Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Shit !”

Louis lets out a cry of despair as the firelight turns red right in front of him. He slams on the brakes and the shock knocks over the coffee he had put on the passenger seat next to him.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit.”

Fortunately the lid of the cup prevents the liquid from spilling completely into the car and he rushes to pick it up and put it back in its place. He also takes advantage of being stopped to check the time on his phone and finds that he will never be able to be on time to pick up Mia, his daughter, who despite the fact that she claims to be a genius, is still unable to come home from school on her own. But hey, she's only 6 years old so Louis doesn't blame her too much. On the other hand she will let him know that she does not appreciate that he arrives late to pick her up since it tends to happen far too often and she hates being the last to leave the class (she is a busy woman you know, she has to go home quickly to organise clandestine fights between her legos and she really doesn't have time for Louis' lack of organisation).

But of course, despite the fact that he promised he would never be late again, here he is now in his car, at a red light, about 20 minutes from school when he should be there already.

And to make things worse, when he finally left work, he realised that he had received a message from Mia's school teacher asking him to be there early today because she had to talk to him about something. Amelia is a very nice woman but she is old and slow and Louis is really tired of hearing her ask him for money for any event the school organises. In addition she has a very soft voice which is ideal for teaching children but which quickly becomes annoying when used to address adults or to make a little pedantic comment on Mia's attitude.

When Louis finally pulls into the school parking lot 10 minutes later (he can be a very good driver when it comes to saving his honour with his daughter and a bad-breathed old lady), he leaps out of his car and runs as fast as possible to the "awakening butterflies" class, stammering an apology at the janitor who gives him a disapproving look.

There are still a few parents left in front of the classroom which reassures him a little, not that he's afraid of the teacher, but let's say that he’d rather not be alone with her. When he walks through the classroom door, he is immediately hit by a rocket full of energy whose hair is dishevelled and clothes stained.

“Daddy !” Mia exclaims once she's perched in his arms. She has a big smile that shows that one of her front teeth is missing. She has a paint stain on her left cheek that hides her brown skin. Louis also notices that she has a bandage on her elbow and he wonders how his daughter manages to hurt herself in a new way every day.

“Hi darling, how was school today ?” Louis answers back while he hugs her. Each time he finds her after a day of separation, he remembers why he misses her so much when they are apart. She is a child full of life, certainly a little wild, but so so happy that it allows him to be optimistic about their future. Which was very difficult when she was still a baby and he was going through the divorce alone and he was sure he would never get out of it. But it takes more than a broken heart to stop a Tomlinson. Now he knows he will never be alone again and that together they can face anything.

“Super cool !” Mia says back far too loud not to attract a few glances from parents around. “But I want to go home now !”

“We're going home, you just have to wait a little bit, I have to talk to Amelia,” he says as he gently puts her on the floor. She runs off as soon as her feet touch the ground and he lets out a desperate sigh when he sees that her teacher is still surrounded by several parents and that he will have to wait before he can talk to her.

The wait doesn't last very long since he doesn't even have time to take out his phone when he hears a deep voice behind him.

“Are you Mia’s father ?”

Louis turns to find a tall man with slightly dishevelled brown hair and tired green eyes. He wears a pastel pink sweater with little clouds and a pearl necklace that was probably made by his child. Louis doesn't know him, but to be honest, he doesn't know any of the other parents in the class. He never has time to linger at information meetings, he even tends to miss them as much as possible because you never really learn useful things, just the calendar of events that he and Mia won’t be attending and the time at which to pick up his children, which he is already very aware of, despite appearances.

“Yes,” he responds simply because he senses trouble coming. Problems often take the form of handsome and attractive men.

The dry answer seems to make the other man a little uncomfortable and he takes time to formulate his answer. Or he speaks slowly. Very slowly.

“Hi, I’m Harry Styles,” he says finally. “I am Ariel’s father…”

He lets the end of his sentence drag on as if Louis had to understand what he's talking about. Louis spares him nothing, he stares at him. Maybe he blinks.

“Maybe Amelia told you about the situation between our children…” The other ends up saying when he understands that Louis does not intend to be courteous.

“Which situation ?” Louis asks immediately.

It doesn't seem to help Harry Styles' embarrassment at all.

“Well…” he says and god could he be even slower ? “Our kids haven't gotten along for a while now but lately their relationship has gotten worse and they've started fighting. Like it's been a few times now I really thought you would know.”

Of course Louis doesn't know, he avoids Amelia's conversations like the plague even though she's told him several times now that she had to talk to him.

“Oh,” he just says and he hopes this answer can appease the other man for now because he has no idea what he should do. Mia did not tell him about problems with her comrades. He wonders now if she could have hidden other things from him. She can be really smart for her age when it comes to getting into mischief. Once, for example, he caught her watching The Silence of the Lambs despite the fact that he had told her over and over again that it was really not a film for her even though there was a butterfly on the cover of the dvd. Even if he had interrupted her viewing, it was still now the film that she presented as her favourite.

“Ariel really isn't one to fight.”

Louis is interrupted in his thoughts by the voice of Harry Styles who sounds really desperate now. Louis understands, he would much rather be at home too, but he's not the type to give up and he's not the type to be pushed around either.

“You imply that Mia is the type to fight ?”

Louis shouldn't but he really enjoys watching the face of Harry Styles decompose as he understands Louis isn’t going to collaborate and be nice about it.

“No, no of course !” He rushes to say. “But…”

“But Ariel is not the one who started to fight, that’s right ?” Louis interrupts.

“Well… Yes.”

Ok, so Harry Styles is not the type to be pushed around either. Louis stays silent for a bit. He looks at Amelia who is still busy elsewhere but must have noticed what is going on since she keeps throwing panicked glances in their direction.

“And what am I supposed to do ?” Louis finally settles to ask. Obviously his attitude doesn't help at all and Harry becomes harsher too.

“Well I imagined that we could talk to them to try to understand where the issue came from together but now, I don't have too much trouble understanding what the real problem is.”

Louis laughs dryly. So it seems Harry can be mean after all. It’s funny because after he said that, he nervously runs a hand through his hair and Louis notices that his fingernails are painted which is quite pretty and also delicate. It shows that Harry is really not destined to have tense conversations with hostile parents in colourful classrooms, but to much better. Unlike Louis who really feels like shit right now.

“Look,” he says pathetically. “I’m tired. I just came here to pick up my daughter. Just leave me the fuck alone.”

Harry looks almost sorry when he keeps insisting.

“I can’t let you go like this. I’m worried for my son. It seems your daughter keeps on bothering him and I can’t tolerate it.”

So the much talked-about Ariel is a boy, Louis thinks but he doesn’t let himself be surprised by this fact when the father of the boy in question is standing in front of him right now with his painted nails, his necklace and his pink sweater and seems to incarnate the destruction of gender norms. It's such a shame they're arguing when Louis thinks they could really get along. But anyway. Harry is also an asshole who thinks his son is incapable of sins so it immediately pushes them against one another.

But Louis really wants to go home and sit on his couch, god his couch seems like heaven right now, and watch TV and not cook but order some pizzas and he really doesn’t have the time for Harry and Ariel, he has some bigger and more important things to do.

“OK, listen,” he says pinching his nose and putting on a tortured look to make sure he's left alone afterwards. “I’m gonna go home and I’m gonna talk to Mia on my own. She’s going to tell me her version of what happened and we’ll see another time who is responsible.”

Louis pulls away to signify the conversation is over and begins to turn to look for Mia when a hand lands firmly on his shoulder. He turns back to Harry and finds the other man staring at him with a determined look.

“I’ll be there to get Ariel next thursday. I’ll see you then,” he says curtly then he turns around and walks towards a group of children where there must be his son. Louis watches him walk away thinking that their meeting next Thursday gives him plenty of time to make up a story that completely absolves him or Mia of the blame.

When Louis Tomlinson comes home that night, he sits on his couch, watches TV, and orders pizza. However, he does not talk to Mia about Ariel and he’s determined never to.

___

The following days, Louis no longer meets Harry Styles and that suits him completely.

On the Thursday when they should have had their appointment to settle the problem between their children, Louis manages to get an extra shift at Bon Appétit and he sends Lottie to pick up Mia.

When he returns home that night with a heavy head, tired muscles and a greasy smell he can't get rid of, Lottie informs him that someone was looking for him outside school. Of course, he claims he has no idea who it could be.

"Is that so ?” He asks while removing his shoes and throwing them in the entrance where they are added to the substantial pile already present there.

“Yeah, he was the father of another kid in Mia's class,” Lottie replies. “He said he wanted to talk to you, that you were supposed to meet today to talk.”

Louis doesn't answer, she looks at him a little out of the corner of her eye, her gaze still mainly focused on the television screen. As Louis remains silent, she speaks again.

“Said his name was Harry something. I told him you must have forgotten the date or something. Now tell me Louis, why did you dump the sexiest dad on the planet ?”

Louis chokes on the water he was drinking.

“It was not a date !” He hastens to say as soon as he has finished coughing. “And he really is not the sexiest dad on the planet, are you crazy ? I am !”

“You wear tracksuits almost every day,” Lottie says, mischievous as always. “How can you even think you're in contention for the title ? But anyway, why are you avoiding him ? He seemed nice.”

