sappy toast to Niall once he was significantly pissed.

When his hair was finally sorted, he turned around and gave Harry a shameless up and down before whistling at him. Casual Harry was clearly left behind in Chance, because Model Harry was back in full force. He had on black trousers mixed with a silky white shirt, most of the buttons left undone so that his chest was exposed.

“It’s always guaranteed to be a good night when you’ve got your tits out,” Louis said with a smirk, sliding up to Harry so he could grab at his waist.

Harry laughed, scrunching his nose up fondly as he looked at Louis. “I know you can’t resist ‘em,” he joked, then looked down and squeezed his shoulders together as if that would make his chest appear bigger. Louis laughed, reaching up to poke him in the sternum playfully.

“Was that your plan to seduce me all along, then?” Louis asked, teasing Harry with the memory that was burned into Louis’ brain. “Hmm? Showin’ up to my house for a casual Batman night with these gals hanging out?” he asked, letting his fingertip drag down Harry’s flat chest until he reached where the buttons finally clasped his shirt together.

Harry giggled but shivered all the same from Louis’ light touch. “Mmm… maybe.”

“I knew it.” Louis’ eyes lit up. “I fucking knew it.” Harry’s cheeks pinked up, even though he had no reason to be embarrassed, and Louis was living for his reaction. “You’re a bit shameless, aren’t ya?”

“For you, yes,” Harry said, his nose scrunching again as he stared at Louis.

“You drove me crazy that night,” Louis said, letting his hand fall down to Harry’s waist to give it a squeeze. He leaned into Harry’s space to whisper against his ear, “Got me half hard just watchin’ you walk up me driveway.”

Harry shivered against Louis’ words, and when Louis pulled back to look at him he was grinning. “Mission successful,” Harry said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Louis snorted, shaking his head. “You’re a menace.”

Harry just shrugged a shoulder casually. “Had to get you to make a move somehow.”

“So you decided to torture me?”

“Yeah.” Harry nodded, smiling brightly at him.

“Well, you did a great job,” Louis laughed, squeezing Harry’s waist again. “By the time you were whipping out those yellow swim trunks, I was ready to pin you down and hump your leg,” Louis said, watching as Harry’s head tilted back and he let out a loud laugh.

“You know, when I went back home for a bit in July, I purposely made a trip out to my flat to find those.”

Louis gawked at him, watching as Harry’s grin grew wider across his stupid, beautiful face. “You didn’t,” Louis said flatly, his jaw still hung open.

“Oh, I did,” Harry chuckled, reaching out to grab Louis’ hips, grinning at him. “They’re my secret weapon.”

“You’re kind of slutty,” Louis giggled, grinning like mad at him, his fingers digging into Harry’s waist harder. Harry laughed again, his throat exposed, making it very hard for Louis to resist attaching his mouth to it.

“When the situation calls for it,” Harry fired back, matching Louis’ grin.

And then Louis had to lean up and kiss him; there was no other appropriate response.

Louis let his hands grip tight against Harry’s hips as he dragged his tongue across Harry’s bottom lip, Harry’s mouth finally parting as they deepened the kiss. Louis stepped forward as Harry stepped back until Louis was pressing him up against the wall behind them, Harry moaning weakly into the kiss.

Louis shifted his knee up in between Harry’s thighs, causing another groan to leave Harry’s mouth as he gently ground down onto it. Louis finally pulled off of Harry’s mouth so he could breathe, wasting no time in attaching his lips to the side of Harry’s jaw instead as he tried to catch his breath against his heated skin.

“We don’t--fuck--have time for this,” Harry said around a humorless chuckle, his breath catching in the middle of his sentence when Louis sucked harder against his pulse point. Louis hummed out his response, which basically read as I don’t give a fuck, before attaching their lips again and letting one of his hands grip tightly into the back of Harry’s perfectly quaffed hair.

Harry would definitely give him shit about that later, but it was too busy making him tremble right now to care.

“Wanna suck you off,” Louis said against Harry’s mouth, loving the way Harry’s breath stuttered in response. “Right here against the wall. With your fancy fucking clothes still on.” Louis grinned, opening his eyes and pulling back just far enough to look up at Harry. They had only been kissing for a few minutes, Louis’ knee still pressing into where Harry’s hard cock was now pinned--still trapped in his fancy trousers--but it was enough to have Harry looking like he was gagging for it.

“Fuck, Louis,” Harry groaned.

A fresh wave of arousal shot through Louis as he stared at Harry’s lust-filled eyes, wanting nothing more than to blow off Niall’s party altogether and just stay here and ruin Harry for the rest of the night.

But, he was the best man and it would be pretty rude--even for Louis--to ditch.

So he was left with taking Harry apart while on a time crunch.

“We’re gonna be--late,” Harry said, letting his head fall back against the wall as he ground down harder against Louis’ knee.

Louis ignored him, and instead reached up to hotly whisper against his ear, “Want you to come in my mouth.”

“Fuck,” Harry said, grabbing Louis by the hair with both hands and frantically connecting their lips together again in a heated kiss. “On your knees, babe,” Harry rushed out, both of his hands dropping to undo his trousers. Louis’ heart pounded as he gently dropped to his knees, grinning up at Harry as he wrapped his hands around the backs of Harry’s sensitive thighs, loving the way Harry was fumbling as he tried desperately to get his cock out.

Louis’ own cock twitched in his tight jeans, fully hard and uncomfortable where it sat, so he took a moment to reach down and rub himself for some relief. He got distracted, though, when he was met with the sight of Harry’s cock. “Fuck, look at you,” Louis said, reaching out to wrap his fingers around him instead. “You’re so hard already.”

