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The thing is; there’s humans and there’s hybrids.
That’s how most people see them, two completely different species that shouldn't have anything to do with each other.
..well, that’s actually not true. A lot of them - and that includes all religious humans and many, many more - think that hybrids are an abomination of nature, beasts, demons created by the devil himself, and that they should be removed from this planet once and for all. The problem, well in their eyes anyway, is that hybrids are not rare. Not anymore.
For every fourth human, there is a hybrid.
So what do you do when you can’t rid yourself of something? You separate yourself from them. You create barriers.
It started way, way back, with the logical ones.
Although hybrids are a mix between a human and a feline, there are very few things that actually separates them from humans.
There is, of course, the physical ones; the ears and the tail being the easiest to spot, and said tail being the reason why hybrids need different clothes.
And that was the first.
It is given, isn’t it, that these physical alterations also bleeds into the field of medicine. It didn’t take long for special education to be required for hybrid patients. Hybrids can obviously get all the diseases that humans can, but there’s a few more that has to do with their ears, their eyes, their tails. It’s an extra year, and, well, who wants to study more than they have to, right? Why get a certificate for hybrid care when you can just ..not?
And that was the second.
Then there’s the educational one;
Hybrids are as intellectual as humans, but they age is differently. Hybrids evolve quicker, earlier, so while both humans and hybrids starts kindergarten at the age of one, humans starts school at six, and hybrids at four. Their understanding for language, math, writing, reading.. it all comes earlier for them. Which is given, really, considering that their lifespan is twenty years shorter. Not only this though - hybrids lack the concentration that humans have, they need more breaks and more physical stimulation, so naturally, the solution to this is different teaching methods, different classes.
And that was the third.
When you first create a barrier, you make room for many, many more.
Separate clothes led to separate clothing stores.
Separate classes led to separate schools.
Separate doctors led to separate clinics.
Separation led to abstention- led to unfamiliarity- led to ignorance- led to humans developing a hate for the hybrids; they didn’t want them around themselves, around their kids, shopping at the same supermarket, swimming in the same pools. Sadly, as it tends to go, hate created hate, making the hybrids stay away from the humans as well.
Separate communities led to separate cities.
Separate offices led to separate departments.
But, of course, this way of living does not apply to all, because even though the law forbids cross-spiecied marriage, humans and hybrids can join in legal partnerships. They can live together, and as frowned upon as it is, willingly create their own families. Families that don’t fit in with neither the human nor the hybrid world. Families that aren’t welcomed among any others than themselves.
So there has to be mixed cities too, although they’re much smaller, more like villages scattered in between the big cities. Those are the places where they still have separate classes and clothing shops, but not grocery stores, not hospitals, not entire malls.
Cities with a diversity of people, all open-minded and equal-hearted, all there by choice- although some had those choices forced upon them.
Cities like the one Harry lives in.
Some call it a tragedy, the fact that no one knows where the hybrid gene comes from or how it develops. One theory is that it’s a sort of evolutionary mutation - the hybrid’s theory technically, as humans are still stuck on the beast of the devil explanation - but no matter how much research is done, they just don’t know. The hybrid gene is only visible in hybrids and, obviously, hybrids breed hybrids- but it is not given that humans breed humans. Sometimes human families, even though they don’t have any hybrids in their entire family line, get hybrid children. Where they come from? Nobody knows.
What they do know though, is that the hybrid and human fetuses evolve identically up until week sixteen - when human's ears stops moving and their tailbone stops growing, but the hybrid's don't - and it is therefore impossible to determine the species through scans before the window of legal abortion closes at week twelve. The only other way to determine the species is doing a DNA extraction from the amniotic fluid, but it is a high-risk procedure at such an early stage, and can cause severe harm to the baby, so those are just about as difficult to get approved as a late abortion. The rules are strict and the child being a hybrid is not one of the exceptions, despite the human department's attempt to change the law. So these children has to be born, and when they are, the families have two, let’s say official, choices:
One is to leave the human town, move to a mixed one, and start a new life there. The other choice, the most popular one, is to leave the child in the hospitals care to be ‘disposed of’, sent to a hybrid foster home, where they can be adopted by someone who wants them.
But here’s the kicker; not everyone has the decency to do that.
You can say that getting a hybrid is, for some, equal to getting an STD; everyone will pity you, but that doesn’t mean you want them to know. Some humans are so ashamed of getting a hybrid child that they’d rather pay the - usually private - hospital to arrange a fake still-born certificate, only to take the baby with them and leave it at the border to a hybrid or mixed city so that it can be found by the police that patrol there every night.
This is the reason why, legally, all human cities must border to at least one mixed or hybrid city.
Harry’s city borders to two large human cities, and the hospital his mother works at often get hybrid babies dropped off by the police. Poor, innocent, defenseless babies that have been out in the cold for hours, and are in need of extra care before they can be taken in by a foster home.
Every now and then, when the hospital is understaffed and Harry doesn’t have any school or work obligations, his mum will bring him along so that he can help take care of the newborns. It breaks his heart, seeing the beautiful infants with their glossy, soft ears that stand out of their hairless heads, and thinking about how someone could ever leave something that beautiful, that precious, behind.
Harry is human. He deeply wishes he weren’t.
Harry’s family goes like this:
Harry is human.
Harry’s mum is human.
Harry’s grandmother is human.
Harry’s grandfather was hybrid.
Harry’s grandma was born into a wealthy human family, living in a wealthy human community, and was on a vacation with a few friends from uni when she met Harry’s grandpa. It was love at first sight, an instant connection, and they kept in touch for months via letters, before she split with her family and moved to his town. Her family disowned her, they never spoke to her again, but his family took her in, and seven months after they first met, they got married.
They had three children, Ruth, Douglas and Anne, all human.
Aunt Ruth lives in a human city hours away, with her very rich husband, and their very spoiled kids. They do send Christmas and birthday presents, but other than that, there’s no contact. They are a typical hybrid-hostile family.
Uncle Douglas died in a car accident when he was sixteen, long before Harry was born.
Anne, Harry’s mum, met a boy at uni when she was twenty-two. They had been together for two months when she got pregnant, and he bolted as soon as he realized there were hybrids in the family and that chances were Harry could end up being one too. His mum graduated eight months pregnant, and then moved back in with her parents to raise Harry.
Harry’s grandpa was fifty-eight and in really good health, when he went to bed one night, and never woke up again. It was a natural death, though a little early, even for a hybrid. Harry was three at the time, so he doesn’t really remember him, though he feels like they had a strong connection. He has pictures, and videos, and sometimes when he looks at them, he feels like they’re memories. Like this one video, from his second birthday, where he’s lying in his grandpa’s lap and laughing madly as he tickles him with his tail, and it’s like he can remember the joy he felt, the feeling of the fur, the hurt in his stomach from laughing so much - even though it’s not possible, he knows that.
Harry’s grandma is thankfully still very much alive. She lives in the same house, is in good health and spirit, and Harry and his mum go over for dinner at least twice a week. They do only live a few blocks apart, after all.