Louis is silent for a moment. Let's be clear, he is not ashamed of how he behaved with Harry when they first met. His instinct for survival had taken over and he had eliminated the threat. But , looking back, he told himself that it probably wasn't the best solution for the long term and that now he would always have an angry Harry Styles looking for him after school.

“Well, I screwed up a little bit,” he says, finally looking down.

Lottie immediately gets up from the sofa and walks closer to him.

“Tell me what happened,” she says as she takes his hand and takes him with her so that they sit together on the couch. “I’m sure it’s nothing that we can’t fix.”

But of course it's when Louis is going to open his mouth to finally tell this story that bothers him more than he lets on, a door creaks on the other side of the house and a few moments later, Mia rushes into the living room at full speed and she immediately jumps on the sofa, on her father's and aunt's knees.

“Daddy ! You’re back !” she exclaims with the happiest look on earth as if it was going to make Louis forget the fact that she should already be sleeping.

“Mia darling, why are you…”

“I was fighting with ghosts like you told me to do it. But there was one purple ghost who was more nice than the other ghosts so I tried to talk to him. But it was a girl and she was tired but she could not sleep so I made her a place in my bed but she took all the place so I was on the floor and it was cold and I heard you so I thought that you could make a place for me in your bed so that I can sleep and Purple can sleep too and you can protect us.”

Louis really doesn't feel ready to invent a story that could allow Mia to sleep in her bed without preventing Purple from sleeping too, so he gives up right away.

“Ok, you can sleep in my bed,” he says with a sigh and next thing he knows, Mia is running in a circle around the coffee table by pushing cries of victory which must necessarily disturb the neighbours.

“Shhh , you’re going to wake up Purple,” he says knowing perfectly that she wouldn't even think to stop if it was for the neighbours’ sake. Well obviously, Mia does not stop, it would be too simple, she continues her round of victory in slow motion and pretends to shout which should not do it but completely satisfies Louis.

Lottie looks a little bit at the strange dance that Mia is inventing before turning back to Louis.

“So, about Harry, what happened ?”

Louis looks between Mia and Lottie with a worried look. He knows that if he spoke with Lottie now about Ariel, Mia wouldn't miss a beat even though she doesn't seem to be listening at all. He also knows that he should have raised this story with her as soon as he heard about it but he was afraid to find out that Mia was responsible as Harry had implied. He knows his daughter has had similar issues in previous years but these were things they had been working on that hadn't happened in a long time. And it was so easy for others to say that Mia had a problem, that she was prone to that kind of thing. As if the fact that she only had one father could give a reason for all the monstrosity she was going to do next. As if Louis couldn't be enough as a parent, as if being abandoned made her destined for failure.

So yes, Louis was defensive about it but he himself had grown up with one less parent and he knew very well not to let that screw you up. He just doesn't want his daughter to have the same problems as him and not talking about it can sometimes seem like the ideal solution. But he's here now and Lottie is there to support him and he knows his daughter is wonderful and if she hurt Harry's son it was probably because he deserved it.

So, instead of responding to Lottie, Louis interrupts his daughter's celebration dance.

“Mia angel, could you come here for a minute please.”

Mia stops, looks at him with a thoughtful look and seems to understand that they are about to have a serious conversation since she approaches without discussing and sits down in front of them on the coffee table.

Louis does not let himself be touched by her big brown eyes which stare at him full of innocence. Strong, he must be strong.

“Honey, is there a boy named Ariel in your class ?”

Mia nods. Lottie stays silent.

“Ariel’s father came to talk to me a few days ago and apparently you and Ariel don't like each other very much.”

Mia nods again but she looks more hesitant than the first time, she must be starting to understand that she might be in trouble depending on her answers.

“And apparently lately you and Ariel have started fighting…”

This time Mia doesn't answer, she lowers her head however and she avoids Louis' gaze which counts in itself as an answer.

“Now honey, I'm not accusing you of anything, I just want to understand why you started fighting.”

“Ariel’s annoying,” Mia mumbles.

“Is he bothering you ?” Louis asks and he tries not to look too happy but what would he like the other child to be responsible for once.

Mia nods again. Louis forgets the situation for a moment and he wants to jump for joy but then he remembers that a child is currently bothering his daughter and it is hurting her but she has not spoken to him about it herself.

“Did he hurt you ?” he asks.

Mia raises her head and she has tears in her eyes and that alone can make Louis panic. That girl is many things but she is not a whiner. She never cries when she falls and hurts herself. Her favourite film is The Silence of the Lambs for god sake. She's not going to cry over a stupid story with a classmate. This case is probably more serious than he thought.

“I’m the one who pushed him first but it was because he would not let me alone,” Mia stutters in the middle of a sob.

Louis rushes to grab his daughter in his arms and captures her in a hug she will never be able to escape from.

“Ok darling. I'm going to go talk to Ariel's father and I'll explain to him that his son must leave you alone and I promise you that Ariel will never bother you again.”

“Thanks,” Mia said in a muffled voice in the heart of Louis's embrace.

Lottie glares at Louis over Mia's head, reminding her that her daughter isn't the only child who's been hurt.

“Now darling, you have to promise me you will never push another child again. Except if it’s to defend yourself from a really mean person. Ok ?”

“Ok,” Mia says obediently and Louis feels she'll be ready to hit another kid sooner than he thinks but that answer seems to satisfy Lottie and he's tired, and Mia is tired and Lottie must be too, so he doesn't insist.

He keeps Mia in his arms when he gets up and walks Lottie to the door. As she leaves, she places a kiss on the head of Mia who is already half asleep and she doesn’t leave without making a little speech to Louis on the fact that he should not wait before talking about this kind of story with his daughter. He closes the door behind her, rolling his eyes.

He hurries to bed then, sleeping as promised with Mia although he could very well have put her in her bed since she was already sleeping but he felt he would miss her too much if they were separated. It’s stupid and Mia shouln’t know that or she could use it against him but in secret, Louis loves just as much as her when she comes to join him. It’s nice to feel her presence next to him even if she sometimes kicks him in her sleep. So sometimes, like tonight, he’s too weak to resist temptation and he welcomes her in his bed. He knows it’s a habit she should not take.

___

The following day, Friday, Louis is for once on time to pick up Mia. He does it to have time to talk with Harry but he thinks he could very well do it for his daughter as well when he sees her eyes light up when she notices him. Once he gave Mia a hug and received a drawing as a gift (the drawing represents either a princess fighting a dragon or a dragon tasting a princess and knowing Mia it could very well be both) he explains to her that she will have to wait a little bit while he discusses with another parent and the next thing he knows, Mia has already left on an adventure at the other end of the class.

When Louis turns around, he doesn't have to search long to find Harry. This time, the other man is wearing a cardigan that looks like a troll has spewed out all the colours of the rainbow. He is also accompanied by his son. The boy is small, frail-looking and has dark circles similar to his father's under his eyes. Louis immediately understands why his father seems worried about Ariel; it looks like a well-placed kick from Mia could break him into a thousand pieces.

Harry notices Louis looking at him and he gets up from the floor where he was crouching to button Ariel's yellow raincoat. He grabs the hand of his son who follows him easily and he approaches Louis.

“You weren’t here yesterday,” is all that Harry says when he is close enough to Louis to talk. Not even a hello. Not that Louis would deserve a hello to be honest.

“Yeah, uh.. Sorry about that,” Louis sputters. “I had to stay longer at work.” Which is true even if he had asked to work longer.

“I thought you sent your wife to talk to me for you,” Harry continues dryly, “but you didn't even tell her about the problem.”

Louis can't help bursting out laughing, which must end up making him look like a madman to the other father.

“Lottie’s not my wife ! Are you crazy ?” He says in the middle of his giggles when he sees Harry's lost look. “She’s my sister.”

Louis starts laughing again but has to stop after a while when he notices that Harry isn't laughing with him at all. He stops and looks embarrassed like a child caught stealing candy. Then he remembers that he and Harry are actually equals and that he might as well act very cold towards the other. He pulls himself together thinking how crazy he must look to Harry.

“Ok, I talked to my daughter,” he says finally. “And she’s not going to harm Ariel if he lets her alone like she asked him to do.”

As he says this, he remembers Ariel's presence behind Harry and looks down to notice that the little boy doesn't actually miss a single piece of the conversation and his big brown eyes are fixed on Louis. So Louis doesn't wait for the father's response and instead bends down to be at the boy's level. When Ariel notices that Louis' attention is now on him, he tries to hide behind his father's leg but with little success.

“Hey Ariel, listen,” Louis says as gently as possible. “I’m really sorry that you and Mia fought and that she hurt you.”

Ariel turns his head towards Louis from where he was hidden. He looks at Louis a little bit with narrowed eyes as if he was looking for a trace of mockery in the excuses then, as he finds none, he advances a little further outside his hiding place.

“I accept your apologies,” he then says in a very neat way that surprises Louis for a little kid.

Louis gets up to return to the same level as Harry. Well at the same level, everything is relative since the other seems to have giraffe legs and to be a good head taller than him.

“Now, Ariel has to leave Mia alone when she wants to be left alone and I assure you there will be no other problems.”