“Fuck, please don’t--tease, Lou,” Harry said, letting the back of his head thud against the wall. Louis licked from base to tip, his ears heating up with the sounds of Harry’s moans as he circled the head. “We don’t have--time--to--”

“Listen here, Big Ben, if you tell me about the time one more fucking time--” Louis cut himself off as they both fell into a round of laughter at his chosen nickname. Louis loved him so fucking much. Louis’ hand was still on his cock and his mouth still tasted of Harry, but they paused their heated moment to laugh fondly with each other.

Harry, now clutching at his side, laughed out, “But we’re actually going to be late.”

Louis tightened his grip on Harry’s cock, grinning up at him. “Do ya want your dick sucked or not?”

“I do,” Harry insisted, guiding Louis’ mouth back to his cock and moaning when it was engulfed into the tight wetness. Louis couldn’t respond, due to his mouth being full, but he was pleased with Harry’s reaction. Louis didn’t care how late they were to the party. Niall would be lucky if they showed up at all. “Fuck, that’s so good, fuck,” Harry moaned.

Louis desperately tried to undo the button of his jeans with one hand while the other was stroking Harry firmly. He was pretty sure his poor dick was suffocating in his jeans, but Harry was the priority here, so he didn’t dare stop what he was doing just to give his dick some breathing room. Giving up on the pesky button, Louis refocused his efforts and dragged his mouth back up Harry’s cock just enough to swirl his tongue around the head, a sting of arousal hitting his gut at Harry’s appreciative groan.

“You’re so--good at that. God, your mouth,” Harry rambled, and when Louis looked up at him he had his head back against the wall again, the long line of his throat the only thing visible to Louis from his current position. Louis kind of wanted to wreck him. Louis trailed both of his hands around to Harry’s ass, not letting up on the suction as he bobbed on his cock, greedily grabbing two handfuls of his cheeks.

Harry whined at the contact, pushing his ass further into Louis’ hands and tugging at his own hair. Louis pulled off his cock, stroking it with a firm grip as his other hand remained occupied. “You like me playing with your arse?” Louis panted, out of breath and his voice sounding destroyed already.

“Fuck yes, you know I do,” Harry whined again, bucking up into Louis’ fist and then back into his squeezing palms.

“Turn around,” Louis ordered, dropping Harry’s cock and moving his hand to Harry’s hip, helping him spin around so that he was facing the wall, his pale ass now directly in front of Louis’ face. Louis licked his bottom lip, looking up at where Harry was still fully dressed up top, his breath catching in his throat a bit at how hot it was.

He focused on where the fabric bulged around Harry’s shoulders, from where he was braced against the wall, and realized he was practically drooling. Fuck. His own cock ached with the need to be touched, so he decided to focus on that for a moment while he let Harry wither against the wall.

Regardless of Harry rushing them, Louis knew he liked to be patient sometimes.

Louis popped the button of his fly, shoving his jeans and briefs down until he could wrap a glorious hand around himself, moaning loudly at the contact and his eyes focused on Harry’s arse. Harry moaned at the sound, whining up against the wall, knowing exactly what Louis was doing.

“Fuck, do you even know how you look right now?” Louis asked, his eyes rolling back in his head at the sweet relief of finally getting a hand around himself.

“Louis,” Harry moaned. “Come on, please.” And fuck, that was pretty. How could Louis resist that? Louis’ knee gave off a painful crack when he readjusted his stance, but that was for Future Louis to worry about. Right now, all Louis cared about was getting his mouth around Harry’s pretty hole as soon as possible.

The first swipe of his tongue was always the same for Louis: an overload of all his senses.

Musk. Spice. Man.

Louis fucking loved it.

Louis moaned into it, spreading Harry’s cheeks with his palms and swiping his tongue across him again. The sounds coming out of Harry’s mouth were going straight to Louis’ cock. He was whining and moaning and his breath kept hitching and Louis was going to come in his pants.

Louis was always dangerously close to coming in his pants around Harry, but whenever he got to eat his ass out, the danger became a reality.

Louis was so easy for this.

Louis breathed into it, his chin nudging along Harry’s perineum, his tongue sweeping and pressing against his hole and straining to hear the noises Harry was making. “Fuck,” Louis said, pausing to press his tongue harder into Harry’s hole, wishing he had lube so he could really go at it. “You taste so fucking good,” Louis moaned, giving him long sweeps of his tongue from bottom to top.

“Lou--Lou, fuck,” Harry squeaked, his hands scrabbling for purchase on the wall.

Louis sucked his middle finger into his mouth, getting it as wet as possible before letting it pop out, and this time when he went back in with his tongue, he gently pressed in his middle finger alongside it.

Harry lost it.

He began mewling loudly, pushing his ass back into Louis’ face, one hand coming around to thread into the back of Louis’ hair, begging him when he said, “Please, Louis.”

“I’ve got you,” Louis said, his words muffled into Harry’s skin. “I’ll take care of you.”

They were the last ones to arrive at the club.

They walked in almost an hour late, hand and hand, Harry’s cheeks still looking flushed and his quiff looking a lot worse for the wear.

Louis regretted nothing.

He hadn’t planned on his spur-of-the-moment blowjob to escalate into full on sex, but, like, he wasn’t complaining.

The club they were in was on the small side, though it was still just as loud and dark as any other club Louis had ever been to. The bass coming from the speakers was so loud he could feel it in his chest, and when Harry leaned in to say that he saw the boys at a booth in the corner, he had to yell a lot louder than either of them expected.

