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His shoulder was killing him.
The dull throb still hadn't gone away and it had been two days already. Louis sighed. He may have hurt it really badly--- worse than he thought he did.
He circled his shoulder twice as he stood in the lift, the cheesy music playing softly in the background.
Once the lift dinged opened, he was immediately greeted by a frantic Liam, shoving his phone in Louis' face.
"He still hasn't answered my texts!" Liam cried out.
Louis huffed and rolled his eyes, "good morning to you too, Liam."
"I mean, honestly," Liam continued, as if Louis hadn't greeted him, "what more does he want from me?"
"Maybe an apology face-to-face, like he asked," Louis arched his brow at his friend.
"Whatever," Liam grumbled, shoving his phone into his suit pocket, "did you get any pictures from this weekend?"
"Of spidey?" Louis asked, biting back a smirk. Liam started using that nickname shortly after he'd heard Harry using it.
"Duh, who else?"
"I got some good ones," Louis said.
He would always manage to get the best. Setting up cameras in certain areas or simply taking them himself, calling them exclusives and bluffing everyone that he knew Spider-Man personally. Well, it wasn't a complete lie, they were quite close, after all.
"What are you chuckling to yourself about?" Liam asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Nothing," Louis waved him off.
"Louis!"
"Oh, look, there's lover boy," Liam whispered, nudging his side.
Louis came to a stop at Harry's desk, smiling at the boy, "hello, Harry, how are you today?"
"I'm always good and yourself?" He asked, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.
Louis felt his stomach erupt in butterflies, ignoring Liam's snickering beside him.
"I'm fine thank you," he smiled back at Harry.
"How are you, Liam?" Harry asked, turning to Liam who was still smirking arrogantly.
Louis suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.
He stared at Harry instead as he engaged in small talk with Liam.
Harry had started working for the Blue's publishing company about a year ago, fresh out of university and in search of something to do with the field he studied in. Of course, Louis himself was also fairly new at the firm and took an immediate liking to him.
Harry was just so... beautiful. He was so kind to everyone, even if they didn't even deserve it in the first place, so humble, oddly funny and quirky and very unapologetically himself it was endearing.
When he first started working at Blue's, he had a boyfriend, much to Louis' dismay, but, a few months later, said boyfriend broke his heart and Louis found him laying down underneath his desk and eating out of a tub of ice cream. That was when they had first gotten really close.
Louis offered him a hug and Harry accepted, then crying into his jersey for the next ten minutes and apologising profusely afterwards for being so emotional. Louis simply grinned at him and asked to share the ice cream to which Harry happily agreed.
They bonded a lot in just one night, Harry was somewhat of an opened book, yet still remained private about certain aspects of his life and really, who was Louis to say anything when he was exactly the same?
There were a lot of secrets he still kept to himself--- ones that he had to keep to himself.
And having a big ol' crush on one of his best mates was one of them.
It didn't take long for Louis to realise just how badly he fell for Harry. It was around Harry's birthday that he had realised he was whipped for the boy.
When he told Liam, Liam didn't seem surprised at all and later, when Zayn found out, his reaction was the same. Only with Zayn, he then proceeded with 'wait, you two are not together yet?'
Liam cackled, Louis groaned and Zayn smirked.
It seemed like it was obvious to everyone... aside from Harry.
And Louis, he would tell Harry how he felt, but Harry seemed to have an obsession with someone else.
Well, technically, it wasn't someone else, but as far as Harry knew, Spider-Man was a whole other person from Louis.
Which--- maybe he kind of was--- but Louis didn't want to get into that, it would just make him too confused.
Point being, Harry was head-over-heels for Spidey and Louis was head-over-heels for Harry. They were in quite a bit of a pickle.
Other than himself, Niall was the only other person who knew about him being Spider-Man.
He found out by accident. It was after Louis had saved a car from collapsing down the bridge, another Tuesday really, that he made the mistake of changing in not just any alleyway, but the alley behind the restaurant Niall worked at.
