Work Text:
“Keep up Styles, this should be no match for your giraffe legs”
“I may be tall, but you’re the football player!”
Louis glanced over his shoulder, watching the lanky figure in the distance attempt to catch up, before stumbling over a tree root. Louis started to laugh, and quickly everyone else joined in as he arrived at the third obstacle on the course – a six foot high log wall.
“Alright then, everyone, let’s do this!” Harry begins to help his team over, some of them not being as tall as others, whilst Louis was encouraging his team as, due to being short himself at the height of 5ft 6inches, he could only just get over without having to slightly jump to reach the top.
“C’mon shorty!” Harry yells towards Louis who is struggling to reach the top of the log wall. Louis grumbled words under his breath about Harry and how he is just a silly tall giraffe. Harry is miles ahead by the time Louis has gotten to the next obstacle, the cargo net. He starts to crawl under, lifting up the net for his team to pass, and all the time advancing towards Harry, whose ankle is getting closer to grabbing distance.
“Hey!”
Louis chuckles as he crawls past.
“Better luck next time, Harold.”
After much “accidental” shoving, they both emerge, slightly rumpled, and breathing fast.
“You cheated!” Harry scowled, crossing his arms. Louis smirked, finger painting mud war stripes on his cheeks.
“It’s a war Harold. There has to be a loser. Too bad it’s you!” He set off again, leaving a pouting Harry by the net.
“You wish Lewis!” He fought back a smirk of his own – everyone knew how much Louis hated having his name mispronounced.
“You fuckin wot mate!?” Harry drew level with a furious Louis, who now had a scowl to match Harry's on his face.
“You heard me, LEWIS.” Louis could see the finish line ahead, they were level on the final stretch, and he knew he was faster than Harry, he could beat him…
FLUMPH
Louis hit the ground hard, tumbling slightly before coming to a halt on the muddy path. He looked up just in time to see Harry cross the finish line, his arms help high in a sign of victory whilst his team cheered.
“You tripped me!” Harry turned and grinned, revealing his dimples,
“All’s fair in love and war, Lewis.”
During dinner, Louis quickly found himself bored and started to teach his group of kids how to make a spoon into a catapult with his peas. He started to fire them into the bin, his group laughing at his childish personality. Louis smirked when an amazing idea crossed his mind - turning the spoon slightly, he aimed. Firing another pea, he managed to hit Harry in the middle of his forehead. Harry flinched but didn’t pick his head up. So, Louis fired a couple more, and gained his attention. Harry flinched up, and pushed his hair out of his eyes.
“Hey!” He shouted across the hall, and all the attention of the children turned to him as he glared. Louis gave him an innocent looking smile, but there was a glint of mischief in his eyes as he fired anther pea.
Harry smirked, and then whispered something to the child next to him - the whispering continued as Harry and his table of little minions proceeded to fire their carrots at Louis and his table. A child from Louis table stood up and shouted, “Food fight!!” and soon everyone was throwing food at each other. After more harmless ambushes of peas and carrots, Harry stepped the game up – a glob of mashed potato landing on Louis Adidas sweatshirt. Louis pulled a face of mock horror, before grabbing the bottle of ketchup.
“Loouiiiis!”
He threw his head back in laughter, and Harry had to bite back a small smile at how beautiful he looked, even when covered in mashed potato. He reminded himself that they were supposedly rivals. It was whilst he was glancing down at his shoes to contemplate this fact that he missed Louis sneaking up behind him, vat of lukewarm custard clutched to his chest. He glanced up, searching the dining room for Louis, before his vision was clouded with yellow, glue like gloop. He now longer needed to see to know where Louis was.
“Oh you little...”
“Little what? Careful Harold, there are kids around” He could hear the smile in louis voice, glad now he couldn’t see for the custard because he knew the fondness would be too evident if he were to look at Louis now. He felt a towel being pressed into his hands, and he wiped his face before turning, glowering at Louis.
“One all now Harold. Want to call a truce?” Harry glanced at Louis outstretched hand, before meeting his mischievous blue eyes. He put on a mock dramatic tone.
“Never.”
Louis shrugged.
“Oh well. Suit yourself then. See you tomorrow Haz.”
