Archive of Our Own

Friday, 26th October.

Louis was feeling bitter. So the only solution he found was revelling in something that was more bitter that him, so he was cradling a cup of coffee between his palms.

He was aware there were far better ways to spend a Friday night. He knew for a fact that a lot of his colleagues had gone to a club, some to the early Halloween party some friend had planned and all of them planned to get wasted, have fun. While Louis was sitting alone in the booth in a corner by the window, wearing an expensive black jumper. It wasn’t his first choice really. Alright, he might not be totally alone since Liam was sitting on the opposite side of the booth and keeping him company. But emotionally, Louis might as well be alone. This wasn’t how he had envisioned his night going. He had expected to be on a date with a guy that he didn’t really like in a proper restaurant where he would be drinking wine. Something this beautiful, expensive jumper deserved. But fate had never been nice to him. His date was cancelled and he was left to stew in his bitterness and unfortunate homesickness as he complained about everything he disliked about America at the moment. Starting from that American idiot.

And just because Louis didn’t want to seem like a complete loser, he had dragged Liam along with him to a diner close by. Liam had no Friday night plans either and it worked out perfectly for Louis.

“The next time he as much as looks at me, I’m going to punch him,” Louis grumbled under his breath, just loud enough for his friend to hear. He slammed his fist on the table, lightly of course since he didn’t want to disrupt anyone sitting beside them. Both of them knew that Louis was all talk, no show and would do nothing of the sorts. Liam was too nice to point it out so he just nodded grimly in support. They had been sitting here for about twenty minutes now, ordered two cups of coffee and were debating over food. Soon, it was just Louis complaining and drinking coffee and the combination wasn’t so good, in the long run that is. But then, coffee always affected Louis a little less than it would affect anyone else, so he was good there. But he could feel the buzz underneath his skin when he took a huge gulp of coffee and winced as it went down his throat. If he was being honest, it wasn’t the coffee that was affecting him since it wasn’t just coffee he was drinking. “His name was Richard; why should I be surprised he would turn out to be a massive dick. First he spends weeks chasing after me, even after I had said I wasn’t interested. I finally said yes to get him off my back. And then he tells me we should reschedule our date for the second time! Like, am I the one begging to go on this date? Hell no. Gosh I do want to punch him.”

“It’s good that he cancelled right? I don’t understand. You don’t like him, do you?”

“Of course I don’t,” Louis replied immediately and made a face. It would be the worst thing in the world if he had to go out with him. He might be exaggerating, but still. Richard was a good-looking guy, tall but the ‘I’m such a good guy so love me’ type of nice. He was insistent, bordering on creepy and not what Louis was looking for. Louis had been in Los Angeles for about four months now and in two more months, his internship program would finish and he would be back home. He knew his company wouldn’t hire him for a permanent job, not like he wanted to stay, and he had begun searching for jobs in London, his beloved home. Los Angeles was good, don’t get him wrong, but he couldn’t see himself living there long term. He missed his family, he missed blending in and he missed his favourite blend of tea. He was a proper Englishman and also, someone who craved for long term relationships. He wasn’t intent to start a serious relationship right now, only for them to break in two months. It would be tedious and expected. Besides, there was another problem with Dick. “He didn’t exactly tell me we should reschedule this time, actually.”

“No?” Liam asked, tilting his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows. Louis chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair, ruining what was supposed to be a quiff half an hour ago.

“Oh no, he actually told me we should have our first date at a sports bar,” Louis said, raising his eyebrows as he slowly, despondently shook his head. Louis wasn’t the biggest fan of sports, except if it happened to be football. That one he was good at and loved dearly. Sports were great entertainment, he knew, and didn’t shame anyone who enjoyed them. But a sports bar for a first date when you don’t even know if the other one is into sports? A terrible idea. Liam had already heard Louis’ thoughts on the matter of sports and started laughing, anticipating his next words. “He wanted to watch a baseball game with me, because apparently his team, the Dodgers are having a good run or something. He couldn’t even spend money and take me to a game, just a damn bar. He doesn’t even know that I don’t like watching sports and it’s a fact about me that I don’t exactly hide. It’s almost as bad as that guy who took me to an American football game three months ago. But at least it was to the stadium, you know, classier.”

Liam cackled loudly before burying his head in his hands to stifle the sound. He was always eager to listen to Louis’ complain rants and found them hilarious. He might be the only one to say so, since all of Louis’ other friends and most of his family found it annoying. He and Liam had first bonded over their dislike of American football and they were also the only two Brits in their workplace. Baseball was alright, but Louis was still pissed off because of Dick and was fuming over it. He had a few trigger words, as his sister Lottie would say and if anyone ever mentioned them, Louis would start complaining about it. She wouldn’t be much wrong, because if anyone ever mentioned American football, Louis would go off. Like he was about to now.

“American football is useless,” Louis said, rather loudly and Liam shot him a cautionary look. Right public place, no yelling about his unpopular opinions. He cleared his throat and looked around. Only a few booths were occupied and they were immersed in their conversation and far away as well. So if Louis didn’t scream, he was fine. He dredged the rest of his drink and winced. “I don’t know what’s so special about it. Or why they even call it that. They kick just once and it’s not even a proper ball. Why don’t they call it like... anything else?”

“I don’t know why, Lou,” Liam said and shook his head grimly. There was a down tilt to his lips and looked equally as pained by the whole thing. They were also getting side tracked now. But he couldn’t help it. Ranting made Louis feel better and since Liam loved to listen, and even add to it sometimes, they worked out pretty well. Liam was the perfect companion whenever Louis was annoyed or angry, which happened a good few times. Maybe he should criticise baseball instead and he would have if he knew anything about it.

“I don’t know much about baseball, just that they hold a bat and wear a cap,” Louis said and was well aware that his voice was getting progressively louder. Loudness was a trait of his, and it got louder if he was drunk or annoyed. Since he was both, right now, it would be better to keep a check on himself. Fortunately, Liam’s expressive face would tell him when he was being brash, so he could stop being that. “And they hit the ball with the bat and there are bases? I should probably read about the sport online just to complain. It’s fun. I hate sports.”

Louis laughed to himself like a maniac before letting his head fall onto the table. The spot where his head hit, hurt but that was what happened when he was dramatic. He heard the front door of the diner open and a gush of air rush in, along with some people. Louis paid no heed to them. But he did hear an awful lot of sound outside the door, along with flashes? That surprised him. So he finally looked up and at the people that had walked in. It was a group of normal looking people in their early thirties, who were wearing colourful and expensive looking costumes. They weren’t dressed as a group though, so Louis could pick and understand a few of their costumes. If Louis was to guess, he would say they were returning early from one of those early Halloween bashes that were happening. He had been invited to one, but he disliked Halloween and costumes. Louis looked away from them and towards the door that was half opened by someone. This was a young man, seemingly around Louis’ age from the back. He was turned away, looking at someone behind and waving, which was peculiar. Yet Louis couldn’t take his eyes off him and watched as the man walked properly inside.