He hadn't even noticed Niall standing there, a garbage bag in his hand and mouth agape, until he turned around and zipped up his hoodie, stopping in his tracks immediately.
Niall was one of his closest and oldest friends so naturally, he felt betrayed by the fact that Louis had never told him, despite being a bloody superhero for four years in counting.
Long story short, they talked and hugged it out and Niall sometimes took pictures for him that he later used for Blue's and everything was all well and good between them now.
And, Niall was also the only person who didn't laugh or act smug when Louis told him about his hopeless crush on Harry.
It was apparent that Niall had also known the whole time, yet he just kept quiet and wished Louis good luck, telling him to be honest with Harry.
Louis laughed at that. He didn't tell Niall until about a month ago that Harry was hopelessly crushing on his bloody superhero persona.
Then, Niall laughed. Which was fine. Whatever.
It was pretty hilarious if you really thought about it except that it wasn't and Louis felt like he was going to die every time Harry would go on about fucking Spider-Man even though he was Spider-Man. God, it was all just very confusing.
"Did you see him save that lady and her baby?" Harry asked, resting his chin on his palm and blinking dreamily.
Great.
"Yeah, I did. Louis got some great pictures again," Liam said, slinging an arm around Louis' shoulders.
"Oh? Another one for my collection then?" Harry giggled.
Yes, his collection. Honestly, Harry really was unapologetically himself. He had a fricken' scrapbook with pictures of Spider-Man stuck in them and he wasn't afraid to tell others about it nor show them.
Louis spent ten minutes looking at pictures of himself and feeling jealous.
It was fucking insane.
"Um, you can make some copies I guess," Louis said awkwardly.
"Thanks, Lou," he grinned. Louis' stomach fluttered. "Are we having lunch together again today?"
"Uh, yeah, sure,"
"We should get going, Louis," Liam nudged him gently.
"Yeah, before Ingrid gets mad," Harry grimaced, "I'll see you later, Lou."
Louis waved at him as Liam and him made their way to their respective cubicles.
They were right next to each other which proved to be a blessing and curse, really.
Thankfully for Louis, his cubicle was a little bit more isolated than the rest, being in one corner of the office area.
"Having him as your desktop background is a bit much, don't you think?"
Louis groaned, humiliated, "it's both of us," he argued weakly.
"Mostly zoomed in on Harry," Liam smirked, leaning back on his chair obnoxiously as he peered over.
Louis turned his desktop further to face the wall, "Liam, shut up."
"Mate, you're so fucking whipped," Liam snorted, shaking his head.
"I know," Louis moaned, dropping his head into his hands, "what do I do, Li?"
"Just ask him out, Louis," he said, sounding exasperated.
"I told you I tried and it didn't work out too well, remember?"
It was a few months ago, Louis was sure he was going to die if he didn't do anything about his crush soon. So, for a whole week, Louis had tried to ask Harry out everyday.
And every time, some thing happened that prevented Louis from doing so.
The first day, Harry was distraught over losing his pet hamster, the second was just as bad as the first, if not worse, then he met his childhood best friend again and by the end of the week they went out on a date.
Of course they didn't last long at all. They had only gone out on three dates before Harry said that Elliot wasn't was he was looking for. By then, Louis felt dejected and Harry's little... crush on Spidey had escalated.
He had thought about telling Harry that he was really Spider-Man but then he worried that Harry would only be with him for being Spider-Man and not for being Louis.
It was such a disaster.
"But he's single now, Lou and you don't see what the rest of the boys and I see when you two are together. You two just have the kind of chemistry that just doesn't go away, you know?"
"I feel like the universe gave me enough signs during that week to show me how much of a bad idea it is," Louis sighed.
"Louis, you can't keep relying on signs from the universe from everything you know? Sometimes you just have to take things into your own hands."
Louis chewed on the inside of his cheek, "but he's so caught up in Spider-Man and h---"
"It's just a harmless crush, Louis. Surely you had celebrity crushes too?"
Louis glanced at him and sighed, "it's complicated," he grumbled.