Thankfully the speakers seemed to be pointing away from the large half-circle booth and they could actually hear it when Niall yelled, “Louis! Harry!” while raising his arm up in the air, his beer splashing out the side of his glass and down onto the table. Louis grinned, seeing Niall for the first time since he had left Chance back in July, and he let go of Harry’s hand when Niall jumped up to greet them.

Louis didn’t hesitate to wrap Niall up in a big hug, squeezing him tightly before slapping him on the back a few times. “It’s the bachelor!” Louis exclaimed when they finally pulled apart, grinning from ear to ear at him. “It’s so good to see you, mate!” he said honestly, pulling Niall in for another hug.

It hadn’t been that long since Niall left Chance, but, like, Louis was always going to miss his best friend and be super happy when they were reunited. So.

“I’m happy you fucks could make it! Haz! Bring it in!” Niall said over the loud thumping of the bass, pulling away from Louis’ second hug and opening his arms up wide for Harry. That was when Louis noticed none other than Liam Payne sitting at the booth behind them, sipping on--what appeared to be--a fresh gin and tonic.

His brown hair was shaggier than the last time Louis had seen him, but it was still perfectly swooped up in the front and he somehow made the denim jacket he was wearing seem cool, even though it was paired with jeans.

Leave it to Liam to make double denim an acceptable fashion choice.

“Liam fucking Payne,” Louis said, not realizing that it was possible for his smile to get any wider. But when Liam looked up from his drink and beamed at Louis, that same puppy dog smile he always had, Louis thought his own face was going to split in two from how happy he was. Liam quickly set down his glass, jumping up from the table and all but attacking Louis in a bear hug.

“Tommo!” he exclaimed, squeezing Louis tight before pulling back, his hands gripping Louis’ shoulders tightly. “Fuck it’s good to see you!”

“Mate, it has been too long,” Louis gawked, and, like, it really had been. The last time he had seen Liam in person, not including FaceTime or Skype, was well over a year and a half ago. They never seemed to be in the same place at the same time. But here he was, standing in front of Louis in all his double denim glory and--Louis had to hug him again.

Apparently he was a double hugger tonight.

Liam went into the second hug happily, clapping Louis on the back a few times before they pulled away again.

“I didn’t think you were coming!” Louis exclaimed.

“I didn’t either!” Liam laughed, shaking his head. Louis watched as he reached down to grab his glass and take a sip of his drink. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before he continued, “I didn’t think I could get away. Or that Cheryl would let me,” he added, smiling brightly.

“How’s dad life treating you?” Louis asked, reaching forward to grab Liam’s drink out of his hand and take a sip of the sharp beverage. Liam allowed it without question, because he would always secretly be wrapped around Louis’ finger.

“Mate, I’m still loving it. I can’t believe how big he’s gotten,” Liam said, shamelessly pulling his phone out to show him a picture of the toddler, as if Louis didn’t regularly get pictures of him. But, like, Louis loved babies. So he traded Liam his drink back to grab his phone instead and zoomed in on the picture of the grinning two-and-a-half-year-old.

“He looks just like you, bro,” Louis said, his eyes wide with amusement.

“Right? Poor little lad,” Liam laughed, shaking his head. “Should have gotten his mama’s good looks.”

Louis just rolled his eyes. “Right. Because you’re so ugly,” he said sarcastically, making Liam snort into his gin and tonic, which only reminded Louis he was still drinkless. He looked over his shoulder, hoping to spot Harry at the bar grabbing them drinks, but frowned when he saw he was still caught up in a conversation with Niall. Louis turned back around and grabbed Liam’s drink again, sipping the rest through the straw and grinning at Liam.

“You’re such a twat,” Liam laughed. “That was full before you got here.”

Louis just shrugged, happily sipping the last few drops through the black straw before handing the empty glass back to Liam. It was only then that Louis realized he hadn’t even finished greeting everybody at the booth, getting caught up in talking to Liam and then stealing his drink.

He stepped around Liam to bump fists with Bressie and Tom, his smile widening when his eyes locked on Mark Jarvis.

He hadn’t seen him in years.

“Mark, you son of a bitch, you better get up and hug me,” he demanded, grinning from ear to ear.

Once all of the greetings were out of the way, and he had double-hugged a couple more people, he slid back over to where Niall and Harry were still talking. What the fuck could they possibly be talking about for this long?

At a stag do?

When Louis got within earshot, though, he was not surprised to find they were talking about golf.

They might as well be in their fifties, having a midlife crisis.

“--But I only had a chance to play the back nine. I really want to go back soon and play a full round,” Niall was saying, Harry nodding along and parting his lips to reply, when Louis cut in.

“Hello there! I’m thirsty!”

“Hi, Thirsty. I’m Niall,” he said, instantly jutting his hand out to shake.

Louis gave him an unamused face. “You sure Lil’s not pregnant? Because that was on a whole new level of dad joke,” he said flatly.

Niall cackled, quickly brushing him off when he said, “Nahhhh. Safe sex is the best sex.”

Louis just shook his head. “You’re gonna make a fantastic old married lad.”

“Right?” Niall laughed, tipping his glass to cheers Louis when he frowned at the lack of drink in Louis’ hands.

“That’s what I’m fucking saying!” Louis groaned, turning to Harry. “Why are we drinkless?!”

“Sorry, my dear,” Harry said condescendingly, but all the same he continued with, “what did you want to drink?”

Louis licked his lip, the sharp taste of the drink he had stolen from Liam still on his tastebuds. “G&T,” he said with a nod of his head. “If it’s good enough for Payno, it’s good enough for me.”

“I haven’t even said hi yet!” Harry gasped, whipping around and throwing his arms up in the air when he yelled, “Payno!”