--
Harry walks through the door just as his mum puts the dinner on the table. It’s a late dinner, a little past seven thirty, but his mum always makes it to be ready when he comes home - an easy feat, as he text her when he gets off of the bus. It’s the beginning of summer vacation, so he works more shifts at his part time job now than he does during the school semester. He still doesn't earn that much, but money comes in handy no matter the amount and he mainly works evening shifts anyway, so he gets to sleep in.
“How’s the twins?” He asks as he sits down by the table. His mum works as a nurse in the hybrid wing of the hospital, and he'd gone with her earlier that day as five babies had been handed in last night, and they didn’t have enough staff. Among those babies were a pair of twin boys, who had been placed completely naked on a tiny blanket only a few feet from the road. Unfortunately, there had been a small decline there, and somehow they must have bumped into each other and rolled down, because they were found scratched and bruised at the end of it.
Harry had fed, burped, and changed their diapers, before he lulled them to sleep.
“Better.” She replies with a small smile, scooping roasted potatoes onto his plate.
“Do you want me to go in tomorrow as well? I don’t have work.”
His mum hesitates for a bit, mouth twisting in thought as she assesses him. “Actually," She says eventually, "there’s this boy that came in last night. I was wondering if you could perhaps keep him company?”
“Yeah, sure.” He agrees easily. He usually only dotes on the babies, but there have been a few times where he's hung out with toddlers as well, if they don't have anyone to stay with them all the time. Which is why he nearly chokes on a green bean when his mum adds,
“He’s eighteen, or, that’s what he tells us at least.”
“Oh.” Harry breathes, surprised. Logically, he knows she works with people that age as well, he’s never actually met a patient over the age of five. He didn't even know if he were allowed to.
“He wont talk to us at all. Wont give us his name, birthday, contact info- Nothing. I was hoping maybe you’d get him to talk?”
“Well, I mean I can try..” His mum nods nods encouragingly at that.
“Don’t think he’s from around here either.” She tacks on after a moments silence. “At first I thought he just didn’t want to talk to a human, but he doesn’t talk to Laura either, so..”
“Why is he in the hospital though?” Harry asks hesitantly. His mum sighs, mouth turning down at the corners, as a mix of sadness and frustration crossed her face.
“He was found beaten up on the street. Broken ribs, cuts and bruises all over.” Harry winces but doesn’t reply, as can tell that his mum is contemplating whether or not to continue. She finally sighs again, before adding, “He was found in an alley in the red light district.”
“Oh. Prostitute then?”
“Probably, yeah.”
--
The next day, Harry goes to check in on the twins while his mum has a quick meeting. He's been around these halls regularly ever since he was a toddler himself, so no one bats an eye as he quietly slithers into the room, giving the couple of nurses there a smile and wave on the way. One of the boys is sleeping, so he presses a quick kiss to his head as he picks the other one up. They both have a lovely mix of a sunburn and a cold, making them extremely cranky, and needing extra attention. A nurse hands him a bottle, which he feeds the boy whilst washing his snotty nose - something he really shouldn’t enjoy as much as he does. When the boy is sleepy and full, he lays him belly-down on his own chest, and walks around, humming lowly until he finally falls asleep.
Following his mum down the unfamiliar wing for older children so that he can to sit with a stranger the entire day is making Harry somewhat nervous. He’s never had a problem with meeting new people and being social, but he also hates awkward silences, and well, it’ll be hard to avoid those when this guy wont speak at all.
“Hello.” His mum says cheerfully as they enter the room. The boy is sitting in bed with his chin resting on one knee, the other foot splayed out on the mattress. His hair is falling down in his face, and his eyes seem to be downcast, but Harry can’t really see them. Predictably, he gives no response. “Right, well, this here is my son Harry, he usually helps out with the infant and toddlers a bit, but they’ve got enough staff, so I thought maybe he could keep you company for a while, yeah?”
No response.
“Alright, well, I’ve got to get going. I’ll pop back in with your breakfast in a few.” She says it with a slightly concealed sigh and a somewhat pleading look in Harry’s direction. Harry gives her a small smile, that she barely returns before leaving the room.
Harry slowly walks over and sits in the plastic chair next to the boy, who still doesn’t make any indication that he knows he has a visitor. Harry frowns. His mum said the boy's probably Harry's age, but with the way he sits on his bed, curling in on himself as best he can, Harry thinks he looks much younger. He’s small, at least he seems small, and Harry’s pretty sure he’s both shorter and slimmer than himself, even with - or maybe because of - the hospital clothes that seems a size too big, and the bed sheets wrapped around his legs and waist. His tail is peeking out from the side Harry’s sitting on, curling past his splayed out leg, and ending by his knee. Just like the boy’s hair, it has a caramel brown color apart from a black circle seven or so inches down from the tip. The boys ears are almost lost in the messy hair, and would probably be completely invisible, had it not been for the black hairs at the very tip.
In an attempt to get the conversation going, he figures he should introduce himself, even though his mother already did that for him. “Hi, I’m Harry.” He says, staring intensely at the boy to try to force him to look back. The boy doesn’t answer, but he lifts his chin a little, looks over at him through his lashes, and gives him a weak, close-lipped smile.
Harry counts that as a win.
“So how are you feeling then?” He continues, because it's the polite thing to do, and then barrels on after just a moments worth of returned silence. “You know, I usually help bottle feeding and nappy changing and stuff like that. I love the babies, but it’s kinda nice to talk to someone older.” He chooses to ignore the fact that he’s quite literally talking to the boy, and not with him. “We get a lot of hybrid babies, you know. From the outskirts, I mean - we border to Livvan and Werphan, and they’re both rather big and important, but still don't seem to understand that leaving babies along the border is inhuman-" He cuts himself off before his rant gets too intense, and clears his throat. "Um, so we got these two really precious twin boys the other day, seem to be of Asian decent or something, and they’re so beautiful with their sleek black tails and ears.”
Harry frowns when he sees that the boy in the bed just keeps looking down at his hands indifferently. You'd think he'd have a stronger reaction to something like that, especially when they're the same kind. Though, it's not exactly news that these things happen, so maybe he's, like, immune or something? Or- “You do know that we’re a mixed city, yeah? We all like hybrids here, no ones gonna treat you any differently. But if you’d rather just talk to hybrids, that’s fine, all you have to do is ask, yeah? But really, no one hates hybrids in this town.”
Harry speaks carefully, afraid to step on his toes or say something wrong, but they boy just silently shakes his head a little, before he mumbles, “I hate hybrids.” so low Harry's not sure if he was supposed to catch it at all. His tone has a bitter ring to it. It leaves a bitter taste in Harry's mouth too. To say he's surprised is an understatement, and he wants to ask all sorts of questions, but his mum chooses that exact moment to pop in with breakfast. She hands the boy a tray with the usual hospital-food, and then gives Harry a cup of creamed and sugared tea with a soft but questioning look. Harry just shrugs in return, and she nods understandingly.
