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“I said no marks,” Louis gasps as Harry nibbles on the side of his neck, half heartedly pushing him away. “They’re gonna know.”
“They’re not going to know,” Harry reassures, sealing the mark with a kiss. “They haven’t suspected a thing since we started dating, what’s going to make them notice now?”
Louis opens his mouth to reply before Harry presses their lips together, trying to soak up as much of each other before they leave. Their friends believe they hate each other, which they do. They also just so happen to be completely arse over tits in love with each other. It’s unfair, Harry thinks, as he slips his tongue into Louis’ mouth, that they’ve been destined to be enemies from the start because they really do fit so well together.
“They are going to find out because you have a habit of marking me where everyone can see!” Louis says once he manages to detach their lips for longer than a second. Harry takes this opportunity to give him another love bite, just to prove Louis’ point. “They’re gonna know!”
Harry laughs, pecking his lips before pulling away. “They’re not going to know. They won’t know until we tell them, baby.”
Louis huffs, getting off Harry’s couch to grab his shoes. “I have to get going, you know we can’t be seen together.”
Despite knowing what he means, it doesn’t change the fact Harry’s heart sinks just a tad when Louis says it. He desperately wants to tell their friends the truth, that he and Louis are together and madly in love with each other. “Let me walk you out,” Harry says, instead of what he’s thinking, getting up and slipping his arm around Louis’ waist.
Rolling his eyes, Louis mutters something about chivalry not being dead but allows him to walk him out. They stop by the door, and Harry’s hands travel to either side of Louis’ hips. “You have your frog face on.”
Harry furrows his brows. “No, I don’t.”
Louis giggles, leaning in to peck his lips. “You always have your frog face on when I’m leaving.”
“I don’t like watching you leave,” Harry mutters, pulling his boyfriend into his chest. “We could live together if they knew.”
It’s a sore subject, them living together. Harry knows better than to bring it up, but he can’t help the gnawing feeling in his chest that happens every time they have to separate. He knows that, if they told their friends, then they could live together and be happy. Not that they aren’t, but they could be happier.
Louis doesn’t say anything, but gives a meek smile. He kisses Harry again before patting his chest. “I have to go.”
Harry’s hands squeeze his sides. “I don’t want you to.”
“Harry…”
“I don’t, I hate watching you go.”
“You’ll see me in an hour,” Louis wiggles his way out of Harry’s hold, patting his cheek.
Harry doesn’t pout, he doesn’t, as he watches Louis leave. It’s dumb, he’ll see him in an hour, like Louis said, but he won’t be able to touch him. He won’t be able to inhabit his space like he can do when they’re alone. The door shuts and Harry sighs. He might as well get ready for game night.
-
Pretending you’re not completely head over heels in love with your sworn enemy is hard. Harry knows that from experience.
The topic of today’s game night is Louis’ love life, or lack thereof, in their friends’ eyes. It’s true that Louis hasn’t been out with a guy in a while, but that’s only because he’s with Harry. They can’t exactly tell their friends - well, they can just tell their friends they’re dating, but that’s too easy. They haven’t chosen to tell their friends just yet, and that’s how it’s going to be for the foreseeable future.
“I know a guy,” Liam starts, leaning back in his chair as Niall deals out the Uno cards.
“We all know a guy, Liam,” Louis shakes his head. “This isn’t me trying to get my sink fixed. This is my love life we’re talking about here.”
Liam ignores, or doesn’t pick up on, the look Harry is sending him as he continues, “The point being I can hook you up with a guy for a date.”
“Why are we so focused on Louis’ love life and not mine?” Harry butts in, organizing his cards by color like the sane person he is.
“Well, Harry, when’s the last time you pulled?” Perrie asks, not even organizing her cards. Does she even have a strategy in Uno?
Well, the last time Harry pulled technically was months ago and that person was Louis. That ended up with them starting to date, so a successful pull, if you ask him. The last time he had sex was a few days ago when they had a secret date night, so Harry answers, “A few days ago.”
Perrie rolls her eyes like he’s proved her point. “Louis doesn’t do casual sex, and we all know it,” she gestures a hand to the circle of friends around the table. “Besides, you’re not looking for anyone, but Louis probably is.”
Something gets caught in Harry’s throat. He has been known to sleep around, but he’s been with Louis for a year now. He can be a relationship guy! “What if I told you that I’m seeing someone?”
Everyone’s head, including Louis’, snap towards Harry. Louis almost shakes his head, but Harry ignores him in favor of looking at Perrie. “Is that so?” Perrie sets her cards face down on the table, shifting towards Harry as if to challenge him.
Harry doesn’t back down and there’s a tension in the air that wasn’t there before. He can feel Louis’ eyes on him, but he can’t waiver under it. They’d be found out quicker than light. “I am, been with them for a while now.”
“How long?”
“A year and a half.”
There’s a whistle, probably from Niall and now even Zayn is narrowing his eyes. “What the fuck? How’d you manage to hide a relationship for a year and a half?” Zayn voices everyone’s thoughts, crossing his arms.
The Uno game isn’t going to continue, that much is obvious, which sucks because Harry was really looking forward to beating everyone. “Nobody asked. Every time I thought about mentioning him, we’d change the subject and I’d forget,” He shrugs. It’s not untrue, but also not the complete truth.
“What’s his name?” Zayn asks.
“What?”
“I said, what’s his name?”
Harry panics, he didn’t think they would ask that. He didn’t think a lot of things would happen tonight, so it’s just par for the course at this point. “Uh, he has a name. A name he does have. And I’ll tell you his name, that he definitely has.”
Zayn rolls his hand, a hurry up signal. All eyes are on him and he can practically melt under the intense gaze Louis has on him. He has to be quick, he can’t stall any longer. So, he says the first name that comes to mind.
“William.”
“William.” The group echoes.
“William is his name,” Harry reiterates. “And he’s really a lovely person.”
His friends seem satisfied with that answer, turning their attention back to the Uno game at hand. Which, thank God, because Harry really is looking forward to beating everyone. He spares a glance at Louis, which is not a good idea since he’s staring daggers at him. He’s definitely going to get an ear full later.
