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When Louis' phone rings at 7am on saturday morning, he ignores his body screaming at him to go back to sleep, and after shortly considering to feign dead, dutifully turns over to answer it. After having nearly missed the birth of his second pair of twin siblings five years ago he now always answers the phone for family, no matter what time it is.
The sheets rustle as he moves towards the edge of the bed, his half-naked body still wrapped up tightly in the warm fabric.
He turns on the little reading lamp that is clipped to the headboard and fumbles for his phone on his cluttered bedside table. He quickly finds it, buried under a dirty sock and some notes he has made for his next lessons.
He brings it to his face to look at it with squinted eyes. As expected, Lottie's name appears on the brightly illuminated screen. Louis rubs his eyes groggily and groans loudly before answering. He already has an idea what this is about.
"What's up?" He grunts into the phone, face still buried in his soft pillow and eyes half-closed. The smell of his mums washing powder and the coziness of the sheets make him want to go right back to sleep.
"Hi, big brother. What are you up to today?" Lottie chirps, sounding alert, and Louis groans again. How does his sister manage to be so bubbly so early in the morning? The sun is barely up and not even the birds are singing. Nobody should have to be awake yet.
Louis flops onto his back and brings the phone with him. The cold air gives him goosebumps and he quickly pulls the duvet up to his chin to protect himself against it.
"What do you want, hellion?" He hisses, though asking is really a waste of time and energy since he knows exactly what she wants: The same thing she always wants when she calls on saturday mornings.
Lottie laughs quietly, confirming his suspicion, and Louis really wishes that he could say no to her. Unfortunately they both know that Louis would never say no to Lottie. Louis would do anything for his friends and family, even if it costs him precious hours of sleep.
In this case "anything" means that he will be washing hair all day at Lottie's salon once again, because one of her employees called in sick.
"She is pregnant, Lou! She has a ton of appointments every month and she still gets sick every morning. Could you please help out one more time? Please, Lou. Please, please, please."
Louis sighs deeply. He knew that this was coming. And he curses himself for being a good human being. He takes a deep breath and drives one hand through his tousled hair.
"Okay, Lottie. I'll be there. Give me 20 minutes. And tell Jesy that I'll kill her for getting pregnant when you speak to her next." He agrees with a heavy heart. There goes his relaxed saturday.
"You are the best brother ever! Thank you." Lottie squeals and before Louis can change his mind again the phone call ends with a dull clicking noise.
Louis puts his phone back on the table and rubs his hands over his face. What did he do to deserve this? Is this what he gets for being a good brother to all his siblings?
He gets up after a few seconds and stumbles into the small bathroom of the flat, he shares with Zayn and Perrie, who are both teachers like himself. Even if they are a lot more artsy than Louis and more often then not smell like weed and dried paint, while Louis spends his time in the smelly gym and teaches drama to kids in dusty costumes. He loves it anyway, being a teacher is great.
He undresses, steps into the shower and turns on the water. It takes a second to heat up but when Louis steps under the spray, it's the perfect temperature and tumbles onto his shoulders with just the right pressure.
He lets himself enjoy the feeling for a few seconds with his head leaned against the cold blue tiles before quickly washing his body and hair.
He turns off the water, fishes a fluffy green towel out of the shelf next to the shower and rubs himself dry.
Next he blow-dries his hair, styles it into a lazy fringe and jumps into a pair of tight jeans.
He shivers as he walks back in his bedroom, goosebumps appearing on his arms once again. The weather really is uncharacteristically cold and rainy for april.
On his desk chair he finds his favourite cream-coloured jumper and throws it on after deeming it clean.
He looks around for a few seconds and in the end grabs his beloved messenger bag, given to him as a birthday present a few years ago. He quickly stuffs a shirt in it as a change of clothes for the afternoon and leaves the room.
He tiptoes into the kitchen to make himself tea in his to-go cup along with two toasts, a bottle of water and some snacks. He tosses everything into his bag before leaving the flat hastily.
The sun's rays are in his eyes as the walks down the few steps to the sidewalk, he turns his face up to the light to suck it up. For Louis, a fan of warm weather, the winter has been far too long and dark and summer can't come quick enough.