Harry looks at Louis a little thoughtfully before turning to his son.

“You understand Ariel ?” he asks and Ariel nods in response.

Louis doesn't need more and he takes it as a victory and gives a quick nod to Harry, which surely means "goodbye, I don't ever want to talk to you again, leave me alone" and he leaves to find Mia at the other end of the class before rushing off.

God he really hopes that was the last time he spoke with Harry Styles.

___

The days that follow, Louis hears no more about Ariel and that delights him. He still gets into the habit of asking Mia if the other boy came to talk to her when he picks her up, but the answer is always negative. When he sees other parents picking up their kids, he still freaks out about crossing paths with Harry but he notices a woman coming to pick up Ariel from school and she doesn't seem intersted in talking to him or to even know who he is and it suits him completely.

So he and Mia continue their little way, she by accumulating the wars between her dinosaurs and him by accumulating the shifts at the restaurant and the work on his scenario. Because Louis is not a waiter, he is an author, an actor, a screenwriter, a poet, in short, an artist. But he is also a father and his daughter depends on him, the time when he could run from hearings to hearings bouncing off the money his mother left him is over and although some might think that Louis is frustrated by that, he really isn't because no matter all the fame he might gain by writing or starring in a blockbuster, his daughter's love remains the greatest reward and makes all the award shows look dull next to it.

So here he is, on a Saturday in October, working his ass off clearing tables and serving them greasy food and being completely at peace with it when the next event happens. He is leaning on the counter at the back of the restaurant, the hour is off so he is rather left alone when the bell at the door rings, announcing the arrival of new customers.

He looks up and is horrified to find Harry Styles and his son walking through the door. He hides behind the counter as much as possible so as not to be noticed. At the same time, his eyes follow Harry and Ariel as they walk through the restaurant and choose a place to sit. He also exchanges a look with Pamela, the other waitress who is on duty now because they know very well that where the two choose to sit will determine which of them will have to serve them.

He is relieved to see them go to one of the tables for two which is in the section that Pamela is responsible for but at the last moment, Ariel pulls on his father's arm to take him in the direction of the tables with banquettes of which Louis is, and he knows it too well, responsible.

He gives a last pleading look to Pamela who shakes her head and goes back to the magazine she was reading without giving him the slightest pity. He picks up two menus from the pile next to him and walks to the table shuffling his feet.

“Hello, I'm Louis, I'll be your server for lunch,” he says in a monotonous voice interrupting Ariel who was telling a story about sick kittens to his father. Hardly had the first word left his mouth when Harry turned to him suddenly as if he had received an electric shock. “Here are two menus and do not hesitate to let me know as soon as you are decided.”

Harry's gaze is fixed on him and it seems like he's decided not to blink anymore because it's almost creepy. Ariel is ultimately the one who takes the menus from Louis, giving him an apologetic look as if he's responsible for his father's behaviour.

“Thank you,” he says in a very cordial tone. Louis gives him a polite nod and he walks away as quickly as possible.

Once he is at the counter again, Pamela approaches him.

“Well it seems like you had an effect on him”, she says with the mischievous look of one who loves gossip. Louis looks up to find that Harry's gaze is still fixed on him. When he notices he's been seen, Harry quickly turns to his son to help him decipher the menu and Louis can't help but stare back at the other man. Again, he's wearing an outfit that Louis would call charming if he wasn't too busy not liking the man wearing it. He has a thick woollen shirt with blue checks that reveals a t-shirt underneath full of paint stains. Of course, Harry also has jewels, he wears many rings which are not at all things that are usually seen on the hands of dads at school and also a mother-of-pearl necklace.

Louis drops his head pathetically in his arms on the counter and groans in despair. Something tugging on his apron makes him look up and he finds Ariel handing him the two menus he gave him earlier.

"We've made our choice," he says while Louis takes the menus from him to put away. "We'll both have omelettes please.”

“Ok,” Louis answers simply because he was at a loss for words, impressed by the little boy's politeness and neat manners. He watches him go back to his father. Ariel is walking delicately as if the floor is made of glass and he really didn't want to damage it. Louis really wonders how such a fragile creature could cope with the threat that Mia can be when she is angry.

Louis continues his service and when the omelettes are ready, he brings them to the table, counting on being efficient to stay close to Harry for as little time as possible. He puts the plates in front of them, giving Ariel a polite smile and ignoring the father and he's ready to go back to his counter when a small voice calls him back.

“Hey you.”

Louis turns to Ariel who has just called him. He is relieved to discover that Harry looks as surprised as he does, which reassures him that this is not a Machivelian plan by the man to get revenge on Mia.

“You look familiar,” explains Ariel. “Are you Mia's father ?”

Louis opens his mouth several times to respond but no sound comes out. He glances at Harry and finds the other man staring intently at him as if the reaction Louis was going to have would say a lot about him.

“Yeah,” Louis just says and it sucks but at least it's an answer and it's already better than nothing.

“Cool,” Ariel says back and Louis thinks that's it and he can go hide now but Ariel continues. “I wanted to tell you that Mia is very nice and that I don't annoy her anymore and that now I can even be her friend.”

As Harry drops his head in the palm of his hand with a look of desperation, Louis can't help but let his surprise show.

“Is that so ? Are you friends now ?” He asks Ariel, choosing to ignore Harry.

“No not yet, Mia told me yesterday that I still have some missions to accomplish for her next week and then I can finally be her friend,” Ariel answers earnestly.

Louis realises that his daughter is even more talented than he thought and that she lies to him every time he asks her if she spoke to Ariel during the day. Apparently she does more than just talk to him since she makes the other boy run after missions that are surely as absurd as the fact that Ariel still wants to become her friend after all that has happened.

Harry seems to regain the ability to speak and he interrupts the exchange of glances that takes place between Louis and Ariel.

“Ariel please, don't bother Mr Tomlinson here and let him do his work.”

“Oh I’m sorry,” Ariel is quick to say after his father's remark.

“Don’t worry Sunshine, no harm done,” Louis says to Ariel with a smile.

Louis is getting ready to finally walk away but before he notices that Harry has frowned and he can't help but wonder if he's crossed the line by giving Ariel a nickname. Maybe Harry finds him too friendly. Before leaving, Louis can't help but turn to Ariel one last time.

“And don't let Mia walk all over you either,” he says in a light tone. “I asked you to respect her choice when she wants to be left alone, not to do whatever she wants whenever she asks.”

With that, Louis finally leaves, waving and smiling at Ariel and giving Harry a small nod. The rest of Styles' lunch is uneventful, Harry gets up himself to come and pay directly at the counter and he looks very embarrassed about something but Louis doesn't understand what so he doesn't really speak to him more than that. When the two finally leave the restaurant, Ariel gives Louis one last big wave and they disappear down the street and Louis feels like he can finally breathe freely.

It's crazy how much power Harry can have over him when they're in the same room. It's like he's watching Louis' every move to see what he's doing wrong. To understand why Mia is bullying his son. This man really is a threat, Louis thinks, forcing his mind not to dwell too much on how slow Harry walks in space, how he runs his hands full of rings through his dark hair when it falls in front of his piercing green eyes, how he bursts into loud, happy laughter when Ariel says something funny… Yes, Harry Styles really is a menace.

___

When he gets home that Saturday night, Louis doesn't forget to have a chat with his daughter about the very interesting information he learned today.

“Well yeah, Ariel’s nice.”

It’s all Mia says before returning to the pasta on her plate.

“Ariel’s nice ?” Louis asks. “Because the last info before that was that he was bothering you and you had a fight.”

“Yeah but now he’s nice,” Mia responds like it makes sense. “And also, I realised he really really wants to be my friend and he’s ready to do missions so now I want to be his friend too.”

“So next week you're going to end the missions and you're finally going to be his friend?” Louis asks.

“I am not going to stop the missions but I am going to be his friend,” Mia responds again like it’s pure logic. “We will do the missions together, as a team.”

This ends up reassuring Louis who had almost believed that his daughter was taking advantage of Ariel's devotion to use him and send him to do stupid things just to amuse her and never become his friend. They were actually going to be good friends, but on top of that they would do the stupid stuff together and that's what any parent wants for their child.

Normally, Louis wouldn't hear a complaint from the Styles family for this case, and that's fine with him. He really doesn't want to deal with Harry Styles anymore since it seems that every time he meets him, the latter's green eyes come to haunt his thoughts constantly in the days that follow the encounters.

He is so relieved by the lack of trouble that he forgets to worry about what the formation of a friendship between Mia and Ariel might cause. Like, for example, a rapprochement between the parents of the two children. And of course, since he forgets to think about it, that's what happens next.

___

The first time Louis talks to Ariel's mother, he doesn't know who he's talking to for a good 10 minutes before realising.

As often lately, Louis is early to pick up Mia from school. Since the affair with the Styles (which happened just 2 weeks ago) he is more motivated than ever to prove to the world that nobody has anything to blame him for and that Mia is the happiest child in the world.