Haz. Louis cursed himself under his breath. That was not meant for other people to hear. That was just the stupid, quick little nickname he’d given Harry in his head. He was in such a hurry to leave after his slip up he missed the dusty rose colouring on Harry’s cheeks.
It was your typical autumn day when the two teams gathered by the lake the next morning. The glassy surface perfectly mirrored the autumn trees, deep oranges and reds reflected in the unbroken water. Despite its beauty, the frost on the ground was an indication that it was much more threatening than its appearance would let on.
“Okay kids, today the first plan is to go over to the river and do some kayaking!” Louis smiled.
“Yes, and it will once again be a competition. The team who finishes first will win,” Harry carries on, giving a small smile to the children. They all begin to walk towards the river, and the sound of chattering soon became quite loud.
“Has anyone here ever been kayaking before?” Harry asks, which makes everyone except Louis shake their heads, “Okay, Louis, why don’t you tell us about your experience?” Louis agrees, and begins to speak,
“Okay, well, I am just putting this out there, I’m the best at kayaking. I’m like so totally awesome at it,” he says enthusiastically making the children laugh, and Harry snort in disbelief.
They finally get to the lake, and Louis and Harry get everyone into their safety jackets over the top of their waterproof clothes. Harry dipped his hand into the icy water, his face turning to a concerned frown. He glanced up to Louis who was holding Harry’s life jacket and watching him.
“Are you sure this is going to be okay? It is really cold…” Louis patted Harry’s shoulder, in an attempt to be comforting.
“It’ll be fine, Harry. We don’t have to go far from shore, and you forget, I’m a professional!” He winked at Harry, handing him his life jacket and following the kids down to the boat house. Harry rolled his eyes, but shrugged the jacket on and joined them.
About half an hour later, they had all paddled onto the main open lake, and were messing around – Harry’s concern long forgotten in the splash war that was now ensuing. Everyone was laughing, especially Louis, and it was hard for Harry to keep his eyes off when Louis' face was literally transformed into something more beautiful than he thought possible with every smile. When he finally tore his eyes away to engage in splashing a member of Louis’ team, he heard a massive splash which caused his head to snap back around to the direction in which Louis had been sat. Except now, all he could see was the bottom of the red kayak, bobbing frantically on the waves. Everyone was laughing, including Harry.
“Thought you were the pro, Tomlinson!” chuckled Harry, waiting for Louis to surface. But as the kayaks movements slowed, and there was still no sign of Louis, a panic began to rise in Harry. Something was wrong.
“Louis?!” Harry began to paddle over to the kayak, indicating for the kids to move backwards as he drew close. There was still no movement from the kayak, and with every second that passed Harry became more and more scared. It dawned on him – Louis must be stuck. He wasn’t getting back up alone. And if the stillness of the kayak versus the temperature of the water was anything to go by – he was probably already unconscious. Harry knew getting into water of this temperature was to be avoided at all costs. But the more time passed, the longer Louis was underwater, and they were close to shore anyways. The water would only be waist height on Harry at least.
“Kids, get back to the boathouse, put away the boats and STAY in your cabins.” He pushed himself out of the kayak. The second he was in the water, the cold enveloped his legs, making him wince slightly. With a final breath, he plunged his body underwater. The freezing temperature hit him instantly, taking his breath. He felt for Louis, finding his shoulders quickly. Holding tightly, he pushed up from the river bed, thankfully feeling Louis body move out of the kayak. He surfaced, gasping for air, and hauling Louis above the surface. Just one look at the older boy told him something was wrong – his skin now carried a dangerously blue tint and his lips were almost purple. He was shaking violently, and almost definitely deeply unconscious.
“Shit Lou.” Harry muttered, pulling the body closer to him, and swimming as fast as he could to shore. He dragged Louis onto the patch of beach, and crouching by his side. Tears pricked the back of his eyes are the sight – Louis was tiny, so tiny, and shivers wracked his body. But soft clouds of breath periodically floated from Louis mouth, indicating life. Harry picked him up bridal style, after removing his life jacket, cringing at how easy it was to pick Louis up. He knew he was small, but he wasn’t prepared for just how light he was – another reason why he had been affected by the sudden temperature change so badly. Fighting back the tears that threatened to blur his vision and cloud his mind, he enveloped Louis in his jacket, before rushing back to his cabin.
