Work Text:
Louis doesn’t remember life before the shelter. His first memories are of waking up alone, curled up in a corner of his holding pen, to the sound of someone opening up the front divider and re-filling the food bowl. He passes his days playing with some of the smaller kittens, making sure that they’re active and happy looking when people come to peer at all of them. Louis figures he’s probably going to spend the rest of his life here; his tabby orange fur isn’t as sleek and shiny as some of the other kittens and he’s a bit small for his age. He also has a bit of a reputation for getting into trouble and being slow to warm up to new people, but he figures he can at least help some of the others get proper homes.
The shelter accepts new animals on Tuesdays, and one particular Tuesday, Louis is especially down because the last few of the youngest kittens have just been adopted and now he has no one to play with. Most of the other kittens seem to think he’s a bit dim for helping the younger ones instead of trying to get adopted himself. But this day is different, because this is the day that Louis meets Harry.
Harry is a small ball of brown fluff who is probably more fur than actual kitten, with large paws that hint at how much he still has to grow, but mostly just get in his way. He looks a bit raggedy, with patches of his long fur matted down, but he peers at his surroundings with curious and bright green eyes, clearly in good health. As he starts to nose around their little holding pen, Louis thinks, This one is going to be easy.
Louis watches him exploring his new home from the corner he has long claimed as his own. The other kitten tries to approach some of the others in their little cage, but soon gives up as they all mostly ignore him. Finally, he comes to an unsteady stop in front of Louis.
“Are you going to ignore me too?” he says sadly.
Louis flicks his ear in response. “You’re too cute to ignore. All of them are just jerks.”
The other kitten paws bashfully at the ground. “That can’t be true. I wouldn’t be here if I were cute.”
“Oh, hush,” says Louis sharply. “I’m Louis. What’s your name?”
“It’s Harry,” he says slowly.
“Okay then, Harry. The first step is for you to come over here so I can clean you up. No one will ever adopt you if you look like a raggedy mess.”
“Heeyyyyyyy,” says Harry. But he doesn’t seem too offended because he tucks right up against Louis’s side. By the time Louis is done, Harry’s fur shines and he’s a happy little purring pile of kitten.
“Much better,” says Louis, expecting Harry to scamper away now that they’re done. Instead, Harry just curls closer into his side with a sleepy mumble and goes to sleep.
The days pass like usual, a steady schedule of food, play and visiting with people looking to adopt a new pet, and through it all, Harry sticks close to Louis. He gets taken out a few times to play with potential new families, but every time, he whines and cries as they take him out of the cage. Louis never lets himself react because he knows that it’s only a matter of time before Harry leaves and doesn’t come back. But until that day comes, he lets himself love the way that Harry always dashes right back to his side and demands a grooming after the visits.
The first time that Ed comes to visit the shelter, Louis is play-fighting with Harry in a corner of the pen. He’s just let Harry “win” for the third time in a row when suddenly Harry’s ears flick up and he sits up to stare over at the large glass wall. Louis squirms over and the first thing he registers is orange. By the time the first impression has resolved itself into a person with bright red-orange hair, Harry’s already skittered away to paw at the glass.
“Louis, look! That man has funny hair,” Harry calls excitedly.
Louis stands, giving himself a shake to properly fluff out his fur before wandering over to where the man is crouched down, making faces at Harry through the glass. Harry is fascinated and as Louis watches, he just knows that this is the moment he’s going to lose Harry for real.
“It’s just hair,” he says grumpily. Harry just looks at him askance and follows it up with a pounce that knocks them both right over.
Louis isn’t surprised when just after the man disappears from the glass, to Harry’s disappointment, that the shelter director is reaching into pick up Harry for a visit. Harry flails a bit at the removal, but it’s less agitated than usual, and when Louis goes to curl up in his usual corner, it’s with a sinking feeling at the base of his stomach.
Finally, the door opens again and Harry’s dropped back into the enclosure. He skitters right back to Louis, nuzzling into his side.
“Louis, Louis,” he says excitedly. “I got to play with the man with the funny hair!”
Louis hums noncommittally and busies himself with grooming Harry’s fur flat again, trying to get rid of all the traces of the man’s scent. Harry’s curled up and purring by the time he’s done, blinking sleepily up at him.
“I think I liked him a lot, Lou,” he whispers. “Is that okay?”
Louis nudges Harry over a bit so he has room to curl up around him. “Of course it is. So long as you like me best.”
“That’ll never change,” Harry replies. “He smelled kinda funny though. Kinda like another cat...but not the same.”
Louis doesn’t respond and eventually Harry falls asleep, purring quietly. He’s not ready to sleep yet, so he just watches Harry, trying to memorize the way his ear twitches sometimes as he dreams. Maybe if he can make himself remember, it will hurt less when Harry is gone.
The next few days drag on and every time someone comes up to the glass, Harry looks up excitedly. It’s never the man with the orange hair and every time Harry realizes it, his ears droop a little before turning his back to the glass and playing more with Louis.
Louis has just started to think that maybe he won’t come back when, suddenly, there he is. Harry runs right over to the glass and paws at it excitedly.
“Louis, look,” he shouts. “He came back. Do you think he wants to play again?”
