Chapter Text
Louis looked at the rearview mirror for the hundredth time in the last hour. He couldn't believe his luck. His four-year-old daughter had been fast asleep pretty much the entire ride from their old house to the new one.
Of course he'd timed this perfectly. You don't go on a car trip with a young child without some planning. It would be reckless, really. With only thirty more minutes to go, he took the chance and turned on the radio on, in a very low volume, just enough to distract him from the boring, empty road.
He looked one more time at the fluff of light brown hair peeking from the small purple fleece comforter that was her faithful companion for any trip outside the city. He hummed with the unfamiliar song and tapped his fingers on the wheel as he approached the outskirts of the new town they were going to live in.
The thing was, Louis couldn't stand London anymore. The same things that attracted him to it in the first place – the people, the nightlife, the sheer size of it – were now the same things that made him run from it.
He hated his work commute, having to leave his daughter at a daycare after preschool until he was done for the day, he hated the traffic, the pollution and how he had to get out of his way to get his child to play in a patch of grass.
He finally snapped when there was an attempt of a break-in. They were – thanfully – out of the house. He kept thanking every god he has ever heard of that on this particular day he and Lilly had decided to take a long walk to her favorite park. In a matter of a couple of weeks he'd arranged for them to move to a town that wasn't too far from London, but far enough that he felt safe.
It reminded him of his own home town where he grew up in the way the streets were organized, but it was much smaller and with much more green. He rolled the window down a bit, not too much to let the heat in, and fuck, he could smell how the air was different. Feeling giddy with excitement, he followed the GPS instructions until he cornered the street he recognized from
Google Street View. Slowing the car, he admired the pretty houses along the street.
They all had grass in front of them, but he wouldn't consider them proper lawns. He knew they all had backyards, which was something he'd specifically asked the real-estate agent for. And he'd been precious, sending him picture after picture, organizing things neatly in a spreadsheet. It took him less than a day to decide on the house he was now nearing with his car, the moving truck following him right behind.
He turned the car off and climbed out silently, admiring the construction in front of him. He couldn't believe that the rent he paid in London for a tiny flat was enough to rent a house like this. Two-stories, three bedrooms (one a suite) and two bathrooms, large kitchen/living room, laundry room and a backyard with an actual tree in it.
He'd looked at it from a variety of different angles, the realtor kind enough to take more pictures when he was almost certain the house would be the one. He liked the way he could keep an eye on Lillian from the kitchen while she played both in the backyard and in the living room. The whole second floor was carpeted, and he could already see himself using one of the rooms as his office – he surely wasn't planning on another child.
The red apparent bricks called to him, just like the white windowsills did. Slowly, he pulled open the back passenger door and gently pulled the comforter out of his daughter's face.
“Wake up, love,” he said in a soft voice.
“Are we there yet?” She asked, tiny voice heavy with sleep and eyes she could barely keep open.
“Yeah, we're home,” he said and stepped out of the way so she could see the house.
She blinked the sleep from her eyes and rubbed them with closed fists. “Looks pretty, daddy,” she said and Louis smiled at her. “May I get down?” She asked and Louis motioned to unbuckle her from her booster seat, but she whined and he stepped back, letting her do it. She did it without much of a fuss, and soon was jumping out of the car and onto the pavement.
“There's Mr. Phill,” Louis said and grabbed his daughter's hand, walking them in the direction of the realtor who was approaching them.
“Good afternoon, Tomlinsons,” he said in a cheerful tone,” So nice to finally meet you,” he said and shook Louis' hand. “You too, princess,” he said and crouched in front of her. The man was as friendly as could be, and still she hid herself behind Louis' leg.
“Sorry, she's a little shy around strangers,” he apologized for her, but didn't make her greet the realtor.
“Hopefully we won't be strangers for very long. My family lives in the neighborhood, so anything you need I'm just a phone call away,” he said with a polite smile. “Come on in, I'll talk to the moving guys and we'll get you settled in no time.”