Once inside his cabin, he placed Louis on the bed. He hurried over to the cupboard to grab some of his jogging bottoms and a thick plaid shirt, along with his warmest sweater. Jogging back over to the bed, he closed his eyes, starting to undress Louis – whilst he didn’t want to cross any boundaries, he knew how important it was to get Louis warm and dry as quickly as possible. Once undressed, he dressed him in his own clothes – making Louis look even smaller, and Harry frowns. He looked at Louis deeply, and noticed the colour change of his skin, how pale he looks, worryingly pale. He tucks him under the cover of his duvet, and places a thick fluffy green blanket on top just to make sure he will be warm enough. A few minutes later, the shivering begins to subside. He glanced over Louis one more time, and hesitantly reaches down, kissing his forehead.
“Get better Lou”. Harry then remembered that he should go and check on the children in their cabins. After talking to both cabins, they gathered in the main hall, to make get well soon cards for Louis - Harry’s being the biggest and prettiest due to everyone else being teenagers and not really wanting to make them, but feeling bad for Louis and therefore writing heartfelt message inside their rather plain cards. After realising how late it was getting, and feeling the need to check on Louis, Harry makes sure all the children are in their cabins for the rest of the evening. Once back in his cabin at last, he stood that cards up along the mantel, hoping Louis will appreciate them once he wakes. Only then was it that he even acknowledged the fire and decided to light it – it would be warmer down here on the couch than upstairs in his bedroom. Taking the stairs two at a time, he pauses briefly to check on the shivering situation, which has lightened slightly, before scooping up Louis in his bundle of duvets and blankets.
Yawning, Harry decided that sleep would be a good idea - but then realised that Louis had stolen his bedding. Reluctant to let Louis out of his sight as it was, sleeping on the couch with him didn’t seem like such a bad plan – shared body heat would probably help if anything. Harry quickly changed into pyjamas, and curled himself around Louis to make him warmer. Once he was comfortable, Harry listened to the crackling of the fire, and the soft noises escaping Louis’ mouth and fell asleep, smiling.
It was half past seven when Harry woke up, noticing that he was still wrapped around Louis, and the fire had died out. Unwillingly, he detangled himself from the sleeping boy, and got up from the couch - making sure to wrap Louis back up again. He went over to the bathroom, showering in record time, then got dressed in black skinny jeans and a plaid shirt – similar to the one he put on Louis. He checked on the sleeping mass of blankets and pillows on his sofa one last time – breathing a sigh of relief at the slight colour that had returned to Louis cheeks – before closing the cabin door behind him.
Midday sunlight streamed through the curtains when Louis eyelids finally fluttered open. Water. His throat was dry and scratchy, and groggily, he pushed himself up on one elbow. He blinked the sleep away from his eyes, and noticed a glass of water placed on the coffee table in front of him, a piece of paper lying next to it. Observing the ache in his joints as he reached out for the glass, he sipped the water whilst scanning the note.
“Hi Louis,
Not sure how much you remember, but you fell in whilst we were kayaking yesterday. You’ve been unconscious since then – I’m pretty sure you got some kind of hypothermia from the sudden temperature change. Either way – you’re sick, and so I brought you back to my cabin to keep an eye on you. Take it easy, I’ll be back at lunch time to check on you. Guess you’re not the pro you thought you were ;)
Harry x”
A small smile spread across Louis face upon reading the note, even a small chuckle when he read the last sentence. But he could still feel the cold, and shivering, he burrowed back under the duvet and blankets. He remerged a few minutes later, feeling more awake. Glancing at the clock on the mantel piece, he noticed it was only eleven o clock. Still two hours before Harry would return. With effort under the weight of the duvet, he dragged himself up, rising from the couch and stretching. He glanced down, the feeling of material under his feet an indication that these joggers were far too long for his (annoyingly) short self. They must be Harry’s. As is the sweater that was so long it gave him not sweater paws, but more sweater arms. He snuffled into the sweater a bit, feeling warmer just from the knowledge that a part of Harry was closer. His whole cabin emitted warmth – from the deep pile rugs on the floor, thousands of throw pillows EVERYWHERE, to the deep colours in which it was decorated, all warm reds and deep oranges – and besides that, the scented candles which filled the room with a rich and pleasant scent that Louis could only describe as reminding him of home. Louis wandered over to the fire place, tugging the green plaid blanket tighter around him as he picked up the cards. He smiled as he read the messages from the kids, chuckling at a few from Harry’s camp goers, who seemed somewhat more resentful over the fact their kayaking competition was cut short as a result of his “expert skills”. He reached the last card, bigger than the rest, and decorated with evidently much more care. Eyes scanning the card quickly, Harry’s name jumped off the page, causing him to slow and read it with more observance. Harry’s warmth even leaked through in his writing, and Louis felt a pang of loneliness in his chest from lack of seeing the boy. He’d always seen Harry as a rival, through years of pitting their cabins against each other – but nonetheless, he had gotten attached to their joking nature, grown accustomed to this aura Harry gave off whenever you were around him. The urge to see him again clouding Louis better judgement, Louis set off out of the cabin, Harry’s card still in hand.