He is sitting on a bench in front of the class of "awakening butterflies" waiting for Amelia to free the children when a tall, rather elegant woman arrives and comes to sit next to him on the stool. The woman has long light brown hair, she is nicely made up (in Louis’ humble opinion) and she wears a trench coat which could pass her off as an important businesswoman. In fact, her appearance contrasts completely with the decor of the school around her, she does not seem to belong there, sitting on this bench, and even less next to him (who, as usual, wears sweatpants because it's the best after a day at work).

She pulls a gossip magazine out of her purse and starts flipping through it before bursting into a sudden, bright laugh that startles Louis. He gives her a curious look to which she responds with a charming smile.

“Oh I'm sorry I really don't want to bother you but I never normally read this kind of magazine and it's just really funny,” she says pointing to the page the magazine is open to which shows a depressed celebrity in a swimming pool and really, Louis couldn't blame that woman for laughing so hard because the journalist's comments are truly hilarious. Louis can't help but laugh with her in front of the "Completely alone, will XX manage to find the light ever again?" which accompanies a photo of the guy sunbathing and looking really jaded. The elegant woman seems delighted with Louis's reaction and begins leafing through the magazine in search of other pearls.

“Look, if you find it funny, I found other things just now and you'll love it,” she says and here they go.

They spend the next few minutes giggling together at every nonsense the magazine throws at them before the reality of the situation catches up with Louis.

“What is your child's name ?” Tara (because yeah, Louis knows her name now, they’re that close) asks in a space between their chuckles.

“I’m Mia’s father,” he responds simply and he didn’t expect Tara's reaction who lets out a cry of surprise and joy.

“You’re Mia’s father ?!” She says again like it’s the best news ever. “That’s brilliant ! I’m Ariel’s mother !”

And while Tara seems delighted by the situation, Louis can't help but feel a little pang in his heart thinking that this woman is in fact Harry's wife. Not that he's jealous of Harry, Tara is wonderful but she's a woman and Louis insn’t really into that (although Tara might make him doubt because she really is one in a million, the rare pearl, la woman) and no he's not jealous of Tara either because that would be really stupid.

Tara, despite being awesome, seems to miss the fact that her joy isn't fully shared.

“Ariel hasn't stopped talking about Mia for some time,” she says. “She really looks lovely from what he says.”

Louis holds back a laugh because lovely really isn't the first word people usually use to describe Mia.

“Well I'm glad the two have become such good friends considering the rocky start they had.” Louis says and Tara nods understandably.

“We should really organise playdates for them from time to time. Ariel tends to be a withdrawn child and I would love to see how he interacts with your daughter outside of the school setting.”

Louis doesn't have time to approve as the door to the classroom in front of them suddenly opens revealing Amelia looking as stern as usual. Louis and Tara both exchange knowing glances before getting up to go back into the classroom to pick up their children. Once this is done, Tara and Louis find themselves talking together for a good half hour in front of the school while Mia and Ariel run around them.

Although he listens carefully to what the other woman is saying and she is truly captivating, Louis can't help but be equally fascinated by his own daughter acting in an unusual way. Louis has often seen Mia playing with her friends and it is always a very impressive sight since Mia is simply and purely a savage. He always sees her inventing stories that put her in situations of extreme danger from which she always gets out by brute force.

However, when Mia plays with Ariel, she evolves into a new version of herself that is just as energetic but also much more caring. She always invents the worst stories with the worst dangers but instead of getting away with killing all her enemies, she listens to Ariel's suggestions on forgiving their opponents and also his ideas of plans to win without confronting anyone directly.

He notices that Tara has stopped talking when he sees that she too is engrossed in contemplating their children. When she sees Louis looking at her she smiles.

"I'm sorry, I'm not used to seeing Ariel like this, he's usually so calm."

Louis laughs too.

“Yeah, I know the feeling.”

They still stay quiet together for a bit until Tara pulls a phone out of her bag to check the time and realises she's running late. She leaves, taking Ariel behind her and not without having retrieved Louis' phone number. As she walks away, she turns around one last time.

“And you could talk to Harry about a potential playdate too, I'm sure he would love to organise one,” she says, backing up and nearly tripping over the edge of a sidewalk.

Louis takes a shamefully long time to realise that she is talking about Harry. As in Harry Styles her husband, Harry Styles the father of her child, Harry Styles whom Louis does not like but whom he cannot help finding handsome. He tries to stammer out a coherent answer but he doesn't have time to find adequate words as Tara and Ariel have already disappeared.

Louis and Mia head for their car looking oddly dejected as they've spent the last few minutes having some really interesting conversations, or wonderful adventures in Mia's case. On the way home, after driving in an eerie silence, Louis finally asks Mia if anything is bothering her. She hesitates a little before answering.

“It’ kinda stupid,” she says with a little voice. “But I thought that Ariel had only one dad too.”

Louis feels his heart break a little after that and Mia must realise it since she hastens to continue.

“And it's so cool to have only one father but I don't understand why everyone has the right to have two parents when my dad is always somewhere else taking care of other children but not me.”

Louis would so much like to be able to find the right words to comfort his daughter, but he can't. One would have thought that the fact of having been abandoned by his father himself would have made him an expert, but he can't work miracles. And he knows all too well that only a miracle could fill the void in Mia's heart. The void created by the fear of being responsible. Because no one abandons a child like that normally so there must be something wrong with the child.

“It’s not your fault darling,” he says the same way his mother told him when he was little. “Owen left but it’s really really not your fault.”

It's mine again.

___

The unexpected event that no one can foresee happens on the Tuesday of the following week.

Louis is working at Bon Appétit as usual when he receives an unexpected call from a producer he has been trying to get in touch with for more than a month now. The man informs him that is in the neighbourhood and that if Louis is available, he would really like to take a look at his work. Of course Louis says he's available and of course he's absolutely not.

Louis spends the end of his shift being the worst waiter in the world since he doesn’t stop making calls to each of his sisters hoping that at least one of them can pick up Mia at school. They're all busy and Louis doesn't even try to call his mother since he knows she's traveling to Ireland with Dan (he wonders now what the fuck they're seeing in Ireland because there is much more to do elsewhere, to be fair, right now Ireland really seems to him to be a pile of rocks with a little bit of grass on top).

As Louis is running in his house trying to collect the various script manuscripts lying around, he realises that the time for the end of school has already arrived and in an outburst of despair, he does the last thing he thought he would do; he calls Tara.

“Hi Louis !” Tara says when she picks up.

“Help !” he says back.

“What ? What’s happening ? Everything’s alright ?” She asks,her immediate concern audible even through the phone and Louis feels blessed to have met such a kind woman in these times of crisis. He quickly explains the situation to her and he finally asks her if she could pick up Mia too.

“Oh I’m sorry Louis but Harry’s the one who picks up Ariel today. But I’m sure he would be okay to take care of Mia too for the evening. I’ll send you his number right away !”

And she immediately hangs up.

When Louis receives her message with Harry's number seconds later, he can't help but feel cursed for meeting such a kind woman in these times of crisis.

He swallows his pride when he finally calls the number and although he would very much like to be able to go on his meeting, he prays for Harry not to answer.

“Hi ?” Harry's voice says in his loudspeaker.

Shit, shit, shit and shit.

“Hi Harry.” Can he even call Harry by his first name ? “It’s Louis.” God does Harry even know his name. “Mia’s father.”

“Oh.” Harry says simply back. Then : “Hi Louis.”

Louis, despite his absolute state of panic, takes the time to appreciate how Harry pronounces his name. His deep, slow voice makes him stop mid-action as he is getting into his car. Then he comes back to his senses and remembers why he was calling in the first place.

“Hi.” No, he already said that. “No. No hi.” What the fuck is he even saying ? “I need help !” Simple but effective.

“Oh are you ok ? What can I do for you ?”

The Styles are truly the most helpful human beings Louis have ever met.

“I have a very important last minute meeting that means I can't pick up Mia from school right now. Could you please take her with you and Ariel and I'll pick her up as soon as I can,” Louis says in one go.

Harry remains silent for a few seconds and Louis imagines him remembering all the times Louis was horribly rude to him.

“Yeah of course, I can do that,” Harry responds instead of the cruel laugh Louis expected.

“What ? Are you sure ?” Louis can’t help but ask.

“Yeah. It’s really not a problem,” Harry responds and although he searches a lot, Louis fails to find a trace of irony in his words.

“Well,” Louis says. “Thank you Harry.”

“You’re welcome Louis.”

Louis wishes he could explain to Harry how much he's saving his life, but he doesn't have the time. He hears that Harry is talking with other people in the background and a few seconds later Amelia's voice comes over the loudspeaker.

“Mr Tomlinson ?” She asks and it startles Louis who hastens to lower the volume of his telephone.

“Yes ?”

“Are you really giving Mr Styles permission to pick up your daughter for you ?” She asks with a suspicious tone which he completely understands since she has witnessed most of the tense exchanges he and Harry have had.

“Yes !”

There's again some fuzzy chatter at the end of the line and it's Mia's voice which then rings through the loudspeaker.

“Daddy ?” She asks in a hesitant voice.

“Yes darling it’s me. I'm sorry I can’t come to the school right now so if that’s ok with you, you can go to Ariel's to play a little bit until I come to pick you up there.”

He immediately loses his daughter's attention and he hears her leaving, shouting "Ariel I'm coming to your place!"

