Chapter Text
🧘🏻♀️🎀
Harry was walking down the straight road that led him home, a mere 3 minutes after he left the bar. He was barely a few hundred metres away, when his phone started to ring. He stopped in his tracks and opened his tote bag. It took him a few seconds of rummaging around until he found it, nestled deep down between his yoga stuff. It was just now that he noticed, he hadn’t looked once at his phone in hours, which was quite unusual for him. He looked at it and there was an unknown number on his screen. Weird, he never got called from a number he hadn't saved. Save for the weird marketing calls from other countries.
However, because he was a curious person, he raised his right hand to his ear while using the left to brush a loose strand of hair out of his face. “Hello?” He answered the phone. “Hellooo… is theeere Harrrold, the witch with the maaaagic wand?” A high pitched voice asked in a weird accent. The voice was kind of familiar though. Harry held the phone away from him, looking at the screen again. “Louis? Is that you??” He asked, slightly unsure. It sounded slightly like him, but how could he know? They hadn’t really spoken that much.
“Damnit, I thought I could trick you. Tried to be funny. Guess that was a flop.” Harry heard the amused voice of Louis coming through the speaker. He turned around, looking down the street towards the bar and saw him standing outside, waving back at him with a big smile on his face.
“Yeah, that wasn't funny at all. And a bad accent, too. What even was that?” Harry chuckled, raising a hand in a questioning motion. Deep inside, he was really excited that Louis decided to call immediately after their little get together and didn’t wait 2 days. Or didn’t call at all. He had really enjoyed himself back in the bar, and was also surprised by himself to do something this spontaneous which was normally not his cup of tea. He was more of a at-least-three-dates-before-sex-kind-of-guy.
“I don't know! Just tried to disguise my voice, Thought I could be funny. Didn't work well, obviously.” Harry could see him nervously rubbing the back of his head. “Anyway, here I am. Calling and asking you for a proper date! Only if you think that's not a bit forward of me this soon after… you know. What do you say? Am I having the pleasure of inviting you to a restaurant or the movies or whatever you prefer? Totally your choice! If you're up for it, that is.” Louis’ voice was fast and high pitched at the end of his little rambling.
Harry laughed softly. He was surprised that this gibberish mess was the same person that fucked him senseless 30 minutes ago, but he was now very curious to get to know all the other sides of him. “Louis, slow down.” He started. “It would be lovely to go out with you. How does Saturday sound to you?”
“That would be great! My shift ends at 5. Can I come pick you up at, let’s say 7? I have to go back inside now, we have a few new guests.”
“Yep, sounds fantastic! I'm really looking forward to it”, Harry said with a big smile. “I'll send you my address later on. Have a good evening, Louis!”
“Can’t get any better. Bye Harry”
He saw Louis put his phone in his apron and waving at him, before he went back inside the wine bar. Harry quickly waved back then turned around and continued his way home, with a spring in his step, but nobody needed to know that.
It didn't take long for him to arrive at his block of flats. He loved the area he lived in. Everything he needed was reachable within a 10minute walk. His flat was located in Richmond. He knew that it was one of the pricier districts, but thanks to a bit of luck in his life, he was able to pay the lease for his flat rather comfortably.
Harry opened the door to his home, stepping through and letting himself fall against the wooden surface after closing it. Letting out a little sigh, he stepped out of his shoes and placed them neatly within the row of shoes on the rack to his left. The keys were thrown in the bowl that stood on the entryway table next to the door, specifically purchased for storing them. He despised the hooks on the wall, rather preferred a nice looking bowl. He found this one, formed like a rose, with the pedals delicately painted on it, at one of the flea markets he visited regularly.