He noticed Harry and the boys, both teams, sat on picnic rugs in the meadows at the back of the cabins. He smiled slightly – no bickering could be heard, and as he drew closer, he saw they were sat relatively peacefully making dream catchers, Harry’s voice cutting through the still air.
“Dream catchers have a great and rich history attached to them. Legend says they trap the nightmares and bad things in the web part, to trap them and prevent them from causing fear and upset...”
“Quite the historian, aren’t we Harold?” Louis chuckled as he approached the circle. Harrys head snapped around, his features lighting up at the sound of Louis voice, before a more familiar frown dawned on his features.
“Louis!? What are you doing out of the cabin?? And barefoot too – you’ll catch your death out here!”
“Didn’t know you cared so much Giraffe legs.”
“OF COURSE I FRICKEN CARE LOUIS! I…” Louis eyebrow raised as he smirked at Harry, watching it dawn on Harry the words he had just spoken. Harry glanced down at his feet, fumbling with his hands and a blush beginning to creep in across his cheeks.
“I mean, well, just, get back inside. And STAY inside Louis, I mean it. You already nearly died once this week and none of us need a repeat. You’re still ill.”
Louis stomps his left foot childishly, “I don’t want to though…” Harry stood up, and tried to push Louis towards his own cabin. Louis struggled against Harry, feebly.
“My cabin will be cold, I don’t wanna go in there!” he whined. Harry sighed and decided to pick him up and throw him over his shoulder, carrying him over to his cabin telling him that there will be his bed and a fire to keep him warm.
After Harry put Louis away in his own cabin, he went back over to the kids who were chatting loudly and still making their dream catchers. However, what Harry did not know was what Louis was doing. Louis wrapped himself in the cosy green blanket again and snuffled in the warmth of both that and Harry’s jumper, and began to walk outside - away from his cabin, and towards Harry’s, where he put the fire back on, and lighted the candles that he blew out previously before going to find Harry. Making himself cosy on the couch once again, he closed his eyes and sighed in content, falling into the warm arms of sleep almost instantly.
Harry was worried. He’d knocked on Louis’ cabin, many times, but Louis was not responding. Letting his worry get the better of him, Harry decided that he would let himself in to check on the boy. When not seeing him there, his worry became stronger, and he began to panic. He yelled out Louis’ name a couple of times in case he was in the bathroom, but he did not get a response. After remembering that Louis had escaped a cabin once before, he went outside, and ran around calling his name, searching for him. He felt tears prickle at his eyes, and turned back to his own cabin, suddenly noticing the plume of smoke rising steadily from the chimney.
The first thing he noticed was the crackle of the fire in the fireplace, and the strong scent of vanilla that he loved. That meant either Louis had less common sense than he had previously thought, or…He noticed the feathery brown hair fanned out on the pillow, the tiny pale hand clutching the blankets, and small, hedgehog like snuffles coming from the general direction of the sofa. Relief instantly replaced the panic, and fighting off tears, he rushed to check on Louis. He was fine. He was okay. Louis stirred slightly in his sleep, turning to face harry, and once again harry was astounded at the beauty of the sleeping figure. His long eyelashes fluttered softly in his sleep – Harry wondered what he was dreaming of – and his small little nose wriggled slightly with each snuffle, adding to the hedgehog like mannerism. Harry let a soft smile break through his concerned face, stroking Louis fringe off his forehead carefully to avoid disturbing his sleep, before leaving Louis in peace and heading to the kitchen to start on dinner.
