Work Text:
5:03 a.m. The sun has barely begun to rise, the sky a dark blue but not quite navy, with yellow shining from the horizon. Louis hasn’t slept a wink all night, despite being dressed in only briefs and a ratty t-shirt, glasses perched on his nose and fringe sweeping across his forehead.
5:04 a.m. Birds have been tweeting for an hour now, chattering excitedly and flittering about. His head is throbbing as he struggles to find the words to finish his history paper, due right at the beginning of first period.
5:05 a.m. He knows what’s distracting him. Rumors have been going around ever since he came out as gay and an upperclassman by the name of Harry came out as bi. Zayn says that Perrie says that Niall heard from Jesy who overheard Harry talking to Liam about planning to ask Louis out on a date. It’s not a big deal.
5:06 a.m. It’s a huge deal. It’s a huge deal because Harry Styles has been at the forefront of Louis’s heart since he laid eyes on him freshman year. Louis isn’t sure how he’s expected to type up a paper thoroughly comparing the two World Wars with that kind of information in his head.
5:07 a.m. His conclusion is shit, but it isn’t going to get any better. Louis sighs, taking off his glasses and rubbing his temples when he looks at his alarm clock. The time glares back at him in red, and he doesn’t bother climbing into bed when he knows he has to be up in twenty three minutes anyway.
Louis takes a minute for himself, staring at his wall in the dim lighting. He sighs again, finally rising from his swivel chair and heading toward the bathroom down the hall. Flicking the light on, Louis cringes at the dark bags under his eyes. How could Harry find me attractive, he thinks, before shaking his head and turning to start the water for a shower.
After he gets out, it only takes a few minutes to brush his teeth and put in his contacts, leaving his hair for after he gets dressed. Louis takes his time padding down the hallway, back to his room. His mom is up, she’s cooking breakfast downstairs before she has to leave for work how she always does, and his sisters are still sleeping peacefully. When he gets to his room, he goes straight to his drawers, digging through them to find his sinfully tight, slate gray jeans. He also picks out a bright blue V-neck and his white TOMS, pulling on his clothing.
Louis does his signature fringe in record timing, getting downstairs in time to kiss his mom goodbye before she leaves and promises to wake up the girls. He saunters into the kitchen to see what’s for breakfast: scrambled eggs (with one sunny-side up for Daisy), sausage (a piece of ham for Fizzy), and toast (an English muffin for Lottie). He makes five plates, setting them on the breakfast bar before hurrying upstairs, needing to get the girls up and ready in time for him to catch the bus.
When the girls get downstairs, he goes into his mom’s office to print his paper and grabs it, stuffing it gracelessly into his backpack and rushes downstairs, with almost no time to eat and get to his bus stop. Louis settles for grabbing his toast and an apple, kisses the girls goodbye, and has to run to his stop a few blocks away, barely making it in time.
Zayn snickers and steals his apple, the little bitch that he is. “This is what you get for waiting until the last minute to do your paper,” he says smugly, taking a bite of the red delicious. “I told you, nagged you, for the past two weeks. And I was right. Wasn’t I right?”
Instead of answering his question, Louis opts to respond with, “Don’t talk when you’re chewing, it’s disgusting.”
Zayn closes his mouth, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. “Please tell me you at least put that Germany was the ultimate loser both times. I know your paper is shit without reading it, but please tell me you at least put that.”
Louis shrugs. “Maybe, I don’t know.” His friend sighs and pats his thigh, before looking around on their bus. Unfortunately, they both have stops at the beginning of the route, which is why they have to leave their houses so early, but on the bright side, there’s almost no one else on it. A junior guy in the back is snoring and a freshman girl is listening to music and obnoxiously chomping on bubblegum.
Zayn leans in and whispers, “I heard, ya know, through the grapevine that you-know-who is going to do it today, either before class or during lunch.”
Louis’s eyes nearly bulge out of his head. “Who told you that?”
“Leigh Anne and Jesy. I don’t know what you did to make them like you so much, but you pretty much have two spies now because they heard it from Harry himself. Apparently he was bragging about it to his friends.”
“Why would he brag about it?”
“Beats me.”
Before Louis could further press Zayn for answers, the bus was stopping and Niall was forcing his way next to them despite that they’d outgrown a standard three-seater years ago. The rest of the ride to school was uneventful, Niall jabbering on and on about a golf tournament that had been on TV the night prior that no one else had bothered to watch. Louis tried to eat his toast, but it was getting stuck in his dry throat, so he just gave it to Niall who’d devoured it in seconds.