Deciding that he definitely needed another shower, he sat his tote bag down to deal with the dirty laundry after he felt less sticky. Stripping bare on the way to the bathroom, he turned on the shower once he stepped through the bathroom door. While he waited for the water to turn to a pleasant temperature, he took a quick once-over in the mirror. His hair was a mess, his cheeks still a little flushed. There were a few faint marks, distributed over his whole body, mostly in the area around his hips. If he squinted his eyes, he could even make out the rough form of fingertips. He had a shine in his eyes that let him smile at his mirror-self. Reliving some memories from earlier, he stepped in the shower and made quick work of cleaning himself up and washing his hair, ignoring his half hard dick that was very interested in said memories.
After towelling himself dry, he stepped into comfy clothes and made himself a cuppa before throwing the dirty laundry in the washing machine. He sat down at his desk to take care of a few things for work that he wasn't able to do earlier that day before he had to leave for his yoga class.
A little while later, after fixing himself a light dinner, he snuggled down on his couch, covered with a blanket and another cup of tea in his hands, a random series running on his tv. Barely paying attention to the voices on the screen, it didn't take long for sleep to overcome him, it had been a long and eventful day. He dragged himself up and to his comfortable queen-size bed in his room down the hallway. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, with piercing blue eyes dancing in front of his inner eye.
+++
“Harry, stop pacing around, you're driving me insane!” Niall sat on the edge of Harry’s bed, watching him run back and forth between his bathroom and wardrobe. Clothes were scattered all over the floor, hanging over the doors of the wardrobe. Harry was only in a pair of black lace panties, stripping out of a top, he then threw to the other 20 that already piled on the floor. They had been on a mission to pick an outfit for nearly an hour now and Harry was getting more and more frustrated. Picking underwear was easy, he didn't own a pair of panties or g-strings that he didn't like, so he just picked a simple black one. It was still beautiful, with lace around the edges and a tiny little bow in the front. He didn't know what to expect from the evening, if Louis wanted to come to his after or not. Not that he would mind if he did, but Harry wanted to get to know Louis better than just as a fuck-buddy and he had a feeling that it was mutual. Not that there was anything wrong with dating casually and just fucking around. But he had had enough of that in his life.
“I can't! I have nothing to wear and look at my hair. It's a mess! Where are all my good clothes? Seems like I don’t have any! Should I wear make-up? No, maybe not. Or maybe a little. Yeah, just a little blush and a bit of mascara.” He once again made his way back to the bathroom, hastily putting some rouge on his cheeks, which was a difficult task considering how much his hands were shaking. He heard Niall enter the room, leaning sideways against the doorframe and watching him through the mirror.
“Mate, you need to calm down. Why are you so nervous? That man has already seen everything of you. Don’t stress yourself over clothes or how your hair looks. I’m sure he likes you anyway. And it’s not like you are ugly right now” Niall chuckled, pushing himself away from the door to spin him around, putting both his hands on Harry’s shoulders, rubbing them in circular motions. “Come on, breathe with me. Iiinn aand out. That's it. Again.”
He did what Niall told him and felt himself relax, the calming movement of Niall’s hands on his shoulders was helpful too. He knew that he was overreacting. He wasn’t an anxious person, never has been, he just wanted to be the best version of himself tonight. There had been too many frustrating first dates over the past few years, he wanted to get this one right.
“I'm not particularly nervous, Nialler”, he said, escaping the soft grip of his best friend and stepping into his bedroom to rummage through the countless hangers in his wardrobe. “I'm just excited and want to look nice, even if he has already seen my best parts.” He turned around to look at Niall with a smirk on his face. He held up a sheer shiny blue blouse with a flower pattern on it that was barely visible. “What do you think about this one? I could pair it with my good pair of black skinny jeans”
“That could work!” Niall clapped his hands together and once again laid a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder. “It's going to be great. Just be yourself. And text me as soon as your date is over! I fear I have to go now. Because I” he dragged out the word. “already have a boyfriend and he needs my attention tonight. A LOT of attention. Have fun!” With a wink towards Harry, Niall vanished out of the room.
“Tell Shawn, I said hi!” Harry yelled after him.
“Will do! Bye, love ya.” He heard Niall shouting back.