The guy also seemed to be a part of the Halloween costume-wearing group, but looked much younger. He was dressed in silver and blue, skin tight clothes that was also sparkly. Uniform, Louis realised, as he noticed the word ‘Dodgers’ written on the front in blue. There was a baseball cap over his head, also sparkly and from underneath curly hair peeked out. He was also wearing a pair of slightly large, pink glasses that were studded and reminded Louis of Elton John. And since there was ‘Elton’ written on the back of his uniform, it was safe to assume the guy was supposed to be Elton John as well. Louis hoped he was gay. He looked proper fit and tight clothes accentuated his figure. Louis was unable to stop staring at him like a creep, and his eyes lingered just a little longer on his arse. It was a really cute butt, in his defence.

“Liam, look there,” Louis said as he reached blindly for Liam’s hand across the table before pointing unsubtly towards the guy. He had no clue if Liam was looking. “That guy is wearing a sparkly Dodgers uniform over there along with a pair of ridiculous glasses. It’s so funny. Dick would be wearing that, don’t you think?”

Without warning, Liam leaned across the booth to slap his hand over Louis’ mouth, cutting off his speech. He had a lot to say. Like how this guy looked much more handsome than Dick and that was a compliment. He didn’t understand why Liam was looking at him so warily. Did he say something wrong? Oh wait, yeah he was loud. He gasped behind Liam’s palm and turned to look at the guy again who, to Louis’ horror, had managed to locate his voice. Louis ran the sentence over in his head and realised how it may seem as an insult without context. Did the guy think Louis called him a dick? He did have his eyebrows furrowed behind the glasses and his lips pursed together to form a frown. And in that moment, Louis noticed how his lips were the same shade of pink as his glasses. It was the wrong time, Louis thought next.

“Thanks for that!” the guy yelled over from where he stood, while grinning at Louis before he winked. He then walked over to his group of friends, who were already immersed in their own chatter. Louis felt something ugly settle in his stomach, lips parted behind Liam’s hands and he was frozen. He looked at Liam with wide eyes and got a sympathetic smile in return. Louis slapped his own hands over Liam’s, making the other lad wince but he didn’t care.

“I fucked up,” Louis mumbled and he was the only one who understood what he meant. Liam managed to free his hand somehow from his grasp and patted Louis’ shoulder in consolation before sitting properly in his seat. Louis groaned into his palm, slowly shaking his head. “I didn’t mean what he thought I meant. I was trying to compliment him, because I think he pulled off Elton really well. And I meant...”

“I know what you meant, Lou,” Liam said, smiling with pity in his eyes. He glanced at where Sparkly Elton sat, his back to them as he talked quietly with his friends. Louis followed his gaze and frowned mournfully at his beautiful back. He needed to fix the mess he had created. He couldn’t just let someone think he was making fun of them. “Should I get us a pie? And ice cream, if they have? My treat to make you feel better.”

“Yes please,” Louis mumbled and looked up to shoot his friend a grateful smile. He looked at the guy again, resolving to apologise before either of them left. If he didn’t, it would just weigh on his conscience. He couldn’t let the guy think Louis was... well, a dick. But he would do that after eating some consolation pie, which was also free. Thanks to Liam.

Fifteen minutes later, Louis had gorged on the pie and polished off his plate, while Liam looked in astonishment. He ate quickly when sad, what could he say. Thankfully, Sparkly Elton hadn’t left yet and was munching slowly on his sandwich. His friends talked loudly, while his quiet rumble barely carried over to Louis. They were garnering attention from the other patrons but not one of them seemed to be annoyed. Louis looked mournfully at his empty plate, missing the pie already. He had to come back here someday, maybe when he was in a cheerful state of mind.

It was a few minutes of mournful silence (on Louis’ part) later that the group standing up, in the process of leaving. And Louis’ heart pounded loudly and pumping fear into him at the thought of going up to them, singling out Sparkly Elton and apologising to him. But fate might have decided to go a little kinder on him, since the guy in question hadn’t finished his meal. He saw his friend looking at him questioning and motioned them to go ahead, munching on the last of his chips. Louis grinned and mentally cheered at the sight of the group piling out.

This was his chance, Louis thought, and also said out loud. Liam gave him an encouraging grin and a thumbs up, which pushed Louis into finally standing up. His legs were shaky but somehow he managed to stroll towards him, walking past the group of giggling girls. He squared up his shoulders and took in deep breaths when he was close enough, but the guy suddenly stood up and Louis froze up. He watched in surprise as the lad grabbed a tissue and began wiping the table down. Louis didn’t expect that of him and didn’t expect to be smiling either, but that was exactly what he was doing and he realised when he touched his cheek. He continued staring at Sparkly Elton’s back until he turned, coming face to face with him and then look was looking up at green, green eyes.

Sparkly Elton was taken aback to see Louis there, eyebrows furrowing but he gathered himself quickly, and his lips smoothened into a polite smile. It looked far from genuine, but Louis appreciated the effort since he wasn’t sure he would’ve have done the same, if their situations had been reversed.

“Hello,” Louis said and stupidly waved, cringing on the inside. He could hear Liam’s snort, loud and clear and took it as a sign to get his shit together. He took a deep breath in and cleared his throat, fingers fiddling with the sleeves of his jumper. “I’m sorry about the comment from before. I wasn’t trying to make fun of you or anything and didn’t mean it like it came out. I have this bad habit of complaining a lot and was in the middle of a long-winded rant about this guy who wanted to take me to a sports bar for our first date. He wanted to see a Dodger’s match and his name is Richard and I’ve been calling him Dick, because you know. So I was meaning to say that Dick would wear something like this, since he was a ‘super fan’ and only later that it clicked how it might have sounded to you. As if I had called you a dick, which I wasn’t. You look great in this, it’s a clever outfit. I love Elton John and I’m assuming he wore this outfit?”

“On this exact day, 43 years ago,” the guy admitted and his smile was genuine this time. The more Louis had spoken, the more his lips quirked up and he seemed to be amused. He fiddled with his cap and pushed his glasses up his nose before biting down on his lip. Honestly, those plush lips were ridiculously pink! If that was their natural shade then millions of girls would be jealous of him. “And yeah, that guy does sound like a dick. I wouldn’t take someone to a sports bar for a first date, well unless I met them there and they love sports. Also, thank you for the compliment.”