When Louis woke once more, Harry was out once again. He yawned, stretching out his back before sitting up once again. He saw the television remote, and decided to watch a little Netflix whilst time passed. Switching it on, he looked through the films, stopping when he saw Monsters University, a film he hadn’t seen for a while, and clicked play. Placing the remote on the coffee table in front of him, he snuffled back into his cosy pile of warm blankets and cushions. Once comfortable, he watched the funny cartoon on the television, laughing once in a while.
Louis hears the floorboards move, and looks over to see Harry with something in his hands. He must have come in through the back door… Louis thought to himself. Harry grinned at him, placing a bowl of what looked like steaming chicken soup in front of Louis.
"You look better than earlier. But I made you soup anyways - you haven't eaten in a few days, and you're even tinier than before."
"Aw' Harry, that's very sweet and domestic of you…" Louis comments.
"Yeah, well.. At least I'm not the one watching Monsters Inc."
"Well, you are the one with at least ten vanilla scented candles in one room.” Louis retorts. This comment makes Harry blush, the reddish tones not going unnoticed by Louis, which draws out the smile Harry loves so much. He turned and left the room, fetching his own bowl of chicken soup, before slouching down on the sofa next to Louis. Louis glances over at him out of the corner of his eye, watching him. Over the past day, Louis has begun to see a different side to Harry that he had never seen exposed before - a kinder, caring side that was often masked by the competitiveness shared by the both of them. He watched how carefully Harry spooned the soup into his mouth. Even in moments of stillness the light never left his eyes, that warmth that seemed to draw Louis close. He kept watching Harry, neglecting his own dinner, until Harry looked over at him, and smiled. Louis sighed and turned back to his soup. He couldn’t let himself become attached to Harry. He was probably straight anyways.
Many hours later, and Louis lay sleeplessly on the couch. It had been a couple of hours since he and Harry had bade each other goodnight, and the fire had long since died out. He couldn’t get comfortable, and he could already feel the cold creeping back into his joints. He stuck it out until one in the morning, thinking about Harry's warmth, how much he wanted to just be close to him, to avoid this bloody coldness that made him feel so much lonelier than he had thought possible. It was then he decided "fuck it", and padded up the stairs, swaddled in a blanket, to find Harry.
The warmth from the rest of the cabin continued into Harry's bedroom, but in place of the heavier reds and oranges, Louis was surprised to see fresh, light and clean colours of sky blue and mint green. Moonlight streamed through the translucent curtains, illuminating Harry's sleeping form, his back to where Louis stood. Louis shuffled forward, carefully sinking onto the edge of the mattress, carefully so as to prevent disturbing Harry. The lighting dramatized the shadows of Harry's face, making him seemingly more beautiful in sleep, where his face was at peace, calmed from the worries of the day. Louis lay down carefully, snuggling closer to the sleeping boys back, and basking in the instant heat radiating towards him. The ache in his chest lightened slightly, and with a sigh of content, he let warm waves of sleep wash over him.
When Harry awoke in the morning, he could feel a small pressure on his back and side. Attempting to get up, the pressure became more intense. Turning around slightly, the best he could, he saw Louis looking peaceful, and angelic as his sleeping form creating small soft sounds. Harry began to smile, watching as Louis slept, comfortable, and warm. He sighed looking up at the clock on the wall, reading 07:34 - he had to get up and get ready so he can wake the kids up. Prising Louis' arms off him, he shuffled away, but Louis made clawing motions, grabbing the back of his t-shirt.
"Noo hazza…." he whined in his sleep, tugging the t-shirt material in his tiny hand. Harry chuckled to himself, detaching himself from Louis vice like grip.
"I'm sorry, I'll be back later. Promise," He rose from the bed, stretching whilst he watched Louis snuggle under the blankets, grumbling something about not caring about later.
Harry was still pondering finding Louis in his bed cuddling him hours later when he was taking the kids to the climbing wall. He had come to terms with the fact that he had feelings for Louis that were more than just friendly, god, all you had to do was look at Louis and you'd fall for him. Everything about him is just so soft and delicate, but at the same time, he can turn from this in seconds, to being ruggedly handsome. Harry just didn’t think Louis would go for guys.