“Do you need anything else?” She asks the boy, obviously not expecting him to answer, as her mouth drops open when he does.
“No, thank you.”
At least she's good at composing herself, tone casual when she says, “Alright, just give me a buzz if you need anything, yeah?” He nods, and she heads back out, leaving a tense atmosphere in her wake.
Harry grabs the TV remote, pressing the power button before he even asks if the boy wants to watch something. He gets a shrug when he does though, so Harry takes it as a yes, flipping through the channels, before he decides on a rerun of a popular sitcom. They watch in silence for a while, and thankfully the tension between them slowly dims while their focus is elsewhere. Its apparently a marathon of sorts, as two episodes plays back to back, and after a long, repetitive TV shop commercial, comes a third - this one introducing one of the popular characters who eventually ends up in a relationship with one of the supporting roles.
“God, I love that guy!” The boy exclaims, followed by the sound of a slap as he clamps his hand over his mouth, clearly not intending the cheerful outburst. They share a wide-eyed look. It's the first time the boy actually looks right at him, and Harry can’t help but stare into his eyes; beautifully blue with the typical hybrid pupil; almost round, but blurring out into vertical spikes.
"Yeah, he's great.” Harry agrees, forcing himself to look away.
As they keep watching the boy continues too loosen up, his body relaxing more into his bed, though only a few words are uttered between them, and Harry’s usually the one who says them. His own eyes feels dry and a little overused, and he wonders how the boy manages to stare at the screen for so long, seeing as it’s not one accustomed to hybrids - the human's screens are sharper in color and have a brighter light, unlike the hybrid ones that are customized to be better for their sensitive eyes. Well, it’s not really that their eyes are so sensitive, but their vision is better, almost twice as good as humans, so obviously their eyes will tire easier from the sharp light.
He turns the telly off when the episode ends, making the boy glance over at him curiously. “My eyes are all dry, can’t imagine how yours feels like.” Harry explains.
“It’s not bad, I’m used to it.” He replies, but when Harry offers to turn it back on he shakes his head.
“Alright, well I’m gonna go get a candy bar or something. Do you want anything?” The boy bites at his lip, obviously hesitating, before he asks for some chocolate of whatever kind they have.
He buys five different bars at the vending machine, and they eat two each and share the last one.
“Louis.” The boys says out of the blue. “My name is Louis.” Harry grins at him and sticks his hand out.
“Nice to meet you.” He says as Louis slowly gives him a hand shake. "I'm still Harry." The hybrid laughs at that, showing off his teeth, complete with the two corner ones that are just a tad longer and pointier than the rest. People are always beautiful when they laugh, he thinks, but this time Harry has to bite back the word as it suddenly sits at the tip of his tongue.
It serves as a good icebreaker, even though It’s mostly just small-talk that follows. Louis seems set on not letting Harry get any more information on him and Harry tries his best to respect that, asks about other things instead, like favorite food, and celebrity and song and they quickly become at ease with each other.
Obviously, Harry mucks it up.
“Why were you found beaten up in the red light district?” He asks in a moment of weakness, his own eyes widening as the words slips out of him. He genuinely hadn't meant to ask, but it's been on the forefront of his mind since- well, since yesterday, really. Louis’ body tenses, the end of his tail flickering back and forth and his ears flatten a little against his head. “Sorry! I- sorry!” Harry stutters, and then in a lapse of poor judgement gently takes Louis’ moving tail when it wavers close to him. As soon as the fur touches his skin he realizes that it's an incredibly invasive thing to do, but Louis doesn't pull it away from him like he expected him too. Rather his tail stills, and Harry looks up to find Louis looking at him, his stare so intense Harry can’t hold it. He tentatively runs his fingers over the fur, and concentrates on looking at that instead.
“It’s a long story.” Louis finally says. Harry exhales as quietly as he can.
“Yeah, alright.” he replies, the ‘I’ve got time’ lingering to no avail. Louis tail eventually gets heavier, and Harry keeps dragging it through his fist and fingers, while he watches Louis fall asleep.
An hour later, while Louis is still out, his mum pops in and says it’s time to go. Harry finds some paper and a pen, writes Louis a quick note saying he’ll be back the next day, and then runs his fingers over the tail one last time before they leave. She asks him if he figured anything out, and he tells her that they talked quite a bit actually, and even mentions that he told him his first name, but he doesn’t let his mum know what it is. He doesn’t want to risk loosing Louis’ trust.
--
When Harry returns for the fourth morning in a row, he brings along a breakfast tray with enough food for them both. Louis smiles all big and bright, when he sees him, and it makes a shiver run down Harry’s spine. They’ve become a lot more comfortable around each other and although Louis still holds back on all information, Harry quickly discovered that Louis is anything but the shy boy he was in the beginning; he’s loud and funny and has this twinkle in his eyes that always seems to make Harry’s stomach flutter. He’s overall very likeable. In more ways than one.
They talk while they eat, and are in the middle of a discussion about a new movie, when Harry’s mum knocks on the door and asks Harry to step outside for a second. He gives Louis’ questioning look a small shrug and a smile, before he walks over to her.
When he returns five minutes later, he can't even try to hide the frown that has taken over his features, and Louis’ brows furrows together. “What’s up?” He asks, letting his tail fall into Harry’s lap the second he sits down.
Harry gladly takes the distraction, and pulls slightly at the fur as if he’s putting each hair into place. “I know you don’t really like to talk about yourself, and I want to respect that, but it seems like I can’t do that anymore.” Harry says softly. “If you'd rather talk to one of the nurses, then that’s fine, obviously.” He adds, and pauses. “The thing is, they want to call the police.” Louis’ mouth pops open, and he looks at Harry with something akin to horror. “Listen, they don’t know your name, they don’t know your age, or if you’re legal. And they’re pretty sure you’re a prostitute, which is illegal in itself, so..” He stops when Louis slips his tail away to curl in on himself, knees bent and arms hugging them tight. His shoulders shake slightly and his breath staggers, probably in an attempt to spot himself from crying. Harry has never felt so helpless in his life.
“Would they - if I tell you - would they still call the police?” He asks in a small voice a moment later. Harry doesn’t really think about his actions as he scoots closer and takes one of Louis’ hands in his, effectively crossing a new line.
“It depends..” He says. “It’s worth a try, yeah?” Louis nods, and then closes his eyes, takes a few deep breaths, squeezes Harry’s hand once.
“My name’s Louis Tomlinson. I’m eighteen, and I ran away from home. That’s why I don’t want anyone to call them.”
Harry shifts his hand, lacing his fingers between Louis’. “Why did you run?”
“Long story.. I- well they, my family, we’re from a human town, and they’re suffering from me being a hybrid. My sisters gets into trouble at school because of it, and- I don’t know. I’m tired of causing them pain.” Louis’ voice catches at the end, and when he breathes out it’s shaky and fragile, even more so than earlier. He looks even frailer than he did the first time they met and it makes Harry's heart ache.
“I’m sorry.” He lamely offers. Louis shrugs.