“Yeah,” Louis said, baffled by the guy’s voice. It hadn’t been evident from the two word reply from earlier, but this guy was English as well. He had a deep, slow drawl as if he was thinking his words twice and Louis wished he did the same sometimes. There was something alluring about him that had Louis staring as he tried to judge the colour of his eyes behind those oversized glasses. “It’s good that we cleared the air.”

“I agree,” he replied, smiling and nodded. There was a shout from behind Harry’s back and he turned towards his group of friends. He jerked a finger towards them with an apologetic tilt to his lips. “I have to get going now, sadly. But I like your sweater, looks good on you. Bye.”

The last sentence was said hurriedly and Sparkly Elton winked at him, still grinning before he turned around and jogged out the diner. Louis was taken by surprise, staring after him and was slightly dazed. He snapped out of it when Liam stood beside him and thumped his back playfully while grinning.

“How did it go then?”

“He was lovely,” Louis said slowly before sighing dejected. He was lovely, and nice and beautiful and Louis would never see Sparkly Elton again. But at least he wouldn’t think any less of Louis. That was a relief.

Wednesday, 31 st October.

Louis looked both ways before crossing the street, phone pressed to his ear and his sister, Lottie was babbling away.

She had called when Louis was leaving for a coffee run and he just got out a ‘hi how are you’ before she was launching onto how exactly were things. She had started with her perfect Halloween costume and went on to her boyfriend’s Halloween costume and it had been seven minutes of that. Now Louis was close to the nearest coffee shop and she had let up. Then she had the audacity to complain about Louis babbling all the time when it was clear that it ran in their blood. A real hypocrite she was.

It was the end of October and the spirit of Halloween was in the air, or so Liam said and repeated it while trying to be funny. They had a ‘cool’ boss, who had given everyone permission to dress up but not too slutty and everyone had cheered. Louis was the only one who counted it as a burden. See, he had never been a Halloween person. As a kid, he went along with everyone and since he was sulky lately, he found it even less fun. Liam had worn a batman shirt to work and taken to speak in a lowered pitch of voice, and Louis laughed out of courtesy. He didn’t get the fun about dressing up. To show his lack of enthusiasm, he had decided to dress glummer than usual and worn all black clothes. He had also pulled a black beanie over his head, which he had also bought just for that day. It probably counted as a costume and people even guess what it was. So his plan wasn’t working out the way he wanted it to.

Louis pushed in the door of the coffee shop and the familiar smell of coffee beans washed over him instantly. He sighed happily and hummed appropriately at Lottie’s story while standing behind the last person in the extremely long queue. He let his eyes wander over the shop, which had been covered in spooky decoration the past two days. It seemed like everyone was excited over Halloween except for Louis, who had nothing planned for later except for a good night’s sleep. He questioned if his choices for the night were sad before discarding that train of thought as quickly as he could.

When Louis tuned back into Lottie’s chatter, she was talking about the twins. Louis had two sets of twin siblings and apparently, both sets were excited. They had already dressed up and ready to go trick or treating with their mum. He smiled at the thought of them and felt sad all at once. “Make sure you send me their pictures. I already feel like I’m missing them.”

“You’re still feeling homesick? You know, you’re not missing that much.”

“I still feel like I am,” Louis said, lifting a shoulder in a half shrug. He rose up on his tiptoes to get a better view and counted seven people in the line ahead of him. He let out a sigh, knowing he had a long wait. Luckily, their boss hadn’t given them much to do and he had been given as much time as he needed to get coffees. He was just grateful he wouldn’t have to run the rest of the way.

“You’ll be home soon, right?” she asked, not expecting a reply. “So don’t worry. Tell me about your plans for the night. Which party are you going to? What are you dressing as?”

“Well, tonight I plan to dress myself in pyjamas and to go to sleep early,” Louis replied dryly, and expected the sound of outrage from his sister. But with that, he also heard an amused snort from behind him, which meant the person was also listening in without trying to be subtle. The least he could do was pretend to not eavesdrop right? It was the courteous thing to do. He cleared his throat and ignored them. “It isn’t as if I wasn’t invited anywhere, alright, Lots. I just chose to not go. It’s as simple as that.”

“You used to be fun, Lou, and now you act so old,” she teased and laughed as if she had said something hilarious. Louis merely rolled his eyes and shifted his phone to the other ear. “Since I am still fun, I’m going to be partying all night. I’ll have start on my hairdo right after we finish talking and it will take a while. I’ll update you on my night later.”

“Can’t wait,” Louis said, sounding extra cheerfully and she laughed. He missed his sisters, his family, his hometown. He was very mopey today, again. It wasn’t surprising. “Since you’ve taken time to breathe, I’ll just cut in. I feel as if everyone has decided to get their daily dose of caffeine just right now. The queue goes on forever and I’m afraid I’ll grow old before I get to place my order. I have to take six cups of coffee and one hot cocoa for me. And I miss having a proper cuppa of tea, you know and...”

“Let me just stop you before you go into your usual tea rant,” Lottie said hurriedly and probably, had rightly picked up on the trigger rant word. He did tend to go off about tea, but he really needed to talk. Of course his sister hated him. “Tommy is calling and I have to go like right now. Bye.”

The line was dead before Louis could get another word in and he just stared his phone screen in outrage. The next time, she would get the same treatment then. Louis made a note about it in his phone.

“Why do I always find you complaining about someone or something?” a voice asked from over Louis’ shoulder. It was a deep, decidedly British and coming from very close to his ear. Louis yelped instinctively and jumped due to the third reason. He was thankful for the gap that existed between him and the person ahead or he would have knocked into them. Tightening his grip over his slightly battered phone, he spun around to glare at the indecent person standing behind him. Eavesdropping he considered all right, because it was basic human nature and he was guilty of the same. But replying to eavesdropped conversation was rude, especially when it was to a stranger. This person, this man who was grinning at him from behind a pair of brown sunglasses was certainly a stranger to Louis. However beautiful he might be, he had also been rude. “Are you always complaining about something then? Also, hello.”

“Um excuse me, do we know each other?” Louis snapped back and lifted his chin up to meet the man’s eyes properly, only to glower. His eyes were narrowed, lips pressed into a thin line and he placed his free hand on his hip to seem more intimidating. He might have even pulled it off if he hadn’t jumped just seconds earlier. His heart was still beating fast and he willed it to calm down as he looked at the slightly taller man properly.