Louis took the keys the man offered him and guided his daughter inside. She took off running from room to room while he walked around slowly. “Wait for me to go upstairs,” he told her and walked into the kitchen. It had all the basic appliances they would need, like a stove and a refrigerator, but even empty it felt cozy.
He was happy to see for himself how much natural light flooded the space. No need for turning the lights on during the day, that was for sure. He went to the laundry room to find his daughter crouching behind the washing machine – an old thing the previous owners didn't bother taking with them when they moved.
“I wonder where Lilly is,” he said out loud and heard a giggle from where she was hiding. “I'll have to look for her in the kitchen again,” he said and smiled even before she crawled to him and grabbed his ankles.
“Boo!” She yelled and he faked a scream. Putting his hand on his chest, he picked her up and held her against him.
“You scared me,” he said as she squirmed in a fit of giggles. He dug the tips of hs fingers on her sides and she was thrashing about so vigorously he had to put her down. She didn't appreciate being carried much nowadays anyway.
Out of breath, she adjusted the t-shirt around her waist. “Silly daddy.”
“Come, let's see upstairs,” he said and she held his hand as they climbed up the steps to the second floor. She ran from him the second he let her hand go, going into one of the rooms.
Louis followed her and found himself in the master bedroom. It was spacious and had three windows facing different directions. Two more than in his old bedroom. He went to the window to his right and realized he could see the backyard of the house next to theirs.
“They have a pool, daddy,” Lilly told him excitedly. “We have to make friends with them,” she said, and he ran a hand through her hair as he cringed a little. He clearly needed to work more on the whole friendship thing with her. “Is this my room?” She asked as she went to the bathroom, climbing inside the bathtub.
Louis could cry from the idea of having his own, private bathroom. The cabinet under the sink was old and chipped, another courtesy left from the previous home owners, but he was in no hurry to replace it. The mirror over the sink only had a small crack to it. It added charm, really.
“No, peanut. Let's get to yours,” he said and they walked to the next one. It was perfect for his office so he just guided them past it and to the next one, located right in front of his office. He didn't want his daughter to see it and want to switch. “This is your room,” he said, and the girl twirled around the space. It was as big as his own bedroom back in London.
“It's so big,” she said, going over to the window, “but I can't see the pool from here,” she said, a frown forming on her pretty face.
“Good, we don't want to spy on our neighbors, it's not polite,” he said and took a peek outside the window. He could see the street from where he was. “You'll love it when you're a teen, perfect for sneaking out,” he said with a smile.
“What's sneaking out?” She asked and he shook his head.
“Nothing. Let's go find Phill,” he said and they went downstairs.
Phill was talking to the moving company men, and Louis awkwardly instructed them on where to put the furniture and boxes. He didn't like to stand still while other people did heavy work, but he had to keep an eye on his daughter, who was running up and down the stairs like a maniac.
He never considered himself to be over protective, but the door was wide open and she could sneak out at any moment. It took less than an hour for the men to unload the truck and place the furniture where he thought looked best.
It didn't help that his couch and armchair were too big for the spacious living room, or that his bed disappeared in his bedroom. The only place that looked like it was somewhat planned was Lilly's room. She needed a new playrug, but other than that, her small bed and wardrobe fit the space well. The chest of drawers was pushed far on a wall, just like she wanted it, so there was more room to play.
He could worry about new furniture later. He was more than happy with how things turned out.
Louis thanked the men and Phill profusely before tipping them generously and closing the door. His daughter waved a shy goodbye to the realtor and sighed when he closed the door.
“Are you hungry?” He asked her and she shook her head. “Sure?” She nodded, this time. She was finally out of a phase of picky eating, but her appetite seemed to have diminished. He wasn't too worried; she always asked for a snack when she was hungry and was eating fine during meals. As long as it wasn't green or mushy, of course. It hurt his feelings just a little, because homemade mash was kind of his specialty.
“May I go play in the backyard?” She asked him, eyes pleading.
He grinned widely at her. “Go at it, love.”