At the parking lot the blue-eyed man gets into his rusty blue car and turns on the radio and the heating. While the car gets warmer and Nick Grimshaws Breakfast Show blares from the speakers he drives to Lotties hair salon, which is situated in a small but busy street in the middle of the little city that is Doncaster.
Lottie had started out as an assistant to Lou, the previous owner, but after the woman had gotten pregnant, she had sold the shop to Lottie and now only helps out occasionally when money is tight.
With all the regulars still coming in like before Lou left it is going well. Lottie doesn't have a lot of money to spent on the shop and isn't able to employ another girl, but that is what Louis and his other sisters are for. They all jump in whenever Lottie needs extra help or someone is ill. It is working well for her and even their mum, who was sceptical at first, is now very proud and happy with Lotties decision.
Louis drives through the small streets of Doncaster and finally finds a parking spot a few metres from the shop.
He gets out of the car, grabs his bag and quickly jogs over the street.
As he enters the salon, the bell above the door rings. The girls and Niall are already there and swarming around. The whole shop smells like hairspray and vanilla and while it isn't very noisy yet it still seems as busy as if the shop was full of customers.
The atmosphere in the little shop is warm and familiar. Louis likes the salon a lot. The radio is playing softly in the background, the rooms are warm and always filled with chatter. Everyone who comes here seems to leave in a better mood and of course with nicely smelling hair.
The shop opens at 7:30 every morning and all the employees have to come in early to arrange everything they need for the busy day ahead. Lottie always informs them about their appointments and reminds them of everything important before the start of the workday.
Jade, Leigh-Ann, Eleanor and nail artist Sophia were all chosen by Lou, but Lottie had chose to carry on working with them. They are all gorgeous and work very hard. The only other boys working at the shop with Louis are Lotties boyfriend, who helps out sometimes or hangs around to stare at her bum, and Niall who does male hair cuts and is an expert for hair dye.
As Louis tiredly stumbles towards the back to put his personal stuff away, he comes across Lottie. They share a tight hug and Louis proceeds to greet all the other girls with a kiss to the cheek and Niall with a handshake.
Louis likes everyone working in the shop and has a close friendship with Niall. They hang out often and meet eachother at most parties they go to.
All of the employees respect and love him, even if he is just here to help them out at the washing station or bring them stuff. Sometimes he also has to answer phone calls or takes the customers jackets as he offers to make them coffee, but only when it is super busy.
The work in the shop isn't too bad after all. He doesn't get paid, but Lottie takes the whole family out for lunch once a month and buys them lovely presents for their birthdays.
For Louis the smile on Lotties face and her content expression at the end of the work day usually is enough of a reward for his work. He loves to see his sister happy.
And he sees her smile as the first customers start to arrive.
Everyone gets to work and Louis cleans the baisins while he waits for his first task. Usually the girls and Niall call him over whenever a customer requests a wash or needs one during the procedure of dyeing.
He starts the day off with Mrs. O'Malleey who comes in every saturday to get her hair done.
He washes her hair and gives her a little head massage. They have a little chat while he rinses her hair. Then he hands the old woman over to Leigh-Ann who works on her perm until it is perfect.
----
A few hours later the work day is almost over and Louis thinks it has gone well. He has picked up a few tips along the way, which he will give to Lottie as usual. Opening a new business is hard and Louis has a successful career.
He has just finished up his last wash and goes to the front to tend to the next client in line.
On one of the comfy chairs next to the door sits a young man. He has curly brown hair, is lanky and dressed in a blue dotted blouse that is partly unbuttoned to show off his chest and a necklace. He is also sporting skintight jeans and ridiculous brown heeled boots. It really shouldn't look as attractive as it does but Louis admires the stranger for a second. He really is a vision with those wide green eyes and luscious lips.
He also is the only one waiting so Louis smiles at him.
"Are you next up?" he asks cheerfully.
The man notices him standing there, startles and stares at him with wide eyes for a moment before quickly standing up.
"Yeah." He says after clearing his throat and burying his hands in his pockets.
