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It’s finally Friday, and Louis is certain he’s never been so eager for the weekend to arrive. Both Harry and him have been busy with studying and work respectively, on top of taking care of their brand new kitten. Harry had lived with cats his whole life up until moving away from home for uni, and he’d started begging Louis to adopt one almost immediately after they’d moved in together. Louis had been reticent at first, being much more of a dog person himself, but his Omega’s pleading eyes and pouty lips had eventually won him over.
On a whim, he’d stopped by their local animal shelter on his way back from visiting his Mum over the previous weekend. He had been greeted by a very kind lady and a dozen small cats, all pleading for his attention in their crates. All but one green-eyed grey kitten curled up in the corner, shying away from the others. Louis had immediately fallen in love with the tiny creature, reminding him of Harry in more ways than one.
The look on Harry’s face when Louis had walked in their apartment carrying their new pet, along with a paraphernalia of items it would need to survive, had instantly erased any lingering doubts for Louis. The incredible blow job Harry had given him that night to thank him was just a bonus (Louis’ sure he’ll still be thinking about how mind blowing it was on his deathbed).
To say he had underestimated how much of his time caring for a kitten this small would require was the understatement of the year.
Speaking of the devil, Louis smiles as he feels a soft paw press against his bare ankle, and he bends over to pick up the small kitten and plop him in his lap. The animal instantly makes itself comfortable, curling up in a small ball against the soft material of Louis’ joggers.
“You’re a cutie, aren’t you, Kiwi?” Louis mumbles as he lightly scratches behind the cat’s ears.
Harry hums as he enters the living room, two steaming cups of tea in hand and a packet of Louis’ favourite chocolate biscuits tucked under his arms, and the Alpha reaches up to free one of the boy’s hands as he approaches the couch.
“Thanks, baby,” Louis smiles as the strong aroma of his beloved Yorkshire tea fills the air.
Harry returns the smile before sitting on the other end of the couch. “Someone looks comfy,” he giggles with a nod of his head towards the kitten. “She’s warming up to you.”
“Yeah, I think so,” Louis acknowledges.
Harry had been all over the kitten for the first few days after Louis had brought her home, barely letting the Alpha pet or hold her. Louis obliged him though, knowing how happy the cat made his Omega. Now that the novelty was starting to wear off and that Harry was giving her a bit more freedom though, Kiwi was clearly showing an interest in Louis, coming to him for cuddles and purring happily when the man gave her any attention. Louis had to admit it was cute, and he was slowly warming up to the small feline himself.
Louis is pulled from his thoughts by the click of a camera, looking up to see who the culprit is. Harry is smiling sheepishly at him, and quickly turns his phone to show Louis the picture he just snapped of his Alpha with Kiwi.
“I’m putting that as my new wallpaper,” the Omega announces. “My two favourite beings.
***
The loud rumble of the thunder outside startles Louis awake, and he sighs when he notices it’s still the middle of the night. Harry’s head is resting on his chest, and he stirs a little, but the sudden noise doesn’t seem to wake him fully. In the corner of the room, he can see Kiwi shaking, and the kitten is letting out distressed high pitched meows from her crate, where she’s been sleeping until she gets used to her new environment. Louis slowly pushes Harry’s head on his pillow and untangles their limbs, smirking when the Omega reaches for him in his sleepy state.
“Where are you going?” Harry drawls to Louis’ surprise, voice deep and quiet.
“I think Kiwi’s scared of the storm,” Louis replies, throwing the duvet off his body and climbing out of bed.
Harry huffs indignantly and turns his back to him. Louis shakes his head at his silly Omega before walking over to the kitten’s crate
“It’s okay honey,” he whispers to the animal as he unlatches the door before reaching inside. “It’s just a storm.”
Harry’s still facing away when Louis gets back in bed, cradling Kiwi to his chest like a baby, but the Alpha can tell from the rhythm of his breathing that he’s definitely awake.
“Harry?” he whispers, wincing at how loud his own voice sounds in the dark of night.
