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Louis was fucked. He thought back on the past month, and the things he could have done to avoid the situation he was currently in. His biggest mistake was not listening to his mother when she had told him to look up his future roommate on Facebook. Turns out his mother was actually always right. If only he had looked Harry up ahead of time, he could have prepared himself to live with an ungodly attractive man for a year. As it was, he was really, really not prepared.
The first thing Louis did after seeing Harry was drop an entire box filled with his own belongings everywhere. Harry, being absolutely too good in every way, immediately helped Louis pick everything up, and then apologized for startling him. He was too perfect.
"Niall, I'm not going to survive the year. I can't even go hide and jack off to relieve myself because we live together. I'm going to die," Louis stated. "If he takes his shirt off, I will pass out."
Niall, Louis' best friend from home and currently his worst enemy for choosing the wrong building to live in and thus causing Louis' roommate situation, laughed. "You're being over dramatic. There's no way he's that attractive. And if he is, you'll probably get used to it in a week or so. Or maybe you'll fall in love and get to jerk off in front of him. You'll be fine, whatever happens."
Louis pushed him off the bed. "You give shit advice."
Louis, for once, was right. Niall did give shit advice. It was a week later, and Louis was still not accustomed to his astonishingly attractive roommate.
Harry was Louis' age, a couple inches taller, a bit broader, and a a hundred percent curlier. He had a habit of shaking his hair around, which managed to catch Louis' attention every single time. Harry, though, was so nice, so oblivious, that he never seemed shocked or creeped out by Louis' staring. He tried not to stare that much, but everything Harry did was just as distracting as the hair shaking.
The worst by far was his habit of wearing as little clothes as possible. He wasn't even bashful about it, he just preferred to wear as little as possible, especially to bed. That meant almost every night Louis was blessed, and cursed, with the sight of Harry in his underwear. He hadn't actually passed out at the first sight of Harry shirtless, but he knew it was soon to come.
"He was stretching, across out floor, in nothing but a tight, black pair of boxers. When he saw me walk in he just smiled and said 'It helps me sleep'. It doesn't help me sleep at all! I'll never sleep again, probably! Every time I close my eyes I just see his fucking fantastic legs stretched out wide, and his arms held over his head. I'm imagining it right now. I'm about to cry."
"You're being over dramatic, again," Niall said, pulling his covers over his head. They were in Niall's room this time, Louis having barged in after escaping the scene he had found in his room.
"I am not, you haven't seen a half naked Harry Styles, you don't know my struggles," Louis said.
"See, but I have struggles of my own. It’s currently midnight, and I have an eight a.m. class tomorrow morning, and you show no signs of leaving anytime soon. It's very difficult," Niall grumbled from under his blankets.
Louis sighed, and spread out on the floor. Niall was clearly no help.
A month in, and Louis had discovered that Harry is extremely tactile, especially the more he knows a person. Whenever Louis stopped freaking out about Harry's general presence, he had learned that they actually got on really well. Their taste in music was very similar, and while their taste in movies and shows were slightly varied, Harry always had great input on whatever they were watching, even if it was Louis' pick.
That meant that most nights accumulate din Louis and Harry, curled together on one of their beds, watching some show or movie, and talking about it the entire time. Sometimes, it would take Louis half an hour to notice Harry's arm had snaked around his shoulders, or he wouldn't instantly tense up when Harry rested his head on his shoulder. Louis even instigated some contact himself, seeing as he was just as tactile as Harry, once he got past the shock of Harry being the most attractive person he had ever touched.
Touching Harry did nothing to diminish the feeling of attraction Louis had toward him, and getting to know him better as a person only made him fall harder.
It was the strangest form of simultaneous progress and regression that Louis had ever experienced.
Niall, as expected, was no help.
"You hugged him before he left. His face lit up like a Christmas tree. You two are absolutely dating," Niall said, sprawling himself across Harry's bed as soon as he was out of the room.
"We are absolutely not, if I was dating someone like Harry, I can guarantee you would be well aware of it, seeing how I would more than likely never shut up about it," Louis informed him, doing his best to not think too deeply on Niall's comments. He couldn't get his hopes up about that sort of thing. He instead focused on his textbook, and the diagram of a blood cell.
"You're just not aware that you're dating him, yet. Don't worry, you'll come around soon. I'm sure it will make him very happy," Niall insisted.
Louis ignored him, and stared harder at the diagram. Maybe he could absorb all the knowledge just by the sheer force of which he was using to avoid thinking of other things.
It had been three months, and Harry was still single. After living with Harry for that long, and becoming as close to him as Louis had gotten, he knew that was weird. Harry wasn't the type of person who was fit for being single. He was extremely attractive, which made finding someone to date easy, and on top of that he was hilarious and charming. No one stood a chance against him.
He was also the biggest romantic. Those were his own terms for it. Louis just called him a hopeless sap. He made Louis watch romcoms frequently, and more often than not Louis would look over at Harry during the movie's couple's first kiss, and would find him crying.
