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“It’s a bit weird for date night, though, isn’t it Harry?” Louis asked, putting his feet up on the dash and pulling up the article that Harry’d sent on his phone. “I mean, ‘Would you like to be famous? In what way?’ is a little hard to answer.” He turned to look at Harry, who glanced over and cracked a smile.
“Yeah, I know babe. But did you read the whole article? It sounds cool.” He reached over and patted Louis’ leg, resting his hand there and giving a light squeeze. “And it says it only takes an hour or so.”
Louis put his hand over Harry’s. “We’ll do it tonight, love. Can’t wait.”
**
After dinner they went outside, Harry carrying a blanket and a stack of cards with the 36 questions, Louis with a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses. Louis sat back and let Harry settle against him. Once they were comfortable, Harry tossed the blanket over the two of them and waved the stack of questions in front of them. Louis kissed his head and took the stack from his hands, thumbing through the cards.
“I love that you bought the questions, baby. You really do want to do this, don’t you?”
Harry turned his head so he could look at Louis. “Mayyybe,” he said, squirming. He pushed up and kissed Louis’ neck, softly at first and then opening his mouth and dragging his teeth over the same spot, causing Louis to shiver.
“Mmm, more of that and we’re not gonna get through much, love,” Louis said, nuzzling into Harry’s hair. He smelled even better than usual tonight, and Louis relished this quiet moment together, the two of them in the hazy LA evening, Harry’s heat to keep him warm against the chill.
Harry took the cards back from Louis and, clearing his throat, held up the first one. “Question 1: If you could invite one person to dinner who would it be?” He looked back at Louis expectantly.
“Should I answer for you, or myself?”
“Louis!” Harry said, pinching Louis’ thigh. “C’mon.”
“Sorry baby, sorry--but we’ve definitely answered that question in interviews before,” Louis said, his hand moving to Harry’s side.
Harry hummed in agreement and flipped through a few more questions as Louis looked over his shoulder. They started getting better--more in depth--by the sixth or seventh question, and Louis stopped Harry’s hand.
“That one, Hazza. Let’s start there.”
Harry smiled and read the question, and they traded answers. They worked their way through all of them, taking far more than an hour to finish the lot. Louis hadn’t really expected it to be difficult, but it was at times, the questions calling for more candor than he was usually comfortable displaying, even with Harry. He wasn’t sure, but it seemed as though Harry struggled too, and that comforted him somehow.
“Now we look at each other for four minutes,” Harry said, shifting til he was sitting upright and turning to face Louis. “And we don’t say anything.”
“Okayyy,” Louis said hesitantly. He looked into Harry’s eyes, taking in his face and expression, watching it change from serious to amused, then fond. He felt himself biting back a smile and let it bloom across his face, watching Harry’s expression mirror his own. He thought he saw tears gathering in the corners of Harry’s eyes, and worried for a moment, only to have Harry scrunch his face in confusion in return. He almost laughed at that moment, but instead he inhaled deeply, his breath catching as his thoughts raced over their shared history and the answers they’d given that night. He’d known he loved Harry since they were kids, but in that moment the reality of it hit him like a punch in the solar plexus.
Louis swallowed hard and willed himself not to look away. He exhaled shakily just as Harry said, “time’s up,” and immediately closed the distance between them, one hand in Harry’s hair and the other against his cheek, kissing him hard. When they broke apart they said “I love you” in the same breath and then laughed at themselves for it, though they couldn’t stop staring at one another.
“Bed?” Harry asked.
“Yes,” Louis said, standing and pulling Harry up with him. “Bed.”