When Harry first entered the cabin at mid-afternoon, the first smell that hit his nose was not the familiar vanilla scent that he loved, but burning. Naturally, his first instinct was panic.
"Louis!?" Harry cried, eyes scanning the room, before a slightly smoky Louis emerged from the kitchen, hiding behind the sweater arms.
"Hey, Harry…."
"What did you do?"
"How do you know I'VE done…"
"Because you’ve always done something Louis," Harry says cutting him off. "Fair point." Harry pushed past Louis into the smoked out kitchen, eyes moving from the oven belching out smoke still, the black lumps of what looked like it could have been cookie dough that had evidently moulded themselves to a baking tray. Finally he turned back to face Louis, who was looking at him sheepishly.
"I was just trying to make you thank you cookies" his tone apologetic and his eyes genuine - Harry could tell there was real sentiment behind his actions, this really was unintentional. He sighed, raking a hand through his curls
"It's okay Louis, that’s actually kind of sweet just - do me a favour?"
"What?"
"Never try to cook in my kitchen again," Harry said making Louis chuckle, and nod in agreement. His mother always told him that he was never going to be the chef that eleven year old Louis wanted to be.
Harry made Louis go into the living room area and watch a movie, whilst Harry cleaned, after much disagreement - Louis still protesting that he should clean as he made the mess, but Harry didn't want him in his kitchen anymore in case of further damage,
After 45 minutes, Harry came out of the kitchen, hands covered in grotty black dust as he had to scrub the baking tray for the longest time before it was once again clean.
"I'm going to go for a quick shower, then I'll be back," Harry said looking down at himself, Louis just nodding scared that he angered the curly haired boy. It was never Louis' intention to make Harry mad. If he wanted to do that, he would put glitter in his precious hair dryer. He really didn't mean it. He could feel the sting of tears in fear of Harry not wanting him around anymore. He sat crying silently, letting the tears roll down his cheeks to be absorbed by the sweater sleeves. The fear and panic quickly grew, Louis brain running at a million miles a minute, petrified of rejection and Harry’s inevitable hatred for him now.
Harry came back in from the bathroom feeling clean, refreshed, and calm. That was until he saw the small looking boy curled into a ball on the couch hands covering his face as his shoulders shook. Rushing over to Louis, Harry was panicking again, what was wrong? He didn't know. But he wasn't just going to stand there and watch him cry. "Louis, what's wrong?" Harry asks, sitting next to him on the couch. But when Louis' shoulders began to shake more, he became more concerned. Wrapping an arm over his shoulders, and one under his legs, he pulled the small boy onto his lap and began to stroke his hair in hopes of calming him down. Five minutes later, and Louis was calmer.
"Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Harry asks.
"I am really sorry Haz, I didn't mean to make you mad at me, please don’t' be mad at me…" Louis whispered into his shoulder, still a little shaken up from crying so much.
"I'm not mad at you. Never mad at you Lou, I promise." Louis started to blush, and cuddled himself into Harry. This, of course, made Harry chuckle and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, and the shifter him to get more comfortable, grabbing the remote at the same time to put on some more Netflix.
"What happened to the kids? Where are they?" Louis asked out of worry.
"I asked Martin if he could look after them with Tony today because you were sick and needed me." Louis, once again, blushed, and nodded. Harry put Pocahontas on the television, and they both cuddled on the couch watching the picture come to life and occasionally sang along to the music, making them realise how good their voices sounded together. And soon after the movie, they both decided that it was time for a musical so that they could sing along to it. They spent the rest of the evening singing and messing about, both boys becoming more and more interested in each other the more they learnt.
Soon, both of them got tired, and decided to go to bed. Louis chasing Harry up the stairs, still pumped from the singing session. Collapsing on the bed, they bade each other goodnight, before Harry turned off the light. Mere moments passed before he felt Louis shift closer in the bed, tugging the back of his t-shirt to draw Harry's body closer. Harry smiled, and turned over, enveloping Louis tiny form in his arms, feeling the smaller lad snuggling into his chest. Safe in the knowledge each other was safe, they fell asleep, listening to the soft sounds of each other's breathing.