Harry must then regain control of his phone since it is his voice that then rings in Louis's ears.

“I’ll send you my address,” he says simply and Louis is just amazed by how nice he can be.

“Ok, thanks a lot. I will send you messages to let you know when I should arrive. I'll make sure it's not too late.”

“Don’t worry Louis. Take your time.” And God Louis wants to kiss him right now and oops.

No he doesn’t want to kiss Harry Styles, he really wants to thank him for his help in a very professional way. No crush on Harry, no problems.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome Louis, now go to your meeting, I’ll take care of Mia.”

Louis doesn't have time to say thank you again as Harry has already hung up. And now he doesn't know why he's more nervous, meeting the producer or seeing Harry later.

___

The meeting went well.

Louis feels that the producer was rather impressed with his work. He gave Louis some advice on his writing, he laughed easily at all his jokes and finally when they parted ways, he did say he would tell his acquaintances in the industry about Louis.

Now all Louis has to do is wait to see if he hears from that producer again to see if he was sincere. And all he has to do before that is go to Harry Styles and pick up Mia. From an outside perspective it may seem like something very easy to do but it really isn't. Anything related to Harry Styles is no small feat for Louis.

When he parks in front of the address Harry sent him, Louis isn't surprised to find that the surrounding area looks lovely. It's almost dark already but he manages to make out a green park around the corner and he can imagine Harry and Ariel going there every Sunday walking hand in hand, happy like a family in an advertisement.

The Styles live in a modern building where the rent must well exceed Louis' salary from the restaurant. It doesn't surprise him too much, he knows that Tara makes a lot of money working in law or something. Louis does not give himself time to hesitate when he finds himself facing the intercoms and he presses the button, remembering that he and Harry are equal and that he should not be afraid of him even if he is very handsome.

“Louis ?” Says Harry's scrambled voice over the intercom and Louis forgets all the preparation he did. He's screwed.

“Yep, that's me,” he responds, trying to sound as detached as possible while wondering if it's really that important since they're just talking through a buzzer.

“I'll let you in, it's on the 6th floor.”

Louis finds himself in the entrance hall of the building, examining his reflection in the mirror while waiting for the elevator. It's a good thing he got changed earlier to meet the producer because for once he's wearing something other than tracksuits and it's really convenient to see Harry now. He wears simple black jeans and such a simple black sweater which makes him look professional and also (as he likes to think) look seductive.

Not that looking attractive is important now as he is about to go see Harry Styles who is, let's not forget it, with Tara, with whom Louis got along very well when he met her.

When the elevator arrives, Louis climbs in and presses the button for the 6th floor while thinking that he will enter this apartment, pick up his daughter, and leave as quickly as he arrived and there will be no problem. He arrives at the 6th and one of the doors of the corridor where he arrives is open so he assumes that this is where he is expected.

He doesn't take too much time to admire the drawing of Ariel which is taped to the door as he pushes it lightly and slips hesitantly inside the apartment

“Uh, I’m here,” he says to announce himself as he walks into a nicely appointed living room.

“Hi Louis !” Says Harry as he comes from an adjacent door. As always he is nicely dressed and even though he still has messy hair Louis can't stop staring at him longer than necessary (and who is he to judge somebody with messy hair, he is a master in the area).

As Louis doesn't move, Harry also stays in front of him with his disoriented lost look and it's as if he's waiting to see how Louis will act so he can adapt. To keep him from being embarrassed, Louis does the first thing that pops into his head and he starts taking off his shoes while saying useless niceties that don't sound like him at all.

“I'm sorry, I hope Mia wasn't too much of a burden. I also hope I didn't take too long. It's pretty here, the neighbourhood. And the apartment. The apartment is nice too.”

The more he talks, the more Harry raises his eyebrows and it shows that he understands that Louis is completely panicked.

“Louis,” he cuts him off as Louis begins to compliment each cactus lined up on the shelf next to him. “Do you want something to drink ?”

He asks the question so naturally that it calms Louis who immediately feels more comfortable.

“Yes. Water please,” Louis says, tossing his shoes next to the door like he would have done at home while ignoring all the pairs lined up neatly right next to him.

As Harry disappears into what Louis assumes is the kitchen, he decides to move a little further into the living room. The front door being in a small nook, he has to move forward a little to get a full view of the spacious room. Everything is very tidy and organised and it shows that great care has been taken in the decoration. There are large paintings hanging on a wall and Louis frankly knows nothing about painting but he is still surprised to appreciate how the colours are matched together.

But the paintings hanging on the wall aren't the only real works of art in the room; Ariel and Mia are also present, both sitting on the floor at the coffee table and immersed in the creation of magnificent drawings.
Around them, there are many boxes of pencils and markers and Louis would never have believed that there could have been so many choices of shades for the colour orange. Mia is applying herself to the line she is drawing and the tip of her tongue appears between her lips as she is so concentrated. Louis rarely sees her calm like that and he is relieved to know that she did not take advantage of her coming here to break everything in her path.

Louis is so immersed in contemplating the children that he does not notice that Harry has returned from the kitchen and is standing next to him before the other hands him a glass of water.

“Mia is so quiet,” he says, taking the glass from Harry's hand. “What did you do to my daughter ?”

Harry laughs and Louis is so happy to make him laugh it's stupid. He's happy to be there; to the point where he can walk up to Harry's house, take off his shoes, ask for water, make him laugh and act like they never had a fight.

“No really, she can be a little too…” He makes some energetic gestures with his hands which causes Harry to chuckle again. “And I hope she didn't bother too much.”

“No she was truly an angel,'' Harry says and something in his tone makes Louis realise that he is really sincere.

“Still, I'm sorry to have warned you at the last minute…” Louis says because he wants to make sure that Harry is really ok with the situation.

“Louis, there is truly no problem,” Harry says with the same sincerity that reassures Louis.

He looks up from his glass of water and finds Harry staring at him with a little smile. Without thinking, he smiles back which seems to make Harry's smile brighter and this completely satisfies Louis who really feels like an idiot.

After a few seconds of smirking at each other in silence, Harry looks away and walks over to the couch where he sits. The movement causes Ariel to look up from his drawing and finally notice Louis' presence in the room.

“Mr Tomlinson ! Hi” He says with a big smile that kinda looks like the smile of his father. Mia snorts.

“He’s so not Mr Tomlinson. You can call him Louis, you know.”

The remark causes Harry to burst out laughing as Louis lets out a cry of outrage.

“Hey I’m your father. You have to respect me !” He says to his daughter while ruffling her hair.

“You’re distracting me, I'm drawing, leave me alone,” she says, choosing a new blue marker from the box next to her.

Louis takes a quick look at the drawing she's doing; he manages to distinguish several characters, all dressed in black who gather around a meal, or a rocket, or a coffin, he is not sure. He concludes that it represents either a funeral or a satanic ritual involving space. Why not after all.

"That's wonderful darling, go on," he says and sits down on the couch next to Harry as if it's the logical thing to do next. And here they are, both in socks, sitting on the same sofa with their children drawing next to them and damn it, could the situation be more intimate ? Because to be clear, by Louis' standards, you can never be closer to someone than when you're chatting with them in your socks. It is a simple and important rule.

Louis glances panicked over to the other end of the couch where Harry is and looks rather relaxed. Louis nervously runs a hand through his hair, before doing what he does best when he's stressed; blathering.

“Normally I always find someone to babysit Mia when I have unexpected appointments but this time no one was available. None of my sisters could do it,” he says and cool, his voice sounds almost normal.

“You have many sisters ?” Harry asks and he seems genuinely interested.

“One could say that,” Louis says back with a smile that comes easily like everytime he speaks about his family. “I have six siblings and five of them are girls.”

“Six siblings ?” Harry says with disbelief.

“Yeah,” Louis says back laughing. “The younger ones wouldn’t have been able to look after Mia today tho, they’re toddlers too.”

“Well that’s a big family,” Harry says and Louis nods approvingly.

“And you ?” Louis asks not only because he’s polite but because he’s very interested too. “Do you have any siblings ?”

“I have an older sister,” Harry answers with a fond smile that shows how much he cares about her.

“I should have expected that,” Louis says. “You do give the vibes of the youngest child who has been protected by everyone.”

“Excuse you, I do not !” Harry says with an indignant look and a smile that shows that he is not really offended.

“You do !”

“Well then, you give the vibes of the big brother who subdued all his siblings by force and terror !” Harry says and they look like two kids arguing and Louis loves it.

“I reckon I’m guilty.”

And they both laugh like they've been friends forever. When they calm down, there are a few seconds of silence during which it seems like Harry is reluctant to ask something. After having opened his mouth several times without saying anything, he finally dares to speak.

“Can I ask you a personal question ?”

And it’s not hard for Louis to guess what Harry is wondering about. It’s usual when he meets new people. He notices that Mia has also looked up from her drawing and is staring at him waiting to see what will happen next. She too is used to it.

“Yes you can,” Louis answers frankly.

“Mia’s mother couldn't come and get her today ?” Harry asks and he pronounces the words as if he had long thought about the best way to ask the question without offending Louis.

Louis is about to answer but he is cut off by Mia.