“Great,” Louis huffed, turning back to Niall. “Now I’m never gonna get a drink.”

Niall laughed. “Come on then, cutie, let’s go get you a drink,” he said, locking arms with Louis and leading him away from their booth towards the bar. They weaved their way through the crowd, arms still linked, and finally separated when they pressed up against the bar and waited to be served. “So, Tommo, how’s everything going?”

Louis laughed, giving Niall a weird look. “Mate, we were literally texting a few hours ago.”

Niall shrugged, a happy smile still plastered on his face. Louis chuckled again, reaching out and grabbing Niall’s pint glass from his hand and taking a sip of the cold beverage. Niall, much like Liam, just let it happen and accepted the glass back when Louis had his fill.

“You and Haz still in the honeymoon phase, then?” Niall asked again, nudging Louis and grinning at him.

“I mean, I ate his arse out pretty good right before we got here, so, yeah, I’d say so.”

Niall didn’t even cringe; he just casually brought the bottom of his shirt up to swipe around the rim of his glass. “Don’t mind me, just wiping Harry’s arse off my glass,” he groaned, rolling his eyes before taking another sip.

Louis cackled, bracing against the bar and shaking his head.

Niall was the best.

“Don’t worry, mate, I brushed me teeth before we left.”

“Shameless,” Niall said around a grin, knocking back the rest of his beer before adding, “just fucking shameless.”

“I’ve missed you,” Louis said, grinning at him. “Let’s get real pissed tonight, okay?”

“Deal.”

And that’s exactly what they did.

It wasn’t until after G&T number five that Louis switched to beer. When Harry advised him against it, Louis just brushed him off with a casual, “Just remember the rhyme, curly! Liquor before beer, you’re in the clear. Beer before liquor, never been sicker. I’ll be fine!”

But, like, maybe he should have taken Harry’s advice, because a few beers later, he had drunkenly stumbled up to the DJ and was ready to make a complete fool of himself. He clapped hands with the guy, introducing himself and asking him for a drunken favor. The DJ just grinned in response, hurriedly grabbing a microphone for Louis before ending the song that was playing.

All eyes turned to where the DJ was, due to the lack of music, and when their booth realized it was Louis standing up there, everyone started whistling and hollering at him. Louis blushed, even with his liquid courage, playing it off as he said, “Okay, now, settle down there, lads. Don’t start throwin’ your knickers at me yet.”

The spotlight was blinding, but he could still see the fond look on Harry’s eyes. He blamed that for the reason he said, into the microphone, “Except you, Styles, you can feel free to toss ‘em up.” The room exploded with laughter and more whistles, Louis watching as Niall roughed up Harry’s hair and yelled something at him that had Harry blushing all over.

It was worth it.

He may have just publicly outed them, but, like, they had shown up hand in hand already.

This was just verbal confirmation.

This was Future Louis’ problem.

Louis coughed. “Anyway, um, hi everyone, I’m Louis--” another round of loud cheers and whistles happened, which he was quick to talk over-- ”erm… some of you may know this, but our very own Niall Horan over there is getting married tomorrow and I am the best man. That’s right, Payno, you can just suck a fat dick.”

Louis was aware that Niall’s stag do wasn’t the only event happening in this club. There were about a hundred people in the dark club, all with their attention turned and listening to Louis. Maybe some of them knew who they were--ex-boybanders--or maybe they thought it was just a normal stag do. Louis didn’t care.

He looked over and smiled fondly at their group, winking at Liam, who was flipping him the bird.

“And as your best man,” he continued, gesturing at Niall, “I wanted to do a little something for you. I won’t bore you with how amazing you are in bed, or how fond I am of your little, pale arse,” Louis laughed, the crowd cheering loudly again. “Instead I wanted to dedicate this song to you. To my best mate in the entire world--” Louis raised his glass ”--here’s to you, lad.”

The crowd all cheered again; everyone seemed to raise their glass up in the air as Louis happily took a sip of his beer before handing the DJ back his microphone. He bumped fists with the man, thanking him again, just as the soft guitar riff started and suddenly Nsync’s This I Promise you was blasting out through the speakers.

Another loud round of cheers and laughter happened when the crowd began to recognize the song, and Louis was absolutely beaming by the time he locked eyes with Niall. He watched as Niall shoved his way out of the booth, setting his pint down before running and pouncing on Louis.

If he had been sober, he probably would have caught him, but. Like. He wasn’t. So the pair went stumbling down to the sticky club floor, laughing loudly as they hit the ground.

“You love me so much!” Niall cackled, leaning down to place smacking, beer-covered kisses over Louis’ cheeks.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Louis laughed, pushing Niall off him and stumbling back to his feet. “How could I not?”

Niall threw his head back and laughed, grabbing up Louis’ hand and putting his arm around his waist in a very formal dancing position, swaying the two of them back and forth to the beat. Louis laughed loudly, going along with the slow waltz-type dance they were doing, loving his best friend and loving his life.

He looked over Niall’s blonde head, making eye contact with Harry who was smiling from ear to ear at him. He was mouthing along with the words, I’ll be your strength, I’ll give you hope and Louis couldn’t wait to stumble back over and kiss him again. But for right now, he focused his attention back on Niall and happily sang along with him when the chorus started up.

“And I will take! You in my arms!” Louis and Niall both sang out at the top of their lungs. “And hold you right where you belongggg!” The crowd around them were mostly laughing at the pair, and Louis was aware that some people even had phones turned towards them, but in that moment--he couldn’t care any less.

He was very drunk and very happy and surrounded by the people he loved most in life.

He didn’t give a fuck what happened or who saw.

Let the world see.