No answer comes, and Louis frowns as he settles in bed with the cat. He waits for Harry to inevitably come curl up at his side again, but the boy never does. Louis assumes he must have gone back to sleep, and the sound of the rain eventually lulls him back to sleep as well.
***
Louis smiles fondly as he runs his fingers through Harry’s long curly locks, gently scratching at the boy’s scalp with practiced ease. The Omega is beautifully sprawled out on their worn down sofa, his head resting in Louis’ lap as the older man lets his fingers dance across his skull.
Harry is positively purring with satisfaction from Louis’ touch, and the Alpha smirks when he pushes himself even closer. From where she’s curled up by Harry’s feet, Kiwi lifts her head up to search out the provenance of the noise. Clearly also interested by the prospect of head scratches, the kitten makes her way across the couch, punching a small huff out of Harry when she steps on his stomach to get to her destination. Once she reaches Louis’ lap, Kiwi starts meowing and pawing at the Alpha’s chest until he looks down at her.
“You want pets too, honey?” Louis asks with a chuckle as he withdraws his hand from Harry’s hair and runs it down the feline’s furry back.
“Heyyy,” Harry whines, looking up with a frown to see what caused the motions of Louis’ hand to stop.
“Kiwi wants a turn too, H,” Louis laughs as Harry gives him his best offended look and sits up next to him on the couch.
“Fine,” Harry sighs dramatically. “I guess I can share.”
“Harry,” Louis smirks with amusement. “Are you jealous of the cat?”
The Omega blushes and bites his lip.
“Come here, you silly boy,” Louis says as he pulls on Harry’s arm until he’s cuddled up to his side. “You’ll always be my number one priority, darling,” the Alpha assures before leaning over for a kiss.
***
Louis chuckles as he watches the kitten in front of him try to catch the toy he’s dangling over of her, just barely out of reach.
The cat had been waiting by the door when he'd arrived home from work, eager for some attention. Louis couldn’t resist her cuteness, and he’s been playing with Kiwi for the better part of an hour now, mesmerized by how little it takes to keep cats entertained.
“Louis.” He hears the front door of their apartment open and shut, followed by his Omega’s voice from behind him.
“Hey baby,” Louis greets him without looking up, laughing when Kiwi stumbles a bit on her own paws.
“Louis.” Harry says again, voice tinted with agitation.
Louis’ smile drops into a frown when he catches sight of Harry, standing by the front door and soaked to the bone.
“Did you forget something?” Harry asks, angry and exasperated.
Louis freezes as realization dawns on him.
“Baby, I’m so sorry,” Louis scrambles to his feet, dropping the cat toy to the floor and walking over to his Omega.
Harry holds one hand up before Louis can reach him. “I was worried, Louis,” Harry accuses. “You said you would pick me up so I wouldn’t have to catch the bus in the rain.”
“Harry, shit I-”
“You didn't pick up your phone when I called, I thought something had happened to you,” Harry continues, face going red with anger.
“Babe, I’m sorry. I got distracted,” the Alpha apologises. “You should change, baby, you’ll catch a cold in these wet clothes.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.” Harry snaps at him. “Maybe you should work on better dividing your attention instead.”
With that, Harry gets his bag and storms to their bedroom.
Louis’ heart immediately sinks to the bottom of his stomach as guilt sets in, and he mentally kicks himself for getting so distracted by the cat that he forgot to pick up his Omega at uni.
Because of him, not only does his Omega feel left out and probably lonely, but he’s surely going to get ill from the nasty mixture of rain and wind outside.
Louis’ inner Alpha suddenly takes over, the subconscious need to take care of his Omega trumping everything else for the time being. He ignores Kiwi’s incessant meowing at his feet, the kitten probably miffed at having their play time cut short, and makes his way to the bathroom.
Louis’ giving himself an internal speech as he starts filling up the bathtub, making sure the water is at just the right temperature: hot enough to warm up his poor Omega, but not too hot that it’ll scald him. He’s on autopilot as he plucks a lavender bath bomb from Harry’s stash and plops it in the water, then gets a large fluffy towel from the cupboard to place on the radiator nearby.
