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1.
They were on the tour bus. It was like it always is, Niall and Zayn playing FIFA with their controllers, Liam sitting beside Zayn and cheering him on, and Harry, well, he was being himself, just doing nothing, sitting on the couch, dozing off.
Louis was standing by the rest of the boys, who were themselves too engrossed to say anything to him, and so, he quietly sat down beside Harry, who immediately curled up against him.
Louis smiled, gently tangling his fingers in the 20 year old’s curls, trying to get him to be more comfortable. Harry made a satisfied sound from the back of his throat, settling down with his head in Louis’ lap.
Louis was smiling, but he didn’t realise that he was, as he took in the beautiful boy’s features. Such a delight, Harry.
Harry shifted slightly, snapping Louis out of his trance.
Louis then realised he was smiling, and immediately wiped it off his face, stopping all his movements as he tried to get back his composure.
Harry grunted, as if telling Louis not to stop, and Louis sighed, biting his lip, but stroked his curls nonetheless.
2.
They were on the stage, performing, when Liam asked Harry to smile for the camera, and Harry got shy. Louis laughed, completely endeared, as Harry tried to smile with all his teeth.
Harry turned to look at Louis, and Louis smiled at him, making Harry beam.
Louis then laughed to himself, he really was a delight, Harry.
Zayn joined Louis, sitting beside him, offering him a knowing smile, in response to which, Louis only shrugged, shaking his head with the ghost of a smile on his face.
Zayn raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.
Louis sighed, running a hand through his hair, as he pursed his lips, looking at the beautiful crowd.
3.
The third time was also on the stage, when they had technical difficulties, and Harry thought it was a good idea to crack some jokes.
“It’s time for some jokes!” He had said, making the crowd scream in glee.
Louis chuckled, shaking his head fondly, but when Liam raised an eyebrow at him, he bit the inside of his cheek, erasing the smile from his face as he looked away from Liam who was now laughing.
Louis sighed, biting his lip, coming to a conclusion that yes, Harry was indeed a delight.
4.
They were promoting their latest album, Four, and the interviewer had asked them why it was called so.
Harry had said: “because it’s... the fourth album?”
Louis had laughed fondly, shaking his head at the boy’s sense of humour.
Niall had smacked Harry on the back of his head, and Liam and Zayn had only chuckled at the whole exchange.
But Louis was only looking at Harry, his eyes crinkled as he looked at the boy who was laughing with the rest of them.
Niall, who was sitting beside him, nudged him with a grin, and Louis sighed, shaking his head, as he caught himself smiling again.
But Harry was a delight, what else could Louis do?
5.
They were all at Liam’s guesthouse, having managed to grab a tiny break in the midst of tour.
Louis was “kicking Zayn’s ass” at FIFA, and Niall cheered on, waiting for his turn to play against the winner. Liam was on his phone, doing something or the other, and Harry, dear dear Harry, he was attempting to make a new dish in Liam’s kitchen.
“Don’t burn it down, Styles, that’s all,” Liam had said, and Harry had beamed in response, nodding his head, assuring him that nothing of that sort would happen.
Louis hollered in victory, he had won against Zayn, after all. Zayn rolled his eyes, tossing the controller aside for Niall to take.
But Louis shook his head, passing his own controller to Niall.
“I’ll grab some water,” he said, standing up to leave the room and going to the kitchen to get some water.
Zayn grinned, a twinkle in his eye, as he happily took the controller, but didn’t forget to wink at Louis.
Louis rolled his eyes. No, he wasn’t going to specifically talk to Harry. He was only going for water.
“Hey, Haz,” He said, entering the kitchen and walking towards the jug of water.
“Hey, Lou,” Harry replied, clumsily moving all over the kitchen, grabbing ingredients and doing whatever Louis didn’t understand.
Louis had only cooked one meal. Everyone knows which one.
“What is it that you’re making today?” Louis asked, the glass of water he was there for long forgotten, as he leaned against the counter, looking at Harry, who appeared to be quite concentrated at what he was doing.
“It’s a surprise!” Harry said excitedly, apparently very happy with the way his dish was turning out so far.
“Am I no exception?” Louis smirked, walking closer to Harry, stopping all his movements.
“You’re nothing special,” Harry countered, a teasing edge to his voice as he turned to look at Louis with a smirk of his own.
“No?” Louis asked, moving impossibly closer, none of them realised when their foreheads rested against each others’.
“Nope,” Harry breathed, the word popping out of his mouth.
“Really?” Louis pushed, his hands going on either side of Harry to grab the counter.
“Mhm,” Harry hummed, the smile on his face gone, instead, a dark look replaced it.
“Okay,” Louis whispered near Harry’s ear, making the younger boy shiver.