“Not your fault. I, um, I did try to be a ..prostitute for a few days, just to get some money. Turns out this pimp was in charge of the corner, and I was stealing customers, and, well.. Here I am.” Harry tightens his grip on Louis hand for a second before he let’s go completely.
“I’ll talk to mum, see what they can do, alright?” He asks, Louis bites his lip and nods in response. He still looks just as small and fragile, so Harry plants a soft kiss on the top of his head for extra reassurance. Another new thing that Louis doesn’t protest. It makes Harry smile, if only slightly.
Harry talks to his mum for a bit, and then she goes in and talks to Louis. She writes down his birthday and full name, and then walks over to plot it into a computer, Harry trailing after her, but staying at the other side of the desk. - policy and confidentiality and all that. She finds a hospital record; broken leg, a few cases of the flu, and an ear infection, but there's also a note connected to the record, saying that if he turns up in a hospital, the police must be contacted. Harry’s mum tells Harry this, and goes to make the call, while Harry shares the information with Louis. They sit and wait in silence, the end of Louis’ tail wrapped around Harry’s wrist.
It takes around fifteen minutes before there’s a knock on the door, and Harry's mum walks in. “Okay, so I talked to the police, and I told them no need to come here or to contact your family, as you’re in a good enough condition to do so yourself.” She says. Louis smiles warmly at her in response. “You should see this though.” She adds as she hands him a piece of paper.
It says ‘MISSING’ in huge black letters on the top, followed by a gorgeous picture of a smiling Louis. Underneath, it says ‘Louis Tomlinson, last seen Friday morning (22.06). We think he has run away, as a few of his things are gone as well, but we just need to know that he’s okay. Please contact us if you have seen him, any information would be helpful.' followed by contact info.
Harry looks up at Louis, seeing nothing but big, glossy eyes and a wobbling lip. “It’s up to you darling, but I really think you should call them.” His mum adds quietly, squeezing his shoulder in comfort before walking back out.
Harry doesn’t say anything, Louis seems to have somewhat of a inner war with himself, and he doesn’t want to interrupt. Whatever he decides, it has to be his decision.
“I can’t go back.” He shares eventually, the coil of his tail tightening, pulling Harry's hand slightly towards himself. Harry takes the given opportunity to join their hands again. “I just.. everyone there - who're not my family - they.. they always said I was a freak who would fail at everything in life. And I did. I do. I failed classes, and it was so embarrassing. And I figured- I just want to make something of myself, you know? Something I can show for when I get back.”
“What do you wanna do?” Harry asks carefully, not sure he‘s welcomed to speak.
“I wanna go to university. Be something rich and powerful." He says with a self-depriving laugh. "I need to retake some classes, that’s first priority. But it costs money. Money that neither I nor my family have.” Harry swallows past the lump in his throat.
“Why did you come to this town? Like..” He trails off, shrugging his shoulder as a half-arsed end to the sentence.
“It was random, really. I took the first bus to the end station, and then the first bus from there again. I took like four buses in total I think? And then this one stopped right outside a motel, and it was getting late, so I just decided to step off there.” Harry nods, glad Louis ended up here, but not sure if he should tell him so.
“You know, you can retake the classes you failed without it costing too much. Just take them online or something.” He suggest.
Louis frowns. “It’s still more money than I have. Plus, I need money for a place to stay, so I’d have to work, but that would take away from my time to study, and without a tutor-” There’s panic seeping into Louis’ voice, and he seems to have forgotten to breathe all together.
"Lou." Harry interrupts, squeezing his hand. Louis stops ranting, and just stares at Harry, until Harry takes a demonstrative big breath, and Louis does the same. “We’ll work it out.” Harry assures.
Hopefully he can keep that promise.
--
It takes some persuading towards his mum, and a lot of persuading towards Louis, but finally, Harry has the perfect plan: seeing as Louis have nowhere to go, and Harry and his mum have lots of space, Louis’ gonna move in for the summer.
He wont be paying any rent, since he’s a guest, but he’ll have to do some chores around the house - something that was actually one of Louis’ demands. The grocery store where Harry works are always hiring extra help, so Harry’s gonna try and pull some strings to get Louis a summer job there. He will also be taking online classes, which means he’ll spend all his earned money on those - if he'll even get enough shifts to cover it. Harry's mum has agreed to lend him the money in advance though, and Louis’ promised to pay every single penny back, although Harry knows his mum isn't worried about it.
It also means that Louis wont be able to afford any private tutors, but Harry’s mum got all A’s when she was in school, and she’s always helped Harry with his homework. Not to mention that his grandmother is a retired teacher, with masters in several subjects, including math and chemistry, which happen to be two of the classes Louis needs to retake.
Louis also calls his mum. Harry leaves the room to give him some privacy, and when he comes back half an hour later, Louis' eyes are red rimmed and his cheeks are puffy, but he smiles nonetheless, that big bright one that makes Harry's breath catch.
--
Louis is out of the hospital a couple of days later. He still can’t do much as his ribs has to heal, but he seems rather excited about getting out of there. Harry’s mum drives Louis home in the morning, and then goes back for work as soon as he’s inside, leaving him in Harry’s care.
“Do you want a tour? Or do you wanna lay down first?” He asks, shifting his weight a bit. It feels different somehow, to have Louis in his house, as opposed to a hospital room. A bit weird, even.
“Tour, please.”
The upper floor of the house has pretty much always been Harry’s domain, but he finds he doesn’t mind sharing it with his new house guest. He starts with the room Louis will be staying in. He hasn’t got much, just some clothes and other necessities, so they unpack it all right away, merely filling two shelves in one half of the wardrobe and putting a couple of things on the bookshelf. Harry had put a few of his own things in it as well, to make it seem a bit more homey, but it hadn’t done much; the room is still big and empty and obviously not lived in.
His own room is up there as well, and a bathroom and a room they use as a second living room. Downstairs is the kitchen, living room, master bedroom, washroom and second bathroom.
“So basically, we use the upstairs bathroom, and mum use the downstairs one, but like, I use the one down there all the time as well though. It’s just where we keep our things.” Harry explains. Louis nods as they walk into the living room. He slows his steps by the wall next to the dining table. The photo wall, as his mum calls it.
"Is this your grandparents?" He asks, pointing to a picture.
“Yeah.” Harry confirms, unable the help the soft smile that curls its way over his lips as he takes it down and hands it over to Louis. It’s by far his favorite picture of them, taken only a few days after they first met. They’re at the beach, standing side by side as they watch the sunset. The picture is taking from behind, so the sun is practically swallowing their heads and shoulders where it sinks into the ocean, casting long shadows on the sand behind them that reveals his ears. Both her arms are circling his middle, and he’s got one hand around her shoulder, the other holding onto hers. His tail is wrapped around her too, fitting snugly at the dip of her waist, and visible both on their silhouette and their shadow. To be honest, it might be his favorite picture in the whole world.
Louis watches it for a long moment, his eyes running over the scene. “Did they love each other?” He finally asks.