She pushed the glass door to the backyard open, using both her hands and all her strenght, and the first thing she did was run directly to the tree. Louis watched as she felt the rough bark of the tree with her small, short fingers. Part of him wished she was adventurous enough to try and climb it, and part of him tried to ignore the images of her falling and breaking a bone.
“You brought this on yourself, Tommo,” he mumbled to himself and started going through the boxes in the kitchen to start putting things away.
He had more space than things, and the lower cabinets were completely bare except for a few plastic cups and plates for Lilly to be able to reach whenever she wanted them. He stared at the empty fridge and tried to remember if they'd driven by a grocery store.
A little over twenty minutes later she came inside and asked for her favorite toy. After fifteen minutes of unsuccessful searching, the pandemonium was inevitable. They couldn't find the rather big rainbow colored teddy, the one she packed herself, in any of the boxes.
“I want my toys, daddy!” She screamed through fat tears, but Louis had searched for them everywhere.
“We'll look for them tomorrow morning, you have plenty of other toys to play with until we find them.”
“No!” Was all she screamed. “I want my bear, find it!”
“No attitude, Lilly,” he warned her and she just screamed louder. “I'll give you one chance to calm yourself down before I put you on time out.”
She cried harder at that and Louis sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he'd put on a serious expression on his face. “Go sit on the armchair for four minutes.” He ordered.
She whined and more tears fell from her eyes, but she obeyed him. It broke his heart to see her marching into the living room and climbing on the chair, tears streaming down her face.
While rummaging through the boxes trying to find the toys, Louis had found her “time out bottle”, an old soda bottle he'd filled with glicerin and colorful glitter. He grabbed it and shook it vigorously before handing it to his daughter, who was still sniffling loudly. He set the timer in the kitchen to four minutes and put it on the coffee table in front of her.
“When it beeps, you come into the kitchen and we'll talk.”
He was making his way back into the kitchen, looking through his phone for any take-out number Google could find near him when the doorbell rang. He walked past his daughter and she was entranced by the glitter settling down to the end of the bottle.
He was expecting an old lady to be welcoming him into the neighborhood, or maybe a stay at home mum or dad. What he wasn't expecting was the the most handsome man he'd ever seen in his entire life to be on the other side of the door.
His eyes were the first thing Louis noticed, green and welcoming. His smile was the second, perfectly white teeth. The third was the dimple on his cheek, showing because of his wide grin. The fourth was his hair, long and dark and curly. Lastly, he noticed the sharp line of his jaw and cheekbones. Then, he remembered to breathe.
“Hello,” the stranger said, and fuck, his voice matched his appearance. “I'm Harry,” he said. His voice was like thick honey, making Louis' brain all fuzzy.
“Hi,” he squeaked out. “I'm Louis, nice to meet you.”
The man balanced the glass dish in one hand and shook Louis with the other. His hand was icy cold, and Louis shivered.
“Saw you moving in, thought I'd welcome you,” he said, all warm smiles and flirty glances. Louis had never been this attracted to someone this fast in his entire adult life. “Brought you something for dinner. Nothing's more stressful than worrying about dinner when you're drowning in boxes and wondering how you could accumulate so much crap,” he said, matter of factly.
That got a giggle out of Louis. “Something like that, yeah. Thank you so much,” he said, taking the dish from the man's hand, feeling the cold emanating from it.
“Just pop it in the oven for half an hour,” the man explained and rubbed his hands together.
“You shouldn't have gone through all this trouble,” he said, honestly impressed with the man's kindness.
“I had already had it made, no trouble at all. It's a vegetable casserole. Saw your license plate from London and figured you could be a vegetarian.”
“I'm not,” Louis said with a giggle and Harry smiled at him. He could faintly hear the beep of the timer and then his daughter screaming for him.
“Daddy?”
Harry's face completely changed. “Oh, is that a child?” He sounded almost hopeful.
“Yeah, that's my daughter, Lillian,” he said, unable to contain the pride in his voice and stepped aside.
Harry peeked inside and grinned. “Can I meet her?”
Louis blinked. “Yeah, sure. Come in,” he said and the man followed him inside.