Louis blushes as the man smiles at him shyly and quickly turns back around to walk further into the shop. The man really is attractive, tall and pretty and with a voice so deep that it does weird things to Louis stomach.
"Follow me then. Do you have an appointment?" He calls out over his shoulder.
''Yeah. I have an appointment with Lottie. I called. 'Name is Styles"
Louis stops at the wardrobe and offers the stranger a hand.
"Ah okay. Let me take your jacket, please."
The curly-haird hands him his brown leather jacket and watches as Louis puts it on a coat hanger.
'Oh god, he really smells amazing' Louis thinks to himself and offers the man another smile.
"Please follow me." He says and leads the boy through the shop.
After telling Harry to sit down in front of one of the mirrors, he goes to get Lottie who is sorting through some deliveries in the back.
"Hey. Your 11am appointment is here. He is waiting at station 3." He says lightly.
Lottie looks up startled, her hair in a messy bun.
"Oh, okay. Could you please wash his hair? I'll be out soon." She says, already turning back to the parcels on the floor.
"Ok. You doing fine? Need help?"
"No, thank you. I'm almost done."
Louis nods and hurries back into the store and over to the customer.
"You are lucky, Mr. Styles. You get to experience a excellent head massage by my hands. I have been told that I'm veery good at them." He jokes as he stands behind him, hands floating over the mans shoulders and fingers brushing the curly hair lightly.
"You can call me Harry." The man clarifies, looking at Louis through the mirror. A moment later he winks and teases: "So you are good with your hands?"
"Excuse you, Harold! I'm good at everything I do. How dare you." Louis sputters, a light blush colouring his cheeks. He really isn't used to customers cracking jokes and teasing him. The elderly women he mostly handles aren't really prone for that.
Harry barks out a laugh and turns around in his chair.
"Prove it then." He laughs.
"I will." Louis promises before they move to the washing station where he tells Harry to sit down and get comfy.
"Which shampoo do you normally use?" He asks, fiddling with the faucet.
"Uhhm. I use the Shampoo and Conditioner that Lottie sold me the last time I was here. It smells like apples and works wonders for my curls."
"Ah yes I know which one you are talking about. Good choice! One second."
He goes over to fetch the bottles and then starts wetting Harrys hair with the shower head. It's a boring job and he likes to chat while he works, so he asks: "You here for just a trim? Or are big changes planned?"
He holds his hand over Harry's forehead to shield his eyes from the water.
"No no. I'm growing my hair out. I quite like that it is getting long, but the ends really need to be tended to."
"Mhnm." Louis mumurs, encouraging his customer.
"Sooo. Are you a hairdresser too? I have never seen you here before." Harry asks hesistantly after a few seconds.
"Oh ehm, no. I'm just helping out a few days a week." Louis answers, unsure of what to say. Normally everyone assumes automatically that he is working permanently for Lottie, since he helps out so often.
Louis starts to massage shampoo in Harry's long curls carefully.
As his fingers gently scrap over Harry's scalp for the first time, the man moans quietly and closes his eyes. It makes Louis blink in surprise but he ends up smiling. Good to know that he still has an effect on attractive men. Even if it is only because of his handiwork.
They go quiet for a few minutes. The only noises are the small sounds coming out of Harry's mouth occasionally and the ones coming from Eleanor's blowdryer at the other end of the store.
"Is the water temperature ok?" Louis asks gently.
"Uhmm. Y-Yes. Very ok." Harry stutters, slightly startled. His head is tilted back as far as possible and he is basically rubbing his head against Louis' hands.
Louis washes out the shampoo and starts with the conditioning. It is an expensive shampoo that Harry uses, but it seems to be worth it. Harry's hair is soft and fluffy in his hands.
Louis massages the gel into the curls and listens to the little noises Harry makes with a sly grin on his face.
"You want some extra massaging?" He asks innocently after washing away the foam and conditioner.
"I...I. Sorry. I didn't mean to... You are just very good at this." Harry answers with a blush. Obviously feeling told off.
Louis chuckles. "I don't mind. I like compliments. So... You want one?"
