Work Text:
i cannot create art from paint, nor song, nor pencil. but i shall from words.
——
white.
white littered the ground—only to be muddied by his boots. white fell from the galaxy above his head—only to fall victim to the warmth of his scalp and his earth. white paralyzing the lifeless metal of railings and street lights, white gathering for warmth in places where no shoe ever resided, white freezing up his palms. white bushes, white flowers, white fingers...
his eyes froze up as they caught the sight of those fingers, attached to that arm, to that shoulder, to—
to harry.
white fell from his lips as he released a sigh, his footsteps quickening, effectively staining the white behind him and branding it. “hey,” he murmured, practically breathed, quickly becoming fearful that his greeting had escaped with the white. but, alas—
“i don’t want to talk to you.”
the response was short. cold. cold like the white. he grimaced, brushed his eyes over the expanse of white around them, exasperated. he’d been attempting to get a response out of harry for the past 15 minutes, and to arrive on this as his long awaited reply instantly frustrated him. he was completely clueless as to what to do. “how can i make this better?” he voiced his anxieties aloud, desperate eyes searching for harry’s own, but coming up empty. he wouldn’t even spare him a glance.
“you can’t,” harry huffed in response, the white from his words dusting past the shorter boy, just glittering on the tip of his nose.
“h,” he sighed, his own white breath interlocking with harry’s in a peace that he wished they, themselves, were locked in. “i don’t know what to do.”
harry stopped in his dirtied tracks. just stopped. so, thusly, the other boy froze as well, still as the streets, still as the white cozied on rooftops. he turned to harry, watching as the boy finally brought his head up, revealing a bright pink nose and even pinker cheeks—a smart contrast to the white of his usual complexion. his vibrant green eyes stood out most of all, although; his eyes stood like emeralds of emotions, displaying fear, disgust, love, warmth.
but now, they were darkened. they told of nothing but unsettlement.
“all i ask,” harry finally broke, finally pushed himself from the bridge, finally shattered his glass wall. “all i ask is that you come home at night, spend time with me, take me out on dates. that’s all. i even brought you something to eat since you told me you were staying late at work, but i come to find that you lied to me and actually went out to a pub with your friends!” his words froze in the air before him, and he licked his lips, shook his head. “i don’t know why you would lie about something like that, i don’t know really want to find out why, but if you’re doing something bad then just break up with me now. i don’t want to find out in two months when everyone else has already heard about it.”
silence.
he was uneasy. he was unsure on how to respond, exactly. although, he was well aware that he wasn’t guilty of anything harry was implying under his breath. but.
damn, well. but he was scared.
“louis.”
louis’s head snapped up in an instant, meeting his eyes of angry seas. he swallowed. “harry, i—“ he bit his tongue. harry stared on, expectantly. “i never cheated on you and i never will. i promise. but, i just—i just didn’t want you to be upset about my—.” his words froze solid in his throat. “my drinking.”
his head hung, cheeks most likely a brighter red than harry’s were. he was ashamed, to say the very least. he despised himself, despised his actions, despised his own breath.
he knew he was in the wrong every time he stepped out of the line, but he went on anyway.
“i can’t help you if you never tell me anything,” harry murmured, his voice as soft as the snowflakes that fell from the clouds above the both of them. louis watched as one fell comfortably onto harry’s scarf. “the first step to all of this is communication. i just need you to talk to me.”
“yeah,” louis breathed, glancing away from harry and deciding that the sparkles of mud in the snow beneath their boots were more interesting. he had just focused on a snowflake that fell on the very tips of his toes when something white blocked his vision, and then harry was grabbing louis’s hand. louis looked up, and there he was. pink nose, red cheeks, fluffy lips, lily pad eyes. louis could now feel the white that dripped from harry’s lips against his own, finding it much warmer than it had originally appeared to be. a faint smile hid behind the white.
harry’s fingers stretched easily until they were comfortably fitted into louis’s, the grin on his lips growing a small bit more. “i just want you to not hurt anymore,” he murmured, his smile fading away with his words, his breath, the white. “i want you to be okay. i can’t be okay if you’re not.”
“okay,” louis breathed in response, staining and branding the snow between them so that their bodies were flush together. his head nodded as he walked, his words fell from his lips as he nodded. “i’ll do my best. i promise.”
“that’s all i ask.”
gold.
gold flooded louis’s entire body, pulsing through his bloodstream, pumping into his lungs, flooding behind his eyelids. gold was harry, gold was harry’s lips, gold was those lips on louis’s. gold was the moment they were enclosed in. gold shielded them two from the white of winter, gold flooded louis’s skin as harry’s hand found its way to the small of his back. gold bled from his own fingers as he placed half of them on harry’s hip and the other half on his jaw.
when they pulled back, that was all louis could taste in his mouth, on his lips, in the air.
gold.