Firstly, the bloke was standing way too close to Louis and it bordered on inappropriate. He was wearing a plain, black shirt on which the top three buttons were left undone and a chest tattoo peeked through. Birds, if he wasn’t wrong. The guy was also sporting too loose pants which reminded him of nineties fashion along with mustard yellow flats, that didn’t go along with the rest of his outfit. He was wearing mismatched clothes that looked like it was picked randomly and blindly to throw on. The guy certainly had a weird sense of fashion, for sure.

To Louis’ question, he pushed his pink lips into a slightly adorable pout, and held it for a few minutes too. He tilted his head to the side then, and pushed his sunglasses up into his hair before his face was overtaken by a bright grin. “Oh right, I now realise you might not recognise me without my sparkly Dodgers uniform and the ridiculously pink glasses, didn’t you say? I’m Harry by the way, from Friday? The one whom you accidentally insulted?”

“Wait a second,” Louis said before squinting his eyes and it clicked. Of course it was Sparkly Elton, because who else would have such a ridiculous shade of pink on their lips. But he did look like a completely different person this time, in the daylight, with very loose, dull coloured clothes he had on. Louis would have never recognised him at the first glance. It was silly, so he laughed and shook his head. “Of course you’re that guy. I wouldn’t have ever guessed that when you’re not in a costume, you wear clothes like this. You dress like a hip grandpa, has anyone ever told you that before? It’s Halloween so it could be a costume too, so if that, just ignore this jab. Otherwise, that was just an observation, not insulting you this time either. Besides, you can’t just interrupt a person’s conversation and reply to something you’ve overheard. It’s rude. And also the second time you’ve done that, except this time I wasn’t even talking about you.”

The guy continued to laugh at Louis’ long ramble, probably deeming it funny instead of annoying like most people did. Harry, hadn’t he said his name was? Well, he clearly was one of those few people who could listen to Louis’ long replied patiently. It was a nice gesture; even if it meant nothing in the long run. He noticed the girl standing beside Harry was gaping at him them openly, more so at Harry and Louis wasn’t surprised. Who wouldn’t want to stare at this mesmerising, beautiful guy, who made bad clothes look good. It was a talent, for sure.

The guy merely laughed at Louis’ long ramble, deeming him funny and amusing instead of annoying. Harry, he had said his name was, clearly was one of the few people who could deal with Louis’ long answers. It was a nice thing, even if it meant nothing really. He noticed a few people were openly staring at them, more specifically at Harry and Louis wasn’t surprised. Who wouldn’t stare at this mesmerising guy, who made bad clothes look good. It was a talent.

“And to answer your question,” Louis continued and flicked his fringe to the side. Harry was looking at him intensely, as if he held the answers to every question and it made him feel important. It was also unnerving, because it was intense but Louis didn’t mind all that much. “I don’t always complain. People annoy me a lot though, I won’t deny that. But I tend to complain more than usual if I’m feeling homesick.”

“Homesick? Well yeah that makes sense.” He nodded grimly, pursing his lips in a way that let Louis know he was trying his best not to smile again. That thought made him smile and he glanced over his shoulder casually, only to see the line had moved ahead. He realised that he was standing backwards all along, and it was a weird thing to do. It didn’t matter that Harry was hot, they were still gathering attention and he shouldn’t. Besides, there was nothing he wanted to add to their conversation and he thought it was done there. Clearly, Harry disagreed as he shifted close and leaned closer to whisper. “I’m kinda used to it by now. Been away from home too long because of work. But what about you? How long have you lived here?”

“Not long, just for the past few months,” Louis answered and took a step ahead. Harry followed close. “I’m in Los Angeles for an internship really. Have lived here for the past four months and will leave after two more months. I thought it would be fun living in LA, with all the beaches and sunny weather. Turns out, I just miss me mum, and a good cup of Yorkshire tea. They just don’t make good tea like back home. So I’m stuck here with bitter coffee.”

Louis took in a deep breath to not launch into his tea rant. Lottie didn’t want to hear it, so surely a stranger wouldn’t love to either. There were just two more people ahead of him and this time, Louis was sure the conversation was over. Turned out that Harry was a really chatty guy.

“Is drinking coffee the reason why you’re so bitter,” he asked and chuckled in Louis’ ear. Louis immediately turned over to judge his expression and in turn the implication and found the lad smiling back. His dimples were out in full force and his green eyes held a certain sparkle. And he was still close, so close that Louis found himself getting lost in his eyes and momentarily losing his train of thought. He forgot what Harry had spoken and just stared at him instead. After half a minute of that, Harry got flustered and widened his eyes. The panic in his expression said he had misunderstood Louis’ silence. “No oh I just... that was me trying to make a joke. I didn’t mean to imply I just. Sorry.”

“Yeah yeah I got that,” Louis said quickly, his voice light and high pitched. His shook his head to clear his thoughts and smiled. Harry didn’t look much comforted, instead looking on warily as if Louis would yell. Why he thought that was beyond Louis. He could take a joke, of course. “I know I can be bitter, alright, I admit it. I was just – oh wait it’s my turn next. I’m sorry. It was great talking to you.”

And with that, Louis turned around and pulled out the note from his pocket listing all the orders. He passed it on to the barista, and smiled sweetly. Sadly, Harry didn’t try to talk to him this time. He did keep glancing at him a few times as if he was about to say something but settled for a smile, while Louis paid for and then collected his order. On the way out, Louis tapped his shoulder and gave him one last smile.

“If luck has it, we’ll meet again,” Louis told him. Harry beamed back at him and nodded. Louis hoped for the same but he didn’t expect for it to actually happen. With a wave he left, smiling all the way back. When Liam asked him why he seemed so bright, Louis said nothing and neither did he mention the encounter.

LA was a big city and Louis expected nothing from chance. Or luck. Whichever had led him to meet Sparkly Elton twice.

Saturday, November 3 rd .

‘This is completely pointless’ – Louis sent to the newly made group chat that consisted of just Daisy, Phoebe and himself.

‘Five more minutes, Lou?’

‘Fine. After five minutes, I’m leaving.’

Louis was seated on a table that was technically outside but also had a convenient view of the entrance of the restaurant. The slightest murmur and he would glance up quickly, his heart filling with hope before he frowned at the reality and went back to looking at his hand. The salad he had been slowly nibbling at for the past two hours was finally over, his plate clean and there was no more reason to stay there. Yet he ordered another cup of coffee and ignored the pitiful smile he was given. Of course anyone who looked at him right now would think he was being stood up, but if only. He had chosen to sit there alone in a slightly posh restaurant this time for no reason at all.

