(no subject)
Title: Keep Smiling - epilogue.
Pairing: Harry/Louis
Summary: Prompted by oh-whoalord: It’s not easy starting a new school, half way through the academic year. It’s not easy having a secret, and it’s certainly not easy when you realize that you’re helplessly crushing on the seemingly most heterosexual guy in your class.
AN: Thanks to my lovely Beta, Allyssa.
-
“I'm nervous.” Louis admitted, wringing his hands together as he tapped his foot impatiently. “Are you nervous? No, of course you're not. Why would you be nervous? Shit, I don't think I can do this. Harry, what if-”
“Louis,” Harry cut him off, leaning forwards to kiss him silent, his slightly chiselled hands framing the other boys face as he whispered an “It's going to be okay.” into his mouth.
Really, Louis knew he was over-reacting a little. His mum was the most fantastic person he had ever known and she had always said he was her best friend, so why was he so nervous? It wasn't as though she was going to disown him or anything. Unless- No. Louis thought to himself. Cut that out. She is not going to disown you for liking another guy. Stop being an idiot.
“Positive thinking, boo.” Harry murmured softly, smiling. The nickname rolled off his tongue so easily that for a moment, the older boy didn't really register its origin. But only for a moment.
Louis groaned, closing his eyes for a split second as he did so. “I'm really going to kill Zayn for telling you that, you know.”
Lunch time had been better than a lot of the ones he'd previously experienced. It had been nice, lovely even- if you wanted to use fancy words like that- to have two people from different parts of his life getting along together as though they'd known each other for years. It had been as though, slowly but surely, everything was falling into place. That was until the prick he called a best friend decided to inform his boyfriend of his charming childhood name, and he knew Harry would use it against him eventually.
Eventually, as it turned out, had come way too soon.
“Oh, I know.” Harry grinned, idly playing with a few strands of hair on the nape of Louis' neck. “Remind me to thank him one of these days... do you think I can get him to spill more of your secrets?” he winked.
“Noo,” Louis whined, his playful side coming out with a small pout that Harry so desperately wanted to kiss away. “Zayn wouldn't do that to me!”
Now, they both knew that wasn't completely true. Zayn had developed a fondness towards Harry during the short time they had got to know each other. So much so that the younger lad had only to flash his dimples (Curse those gorgeous dimples!) and Zayn would tell him anything. After all, Louis had learned the hard way that nobody could say no to Harry. Not even if it meant giving him the last Rolo; which, okay. Louis totally didn't mind doing. Not when he got a snog out of it.
The tip of Harry's tongue darted out, wetting his lips that had become slightly dry during their little exchange. Speaking of snogs... Louis thought, shifting forwards in his seat a little. But then:
“Are you ready?”
They couldn't prolong this any longer. Someone was going to see Louis' car parked on the curb sooner or later, hell they'd been sitting in it for the last twenty minutes after removing their seatbelts, pretending that they weren't so damn nervous about going into the old, detached house, and Harry was pretty sure Mrs Fletcher from across the road was standing by her window spying on them, if the twitching of the living room curtain was anything to go by. He was tempted to go over there and tell her ever so politely to shove off, she probably had enough gossip from the state of Louis' car, Mary- he thought to himself, fighting back a smile - to fuel her book club for a month, but he somehow refrained, knowing that even though he didn't have her as a neighbour, Louis did. That thought alone was enough to send a wave of sympathy for the other boy through him.
Louis nodded- albeit a hesitant jerk of the head, but still a nod. “Yeah.” It was now or never. "Yeah, come on. Let's get this over with.”
Harry smiled in encouragement, opening his door and stepping out, moving to meet Louis by the gate. The soft, electric beep let him know that the car had been locked and he tried not to grin too brightly when he felt Louis' fingers slide hesitantly between his own. He gave his hand a squeeze, a silent but reassuring gesture that told Louis “I'm here.” and let himself be pulled along to the front door, swallowing his own nerves.
This was it.
“Mum, we're home!” Kicking off his shoes, Harry had to admire the evenness to the other's voice. He certainly was a good actor. “Mum?”
A slightly muffled “Kitchen, love!” could be heard from further on in the house - The kitchen, obviously. Thought Harry, a little sarcastically. He was nervous, okay? - and neither boy really had time to think about what they were going to say before Louis was leading them through the hallway and down to where his mother was, a determined pace in his walk.
The moment that they were through the threshold, Jay looked up, smiling. “Oh, hello Harry, dear. I didn't know if we'd be seeing you today. Louis was terribly mopey over the weekend, really angsty. I was scared you'd fallen out.”
Harry couldn't help but smile a little. So Louis had been just as down as he had been. That was... nice. (Or lovely, if you wanted to use fancy words like that.)
“Mum, we wanted to tell you somethi- I was not angsty!” Louis protested, his mothers words finally sinking in. He elbowed Harry in the side gently when he heard the poorly stiffled giggle (A giggle. Well; at least now they knew who the woman in the relationship was.) and breathed in after a soft “Well go on then, boobear.” (he made a note to add her onto the list of people who are not nice. Really, who still calls their seventeen year old son boobear?)
Pushing past the momentary procrastination, Louis opened his mouth to speak. Only, speech was a little harder than anticipated. The words became stuck in his throat, like an irritable cough that lasts for hours and just wont go away, no matter how hard you try to shake it. His mouth was both too dry and too wet at the same time, his newly returned nervousness causing him to seize up. Well that's just fantastic.