“I don’t have a mother, I only have one father,” and she says it dryly to make it clear that she really means what she has just said. Louis is desperate because she really just exposed all their family problems to people who are still mainly strangers (although he is still in socks).

“Mia, Owen is your dad too,” Louis says softly to her but what the fuck is he even saying. Mia and him both know that showing up to every birthday and sometimes Christmas doesn’t make you a dad. “He is not here often but he loves you and you’re still his daughter too.”

“I believe what I’m seeing,” Mia replies, shrugging her shoulders. “And I don’t see him that often so no I don’t think he’s my dad.”

After that she goes back to her drawing, stubbornly ignoring Louis' gaze on her and making it clear that the conversation is over. Since when can a 6-year-old say things like that, Louis wonders, trying not to remember the horrible things that went through his head when he was little.

He turns to Harry and gives him a small embarrassed smile.

“Sorry you had to see that.”

Harry doesn't answer, in fact he's completely frozen which makes Louis realise that he just came out to Harry. And he assumed Harry would be pretty ok with him being gay given the clothes he wears and his vibe in general but maybe he misjudged him and Harry is actually homophobic.

“Harry ?” Louis asks and he’s ready to jump off the couch, grab Mia and run through the door while giving the middle finger to Harry.

Suddenly life seems to return to Harry's body.

“Oh, uh sorry,” he says while blushing which is quite charming but anyway. “I just zoned out. Don’t worry. Hum.”

Louis smiles. How Harry acts when he's embarrassed is really endearing.

“So yeah. Mia doesn’t really have a mother. Well we used a surrogate who was a friend of Owen but we kinda lost contact with her. And uh, Owen, so Mia’s father is somewhere in the world doing some humanitarian thing.”

Harry, again, hesitates before asking the next question.

“And you two are still together ?”

“Nop,” Louis laughs bitterly. “We got divorced ages ago.”

“Divorced ?!? You were married ?”

“Yep,” Louis says in the same bitter tone. “You know, gay marriage was this big thing we couln’t not do it. So we did it. And we divorced, like, one year after. Mia was still a baby. And Owen left not long after that.”

“I’m sorry, divorces are nasty,” Harry says and again, Louis is surprised by how sincere he looks. Like he really wished Louis didn't go through all that shit. Like he really cares for Louis. “I myself am a child of a divorce so I know what I am talking about.”

Louis nods to show he understands. In addition to his divorce from Owen, he also witnessed Mark's separation from his mother and how it fucked up his sisters. Harry continues.

“Yeah, that's probably why we never got married with Tara. I guess that made the breakup easier. Well we still have a child together so there's that,” he says nodding at Ariel and laughing the same way Louis has to laugh when he talks about Owen.

“Yeah I guess,” Louis agries before really understanding the information that has just been revealed to him.

Stop. The separation ? That’s brilliant ! Harry and Tara are not together anymore. Louis feels suddenly so less guilty for being in socks at Harry’s place. There is no more betrayal in the act of finding Harry cute.

Although he is very very happy, Louis tries not to show it too much.

“How long have you not been together ?” And he feels like a detective trying to find out as much information as possible about a suspect. Or rather like a murderer trying to find out more about his victim to know if he has a chance of killing him. God, Louis hasn't been interested in anyone else in so long he has lost his mind.

“We broke up when Ariel was about 3 years old. So it must be 3 years,” Harry informs him. “It was hard at first, sharing custody of Ariel and seeing each other every time he moved house, but now it's okay and we have a pretty good relationship. Relatively. Like exes can.”

Louis nods in understanding and they look at each other in silence for a moment, surely realising that they've both just talked about some of the most intimate aspects of their lives as if it was natural. They both burst out laughing and Louis feels good and he finally has the impression that it's not that bad to have skipped stages and that he's not that out of place to have sock conversations with Harry on his sofa.

After that, they talk about much lighter subjects that allow them to get to know each other. Louis is not very surprised to discover that Harry is, just like him, an artist.

“You painted those ?” he investigates when Harry reveals that he paints in his free time.

Harry turns back to the paintings hanging on the wall that Louis points to and nods shyly.

“Wow. Harry, they're beautiful,” Louis declares in amazement.

And Harry blushes and waves like it doesn't really matter but Louis is smarter than that.

“No Harry. They really are good,” he insists because he knows what it's like to be in Harry's shoes and all an artist is looking for is public recognition of their work. So Louis insists because that's what he wants people to do when he shyly hides his scenarios. And Harry takes the compliments blushing even more and nothing could please Louis more than that.

After that, Louis has the misfortune to tell Harry that he has actually just returned from a meeting with a producer to whom he presented some of his scripts and Harry absolutely loses his mind. He insists for a good 10 minutes that Louis show him at least one of his works and when Louis finally accepts, he lets out a ridiculous victorious cry which makes Louis laugh fondly at him.

“But my bag is in my car and I’m lazy so I can’t go to get it and get back here next so you’ll have to wait,” Louis says and Harry nods like a little kid who promises to be good to get a reward.

“Speaking of my car, maybe I should go, I've already taken up a lot of your day,” Louis says while checking the time on his phone.

Harry almost looks sad when he replies.

“Uh yeah, you probably have things to do.”

Louis smiles at him to let him know he had a good time and he leans forward to pat Mia on the shoulder.

“Mia angel, we’re going to go home.”

She pouts at him and he deeply understands her because he too really wants to stay with the Styles much longer but he’s the responsible adult here and he has to make the difficult choices.

They get up and gather their things, then Ariel and Harry walk them to the door.

"It was good to see you." Harry says once that Mia and Louis are waiting for the lift.

Louis smiles at him while Mia runs to give Ariel a hug (the hug must be quite the experience because Mia really can't control her strength and Ariel looks on the verge of suffocation during the act).

"It was fun passing by," Louis says.

When the elevator arrives, Harry closes the door to his apartment and Louis notices that the drawing on it shows a house with two silhouettes inside. Below the house, marked with slightly slanted but oddly elegant handwriting for a child, is written Harry'sHouse.

___

For the rest of the week Harry and Louis are friendly to each other but nothing more. When they meet at school, they stop to chat a little bit and Harry continues to insist on getting a script from Louis but it's always speedy meetings and Louis hardly dares to admit it to himself but he would like to see Harry more often and for longer moments.

But no. Definitely no crush on Harry Styles. No problem there.

The next week it’s Tara who comes to pick up Ariel at school and a hard truth comes to crush the heart of Louis.

This happens when once again, he and Tara are sitting on the bench in front of the classroom waiting for school to end. He and Tara chat like they used to when she reflects on her nails and how she should schedule a manicure.This reflection makes Louis think of Harry and his painted nails and suddenly, Louis realises how much Harry and Tara are more sophisticated than him. This can be seen in the way they dress, in the layout of their apartments (no, he has never seen Tara's place but he can very well imagine), in the way Ariel behaves in relation to Mia, how they look so organised when Louis is barely getting by, how they're going out to openings when Louis hasn't even been to the movies since forever. Yes, Louis really feels like shit now. And above all he tells himself that even if Harry was attracted to men, then he would certainly not be interested in a single father abandoned and on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

So Louis makes a promise to himself to stop hoping for something that's never going to happen and he tells himself that from now on he's going to stop trying to hang out with Harry and if possible he'll even stop talking to him.

Of course he does not keep his promise.

Later in the week, he hears from Tara about a school party next weekend (naturally, he doesn't hear it from Amelia whom he, despite her attempts to approach him, always flees in horror) and although Louis and Mia never go to this kind of event, he decides to go this time.

And no he doesn't make that decision right after Tara mentions that Harry will be there.

On Saturday night, he dresses nicely and tries to make Mia wear something presentable. He arranges his hair into something more organised and he attempts to style Mia's hair but he gives up when she hides for three quarters of an hour in a closet in her bedroom. He also abandons the idea of preparing something to eat himself as soon as he opens a recipe book and decides to stop by a grocery store on the way to buy crackers.

He and Mia arrive fashionably late at school when Tara and Ariel have already been there for quite a while. Louis is surprised to see that many of the parents present already seem drunk, but that also reassures him. Surely he won't be the most irresponsible person here tonight. Well, he doesn't promise anything, Harry isn't there yet.

As he never comes to school activities, Louis doesn't really know anyone and he stays a bit alone for a while sipping a beer until a few reckless people approach him and carry him away in conversations about their children.

He learns that his daughter is rather known by other parents whose children are in the same class. Everyone says they are delighted to finally meet the father of this wonderful child who gets along with everyone and is full of imagination. Louis acts as if Mia was telling him all this and as if he knew the names of the other children he is told about.

Out of the corner of his eye, he observes Mia and Ariel who are having fun going under the food tables and pretending that they are arriving in a new world each time they come out from under them.

Louis finds himself rather having a good time. Everyone is funny, friendly and a bit tipsy and he thrives on that vibe as it's been a long time since he's been out with other people.

Louis' mental peace is brutally disturbed when he realises that Harry has arrived. The other man is wearing white jeans, an obviously colourful jacket and a pearl necklace. He also has white heart-shaped sunglasses pulled up on his head that push his hair back.