"If you don't mind?"
Harry turns his head slightly to look up at Louis, his green eyes locking with Louis' blue ones.
Louis blushes and presses Harry's head gently back into the right position. He squeezes some hair oil into his hands and slips his hands back into Harry's hair.
"Shut up. Of course I don't."
Then he shits up and really starts working his fingers into Harrys's scalp.
Harry fidgets on his chair and exhales in a long sigh.
"You haven't told me your name, yet." He mentions casually.
"What do you need it for?" Louis counters, droplets of water running down his hands.
Harry blushes but finds a good reason.
"I might want to tip you when I leave. I saw the savings boxes with the names on it."
Louis laughs quietly.
"Clever boy, aren't you?" He acknowledges with a bemused smile.
"Tell me? Please?" Harry begs.
"Okay. Okay. I'm Louis." He answers and digs his fingers into Harrys hair harder, now changing the movements of his fingers to rub tight circles into Harry's scalp.
Harry groans loudly, obviously taken by surprise.
"Oh god, Louis." He groans. Then he is suddenly moving away and before Louis can do anything he is out of the chair.
Louis squeaks as Harry's hair leaves his hands and slaps against the back of Harry's neck wetly.
"HARRY. You are going to get your clothes wet!"
He hands him a towel quickly and begins to dab on Harrys nape and back to absorb the water.
"Fuck. I'm sorry. You are all wet." He swears.
Harry is blushing like crazy but still isn't turning back around.
"It's ermm it's ok. It was my fault. Thanks for the massage" He says and quickly grabs the towel from Louis hands to wrap it around his hair.
Then he leaves him standing there and quickly goes over to Lottie, who had come out from the back a few minutes ago and was chatting to Leigh-Ann while waiting for Harry.
Louis blinks at his back and asks himself if he had done something wrong.
Did he scratch Harry? Did he pinch a nerve in his neck?
Louis squints at Harry and watches him. He IS walking kind of funny.
Lottie starts on Harry's hair after a quick chat and Louis watches them like a hawk while cleaning the baisin he used. Harry is smiling and seems to be okay so Louis walks into the tea room to get himself a joghurt out of the fridge. Lottie will handle any complains and Louis is pretty sure that he didn't do anything wrong anyway.
While he sits there and spoons the fruity joghurt into his mouth Leigh-Ann comes over.
She grins at him and bumps her shoulder into his.
"You are a real flirt aren't you? That poor boy." She laughs.
Louis sputters and sets his joghurt on the table.
"What? I didn't do anything!" He protests.
"He is sporting a boner that could be seen from space, Louis."
Leigh-Ann giggles as she shoves some bread into her mouth.
Louis gapes at her. What the hell is she talking about? That can't be true, can it?
"No! Oh god! He isn't, is he?" Louis stutters, face rapidly turning red.
"I'm not lying" Leigh-Ann snorts. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing. Fuck off!" He blushes and shoos the giggling girl out of the room.
He stays hidden in the tea room for another 10 minutes and only comes out after Harry is already gone.
----
He spends the rest of the weekend relaxing and happily sleeping on the couch. And only gets up to visit his mum, Dan and both sets of twins for lunch on sunday.
On monday morning he drives with Zayn and Perrie to work and spends the first four periods shooing a bunch of tired kids around the gym.
During his lunchbreak his phone rings. Lottie is calling him.
Louis looks up from grading his students papers and picks up.
"Hey Lotts!" He greets, putting his pen down.
"Hi Lou!" She answers.
"What's up?" He inquires. There had been a teasing tone in Lotties voice that makes him curious.
"I uhmm..." She starts but ends up giggling.
"You may have a secret admirer." She finally gets out.
Louis frowns and chews on his thumb nail.
"What are you talking about?" He asks.
"Someone put a basket with Muffins on the door handle.
It was there when I opened the shop today. There was a card that said "for Louis"." She gushes.
"What the fuck! Did someone see who brought them over?" Louis mumbles.
"No. But they are delicious. I'm saving one for you." Lottie answers, obviously chewing on one of the sugary treats while speaking.