(“ William?!” Louis screams as he smacks Harry on the chest. “That’s the best you could come up with?!”
“What? It got them off my back!” Harry tries to defend himself.
“You’re lucky they didn’t put two and two together right then and there!” Another smack to the chest.
“Nobody is going to put two and two together, baby,” Harry grabs Louis’ hand as he goes in for a third smack, kissing his fingers. “They’re none the wiser, love.”
“They’re gonna know,” Louis squirms under Harry’s gaze, the fight leaving his body.
Harry leans in and presses a kiss to Louis’ forehead, cheek, and lips. “They won’t know until we tell them.”
“Promise?” Louis mumbles.
“Promise.”)
-
When Harry and Louis met, it wasn’t one of Harry’s best moments, he can admit.
Niall had been droning on about how he found the funniest guy I’ve ever fucking met, I swear, Harry. He kept telling their friend group that they needed to meet this mysterious guy. It was getting annoying, every hangout was Louis did this and Louis said that. Then finally, finally, it was time to meet this Louis guy.
When Louis walked into the bar, Harry’s heart went boom! There was no doubt in his mind that something would come of him and Louis. Be it them becoming best friends or something more, Harry was sure of it being something wonderful.
Which is why his cheeks flame up as he trips and spills his beer all over Louis. He’s never been the most graceful person in the world, tripping over nothing is his superpower. But he desperately wanted to impress Louis and now he’s gone and upended his beer all over this nice boy.
For his part, Louis doesn’t yell. He doesn’t scream like he clearly wants to. His mouth forms a thin line, shaking his hands of the excess beer as he looks at Harry. “You know how to make a good first impression,” is what he ends up saying instead of the litany of curses he wanted to utter, as he told Harry later.
Harry, for his part, is remorseful. He grabs napkins and dabs at Louis’ favorite shirt, he always reminds Harry, while he apologizes profusely. Louis keeps a mean look on his face long enough to convince Harry that he does, in fact, hate his guts. But, as Louis tells Harry later, he’s been fond of Harry since the moment the beer landed on his favorite tee.
So, yeah, maybe it's not Harry’s finest moment, but at least Louis doesn’t hold a grudge.
(He most certainly does, if the fact he’s held this moment over Harry’s head since they began dating is any proof.)
Their first kiss was an accident.
It wasn’t an accident on Harry’s end, to be fair. Louis said it was an accident, their first kiss. He never gave a reason as to why it was an accident, so Harry’s not really inclined to believe it wasn’t not on purpose. But it went like this:
Their friend group was partying at Harry’s frat house, and Harry was playing a rather intense game of Words With Friends with his mum in the corner of the party. These games get pretty heated, it’s like Scrabble but on a new level when it comes to him and his mum. Chewing on his lip, Harry was in the middle of coming up with a banger of a word when his white shirt was stained with red wine.
“Hey!” Harry shouts over the sound of music thumping, looking up to find a coy Louis Tomlinson staring back at him. “You did that on purpose!”
“Don’t know what you mean, Curly,” he smiles, tipping his glass of wine - where he got the wine at a frat house, Harry will never know - back onto Harry’s shirt.
Harry huffs, gesturing to his shirt before grabbing Louis’ wrist to stop him from pouring more wine on him. “You’re coming with me.”
Louis barely has time to respond before he’s pulled towards the direction of the stairs. He can hear wolf whistles as Harry pulls Louis up the stairs and towards his room in the frat. Living in a frat is less than ideal, but they’re all so close to graduating that Harry can’t bring himself to care. Once he’s gotten to his room, he pushes Louis gently, though Louis will say he was pushed hard, into the room and immediately strips himself of his shirt.
“Whoa, Curly, if you wanted in me pants, you could’ve just asked,” Louis smirks, unashamedly checking Harry out as he strips.
And the thing is, Louis has been making Harry’s life a living hell since they first met. While he’s gotten along with literally everyone else in their little group, he seems to have been scorned by Harry when he spilled his beer on him. Which he gets, but Harry has been remorseful and apologetic since. It just seems Louis is out to make his life miserable.
And, yeah, Harry is so attracted to Louis. He’s just Harry’s type, from his blue eyes to his dainty ankles, he is what Harry’s subconscious could only dream of. He daydreams about what a life would be like if Louis stopped messing with him and just, I don’t know, held his hand? So, yeah, Harry’s harboring a crush on Louis.
And maybe that’s why he strides across the room and kisses him.
Louis gasps before melting against Harry, hands hooking around his neck to keep him in place. Harry grins, mind going a mile a minute with the thought that he’s finally kissing Louis and, fuck, Louis is kissing back. He can’t believe his luck, that this beautiful man is actually giving him the time of day.
Everything good comes to an end and that end comes when Louis knees him in the crotch, causing Harry to double over. Harry groans, looking up to Louis. “Why did you do that?”
Louis shrugs. “Had to balance the world out.”
Harry lets out a short laugh, shaking his head. “Does that mean I can’t take you out sometime?”
Louis considers, leaning up and pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I think that would be okay.”
Their first date was… eventful.
Louis had insisted that they should just stay in for their first date, less chance of getting caught by their friends that, somehow, despite the love eyes Harry’s been sending Louis’ way, haven't picked up on the fact that they have kissed, let alone are planning a date. But Harry loves spoiling his Lou, ever since the beginning, so only the best for his boyfriend.
Harry hadn’t taken into account that Niall would show up at his place, beers in tow for a lads' night that he didn’t even realize was happening. And that Louis was roped into lads' night despite both having prior plans to, you know, go on a date with each other. Thoughts of trying to escape the night, even if it was happening at his flat, dampened when Liam, his flatmate and best friend, showed up with takeaway, his favorite takeaway and effectively trampled any hopes of going on a date.
Of course, Louis and Harry could’ve just told their mates that they had a date planned. But that’s just too simple. That’s too easy. Their friends were still under the impression that they hate each other. They could tell them that they no longer hate the other, in fact, the opposite could be said, but, again, that’s the lazy man’s way of going about things.
Louis shows up to his flat in the softest jumper Harry has ever seen, lilac in color and sleeves too long that they cover his hands. It took all of Harry’s willpower to not reach out and touch Louis all night, he looked so soft. At one point in the night, they end up alone in the living room, their friends having a debate over something in the kitchen.