As Harry heard the front door fall shut, he took one last deep breath and dressed himself before he went back to the bathroom mirror to fix the mess he made with the blush earlier and to highlight his lashes with a light layer of mascara. He was still contemplating what to do with his hair when his phone signalled him with a ping that he had a new message. Harry rushed to his bed, where he discarded his phone hours ago and saw a notification for a message from Louis. The bartender just wanted to let him know that he was on his way to pick him up and that he would arrive in ten minutes. Harry scrolled back up to the earlier messages, to check if he really gave Louis the right address. They didn’t text much the last few days, both busy with work, so it was just a hi and how are you, the excitement about the date and of course, the address.
He quickly tamed his locks until he was satisfied with his look. He snatched his little black purse from the hook on the wall and after a glance in it to see if everything he needed was there, he stepped into the hallway and pulled on his black leather boots and a dark brown coat. He then leaned against the wall next to the front door and waited patiently for the doorbell to ring.
It only took a couple more minutes until Louis was in front of the main entrance.
“I'm coming down.” Harry told him through the speaker and made his way out of his flat and down the few flights of stairs to exit the building. His heart thrummed in his chest as he stepped through the front door. There he was. Leaning against the wall with one foot crossed over the other, leg slightly bent at the knee. He had his hands in the front pockets of his jacket. Louis wore ripped dark blue skinny jeans and what seemed like a red t-shirt with a low neckline under his black jacket. Harry could even see the edges of his chest tattoo. His hazelnut-brown hair was swept up in a Quiff. He looked absolutely gorgeous.
“Hey beautiful.” Louis pushed himself off from the wall and gave Harry a small hug and a kiss on the cheek. He took a calming breath, hoping that his knees wouldn't give in. Damnit, that man didn't only look gorgeous, he smelled also fantastic, too. There was a hint of sandalwood and orange blossoms, Harry already hatched a plan, when and where he would steal an item of clothing from Louis, just to be able to smell him all day. No, he wasn’t creepy.
“Hey Louis, how are you?” Harry smiled at him.
“I'm doing great! You? I have booked a table for us at that cute little Italian restaurant, Nonna's Garden, a bit further down from the bar. Is that alright?” Louis looked at him questioningly.
“That's perfect, I like that one. I’ve already been there a few times. They make a great risotto! Do you want to walk there or should we take the car?”
“I don't mind walking. It's nice out.” Louis smiled, letting his head fall back and took a deep inhale.
Harry couldn't help but watch him in awe, his mouth hanging slightly agape. The stretch of his neck, the vein at the side of it, very visibly standing out and his sharp facial features, that he already admired earlier this week. Get a grip, Styles. The date hasn't even started yet.
When Louis looked at him again, he had to sense Harry’s mental state, judging by the smirk on his face. “Well, come on. Let's go. Our table is waiting.”
+++
As they arrived at the small restaurant, Louis rushed to hold the door open for him and Harry blushed a little at the nice gesture, steppin in. They were greeted by the waiter as Louis gave the name on the reservation. They were led to their table, in a quiet corner right at the front window. They sat down opposite each other and thanked the waiter as they were handed the menus.
“The chicken sounds great, what do you think, love? Have you picked something?” Louis looked at him over the menu after a while of skimming through the options.
Harry took another look at the menu before answering, not that he hadn't already picked something, he just needed a moment to calm his heartbeat that got a bit out of rhythm after hearing Louis call him ‘love.’
“Hmm… I don't eat meat and I don't think that I’m in the mood for fish today. I think I’ll go with my earlier mention and pick the risotto. It is really good.” Harry closed the menu and laid it on the table. “Would you mind picking out the wine? You are the expert after all.” Harry winked at Louis and immediately wanted to slap himself. That was a cheap move, Styles. Very cheap.