Harry Styles, in Louis' professional opinion, was meant for being in a relationship. It made no sense why he had spend three months absolutely single. It was their first year of college, the prime time for meeting and mingling with new people, and Harry had not even once brought someone home in a romantic sense, or went home with anyone else. It was a mystery to Louis.
Niall thought he knew why, but Louis was certain he was wrong, as always.
"It's because his heart belongs to you," Niall said over the phone.
"I don't even know why I called you, you're no help," Louis said, hanging up on him. He decided instead to go to his neighbor, Liam, who was kind, understanding, and a good friend to both Louis and Harry. He had to be more help than Niall was.
"Why is Harry single?" Louis asked in greeting, walking in as soon as Liam opened the door to his room. Louis was happy to note Liam's roommate wasn't home, and immediately sat down on his bed.
"Uh, what?" Liam asked, clearly surprised, and still standing at the door, which was wide open.
"He could find someone to date him in seconds, and fall happily in love like he's always dreamed of. The school is so big, it would be so easy for him to find the perfect person," Louis explained.
Liam walked over to his own bed and sat down. He looked at the ceiling, eyebrows furrowed together. It seemed like he was actually trying to come up with a good answer, and Louis appreciated it. Much better than Niall's useless blabber.
"I think," Liam finally said, "It's because he already found the right person, but he's just letting them catch up."
Louis' heart stopped. What did Liam know that he didn't?
"Who is it?" Louis dared to ask. Harry deserved to be happy, and Louis would go knock some sense into this person, if he had to. Maybe it'd be easier to squash his feelings if Harry was taken. He could put them aside for Harry's well-being. He'd be willing to do it, as long as Harry was as happy as he deserved to be.
"Louis, come on now," Liam said, mouth in a taunt line.
"Am I supposed to know?" Louis asked, throwing his hands out.
"If you weren't so oblivious, yes."
Louis sighed, "You're just as much help as Niall is."
"I'm offended by that, Niall wasn't the one who brought you pizza the other night," Liam said.
Louis flopped over on the bed, sighing again.
"Liam said you were acting strange the other day, are you okay?" Harry asked, rubbing Louis' back.
Louis leaned into the touch, and rested his head on Harry's shoulder. "Liam didn't sleep for two days last week, he's no judge."
"You know that's not what he meant," Harry said.
Louis nodded slightly, and pulled on the edge of Harry's shirt, "I'm fine, H, don't worry. More importantly, how are you?"
Harry continued to rub his hand in circles on Louis' back, "That's not more important at all, you know that, but I am doing excellent. I'm here with you, aren't I? No better place to be."
"Kiss ass," Louis mumbled, the back rub lulling him to sleep.
Harry laughed lightly, "Maybe, but it's only the truth."
It was a strange comment to make, but Louis was too tired to decipher it.
The next day, he went straight to Niall's room after class. No one answered the door, so Louis decided to sit down in front of it. Niall would have to come back at some point.
Louis got lost in thought, and didn't notice Niall until he was standing in front of him.
"Before you say anything about Harry, let me repeat that he is head over heels for you, and would agree to date you the instant you asked," Niall said before Louis even got a chance to say anything.
Niall was almost always wrong, but for once Louis really hoped he was right.
It was two days before winter break, and Louis couldn't wait any longer. His feelings for Harry had grown so strong, into something huge and unbelievable, that he couldn't live with then being rampant during all of break. He had to do something before it was too late.
Louis finished his final exam a couple hours before Harry, and spent the extra time pacing his room, thinking of what he could say.
How do you tell your roommate who quickly turned best friend that you've been at least half in love with them since you met? How do you do that and still manage to save your friendship? He considered asking Niall or Liam, but it was really something he had to do on his own.
Harry got back earlier than expected, and Louis had no plan.
"Hey, Lou, how did your exam go?" Harry asked, setting his bag down on his chair.
"It was fine, but that's not important. The important this is that I'm pretty sure I'm kind of in love with you, and have been for too long. Since I first saw you I was breathless, and getting to know you only made it that much worse, and by worse I mean absolutely amazing. I don't know what I'm expecting this conversation to lead to but I really just needed to let you know right now," Louis blurted out.
He had expected shock, anger, or maybe discomfort to come from his confession. He prepared himself for anything along those lines. He was not expecting Harry's entire face to light up, or for his dimples to make a stunning appearance.
"That actually works out well, I've been planning our first date since I looked up your Facebook profile during the summer. By this point, it's got to be a masterpiece. It'll be the best first date of your life," Harry promised.
Louis took two seconds to digest his words before he flung himself at Harry, and wrapped his arms around him tightly. He pressed his face into Harry's neck, and Harry's own face was in his hair. Louis took deep breaths, soaking in the pure Harry smell. It was amazing.
Harry placed a kiss on Louis' forehead, then his cheekbones, then his cheek, his jawbone, even his chin, before he went back up to Louis' mouth level, and hovered a breath away.
"Haven't we waited long enough?" Louis said, finishing the distance himself.
It turned out Harry's lips were even nicer to kiss than they appeared to be.
Niall was right, just that one time. Louis was sure it would never happen again. Harry, on the other hand, was a bit more optimistic. He had gotten his boyfriend partially because of Niall being right, and he had high hopes for the future.