He wasn’t ashamed of his life at all.

“Til the day my life is through, this I promise you… this I promise you!”

True to their word, Niall and Lily had a very small, very private ceremony at a London court house the next morning. Louis looked over at Harry and was ready to rib him for actually crying during the ceremony, but when Harry looked over at him with cloudy eyes and a proud smile, all the teasing died in his throat. Instead, he reached down and grabbed Harry’s hand and brought it to his lips before turning his attention back to their friends.

And if he got a little misty himself when Niall kissed Lily to make it official and then turned to give Louis a huge thumbs up, no one had to know.

The reception was held in a small restaurant on the other side of town. The fifteen or so of them sat around a long table, Lottie on one side of Louis, Harry on the other--because she had actually wedding-crashed and that hadn’t been a joke--and they drank mimosas and ate brunch. Louis couldn’t help but lean back at one point and smile as he looked around the table, especially when he saw the look of pure happiness on Niall’s face as he obnoxiously fed Lily a bite of his food.

It was crazy for Louis to think that somehow, against all odds, they all seemed to make it.

Back when they were all teenagers and jet-setting around the world as pop stars, he never imagined they’d get to a point in their life when they all had--this.

They had each other.

They had someone to love.

They had happiness.

There were times when Louis didn’t think it was possible for any of them to have a happily ever after, but as he looked around the table now at all the smiling faces he knew that everything was going to be okay.

He reached out and grabbed Harry’s thigh under the table, turning his head and smiling at him when they made eye contact. Louis leaned over and whispered, “I love you, you know?”

Harry smiled with all his teeth showing, placing his hand down over Louis’ and whispering back, “I know.”

And that was all Louis needed to hear.

The drive up to Doncaster took about three hours.

They had left right after the reception, hugging everybody goodbye and promising that they would see them soon (Louis was also sure he invited everyone, Niall’s family included, to come visit them in Chance). Lottie and Tommy were in the back seat, since they were carpooling up north with them and would ride back with Fiz, and at one point Harry threatened to “Turn this car around!” if Louis and Lottie didn’t stop bickering.

But, like, it was all out of love.

That was what siblings did.

That was how Louis showed he cared.

He grinned at Lottie, shooting her a wink over his shoulder before focusing his attention back on the M1 in front of them. When Harry finally pulled into his family’s driveway, Louis thought they were all a little relieved to get out of the car. Even before Harry could cut the engine, though, Louis spotted two sets of eyes popping up through the front window and his heart instantly melted at the barely-there sight of the youngest twins.

He opened the door, jogging up to the house and leaving Harry, Lottie and Tommy to bring in their bags and whatnot. He hadn’t seen his littlest siblings in entirely too long and he wasn’t going to wait another second. He opened the door, listening as little feet came slapping across the wooden floor before two children (not babies, not toddlers, Christ, they were basically grown) slid around the corner.

“Louis!” Doris squealed happily, running directly into Louis’ legs and wrapping her tiny arms around him.

“Hello, beautiful girl,” he said around a bright smile, kneeling down to wrap his arms around her small frame. “I’ve missed you so much,” he said into her mop of curls, squeezing her a bit tighter and then digging his fingers into her sides to make her laugh. She giggled loudly in his ears, squirming away from him and clutching her sides.

He looked over at his little brother, watching as he shyly kicked at the ground and avoided Louis’ gaze. It was about to break his heart, but then Ernest finally looked up and smiled shyly at him and said, with his thick speech impediment, “Hi, Ooie.”

“Come here, buddy,” he choked out, opening his arms and waiting for the five year old to dart into them.

Just then, the pair of teenage twins, Phoebe and Daisy, came running around the corner with his step-dad, Dan, following along behind them.

“Louis! You’re finally here!” Phoebe said, always the affectionate one out of the two, throwing herself into the hug he was sharing with his baby brother. Louis laughed fondly, bringing one arm up around her back and hugging her tightly. Doris must have gotten jealous then, because she threw herself back into the mix too and knocked Louis flat on his arse with the force of it.

Louis was so happy he could cry.

But, like, he won’t. Because--he was masculine.

…

Louis looked up at Daisy, at her dyed black hair and dark clothing, while his other siblings continued to attack him. “You still too cool for your older brother, then?” he teased, grinning at her even wider when her lip twitched into a smirk.

“You’re nothing special,” she said with a shrug, though now she was fully grinning at him and all he heard was I missed you.

It was okay; he didn’t need a real hug. She had never been a hugger and he could respect that. (He would just wait til she was tired and more cuddly to pull her into his side and whisper about how much he missed her.)

“Lou,” Dan said, smiling at him from where he had propped himself against the doorframe. He looked a little older around the eyes, Louis noted, but that was probably from raising all these kids alone. Of course he had lots of help, not only from Lottie and Fiz, but from other family members and close friends.

But Louis could see the tiredness in his eyes and he recognized it from when he was a kid, watching his mum raise all of them alone, and he noted it was the same look.

Louis extracted himself from the dog-pile he was in, patting each of his siblings on the head (Daisy, included), before walking over to Dan with his arms wide open. They embraced quickly, Dan gripping his shoulders when he pulled back and said, “How are you, son?”

And, like, Louis really loved him a lot.

“I’m really good,” Louis answered honestly, his smile wide across his face. “It’s great to see you.”

“You, too,” Dan said with a smile. “Where’s your boy?”

“Oh, he’s around here somewhere,” Louis said, shrugging lightly and knowing that Harry was probably taking extra long to unload the car to make sure Louis had time to greet everyone by himself first. Because Harry was perfect and knew how much it meant to see his family for the first time in months. “Where’s Fiz?” he asked.