"Fine, mope around about your crush and do nothing about it then," Liam rolled his eyes, pushing his chair up straighter and disappeared behind his own wall cubicle.
Louis frowned. He didn't get it. Only Niall would get it. He would tell Niall about how unreasonable Liam was being later today. Niall always got it.
***
Niall did not get it. He didn't get it at all. And he knew the full extent of Louis' dilemma.
"Louis, you could just ask him out and see what happens from there, you know?"
"Niall, you're supposed to be on my side!"
"Well, I've been entertaining your crush for over a year now, a man can only take so much, you know?" He leaned back on the couch, crossing his ankle over his knee.
Louis gaped at him, "but, Niall, it's complicated," he whined, collapsing onto the seat next to him.
"No, you're just making it complicated," he poked Louis' cheek, "he may be madly in love with you for all you know."
"Yeah right," Louis scoffed, "madly in love with me but can't stop talking about bloody Spider-Man."
"You are Spider-Man,"
"Shut up, you know what I mean," Louis grumbled.
"Why don't you just ask him out and then see how it goes from there? You can tell him who you are eventually."
"But... what if he stays with me only because I'm spidey?"
"Louis, do you hear yourself? This is Harry you're talking about. Does he really seem like a person that would do something like that?"
Okay, fair enough. Niall had good point there. Harry was... He was wonderful, okay? He wouldn't do that. He was an honest person and if he wasn't really interested in Louis, he would probably say something.
"And if he rejects me?"
"Have you seen the way he looks at you?" Niall rolled his eyes, "God it's insufferable being the middle of you two, I swear."
"We're just really close," Louis mumbled, fiddling with the loose thread of his jumper.
"Louis, just fucking ask him before I do,"
"You wouldn't," Louis narrowed his eyes.
"At this point, I really fucking would," he muttered, grabbing his beer from the table next to him.
"But what if he does reject me? Then what?"
"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, okay? What if he says yes and you two date, get married and have kids and a dog and cat, then what?"
"Stop, you're turning me on," Louis groaned, covering his face with his hand.
"You're such a hopeless romantic, I'm surprised you haven't asked him out by surprising him with a big romantic gesture yet."
"I am too, to be honest," Louis then straightened up, "maybe I should."
He ignored Niall's 'oh god' from next to him and continued, "I could send him, like, flowers--- dozens of roses--- and, like, spell it out with the petals or summat?"
"Jeez, at least save some idea for the proposal," Niall laughed.
Louis' stomach fluttered. Proposal. Wow.
"Oh fucking hell, you're thinking about ways of proposing to him now, aren't you?"
Louis blushed, "no," he murmured, sitting back, "come on, help me with ideas on how to ask him out, please," he pouted, shifting closer to Niall.
Niall let out a tired sigh and shook his head, "Fine,"
Louis cheered, planting a wet kiss on his cheek, "you're the best, Ni."
"I know, I really am."
Louis rolled his eyes but bit his tongue. Niall was going to help him so it was better for the both of them if Louis didn't bite back with a snarky comment.
"Did you feed Edison?" Niall asked.
Louis widened his eyes. He was meant to take care of Edison, Niall's pet turtle, while Niall was away for the weekend.
"Louis!" He shrieked, "have you fed him at all?"
"Niall, tone it down, we're at someone else's house," he whispered, "and yes I did feed him, I just forgot to do today."
"God, I should have just left him with Zayn, honestly," Niall grunted, "we need to leave, I have to fetch my turtle."
"Niall, we just got here," Louis huffed, "can't Edison wait like an hour at least?"
"Louis, I swear to god--- if you still want my help, you'll take me home right now,"
Louis sighed and got up, "fine, but then you're telling Zayn why we just abandoned him."
"Fine," Niall gritted out.
Poor Zayn had just come out of the shower, ready to play some fifa with his friends when Niall, not so kindly, accused Louis of being irresponsible and that they had to fetch his turtle.
Zayn seemed too scared to even argue. Louis asked for a raincheck, promising that Niall will be in a better mood next time.