His daughter was looking at his curiously. Her face was red and wet from her tears, but she had calmed down to silent sniffles.
“This is our neighboor, Harry. Come say hi to him.”
The little girl looked at Harry and gave him a shy smile. He kneeled in front of the armchair and held out a hand. “I'm Harry, what's your name?”
“Lilly,” she replied, softly. She looked at his hand and took it in her own small ones. Louis' eyes widened.
“Like the flower?” Harry asked and she nodded, happily. “It's very nice to meet you, Lilly,” he shook her hand up and down as far as her arms could go, and all her bad mood was gone in an instant, dissolved in a big smile.
“What do we say?” Louis urged her patiently.
“It's nice to meet you, too,” she recited. Harry grinned wider.
“What's that in your hands?” He asked, pointing to the bottle full of glitter.
“It's my time out bottle. I watch it when I'm in time out.”
Harry's brow furrowed. “Oh no, why were you on time out?”
“Because I was being sassy to daddy,” she replied and Harry snorted. He pulled himself together quickly enough.
“Oh, we should never do that,” he said and she shook her head.
“She was upset because we can't find her toys. We've looked in every box there is, and we can't find them,” Louis explained as he settled the casserole on the counter.
“Have you checked the one in the car?” Harry said, standing up to his full height. “I saw it when I was walking here, in the back seat.”
Louis and his daughter exchanged a look and brought their palms to their foreheads in an identical frustrated gesture.
“It's in the car!” She squealed with joy. Louis remembered now. They'd put it in the car for extra safe-keeping. So much for that.
“You've just saved the day, thank you,” Louis told him with a smile and a pat on his shoulder.
“Let's get it, daddy,” she urged him, running and picking up the keys, handing them to her father.
“Let's go,” he said and Harry followed them outside. It was completely dark out and Louis noticed Harry was holding her hand while he went around the car and pulled the box out with a grunt. All her favorite books were in there, too.
She was jumping from one foot to the other, barely containing her excitement. She followed Louis inside and settled herself on the floor, picking every item out of the box. Harry stood at the door, watching her with a smile.
“She looks just like you,” he said to Louis, conversationally. “Exact same eyes.”
“Really? People say we don't look much alike,” Louis said, surprised.
“Nah, she has your features. Lighter hair, though. Her mother's?”
Louis nodded, uncomfortable. “Her mother is not in the picture, though,” he said, simply.
Harry's expression changed. “Oh, I'm sorry I brought it up.”
Louis waved him a hand. “Don't worry about it. Listen, I'll heat the casserole up now, would you like to join us for dinner?”
“Thanks for the offer, but I'll let you two to it. I'll drop by tomorrow with lunch, so don't worry about it either.”
“I can't let you do that,” Louis said. Standing so close to the man, he could see how tall he actually was. He swallowed dry.
“Nonsense, it'll be my pleasure. Is she a picky eater? I have some chicken and fresh eggs,” Harry suggested and Louis could not believe his kindness.
“We're working on that, but chicken will be more than fine. But you have to stay and eat with us,” he insisted. What the hell was he doing?
“Deal. I'll see you tomorrow, then,” Harry said and Louis nodded. “Goodbye Lilly,” he half shouted to the girl in the living room.
“Bye, Harry,” she replied with an excited wave and went back to her toys. She hugged the rainbow colored bear tight to her chest.
“Thank you again, good night,” Louis said and watched as Harry walked away from the door. He watched, curiously, to see where the man would head. Much to his surprise, he walked inside the house next door. He was the one with the pool.
Grinning, Louis closed the door and locked it, turning his attention back to his daughter.
“I”m sorry I was rude to you, daddy,” she said and walked to him. He got down to her level and hugged her tight.
“Thanks for apologizing, love,” he said to her and smiled. “Come see what's for dinner. Harry was kind enough to bring us something to eat, we should write him a thank you note, yeah?”