“Félicité,” Dan not-so-subtly corrected, “went out to the pub with some mates, but she’ll be back soon.”

“I guess a little bit of day drinking never hurt anybody,” Louis laughed, shaking his head.

Dan chuckled, shrugging when he said, “It’s been a few weekends since she’s been home, so I’m sure she has catching up to do.”

“Right.” Louis nodded. “Wouldn’t want to catch up with her brother who lives in America,” he joked, holding no real grudge and knowing that he would have plenty of time that evening to bicker with Fiz, just like he did with Lottie.

He was also buying everyone plane tickets to come visit him before he left; he had decided that on their trip up here.

He wasn’t going this long without seeing his family ever again.

When Harry finally did make it inside, Phoebe and even too-cool-for-hugs Daisy both pounced on him, commenting on everything from his cool clothes to his cool hair. “Last time I saw you, your hair was down to your shoulders!” Phoebe exclaimed.

“Last time I saw you, you were still in nappies,” Harry teased, scrunching his nose fondly at them.

“No we weren’t!” Phoebe cackled.

Louis watched as Doris and Ernest scattered, hiding behind Dan’s legs and peeking around him to look at Harry and--right. They… didn’t know Harry. Louis was hit with another wave of sadness, for very different reasons now, but it was only temporary as he watched Harry crouch down on the floor and smile at them.

“Hello,” he said, waving gently at the five-year-olds. “I’m Harry. You have very pretty hair,” he said, smiling at Doris. “And look at your shoes! Is that Spiderman on the side?” he asked Ernest, and, fuck Louis loved how amazing Harry was with kids.

“You ‘ike spideymen?” Ernest asked around his thumb, which was not helping his already wonky speech.

Louis was endeared.

“I love spiderman!” Harry said, his smile bright. “I also love Catwoman.”

There was a moment of silence between them before Ernest smiled brightly around his thumb and said, “Meow.”

Louis was pretty sure his heart melted straight out of his body.

Their short weekend in Doncaster seemed to go by in a blink of an eye.

Looking back, Louis should have scheduled more than just two nights to spend with his family when he knew he wouldn't want to leave, but Past Louis could be an unthoughtful dick, so, there was that. Their days were spent lounging around with all of the kids, Harry mostly sitting on the floor and going along with every single game the youngest twins wanted to play (which changed about every ten minutes, less a fight break out), while Louis sat on the couch with sisters on either side of him.

He felt loved, and cozy, and when they were all packed up and ready to head to Cheshire, he didn’t try to hide the tears that spilled down his cheeks when he hugged all of his siblings goodbye.

“We’ll see you at Christmas, yeah?” Dan asked when they pulled away from their hug. “Thanks again for buying the tickets… I know it means a lot to everyone.”

“Of course,” Louis insisted, clapping his hand on Dan’s shoulder. “I’ll be counting down the days!” Louis joked, except--he wasn’t really joking. The past two days had only served to remind him how much he missed having his family around.

“You ready to go, love?” Harry asked, standing by the door with Doris on his hip, even though she was awfully big to be held like a baby. Louis loved him. He nodded, going back down the line of his siblings to give them all another too-tight hug before finally tearing himself away and grabbing his bag. He watched as Harry set Doris down with hushed whispers about there being a present left for her upstairs in Louis’ room.

So apparently Harry Styles played favorites.

But, who was he to judge when Harry was Louis’ favorite person in the entire world?

At least Harry was only playing favorites within his family.

Louis played favorites within the entire human population.

Louis had no regrets.

With the car loaded up, Louis took one last weepy look at his house, with his whole family standing outside waving to him like something off an old television show, before he forced himself to look away and over at Harry instead.

“Alright?” Harry asked, reaching over to grab Louis’ hand.

“Alright,” he answered, swallowing the lump in his throat. They had about a two-hour drive over to Holmes Chapel, which gave Louis two hours to freak out about seeing Harry’s family for the first time in years. No big deal. Harry gently kissed Louis’ knuckles as he steered them away from Doncaster and out onto the motorway.

“What did you buy Doris?” Louis finally asked.

“A bunch of coloring books. Did you know she wants to be an artist?”

Louis smiled fondly at him, so happy that Harry was able to slip back into his family as if he had never left.

Their journey up to Holmes Chapel was mostly spent in comfortable silence, the radio playing quietly in the background as the two of them got lost in their own worlds. Louis was already missing his family, but he was trying not to let it bring him down; he didn’t want to be moping the rest of the evening.

When they pulled into Anne's driveway some two hours later, Harry turned the engine off and smiled over at Louis. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he laughed, reaching over and grabbing Louis’ hand again, comfortingly rubbing it between his own. And, right, Louis must not have been hiding his emotions as well as he thought he had. “I promise you they still love you.”

“I know.” Louis smiled, nodding a bit. “Let’s go in, yeah?”

Harry beamed. “Yeah.”

He stepped out of the car into the chilly autumn air and shivered a bit when he reached down to zip his hoodie up. He chuckled a bit to himself, thinking about how it was probably still a hundred degrees at home, yet England had already turned cold.

He didn’t miss the heat of Chance just yet, but he was sure if he stayed here in rainy England for too long, he would start.

After grabbing their bags from the boot, they made their way up the lined pathway to the front door and Louis took a deep breath in as Harry unlocked the door and opened it for them. “Hello?” he called out, as Louis removed his shoes and placed them neatly by the door, mostly to give him something to do with his hands. “Mum?”

“Harry!” Anne’s unmistakeable voice echoed in the hallway, Louis turning to look over his shoulder as she rounded the corner. She had a lacy apron around her waist and was wiping her hands off on a tea towel, looking proper domestic, and he watched as Anne hugged Harry tightly.