Even Liam had better plans that him for the day, which he was reluctant to share and Louis didn’t prod either. That was why he couldn’t go with Louis to the restaurant but had promised to accompany him the next weekend. If everything went his way, there would be no next time. He wasn’t so keen on travelling all the way to Malibu again just to feel poor amongst everyone. He hadn’t eaten just salad and drank coffee as a choice. Also, if he returned here next weekend, he would just feel desperate and that was the one thing Louis wasn’t. Not up until right this day he hadn’t been. He sighed, and closed his eyes when a gust of air blew across his face. The weather was nice at least, Louis could appreciate that.

He regretted picking up that call from Daisy and Phoebe that night and regretted all his life choices that led up to right this moment. His Saturday would have been spent so much better if not for that damn call . Like, Louis could be sleeping peacefully until noon.

All right, if Louis was to shift blames, he would blame that Dick for all the problems he caused.

On Tuesday afternoon, Louis had learned that Sparkly Elton was actually named Harry. And that night at three am, when Louis was sleeping peacefully, he was woken up by a call from Daisy. He had assumed it was important, since usually they were considerate of the time differences. But it wasn’t actually a life threatening matter, just the older set of twins calling him to scream about a guy named Harry Styles. He was also informed that that was the guy he had met at the coffee shop. A small google search had further informed him that Harry was a famous English singer who was trying to break into American music charts. He was also openly gay, which Louis had suspected from their two short meetings, but it was still good to know. The phone call was less informative and much more screaming, as they demanded details and asked if Louis had taken a selfie. Still sleepy, Louis had cut the call on them with the promise of calling in a better part of the day which had upset them just a little. Maybe Louis was here just to compensate for upsetting his sisters, or maybe he was here for a more selfish reason. Daisy had said that Harry frequented this very restaurant, so here he was. Waiting.

Louis was being a good brother, and that was what he would say if anyone asked. But Harry made good music and had an excellent singing voice, Louis would admit. He would try to pass this meeting off as a ‘coincidence’. And hoped that their third meeting would be a charm, as the saying went. But there was no sign of Harry yet, and Louis sighed. The five minutes he had promised his sisters were up and his coffee cup was drained, so there was no reason to delay. He asked for a check and ignored Daisy and Phoebe’s voices in his head saying he should have waited a little more. All right, maybe his heart was saying the same. But just as Louis paid his bill and stood up, it happened. There was a squeak from the table behind him that he knew for a fact was full of Harry’s fans that were waiting for him. When he had come to know of that, he hadn’t felt much better about his life choices.

Louis’ head snapped towards the entrance and gasped. It felt like some sort of déjà vu, when the same assortment of Harry’s friend group walked through first. Trailing behind them was the man Louis was waiting for, grinning widely at someone behind them. It was then that Louis noticed the paparazzo that might have been hired by his team. Since Louis worked in the entertainment sector, he was aware of this fact. It felt silly in hindsight, when he hadn’t thought much of the flashes last Friday. Louis watched as the paparazzo left and Harry turned towards his group of friends, still grinning. Louis took in a deep breath and headed towards him, making sure to not stare or get caught staring. He wanted to pass this off as a coincidence.

Harry was once again wearing unflattering clothes that consisted of a Hawaiian dad shirt and too loose cream trousers, along with the same mustard yellow shoes. For some reason unknown to Louis, he was fond of them. To complete his mismatched look, he was wearing alien sunglasses. Louis had seen a pair on Lottie’s instagram before and had teased her for it, but he didn’t mind them on Harry. However weird they were. His hair reached past his ears and flew along with the gust of wind that blew and momentarily, Louis forgot how to breathe. It was just that moment that Harry’s eyes landed on him and Louis felt the time freeze and panic rise within him. It was much more intimidating going up to Harry when he knew who he was, but not more than the first time surely. And when Harry’s face lit up with a smile, Louis felt all the more confident. And slightly dazed. Harry excused himself from his friends and closed the distance between them and stood still way too close. He really had no regards for personal space but Louis didn’t mind that.

“Hi, Harry,” Louis greeted, wrapping his arms around himself and grinned as wide as he could. “It’s such a surprise to see you here. I was just about to leave.”

“Oh it’s such a surprise to see you here as well,” Harry replied, voice level and not a trace of the said surprise in his voice. He slowly pushed his glasses up into his hair and tilted his head to the side. His eyes were shining bright, happy crinkles forming around his eyes and Louis wanted to trace them. He had no idea where that desire arose from. “It’s such a crazy, random happenstance that I happened to run into you here, in the restaurant that doesn’t seem like you would like but is the one I frequently visit. Who told you about this place?”

“I don’t know what you’re... alright fine, my sisters told me,” Louis said truthfully and rolled his eyes. It wasn’t as if he knew how to keep up the act too long. Besides there was no good reason to put up an act at all. Harry laughed at his revelation, unfazed with the knowledge that Louis was there with the sole intention of meeting him. He wondered what gave him away before deeming it unimportant. “They’re a big fan of yours. They spotted me in one of the photos your fans took of you in the coffee shop and called me in the dead of the night. They were screaming into my ear with no regard of time, made me google you and then come here. All because they need your autograph. You look so much different in real life and never would I have guessed Harry Styles was you.”

“Do I look good different or bad different?” Harry asked, eyebrows drawn together as he touched his cheek. There was a touch of concern, and a lot of amusement on his face. Hence Louis took it as a good sign and rolled his eyes good-naturedly. At least he wasn’t freaked out by Louis eh.

“That’s not the point, Harry,” Louis said, raising his finger to silence him and Harry giggled instead. He actually giggled before pretending to zip his mouth and Louis couldn’t even pretend to be stern. He shook his head to gather his thoughts before lowering his voice to a whisper. “But it’s good different, don’t worry. My point was that you should have told me you were a fucking popstar, my lad, and not let me make a fool of myself in front of my sisters. They couldn’t believe I didn’t know how Harry Styles looked like. I mean excuse me, I work and don’t read celeb gossip like they do. No offense to you, or anything. But imagine my shock when I realise that the weird lad I met twice turned out to be a famous weirdo. My sisters are jealous of me and said they wouldn’t talk to me unless I gifted them your autograph for Christmas. I hope you’re happy.”

Harry looked extremely happy, a hand covering his mouth to stifle his laughter. His eyes were squinted shut and Louis couldn’t help but smile fondly at him. Louis could feel people’s eyes on them from the nearby tables and he could only hope the fans from before weren’t trying to record them. He could only imagine how he looked like; dressed in good, flattering clothes of course but with a grumpy face. He had seen his grumpy face in photos and he did not look cute. But it wasn’t a priority how he came out; he was more concerned about Harry, who looked like he was about to choke on a laugh. He currently was scrunching up his nose to hold back his laughter. But it just looked like he was about to sneeze, which was cute, and Louis looked away to hide a smile of his own.