“I’m sorry our night was ruined,” Harry had said when the yelling got loud in the kitchen.
“‘s not your fault, Harold. They didn’t know.”
“We could tell them?” It comes off as a question, Harry not being sure if they should.
“Let’s wait,” Louis said, nodding once. “What if this doesn’t work out? Then the vibe in the group would be off. We can’t have that, right?”
Harry, already dumb with love for Louis, nodded in agreement. And they’ve kept it a secret ever since.
Their second attempt at a first date went more successful than the first and their second first date turned into a first second date and then turned into a third date and then turned into a fourth date. And so on and so forth. Now, a year and a half into their relationship, Harry can’t imagine being with anyone else.
Now If they could just tell their friends, that would be great.
-
Date night is always an adventure when it comes to Harry and Louis. They have to be careful not to go anywhere close to where they live, so usually it’s at least an hour's drive before they get to their date night destination. Tonight is no different and luckily there’s a sunflower field an hour and a half outside of London that Harry is sure none of their friends have heard of.
Being so far away from home, Harry feels like they can be themselves without worrying about their friends. It’s dumb, they should just tell their friends they’re horribly in love with each other because things would be so much easier. But nothing about being with Louis is ever easy and that’s mostly because Louis loves making things difficult. It’s fun, anyways, being far away from home. They can act like whoever they want to be and it’s freeing.
This is the future Harry wants, a future where he and Louis are out and in the open, possibly with some kids and they can tell their infamous love story to everyone who will listen. And it’s worth hiding it right now if it means he gets to see Louis’ bright smile and hear his infectious laughter.
“Harry!” Louis squeals as Harry pulls him in close, trying unsuccessfully to get away. “You’re going to get me dirty!”
“Exactly the way I like you,” Harry whispers into Louis’ ear, making him blush. “Come on, I want to get pictures of you with the sunflowers.”
The sunflower field reminds Harry a lot of Louis, only because Louis is the center of his universe. Sunflowers follow the sun until they fully mature and for Harry, it won’t matter if he never matures. For he will follow Louis to the ends of the Earth just to see him light up.
Yeah, Harry’s in love. It’s hard not to be in love with Louis, really. You should try it.
Louis poses next to the flowers as Harry snaps photos of him on his phone, taking a moment to send some off to his family’s group chat and Jay, Louis’ mum. In his family’s chat, he sends the quote “ Which way will the sunflower turn surrounded by millions of suns?” , to which his sister replies with the barfing emoji. To Jay, he sends hearts.
“Whatcha doing?” Louis asks as he stands on his tiptoes to look over Harry’s phone. “Texting me mum? Harold, how dare you!”
Harry snickers, raising his phone high enough for Louis not to be able to reach it. “Only sending the best of her boy to her, no need to fret. No stealing hearts of any mums on your watch.”
Louis rolls his eyes, opening his mouth with a retort before it quickly dies on his tongue. He hides behind Harry, fisting the back of his shirt to try and stay calm. “There’s someone over there.”
It’s Harry’s turn to roll his eyes. He tries to turn to face Louis but Louis keeps him firmly in place. “There’s someones everywhere , baby. We’re far enough away from everyone that nobody kn-“
“Nick and Perrie and I bet a lot more of our friends are over there and I need you to think of something quick before they find us.”
Harry swallows, trying not to make it obvious as he tries to find their friends that are supposedly here. Sure enough, he sees Nick and his stupid quiff along with Perrie and Jade hanging out and looking around. What the fuck? They’re not supposed to be here! Nobody said hey, let’s go to the sunflower field and fuck with Harry and Louis’ date! in the group chat. Or, at least Harry doesn’t think they did. He’s about to pull out his phone and double check before Louis hits him on the back.
“This is no time to check your phone!” He sneers in a quiet tone. “We are seconds away from being found out and you want to check your phone?!”
“Louis, why is it so bad if they find out?” Harry whispers aggressively back, tracking their friends to make sure they don’t see them. “We’ve been together for a year-“
“And a half,” Louis cuts in.
“Not the point right now, babe. The point is we’ve been dating for long enough, why can’t they know?”
Louis hits his head repeatedly against Harry’s back, like he’s trying to knock some sense into himself. He’s about to answer when Nick, the fucker, spots Harry. Immediately, Louis ducks down and runs off in a direction Harry doesn’t know. He can’t go look for Louis since their friends would know that they’re here together, so he just stands frozen in place.
“Oh, fuck me,” he mumbles to himself before plastering on a smile for his friends. “Hey! Funny running into you guys!”
Nick laughs as he claps Harry on the shoulder. “Didn’t know you’d be here. Also didn’t think you’d be one to come alone.”
Harry swallows before laughing, brushing it off. “I heard the sunflowers look especially… good this time of year.”
Nick furrows his eyebrows at the awkwardness Harry is exuding, but, luckily, doesn’t comment on it. “Do you want to join us? I’m assuming you’re here alone.”
If this were any normal situation, Harry would say yes. Harry would join his friends and have a good time because he doesn’t like doing things alone. But Louis is somewhere in this sunflower field, and Harry would really like to continue their date at some point.
But, it would look suspicious if he doesn’t join them, since they know he doesn’t do things solo. He hates that he can’t just tell the truth. He so desperately wants to tell the truth, but he doesn’t want to argue with Louis. Louis has a mean streak when it comes to their arguing, and Harry very much doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of said mean streak.
So, Harry bites his tongue and nods, telling them to give him a moment and he’ll join them. He pulls out his phone, ignores the texts from Jay and his family and goes to his messages with Louis.
I have to join them. Meet me at the car? -H
He pockets his phone, smiling at his friends and joins them. This is going to be a long night.
(It takes two hours for their friends to leave, and, by the time they do, Louis is grumpy and wants to go home.
“You could’ve said no,” Louis says in the car ride back to London.
“Yeah and make them wonder why I would suddenly go to a sunflower field by myself? We both know I hate doing things alone.”
Louis huffs, arms crossed over his chest as he looks out the window. “It wasn’t as fun when I didn’t have you,” he admits quietly.