The bus stopped outside of the high school they’d been attending for the past two years, Briar Tech, and Louis suddenly felt nauseous and faint all at once. “You can do this,” Zayn encouraged before making a beeline for his locker. Louis started toward his history classroom, cautiously sticking close to the wall just in case. He smiled at some of his friends, but mainly focused on getting to class without passing out.
He didn’t see a boy running down the hall, so he couldn’t help but crash into him, both boys falling to the floor. A few girls giggled while others snorted fondly. Louis cursed to himself when he saw his books fall out of his unzipped bag.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” a deep voice that made his cheeks heat up apologized. “I should’ve been looking where I was going and-. “ Harry stops himself abruptly when he sees exactly who it is he just ran over. “Hi Louis.”
“Hi Harry,” Louis replied nervously, his hands slowly going clammy. Harry quickly gathered the rest of Louis’s things before handing them back to him.
Harry was an enigma, Louis knew there was no other way to describe him. He was very tall, even for his age of eighteen. His curly hair could match a spring, and swept over his forehead in a way that made Louis want to drool. His green eyes were the color of jade sometimes and the color of a bright forest other times and all in all, his presence should have screamed dominance. Which it did, most of the time.
But then there were other times, like right now, when he was insecure and quirky and sharp as a tack yet slow as a turtle. Louis came for his looks and stayed for his personality, though he wasn’t sure if he really had the right to say or think that since they weren’t dating. Yet, Zayn’s voice nagged in the back of his mind.
Louis snapped out of his thoughts as the bell rang. He thanked Harry for helping him collect his things and stood, ready to race to class when Harry shouted, “Wait!”
The taller boy looked confident as Louis turned back around to face him, but he got the underlying feeling that Harry was just as scared as he was.
“Louis, I don’t have work tonight, and I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go see that new 22 Jump Street movie? Or anything else really? We could go to the little Italian joint, or the Chinese one next to it before or after, it’d be up to you. But…” Harry trailed off, breathless, looking proud that he’d managed to get all of that out.
“Like on a date?” Louis squeaks.
“Like on a date,” Harry confirms. There’s a terrifyingly long moment in which Louis is completely silent, his facial expression neutral. His thoughts are going a mile a minute, so overjoyed that this is actually happening, he forgets he hasn’t answered until Harry’s smile starts to falter.
“Of course,” Louis manages to breathe out. “I’d love to go on a date, Harry.”
“Great,” Harry’s smile is everything, “put your number in my phone, I’ll text you the details during class.” Suddenly his hands are full of an iPhone and he’s typing in his cell phone number and wasn’t he just walking into school a second ago, when did all of this happen?
“I’ll see you later,” Louis swears Harry purrs. The boy gives him a feather-light kiss on the cheek before he’s striding past Louis, toward what must be his first class. Louis’s still standing in the hallway, completely star-struck, his hand coming up to hold the cheek where Harry’s lips had just been. He thinks he might pass out.
And then the Pledge of Allegiance is starting, and all at once, Louis remembers where he is and dashes to class.
…
“Lou, this is fantastic!” Perrie squeals, practically jumping in her seat next to Zayn. It’s one of the rare days that she sits with them, rather than her friends. (Her reasoning is something about “her boyfriend needing attention too” or whatever. Louis doesn’t question it.)
“I’m going to be sick,” he admits. “What if something goes wrong? What if I eat like a pig and Harry doesn’t find me attractive anymore? What if while we’re out we see a really pretty girl, and he ditches me in the middle of our date? What if a drunk guy crashes into his car?” His phone vibrates then, a gold 5s his mom had given him as a birthday/Christmas gift.
Text me your address, I’ll pick you up @ 6 n we can go to dinner first ?
Louis smiles a bit like an idiot at his phone, quickly typing in his address.
“You’ll be fine Lou,” Zayn says. “You’re freaking out now, but then he’ll pick you up and you’ll go have spaghetti together like in Lady and the Tramp and you’ll probably make out and you’ll be fine.”
“But what if the sauce makes me gassy and I fart while we’re making out? That’d be-.” Zayn cuts Louis off.
“Totally fine,” he assures him. “And if Harry acts all awkward about it, it’s his loss.”
“If you ask me Lou,” they all jump, seeing Niall for the first time all lunch period, stuffing French fries in his mouth, “I’d say you already have Harry wrapped around your pinkie finger.”