“Of course they did. They’re soul mates.”
“It’s just hard to imagine, you know.” Louis says as he hangs the picture back up, making sure it’s straight. “A human loving a hybrid like that.”
“It’s completely normal.” Harry protests, trying his best to not to sound as offended as he is. Louis gives him a sad smile.
“It’s really not.”
--
During the following week, Louis registers for online classes and applies for a job at the grocery store, as well as at some other shops. He gets a few interviews, which he appears nervous about, seeing as he doesn’t have much experience, but Harry does his best to soothe him and assure he’ll be fine. They hire plenty inexperienced people where he works - himself included - so if none of the other places works out, he’ll at least have a fair shot there.
He seems to settle in nicely with his classes too, obviously determined to get through it. He's retaking four subjects; math, chemistry, history and english, although he didn’t actually fail that last one, he just wants a better grade. Harry and his mum help him out as best they can. Fortunately Louis is a fast learner, being a hybrid and all, and he tries his best to stay focused as well, though Harry can see he gets worked up and impatient at times.
Halfway through the second week with them, he’s offered a job in a hybrid clothing store. He's promised some free clothes from the new collection to showcase while working, in addition to a discount on the entire store, and when that is added to a very nice salary, he easily accepts.
--
They go to dinner at grandma’s on Thursday, having skipped it the week before. Louis brings his math and chem work, and she helps him for well over an hour between dinner and tea.
Ma fuzzes a lot over Louis when he’s there, petting his ears and tail and telling him how wonderful it is to have a hybrid in her house again. It clearly makes Louis uncomfortable, but when Harry discretely tells her that, she just waves him away. She asks a lot of questions as well, and Louis answers most of them. Harry can tell when he really doesn’t want to answer something though, so he quickly changes the subject whenever it happens, getting thankful smiles in return. Well, from one of the two, at least.
She corners them, while Louis gets up to put his things away and Harry is setting the table for dessert, smiling as she waves her trusted compact camera around. "Now, I need some pictures!" She exclaims, signaling for the two of them to scuttle together when neither of them makes a move. Louis bites the corner of his bottom lip, his eyebrows furrowing thoughtfully, while the tip of his tail twitches.
“We don’t have to.” Harry assures, putting a gentle hand on his arm to draw his attention.
“Of course you do.” Ma interjects, her stanza showing there's not really any room for discussion. Louis body is rather tense, but he still puts his arm around Harry’s waist. The flash goes off once before she lowers her camera, with a frown. “What are you doing, love?” She asks. Harry looks at her in confusion, before following her line of view to see that Louis ears are completely flat against his head, hidden in his fluffy hair and his tail nowhere in sight. “Get your ears up and tail out.” She says, “I wanna capture your beauty!” Louis blushes at that, high up on his cheeks, but follows her request.
It’s the first pictures of them together, and Harry makes sure to ask his grandma to order copies for him as well.
--
Harry decides that Louis needs to widen his horizon and brings him to a good 'ole underage party at a friend's house later that week. There's a lot of people, people he doesn’t really know, but these kinds of parties are always fun anyway, so. He's not at all surprised that Louis is nervous as soon as he mentions it though; nibbling his lip and twitching his tail - Harry knows it’s because he’s worried about the humans that'll be there, and what they'll say say about him.
The house is already packed when they get there. Harry says hi to a few friends on their way in, and Louis shadows him silently. Looking over the crowd, he can see that it’s mainly humans, as it is a friend from school who’s having the party, but he sees some hybrids scattered around. They make their way to the living room, and they both wish Peter, the host, a happy birthday, and Harry gives him a bottle of wine that Louis-the-adult bought.
The kitchen is overly crowded as well, but Harry manages to grab a couple of beers from the fridge. They find a circle of Harry’s friends and hang out with them for a while, just talking at first, but as the night goes on, the circle grows larger, the booze keeps flowing and they end up playing drinking games. It’s not like they discover anything new about each other, they know plenty already as they talk about everything at this point - or, he's pretty sure they do at least - so, honestly, the most important thing Harry learns is how ridiculously cute Louis is when he turns to look at Harry with wide, surprised eyes each and every time a stranger is even remotely nice to him.
Harry doesn’t register when it actually happens. One minute, Louis is sitting next to him fiddling with his tail and halfway paying attention to the game, and the next, there’s a pretty hybrid girl giggling in his lap. She’s stunning really, tall and pale with brown eyes and white hair, ears and tail a shade more yellow. She’s sitting sideways, her arms firmly around his neck, and her tail tangling with his. Harry watches as Louis says something close to her ear, and she laughs a high honey-dripping laugh, before looking at him through dark lashes with a flirty smile.
He knows he should look away, but he can’t. It’s as if his body is frozen, unable to tear his gaze away from the way the girls fingernails claw gently down his biceps, making Louis shiver, his smile shaky. She leans in close, whispers something in his ear, and Louis’ eyes widen. It’s probably something dirty and Harry feels a spike of jealousy run through him. Louis whispers something back, and then she stands up.
The thing is, Harry can’t help but appreciate her beauty; the delicate curve of her back and the elegant way her weight - in typical hybrid manner - balances more on her toes than on her heels. She's gorgeous, and Louis has every reason to be interested in her - but instead of following her, she walks away on her own, while Louis scoots closer to him. Harry watches her retracting back, baffled, before registering that Louis is leaning close to his ear.
“How long are we staying?” He asks.
“Um, I dunno. Do you wanna leave?” Louis calculates him for a few seconds and then nods. “Alright.” Harry agrees, and they get up to find Peter and tell him goodbye.
They walk home, since it’ll only take fifteen minutes or so and the weather is nice. Louis seems a little off, walking a few steps ahead of Harry with his hands deep in his pockets and his shoulders hunched. Harry speeds up to him and hooks their arms together, relieved when Louis accepts it. “Thought for sure you were gonna run off with that girl.” He says casually, Louis breathes out a laugh in return.
“Definitely not.”
“Why? She was gorgeous.”
“Yeah. She was also a she. And a hybrid. Both of witch I have no interest in.” Harry’s stomach flutters pleasantly, but he tries his best to not focus on it.
“Oh. Good to know.” He says instead, a minute or so of silence following before Louis picks up the conversation again,
“Hybrids are disgusting. I don’t understand how you can be so interested in them.”
Harry almost trips over his own feet as he comes to a sudden stop, and he tugs harshly on Louis arm until he turns around and faces him. He knows they’re both a bit drunk, and that Louis probably wouldn’t have said that if he weren’t, but he can still tell that it’s his honest, twisted, opinion. “You’re beautiful! So graceful and elegant and-”
“-and unnatural, freaks, created by the devil himself.” Louis finishes, pulling his arm away as he continues to walk.
“That’s not true, and we both know it!” Harry protests, catching up to him once more.
“How can you be so sure?” Louis asks, his voice quiet, but venomous, as if he truly believes those things about himself. Harry doesn’t doubt that he does.
He’s not given the chance to answer though.