“Oh so you are a vegetarian? Or what is it called, when you still eat fish? I don’t want to sound rude, I just don’t know any people who don’t eat meat. Is there a specific reason for it? Okay, I'll stop rambling now, please say something.” Louis ducked down in his seat, holding the napkin in front of his face to hide the blush that crept up on his cheeks. Harry melted a bit at the sight, he was so cute.
“You are so cute.” Shit, did he say that out loud? But Louis’ blush deepend and he decided that it was not that embarrassing after all. “It’s called pescetarian. And no, there is no specific reason for it. I just don’t like the taste of meat and if I can do something good for the animals and nature, then that's a good reason, too.” Harry smiled over the table at Louis, who gave up his hiding and listened intently instead.
Harry had just finished his explanation, as the waiter came over again. They ordered their food and Louis picked a bottle of white wine for them to share. “Goes great with the chicken and the risotto,” he explained.
After the waiter brought and poured the wine, Louis lifted his glass and held it towards Harry for a toast. Their glasses clinked together and they shared a soft smile. “To a wonderful evening.” Louis said and Harry nodded his head and repeated the sentence, brightly smiling.
“Now Harry, you know what I do for a living. What about you? Tell me something about yourself.” Louis propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands, his ocean-eyes held a curious look. Harry wanted to eat him.
“Well, I had a bit of luck in my life. It sounds more arrogant than it is, but my parents are quite wealthy and in the circle they socialise in, it is normal for every child to have a trust fund. But I, for myself, never liked everything that came with the money, so I tried to keep my distance from it at a certain age.” Harry paused, to take a sip from his wine. Louis had made a good choice. “I went to university to study business and it took me years to figure out the best way to use the money I was given as soon as I successfully finished my degree. I then had the idea to support the health and food industries. Now I’m an investor for start-ups that produce healthy food and similar companies in this sector. I want to help small businesses that actually try to make a change in the industry. It's because of these investments that I have a lot of partial ownerships for several different companies.” He felt a bit proud at the thought of his achievements and Louis seemingly was, too. He could see it in his eyes. Harry cleared his throat and took another sip.
“That sounds really great, Harry!” Louis was still smiling at him. “I would love to hear more about it. Do these companies all produce food or are there some that have other products in their assortment, like non-food items?”
Harry excitedly continued to explain everything about the job he loved so much and Louis pestered him with questions. The minutes flew by while they chatted animatedly.
When the food arrived, their conversation died down, both happily munching on their food, not eager to talk with their mouths stuffed full. The meal was fantastic, as expected. Even if they didn't talk, Harry had no choice but to take a glance at Louis in between bites, just watching him exist. Of course, Louis caught him looking more than once but didn't comment on it. He just smiled back at him, seemingly stealing one or two glances himself.
The silence between them was a comfortable one, accompanied with the chatter from the people at the tables around them.
“Do you want to share a dessert with me?” Louis asked after the waiter cleared the table of their empty plates. The bottle of wine was nearly empty by now, their bellies full of good food and the happy feeling of their get together.
Harry contemplated for a moment, taking a quick glance at the dessert menu. “The chocolate cake looks fantastic, but there's no way I can eat a whole piece after the risotto. So yeah, I would love to share. If you are up for the cake, of course.”
“Sure, I'll never say no to a sweet dessert” Louis snickered and threw a long look at Harry, that could only be described as dirty and that left him squirming on his chair. To distract himself from Louis and his own thoughts, Harry looked around to find their waiter and waved him over to order the cake.
The cake was as delicious as it looked and despite their full bellies from the main course, they devoured the slice rather quickly. When the time came around to ask for the bill, Louis was the one winning the short fight about who would pay. Louis insisted on it though. After all, he was the one who invited Harry.
After paying, he put his card back into his wallet, Louis stood and held out his hand. “Let’s go then.” He smiled at Harry, who let himself easily be pulled up from his seat. He felt a bit warm from his wine and a little giddy. The evening until now was perfect, Louis a real gentleman. He didn’t even question where Louis led him as they exited the restaurant and made their way to a small park around the corner. Harry was glad to see that the way through it was illuminated.