“How would you know that?” Louis asks incredulously.
Niall smiles, shaking his head, oddly not jumping at the chance to spill information. “Just trust me,” he says cryptically instead.
…
5:57 p.m. Louis is freaking out. His biggest crush is about to be at his house in three minutes and he can’t decide if his ass would look bigger in black or maroon.
5:58 p.m. Two minutes, and maroon seems to be the way to go, since he’s also decided on a black scoop neck. His hair is still in its artfully messy fringe, but he has no time to try and quiff it, it’ll have to do.
5:59 p.m. He’s starting to sweat, which actually sucks, but he has no time to do anything but slip his Vans on before the doorbell is ringing.
“Louis, there’s a cute boy at the door!” He hears Fizzy shout up the stairs. He curses to himself, grabbing his phone, wallet, and house keys, before dashing down the steps. As he turns the corner, he sees Harry sitting in his living room watching some god-awful Disney show with the twins.
He clears his throat, causing Harry to jump in his seat before he’s out of it, turning around to meet Louis’s gaze and wow. Harry’s wearing a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up and only half the buttons actually done, showing off his toned chest and some tattoos. His hair is contained by a backwards snapback, and his legs looks miles long in his jeans. On his feet are suede boots, and Louis would very much love to jump him but his sisters are right there so.
“You look great,” Harry grins.
“Th-thanks, you t-too.” Louis doesn’t know where his confidence went, but he’d like it back, thank you very much.
“Shall we go?” Harry asks, offering his arm for Louis to take.
Louis nods, his tongue feeling very heavy, but he manages to get yell out before his front door shuts behind him, “Lottie you’re in charge, don’t burn down the house!” Harry’s car turns out to be a sleek black Nissan, and Harry opens the passenger door for him like a proper gentleman. Louis thinks he might collapse.
When Harry gets in on the other side, starting the car, Louis speaks up. “S-So we’re g-going to that Italian place, r-right?”
Harry spares a glance at him, smiling as he pulls away from the curb. “Yeah. And 22 Jump Street is a good movie, right? Unless you wanted to see something else?”
Louis blushes at the simple question. “Well, um. I, I kinda wanted to see th-that John Green movie? The Fault in Our Stars? I-I read the book, so, uh.”
Harry’s right hand comes off the steering wheel to rest on top of his left hand, a reassuring gesture. “That’s fine, Louis,” he promises. “Just so long as you cry on my shoulder, yeah?” Louis lets out a nervous giggle.
“Yeah.”
…
“Welcome to La Ristorante Italiano, would you like to start off with something to drink?” the waitress seems nice enough, the smile on her face fake and her eyes disinterested and bored looking.
“Two diets, please?” Harry doesn’t spend another moment glancing at her, immediately switching to look at Louis. “So, Louis. Tell me about yourself.”
Louis finds himself snorting at the cliché-ness of the line before instantly backtracking. “S-Sorry,” he stutters. “Well, um, I’m a sophomore, and I think I want to major in theater arts and minor in teaching, so if being an actor doesn’t work out, I still have something. I have four younger sisters, but I might be getting more ‘cause my mom has a boyfriend who’s pretty serious and he’ll probably want his own kids.” Louis stops abruptly when he realizes he’s been rambling, not even about himself. Harry chuckles, and Louis thinks he’s hearing an angel.
“You never know, my step-dad is just fine with me and my sister Gemma,” he says. “Louis I get the vibe that you’re nervous right now.”
And seriously? Who uses “vibe” in a conversation anymore? Harry Styles that’s who, and I’m totally okay with that, Louis thinks.
“J-Just a little,” Louis admits, his cheeks heating up. And of course he’s blushing, as if this isn’t already embarrassing enough
“Don’t be, okay? It’s just me, I won’t judge you, I swear,” Harry smiles and Louis kind of wants to kiss him.
“S-sorry, I, just-“
Harry cuts him off. “Don’t be sorry either, all right? Just talk to me.”
The waitress comes back, two soda glasses with lemon in hand, resting them on the table. “Are you ready to order, or…?” She’s chewing gum this time, Louis thinks it’s tacky.
“Can we get, like, one of those big platter of spaghetti and meatballs?” Harry asks, using hand gestures to emphasize his point. The waitress raises an eyebrow but writes it down.
“Is that it?” Harry nods and she walks away.