After Niall got to Edison and fed him, he eventually calmed down and helped Louis think of ideas for asking Harry out. They came up with a few but eventually one stood out to Louis and he was determined to make it happen.
By the end of this week, Louis Tomlinson will ask Harry Styles out on a date.
***
"Yeah, but do you know why I like him?"
Louis shut his eyes, embracing himself for a full blown love letter. "Why?" He asked quietly.
"Because he's the kindest person ever and he cares about other people. He doesn't care about fame and money and all that--- he just wants to help people and I think that's amazing,"
Louis pushed around a piece of sausage in his plate and finally looked up at Harry to see that Harry was already staring at him.
Louis cleared his throat, "how do you know he doesn't care about all of that stuff?"
"If he did, he would have been getting paid for what he does, not to mention the fact that he doesn't ever take off his mask, hell, he barely speaks to anyone either," Harry rambled on, ending with a fond smile, "I just wish more people were like him."
Like me, you mean.
Was that too egotistical?
God, whatever, Louis was so bitter.
But, his heart fluttered at hearing at that at the same time. He was glad to know that Harry saw him--- albeit his superhero self--- as such a humble person.
Of course Louis didn't care about fame or fortune or money--- nothing like that mattered. It was truly about saving people because they deserved it. Well, most of them at least.
"You think I'm a weirdo, don't you?" Harry asked, his cheeks red and glasses sitting at the very tip of his nose.
Louis refrained from reaching over and pushing them up his face.
"I don't, Haz," Louis reassured him gently. He truly didn't, "I bet he's funny too, seems like he could be a witty guy," Louis added for good measure.
Harry smiled--- more like smirked. "Oh, yeah, seems like he's that sarcastic, cheeky fella, don't you think?"
Like me, Louis wanted to yell again.
"Oh, for sure, bet he gets all the ladies, men and non-binary pals," Louis mumbled, stabbing the piece of sausage and pushing it into his mouth before he said anything he would regret.
"Yeah," Harry sighed dramatically, "wish he could get me too---- or Well, he kind of did--- just wish he liked me at least half as much as I liked him."
Oh he had no idea. Spidey was head-over-heels for Harry and Harry had no idea.
Well, Louis was but Louis was Spidey so same difference, he supposed. Maybe. Kind of.
"I'm sure he'll be just as crazy about you as you are about him if you ever got the chance to meet," Louis smiled sweetly, hoping it didn't come across as too sweet.
"You really think so?" Harry asked, a hopeful glint in his eyes.
Louis ignored the way it made his stomach twist. "Yeah, but too bad he's like... private and stuff, you know? He may have someone of his own for all we know."
"Yeah," Harry trailed off, "how could someone like him be single anyways?"
"Right,"
Louis had to push away all of the negative thoughts pushing it's way into his mind. He would ask Harry out. Nothing was going to change that, not even Harry's obvious fixation on bloody Spider-Man.
"I've been talking too much about myself--- how have you been doing?" Harry asked, grinning at Louis.
Louis informed Harry about Niall's turtle and how he'd forgot to feed him the one day and how mad Niall got at him. He delighted in the fact that he could make Harry laugh. Hearing his honk of a laugh brought a smile to Louis' face.
It was all going well until Harry started speaking about Spider-Man again.
"I know that you and Li are going for that parade this Friday and rumour has it that he'll be there so... I, uh, I was wondering if I could tag along with you guys? If that's... okay?"
Louis couldn't ever say no to Harry. Harry had him wrapped around his finger and he didn't even know it.
"Um, yeah I guess so," Louis said, clearing his throat, "listen, I'm going to get that portfolio out to Ingrid, yeah? I'll see you later?"
"Yeah, sure," he pulled Louis in for a small hug (Louis felt his heart expand with amount of adoration he felt for the boy). He waved cutely as Louis walked back to his cubicle, where he then spent a solid half and hour staring at his wallpaper of the two of them, picturing their lives together as a married couple with kids and a dog and cat, just like Niall said.
It was all Niall's fault, really.