“I’m happy we met again, yes,” Harry said, making Louis look back at him quickly and arch his eyebrows. “Don’t look at me that way. Believe it or not, I like your cute little rambles and your cute little face. I’m also happy to sign. I know how sisters can be, even if I have just one, older but annoying one.”

“You would?” Louis asked, not expecting for him to agree so quickly. But then, Harry had been polite and nice the last two times so he didn’t know what was surprising.

“I just need something from you first,” Harry whispered and raised his eyebrows. When Louis didn’t reply with anything, he blushed. “I meant your name, nothing more.”

“Oh.” Louis laughed and shook his head. He reached into his jacket and pulled out Harry’s album and a marker. He grinned up at Harry. “My name is Louis. And thank you for this.”

“No problem,” Harry said and beamed at him. He pushed his hair off his face and took the marker. As he signed, his tongue stuck out from the corner of his mouth and Louis found it adorable. He pursed his lips to hold in the smile that was threatening to break over his face. “Oh, and do you have a piece of paper?”

“What for?” Louis asked, immediately searching his pockets. He didn’t carry paper, of course. “And no, I don’t.”

“Oh no worries, a tissue would do,” Harry said, as if to himself before he grabbed a tissue from the nearest table. He placed it over the CD and began writing. Louis stood up on his tiptoes and tried to peer at it, but Harry had held it pretty secretively. “And it’s a message. You’ll get it back. Don’t be so impatient.”

“Fine.” Louis sighed and flattened his feet against the ground. He could see Harry’s group of friends watching them, for some reason, and smiling. When Harry passed back the CD and paper, Louis was quick to read. On the CD was a short message for a Daisy and Phoebe, which wasn’t important. But the tissue contained a longer message, addressed to Louis. It said something that he read hurried and his eyes bugged when he found hastily scribbled digits at the end. He frowned up at Harry, who suddenly looked nervous. And shifty. And was blushing. “What is this?”

“Oh that’s just my number, my personal number I mean,” Harry said shyly, shrugging as if it wasn’t a big deal. Louis raised his eyebrows, heart beating quickly in his chest. “Would you go out on a date with me?”

“You ask that after you give me your number?”

“Yes?” Harry said shyly, mirroring Louis’ small smile before shrugging again. Cute. Also, he was a celebrity; he shouldn’t give away numbers so easily and visit the same places enough to provide stalkers with info. But it was cute. “What do you say?”

“Of course I will, you absolute weirdo.” Louis laughed, shaking his head and carefully folded the tissue and kept it in his pocket. He would have to be careful not to lose either, but especially the tissue. “And I’m happy you asked me out first, because I was this close to try and run into you again until I gather the courage to ask you out.”

“Seems like I just saved both us that chase,” Harry said and bit down on his lip before laughing. He looked over his shoulder at his friends, who didn’t even try to avert their eyes. He looked back at Louis apologetically. “And I have to...”

“Go?” Louis asked and laughed. “Yeah I have to leave as well. I waited two hours for you.”

“Really?” Harry asked and laughed, not deterred or weirded out by Louis. But Louis shouldn’t be so truthful. “Next time I won’t make you wait up.”

“You better not,” Louis said as he walked away. He wiggled his fingers before he left Cafe Habana, knowing for sure that he would meet Harry again. Sure he managed to make a fool of himself this time as well, but it was all right.

He just had to be careful it wouldn’t happen again.

Friday, November 9 th .

‘Please please, tell me where we’re going tonight.’

‘Like I said before, Louis, it’s a surprise.’

Louis huffed, not liking the response and he looked up at the road ahead. Liam was shooting him a questioning look and Louis merely grinned at him before typing a reply.

‘Fine then, I hate you. Bye.’

He added an angry emoji for good measure before putting his phone on vibrate. He kept it upside down on the console ahead of him and leaned back in his seat. Louis and Harry had been texting each other for a week, sharing random snippets of their lives and making small talk that morphed into deep conversations. He liked to think he had learnt Harry’s texting patterns, so if he wasn’t mistaken, his phone would be blown with multiple texts and he didn’t want to reply. For now. He was teasing Harry right back with silence and he hoped the lad would mellow and answer Louis’ question too.

And now that he was ignoring Harry, he could finally talk to Liam, who was generously dropping him home after work.

“He’s still not telling me where we’re going tonight,” Louis said and sighed deeply. It wasn’t as if he didn’t like surprises. He did like them, but when it concerned occasions such as dates, he didn’t. Not knowing where he was going posed a problem with clothes, and he had no clue what to wear tonight that would be appropriate for the place. That's why he was badgering Harry but to no avail.

“Well, neither have you told me about who it is you’re talking to,” Liam said and gave him a pointed look. Louis frowned before remembering; right he hadn’t told Liam about Harry. He was distracted all week, texting Harry and accidentally ignoring his friend. And if Liam did ask, Louis answered him something vague and he wasn’t fooled. Yet he didn’t press him, the good friend he was and Louis now felt guilty. Liam wouldn’t tell anyone he was going out with Harry, surely, hence there was no reason to hide.

“You remember that guy wearing a sparkly baseball uniform at the diner two weeks ago?” Louis asked, slowly. Liam’s eyebrows furrowed in question. Right, of course he didn’t. “The one I accidentally insulted and then apologised?”

And then Liam laughed, grip tightening around the wheel as he shook his head. “Oh you mean Harry Styles? Now I remember.”

Louis gasped at him before fish mouthing. Liam knew? “How did you know? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know until two days later, actually,” Liam explained, shrugging as if it was a light matter. Louis didn’t agree, still processing everything. How did Liam know? “I was bored and browsing articles and saw a picture of that guy in an article about celebrity costumes this Halloween. That's how I knew. I suspected it then too, but the article confirmed my suspicions. And I didn’t think I should mention it, because I thought you wouldn’t care.”

“Well I cared!” Louis protested and threw his hands in the air. Liam seemed vaguely amused by Louis’ reactions, glancing at him from the corner of his eyes. What Louis felt was extreme frustration as he relived the three embarrassing encounters. “You could have saved me the trouble of embarrassing myself two more times.”

“Two more times?” Liam repeated, confusion evident in his voice. He also vaguely looked hurt. “You tell me nothing Louis. If you would have told me the second time, then you wouldn’t have embarrassed yourself the third time.”