He hung back near the door, giving them a minute to greet each other, but then Anne was turning to face him and he suddenly felt his cheeks flush, not knowing what to expect or what she was going to say. She was quick to give him a soft smile, though, her eyes looking a bit glassy as she said, “Oh, baby, come here and give me a cuddle.”

And that was exactly what Louis did.

He tried to hold back the sob that wanted to escape his lungs, instead making an awkward squeaking sound as he wrapped his arms around her back, hugging her tightly and trying to convey just by how strongly he embraced her how sorry he was for ever hurting her son.

It was a bit of a cop-out, on Louis’ part, but he was never great with words anyway.

When they finally pulled apart, Anne seemed to take in his appearance for a moment before frowning at him. “Why are you so skinny?” And--that had Louis laughing. Because he was sure he had gained twenty pounds since Harry had returned to his life, since everything they did seemed to revolve around food.

“I--” Louis opened his mouth on a laugh, not knowing how to answer her question.

He was quickly cut off though by Harry’s hissed, “Mum. You can’t ask people that.”

Anne chuckled, shrugging before leaning forward to place a kiss on Louis’ cheeks--which definitely didn’t help how warm they were--then swatted at Harry with her tea towel. “I can ask Louis whatever I want, isn’t that right, love? It’s a mum privilege.”

“Right,” Louis agreed dumbly, smiling genuinely at her. He was sure it had to be genetic that Harry’s whole family seemed to render him stupid. He was so gone for every member of his family, so Anne was right. She could ask him anything.

“Harry, be a duck and go help Gems with the firewood, would you?” she asked fondly.

“Sure,” Harry quickly agreed, eyeing the pair for a moment before making eye contact with Louis and silently asking him Will you be okay? Because--right. He was about to abandon him with his mum right off the bat.

Way to be the buffer, Harry.

Spectacular job.

But Louis was an adult, who could handle any social situation he was thrown in, so he smiled at him and nodded that he was fine.

Anne linked arms with him then, steering them back towards the kitchen where Louis could smell something baking in the oven. “We have a lot to catch up on, don’t we, darling?” she asked, leading him towards the table and nodding for him to sit. “Tea?”

“Tea would be lovely,” Louis said with a smile, gently pulling one of the kitchen chairs out and sitting down at the old wooden table. Anne busied herself with putting the kettle on, and Louis took a moment to look around the kitchen, his hand trailing over the wood of the table that he noted hadn’t changed since the last time he was here.

He imagined it hadn’t changed in, well, forever, really.

He could almost see a chubby child version of Harry finger painting and making an absolute mess across the table, and then crying about how sorry he was because, like, Harry Styles was perfect.

Louis shook himself of this thoughts when Anne set a ceramic tea pot down on the table, along with two mugs and a tiny pitcher of milk. Louis busied himself by pouring the water into both mugs, chewing on the inside of his lip as he tried desperately to come up with something to say.

What was there to say, really?

Sorry I broke your son’s heart?

Sorry I’m back?

Sorry I waited eight years?

Sorry I suck?!?!?!

No excuse seemed worthy, so instead he just stayed silent, watching out of the corner of his eye as she flitted around the kitchen, happily humming to herself just like Harry did. She finally sat down across from him, sliding one of the scones--which she had produced seemingly out of thin air--in front of him. Louis smiled, thanking her quietly before picking a corner off the crumbly bread and popping it in his mouth.

“So, Louis,” Anne said, and--this was it. This was when she was going to curse him out for all the horrible things he had done in his life. Louis braced himself, staring hard at the side of his mug and willing his heart rate down.

Then he realized he should probably just apologize.

Get the ball rolling between them and clear the air before things got too awkward.

So he cleared his throat and said, “I’m sorry for--”

Just as Anne said, “Have you caught up on The Bake Off since you’ve been back?”

And--like--wait. What?

“What?” Louis asked, just as she said:

“Sorry for what, love?”

And, okay, they had to stop talking over each other.

Louis snapped his mouth shut, determined to stop being rude and talking all over Anne, so he just watched silently as her cheery smile slid down into a frown. “What are you apologizing for, love?” she asked again, her fingers clenched around her steaming mug of tea.

Louis coughed. “For, like--” being the worst person in the world? He finally just shrugged helplessly. “You know.”

Anne clucked at him, shaking her head as she reached forward and grabbed his hand that had been mindlessly tearing apart his scone, her tea-warmed fingers wrapping softly around his. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for,” she said quietly.

“Well, that’s not true at all,” Louis laughed humorlessly. “I’ve got plenty to--”

“That’s between you and Harry,” Anne said, gently cutting him off. “You’ve got nothing to apologize to me for.”

Louis paused, taking in her words with a frown. “You’re not…” mad?

Anne smiled at him, squeezing his hand. “I’m glad you boys finally got your act together and realized you were supposed to be together all along. It sure did take you long enough. I’ve missed you quite a lot, you know?” Louis just sat there, with a dumb expression on his face, taking in her words and trying to process them. His expression must have given away his confusion because Anne finally laughed, squeezing his hand again before saying, “Seriously, Louis, we’re fine.”

Louis didn’t know how he got this lucky.

“Okay,” Louis whispered, smiling at her. “I’ve missed you a lot, too…” he trailed off, squeezing her fingers. “And to answer your first question,” Louis paused, taking his first sip of too-hot tea before he continued, “I have not seen The Bake Off… want to fill me in?”