“Did you know that when I was younger, between fourteen and fifteen, I had a period where I was so disgusted with myself, that I couldn’t get it up. You remember being that age, yeah, when boys gets themselves off like ten times a day. And I couldn’t, for almost a whole year. You know what got me through it?” He asks, again with no intention to let Harry answer. “I imagined myself in the future, where I’d have plenty of money, and could surgically remove my ears and my tail, and file down my teeth and wear contacts. I still have to do that," He adds with a humorless laugh, "create fantasies or pretend I’m someone else. If I don’t, it doesn’t work.”
“You really wanna do that? Have those surgeries?” Harry asks, frowning. Realistically, he knew people like that existed, but to have someone just come out an say it like that is still mind-boggling.
“Yes. Why do you think I wanna get rich?”
“I dunno, just didn’t think that would be the reason.”
“There’s nothing I want more than to be normal. To be human.”
“You are normal!” Harry insists, but Louis just shakes his head as if Harry is being unreasonable in some way. It's obvious he wont listen to logic, so Harry tries to match it a story of his own instead. “When I was younger, my mum bought me a hybrid costume to wear for a school carnival. I wore it for two weeks straight, even slept in it, and eventually my mum had to hide it so it wouldn’t get ruined.” Louis smiles a little, but it seems more sarcastic than fond.
“You have no idea how lucky you are to be human.” He mutters.
“I could say the same for you.” Harry counters, which makes Louis come to a halt and swirl around to point an accusing finger in his face. His ears flatten and his tail swishes more than Harry's seen before. He's sure that if there was enough light out, he'd see Louis' pupils as two pools of black.
“You have no idea what you're talking about, there's a difference between being one and playing make believe! There’s nothing good about being a hybrid!” Harry can think of hundreds of reasons why being a hybrid is a good thing, but he figures it’s best to keep his mouth shut on this one.
“I’m not gonna let you take those surgeries.” He states instead. Louis snorts.
“And how on earth are you gonna stop me?”
“I’ll just love you till you learn how to love yourself.” Harry says easily. Louis huffs, but they both stay quiet after that, they're close to home anyway. They sneak their way upstairs, hoping to not wake Harry’s mother, and when Louis heads into his room, Harry follows. Louis watches him with guarded curiosity, as if he's wondering if Harry will pick up the fight again, but his demeanor relaxes when Harry just strips down to his briefs, and crawls into the bed. It doesn’t take long for Louis to join him.
“Do you love me?” Louis asks quietly, long after they’ve both pretended to have fallen asleep.
“I don’t love you love you, but I do love you as a friend, yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re my friend? Like, I know we haven‘t known each other that long, but we’ve spent every day together, it’s kinda hard to not care about you.”
The room is dark, so Harry can’t see Louis’ face, but he feels the bed shift when Louis turns towards him, can feel the breath on his skin when he speaks again. “My dad left the day I was born. When he saw I was a hybrid, and realized my mum actually wanted to keep me."
“My dad left when my mum was three weeks pregnant. When he found out my grandfather was a hybrid, and that there was a bigger chance I would be.”
“I’m sorry.” Louis says, putting his hand on top of Harry’s.
“Me too.” They lie in silence for a while, playing blindly with each other hands, until their fingers finally intertwines. “Why did you grow up in a human town?” Harry asks, squeezing Louis’ fingers when he hears a shaky exhale.
“My mum didn’t have much money, couldn’t afford to raise me by herself, so we had to live with my grandparents. And then after a few years she met my step-dad, and by then they both had good jobs and lives and neither really wanted to move, so.. Like, we lived close enough to the border for me to attend a hybrid school in the next town. I guess they just didn‘t realize how hard it was gonna be.” Harry doesn’t really know how to answer, so he doesn’t. Instead he strokes his thumb slowly over Louis’ knuckles and shifts closer to him, so that their faces are only mere inches apart.
“When I was six, one of the boys in my street had a birthday party, and he invited everyone, including me. I was so happy, I made my mum buy a rather expensive toy, and I went there thinking it was the best day of my life, finally being included in something, you know?"
Harry makes a noise of agreement, because that one he can relate to. Being included is everything at that age.
"While I was there, the birthday boy and his friends kept giving me soda, and I drank it all, because I never got it at home. But then eventually, I really had to pee, but everyone, every single one of the guests, gathered around me in a circle, and refused to let me leave the living room, and then they put down a litter box in front of me, and the only choice I had was peeing in it, or in my pants. I was on the verge of tears, begging for them to let me go to the bathroom, but they wouldn’t let me. In the end I didn't have a choice, so I pissed in the box while everyone stood there and laughed.”
Harry might not be able to see him, but he can still hear the quiver in his voice. He lets go of Louis’ hand and places it on his cheek instead, finding it wet. It does nothing to help the pricking feeling in his own eyes. He tries to thumb Louis’ tears away, but it's rather useless, as new ones replaces them immediately.
“And then another time, while I was still on the local footy team - I was eight or something - they did the secret Santa thing. And we opened the presents in front of each other the last day before Christmas. I bough the guy I got a football jersey, a really nice one, and he opened it and was really happy. And then I went to open my gift, and it was ten cans of cat food. Even the fucking coach laughed.” Harry's pretty sure he's never felt this heartbroken in his life.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you had to go through those things Lou." He says sadly, bringing his other hand to run through Louis' fringe and pull it out of his eyes. "But even if people treats you like that, it doesn’t mean you deserve it, it doesn’t mean they’re right. Please, please understand that.” He tries to convey his words with his eyes as well, but realizes it's too dark for Louis to see, especially when he's crying. There's only a slight amount of hesitation when he places a kiss to Louis forehead. He can feel Louis trembling, shaking in his hands and against his lips, and it feels like the entire bed moves with it too. “You’re amazing.” Harry continues, lips traveling down the slope of his nose with the ghost of a touch. "You’re gorgeous and beautiful and absolutely perfect.” Louis tries to shake his head, but Harry holds him still. “You are. I wouldn’t lie to you.” His lips hoovers over the side of Louis' cheek, but he slowly inches closer to his mouth. They're close enough that when Louis tilts his head just an inch towards Harry, their lips meet.
It's innocent, just a simple close-mouthed kiss. They stay like that for a few moments, until Louis breath calms and his body loosens. When they pull apart, their lips stick together as if they’ve stayed there long enough for their skin to merge.
“Sleep.” Harry whispers, nosing the edge of a soft ear. Louis nods against him, curls himself into a small ball and lets Harry circle his arms protectively around his waist. He burrows his nose into his chest, breathing deeply and falls asleep.
Eventually, so does Harry.
--
When Harry wakes up the next morning, he’s alone. He wonders if Louis will act differently now, after his drunk confessions, seeing as he’d been so closed up about his past before. However, when he goes down in the kitchen, Louis smiles warmly at him with his eyes crinkling and all the worries melt away. “Hi beautiful.” Harry says, making Louis blush and his ears twitch. It’s adorable, really.