***
The plan was to ask Harry out after the parade once they were back at office building. Louis would show up as Spider-Man, making a short appearance at the parade, putting Harry in somewhat of a good mood and then ask him out. That was okay, right?
He planned on telling Harry eventually who he really was because he knew they would be for the long run and he didn't want to keep secrets from him.
Maybe he was just getting too ahead of himself.
"I'm just going to stay here," Harry said to him as they approached a huge Spider-Man float, "he'll probably come here anyways."
"Okay," Louis swallowed. So making an appearance at the float it was then, "we won't be gone too far then."
Harry frowned, eyes narrowing at Louis briefly, "you're not going to take pictures from here?"
"Uh, no... it'll be too crowded, you know? I'll take some from another angle, maybe. Besides, Liam will be here and he can take some from this end," Louis rambled.
Harry pursed his lips into smile and nodded, "okay, well, um, good luck then?"
"Thanks," Louis smiled, "hope you enjoy seeing Spidey up close," he winked, adjusting the camera in his neck.
"Me too," he hummed and winked back at Louis, "I'll see you later then."
Indeed he would. After his appearance here, he would be able to get back to the office and set up everything he had planned out.
He would have done it before they left but Harry was still with them then and attached to Louis' side so it didn't really give him much time to set up anything.
Louis scurried away to the opposite side of the road through an already crowded area, losing his sight of Harry(thankfully). Liam would arrive at any minute now so he wouldn't be alone for too long.
He made his way to the back of the opposite building, undressing into his Spidey gear and stuffing his clothes into his small backpack. With that, he adjusted the mask over his head, took a deep breath and extended the web from his hand to make his way onto the rooftop of the building as subtly as he could.
Once on the rooftop, he bent down to stay as hidden as possible, setting up the camera nearby the ledge and placing his backpack near it. He peered over the edge of the building slowly, his eyes automatically finding Harry. It was expected. He naturally gravitated towards Harry anyways.
Harry's eyes were scanning his surroundings, no doubt searching for Spidey and he was clever--- he would look at the tops of buildings so Louis had to remain hidden.
He spotted Liam trudging toward Harry with his own camera in hand and giving him a short hug, the two falling into a conversation.
Harry looked even more beautiful today with his mint green painted nails, round glasses, soft jumper and big trousers. It oddly suited him.
Abruptly, trumpets started playing and drums started rolling, making him jump a little. Harry was beaming as the people marched to and passed the Spider-Man float while Liam was steadying his camera in his hands.
He timed it so it didn't look too suspicious. Within eight minutes exactly, Louis leaped over the edge, extending his web and landing swiftly over the float.
The crowd erupted in cheers that Louis no doubt enjoyed and basked in. He did his 'big cheese' pose so there were good photos taken, his chest puffed out and head held high.
His eyes landed on Liam, where he was taking the photos on his Canon with a huge grin on his face but he was further way from Harry now, stepping into the crowd.
Louis frowned, he scanned to crowd only to find Harry being pushed forward then backwards and then to the side while he struggled with the mob of people.
Louis dropped his pose and, without a second thought, he jumped off the float. Loud gasps came from people around him as he moved towards where he could see Harry's short curls poking out.
Suddenly, through the chaos of people trying to grab onto him and talk to him, it must have made it worse, causing Harry to fall onto the ground.
Louis gasped this time, pushing through the remaining people, asking them to make way as he reached Harry.
Harry was groaning, rubbing the back of his head as he slowly got up. Louis took the opportunity to hold out his hand and help Harry up.
Harry widened his eyes, accepting Louis' hand with a sparkle in his eye. Louis smiled behind his mask, hauling him up so that Harry was standing again.
"Hi," Harry said instantly.
Louis knew that people were surrounding them, making a circle around them, watching their each and every move. Or, Spider-Man, rather.
"Hi," Louis cleared his throat. A soft click of a camera was heard beside him but Louis ignored it in favour of staring into Harry's eyes.
"Your glasses," he said, again not even thinking twice.
Harry blinked then searched the ground worriedly for his spectacles. It seemed that Harry must have spotted the pair at the same time as they reached for the glasses simultaneously, bumping their heads together as a result.