He is putting a tomato pie on the table with all the other pies that have been prepared by the parents, then he raises his head and his gaze meets Louis's. Louis feels a bit like in a movie. He no longer hears the conversations of people around him. The only thing he is still aware of is Harry's smile which is addressed to him and only him. He must be smiling back because Harry is starting to look questioning as if wondering why Louis is beaming at him so much but he himself is still smiling like an idiot so Louis owes him no explanation.

So Louis shrugs from afar. Harry looks completely offended by that answer, he puts his hands on his hips and maybe he's trying to scold Louis from a distance. Louis isn't sure. To continue to annoy him anyway, he turns his head away for a few seconds as if Harry wasn't the most interesting thing to admire right now and when he turns it in his direction again Harry manages to look even more outraged than before. He starts talking with gestures to explain his anger to Louis but it's really not clear. He repeats the same sign many times which is just a circle, which doesn’t mean anything, and he looks at Louis as if he was waiting for him to understand something but Louis understands absolutely nothing which makes Harry redouble his efforts. He makes so much of even more incomprehensible signs that Louis is now frankly dying of laughter in the middle of the other parents, who really don't understand why.

When Harry is interrupted in his little number by Amelia (she comes to talk to him when he seems to be reproducing the choreography of Dirty Dancing on his own), he looks embarrassed and throws little murderous glances at Louis from time to time as if it was his fault that he had started dancing by himself at the other end of the room.

As he has completely lost the thread of the conversation around him, Louis apologises and leaves to explore in the direction of the buffet. There he meets Mia who is emptying a salad bowl of its carrots, she passes them to Ariel who puts them in his pockets which already look full to bursting. Louis decides not to interrupt their small operation. They will learn from the school of life, there is no better experience.

As he examines each salad in front of him to decide which one he thinks is the best, a voice with a familiar deep tone interrupts his thoughts.

“Mr Tomlinson, what a pleasure to have you with us tonight.”

He turns so quickly in Harry's direction that he is almost stunned.

"Mr. Styles, what do we owe the honour of your presence ?" He responds in the same teasing tone.

"I should be the one asking that question, you're never to be seen at such events," Harry says with a mischievous grin and Louis wonders if he might know why Louis is really there.

“The salads motivated me to come, Mr Styles,” Louis says, showing his plate full of a little bit from each salad to Harry.

“Well, in that case I’m going to let you and your salads in peace,” Harry says as he pretends to leave and that shouldn't work like that but suddenly Louis is afraid Harry really is leaving him so he tries to hold onto him.

“No wait !” He shouts before even thinking. And Harry turns back to him with an eyebrow raised and Louis might die of embarrassment right now. “Uh… You’re actually welcome to join us, the salads and I.” Louis finally says too hesitantly but it seems to do the trick and Harry comes back to stand next to him.

Harry takes a plate and begins to put some coleslaw in it. Louis tries and fails not to watch him too much.

“Hi Louis,” Harry says suddenly with his normal voice and his eyes are stubbornly fixed on his plate and it all feels very real all of a sudden.

“Hi Harry,” Louis says simply back because there is nothing much more to say that wouldn't be too dangerous.

After a few seconds of weird tension that Louis can't find the cause of, Harry returns to his lovely, normal self and he starts asking Louis questions about his week, as if they've always had these kinds of conversations.

It's pretty surreal when you think about it. A while ago, Harry and Louis were arguing after school like they were kids themselves and now here they are, pretending they never not got along. And let it be clear, Louis is very at peace with this turnaround. He's even more of the opinion that they never talk about how he talked to Harry the first time they met. But like many things that Louis would love, the reverse happens.

The evening continues and from their reunion at the level of salads, Louis and Harry are inseparable. Whenever one of the two gets carried away in a conversation by someone else, the other follows too. It’s that simple : they're a package deal for the evening.

After some time by his side, Louis realises that Harry actually drinks a lot very discreetly. In fact, every time they pass the bowl of punch, he pours himself a glass full to the brim. And when Louis wants to make a comment on the fact that he should maybe slow down, he realises that he too drank a lot since every time Harry didn't finish his drink and he gave the rest to Louis every time.

Louis realises how drunk they are when he makes the worst joke he's ever done about a pea and a racing car and Harry bursts into loud laughter that the joke really didn't deserve. When he wants to reflect on Harry, he realises that he is actually laughing too and can't talk anymore.

They both end up sitting on the steps at the bottom of a staircase which is a bit removed from the rest of the party but which also allows them to keep an eye on Ariel and Mia. They start making fun of other people who look drunk (but honestly who are they to judge) and especially those trying their hand on the dance floor.

They both giggle like idiots when a woman with a feather boa tries to capture her husband to dance with her but the husband just ignores her and continues to fill his plate with sausages.

"I wish I had the same boa," Harry mutters to himself amidst their laughter.

"Yes, me too," Louis admits and oops that's something he wouldn't have said if he was sober.

In any case, it makes Harry laugh even harder. As he notices Louis looking at him with frowning eyebrows, he explains.

"It's funny because when I met you I thought you were the worst asshole I've ever met but actually it's okay. You want a feather boa. Assholes don’t want feather boas.”

And ok they are going there. As Harry broaches the subject, Louis feels compelled to apologise and if he had been told he would apologise to Harry Styles he would never have believed it.

"I'm sorry for how I spoke to you that day. It really wasn't fair."

Harry gives a big, disproportionate wave that nearly knocks him off the step like it's not a big deal and he completely ignores Louis' apologies.

"No, because for example I thought you were the kind of guy who watches football games with beers and burps like an asshole."

Louis bursts out laughing and he rocks forward which makes him lay his head on Harry's shoulder for five long seconds that he would really like to make last longer. When he gets up Harry is completely frozen but Louis ignores him, he is too drunk to bother analysing Harry's every reaction.

"It's funny because that's totally what I do whenever I can. With Mia, we follow all the football championships as faithfully as possible. But, she is the burping champion."

Harry grimaces like he's disgusted but he slips a bit on the step to get closer to Louis so he mustn't find it that disgusting.

"No, but what I mean... you see your sister? I thought she was your wife and that you were the type to exploit her like some men do with their wives, you know?"

Louis just bluntly puts his hand over Harry's mouth to keep him from talking anymore.

"Stop talking about my sister like she's my wife !"

Harry grabs Louis's hand to clear his mouth and he doesn't let go right away which Louis surprises himself in enjoying.

“No, but you understand how serious the situation is,” Harry insists. “I thought you were macho! When in fact you're gay.”

He says the last words trying to whisper like it's a secret but he fails miserably and at least everyone a little close to them has to hear.

"I'm macho," Louis says in the most serious tone he can manage, which really isn't serious at all. I don't like women. They suck. That's why I'm gay."

Of course this lame joke causes Harry to burst into his loud, bright laughter again and Louis completely forgets that he's supposed to be hiding that he likes Harry and he watches him intently and fondly. Maybe it’s just the alcohol that gives Louis hallucinations but he has the impression that Harry is a personification of the sun. Like he’s a baby sun, almost as bright as the one in the sky, and he’s walking around making the days of the people of his entourage better.

“And also, I'm sorry, too, for how I spoke to you when we met,” mumbles Harry. “It was really unfair to pretend that you were responsible for our children's fights when it was Ariel who followed Mia everywhere.”

Louis nods and takes a sip from his beer because yeah he hasn’t stopped drinking. Why would he ? He almost jumps in surprise when the fingers of Harry come to intertwine with his around the bottle. He freezes as Harry takes the bottle away from him - not to keep it away from Louis and be responsible but to take a sip himself.

“All is forgiven Sunshine,” Louis says as he takes back the bottle from Harry.

Harry stops in his tracks and he stares at Louis and he has stars in his eyes.

“You called me Sunshine,” he states and he has a little sleek smile that makes Louis want to kiss him but to be fair, he kinda wants to kiss Harry all the time since he started drinking. And even before that.

“You called Ariel sunshine when we were at the restaurant where you work,” Harry continues because Louis doesn’t answer. Louis approves with a nod.

“That’s nice. I like it,” Harry concludes and he turns towards Louis and he has a lock of hair that’s falling in front of his eyes. That's a shame because he has beautiful eyes and Louis wants to see them so he slowly raises his hand and removes the lock, pushing it behind Harry's ear. Harry's eyes widen, he blushes and Louis finds him irresistible so he bites his lip and laughs as he looks away and concentrates on his beer.

He's surprised to feel a warm breath next to his ear and he realises that Harry has moved even closer to him.

"To be honest I was jealous of Ariel when you called him sunshine, I prefer when you call me that,” the other man murmurs and Louis freezes.

An immense panic seizes him internally and he wants to scream but he doesn't move and he thinks about what to say next but everything that comes to him seems stupid.

“I'll call you that again when you deserve it,” he finally settles to say with a tone that hints at the undertone but doesn't scream too much either "in my bed when you’ll suck my dick". But that seems to do the trick and knock the air out of Harry's lungs.

They stare intensely at one another and Louis wonders what could happen next. His ideas, that one could call fantasies, don’t have the time to become true because they are brutally interrupted.

“So that’s where you two were hiding since the beginning !”

They both jump at the sound of Tara’s voice and turn their heads in opposite directions as if to pretend they never looked at each other in the first place. Tara looks at them with a questioning air and her hands on her hips and Louis hands her his bottle of beer hoping that she accepts this peace offering but she shakes her head firmly.