Louis sighed deeply. “Maybe I deserve it. But that also led me to getting his number and going on a date tonight.”

“Wait, Harry Styles asked you out?”

“Why do you say that as if it’s unbelievable?” Louis huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, scowling at his friend for a good few seconds. “I’m a great person. Surprisingly, he agreed. But we talked for a week, got to know each other and now he refuses to tell me where we’re going. I pleaded and threatened and he refuses. What else is a man gonna do? I want to know what I should wear. I have no clue what this place is. What if I dress too cheap just for us to go to a five star restaurant? That would be a life ruining date.”

Liam chuckled, finding Louis’ rants funny as always. “But you can wear that jumper of yours, the one you wore to the diner. Remember that one? Harry did say he liked it, and it looks good on you too. So why not, eh?”

“You’re a genius, Payne,” Louis exclaimed before fist pumping the air. Liam laughed some more, winking at him and Louis could just kiss him right now, if not for where they were. So he just reached over to pat Liam’s arm and smile. “Since you were so very helpful, I’ll tell you about the other two times after all. Just if you promise not to hold it over me.”

-

‘Not making you wait up this time.’

‘Good.’ Louis sent and chuckled to himself, shaking his head. Of course Harry remembered their last verbal conversation. What did Louis expect.

When Louis had reached home, he was buzzing and Liam had been nothing but supportive. Alright, he might have reprimanded Louis for sort of stalking him, but apart from that he was happy. Louis had one hour to get ready, which included taking a shower, finding his jumper and styling his hair. It took him five minutes to shower, ten minutes to find his jumper (which had somehow ended up in the bottom of his wardrobe, thankfully wrinkle free) and twenty minutes to make his hair look presentable. He had elected to leave it down in a fringe anyway, giving him a soft look along with his cosy jumper. Deeming himself acceptable for a date with a popstar, he folded his legs and sat on his couch, finally checking his messages and read over Harry’s previous messages with a fond smile. He was too cute, really, even over messages. The last message over an hour ago had simply been a frowny face, before Louis had replied with a smiley. That seemed to have appeased Harry as he told Louis he was leaving.

‘I won’t tell you where we’re headed, but ice wear it will remind you of home.’

‘I swear*’

‘I better hope you’re not flying me to England else I swear to god Harold!’

‘Of course I’m not.’

‘Do you want me to?’

‘NO!’

‘Alright.... just checking :)’

‘By the way, I’m outside your building now. Are you ready?’

‘Be down in five!’

‘I’ll be in the one beside the Range Rover. Can’t miss me :)’

Of course he drove a Range Rover, or was driven in one. Didn’t matter. Louis shook his head and stood up, walking into the bathroom to take a long look in the mirror to see if his hair had stuck to a side. It hadn’t, which was good for him. He then checked his pockets for wallet and keys before finally putting on his shoes and leaving. There was a happy buzz underneath his skin, heart racing faster than his feet could take him and the smile refused to leave his face. He opted to climb down two flights of stairs than wait for the lift and wasn’t sweaty when he exited the building. Patting down his fringe absently, he looked around and sure enough a big car was idling by curb. A figure leaned against the door, all long legs and curly hair and Louis took a few seconds to let his eyes wander. He was, surprisingly, wearing white skinny jeans today and looked a man his own age. His pink button up was also left half unbuttoned, which didn’t surprise Louis much and he chuckled, drawing Harry’s gaze upon him. He was blessed by a dimpled smile and sparkling green eyes and Louis was floored for a beat before he jogged towards him. Sure they texted every day and had found a pap pictures of him as well, but face to face... it had been so long.

“Hi Louis,” he said as he clasped his hands and gave Louis a very obvious onceover. Louis had already checked Harry out before, yet from up close he noticed that Harry’s shirt was slightly sheer and probably very expensive and Louis couldn’t wait to take it off him but. Not tonight, sadly, since he didn’t put out on first dates. He could change the rule, if Harry wanted. Harry’s hair was pushed back and tried to be styled into a quiff but it didn’t look quite that. His hair was too soft and curly to stay up probably, because his quiff was falling apart. “You look great tonight. This jumper looks quite good on you, like I said last time. But you look even more beautiful tonight somehow.”

“Thanks, Harry,” Louis said and grinned bashfully, feeling his cheeks heat up. He looked away, noticing Harry’s driver smiling at them before looking away quickly. Louis fiddled with his fringe just a little, a nervous tick. “If I’m being honest, this is the third time I’ve worn it. It’s a gift from me sister, who bought me this because I was coming here. You know how much confusion you put me in when you refused to tell me where we were going? Then I thought this jumper goes well with any location so eh.”

Louis took in a deep breath and covered his cheeks while Harry giggled, a lot amused. Louis wasn’t even being funny so he didn’t know why Harry was laughing but it was a confidence boost. “The thing I’m glad of,” Louis continued, raising his eyebrows, “Is that you’re not wearing old man clothes today. I would have to cancel on you. Okay maybe I wouldn’t have, you’re cute.”

Harry bit down on his lower lip as he continued grinning. His gaze was intense and unwavering, to which Louis tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Nothing. It’s just that moonlight casts beautiful shadows on you and I feel like I should write songs about you, so I was just thinking about that.”

Louis gaped at him like a fool and Harry grinned, smug at rendering Louis speechless. He opened the door and motioned for Louis to get in, which the latter happily did and took a moment to compose himself. Of course Harry said beautiful words; he wrote and sang love songs for a living!

“Thank you,” Louis whispered as he watched Harry sit in beside him, close enough so that their knees and sides were touching. The car started moving and Louis stayed quiet, pointedly looking at Harry until the latter looked back questioningly. “Are you going to tell me now where we’re going? I’m still waiting, you know.”

“Oh yeah, that.” Harry looked outside the window before smiling shyly and ducking his head. Louis noticed he was playing with the rings on his fingers, specifically the ring on his index finger with the turquoise stone. He wore plenty of rings and kept changing it and Louis knew that because of Daisy and Phoebe. Not because he had looked Harry up and somehow had fallen into the deepest pits of tumblr. He was entranced with the movement of Harry’s hands and almost missed when he started speaking. “We’re going axe throwing today.”

“Wait, what the fuck?” Louis exclaimed and abruptly looked up, eyes wide and probably looking frazzled. Harry was looking on innocently as if he hadn’t revealed the most bizarre first date idea ever. Louis wondered if he had completely misjudged Harry or if it was vice versa. In the middle of all those questions, Harry started laughing loudly and cut off Louis’ train of thoughts. It was confusing and amusing, because Harry was squawking and pointing at Louis’ face than anything and Louis realised he was being mocked. Okay that was a good. Harry was just kidding. “Thank fuck that was a joke. I was half wanting to jump out of this car and block your number forever.”

