Chapter Text
Thanksgiving break for Harry Styles was always a mix of bliss and torture. On the positive side, he got to come home from University to visit his family, not worry about his research paper, and sleep in as much as he wanted. Unfortunately, five days away from school came with a price, and that was the fact that he had to spend an entire day with his extended family. As much as Harry loved them in toleration, being with so many people was exhausting, and he honestly couldn't wait for it to be over.
Thankfully it was only Tuesday evening, and Harry had just gotten home, snow in his curls and the smell of pies in the kitchen. He hadn't been home for months now, he was too busy living out his college days writing papers and skyping his mom when life got a bit too overwhelming. Being home after all this time felt wonderful, and Harry couldn't wait to reunite with his immediate family.
Once Harry had shut the front door behind him, he heard his mother conversing with his stepfather in the kitchen. Harry called out to make his presence known, setting his luggage down on the floor of the foyer. The talking stopped immediately, and footsteps could be heard coming down the hall.
Harry's mother, Anne, rushed at him at full force, wrapping her youngest into a warm embrace. She kept cooing about how much she had missed him, squeezing Harry until he found it difficult to breathe, and Harry signaled to his stepfather, Robin, for help when he entered the room. Robin just shrugged, giving the boy a sincere smile.
When Anne finally let Harry go, she gushed about how long his hair had gotten and insisted that he come to the kitchen to taste test the pie she had been working on. Harry happily obliged, his stomach grumbling because he hadn't eaten since before he left school this afternoon.
"I made two pumpkin pies, one for now and one for Thanksgiving. I'll let you try the first piece, since it's your favorite," Anne said, leading Harry to the kitchen.
Harry sat on the bar stool in front of the island, watching his mother cut the pie. Harry looked around the kitchen while he waited, noticing new decorations and pictures his family had hung up since he'd been gone. Harry concluded that the empty nest syndrome must have set in, seeing that Anne had framed pictures of Harry and his sister all over the walls now. Harry and Gemma's graduation pictures hung in unison above an end table, and a super embarrassing photo of them in a kiddie pool sat on the table. Harry groaned with a distaste for the old photos.
Anne noticed Harry staring at the photographs, "Aren't they precious? I've always wanted to be that mortifying mom that shows off baby pictures when her kids bring people home. Speaking of, did I tell you that Gemma is bringing her boyfriend here for Thanksgiving?"
"She finally forced someone into dating her?" Harry joked, and Anne rolled her eyes as she passed the plate of pie to her son.
"You'd think you two would stop being so mean to each other now that you're adults," Anne replied, leaning against the counter, "From what I heard, he's a very lovely boy. They're going to college together and he's working to become a teacher. How adorable is that?"
Harry shrugged, "Must be pretty serious if she's bringing him around our insane family."
"Be nice to your sister," Anne ordered, "They're going to be here tomorrow morning, so please be on your best behavior, that's all I'm asking of you."
"Of course," Harry remarked, digging into the pie, "What's the worst that could happen?"
...
That evening, Harry stayed up entirely too late, catching up with his parents. Even though he talked to them regularly through video chat, they still had a lot to tell each other. Harry got the infamous grilling on his grades and his relationship status, as if anything had changed since they last spoke. Mostly it was just Anne giving Harry the family gossip, talking about who was getting divorced and who was pregnant, and Harry hated that all of these people were going to be in one vicinity on Thanksgiving. The thing about Harry's extended family is that there's always some sort of drama going on, but no one addresses it head on, and when an issue comes to a head, Thanksgiving becomes a gigantic shit show.
So with a slight headache and the newest information on his family, Harry went upstairs and showered, letting the water heat up his skin. After he got out, he dried his hair and put on flannel pajamas that were entirely too warm. By time Harry had gone to bed, though, the flannel pajamas had made their way on to the floor because he was sweating, and well, he always thought it was more comfortable to sleep naked.
Harry woke up pretty late the next morning, the bright sun already peaking through his bedroom window. Harry got out of bed, figuring that he could dash across the hall to the bathroom sans clothing and be alright.
Rubbing sleep out of his eyes, Harry opened his bedroom door and out into the hallway, running right into someone else.
"Oh shit," Harry said, blinking the stars out of his eyes. Harry's skin ran cold when he realized that one, he didn't know this person, and two, Harry was only wearing his underwear.
The boy's eyes widened, then he stuttered out, "I'm sorry, I was just looking for the bathroom?"
Harry pointed to the door directly across the hall, "It's right there. Um, I'm sorry, but who are you?"
"I'm Louis, Gemma's boyfriend," The boy, Louis said, and at this exact moment, Harry registered how lovely this boy was with his ruffled hair and ocean blue eyes.
"Oh, okay. I'm Harry, her brother," Harry replied awkwardly, "I'll let you go to the bathroom now, I'm going to go jump out of my bedroom window because this is probably the worst way we could have met each other."
Louis giggled, fucking giggled, and said, "I could think of much worse ways, Harry. I look forward to meeting you when you aren't half naked," Louis teased, and Harry swore Louis glanced down at his bare chest.
Harry blushed, watching Louis shut the bathroom door behind him.
And that's how he met his sister's boyfriend.