Call Me Baby: Chapter 8
Harry fidgeted the inseam of his trousers, eying his friend nervously. Niall stared back, an expectant eyebrow raised, and just sipped his coffee. Harry glanced away, looking around the crowded café they were in, and fiddled with the handle of his own mug.
“Are you going to tell me what’s got you so worked up, or are we just going to sit here?” Niall finally demanded, sounding fed-up with his friend’s silence. Harry cleared his throat, ruffling his curls as he took in a calming breath of air.
“So, here’s the thing,” he started, putting his hands flat on the table, “I’ve got to tell you something. Something important. And I’m a bit nervous, because I love you, and I don’t want to ruin our friendship-”
“Harry, just spit it out!” Niall cried, throwing his hands up in exasperation and nearly knocking over his coffee. Harry winced, clearing his throat again.
“Right, er, sorry,” he mumbled, “What I’ve got to tell you is… I’ve kind of got a crush on Louis.”
Niall stared at him for a second, an incredulous look on his face, before he burst out laughing. He really did knock over his coffee this time, banging his fists on the table, and yelping as the hot drink spilled over his lap. He and Harry scrambled for some napkins, wiping up the mess as best they could. They sat back down, and Niall chuckled some more.
*~*~*~*
The girls had two weeks off for Christmas, starting on the twenty-third of December. Harry and Louis had scrambled for gifts, having Anne watch the girls while the two of them went out on the twenty-second. Louis liked shopping with Harry-it was much better than shopping had been in years passed. They had gone to the mall, wandering through the shops in search of toys and things to buy for the girls. They had ended up consulting with a random mother, asking her opinion on several things they couldn’t decide on.
It’d been damn near impossible to get the presents into the house without the girls seeing, and Harry had all but collapsed afterwards. The girls had piled on him, giggling as he groaned and shouted for Louis to help him. Louis had just laughed from the doorway, ignoring Harry’s pleas.
Harry discovered quickly that Louis did not understand the basic principles of wrapping gifts. By the third terribly wrapped present, Harry had exasperatedly told Louis to “just sit there and hand me the tape and scissors when I ask you to”.
On the twenty-fourth, after the girls were in bed, Harry and Louis began to put the presents under the tree, grouping them by name. Harry laughed softly as Louis tried to pull one of the larger presents over to the tree.
“Lou,” Harry whispered, “Lou, let me do the big ones.” Louis glared good-naturedly at him.
“You like the big ones, don’t you, Harry,” Louis teased quietly. Harry snorted, rolling his eyes and going over to help him.
“You’ve still got your cast, loony, you can’t move the big ones,” Harry told him gently, carefully pulling the gift out of Louis’ hands, “I don’t want you getting hurt again.” Louis didn’t complain again after that.
*~*~*~*
Harry groaned as the bed shifted underneath him. A small foot landed near is rib, and he yelped, jerking away. He grumbled, curling further into Louis, pressing his face into his friend’s neck and tightening his embrace. Louis mumbled sleepily above him, nuzzling the top of Harry’s head and shoving his hands deeper in to Harry’s hair. Harry sighed, pressing closer.
“Daddy!”
“Get up!”
“Don’t go back to sleep!”
“Louis, wake him up!”
“Louis, wake up!”
The bed shifted repeatedly as the girls jumped around them. Daisy fell forward, bracing herself on Harry’s back, then shaking him, rolling him back and forth. He groaned again, clinging tighter to Louis and tensing his muscles in an attempt to stay put. Phoebe let out a little wail, falling to her knees behind Louis and hitting his back gently.
“What time is it?” Louis grumbled. Daisy cheered at the sign of life, and Phoebe answered him.
“It’s seven three six, Louis,” she told him cheerfully. Harry whimpered, trying desperately to get closer to Louis than he already was.
“It’s not even eight in the morning,” he cried into Louis neck. Daisy and Phoebe exchanged incredulous looks.
“But it’s Christmas!” They exclaimed in unison. Louis cracked an eyelid, lifting his head slightly to look at Daisy. Harry moaned in protest, tugging Louis’ head in an attempt to get him to lie back down. Louis stroked Harry’s hair absentmindedly, and Harry sighed contentedly, his demanding grip on Louis’ head loosening so his hand just rested at the base of his scull, toying idly with Louis’ hair.
“Why don’t you go wake up your grandma Anne?” Louis suggested sleepily, finally dropping his head back down next to Harry’s. Harry made a noise of agreement, scooting a little closer to Louis again. Daisy rolled her eyes at her twin, and the two of them clambered off the bed and scampered over to the door.
Louis sighed into Harry’s hair, sleep tugging at his conscious. He really didn’t want to move-he was warm, and comfortable, and safe here, cocooned in blankets and wrapped around Harry. Christmas could wait.