“Are you up for a little walk around the park before I get you home again, Harry?” Louis asked. Of course, Harry wouldn’t say no to spending more time with Louis.
“It would be a pleasure, thanks for asking.” Harry smiled softly, and they continued walking.
Their shoulders bumped against each other every few metres and their hands brushed every now and then. Harry couldn't say if it was intentional or coincidence, but he wouldn't dare to complain. And it made his stomach all fluttery.
They chatted a bit about this and that. The conversation flowed easily. The weather was still nice, not too cold and the moon was shining brightly down from the night sky. Only a few clouds blocked the light every once in a while.
“What part of England do you come from, Louis? Your accent tells me that it has to be Yorkshire? Or am I wrong there?” Harry turned to face the older one. They had stopped at a bench under a big old tree halfway through the park to sit down for a while.
“Yes, exactly. I'm born and raised in Doncaster. My mom still lives there with my step dad and my three younger sisters. The oldest of them is 21, she is very secretive with what she wants to do. She has a job at a shop in Donny at the moment but I don't think that that's what she wants to do the rest of her life. And the other two are identical twins, 15 now. Still in school and little menaces” Louis had a fond expression on his face, only partially illuminated by a lamp near the bench. “I don't get to visit them often, but I try to call them every few days. I'm really close to them, love them all to bits. What about you? Do you have a big family, too? A bunch of siblings running around?”
“Not exactly. I'm from Holmes Chapel. I don't have much contact with my dad anymore since he left my mum. But that's okay. I don't dwell on it. My mum has a new partner for a few years now. He’s nice and good for her. And I have an older sister that actually lives in London, too. She moved here last year to live with her boyfriend. I see her from time to time when we are both free. But I always wanted a big family, never got it though. Maybe in the future I will have my own big one” Harry smiled shyly, glancing through his eyelashes over to Louis, with a little blush on his face.
“That sounds lovely, darling. I'm a big family man myself, of course I want the same for me too. When the time is right and I have the right partner by my side.” He let the meaning of his sentence hang in the air.
Harry took a deep breath, the conversation suddenly a lot heavier. More meaningful. He didn't know how to respond to that, so he just sent a smile towards Louis, then closed his eyes and enjoyed the fresh breeze on his face.
Louis was the one that thankfully broke the silence. “Do you want to head back? It's starting to get a bit chilly. I don't want you to catch a cold.”
“Yes, please.” Harry smiled at him and flustered a bit as Louis stood and reached out a hand to help him stand up, too. If neither of them let go for the rest of the way through the park, no one needed to know.
+++
“Where did you park your car? Or did you arrive on the tube?” Harry asked. They were already on their way back to Harry's place. It took him until now to note that he didn't know how Louis got to him in the first place.
“I parked behind the bar. But don't worry about me. I'll walk you home first. It’s not that far” Louis glanced over to him, a shy look on his face. “If you don't mind, of course.”
“Only if it isn't too much trouble. I mean, we just walked past your bar. You don't have to…”
“I insist,” Louis interrupted. “Please.”
“Okay then. This way” Harry laughed and led them back to his block of flats.
As they arrived at the front door to the building, they stood opposite of each other, both looking a little unsure of what to do next.
“I would ask you to come up, but I have a feeling you would politely decline my offer.” Harry rocked on his feet back and forth. “I just want to say that I had a lovely evening and I really would like to get to know you. If you want that, too…”
“Yes, you are right. I would've declined the offer but just because I really want to get to know you, too. And I want to do this right. Don't get me wrong, what we had back there at the bar was fantastic but I want us to slow down on the funny business a bit. For now.” He winked at Harry.
He felt warmth spreading over his cheeks, again. “Okay, let's do that.” Harry nodded but couldn't hold back to say. “For now.”
“Cheeky,” Louis laughed before he stepped forward and embraced Harry in a comforting hug. Harry melted into his arms but quickly gained his composure and hugged him back.