“Lou?” Harry prompted softly after a moments silence, squeezing the hand that was still entwined with his, behind their backs.
And yeah, Louis totally forgot the little speech he'd been preparing on their way over here. Fuck.
Come on, you idiot. You can do this. He chided himself. There was no way he was chickening out now. So, focussing on the way Harry's palm was pressed tightly against his own, their skin growing clammy due to the nervous sweat that was developing on his skin, he opened his mouth and spoke.
“We're... together.”
And Christ did it feel bloody brilliant to finally say it out loud. Sort of... liberating. He definitely understood why Harry had hated them being a secret, now. Now that it was out - they were out - he felt ten times lighter. Sort of like he could fly.
How cliché.
“That's nice, dear.” Jay smiled, turning to open the door to the cupboard, retrieving an oven tin.
Oh.
Wait - “What the hell?” That's nice. That's fucking... nice?! “Mum, I just told you that me and Harry are in a relationship and, and you say that's... I don't... I don't understand.” he admitted, a soft frown on his face. Could she be any more blasé about the whole thing?
Biting her lip, Jay turned to face the two boys - both with matching expressions of confusion on their faces. Though, unlike Louis, Harry's eyes had a hint of hope and recognition in them. It made the older woman want to smile that little bit more. But she contained herself, just barely.
“Louis, sweetheart, you've just told me that you're in a relationship. You've been in relationships before, it's nothing new.” before Louis could interrupt her with the obvious comment, (“but Harry's a guy.”) she continued. “And I don't care if this is different due to certain reasons. He makes you happy, you make him happy. That's what a relationship is about. So you're with someone you care about, so what? Just because you're both boys I have to freak out? Love, you could be attracted to shrubs and I wouldn't care as long as you were happy - though I would be slightly confused because I don't see how anybody could be attracted to an inanimate object, but-”
She didn't get time to finish her sentence. One moment, her and Louis were standing mere feet apart and the next, he was wrapping his arms around her, shaking softly as he whispered continuous thank you's into her ear. For a second, Jay saw not the confident, slightly cocky but still oh so sweet seventeen year old, but the baby boy she had raised and loved - who she would continue to raise and love no matter what. He was her baby. And he always would be, even when he was thirty.
“It's okay, boo.” she whispered softly, pressing kisses into his hairline. “It's all okay.”
Harry grinned, watching mother and son embrace from where he had been standing throughout the exchange. The similarities between Jay's reaction to Louis' coming out, and Anne's when Harry had told her he was, as he had put it, “sort of interested in, like, more than just girls.”, were astounding. He wasn't sure if he was looking forward to the day that his and Louis' mum met, or dreading it. They were so alike.
He'd have to make sure to hide the baby photos.
“Oh, come here, you!” Jay laughed, catching Harry's smile out of the corner of her eye. And for the second time that day, Harry was pulled into a warm and friendly embrace.
And yeah, moving schools half way through the academic year was seriously the best thing he had ever agreed to.
~*~
Half an hour later saw both boys were sprawled across Louis' bed, laying on their backs while staring at the patterns on the dirty white ceiling. The silence wasn't awkward, far from it. It was calming... soothing.
Harry sighed softly, smiling, and nuzzled closer into Louis' side. The angle was a little strange, he was at least a good three inches taller than Louis and in order to tuck his head underneath the other boy's arm like he was currently doing, he had had to scoot down on the bed a little, making the mattress creek. Thank God Jay's in the kitchen, Harry thought to himself. He really didn't want her assuming that the bed was creaking for a different reason. At least not on their day of her thinking of them as a couple. And no, the thought of 'different reasons' was not making him blush, thank you very much.
A quiet “we did it.” broke through the air, Louis' tone one of near awe. It was as though he couldn't really believe that they'd finally, oh so finally, told Jay. Sure, they had yet to inform Anne but neither were really worried about that. It wouldn't come as a surprise, not really. Harry had told him once that his mum practically had a sixth sense when it came to these things ('these things' being everything related to her only son.) and that was sort of a relief. They'd be accepted. They knew it.
“We did.” Harry grinned, tilting his head to meet Louis' eyes. “I told you it'd be okay.”
“Don't you dare with the 'I told you so's, Mr.” Louis smiled- fuck, that smile.
And Harry's only faintly aware of mumbling a soft “I wouldn't dream of it” before stretching up to brush his lips against Louis', pulling away with a breathless giggle. “We really did it.”
“You know,” Louis started, shifting to his side to see the other boys face, propping himself up on his elbow so he wasn't completely laying, not quite sitting. “I think... I'm sort of in love with you.”
So, yeah. Harry may or may not have been internally swooning at that moment. But if there was ever a need for a hint, (and really, was there? He didn't think so.) Which meant, yes, he was definitely swooning.
Not that he'd let it show, of course.
“I'm in love with you too, Lou.” Harry croaked out, voice rough with emotion (and what happened to keeping his cool?) but he was so obviously happy that he couldn't bring himself to care.
Because he knew they were going to be okay. People were going to accept them eventually. And if not... well, they didn't really need to think about that. Because with their peers acceptance or not, Harry was going to make sure that Louis stayed smiling forever.