Saturday was their day off - the kids had a free day, and counsellors had time to do as they pleased. Upon waking that morning, Harry deemed Louis well enough to return to his own cabin for the first time in three days, despite Louis grumbling.
Nonetheless, he walked him back over to his cabin, ensuring he actually went inside. Louis' cabin was very different from Harry's - it lacked colour and personality, and more noticeably, the warmth that practically radiated off Harry's. Louis knew he was going to miss that. He turned to face Harry, who hovered awkwardly by the door, not sure of what to say.
"You okay Louis?"
He sighed, running his fingers through his feathered fringe.
"Yeah. Yeah I guess so." Harry nodded, glancing down at his shoes, opening his mouth like he wanted to say something, but then thought better of it. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow then, yeah?" He turned to leave, Louis gazing after him.
"Wait, uh Harry?" Louis stepped over, not sure what to do but making himself stand in front of the taller lad, blocking him from leaving.
"Thank you for, um, looking after me. It was, just, really sweet and kind, and just thanks for everything." Harry smiled softly
"It was no trouble at all. You're welcome." Louis moved away, back inside, but at the last minute, he turned back, reaching up on tip toes and planting a small kiss on Harry's cheek, before muttering a quick goodbye. He didn’t notice the blush that appeared on Harry's cheeks as he walked away.
That night, Louis spent the night in his own bed, feeling cold and empty, wanting to be held by the source of warmth and compassion that he has grown to love. That night, Harry slept, cuddling the pillow that Louis lay his head on, and imagining that it was Louis so that he could pretend that he was holding him.
The next morning was a Sunday, and this meant that they would being doing a giant tug of war in the morning after breakfast. After a delicious meal of raspberry pancakes, Harry left his cabin, and headed towards his team's cabin, to make sure they were up. Then heading to Louis'. He brought pancakes with him after remembering the baking incident that 'MasterChef' Louis had before. Knocking on the door, he waited patiently, and then a groggy, tired looking Louis opened the door, with messy hair and quickly put on clothes, as he attempted a smile after not much sleep. Harry gave him the pancakes with a knowing look, making Louis blush and smile slightly at the memory of that day.
Soon, after breakfast and chatting, the two went over to the field where the morning's activity was to be held. Harry and Louis began to jog as they noticed that all the kids were there and waiting.
"Okay team, so, we're going to win this right?!" Harry yells, his team cheering, with Louis and his team boo-ing in the background.
"Except that you're not because we are the best at this, right guys?" Louis counters. The two older boys exchanged a look and stuck their tongues out at each other like the kids they were supposed to be mentoring. They began to calm down from their childish behaviour, and got the kids ready for tug of war.
There were many sore hands, and wounded spirits after the games had finished with a win ratio of 3:4 to Louis' team, which made him smile, because finally there was something that he was good at, apart from singing and obviously baking. The kids put the rope away, and Louis went to sit by a giant tree in front of the river, Harry joining him a few minutes later. Feeling slightly sleep still due to the early morning and lack of sleep, Louis rested his head on Harry's shoulder, yawning slightly.
"Well, we finally beat you at something!" Louis cheered to Harry, proud of himself and his little team. Harry frowned dramatically and sighed,
"Well, at least.. At least-" Louis cut him off,
"aha! See, we are more awesome!" Louis grinned and soon the conversation decreased. Both starting at the river, they realised that they should probably get back to work, and attempt more games and things for the kids to do. Louis tried suggesting ideas, but Harry disagreed with most of them, considering that he suggesting things like bungee jumping or cliff diving…
After an, eventful, afternoon of playing tag, Louis and Harry had given the kids the evening to do as they pleased, and were litter picking round the back of the cabins. As they rounded the corner, they noticed two of the camp goers sat next to each other, looking out on the sunset over the meadows. As Louis and Harry watched, they leaned closer in to each other, snuggling close, and the taller lad turned and planted a kiss on top of his shorter, blonde counterparts head. Louis correctly identified them as Niall and Liam - Liam from Harry's cabin, and Niall from his. Before Harry could stop him, he approached the pair, a frown upon his face.
"Well I must say, I am disappointed in you Niall." He said in a serious tone, watching the young pair’s heads snap round to stare up at him in shock. Harry drew up to Louis side, a concerned look on his face.