Louis pulled away completely, grabbing his glass of water as smoothly as he could, and walked out of the kitchen.
Holy shit.
What did he just do?
He tried to control his breathing before walking back into the room where the rest of the lads were.
“Took you quite some time to fill a glass of water,” Zayn commented, a smirk on his face.
“If that was your main motive,” Liam added smugly, chuckling as he high fived with Niall and Zayn.
“And you’ve also got pink ears, that’s nice,” Niall laughed, all three of them targeting Louis who just rolled his eyes at them, flipping them off.
It wasn’t his fault that Harry was an utter delight.
6.
They were at the club in LA, enjoying themselves.
Liam and Zayn were doing shots while Niall downed as many as he could.
Louis was at the counter, taking in the scene in front of him. Sweaty, dancing bodies, moving around.
The alcohol burned his throat as he took a sip, crinkling his nose slightly.
“Where’s Harry?” Louis shouted in Niall’s ear, wanting to be heard.
“Wouldn’t you want to know!” Niall shouted back, laughing, as he shook his head.
“Oh, fuck off,” Louis muttered, downing the drink all at once.
Louis decided that tonight, he was going to get wasted. Completely, entirely wasted.
And so, he drank so much, he lost count, and by the time he spotted Harry on the dance floor, he was hammered enough to stumble towards him.
Harry stiffened slightly, as Louis wrapped his arms around his waist, such that Louis’ chest was in contact with Harry’s back.
“Lou,” He whispered, but Louis heard it, humming in question.
“What are you doing?” Harry asked, turning around to face Louis, who was looking up at Harry with a drunken smile.
“Such a sweet boy, you are,” He offhandedly commented, making Harry raise an eyebrow in surprise.
“You’re drunk, Louis,” he finally said, but didn’t complain when Louis placed his hands on Harry’s waist.
“You know what they say, a drunk man always has sober thoughts,” Louis chuckled, his hands traveling all the way up to Harry’s curls, tangling themselves in his hair.
Harry lowered his head, as if telling Louis to continue, and Louis was a little shocked at his forward ness, but drunk Louis didn’t really care.
He slowly pushed himself flush to Harry’s body, and tilted his head up, as if to kiss him.
Harry’s eyes were filled with uncertainty and doubt, as he subtly leaned centimetres away from Louis.
Louis frowned, catching the movement, and attempted to go closer once again.
“Lou,” Harry pleaded, but Louis didn’t understand for what.
“Haz, what is it?” He asked softly, furrowing his eyebrows.
Looking into Harry’s eyes, it was as if Louis was sober again.
“I–I just,” Harry never completed his sentence, just shook his head, biting his lip.
“Never mind,” he mumbled, but Louis pouted.
“You just what?” He urged, his hands cupping Harry’s face gently.
“I just want to make sure we’re looking for the same thing,” Harry sighed, looking at the floor, his cheeks still warm by Louis’ gentle hands.
“I mean—I just—If you’re looking for a one night thing, then I-I’m not—“ Harry fumbled, looking wherever but into Louis’ eyes.
“Hey,” Louis cut him off, his thumbs stroking Harry’s cheekbones.
“Look at me,” he instructed softly, and hesitantly, Harry’s green met Louis’ blue.
“Listen, I know this might sound absurd, it definitely will, but, Harry, I—“ Louis gulped, looking into Harry’s eyes which gave him the courage to continue.
“—I feel very... strongly, towards you. And I don’t want to hurt you. I haven’t realised this, but every passing day, these feelings just keep getting STRONGER,” Louis continued, searching Harry’s eyes for an answer.
“Louis,” Harry almost cried, gasping a little, as he placed his own hands on top of Louis’.
“And since the day I first saw you, I knew you were something else,” Louis further spoke, and he really didn’t know from where these words were coming out of his mouth, but it was all true and he wasn’t complaining.
“Since the concert?” Harry asked softly, waiting.
“Since the concert,” Louis confirmed, nodding his head, offering Harry a sweet smile.
And then Harry beamed, smiling with his dimples.
“I don’t think this is the right time to say this, but: same,”
And Louis laughed, as Harry giggled shyly.
Louis leaned closer, and this time, Harry didn’t move away, if anything, he moved closer too.
And then their lips connected, and the whole spark thing Louis always laughed at, came true.
With their actions, they tried to convey their emotions. The love, the care, the desperation, they tried to convey it through a sweet connection of their lips.
And this might have been a physical connection literally, but at that moment, they connected. More than they already used to.
When Harry pulled away, he had a beautiful, bright light in his eyes, and Louis made a vow to himself that he would never, never let that burn out.
Of course Zayn, Liam, and Niall were applauding in the background, because of course they would.