He wants to be grumpy and annoyed at Harry for his excitement, but this might also be the last moments they have together, and he can’t do that to them. So, he meanders over to Harry, cuddling up next to where he’s still looking out through the glass.
“Of course he is,” Louis says quietly. “He’d be stupid to not want to play with you.”
Harry twists to nuzzle up against the side of Louis’ head and then the door opens so that Harry can get scooped up.
He flails a bit in excitement until the man holding him says, “Time for a new home, little one.”
Harry freezes, eyes going wide in confusion as he stares down at Louis. “Wait, what?”
“Bye, Harry,” Louis says quietly, letting his ears droop sadly.
The last thing he hears before the door closes again is Harry quietly saying his name and sounding so very lost. He sits by the glass for a while, wondering if maybe it was all a mistake and Harry will come back.
He doesn’t.
Louis goes back to their his corner and curls up in the little nest they’d made together. It still smells like Harry and it feels wrong, like there’s too much space around him. He huffs out a sigh. This isn’t the first time, but it hurts a bit more than usual.
The next week is terrible. Louis keeps waking up, expecting Harry to be there and it’s a shock every time when he remembers. Not even the addition of a couple new kittens cheers him up and he ends up ignoring them completely, not even bothering to learn their names. They aren’t as cute as Harry, not as fluffy and endearing. By the end of the week, the people who run the shelter are starting to worry about him. He can see them peering at him through the glass and they try extra hard to coax him out to play, an endeavor that always ends in failure.
But then, one day, Louis’s flopped over lazily in his corner when a flash of familiar orange catches his eye. He jolts up, ears flicking forward, and finds himself staring right at the face of the orange haired man who took Harry away. The man grins at him, then turns to talk to the shelter worker.
He doesn’t understand why the man is back. Is he bringing Harry back? That’s impossible. Harry’s too likable to be returned. Louis shuffles back anxiously in his nest.
The door to the cage opens. “Louis,” calls out the employee quietly. “Come on, Lou. You have to come meet someone.”
Louis creeps out cautiously. He doesn’t understand. He hasn’t been taken out for a visit in so long. And then he’s close enough to be picked up and placed in the visiting pen where the man with the orange hair is sitting on the floor in the corner.
“Hey there, buddy,” he says softly. Louis edges towards the man’s outstretched hand cautiously, ready to jump back at moment if needed. Fortunately, he stays still, letting Louis sniff carefully. He smells like more than one other cat, but one of them is Harry and it makes Louis bold. He pushes his head right under the man’s hand, purring enthusiastically.
The man laughs. “I bet you can smell your friend.” Louis bats playfully at his hand and then slinks forward to push his face into the man’s soft hoodie, seeking out more of the scent. “Alright, alright,” the man mutters, scratching behind Louis ears. “That settles it then. You’re coming home with me.”
Louis freezes at that, pushing away until he’s sitting by the man’s knee to peer up at him. The man smiles. “I know you miss your friend and I have room for one more. So whaddya say. Wanna come home with Ed?”
There’s a pause as Louis lets the words tumble around in his head. Home. He’s never really had a real home before, never thought he would be allowed one. He answers the only way he knows how, by launching himself practically into Ed’s lap, purring and rubbing up against his stomach.
“I guess that’s a yes then,” Ed says, shifting to pick him up. “Let’s go get you sorted.”
They don’t even put Louis back in the big enclosure with the others while Ed finishes filling out some papers; they just put him in a small carrier that smells faintly of Harry and he curls up in the corner, content to wait now that he knows they’ll be reunited soon.
The car ride to Ed’s house is a little scary, but he just closes his eyes tightly, curling into a smaller ball and waits for it to be over. He’s drowsing a bit by the time the car comes to a stop and then the whole carrier is moving as they go inside. Ed puts him down on the floor and opens the door with a murmur of, “Whenever you’re ready, kitty.”
Louis ventures out of the carrier cautiously, looking at the bright airy room full of sunlight that’s beyond the door. He’s barely all the way out before a small bundle of dark brown barrels into him, knocking him down with a thump and a yell.
“Louis,” Harry squeaks into his side. “Louis, it’s really you.”
Louis curls himself around Harry. “Yeah, Harry. It’s me.” He busies himself with re-learning Harry’s scent and how it’s changed in their time apart, how Harry doesn’t smell like Louis anymore. They’ll have to change that. Right now he just wants to enjoy how they still fit together.
It takes Louis a few minutes to realize that they’re being watched from the doorway by a small, bright yellow kitten. His ears perk up curiously and he nudges Harry, who just looks towards the door and grins.
“Are you gonna introduce me, then?” Louis asks, feeling a bit uncertain on the inside. What if Harry’s found someone else to like best while they’ve been apart?
Harry just snuggles in closer. “That’s just Niall. You can meet him for real later, it’s my turn right now.”
Louis snorts quietly. “Okay then, greedy.”
Later, there’ll be time for Louis to meet Liam, Ed’s golden retriever puppy who’s a bit intimidating, but makes a great nap pillow. Time to meet regal, aloof Zayn, who likes to sleep a lot and is secretly a giant goof. Time for Louis to figure out that he needs to get to the food before Niall or it’ll all be gone. But right now, he has Harry back, and it’s a start.