Louis let out a soft chuckle and Harry blushed, putting his glasses back onto his face and adjusting it at the nose. They seemed okay, thankfully.
"Um, thank you," Harry said, cheeks pink.
Louis was suddenly very aware of the fact that now everyone was watching them and the trumpets and drums of the parade had stopped.
"Uh, yeah, no worries, I have to go now," he said hastily, walking backwards, "nice seeing you, Harry."
He turned quickly, extending his web to the building opposite them again and disappearing quickly from their view.
It was only as he changed up again did he realise where he went wrong.
***
"Louis, this is your third day off, you can't take anymore. Just go and talk to him!"
Louis peeked at Niall from under his blanket, glaring, "Niall, I embarrassed myself and blew my fucking cover! I'm screwed--- I'll have to probably look for a new job."
Niall rolled his eyes, "You don't know that for sure and that's a bit of an overreaction don't you think?"
He walked into Louis' room, sitting down at the foot of his bed.
"He's clever, Niall, he knows by now and its a genuine concern, okay! I've humiliated myself and then I ran away," he ended with a groan and covered his head with the blanket again.
"Well, you have to talk to him about it either way and I'm not taking no for an answer," he said indignantly, "he's called like fifty times already, you know?"
Louis looked at him again, "really?" He mumbled.
"Yes, you asshat. He really cares about you and I had to lie and tell him you're sick which made the poor boy worry even more,"
Louis' heart sunk. "I didn't mean to make him upset," he mumbled.
Niall squinted at him, "oh and you ignoring him isn't making him upset?"
Louis rolled his eyes, "fine, I get your point."
"Just go and talk to him and sort things out, Louis. He's a good guy--- he deserves the truth," Niall said softly.
As if Louis didn't know that already. Of course Harry deserved the truth, Louis just didn't think it would be told to him under these circumstances. He always said, it would a few weeks into their relationship, he would take Harry out to a nice restaurant maybe, go for a movie after and then break it to him. Not having to tell him after Louis acted like a dimwit.
"Fine," Louis relented, "I'll go into work tomorrow and embarrass myself even more."
"You're not embarrassing yourself for God's sake, Louis," Niall huffed, getting off the bed, "now get your ass up 'cause I brought food."
"Is it Thai?" Louis asked, his interest peeking.
"Duh," Niall scoffed, "I know it's your comfort food, now come on."
"You're the best, Ni," Louis grinned happily, pushing the blanket off of himself and following Niall to the kitchen.
"Hey, Louis?" Niall called out as Louis dished out some of the food onto a paper plate.
(He hated washing dishes, sue him).
"Yeah?" Louis asked, eyebrows pinched together.
"Harry really cares about you, ya know? I know you probably won't think about asking him out again... at least not now, but you should give him some credit, yeah? He's great and I think you'll find that he's just as crazy about you as you are about him --- despite the whole Spidey crush and all."
Louis pushed the takeaway container to one side, staring down at his plate, "everyone keeps saying that--- I just don't know how true that is and now I don't know whether he'd like---"
"--- you just for being Spider-Man or not," Niall finished for him, he let out a sigh, "but like I said, it's Harry, yeah? Does that really sound like something he would do?"
"No," Louis huffed, shaking his head, "look--- I'll just speak to him tomorrow and see what happens, okay? I don't want to lose him as a friend or anything like that."
"And you being Spidey is going to do that?" Niall snorted, then shoved a whole forkful of noodles into his mouth.
"I have irrational fears due to embarrassment right now, okay? Leave me alone," he grumbled, grabbing his plate and making his way to the living room with a petulant scowl on his face.
"I can't wait for until Harry reveals how he's felt about you and then you're going to complain about how much of an idiot you are--- god, I'm so here for that," Niall said, with a smug smile on his face.
"Not gonna happen, bud," Louis sang, crossing his legs on the sofa.
"We'll see," Niall said, "actually I'm gonna put money on it--- ten bucks says he'll make you look like an idiot and you two will fall in love."