Harry’s heart aches. He hates disappointing his boy, he hates that this is all a secret and that he can’t tell anyone besides family about them. He wants all of this to change. “It wasn’t much fun without you either,” he admits back, reaching out blindly to grab Louis’ hand and link their pinkies.
It’s quiet for a while, soon Louis unhooks their pinkies before grabbing Harry’s hand and laces their fingers together. He squeezes once, twice, three times before looking at Harry. “I’m sorry.”
“You did nothing wrong,” it comes out automatically, a reflex. “I’m not mad.”
He can tell Louis is beating himself up over this, and, while it is technically Louis’ doing that they’re not out to their friends, that’s not what this is about. Okay, it kind of is, but not fully. “I want to tell them, but I’m scared.”
Relationships and their friend group don’t mix, Louis had told Harry when they first got together. It would just end up messy and, if they break up, people would want to choose sides. Harry never plans on breaking up with Louis, it’s quite the opposite, really. But he gets it, he really does. He doesn’t want their friend group breaking up because of them.
“I know, bug. There’s no pressure to tell them, y’know?”
Louis sniffles and it breaks Harry’s heart. He hates when his boy is upset. “I know, but our friends wouldn't have ruined date night. You could’ve told them you were with me and they would’ve left us alone.”
There’s a red light and Harry slows the car to a stop. He takes this chance to look at Louis and his heart beats out of his chest. “They didn’t know, it’s not their fault for not knowing.” The light turns green and Harry looks away. “It’s going to be fine, Lou.”
Louis lets out a shaky breath, nodding. “Can I stay at yours?”
“Of course,” Harry squeezes Louis’ hand. “You can always stay over.”
It’s quiet after that, and Harry doesn’t let go of Louis’ hand until they get back to his place, thanking every god that exists that he no longer lives with Liam. Things may be rocky now, but Harry knows that it’s nothing a cuddle and some sleep can’t fix.)
-
Nights out at the club are hard when all Harry wants to do is dance with Louis.
Harry’s a jealous person, can’t help it when Louis looks like that. He knows that Louis is his, they’re both incredibly committed to each other at this point that Harry doesn’t see a life without him. And they’ve talked about things like this, going out with their friends and having to put up a single façade.
“I only want you, H,” Louis said when they were discussing it. “Even if they tried to set me up with someone, I would say no.”
Unfortunately for them, their friends snuck in a new person to their group, Michael. Specifically brought in to be matched up with Louis, because, of course, they can’t have nice things. After the date night fiasco, Harry’s been walking on eggshells around their friends. Nick had asked during their time there why William, you know, his boyfriend, wasn’t with him. He made up a lie, saying he was busy and couldn’t make it out that day. Nick narrowed his eyes at him, but didn’t say anything about it.
Harry doesn’t like that. He feels like he’s going to be caught if he doesn’t bring a fake William in to get them off his trail.
Michael and Louis are at the bar currently, under the guise of grabbing drinks for everyone, but, from what Harry can see, Michael is flirting heavily with his boyfriend. Louis is giving him small smiles, nodding in the right places, and doesn't seem to be flirting back. But, because Harry’s already jealous, a nagging voice in the back of his head is saying that Louis is flirting back.
Logically, he knows this isn’t true. Louis is his and he’s Louis’. His boyfriend wouldn’t be flirting with anyone when Harry’s right there, right?
Right?
“Mate, why are you staring at Louis like that?” Niall asks, jostling Harry out of his stupor.
“I’m not, I’m just wondering when they’re going to bring the beer back,” Harry defends, even if it sounds weak to even his own ears.
Niall gives him a weird look, but doesn’t say anything further. God, they’re going to get caught because of him. Louis will be mad, and he won’t talk to him because he fucked up. He can be stubborn to a fault, and Harry knows he can go days, even weeks, without talking to someone that’s crossed him.
“I bring presents!” Louis yells over the noise of the club, raising the tray up. Michael comes up with the second tray, whispering something in Louis’ ear, causing him to giggle. Harry sees red.
The trays are passed around with various liquors on them. Harry grabs the first one he sees, holding it in a tight grip. He needs to calm the hell down. He can see his friends sending him worried glances, but he can’t help that he’s jealous of Michael. What Michael is doing, flirting with Louis and being able to touch him, is all that Harry wants to do.
His friends are talking about something, he’s not really paying attention, as all his attention is on Michael and how he should be where he is. He’s acting like a jealous boyfriend, which, yeah, he is a jealous boyfriend, but they all think that he’s dating a guy named William. He’s about to say fuck it and tell everyone when Michael pulls Louis onto the dance floor.
The dance floor is where Louis shines. He knows how to move his body in a way that’s downright sinful. Harry has watched Louis on the floor and had been on the receiving end of his mesmerizing moves enough times to know that Louis is an amazing dancer. Tonight, though, Harry’s not happy.
Tonight, Harry’s about to explode.
“Dude, you have a boyfriend,” Liam shakes Harry, giving him a concerned look.
“I know,” is all Harry says. He downs his beer and sets the glass on the table. He checks his phone, reads a text from his mum, and pockets his phone. “I’m gonna head out, William says he needs me.”
Liam gives him an incredulous look, but says nothing. He knows he’s being suspicious, but he doesn’t care at this point. He makes his rounds to his friends, waving off offers of having William come to the club. William is already here at the club, and is dancing with Michael, but he doesn’t say that.
As he walks out of the club, he calls for an Uber. He looks around as he waits, deciding to send Louis a text.
Went home, see you later x -H
The Uber is two minutes away when he hears his name.
“Harry, what are you doing?”
It’s Louis, because of course it is. “I’m going home.”
Louis takes a step forward, stopping short of going all the way to Harry. “You don’t have to go home.”
Harry sighs, shaking his head. “I don’t want to watch Michael flirt with you all night, Lou.”
It’s silent, save for the thumping music coming from the club. Louis looks sad and small, smaller than he normally does. And Harry feels terrible, because he’s the reason why Louis is sad right now. He wants to wrap his arms around Louis and take him home with him, maybe fuck the sadness out of him and hold him until the morning. But he can’t. They’re enemies, according to their friends.