After a few seconds, that felt like minutes, Harry felt warm lips ghosting over the corner of his mouth. “Good Night Harry, sleep well. I'll text you tomorrow.” Louis loosened the hug and stepped back.
“Good night, get home safe Louis.” Harry used all of his willpower to turn around and walk through the front door. Before he entered the building, he turned around one last time to wave at Louis, who still stood at the same place, looking back at him, hands in his front pockets again.
🍷🚬
Louis took a last look back at the building, then spun on his heels. He smiled to himself, walking down back to the wine bar. He felt like it was the right decision to not take the date any further this evening. He really liked this boy and couldn’t wait to see what the future would bring for them. He slung his jacket a little tighter around his upper body. It was late and it was even colder now than earlier in the park. He sped up his steps and after a few minutes he reached his car in the small car park behind the bar.
After the short drive home, luckily the traffic was non-existent at this time of day, he pulled into his parking space in front of the building he and Zayn had their flat in.
He tiptoed through the front door of their shared home, not wanting to wake Zayn, in case he already went to bed. He rounded the corner of the living room only to find Zayn lying on the couch, some papers in his hands, that he was studying carefully.
“Why are you still awake?” Louis asked, startling Zayn, papers falling from his hands to the floor.
“Jesus, Louis. I nearly had a heart attack. Why did you sneak up on me like that? What are you doing here? I thought you would stay the night at Harry’s?” He wiggled with his eyebrows, while he ducked down to pick up the papers. Suddenly he straightened, his face turning into a faux shocked expression, a hand flying to his heart. “Or was the date that bad? Did he turn you down? Was he the problem? Was he boring or did he eat too noisily? Did he have other bad table manners? I know that that's a thing you hate”
“Are you quite done?” Louis rolled his eyes playfully and shoved Zayn's legs from the couch to sit down on the now free space. “It was really good, Z. I like him.” A coy smile wandered over his face. “He is really nice and really good to talk to. And my god, he is really beautiful. And really, really sweet. You should see his dimples when he finds something so funny that he smiles wide enough for them to appear. Really cute”
“That's a lot of really's, mate. When's the wedding? Can I be your best man?”
“You are an idiot, Zayn. Anyway, he said he wanted to invite me in, but he already had the feeling that I would've turned him down. And he was right, I really want to do it right this time. And go slow. Okay, slower. “He grinned at his best friend. “I want to get to know him. And thankfully, he is on the same page.” Louis smiled happily and let his eyes fall closed for a moment, thinking about those green eyes that had already consumed him back then at the wine bar. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze fell on the stacks of paper around Zayn. “Now why are you still awake, what is all this?”
“These are the contracts and stuff for the exhibit I'm hosting. I totally forgot about them. You know how I get when I'm lost in my paintings. Always forget about that damn paperwork. And they are due on Monday, so I need to work through them and sign them. And I don't have time tomorrow, because I have the studio booked all day to get the last paintings done. That's why I'm still awake.” Zayn let out a sigh. “But I'm on the last few pages now. Will go to bed soon. What about you?”
“I think I'm turning in, unless you need help with this. I need to be at the Ark early tomorrow. We are crafting some things for the market next week. Trying to get a bit of extra money in. You know how tight it is at the moment,” Louis yawned, padded Zayn on the thigh and stood. “Good night, Z. Don't stay up too long.”
“No it’s okay. Go to sleep and tell the kids I said hi and that I will come around soon. I already have a project in mind for them. Good night, Louis.”
“Will do, they will be very happy to hear that.” With a kiss on Zayn's head, Louis made his way to the bathroom to get ready for bed. After brushing his teeth and a quick wash of his face, he wandered to his bedroom and stripped off his clothes. He climbed under the sheets with a content sigh and snuggled into his pillow. He let his mind drift to the memories of the past few hours. It really has been a good evening. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep with a smile on his face.