The girl nodded and followed Louis to the kitchen, scrunching her nose when she saw the broccoli in the pasta. “Can we take it out? I don't like it,” she said and Louis agreed. He'd learned long ago to pick his battles. She was still eating corn and ham and olives and tomatoes, so he didn't insist.
It turned out that Harry was an amazing cook. It was the best casserole he'd had in his life, even counting his mum's, and Lilly agreed with him whole heartedly. Louis had cut a few pieces of broccoli into tiny pieces and she'd eaten them without noticing, making yummy noises as she gobbled down her entire plate.
She was tired enough not to put up a fight when Louis announced it was time for a bath and then bed. She was giddy to be taking a bath in her dad's bathtub, in his own bathroom, that she barely whined when he washed her hair. She was surprisingly easy with baths, even though Louis was the only one she allowed to give her one. Not even her grandmother and aunts were allowed to do it.
“What pajamas do you wanna wear tonight?” He asked, going over to her chest of drawers and picking up two choices for her.
“The froggy ones,” she replied after serious contemplation. It was an important decision, after all.
Louis laid down in her teeny tiny bed and waited as she slowly dressed herself. He only had to help her button the last button up, and soon she was snuggled against him with her book of choice for the night.
“This one,” she proudly announced, handing him her favorite Dr. Seuss one.
Louis rolled his eyes. They'd been reading that one for weeks now, and she had the beginning memorized already. Still, he said nothing and patiently read it for her, tracing the words with his fingers so she could see them.
She listened attentively for almost ten minutes before her head rolled to the side. Louis smiled and kissed the top of her head. She smelled sweet, of peaches and baby powder. He couldn't bring himself to change her body wash, the one he'd been using on her since she was a baby. Slowly, he untangled her legs wrapped around him.
“Daddy?” She called softly. “Will you check for monsters?” She asked him and Louis sighed.
He had no idea where she'd gotten this from, they'd never watched or read books with scary monsters in their stories, but she still made him check under the bed and inside the closet every single night. Some days it didn't help at all and she'd crawl into his bed in the middle of the night, crying and scared.
“No monster here,” he said after he checked. She seemed convinced, already falling asleep again. “Good night, love. Sleep well, I'll see you tomorrow. Love you,” he said and she mumbled in response. He kissed her cheek and tucked her in, making sure her stuffed bear was close by if she wanted it during the night.
He turned the night light on and turned off the lights, leaving the door slightly ajar. He'd been apprehensive all day about her finding it difficult to sleep in a different room than the one she'd slept in all her life, but he was more confident now. Maybe she was just tired, he thought.
He went to his bedroom and stripped of his clothes, dirty and smelly from the move. It had been a long day. He showered, amazed at the delicious pressure coming from the shower head and put on some boxers.
The clean sheets were cool against his skin and he sighed in pleasure as he settled himself down. He called his mother and chatted with her for a bit, telling her about the house and promising to have Lilly call the next day.
It was barely nine o'clock when he hung up and decided to call it a day. He needed a good night's sleep, they both did. Half their things were still unpacked and his back was already sore. He was almost falling asleep when he heard the distinct sound of splashing water.
Without thinking, he got up from the bed and went to the window. Oh.
Harry was swimming. Honest to God swimming, making laps around the pool, back and forth, barely coming up for air. Louis gaped when he pulled himself out of the water after a good ten minutes. Jesus fuck, Harry was fit. So goddamnn fit that Louis whined at the back of his throat.
The strong light in his backyard was on and Louis could see his tattooed torso. Two birds near his collarbones, what appeared to be a butterfly on his stomach – Louis didn't miss the pun in that – and a pair of laurels right by the V on his hips. His legs went on forever, and Louis didn't even want to think about how perfectly round his bum looked in those ridiculous yellow trunks. His mouth watered as Harry twisted his hair and rinsed the water out and he got a good look of his back.
He went to close the curtains to realize he hadn't put them up yet. With a groan, he marched back to bed and forced himself to fall asleep. He didn't need this kind of distraction in his life, he honestly didn't. His plate was full enough as it was, and Louis absolutely did not need a complication. It was still difficult for him to fall asleep that night.