And that’s where the problem lies.
Harry feels his phone buzz, notifying him that his Uber is due to arrive soon. “Louis, just go back inside. I’m going home.”
“I don’t want you to go home!” Louis yells. “I want you to stay here!” He stomps his foot like a child, and normally, this would amuse Harry.
Tonight, Harry just wants to go home.
“Baby, I-“
“We can tell them! Please, Harry. I don’t want you to go.”
Harry shakes his head. He hears a honk, and he turns to see his Uber driver waiting for him. He holds up a finger, telling the driver to give him a second, and walks over to Louis. “Go back inside, and have a good time tonight. Don’t worry about me,” he kisses Louis gently, stepping away with an ache in his heart. Harry turns, smiling sadly at the driver.
Louis follows him instead of going back to the club. “It’s not fun without you there,” he admits. “I don’t want to go back inside, I want to be with you.”
Harry’s already halfway in the car when Louis speaks. He can feel tears start to prickle in his eyes, and he desperately wants to say that Louis can come. But.
But.
“They’re already suspicious of me, we can’t leave together,” the argument is weak, Harry knows this. He can see Louis take a deep breath.
“I don’t care,” Louis takes a step closer to the car. “I already told Michael about us, he knows that I’m yours. He won’t tell the others, Harry. I just want to be with you.”
Harry’s a weak man when it comes to Louis, so all he does is nod and that’s all it takes for Louis to come the rest of the way to the car. He makes room for Louis in the back seat, and Harry feels like he can finally breathe again.
He makes a note to give the Uber driver a big tip, especially after dealing with all this tonight.
Once Louis is in the car, he invades Harry’s space to kiss him hard. “I love you so much,” Louis says when he pulls back.
Harry smiles. “I love you so much, too.“
-
Okay, so, yeah. Maybe it’s not the best idea to buy an engagement ring while you’re still hiding your relationship from your friends. However, in Harry’s defense, he couldn’t pass the ring up.
It was a normal sibling day with Gemma, and they were scouring thrift stores for fun. Harry always peruses the jewelry section to find necklaces and rings for himself. It’s how he’s found some of his favorite rings, the bear one being a gift from Louis on one of their first dates to a thrift store, for example. His eyes flit around the display before they land on something green.
It’s a ring with a mossy green stone in the middle of two vines, the vines curling around the stone. The green reminds Harry of his own eyes, the way Louis describes them. He’s picking up the ring before he can even think, inspecting it to get a closer look. He slips it on his pinkie, the finger he knows is closest to the size of Louis’ ring finger.
It’s a near perfect fit.
Harry breathes out shakily, looking back to the display to see how much it costs. £50 for the ring he knows wants to propose to Louis with. All other thoughts are abandoned of trying to find jewelry for himself and he immediately makes a beeline for his sister.
“You look like you’re going to pass out,” Gemma jokes when she sees him. She looks down at Harry’s enclosed hand. “What’s that you got?”
I found the most perfect ring for my boyfriend and I want to use it to propose to him. I love him so fucking much, it makes my chest ache. I want to spend the rest of my life with him and I found the perfect ring- is what he wants to say.
“I found it,” is all he can manage.
Gemma rolls her eyes. “You found it. That’s not vague at all.” Harry uncurls his fingers to reveal the ring. He hears Gemma gasp as she takes it in her own hands, inspecting it herself. “Well, shit. You did. You found it.”
All Harry can do is nod. He feels as if he’s about to burst. He feels on top of the world.
“Aren’t you still hiding?” Gemma asks curiously, rolling the ring between her fingers. “And you’ve only been together like, what, a year?“
“And almost three quarters,” Harry lets out a small laugh. “I know we’re still hiding but, I can’t pass this up, Gem.”
Gemma looks to her brother, searching his face for any uncertainty. In the end, she shrugs. “If this is the ring you want to propose to your boyfriend with, then who am I to tell you no.”
Harry’s face breaks out into a wide grin, hugging his sister right before taking the ring from her. He’s got his ring and now, he just needs to see his boy.
-
Making a quick pit stop to his own flat to put the ring away for safekeeping, Harry makes his way over to Louis’ place. He was already set to be over at Louis’ before going to game night with their friends, but he has this energy right now that makes him feel like he’s going to explode.
Harry lets himself in with the key Louis gave him, looking around the entrance for his boyfriend. “Lou?” he calls out, toeing off his shoes in the foyer.
“In the kitchen!” Louis yells. “Do you want some tea?”
Harry quickly goes to the kitchen, practically running towards it and crowds Louis up against the counter. He plants kisses all over his face, causing Louis to giggle. “What has gotten into you?”
“I just had an amazing day and I want to see my lovely boyfriend, is that so hard to believe?” Harry says in between kisses. “I love you so very much.“
“I love you, too,” Louis manages before Harry captures his lips with his own. He can feel Louis hum against his lips, wrapping his arms around his waist as Louis wraps his arms around his neck. “You’re very loving right now.”
Harry smiles at his boyfriend before going to kiss his neck, biting occasionally and reveling in the noises he elicits from Louis. “Wanna fuck you.”
Louis moans, hands going to Harry’s hair and pulls. “Should’ve led with that.”
Harry begins to pull Louis out of the kitchen, not before he hears Louis’ hissing, “The kettle!” After making sure the kettle is off the burner and the burner is off, he pulls Louis back out of the kitchen and towards his room. Louis allows himself to be manhandled, secretly loves it as he’s previously told Harry, as Harry gets impatient with how slow he’s moving and just picks him to get to Louis’ room faster.
“Harold!” Louis giggles as he’s deposited onto his bed, looking up to Harry as he strips off his shirt.
Harry does the same with his own shirt before practically pouncing onto Louis on the bed, teeth clanking together as their lips meet. His lips quickly travel from Louis’ mouth to his neck, where he makes quick work of marking up as much of his neck as possible before Louis pushes him away. Surprisingly, Louis doesn’t push him away, fingers lacing through Harry’s hair as his mouth moves lower and lower.