Louis laughs, “Mr. Styles you are a cliché.”
“I’d like to think of it more as being a romantic,” Harry smirks, and wow, with one look, any confidence he’d just mustered up leaves his body, and Louis literally swoons.
He gulps. “W-whatever you’d like t-to call it, th-then.”
Harry doesn’t reply, but the smirk doesn’t leave his face either.
…
“Oh my god, Harry, we’re not Lady and the Tramp!” Louis giggles as the older boy uses his fork to roll the last meatball toward Louis.
Harry pouts, “Shame, I’d love for you to be the Lady to my Tramp.” Louis giggles again, louder this time, and wow he really wants to kiss that pout.
“Yeah…” Louis smiles to himself, happy in this little bubble that Harry had managed to create for them in the middle of a loud and busy restaurant.
“Are you ready for the check?” their waitress is back, still chomping down on gum.
Harry clears his throat, which shouldn’t be sexy but it totally is. “Yes, please.”
The check comes not long after, and Louis’s eyes bulge at the price. He hadn’t realized how fancy the place was when they first walked in. “Let me pay for my bit, please Harry,” he begs.
Harry waves his money away, instead putting a card in the pocket of the checkbook. “Tell Lou I say hello, and I’ll see her and Lux soon, yeah?” The waitress nods, taking it, and going to run the card through the machine.
“Harry! That was over a hundred dollars, you can’t just pay for it yourself!” Louis protests.
“Relax Lou,” Harry chides. “I know the chef and owner, Lou Teasedale. I babysit her daughter Lux when she goes out with her husband for date night. It won’t be that expensive, I get friends and family discount.”
“If you’re positive…” Louis trails.
“Absolutely,” Harry promises. “How about after this, we go for ice cream and I’ll let you pay, deal?”
Louis blushes, but nods. “Deal.”
…
“So we’re standing there, at the top of this cliff, we can see the water right below us, and Liam’s screaming at Niall, ‘Don’t you dare fucking jump!’ And Niall’s like, ‘Dude, I’m Irish, I’m not drunk.’ But he’s really drunk, and his words are slurring together. But Liam’s like, ‘Oh yes you are, let’s go before the cops get us all for underage drinking.’ But before he can do anything Niall fucking jumps over the side of the cliff. And both me and Liam are staring at where he was like, did that really just happen? And then Liam flips shit.”
Louis’s positively cackling at Harry’s rendition of his friend’s latest drunken escapades. They winded stopping at the Cups in town, getting frozen yogurt. Louis had teased Harry for five minutes straight for getting wet walnuts on his vanilla yogurt.
Harry continues his story, “I was too drunk to really do anything, so Liam yells at me to ‘stay there and don’t do anything stupid’ before he jumps off the side of the cliff to make sure Niall doesn’t drown himself. Meanwhile, Niall’s in the water, doggy paddling in circles, and definitely not drowning. It’s a miracle we didn’t get arrested.”
“Probably,” Louis smiles and looks up at Harry through his eyelashes. Harry smiles back for a second, before collecting both their cups and standing up.
“Gotta get you home, yeah?” he says.
The car ride back to Louis’s house is uneventful, mostly. At one point, though, Harry had caught Louis singing along to the song playing on the radio.
“You like singing?” he asks, sounding genuinely curious.
“Y-Yeah,” Louis stammers, “but I’m not that good.”
“Your voice is beautiful, Lou,” Harry assures him. It’s then that they arrive at Louis’s house. Harry gets out, opening the door for Louis, and walks him up to his porch.
“I had a good time tonight.” Louis smiles at Harry, tall, beautiful, and perfect Harry, wondering how he got so lucky to even go on one date with him.
“Me too.” Harry starts leaning down, like he’s going to kiss Louis, and Louis’s heart starts beating faster.
“This is so cliché,” Louis says.
Harry stops when they’re nose to nose. “It’s romantic.” When Harry’s pillowy lips finally slot against Louis’s thin ones, it’s not fireworks, but it’s definitely butterflies in his stomach and everything slotting into place.
It’s such a euphoric feeling, kissing Harry, and it’s over sooner than Louis would like.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, yeah?” Harry’s breathless, his pupils wider, and wow that’s so hot.
“Yeah. Text me when you get home safe,” Louis says.
“Okay.”
“Pinky promise?” Louis pouts like a five year old, actually sticking out his right pinky.
Harry chuckles, hooking his much larger little finger around Louis’s.
“Pinky promise."