He extended his hand out to Louis, raising a challenging eyebrow at him.
"Fine," Louis shook his hand, "can't wait to get myself ten bucks-- can finally get that dish cloth I've been wanting."
Niall cackled, "too bad that dish cloth is going to have to wait 'cause Nialler is always right."
Louis just rolled his eyes, choosing not to comment any further. It's annoying yet comforting at the same time, to see how much of faith Niall has in Harry and Louis being together while Louis' is just diminishing as the days go by.
***
"Louis," Liam gasped, watching Louis walk out the lift, "good to see you, mate, heard you've been sick."
Louis cringed, walking towards Harry's desk slowly. Liam walked beside him. Louis could feel Liam's eyes on him. He didn't once consider that Liam might have found out now--- hell, he most probably does know because Louis was so careless.
"Yeah, but I'm fine," Louis waved him off quickly.
Liam stopped Louis with a hand on his arm, pulling him to a halt.
"Louis, you know you can talk to me about anything, right?" He said, his eye sincere and knowing.
He knew. He had to know. Why else would he say that?
Louis let out a loud exhale, "You know, don't you?"
Liam blanched at that, "Uh, I--- I don't know what you're talking about."
Liam was a horrible liar.
"Liam, it's okay... I would have told you and Zayn eventually anyways," Louis muttered.
Liam sighed, "we won't talk about it now because I know there's someone else you need to speak to right now but just know that I'm here for you--- Zayn and I."
Louis smiled, "Did you finally communicate with him then? Properly?"
"Yes," Liam blushed, looking down, "we're working on it--- I honestly can't even remember why we fought in the first place."
Louis patted his arm, "I'm so happy for you, Li--- both you--- you guys deserve it."
"Thanks, Louis,"
"I call best man for both you, by the way," Louis said, beginning to walk again.
Liam huffed out a laugh, "I knew you were going to say that."
Louis laughed. He felt a little lighter knowing that his best friends knew about him now but there was still that nagging worry in his chest because of Harry.
It only heightened once he spotted Harry hunched over his desk, staring at some sort of document in front of him.
"Go get your boy, Louis," Liam nudged him with his elbow.
Louis swallowed, nodding as he stepped towards Harry's desk.
"H-hey," Louis greeted, stopping in front of Harry.
Harry looked up at him. In an instant, he got up from his chair and engulfed Louis into a tight hug over the desk. Louis, after recovering from the initial shock of it all, hugged him back, pushing his bag to the side quickly.
"You're okay," Harry said, holding Louis by his arms and examining his body.
God, Louis loved him.
"I'm fine," Louis smiled weakly.
Harry let go of his arms and sat back down, gazing up at him hesitantly, "Niall, Uh, Niall said you were ill," he said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
Louis' heart did that flutter thing again. For the umpteenth time around Harry.
"Um, yeah... about that," Louis rubbed the back of his neck. He let out a sigh. It was now or never, "you're not too busy right now, are you?"
Harry frowned, "um, no, I guess not,"
"Okay, right, uh... can we go for a quick coffee run, maybe? Or somewhere more private--- anywhere."
"The copy room?" Harry suggested.
Louis ignored the ache in his chest. The place they first met.
"Okay," Harry said softly.
They walked together in silence to the copy room. When they got in, Louis took his satchel off his shoulders, placing it near the copy machine while Harry closed the door shut behind himself.
"Something wrong, Lou?" Harry asked. And it was so kind and sincere and Louis just wanted to kiss him. He always wanted to kiss him.
"No--- Uh, maybe, I don't know," Louis huffed.
"Hey, calm down, Lou. It's only me," Harry gave him a crooked smile.
That's the problem, Louis wanted to shout.
"The parade... I... know you know," Louis took a deep breath, "you've figured it by now, haven't you?"
A smile appeared slowly on Harry's face, "know what?"
Louis groaned, "Harry, come on."
"Know what?" Harry shrugged, smirking.
"Know that I'm Spider-Man," Louis sighed heavily.
Harry let out a giggle, "Yeah, I've known for a while now, Lou."