Whilst he waits for the bath to be ready, he moves back to the kitchen and fills up the kettle with water before turning it on. Reaching inside the cupboard that holds their joint mug collection, he picks out Harry’s favourite yellow sunflower mug and places a sachet of chamomile tea inside. The water boils quickly, and Louis hums with satisfaction as he watches the water change colours as he pours it in.
The bath is filled up just right when Louis enters the bathroom again, Harry’s mug in hand, and he quickly turns the taps off. He lights a few candles and dots them around the bath, bathing the room in a soft amber glow. Louis makes sure to double check that everything is just the way Harry likes it before exiting.
He bites his bottom lip as he gently knocks against their closed bedroom door. As he expected, no answer comes, and Louis cracks the door open after a few seconds of waiting.
Harry is on his side in bed, and Louis can see he’s shivering even under their thick duvet.
“Harry,” Louis whispers carefully as he enters the room and approaches the bed. “Darling, I know you don’t like me very much right now, but I ran you a bath and made you tea to help warm you up.”
Louis sighs in defeat when Harry doesn’t move or make a sound. “Please baby, I can see you’re shivering and I don’t want you catching a cold because of me,” the Alpha pleads, reaching over to push the duvet away from Harry’s face.
Louis is surprised to see Harry pouting rather than angry, the Omega’s usually bright green eyes clouded with tears, threatening to fall down his cheeks any second.
“Baby,” Louis coos. “What’s wrong, are you hurt?”
Harry shakes his head slowly, one hand poking out from the duvet to wipe at his eyes. “It’s nothing, I’m fine Louis.”
“It’s not nothing if it’s bothering you this much,” Louis says softly. “Tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.”
The younger man looks conflicted for a second, and he shivers some more before speaking again. “It’s you, Lou.”
Louis’ jaw drops as his whole world falls apart. He always tries to protect his Omega from any harm that may come his way, so to know that he was the one that caused him to be this sad is positively breaking his heart.
“You’ve been spending so much of your time with Kiwi since we got her,” Harry mumbles, clearly embarrassed by his admission. “It felt as if you’d forgotten about me, and then you actually did.”
“Oh baby,” Louis says sadly, wrapping the Omega in his arms and pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I didn’t realise you felt that way. Fuck, H, I’m so sorry.”
Harry looks up at him, his nose red from the rain and cold, and his teeth clattering slightly. “Will you come in the bath with me?”
Louis smiles reassuringly, nodding. “Of course darling. If that’s what you want.”
A nod from Harry confirms his wishes, and Louis wastes no time before throwing the cover away from Harry’s body and lifting him up in his arms. The Omega hides his face in the crook of Louis’ neck as they make their way to the bathroom, and Louis frowns when he feels how violently the boy is shaking still. He makes quick work of undressing Harry and helping him sit in the warm water. The Omega makes grabby hands at him, and Louis hands him the warm mug of herbal tea before undressing himself and slipping in the water behind Harry. The boy lets out a content sigh as he rests his weight against Louis’ chest, and the Alpha holds him there securely, satisfied when the shivers slowly lessen before dissipating fully. Louis encourages Harry to drink his tea as he lovingly washes him with his own soap, secretly loving when the Omega smells like him.
Harry’s gone lax against him, and Louis decides it’s time to get him out of the bath and into bed. He smiles fondly at how sleepy and cute the Omega looks as Louis wraps the warm towel around his shoulders, tying one around his own waist before briefly leaving the room on a quest to find them both some pyjamas. He quickly dresses Harry in his warmest set before guiding him to bed and tucking him in.
On the floor, Kiwi is begging for attention again, probably wanting to join in on their cuddles. Harry whines a bit when Louis walks over to her before getting into bed with him, but Louis smirks as he picks up the kitten and places her in her crate instead of bringing her in bed. Once that’s taken care of, Louis shuts off the light and climbs back in bed behind Harry, spooning him from behind and peppering fleeting kisses along his shoulders and neck.
“I love you baby,” Louis whispers. “I’m sorry I’ve been so bad at showing you that lately.”
Harry sniffles slightly and squirms a bit when he feels the scruff of Louis’ beard lightly scratch at his delicate skin. “Love you too, Lou.”