*~*~*~*
As it turned out, Christmas couldn’t wait, and Louis soon found himself laying with his head in Harry’s lap as the girls started sorting through the presents. He felt Harry yawn above him, and he chuckled sleepily at his friend. He watched blearily as his sisters opened their gifts, excited squeals and laughter filling the room. The girls weren’t content just opening their gifts, though. They wanted Harry and Louis to participate. So Louis sat up, and grabbed his present for Harry. Harry took it from him, shooting him a smile. Louis watched anxiously as Harry’s long fingers peeled back the paper. When he saw what was inside the poorly wrapped package, he laughed delightedly.
“Lou!” he giggled, “what even?”
“I couldn’t think of what to get you,” he grinned, “I decided on something from the heart.” He patted his heart sarcastically. Harry laughed again, leaning over and hugging him. Louis grinned hugging him back tightly. Flick made a disgruntled sound.
“What is it?” She demanded. Harry pulled back from Louis, turning the frame around to reveal the crayon picture of Harry that Louis had drawn for their contest. Only Louis had drawn himself in, too, and it looked like one of those child’s drawings of their family. Flick raised her eyebrow, unsure how she should respond. Harry put the picture down carefully, smiling softly at it, before reaching forward and retrieving Louis’ present.
“You’re going to show me up now, aren’t you?” Louis teased, “Look, the wrapping’s even better than mine!”
“That’s because you refused to listen to me when I tried to show you how to wrap gifts,” Harry told him exasperatedly, “Just open it, loony.” So Louis did, pulling back the paper on the box. He snorted.
“You got me the Twilight Saga DVD box set?” Louis asked, with sarcastic joy.
“Well, I figured that you might want to watch the movies and compare to the books,” Harry teased. Louis poked his tongue out at his friend.
“Only if you’ll watch it with me,” Louis told him. Harry chuckled.
“Deal.”
*~*~*~*
Liam and Zayn arrived for Christmas dinner at four. Louis and Harry were in the kitchen, cooking together-making more mess than food. Sean and Niall arrived an hour later, and the dinner still wasn’t ready. At that point, all of the girls were complaining about being hungry, so Anne rolled her eyes and marched into the kitchen. Upon entering, she stopped in her tracks, astonished at the sight before her. Harry and Louis looked up, Harry’s arms around Louis’ waist as though keeping him from running away, Louis’ hands wrapped around Harry’s hands as though they weren’t quite sure if they wanted Harry’s hands to stay, or if they wanted them to remove themselves. They had huge smiles on their faces, and were covered in different foodstuffs. She shook her head, muttering “I don’t want to know”, and promptly kicked them out of the kitchen to go shower. It was a different kind of walk of shame, walking through the living room, where their friends and the girls were, covered in food and wearing sheepish smiles.
They didn’t bother with an actual shower, since it would take too long, and Louis didn’t want to have to wrap up his cast. They used rags to wipe their faces, and Louis took special care with Harry’s curls. They changed clothes and walked back downstairs, where Anne had some how managed to get dinner on the table in the time they were gone. They sat down side by side, grinning into their peas for the entire dinner. They were so preoccupied by each other, that they didn’t notice their friends smirking at each other across the table.
When they had all finished their dinner they headed back into the living room. However, Zayn stopped in the doorway a moment, causing Harry and Louis to stop behind him. He rushed over to Liam a moment later, grinning evilly at his two friends. Niall laughed heartily.
“Guys,” he said, “Look up.”
Harry’s stomach dropped, already knowing what was about to happen. He winced looking up to see the mistletoe. Louis stared at it for a moment before lowering his eyes to meet Harry’s. Harry leaned forward, pecking him on the cheek in an attempt to avoid an awkward situation.
“Oh come on, mate!” Zayn laughed, “That won’t do!”
“Yeah,” Liam added, “Give him a real kiss!”
Harry looked at Louis nervously, unsure how he’d feel about it. Louis smiled apologetically at his friend, shrugging his shoulders.
“Don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with,” Louis told him quietly, so only Harry could hear.
Harry swallowed hard, his eyes flicking down briefly to Louis’ lips. Louis’ tongue flicked out, swiping across his bottom lip, and Harry just couldn’t help himself. He surged forward, gripping Louis’ face tightly as he pushed his lips onto Louis’. It was brief, nothing more than a peck, but it was enough. Harry pulled back, leaning his forehead against Louis’. His eyes searched his for some sign that he was upset, or angry, but Louis just patted Harry’s hip.
“It’s okay,” he whispered, “It’s fine.”
“We’re still friends, right?” Harry asked, trying to hide the desperation from his voice. “This doesn’t change anything?”
“No, Harry,” Louis told him gently, his thumb brushing lightly over the exposed skin of Harry’s hip, “This doesn’t change anything. We’re still friends.”
And with that, they separated, needing a little space after what had just happened. Harry sat by Niall trying desperately to act normally, forcing a laugh and trying not to glance over at Louis. Louis settled himself next to Zayn, answering absently to any questions that came his way, but focusing more on the inward sensations Harry’s kiss had caused. The conclusion he came to was frightening, and he wasn’t sure was he was supposed to do about it.
Somewhere along the way, Louis had fallen in love with Harry. Boy, was he screwed.
Continued here