"Heyy! Why are you eating them at all? They are mine!" Louis complains to hide his embarrassement.
"Come and get them then!" She says with a loud laugh following and ends the phone call.
Louis shakes his head and gets back to work. He his too old for these games.
---
During the next days he receives several texts and phone calls from Lottie and her employees about presents that were left for him.
On tuesday a single red rose with a little tag lays on the step in front of the door.
'Louis. Be mine?' It says. And every woman coming in the shop gets to hear the story from the girls. A lot of crazy things have happend at the shop but none of the employees have ever had a secret admirer.
On wednesday a poem and a handful of flower petals in a pretty envelope are put in the shops letter box. Lottie brings it over after work and Louis blushes a deep red as he reads about his eyes and bum in it. It is well written and incedibly romantic and Louis catches himself thinking about the mysterious admirer several times that afternoon.
On thursday Niall finds a mixtape with romantic songs and Louis name on it left on a table in the shop, the tape tenderly arranged in a heart shape. Nobody had noticed anything and nobody had seen who had put it there.
They call Louis in the middle of a lesson and screech into his ear asking for permission to put it into the recorder and listen to it. He allows them to do it since they are so excited, but takes it home at the end of the day to listen to it on his own. He falls asleep with Ed Sheeran's "Kiss Me" echooing through his room and a smile on his lips. The person doing this is slowly but surely awaking fond feelings in Louis' heart. And he doesn't even know who they are.
And on friday a whole bouquet of lilac tulips is delivered to the shop.
Lottie signs the anonymous delivery and sends Louis a picture. Louis inquires about the meaning of the flowers and the girls look it up and find out that they are basically a love declaration. It makes the blue eyed blush and his heart beat faster. Who is taking the time to do something so utterly cute for Louis?
----
On saturday Louis finally gets to sleep in and he doesn't miss being up at dawn at all.
It's only later that Lottie calls. Louis is just sitting at the table and eating pizza with Zayn but he picks up anyway.
"Another present?" He asks as he answers the phone.
"No. And believe me: Everyone was disappointed. But I have a different kind of message."
"What are you talking about?" Louis says, munching on his slice of pizza.
"Harry, you know the curly one from saturday morning? He was gushing about you and your hands the whole time while I cut his hair last saturday. Remember him?"
"Yeah. Aaand?" Louis retorts.
"He came back today and was horribly disappointed that you weren't there to wash his hair. He asked for you. And I may have told him that you would be back on monday." She says sheepishly.
"WHAT? Why? It's Fizzy's turn on monday." He complains and shoots Zayn a look that says 'Can you believe this?!'.
"I know. But you should have seen him! He looked like a kicked puppy, C'mon, Lou! Jesy is feeling like shit anyway, why don't you pitch in and wash the boys hair? Fizzy will take over your shift on saturday."
"Why don't you let Leigh-Ann do it? She is rough. I bet he would like that." He appeases, wiping a bit of grease from his lips with the back of his hand.
"No I don't think so! By the way: You don't have a choice anyway! I let him make an appointment with you and I don't have his number so I can't cancel it. You will have to come in whether you want to or not. Sorry, big bro. The customer gets what the customer wants."
"I hate you!" He hisses but ends up sighing. "When do I have to be there?"
"3 pm?"
"Okay. Okay. See you then." He groans.
----
Harry turns up for his appointment dressed in skin tight jeans and another ridiculous looking shirt, this time with a floral print, that is even further unbuttoned. Louis can see the butterfly tattoo on his toned tummy and asks himself who the hell thinks of punny shit like this. It still makes him smile benignly. Harry Styles is everything but boring.
He walks up to the front as he sees him enter and greets him.
"Back so soon? Missed me?" He teases.
Harry just blushes.
"Maybe." He counters. It makes Louis laugh.
He takes Harry's jacket and leads him over to the baisins.
"Do you want something to drink?" He asks, wiping his hands on his grey-blue shirt.
Harry looks at him with a weird expression, takes a deep breath and opens his mouth to say something just as a blowdryer goes off somewhere near.
And all Louis understands from what Harry said is "...with me?"