"No, someone has to be sober here to bring your asses home," she snaps and Louis and Harry lower their heads like children being scolded. "Besides, we will soon be going, almost everyone has already left."

Louis raises his head and he is surprised to find that what Tara says is true and that apart from a few isolated souls, the school courtyard is rather deserted. He hadn't even realised that so much time had passed. He glances at Harry and is relieved to see him looking so surprised. He too had completely lost track of time.

Mia and Ariel suddenly come running and they both position themselves on each side of Tara and judge their fathers with suspicious looks. Finally, they turn to Tara and address her, surely deciding that neither Harry nor Louis is in any condition to listen to them.

“We've finished our quest, we can go home now.”

Harry and Louis take this statement as their cue to get up. They both need to lean on each other to be able to stand. Or maybe they both exaggerate to be able to establish as much contact as possible between their bodies. No matter.

They leave school together and all get into Tara's car. Louis and her in the front while Harry is in the middle seat in the back with Ariel and Mia falling asleep leaning on each of his shoulders.

Tara, who therefore insisted on driving them home since they were in no condition to drive, grumbles that it was really not responsible on their part to drink so much. She suddenly parks in front of Harry's building, who struggles for a good five minutes to get out of the car and take Ariel with him. Louis watches him walk away towards his apartment building and can’t help but feel a little sadness when he thinks that it’s the end of their evening. He glances at Tara who has been constantly frowning in displeasure since they left the school and he exchanges a look with Mia who has been woken up by the departure of Harry, her human pillow, and who seems to think the same thing as him. Or maybe he thinks that to excuse what he does next.

He opens his door suddenly and jumps out of the car.

"Harry, wait !" He screams all of a sudden which earns him a shhh from Tara.

He goes to open Mia's door and takes her seat belt off, saying :

“Get up my daughter, we're going to sleep at Harry and Ariel's tonight.”

While Mia lets out a cry of joy and jumps out of the car to run to join Harry and Ariel who still don't know what awaits them, Tara opens her window and leans over to speak to Louis.

“Are you sure ?” She asks.

“Yes”, he answers. “That way you can get home faster. Thank you for everything Tara. I owe you one.”

She nods to him and finally smiles for the first time since she found them.

"Louis Tomlinson, you can't handle the booze," she declares with a mocking tone before suddenly starting the car and leaving him in the lurch.

He runs to the building where Harry is waiting for him holding the door open and walks past him announcing :

"We're coming to sleep at your house tonight. You have no choice."

And yes alcohol can give courage to a man.

They all find each other in the elevator. Harry has had a silly grin ever since he found out that Louis and Mia were coming over at his house and it makes Louis smirk like a fool himself.

They arrive on the 6th floor and Mia and Louis invade Harry's quiet apartment immediately, wreaking havoc like two late-night Tomlinsons can do so well.

They both throw their shoes haphazardly in the hallway and Mia runs into what must be Ariel's bedroom while Louis collapses on the couch.

He is ready to pass out here and now but a hand that lays affectionately on his shoulder brings him back to reality. It's Harry who hands him a glass of water which Louis graciously accepts.

Harry then disappears towards the place where Mia and Ariel disappeared and he returns a few seconds later.

"The good news is that we don't need to put a mattress for your daughter in Ariel's room. The bad news is that Ariel will probably get pushed out of bed by Mia in the middle of the night, " Harry announces and then he lifts Louis' feet just long enough for him to settle on the couch. Then he puts Louis' feet on his lap and Louis loves it (in Harry's place, he would surely have pushed himself out of the sofa to take all the space, so he knows how to appreciate the tenderness of another human being).

"They're both already asleep too,” Harry finishes.

Louis grumbles something that will have to satisfy Harry in response because he can't do better in his condition.

"Is the sofa comfortable enough for you to sleep on ?" Harry asks and suddenly Louis regains his abilities and he straightens up suddenly.

"Oh no you misunderstood. Let's be clear, I'm sleeping in your bed tonight," he states and yes what alcohol can do to a man.

He gets up from the sofa and grabs Harry's hand, who looks a little dazed at the latest news he's been told and drags him behind him as he goes deeper into the apartment. Of course Louis doesn't know the place so he takes them in the wrong direction which makes Harry giggle although he tries to make as little noise as possible so as not to wake up their children.

When Louis finally opens the door to the correct room (he took them first to a bathroom, then to Ariel's room, and to a closet) he heaves a sigh of satisfaction and looks at Harry with a smirk.

"First try," he says simply before throwing himself on the bed and taking up all the space.

He is joined not very long afterwards by Harry who tries as best he can to settle next to him without touching him too much but it is all the more complicated since Louis has calculated his move well and has settled in the middle from the bed to be very close to Harry no matter where the other one settled down.

He still moves away a little bit so that the other doesn't fall from him and he is delighted to see that Harry is protesting at the distance that separates them all of a sudden. He draws closer to Louis and snuggles up to him like it's normal and Louis couldn't be a happier man. He closes his eyes while taking in a great whiff of Harry's scent wafting all around him.

___

Louis must have fallen asleep at some point because when he opens his eyes the next time, rays of sunlight are sneaking in from under the curtains. He finds that he and Harry are even more glued to each other than when they fell asleep, his own arms are firmly around Harry's waist and his nose is buried in his curls. He senses that Harry's breathing is still slow so he assumes the other is still in a deep sleep.

Louis realises that what woke him up wasn't the light or his position when he hears whispers approaching the bed.

“Are they dead ?” Mia's voice says far too loud to be considered a whisper.

“No they’re just sleeping,” answers Ariel's voice but he doesn't sound so sure of himself.

Louis then feels that someone is climbing the bed at his feet.

“Whoa, they’re too cute,” says Ariel.

“You mean too gross,” corrects Mia and next thing Louis knows, she falls and crushes him.

Louis grunts in pain and detaches himself from Harry to push his daughter away. The movement wakes up Harry who turns around so that he can face Louis. Just at that moment, Louis manages to push Mia off him and she falls on the floor. Louis ignores her and the scream that she utters and concentrates on Harry who is truly beautiful with the mark of the pillow on the cheek.

“Hi,” Harry says with a sleepy smile and Louis really wants to lean forward and kiss him but he’s a gentleman so he doesn’t. Also the effects of alcohol are no longer active and therefore Louis has lost his courage.

“Hi,” Louis says back with a smile that he tries to control for it to be not too fondly but he must fail miserably.

Ariel ascends the bed and manages to sit cross-legged in the small space between Harry and Louis and that's quite an achievement.

"I'm hungry," he declares. “Can we go eat brunch please dad ?”

Louis raises his eyebrows and looks at Harry with a mocking smile.

"Sunday morning brunch with the high society folks Mr Styles?"

Harry mumbles something and sits up.

Mia, who is still lying on the floor like a vampire in a coffin, asks :

"What is brunch?"

So of course, Harry insists that they all go for brunch at a nearby restaurant and Louis agrees because he's weak.

It's a fine team that leaves the Styles building a few minutes later. Louis and Mia are still in their outfits from the day before. Harry wears - and this is the first time that Louis has seen him so unstylish and he loves it - jogging pants. Ariel is surely the one who is the most presentable. All of them still have messy hair and work in slow motion.

The brunch is great and Mia loves it which makes Louis happy and therefore completely satisfies Harry and Ariel.

All four then take a long walk to school where their cars are still parked since last night. Ariel and Mia say goodbye to each other and Harry and Louis watch as they hug, exchanging delighted looks. Then Louis is surprised when Ariel comes to give him a hug too while Mia orders Harry to bend down so she can give him an affectionate pat on the shoulder.

Harry and Louis say goodbye afterwards. Harry looks mischievous and he asks :

"When can I see you again Mr Tomlinson?"

"In your dreams, loser," Louis snorts.

Harry pouts and walks away but Louis holds him back by grabbing his hand.

"Hey, don't go too fast !" And he stands on his tiptoes to place a kiss on Harry's cheek. "We can meet tomorrow after school."

Harry smiles and nods. Then he leaves as Louis turns and heads for his own car.

On the way home, Mia leans forward in the backseat looking suspicious.

“Do you like Harry ?” she asks.

Louis smiles to himself before answering.

“Yes, I kinda do.”

She smiles too.

“That’s cool. I like him. And Ariel is like my best friend so if Harry likes you back then Ariel will be my brother and that will be super cool.”

“Yep,” Louis mumbles back and his heart is super light for the first time in so long.

Usually he used to be so worried all the time but right now he feels pretty invincible. He shares a smile with Mia when they get out of the car in front of their little house and he realises how much stronger her happiness makes him. And his own happiness too. And Harry makes him happier and god, he can’t wait to see him again tomorrow.

Louis is so lost in his thoughts that he doesn't notice the other car parked in front of his house and the figure smoking in front of their front door.

It's a cry of surprise from Mia that snaps him back to reality. It's as if his bubble of happiness suddenly bursts as he finally recognizes the person who is approaching them.

"Owen, you're here,” he notes when her ex-husband stops in front of them.

"Yes, I'm back. And this time I'm staying,” Owen says and Louis's heart stops.