Of course Louis wasn’t planning to do any of that, of course he was exaggerating. And it was worth it when Harry started laughing harder until he went red in the face and snorted, which wasn’t attractive. But since he was whipped, he found it endearing and laughed along.

“I’m not a complete weirdo, come on,” Harry said once he had calmed enough. He was wiping at the corner of his eyes and wheezing still. He ruined what was left of his quiff by running his hands through it as he sniffed. He leaned forward and looked at his driver, who had managed to remain stoic throughout it all. “How far away are we now, Paul?”

“We’ll be there in five minutes, sir.”

“Alright thank you.” Harry then leaned in towards Louis conspiringly, eyes wide and twinkling. One of his large hands came to rest on Louis’ thigh and their faces were close enough that Harry’s curls were tickling Louis. He hoped Harry was planning to kiss him soon, because he felt like he was about to combust. Of course that's not what happened. “Finally, I’ll tell you where we’re going.”

“Yeah?” Louis asked breathlessly and Harry’s grin widened as his eyes flitted down to Louis’ lips for a moment then up.

“We’re going ice skating!” Harry exclaimed and leaned back, looking very proud of himself. Louis looked on in confusion. The ‘ice swear’ thing suddenly dawned on him as he realised it wasn’t a mistake. It was a pun, and a clever one at that.

“Ice skating?” Louis asked drily before clearing his throat, eyebrows drawing together. It probably sent a wrong message since Harry’s smile wiped away, only to be replaced by a panicked frown.

“Do you hate ice skating?” Harry asked, voice squeaky and eyes wide. Doubt clouded his expression and he looked as if he was rethinking everything. Louis’ tone might have been flat and face clouded with confusion but underneath all that, he was happy. He loved ice skating, missed it as well. He was sort of a pro, if he said so himself. Ice skating wasn’t the problem; it was just that it was a public date. Even if they went to an indoor ice rink, Harry would be sure to be recognised. He didn’t understand that, was all and that's why he hadn’t immediately cheered. “I knew I should have asked you if you like it when you were badgering me. But I wanted to surprise you and impress you, but I forgot how much you hate sports. Ice skating is sports, of course, it’s part of Winter Olympics. Or is that figure skating? Either way I’m so –”

“Harry!” Louis interjected loudly and slapped a hand over Harry’s face to silence him. Wow, Harry had been nervously babbly, something Louis did the previous times. Funny. “I love ice skating, don’t worry. We’re good about that.”

“Yeah?” Harry murmured against Louis’ palm and he nodded, before withdrawing his hand. There was a delectable blush spreading over’s Harry’s cheeks and Louis couldn’t help but grin. “That’s great because I was nervous. You’re very picky, in a good way and I wanted to desperately impress you with something unusual, not take you to a boring dinner thing.”

Louis blushed, overwhelmed by Harry’s confession. He wasn’t picky, not even in a good way, no matter what anyone said. Alright he might be picky with the men he chose to date. He would have been happy with a normal, boring dinner date if it was Harry on the other side of the table. And he said the same, feeling sappy and both of them were flustered messes, and it was nice so far. They didn’t say anything else, didn’t have to and Paul announced that they had arrived at their destination. It was an indoor ice skating centre, Louis could see from the window and the back entrance too. He should have expected that but it was easy to forget that Harry was famous. He acted like a normal twenty one year old (quirky habits aside) and flirted like a teenager in love, which Louis wasn’t better but well.

Louis kept his head ducked as he walked inside and was slightly puzzled because there were not many people present. A few staff members were there, who seemed to have been alerted and kept their eyes averted. Louis stopped worrying about people when Harry grabbed his hands and dragged him towards the locker room. He was handed a warm jacket and gloves, something which Harry told him was his own and was a little large on Louis as well. The locker room was also completely empty and so was the rink, when Louis walked onto the ice and stared. Harry was a few metres away, wiggling his hands and then it clicked.

“Did you bloody book out a whole fucking place for tonight?” Louis almost yelled and pointed an accusing finger at Harry. The man in question was blushing and looking pointedly away as he shrugged. Now Louis remembered he was a popstar, because this was touching but ridiculous. “What a way to waste your money, I swear. We could have just had normal dinner.”

“It wasn’t much and like I said, I really wanted to impress you,” Harry said and continued playing with his rings. He looked slightly guilty and a lot flustered and Louis couldn’t even pretend to be bad. He laughed, making Harry’s head snap up in surprise. Louis was aware Harry’s first album had come out two years ago and he had a steadily growing fan base. He was also told by Harry that this would be his first real date, since everyone else he ‘dated’ was merely for promotion purposes. He had also since realised that Harry was an overly romantic, which shouldn’t surprise Louis that he went all out. He was still a twenty one year old with a crush and why shouldn’t Louis be flattered someone had rented out a whole ice rink for them to skate as much as they wanted and in private. At least it showed that Harry had thought it all out and detailed. “I wanted to make this memorable for you, for us. I don’t want to be the guy you complained to your friend about, like that Dick guy. So I paid careful attention to your texts, asked specific questions and decided that you would definitely like this. And I have money and my mother is the only one I can shower it on, and she’s had enough so.”

Louis was feeling misty eyed and laughed to cover it up. “You really want to impress me, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

Louis skated closer to Harry, who looked on earnestly with his hands held behind his back. He looked nervous, and Louis was too as he gripped Harry’s arm. “I know kisses are usually reserved for the end of the date, but I want to break that rule. Can I kiss you now?”

“Yes please,” Harry said as he grinned and leaned forward, meeting Louis in the middle. His lips were chapped and soft against Louis’ but insistent. There was no one but the two of them, so Louis knew he could kiss as long as he wanted. But then their skates clinked against each other and Harry was thrown by the sound. The two of them leaned away and looked at each other before bursting into laughter. For some reason, that small clink was funny and Louis already knew this would end up to be the best date in his life.

Harry continued to nervous babble sometimes and Louis held himself together, showing off his moves on the ice. Harry clapped when Louis attempted a really difficult move and kissed him as congratulations. Louis felt that nothing could bring him down. Not even when he was on the ice after Harry attempted a risky lift which resulted in a nasty fall. Not even when they had to be rushed to the hospital for his broken wrist and Harry’s sprained foot. Not even when a picture of them kissing in the hospital with casts on their limbs surfaced on the internet. Nothing.

Louis was happy and not so homesick, because he now had an English boy by his side.