Brave Love (Larry Stylinson)

nine

The next day was like one Louis had never experienced before. It started by waking up before the sunrise and being unable to fall back asleep, no matter how hard he tried. So he went to the kitchen to make tea and he found Harry there, looking disheveled and already pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"You're up early," Louis observed.

Apparently Harry hadn't known he was there, so he was startled enough to flinch and spill hot coffee on his hand. He cursed, waving his injured hand in the air while holding the other over his chest.

Louis apologized profusely and dragged him over to the sink to run his reddened skin under cold water. They stood there in front of the sink with the faucet running until their racing hearts finally calmed down.

"I'm so sorry-"

Harry shook his head, his shoulders relaxing as he slumped down from his rigid state. They were standing so close together, front to back, so the movement made Harry lean against Louis' chest. Normally Louis would've moved away and put some distance between them, but today he didn't.

"Couldn't sleep?" Harry asked.

Louis bit the inside of his cheek, wondering how much he should give away without scaring Harry or intimidating him with how much their conversation last night meant to him. How was he supposed to say he could hardly sleep all night because his mind was running a mile a minute, trying to figure out what all of this meant? In the end, all he said was, "Nah, not really."

"Same," Harry admitted. "I was kind of overwhelmed."

"Me too." Louis hooked his chin over Harry's shoulder because he could. It felt so good to be close to him, to feel the warmth from his body warming Louis' own. Harry was always softer during the day's periphery, wearing comfy clothes and generally being more receptive to touch. Not that he wasn't tactile during the day too, but it was on a whole new level during early mornings and late nights.

"Do you have to work today?"

"No. You?"

"I called in sick already."

"Wow, look at you, you little rule-breaker. Playing hooky," Louis smirked into Harry's shoulder, feeling a vague sense of pride for him misbehaving for once in his life.

"Shut up. I just wanted a day in."

"Fair. Cereal and bad Lifetime movies, then?"

"Please."

Louis let go of him finally, even though he didn't want to. "How about you go get comfortable on the couch and everything? I have to go to the store real quick. I'll be back in like twenty minutes."

"For what?"

"It's a secret," Louis grinned, pushing him towards the couch. There was an unfamiliar charged energy between them since they had both admitted to what Louis interpreted as reciprocated feelings. He couldn't be sure, because they hadn't discussed anything yet, and he was still pretty confused—but there was a definite energy between them that wasn't there before. He knew Harry could feel it too.

"You suck." But Harry let him push him towards the couch anyways, not resisting too much.

"Don't miss me too much," Louis teased before leaving. He had a game plan and he was going to give Harry the best lazy day he'd ever experienced.

The store he went to was just down the street on the corner. It was open twenty-four hours which was convenient because nothing else was open at this god-forsaken hour. The fluorescent lights inside assaulted his eyes, as did the leftover Valentine's Day displays. It was an explosion of pink and red commercialized hearts everywhere.