"Lou-"
"No Harry. Let me handle this." He turned back to the pair, who both suddenly looked very scared, and very, very confused.
"I don’t normally like this behaviour anyways, but given your circumstances, I must say it is truly disgusting." Liam frowned, opening his mouth to retort.
"I mean, fraternising with the enemy Niall! What has this world come to?!" Louis grinned at the look of confusion then pure relief flooded both the young lads and Harry’s face as they realised it was just Louis joking.
"Yes, Louis absolutely right guys. Don’t let this happen again." Giggled Harry, watching as Niall and Liam laughed, turning back to the sunset, bidding the two counsellors goodnight. Harry and Louis walked alone in silence for a while, both smiling, before Harry's voice cut through the night air.
"Y'know, for a moment back there, you had me petrified you were homophobic or some shit." Louis laughed, nervously along with Harry.
"No. Couldn’t be, given the circumstances." He could feel Harry's confused stare fall on his face. Taking a deep breath, he turned to meet the concerned look in Harry's green eyes. Eyes closed, to avoid the look, he said it.
"I’m gay, Harry."
After a few moments of silence, without a fist meeting his gut, or a confused or disgusted remark thrown his way, Louis opened his eyes, only to be met with the same warm, happy gaze in Harry's eyes. He was smiling at Louis, encouragingly, calmly.
"That’s fine, Lou, of course it's fine. Considering I am too - I'm not exactly in a place to judge am I?" Harry winked at him, waiting to see the look of surprise cross Louis face.
"Y-you are?"
"Yup." He watched Louis, who seemed to be having a hard time digesting the information.
"Why's that so hard to believe then?" Louis blinked at Harry.
"Dunno. Guess I should have known from the second I saw the scented candles."
"Heeeyy." Harry whined, nudging Louis with his elbow has the older boy burst into laughter.
"It's getting dark, we should probably head back now."
"Do you, uh, do you wanna come over and watch some movies with me?" Harry asks nervously.
"Yes! I mean yes that would be great, really great." Louis blushed when realised what he had just done, quickly correcting himself to not sound desperate for Harry's company. Walking back to the cabin, Louis makes a semi violent shiver - Harry notices and wraps his arm around the smaller boy's shoulder. Reaching cabin, they quickly make themselves cosy with the fire, candles and lots of pillows and blankets once again. Harry grabs the television remote, which quickly gets stolen- a cheeky grin from Louis being the replacement.
Louis chooses some comedy film that Harry didn't know due to his eyes being trained on Louis' illuminated smile. This was the tipping point for Harry. He wanted to kiss Louis. The flames from the candle making Louis face look tanned and shimmering within the light, his eyes glistened. He laughed along with the film, and when a particularly funny part came on, he turned to Harry who quickly looked over to the screen as he didn't want to be caught staring. "Hazza! You weren't paying attention!" Louis whined.
"S-sorry Lou, I was just thinking," he retorted.
"About…?"
"You," Harry blushed. Now it was Louis turn to blush. He bit his lip anxiously, brows knitted together in a frown as he stared at his hands, which were fiddling nervously with the hem of Harry's hoodie.
"Why?" Harry took a deep breath.
"Cause right now, in this firelight, I don’t think I've ever seen someone so beautiful." Louis deep blue eyes snapped up to meet Harry's, searching his face for any sign of sarcasm of dishonesty, but finding nothing but sincerity.
"You, you actually mean that?" Louis questioned, blush growing deeper by the minute.
"Course I do Louis."
Honesty. That was all that was suggested in Harry's tone of voice. Louis felt the sofa move as Harry shuffle close, enveloping Louis' entire hand in his gigantic paw. With his other hand, he reached up to Louis' chin, tilting his head up until he could clearly see the disbelief in Louis' eyes. Slowly, treating him with as much care as you would a scared animal, he inched closer, until he gently pressed his lips to the corner of Louis mouth, eyes fluttering shut when contact was made. He began to pull away, but was prevented by Louis, who suddenly dived in and planted his lips firmly on Harry's. It didn't take Harry long to melt into the kiss, allowing Louis to take control and finally understanding what that "movie moment" was. Right here, in this small little cabin, with Louis by his side, he felt like home. Little did he know, Louis was thinking the exact same thing.