Brave Love (Larry Stylinson)

four

Louis was right about his prediction that Harry's Valentine's Day plans, sans sexy stuff, would be boring.

The movie they chose was bad and quite frankly Louis didn't care to even think about it. He didn't even see the end because he fell asleep halfway through and woke up when the lights had been switched on and a worker from the movie theater nudged him in the chest with the end of a broom—because Harry had fallen asleep too.

"H, wake up," he mumbled, shaking his arm.

"What the fuck?" he slurred, rubbing his eyes.

"We fell asleep. We should get up so he can clean up all the popcorn you spilled."

"Oh, shit. Sorry," Harry told the worker, who looked less than happy to be here right now.

Louis dragged Harry out of the empty movie theater. The hallways outside were confusing and maze-like and they wandered around for a while before finding an exit. The first few steps outside in the daylight were disorienting.

"God, that was awful."

Louis burst out laughing. He grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him down the street, toward their apartment so they could get ready for the rest of their night. "Let's hope this fancy dinner is more fun than that."

With the location of their dinner, Louis had no choice but to dress up. He usually didn't mind dressing up but when it was for a pretentious restaurant, he felt the rebellious urge to go in his pajamas. Which obviously wouldn't go over very well. The flipside to fulfilling the dress code meant he got to see Harry all dressed up, looking as gorgeous as ever.

By the time they were both ready to leave, they were running a bit late. It took Louis a long time to get his hair to look like what he wanted it to look like. Harry was even worse, standing incredibly close to the mirror and inspecting his eyelashes.

"Do you think they're getting longer?"

"Huh?"

"My eyelashes. I've been putting serum on them. Do they look longer?" He stood very close to Louis and let his eyelids flutter shut. "I can't tell."

Louis inspected them closely. His eyelashes looked beautiful but Louis thought they always looked beautiful. He hummed, pretending to contemplate, but took the opportunity to take in as many features of Harry's face as he could. It was rare that he was allowed to be this close and he was going to savor it. That was a creepy thought but Louis was too far gone to care.

"Lou?"

He went for nonchalance. "I think so. They look nice."

Harry's eyes flashed open and he grinned. They were standing very close together, enough so that Louis had to tilt his head back to look into his eyes. Curse those three inches Harry had on him; they were the bane of Louis' existence.

"Thanks," Harry chirped, his breath fanning out, minty and sweet because he almost constantly chewed gum. It made him look like an asshole but there was something about it that Louis found infuriatingly attractive.

Louis pulled away. He had just remembered something. "Wait here for a sec, yeah? I'll be right back."

Harry squinted at him but didn't question it. Meanwhile Louis hustled back to his bedroom.

Okay, so this was stupid. Really stupid. He had no excuse to buy any of this except that he didn't want to see his friend so sad. Which was why he got up early this morning to go to the store, and... yeah.

Louis returned with the items behind his back. There was no way to wrap either of them. Confidence was a choice so he decided to be confident instead of awkward about this.

"Hey, I have something for you," he grinned, though his heart was threatening to explode.

Harry stared with wide eyes before accepting the bouquet of roses in Louis' hand. "For me?" he breathed, eyes flickering from Louis' face to the flowers and back again.

"Yeah. Figured it wouldn't actually be Valentine's Day if someone didn't buy you flowers, so."

"They're so pretty," he gushed, even though they were just standard red roses, a cliche. "Thank you."

"And one more thing." Louis pulled the bear from out behind his back. He felt a bit more embarrassed about this one because he had never bought a stuffed animal for someone before and it seemed incredibly cheesy. But its face was so cute, he couldn't resist. And the idea of a stuffed animal seemed comforting.

"Oh my god," Harry breathed, laughing and wiping at his eyes. Was he... crying? Louis didn't have any time to figure it out because then Harry was hugging him, squishing the teddy bear between their chests and wrapping his arms around Louis' back, one hand still on the flowers. "You're so thoughtful and amazing. I don't deserve you."

Louis swallowed thickly and patted his friend's back. He had been expecting a weird look and maybe a quiet thank-you but definitely not this.

"We're gonna be late for our reservation," he reminded gently after they had been standing there for a while with Harry clinging to him like an octopus.

"I don't care," Harry declared, and clung harder. But then a moment later he detached enough to kiss Louis' cheek and then pull away. "Let me find a vase for these first."

Louis watched him head to the kitchen and dig around in the cupboards until he found a suitable vase, filling it with water and mixing in the little packet of flower food, which Louis had learned after reading the label was mostly just sugar.

"Okay, all good. I'm bringing this with me, by the way, and you can't stop me." He emphasized his statement by hugging the bear to his chest.

Louis shrugged and led the way out the door. He was so relieved that went over well.

♡