seasons of love | Narry Storan AU

chapter 32.

2016

It's the first day of the year. The first morning. The first sunrise. 

2016 came with no promises for both Harry Edward Styles and Niall James Horan, and yet they're going through this day together.

Bobby Horan felt more than happy when he heard news about having visits for New Year's eve. He always felt holidays were a complicated subject for his son, after years and years dealing with the fact that his mother would never come back again to their lives. Even though he heard about a rocky start between Niall and Harry, those days ended as fast as the wind, and now they are... something.

No definition yet. No label yet. They're just existing together.

It's the ninth hour in the morning, but Niall can't stop himself from waking up before everybody else in the house. He's always been like this — the kind of man who goes to his bed for sleep as early as the hour he wakes up. The only times he breaks this rule happens when he goes out for drinking with Louis, and it's not something he does very often.

To wake up and see Harry peacefully sleeping in the mattress on the floor — it's another thing Niall does not do very often. It's pretty rare, to see his new romantic interest (boyfriend? He cannot say that) laying down beside him like it's a common thing. Niall reflects on the scene for a couple of minutes, deciding he does not want to bother Harry so early in the morning and choosing to tip-toe walk around his mattress, just to go down to the Horans' kitchen and cook something for breakfast.

Niall roams the kitchen pantry cupboards, looking for the ingredients he wants to use to prepare his favorite meal of the day. When he finds packages of sugar, honey and pancake dough, his mind makes him decide that this is what he wants to cook.

"Morning", Bobby, his father, arrives at the kitchen without a warning. "Did I scare you?"

"Just a bit. Morning, dad."

"Let me do this for you", Bobby Horan tries to grab the packages from Niall's hands.

"No, you already do this for yourself every day!"

"And this is why I want to do something for somebody else for once in my year. Please?"

Niall realizes it's useless to fight with his father: he's always going to win with his armor of kindness. With that in mind, the younger Horan surrenders to his father's requests and sits on one of the stools around the marble counter that separates the kitchen from the dining room, willing to wait for the pancakes right there and mentally judging that Harry remains sleeping.

"Won't you wake him up?" Bobby asks, as he lights one of the stove's mouths and puts a frying pan over it.

"I think he's not used to wake up this early on New Year's day. Decided to let him sleep in peace."

"Did you two...?" The phrase is left unfinished by the older Horan.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, Niall."

"Wait..." A realization comes to his mind. "Dad, no! We didn't do that."

"I thought I heard some weird noises from your bedroom after I went to sleep and..."

"Oh, we weren't doing that, if that's what you think", Niall laughs a bit, trying to contain his embarrassment. "I put on some music to play on the speaker in my room and he wanted to dance with me for a while. I ended up doing this and maybe that was the noise you heard... it was our footsteps on the bedroom floor. Trying to dance with my two left feet and his poor motor skills."

"Did it work?"

"Not so well", they laugh together. "But he does it better than I do, even when he misses some part of the dance and steps on my feet a few times. After we had the dance time, I brought the mattress from the guest room and let him sleep next to my bed. That was it."

"Seems like you two had fun together."

"He's fun to be around... you know, when he's not being stubborn and ridiculously cheeky."

"I'm happy for this", Bobby says in a sudden, catching Niall off guard. "It's kind of a relief for me to see you with other people who make you happy. I couldn't be your only company forever, you know?"

"Dad..."

"I mean it. I'm happy you have Louis and I'm happy you have Harry now. I know things have not been so easy to us on these last few years, so every little sign of happiness on you makes me happy too."

"These are beautiful words, dad. Thank you."

"Now, go and wake him up. There will be pancakes for everyone."

Niall nods and walks up the stairs of the Horans' house, hoping to find Harry still asleep on the floor. However, before he can reach the end of the stairs, Harold is already there.

"You were listening to our conversation?" Niall whispers to him.

"Couldn't stop myself from doing that", Harry laughs at a low voice. "Good morning. I already brushed my teeth, can I give you a morning kiss?"

Niall places his lips on top of Harry's as an answer.

"Of course you can."