Foreplay is Harry’s speciality. Getting Louis to fall apart on his mouth before eventually falling apart on his cock is his favorite part of sex. Well, everything about sex is his favorite part of sex, as long as he gets to do it with Louis. He forgoes Louis’ nipples, purposely teasing his boyfriend by bypassing them. He leaves a trail of kisses in his wake, lips trailing down until he reaches the waistband of his joggers.
“Off,” Louis rolls his hips up, jostling Harry slightly. “Get them off .”
Who’s Harry to deny his boy?
Because Harry’s a tease, he takes his time pulling down Louis’ joggers, ignoring his boyfriend’s pleas to go faster. Soon, but not too soon, Louis is left in his boxers and Harry pulls away. He runs a hand gingerly over Louis’ covered cock, smiling when his hips roll up to chase the feeling of Harry’s hand.
Harry tsks. “You gonna be good for me, baby?”
Louis whines, but nods. “Wanna be good for you.”
This makes Harry smile grow, leaning down to kiss over Louis’ cock. Slowly, he pulls off his boxers, tossing them aside before ridding himself of his jeans and boxers too. He leans over to the bedside table to grab the lube and a condom, setting them beside Louis’ hip. Harry sits back on his legs, walking his fingers up Louis’ leg until he reaches his inner thigh. “You look so good like this, bug.”
Teasing touches over Louis’ cock, Harry watches his boyfriend closely. Louis gets flustered easily, his cheeks heating up under the intense stare. Normally, they’re in a hurry to get off, it’s hard to find time alone when they’re supposed to hate each other. But today, they don’t have any obligations until much later, game night with their friends. So Harry’s free to drag this out as much as he wants.
Harry continues to ghost his hand over Louis’ cock, fleeting touches to remind him that he’s the one in charge. He’s the one who controls what Louis gets and what he doesn’t get. Of course, Louis always gets what he wants. Eventually.
Louis doesn’t like the teasing, whimpering as he pushes his hips up into Harry’s hand, practically begging to be touched. “Please,” the word escapes without Louis really realizing it, tears already clumping up his eyelashes.
“Please, what?” Harry smirks.
“Please, touch me,” Louis whispers, so quiet that Harry almost misses it. “Want you.”
Harry could drag this out even more, tease him by asking where he wants his hands. But he’s been hard practically since he picked out the ring, and his cock is protesting the fact that he’s not in Louis right this second. So, grabbing the lube from next to his hip, Harry smiles. “Turn over, love.”
Louis immediately obliges, turning onto his stomach and tries so hard not to grind into the mattress. Harry leans down and kisses the small of his back, smiling against the skin. “You’re so good, Lou,” he says, leaning back to pour the lube on his fingers.
Nudging the first finger against his hole, Louis moans, pushing his ass back onto Harry’s finger as he slips it in. It’s addicting, sex with Louis, and no matter how many times they’ve done this, it still shocks Harry how responsive Louis is to everything. Simple touches that result in full body shudders, and Harry just wants to give, give, give until he can’t give anymore.
So it’s not his fault when he’s entranced enough with Louis to forget the task at hand.
Louis is quick to remind him, trying to fuck himself on Harry’s single finger with little success. It snaps Harry out of his stupor, bringing his other hand up to Louis’ hip to stop him.
“Don’t be greedy, baby,” he says simply, squeezing his hip gently as a warning. “You’ll only take what I give you.”
Louis whines, still trying to move his hips on his finger. Harry tuts, squeezing his hip again. This time, Louis stops, letting out an exasperated noise. “Stop teasing,” he mumbles, looking over his shoulder at Harry.
“You’ll only take what I give you,” Harry repeats, wiggling a second finger into Louis.
Always the one to blatantly disobey , Louis continues to try and fuck himself on Harry’s fingers, whining high in his throat. It’s hard not to be smug when Harry knows he’s the one who turns Louis into a whiny mess, but he also knows that Louis knows better. That Louis knows that he should take what he’s given. But Louis’ nothing if not greedy when it comes to getting fucked.
Though, instead of slapping his arse and reprimanding him, Harry smiles, leans down to kiss right above Louis’ leaking cock to tease him even more. Stubble from not shaving rubs up against the head of his cock, and Louis moans outright. Harry bites back a smirk as he lifts his head, scissoring his fingers as he moves his hand in and out of Louis.
“Look at you,” Harry muses over the sounds Louis is making . “Couple of fingers and you’re a blubbering mess.”
“Harry,” his name comes out in the midst of Louis' moaning, like it wasn’t supposed to come out. “ Please.”
Harry manages a third finger inside Louis, holding his hips down with one hand as he does so. “Please, what?”
Louis hates to beg, it’s against everything in his nature to beg. However, “Please, fuck me. Gonna be so good for you.”
Harry hums, taking a long moment to make sure that Louis is thoroughly opened, a moment in which Louis curses everything Harry believes in, before pulling his fingers out and wiping them against the sheets. Telling Louis to flip back over, he reaches for the condom, about to rip it open when he sees Louis frantically shaking his head.
“No,” Louis mumbles. “No.”
“You want it bare?” Harry asks dumbly, eyes going a bit wide.
The thing is, they’ve never done it free of the rubber. Using a condom meant easy clean up. They get tested regularly, even if in the past two years, they’ve only had sex with each other. He’s clean, and he knows for a fact Louis is clean too. Something in Harry’s stomach clenches.
Unprotected sex means Louis trusts him, wholeheartedly trusts him and, already becoming sex stupid from the mere thought of coming inside Louis, Harry tosses the condom the minute he sees his boyfriend nod.
“Want it,” Louis says, pulling Harry down for a kiss. “Now, fuck me, big man.”
Harry laughs, pressing another kiss or five to his lips before pulling away. He lines himself up with Louis’ hole, slowly pushing in as he watches his boyfriend’s face. Louis’ face turns into complete ecstasy, head hitting the bed as his eyes close. This, this, is what Harry loves. He loves being the one who gives Louis this much pleasure, to be the one and only one who gets to see him like this.
“Fuck me,” Louis breathes, fingers gripping the bedding.
“Working on it,” Harry smirks, which earns a slap from Louis.