“Morning.” He returns, filling up a cup with tea for Harry. He walks over and puts it in Harry’s hand, but he doesn’t let go of the cup himself. Instead, he looks up through his thick, black lashes, and he leans up a, tilting his chin up just an inch, hesitant and careful. Harry ducks down, and presses their lips together. It's just a quick peck, but it’s enough to make Louis grin.
They don’t really get much alone time after that. Harry works four nights a week, and Louis works two day shifts and one evening, so when that’s added to the time Louis needs to study, there really isn’t much left.
But, Harry has become a constant in Louis’ bed though. They lie together and chat for at least an hour every night, always kissing in between the sentences. It never goes any further than that; Louis’ ribs are still healing, and he’s trying to cut back on the painkillers, which means he can’t really be active - but Harry doesn’t mind anyway, cuddles and kisses gets him far enough, as long as he can wank in the shower.
Also, Louis seems to be holding back a bit, and the last thing Harry wants is to pressure him.
--
It’s three weeks later, when Louis drops the bomb; “I’m going home in a couple of weeks.” They’ve been lying in bed for a while now, talking casually about their days at work, but this comes out of the blue, as it's unrelated to any other part of the conversation.
“Oh.” In all fairness, it is completely rational, it was the plan all along actually, he knows that. Louis was supposed to stay for the summer, he was supposed to leave after a while, it’s just- Harry doesn’t want him to.
Louis, tucked into Harry’s side with his arm splayed across Harry’s belly, starts tapping his fingers against his hipbone. Harry know him well enough to tell he’s nervous. “I’ll be finished with my exams then, and I want some time with my family before I go to uni.”
“Yeah, seems like a good idea.” Harry agrees, doing his best to sound happy for him. He knows that Louis misses his family, he talks about them a lot now that he’s finally opening up about things, and recently he’s been calling them more often as well. “Have you applied for a uni back home then?”
Louis shifts his head to look up at Harry, a smile playing over his lips. “A few in the town I went to school in.” He confirms, biting his lip coyly. “I’ve also applied to a couple of others, some in this town even..”
“Yeah?” Harry asks, unable to fight back the smile that pretty much splits his face.
“Yeah.”
--
It’s weird how quick those two weeks go by. They try to spend as much time together as possible, but with Louis’ four exams coming up, there really isn’t time for much besides reading, writing and questioning.
And then it’s suddenly the last night before Louis leaves. As usual, they’re lying in bed together, but words don’t come as easy this time around, their usual chatter replaced with something more somber.
“Thank you.” Louis mumbles into Harry’s collarbone after a stretch of silence. Harry furrows his brows in confusion.
“For what?”
“Everything? You’ve helped me a lot, you know. Helped me see that I’m a different species, not a demon-freak.” His voice is muffled, and his tail is swaying slightly, showing his discomfort and tickling along Harry’s legs.
“The most beautiful person I’ve ever met.” Harry says honestly. Louis blushes, presses his nose into Harry’s neck, places a kiss there. "Do you still wanna take the surgeries?” He asks carefully, and feels Louis’ mouth twitch against his skin.
“Yes.” then, “just because I can tolerate and accept hybrids, doesn’t mean I want to be one.”
“Then we’ll work on that.” Harry says with a finality that makes Louis remain silent.
After a while, Louis kisses his way up from Harry’s neck, to his jaw, and finally his mouth. He shifts slightly, putting most of his weight on Harry, as he licks his way into his mouth. It’s nothing they haven’t done before, until Louis bites his lip and grinds his hips down against Harry’s. Harry can’t help the gasp that escapes his mouth, but Louis is quick to swallow it up.
“I want you.” He whispers into their connected mouths, making Harry shiver.
“You sure?”
“Yes.” Louis hisses, dragging the s’ out as he nibbles his way back down Harry’s jaw.
“Okay, yeah. Yeah.” Harry pushes them over, but pulls back abruptly when Louis makes a noise that is definitely not from pleasure. He curses lowly, remembering that Louis’ ribs are still sore. “I don’t want to hurt you.” He mumbles, kissing apologies into his skin.
Louis sounds a hundred percent certain when he says, “You won’t. I promise.”
Harry hesitantly leans on his side, so that only half of his body is on top of Louis’. He tries to stay clear of his bad side, but it’s rather difficult to kiss passionately and be careful at the same time. They manage though, as long as Harry slows it down a bit, doesn’t let it get as heated as he wants it to. They keep their tongues lazily tangling, lips soft, but teeth sharp, and Harry slips his hand under Louis’ shirt, caresses his stomach slowly as he inches it up.
It’s not long before Louis breaks the kiss to sit up so that he can take his shirt off. He motions for Harry to do the same, and then they both pause for a second, wondering whether or not they should get rid of their boxers as well. He can tell that Louis is anxious, playing with his fingers and biting his lip, not to mention the adorable splash of pink across his cheekbones - which is weird, actually, considering Louis worked as a prostitute just a few weeks ago.
Louis must sense the question on his tongue, because his ears flattens as he mumbles. “You, um, you’re kinda my first..” Harry opens his mouth to answer, but all words seems lost somewhere in the back of his throat. “I- you know all the humans in my town hate hybrids, so I’ve never really been with anyone.." He mumbles shyly, before letting out a halfhearted laugh. "Well, before I decided to be a whore that is.”
“You- you lost your virginity to a stranger?”
“A middle-aged chubby guy with more hairs on his cock than his head. And a wedding ring. Romantic isn’t it?” Louis lets out a small chuckle, but it’s so fake, there's so much sadness laced behind it, that Harry can’t do anything but lean in and kiss him gently.
“This will be your real first then. Just let me take care of you, yeah?” Louis nods, his forehead coming to rest against Harry’s. It might be a trick of the light, but his eyes seem rather glossy.
It’s not that Harry hasn’t done this before. He has, both with males and hybrids - well, one of each, so he’s not that experienced either -but not with a male hybrid. He knows there wont be any big difference, nothing he’s never seen or done or felt before, but that doesn’t mean he’s not nervous.
He spreads his hand over Louis’ stomach, and gently pushes him down. Louis looks at him, his eyes so trusting that Harry’s breath stutters. He leans up to press a gentle kiss to his lips, then works his way down, one kiss here, another there, until his lips crash with the fabric on the waistband of his boxers. He keeps his eyes locked with Louis‘, making sure that he really is alright with it, before he slowly pulls them off.
He can’t help but admire the sight. Louis is simply so beautiful - his skin is tan all over and a flush is covering his face and neck in a way that makes Harry yearn. His cock is resting against his belly, fine, soft hairs covering the base and his balls and extending into the brown fur of his tail. When he moves his gaze up to Louis' face, his attention is immediately drawn to the tips of his ears twitching. He reaches out to pat Louis' fringe a bit so that they're more prominent and then nuzzles his way in between Louis’ legs, placing feather light kisses from his knees and up his thighs. It's obvious that the higher up he gets, the more sensitive his skin is, and so he finds a spot right where his thigh meets his crotch, and nibbles a love bite there. Louis moans, his back arching off the bed, and his cock twitches, making a few dollops of precome smear against his own belly, his tail brushing against Harry's calf.