"I know that I should have told you earlier and I'm sorry for---" Louis' eyes widened, "wait, what did you just say?"
"I said that I've known for a while now," Harry repeated.
Louis' heart was racing. "You have?"
"Its kind of... obvious, isn't it? Even before you slipped up at the parade."
He knew. What the fuck?
"How long have you known then?" Louis frowned.
"Only a few months ago--- three maybe? You conveniently had the best photos of him, always disappeared whenever he happened to save people--- it was obvious, really."
"Fuck," Louis sighed, "why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"I... I didn't want to force you to tell me something you didn't want to b-but I tried to give hints and stuff," Harry said quickly.
"Hints?"
"Louis," Harry sighed tiredly, "every time I described Spidey or told you about what I like about him, I described you, silly."
Louis blinked, taken aback. He what?
"Come on, just the other day I went on about how he was so kind and seemed cheeky--- the sarcastic type--- that's you, Lou."
"Wait... then what--- what were you trying to say?"
Harry bit his lip, "I've liked you for the longest time, Lou..."
"You have?"
Was Louis still breathing?
"Yeah," he said, his cheeks turning red, "I... don't know whether you like too but---"
"I do," Louis' voice cracked embarrassingly. He ignored it for the time being, "fuck I really, really do--- for the longest time too. Every damn time you spoke about Spider-Man and how amazing he was, do you know how I jealous I got?"
Harry chuckled, "aren't you the same person?"
"No--- kind of--- but you didn't know that--- except you kind of did..."
"I did always like Spidey, don't get me wrong, but Louis... God I've had a crush on you since the day we ran into each other in this very room,"
"Really?" Louis asked, sounding breathless.
"Yeah, I've just... I've always thought you were way out of my league though so I kind of just," he shrugged, "tried to move on, I guess?"
"You're crazy, we both are--- god," Louis laughed, shaking his head, "we're both such idiots--- pining for each other this whole fucking time."
"So you've really had a crush on me then?" Harry asked, sounding so hopeful.
"I did, god yes," he stepped closer to him, his shaky hands cupping Harry's face, "I even planned on asking you out the same day of the parade, you know?"
"You did?" Harry asked softly, holding onto Louis' wrists, smiling.
"Yeah, had a whole grand romantic gesture planned out but then I had to go an embarrass myself," he shook his head.
Harry copied his actions, shaking his head too, "You didn't, Lou, I was so happy you did that--- I thought for sure that you wanted me to know then."
"I did. I did want you to know--- I was going to tell you eventually, I promise,"
"I believe you," Harry let out a small laugh, his eyes shining, "what did you plan for asking me out then?"
Louis' hands fell from Harry's face, "it doesn't matter now, does it?" He winced.
"It does, I want to at least know about it," Harry insisted, a gentle smile on his face.
"I was going to put a post-it note on your desk, asking you to meet me here --- the first place we met--- and then I was going to be here waiting with a bunch of roses and a paper where I printed out, asking whether you want to go out with me or not, with a yes or no checkbox at the bottom and god it sounds so lame now that I'm saying it out loud--- Niall probably tried to sabotage me," Louis huffed.
"I will," Harry said, looking choked up, "I will go out with you--- if you asked me, I would have said yes."
"Will you go out with me then?" Louis asked, feeling a little choked up himself.
"I just said I will," Harry whined playfully, "now can you please kiss me? I've been waiting for over a year now."
Louis gladly obliged, swooping forward, his hands finding Harry's waist as their lips met sweetly.
It was perfect. A little clumsy and quick but romantic nonetheless. Louis already couldn't get enough.
He pulled away, goosebumps erupting over his arms.
"Amazing," he said, leaning his forehead against Harry's.
He tasted like the sweetest of strawberries and a hint of minty toothpaste. Louis wanted more and more and more.
"So Spidey, you finally taking me out then?"
Louis huffed out a laugh, "I guess so-- finally."
He kissed Harry again, moving against him slowly, holding him gently as their lips moved.
Fuck. He definitely owed Niall ten bucks.