Harry doesn’t give Louis time to come up with a retort before he’s pulling back out and thrusting all the way back in. He starts fucking him with calculated thrusts, hands gripping Louis’ hips and digging his fingers into the flesh there. Louis is nothing but loud, moaning and hands twitching at his sides. He’s a vision like this, all laid out and getting fucked within an inch of his life.
Harry loves him like this.
Fuck, Harry wants to marry him.
Apparently, getting too caught up in your head is bad when you’re having sex with the love of your life, and Harry only knows this because Louis’ disgruntled noises bring him back out of his thoughts. His hips have slowed while he’s been thinking about how much he wants to do this for the rest of his life and that doesn’t sit well with Louis.
“Love,” Louis whines. “I really need you to fuck me and make me come sometime this century. Preferably before game night.”
Harry shakes his head, fond, leaning down to kiss Louis’ sternum. “As you wish, my love.”
With that, Harry straightens and starts fucking his love again, and fucking him hard. No room for error when it comes to giving Louis what he wants. He can feel his own orgasm start to creep up on him and he feels like he’s been hard since he bought the ring. He wants to drag it out but, because it is game night with their friends, he knows they have to shower after this.
And he can’t come until Louis does, that’s just basic etiquette.
Harry removes a hand from Louis’ hip and wraps it around his cock, stripping it fast in tune with his thrusts. Louis is a moaning mess at this point. His moans change into whines, into a litany of fuck, fuck, fuck, before he comes all over his chest.
And fuck, if that ain’t a pretty picture to look at.
It doesn’t take long for Harry to follow, coming inside of Louis and groaning out his name. His hips slow and so does his hand before they eventually stop altogether.
Harry is careful as he pulls out, flopping to Louis' side and kissing his shoulder. “Love you.“
“I think you fucked me stupid,” Louis says in lieu of returning the sentiment.
Harry laughs, kissing his shoulder again before getting up. He scoops up Louis in his arms and takes him to the bathroom. Ignoring Louis’ complaints about getting come everywhere, Harry sets him on the bathroom counter before starting the shower.
As they wait for the water to heat up, Harry walks over to Louis and kisses him on the lips. “I love you,” he repeats.
Louis hums. “I love you, too. Even if you fucked me stupid.”
If they get distracted by making out for the next five minutes, well, it’s not their fault.
-
Their shower ran long, because they kept getting distracted by being disgustingly in love, so it really makes sense for Louis to hitch a ride with Harry to Niall’s place. They’ve already been playing fast and loose with their friends’ knowledge of their relationship recently, and Harry really can’t bring himself to care all that much. If anything, they can just lie.
Lying always works.
The best part about showering at Louis’ is that he gets to smell like he’s Louis’. Vanilla and hazelnut shampoo and conditioner, just. A chef’s kiss to the vegan brand that Louis uses. It’s no secret that Harry loves when Louis smells like him, so it doesn’t surprise him in the slightest that he loves it when he gets to smell like his love.
So they arrive at the same time to Niall’s place, where all their friends are already. They keep playing it fast and loose by not even staggering when they show up to the door, and Harry gives Louis’ hand one last squeeze before the door opens.
“Well, this is new,” Niall says as he lets them in. “I’ve never seen you two be civil like this.”
Harry shrugs. “Saw him walking and decided to be nice. I can do that y’know?”
Niall laughs, none the wiser, and slaps Harry on the back. “We’re playing the scent game, by the way.”
The scent game is a dumb game that they came up with at uni. The rules are that someone is blindfolded, everyone changes places and the blindfolded person picks one person and smells their hair to try and guess who the person is. It’s a really stupid game that they came up with whilst drunk, but it’s a staple in their friend group at this point.
Learning they’re going to be playing this game makes Harry a little nervous, but nobody should know what Louis’ shampoo smells like. So he brushes it off, and goes towards his friends to greet them.
After Nick explains the rules that they all know and Harry has a beer in his hands, the game begins. Liam is up first, and he walks around the circle before stopping behind a chair and correctly guesses Zayn’s shampoo. He celebrates before handing the blindfold off to the next person. And so on and so forth.
Everything is derailed when Niall gets the blindfold.
They switching seats around as Niall is tying the blindfold around his head, and Harry gets a gut feeling that he’s going to be caught out. He ends up sandwiched between Jade and Louis, and it takes all that it has in him to not reach out and grab his boyfriend’s hand. He’s anxious, he knows what his hair smells like and he doesn’t want to get caught.
Niall, being Niall, makes a show out of going around the circle of chairs, tapping his chin as he decides who his victim is. Harry’s heart stops when he feels Niall put his hands on the back of his chair, leaning down and taking a whiff of his hair.
Man, this is so weird out of context.
“I know that smell anywhere,” Niall smiles, preparing for his win. “It’s Louis.”
The room falls silent, even more so than they already were. “Uh,” Zayn says, narrowing his eyes at Harry. “That’s not Louis.”
“What?” Niall grabs rather forcefully onto Harry’s head and takes another smell of his hair. “That’s vanilla and hazelnut. Lou’s been using the same hair shit since uni. That’s Louis!” He smiles brightly, head turning around the room like he can actually see.
“No, mate. It’s Harry,” Zayn says slowly.
At this point, Niall takes off his blindfold and Harry can feel the eyes on the back of his head. “Mate, why the fuck do you smell like Louis’ shampoo?”
Harry feels like he’s been caught, and he knows that Louis’ eyes are glued on the side of his head. He looks at Zayn, who just smiles. He can see the exact moment the lightbulb goes off in Zayn's head , knowing he’s been caught, and Zayn starts laughing. Everyone looks at Zayn like he’s crazy until his laughter dies down into little chuckles.
“What’s so funny?” Jade asks, clearly confused as to why Harry smells like Louis.
“Doesn’t everyone get it?” Zayn gestures around the room before gesturing towards Louis and Harry. “They’re dating.”
“What if Harry just so happens to have bought the same shampoo as Louis?” Liam wonders, confused as to how two sworn enemies are apparently dating.
“Hasn’t anyone noticed that they don’t fight nearly as much as they used to? At least in the past two years?”
“Yeah, but Harry’s dating William,” Liam says dumbly.
“Well, William is right here,” Zayn smiles like he won the lottery. “Louis William Tomlinson.”
