Love?

1

Their families took it well all considering. They helped them to find a two three-bedroom apartment and promised to pay the rent for a year. They were grateful for the support but they both knew that they had to grow up and be responsible now. They had a child to care for in the near future.

Harry managed to increase his hours at the bakery he had been working at since he was sixteen. The nice lady who owned it gave him a part-time job, to begin with.

Louis did everything he could to find a job and his dad helped him out, giving him a job at his company as an assistant. Together they would make it work, money-wise.

Their families helped them decorate the apartment, rounding up furniture. It was a collection of mismatched things but they loved it.
Louis mum Jay had saved all the baby things and Louis had many siblings do it was a lot. They had a nursery ready in no time.

They were both really excited about the baby. Louis went to every doctor's appointment and they did a Lamaze class together, both giggling like crazy every time even if they tried not to disturb the other first-time parents.

Harry started to get a baby bump as he reached week 16 of the pregnancy. They had waited to tell anyone outside the family until the risk of miscarriage was lower. Their friends had been shocked at first. Zayn, Liam, and Niall came to see their new apartment.
"You lied to me! I asked you so many times if there's something going on between the two of you." Niall shouted upset as soon as he came inside the apartment.

"There isn't." Harry replied.

"You had sex!" Niall said and pointed at Harry's stomach.

Harry blushed. Louis stepped in.
"Once. We were drunk. It doesn't mean anything."

Liam and Zayn exchanged a look.
"We're happy for you, about the baby I mean." Liam said.

"We are. Right, Niall?" Zayn questioned.

"What? Of course, we're happy about the baby. It's gonna be the cutest baby ever, but I'm still confused." He said, eyeing Harry and Louis.

"About what?" Louis sighed as they all sat down in the living room.

"You're gonna take care of the baby together? Living here together? But you're not together?" Niall questioned.

"I think he's starting to get it." Louis chuckled.

"I think that's great guys. You're handling this maturely." Liam said.

"So you're gonna date other people?" Niall asked, unable to let it go.

Harry and Louis shared a look.
"Right now I just want to focus on the baby but in the future, sure." Louis answered.

"And you're okay with that?" Niall asked, turning to Harry.

"Of course I'm okay with that. I would also like to find someone in the future and Louis and I are just friends Ni. I'm sure we'll figure that out as it comes." Harry smiled.

"Right." Niall answered, not sounding convinced.

"Don't worry about us. We're excited about this baby and I can't think of a better second dad to my baby." Harry smiled and Louis looked really moved.

"Thanks, Haz. I feel the same. This baby might not have been planned but I'm happy I'm having it with you, my best friend. You're gonna be an amazing dad." Louis retorted and Harry beamed from the praising.

Niall still wasn't convinced.
"My mum says that having a baby changes you."

"Nothing will ever come between Lou and I." Harry smiled.

The months went by. When Harry was eight months pregnant he was getting really big and Louis laughed at his new waddling walking style. But he also made sure to rub his feet and massage his back. They spent the evenings in front of the tv, watching movies and discussing baby names. Last name was also a wild discussion.

They both loved the tv-show Gilmore Girls so they decided to name a daughter Lorelai and call her Rory. They had a harder time coming up with a name for a boy and every suggestion was worse than the other. In the end, they just came up with funny names where they combined two boy names like Seth-Barry or Steve-Henry.
"I hope for the baby's sake that it's a girl." Harry laughed.

"And I hope that she, or he gets your wonderful curls and green eyes." Louis smiled.

"I hope not! Do you know how much it takes to fix them so I won't look like a swamp troll?" Harry giggled.

"A swamp troll?" Louis questioned and cackled loudly. "I've seen you in the mornings with your hair all over the place. It's cute! You could never look anything but perfect no matter how hard you tried."

Harry blushed from the compliment but didn't answer back. How was he even supposed to address that?

When it was three weeks left to the due date Harry was getting grumpy. His feet hurt and he was a freaking elephant. He couldn't wait for this pregnancy to be over. But when he went into labor a week before the due date he panicked and locked himself in the bathroom. Louis pounded on the door.
"Harry! We need to get to the hospital!" He stressed.

"No! I changed my mind. We're not having a baby!" Harry wailed.

"What? It's a little too late for that. Don't be silly." Louis said irritated.

Harry unlocked the door and glared at him.
"Silly? It fucking hurts! I'm not doing this! I want a refund!"

Louis stared at his best friend like he had lost his mind and Harry burst out crying all of a sudden.
"I'm scared Lou!"

Louis's features softened and he wrapped his arms around Harry and hugged him, swaying him back and forward.
"It's going to be okay, love. You can do this. I can't even imagine how hard this must be but I will never leave your side. We're in this together and if I could carry your pain I would."

"Well, you can't." Harry muttered but he had calmed down, at least until his next contraction set in.
"Fuuuuuuck! Get me to the hospital."

Louis put his arm around him and lead him to the door. He grabbed the overnight bag on his way.
"Harry, we're gonna be parents." He said emotionally as they waited for the elevator to arrive.

"And I will be happy about that later but for now I'm just trying to keep it together." Harry answered.