Harry is staring at him expectantly.
Louis clears his throat, a frown gracing his forehand.
"Sorry, what did you say?" He inquires.
Harry deflates and shrugs.
"Uhm nothing. It's okay." He mumbles.
"I'll get us both a cup of tea, okay?" Louis asks, feeling as if he had done something wrong.
"Yeah. Thank you." Harry answers, nodding and smiling.
So Louis does as promised and then starts working.
He massages Harry's scalp and washes his hair for almost 30 minutes. He massages until he is sure that Harry has forgotten about all his problems and has basically turned into mush.
They chat the whole time about everything and nothing. Harry asks some questions about him which he answers willingly even though he doesn't understand why Harry wants to know all these details about his hairdresser.
Louis blowdries his hair and sells a new styling product to him as Harry tells him about his nephews christening ceremony planned for the next day. It is way Harry came back so soon after his last cut. He wants his hair styled and looking perfect for the pictures.
When Louis brings him to the door he has stars in his eyes.
He makes an appointment for the actual styling and pays for the wash and the product before turning back around to face Louis.
"Will you be here again tomorrow?" He asks shyly, dimple appearing as he smiles lightly.
"Yeah. I swapped shifts with my sister." Louis answers.
"Okay. Save a spot for me?" The boy says with a wink and a thumbs up as he leaves the shop.
"Ermm. Sure? See you tomorrow!" Louis calls after him.
"Please! Goodbye, Louis."
Harry waves and leaves.
----
The next day Harry comes back like he promised. This time he is wearing a beautiful suit, obviously on his way to the christening ceremony.
Before he goes over to Lottie he lets Louis wash his hair.
He seems excited for it at first, but the whole time Louis is washing his hair he squirms and doesn't seem to enjoy himself as much as he usually does.
"You okay, love?" Louis asks unhappily.
Harry blushes and nods but doesn't say a word.
When they are finished Louis blowdries his hair and then sends the boy off with a pat on his back.
Harry gets his hair styled in a beautiful bun with a little braid going around it and a flower tucked in. And Louis watches most of the process before he walks in the tea room to drink some water.
"Lou?" Lottie asks a minute later as she comes in. "Could you maybe come to the front?"
"What? Why?" He asks confused, setting the water bottle down on the table.
"Uhhm. Harry asked to call you back to the front. He forgot to ask something, he said." Lottie explains.
"Oh. Okaay. I'm coming." He says, frowning only a bit. 'Maybe Harry wants to make a new appointment for in a few weeks' he thinks.
He walks out of the room and up to the counter, where Harry is just handing the money to Eleanor.
"Harry. Something wrong?" He questions.
"YES! I mean no. But uhmm I wanted to ask you something?" Harry says, wringing his hands. He looks a bit pale in the face.
"Ask me something? You want another appointment?" Louis tries.
"No no. I uhmm I want to ask if you want to go out with me? Maybe? I was the one who left you the presents and umm well I heard that you liked them and I like you a lot. So I thought I would ask." He blurts out, gesticulating with his hands and smiling nervously at Louis
Louis gapes at him.
"Louis? Please say something? I get it if you don't want to. Really. Just say something please." Harry pleads, the smile slowly vanishing from his face.
"I... I. You sent me all the lovely presents?" Louis whispers faintly.
"Yeah... I thought you would like them. I wanted to woo you. Did it work?"
"Yes? Yes it did." The blue eyed chuckles, eyes getting wet. "I'll go out with you, Harry."
"YES? You will go out with me??" Harry beams steps closer to the smaller man standing across from him.
"Yeah. I will." Louis nods with a matching smile.
Harry lets out a happy squeal and grabs Louis around the waist to haul him in and hug him.
"I'll kiss you now, okay?" He whispers in Louis ear.
Louis heart starts to beat faster and a shiver moves through his body.
"Yeah." He rasps, staring in Harry's eyes. "I would like that. Kiss me."
Harry nods and gently takes Louis' face into his giantic hand and slowly presses their lips together.
And as their lips move together everyone in the shop applauds and cat calls, happy for them.
~ the end