It seems to dawn on everyone at the same time that, yeah, Harry and Louis are together and have been for the past year and a half. The chatter begins as they all share stories about how they should’ve known. Liam starts talking about how it makes sense that Harry seemed jealous at the club last month. Jade mentions how they found Harry alone at the sunflower field when they know Harry hates doing things alone, and that Louis was probably hiding from them. Niall has been staring at Harry like he’s been shot for the past minute.
Harry leans towards Louis, whispering in his ear, “Should we come clean?”
Louis nods.
Harry kisses Louis’ cheek, slipping his hand into his, and clears his throat. “So, um. We’re together.”
There’s a collective “ What?!” from the peanut gallery. Harry continues, “We didn’t want to tell you guys in case we broke up. But I don’t think that’ll be happening. I very much love Louis and I hope he very much loves me-“
“I do,” Louis cuts in. “I love him very much.”
“Thank you, love,” Harry smiles, pecking his lips quickly. “We’re very sorry we didn’t tell you guys. It’s not that we didn’t trust you, it’s that we were afraid we would split the friend group if we broke up.”
Harry braces for the yells and screams from their friends about how awful they are and how they can’t believe they betrayed their trust for them, but it never comes. Instead,
“Oh, thank fuck. You have the dumbest frog face I’ve ever seen when you look at Louis,” Perrie says, rushing over to the two of them to hug them.
The tension is broken from there. Everyone talks about how obvious it was from the beginning that Harry and Louis are in love and how they’ve been waiting for this to happen. The knot in Harry’s stomach begins to unravel as a smile takes over his face and he kisses Louis’ lips in front of their friends for the first time.
Now, there’s one thing left to do.
-
The scene is set, the sun is high in the sky, and Harry’s ready to propose to Louis.
It’s reminiscent of their second first date. He’s in a park, first of all, in a secluded area where Harry and their friends have set up the most perfect picnic. All but one friend, Zayn, have hidden themselves amongst the foliage with cameras poised to capture the event. Zayn has the most important job, getting Louis to their location.
Hopefully, as long as nothing gets derailed again, Harry will end up an engaged man.
Harry made a group chat excluding Louis in order to pull this off. All of their friends, while still a little miffed that they didn’t tell them about their relationship, were thrilled at the idea of Harry proposing to Louis. It was hard hiding all of this from Louis, especially since Louis has a habit of checking Harry’s phone when it goes off. However, it’s worth it, in the end.
Checking his phone one last time to see the time, Harry pockets it and shakes his hands as if the nerves will escape him that way. His stomach is in knots as he hears Louis’ infectious laughter, signaling to everyone that it’s now or never. Harry’s really doing this. He’s really about to propose.
Fuck.
Harry pats his pocket to check for the ring as Louis’ laughter dies down and Zayn disappears when he turns around. Louis turns back to Harry, eyebrows furrowed as he approaches him.
“What’s all this?” Louis questions as he gets on the tips of his toes to kiss Harry’s lips.
“Just a little something something,” Harry grins.
“Where did Zayn go?”
“Don’t know, but it doesn’t matter now.”
Louis is opening his mouth to ask another question when Harry cups his face to kiss him again, properly, rubbing his thumb against his cheek before dropping to one knee.
“Harry…” Louis starts, tears already welling up in his eyes.
“Louis William Tomlinson,” Harry grabs Louis’ hands, kissing the backs of them. “You have been a firecracker since I met you. And I’ve been a clumsy mess since you met me. I don’t know if you know how much you mean to me, but you mean so much that I had to get you something to represent it. How much I adore you, how much I love you, how much you’re the center of my world and how much I want to make you mine,” Harry lets go of Louis’ hands to dig into his pocket to grab the ring box. He opens the box, and he can hear Louis gasp. “Will you do the honor of marrying me?”
Too overwhelmed by emotions, Louis nods his head vigorously, grabbing Harry’s face and connecting their lips. Harry can hear the cheers from their friends as he gets up, keeping their lips connected. Kissing Louis will never get old, but the feeling of having his fiancé kiss him is a feeling he’ll never get used to.
He can’t imagine how it’s going to be when Louis actually becomes his husband .
Louis pulls away, hands trembling as he knocks their foreheads together. “I can’t believe you did this.”
Harry smiles, pulling away fully to take Louis’ left hand and slips the ring on. A perfect fit, just like he knew it would be. “Had a little help. The past month has been shit for my anxiety.”
Louis giggles, pressing his lips against Harry’s once more. “Knew you were planning something, just didn’t know it was this.”
Their bubble is broken as their friends attack them into a group hug. Louis is already showing off the ring as if their friends didn’t know, and Harry feels like he’s going to burst with how happy he is. How content he is.
He has his boy, and everyone knows it.
-
“What did I say about marks?” Louis moans as Harry nibbles on the side of his neck. “They’re gonna know.”
“Good,” Harry says as he pulls away. “They should know how good I make you feel.”
Louis tries, and fails, to push Harry off, as Harry makes quick work of biting over Louis’ pulse point. He hears his fiancé’s breath hitch, and he can feel himself growing harder and harder by the second.
“Don’t want them knowing that I got fucked right before movie night,” Louis whines, successfully pushing Harry off of him.
Since their engagement, things have been wonderful. Louis finally moved in with Harry, no longer needing his own flat since he spends all his time as Harry’s. The world knows that they’re together, and they’re saving a ton in petrol by not having to drive at least an hour for date nights.
Tonight is their first movie night with their friends in their home. And Harry cannot be happier.
“I’m pretty sure they already know you get fucked, baby. Fucked well and good, if I do say so myself.“
A pillow hits Harry on the head. He deserved that. “Hate you.”
“No, you don’t,” Harry beams, grabbing Louis’ hand and kissing over the ring. “You love me so much you want to marry me.”
Louis shakes his head, pressing a kiss into Harry’s hair before they hear a knock at the door. “You ready, love?”
Harry nods. “With you, I’m always ready.”
They walk to the door, passing by a photo of them from the day they got engaged. The lyrics to a song wrap around the photo, and Harry smiles as he passes it.
Isn’t happy something we both deserve?
fin