Harry’s own boxers are tight, almost uncomfortably so, but he ignores it as best he can. He presses more kisses to Louis’ thighs instead, and then mouths his way up his cock, before taking the head in his mouth. Louis is warm and heavy on his tongue, slightly bitter in the right way. Harry enjoys it. Then again, he always does. Louis keeps wriggling and shifting under him, small whines escaping his mouth, and Harry’s thinks this might be the first blowjob he’s ever gotten. He's fairly sure that most people don’t pay a prostitute to exchange blow jobs that way.
It only lasts for a couple of minutes, before Harry registers that Louis is mumbling “stop, stop.” He opens his eyes in alarm, hadn’t even noticed that he’d closed them, and lets go of Louis’ cock immediately. With his heart in his throat, he quickly crawls his way up his body, and strokes Louis’ sweaty fringe away from his forehead, noticing how flustered he looks.
“Are you okay? Is it the ribs?” He asks, wondering how long Louis has been in pain, how many times he told Harry to stop before he heard it. He lets his hand run up and down Louis’ chest as he waits for him to calm his breath.
“I’m fine.” Louis finally says.
“I really don’t wanna hurt you, maybe we shouldn’t-”
“No! No, Harry.” Louis grips his arm tightly, and Harry takes in his face for real this time; his pupils are blown wide, making them almost completely round, and his lips are a raw-bitten shade of red. “I was just literally seconds away from coming. I didn‘t want to come before the good part.” He explains, still breathless. Harry feels the tightness in his chest loosen up. He nods and drops his head to Louis' chest, pressing a kiss to the side of his pert nipple.
“How do you wanna do this then?” He asks, trailing his fingers down, down, down until he reaches his V-lines to trace along them, making Louis shudder.
“In me.” He breathes.
Harry opens him up slowly. Louis starts demanding more only a minute after Harry’s got his first finger in, but he pays him no mind, taking his time to make sure he’s properly loosened up. When he’s three fingers deep, Louis is cursing and wriggling, and gripping the bed sheets. It’s a remarkable sight, really, seeing how much he loves it, how torn apart he seems. Harry decides to be nice though, so he pulls out his fingers, smirking when Louis starts complaining, and rolls on a condom - thankful he grabbed a couple of free ones from the health clinic last time he visited.
He slides in in one smooth movement, and then waits to give them both a chance to adjust. The feeling is overwhelming, more so than he’s felt it before. It’s overwhelming in the way it’s Louis, that it’s his sent, and his skin and his breath. That it’s his tail that tickles the side of Harry’s thigh, and his mouth and teeth that are attached to his shoulder, hard enough to leave an impressive mark for days.
It’s overwhelming in the way that it feels a little too close to a goodbye.
He tries to keep most of his weight on his left side, and the position is a little awkward - with one of Louis’ legs halfway tangled in Harry’s and only half of their chests touching - but it’s necessary for it to not hurt, so they make it work somehow. Harry can’t stop looking at Louis’ face as he slides in and out in long, slow thrusts. His head is thrown back against his pillow, his nose scrunched up and eyes closed. He barely even registers the way Louis whines his name, only sees his lips moving to form the words through harsh breaths.
Harry nibbles at Louis bicep as it is the body part that is closest to him, and reaches down to tug on Louis’ neglected cock. It doesn’t take much, five, six strokes, and then Louis’ body arches in the most beautiful way, a noise sounding like something between a sigh and a groan escaping from somewhere deep in his throat, and Harry feels warm and sticky substance cover his fingers. He doesn’t let go until Louis grabs his hand with both of his, and then he quickly picks up the pace, chasing his own orgasm. He jolts, loosing all rhythm, when he feels something warm and wet on his fingers, and looks up to see Louis licking them. Harry barely manages two more thrusts before his hips stutter and he comes deep inside of him, while Louis clenches his muscles and rolls his hips a little to drag it out.
As soon as Harry can feel or hear anything apart from his heart beating wildly, he rolls off of Louis with a thump and pulls him close. He gets a mouthful of hair, and they’re sweaty and disgusting, but he really couldn’t care less. He noses his way up to Louis’ ear, and gives it a small kiss, making it twitch as Louis chuckles and swats tiredly at him. They lie in silence for a while, their heartbeats finding a joint rhythm and their bodies sinking into each other in a familiar and comforting way.
Harry swallows down the sudden burn in his throat when he remembers that tomorrow, he’ll be sleeping alone.
“Night Lou.”
“Goodnight Harry.”
--
Waking up the next morning isn’t exactly as romantic as one might have excepted, nor as melancoly. The main reason for that is that they both forgot to set an alarm, so it’s Harry’s mum who wakes them up by knocking on the door twice, and then walking in and turning on the light. Harry’s to tired to react, and Louis just curls himself tighter into his body, breath evening out again.
“Boys. You need to get up, we have to leave in thirty minutes.”
“Yeah.. Yeah, fine.” Harry mutters, stretching out and cracking his eyes open. Only then does he realize that he is naked, Louis is naked, they’re cuddling, and the room probably smells like sex. “Um..” He turns to look at her with an innocent sheepish smile, but she simply raises an eyebrow, and leaves.
Harry slinks away to take a shower first, so that Louis can have a few more minutes of sleep, but when he goes back into their - well Louis’ - room the boy is sitting on the bed pouting.
“Couldn’t sleep without you.” He mumbles sadly. Harry doesn’t try stop the fond smile that spreads across his face.
“Go shower, yeah?”
Louis sleepily nods, and climbs out of the bed. He kisses Harry briefly on the shoulder as he passes him, right on top of the purple bite mark.
Harry regrets eating breakfast the second the car starts. He can feel his stomach rolling uncomfortably, bile rising in his throat- and he knows, he knows it really doesn’t have anything to do with the food he ate. But he still regrets it.
The car is uncomfortably silent, except for the radio.
Harry’s always been bad at goodbyes, is the thing. And, like, he knows this isn’t really a goodbye - they have each others numbers, they can call and text and skype all the time - but it still doesn’t stop the nauseating feeling deep in his gut, the string of small stabs that pierces through his heart.
The ride is over way too soon though, and suddenly Harry regrets the silence, because there’s just so, so much that he wants to say. The words sit on the tip of his tongue as he exits the car, but as soon as they're both standing, Louis hugs him with a force that squeezes all the words away, and all he can breathe and smell and think is just louislouislouis.
Louis is the one to pull away, rising up on his toes and kissing I’ll miss you against his lips. The lady on the speaker system announces that Louis’ bus is leaving, and Harry reluctantly lets him go with one last kiss.
About halfway to the bus, Louis stops. “Hey, Harry?” He asks hesitantly, only turning enough for Harry to see his profile; the way his lashes casts shadows over his cheekbones, the way he bites at the corner of his lip.
“Yeah?”
“Come with me?”