On their last day in England, they decided to head out of the house and take a walk around town. Harry wanted to see the town before he left the country for an undetermined amount of time (!!!!) and Louis would follow Harry to the edge of the earth, so, like, that was how he easily agreed to wander with him. They had gone to the bakery where Harry used to work, spending almost an hour there talking to his old co-workers and Louis not-so-subtly shoving different baked goods into his mouth.

Harry pretended not to notice.

After that, they had stopped in for lunch at a tiny restaurant with a few mates Harry had gone to school with. Louis had met some of them before, others just for the first time that day, but the lunch was spent sharing old stories (mostly about Harry), and laughing about one thing or another.

By the time they left the restaurant, their bellies were full and they both had cry-laughed their way into a pretty exhausted state.

Louis was definitely sleeping the entire way back to Chance that night.

They decided to take the long way home, walking through the fields along the small stream that went through Holmes Chapel, Harry having brought Louis here once before years and years ago. At some point they joined hands, Harry’s thumb rubbing along Louis’ palm as they made their slow walk, Harry stopping to point out where he had carved his name into the brick while filming This Is Us.

In the years since then, hundreds of other people had scribbled their name alongside his, but it didn’t seem to bother Harry. If anything, he seemed proud that all those people had found this spot just because of him.

“You got a knife?” Louis asked, looking up at the different carvings against the faded brick wall. He looked over at Harry then, only to find him biting down on his smile as he shook his head no. Louis rolled his eyes playfully. “Useless, you are,” he said, kicking at some of the stones along the ground until he found one that he deemed pointy enough.

Louis cleared his throat, aware of Harry’s eyes on him from behind as he swept his hand over the brick wall, finding an empty space before bringing the rock up to the wall and began painstakingly scratching against it. His tongue peeked out the side of his mouth as he concentrated, his fingers slipping against the rock a few times and painfully crashing into the brick, but he kept going, determined now that the idea had crossed his mind.

Halfway through his carving, Harry’s hands found their way to his waist and he stepped up close to him, Louis able to feel Harry’s breath against the back of his neck. He kept going, though, the sound of the rock scratching into the brick the only sound between them. Harry nuzzled against his hair then, causing a shiver to go up his spine, but he laughed it off, flicking his fringe out of his eyes as he focused on the letters.

Finally, he was done. He dropped the rock to the ground, clapping the dust off his hands and then gently swiping over the carving to remove any extra shavings, reaching behind him to guide Harry so they could take a step back from the wall.

Harry’s arms snuck around his waist then, his chin hooking over Louis’ shoulder, and Louis leaned his head into it, his arms wrapping around Harry’s. He looked up at the brick wall, looking at all the names and markings until his eyes focused on his latest addition.

H + L Forever

It was stupid, and cheesy, and gag-worthy.

Not to mention there were already at least three references to Larry hidden amongst all the carvings; his turned that number into four. He was sure that anybody else who saw it would assume another fan had done it, and that made it even more special to him.

It was perfect.

“I love it,” Harry whispered against his ear, pulling Louis further into him. “Thank you.”

Louis huffed an amused breath, leaning his head further into Harry’s and letting his eye close. “You don’t have to thank me, you dork.”

“Mmm, but I do,” Harry hummed. “Thank you for being here with me. Thank you for--taking me back.”

“Harry,” Louis whispered, opening his eyes and turning in his arms so they were facing each other. They smiled at each other, Louis reaching out to cup Harry’s cheek and rub his thumb along his sharp jaw line. “There’s no one else in the world I want.”

“I know,” Harry said with a smile. “It’s a pretty great feeling,” he said, chuckling quietly.

Louis laughed, wrapping his arms around Harry’s neck and tilting his head against his shoulder to glance up at Harry. Louis was often overwhelmed by his love for Harry, and he hoped that feeling never went away. He never wanted to get used to loving Harry, or become immune to the effects he had over Louis.

He always wanted to feel… this.

This crazy, heart-pounding, scare-the-shit-out-of-you kind of love.

He hoped that when he was ninety, he still wanted to climb his way up to the highest mountain and yell about how much he loved Harry Styles with all his heart. How there was nobody else in the world he had ever wanted to end up with. How he wanted to wake up to those stupidly beautiful green eyes every day for the rest of his life.

He wanted to marry him.

He wanted to have kids with him.

He wanted to grow fat and old with him, and tell the stories that they’d told again and again.

He wanted to make up for all the lost time between them and never waste another second.

He wanted to go back home to their little house in Chance and start living their future now.

He wanted to become that sickeningly sweet family who participated in all of the town events, and threw barbecues for the whole neighborhood, and who coordinated the carpools for all their kids’ after-school activities.

He never wanted to spend another moment apart from Harry.

He promised himself there, just like he had promised himself before, that he would do everything in his power to make Harry happy for the rest of their lives. No matter what it took to accomplish that. He would love Harry, and do cutesy things like carve their initials in his hometown, and make sure that all of their dreams came true.

Because after all they had been through, they deserved it.

When they were sixteen and eighteen, they were given a chance at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make it big. Together, with three other strangers, they became the biggest boy band on the planet. They toured the world, became millionaires, and changed thousands of lives along the way. In doing that, they were given a chance to love each other, which they greedily grabbed onto and ran with so hard that they ended up losing it along the way.

When they were twenty-six and twenty-nine, they were given a chance to find that love again. By some crazy force of the universe, they were able to find each other thousands of miles away from where they were both supposed to be living and somehow learn to love each other again.

The fucking odds, man.

This time, Louis wasn’t letting it go anywhere.

“Hey, Haz?” Louis whispered, smiling up at the boy that he had loved forever.

“Yeah, babe?” Harry whispered back, their eyes locked.

“Let’s go home.”