Once in a Lifetime

Twenty-Seven.

Louis stayed at Harry's that night, both of them snuggling under his sheets until Harry got up to make them toast for breakfast. When Louis drove home later that evening, he was attacked the moment he walked through the door. Niall stopped trying to learn a new song and Liam stopped cooking dinner just so they could quiz Louis on everything that happened.

"Did you do it, or did you chicken out?" Niall smirked, following Louis up the stairs as he tried to ignore their questions.

"Come on, Lou, we're dying over here!" Liam complained as they walked past Zayn's closed door. Once they had stepped over the threshold for the first time, it stopped being so scary, but they still chose to keep the door closed. They continued nagging him as he walked into his room, plugging his phone into the charger and sitting on his bed.

"Fine, yes we went to the beach, and it was romantic, and I asked him, and he said yes, and I stayed at his last night, but, before you ask, nothing happened," Louis answered, the smile creeping onto his face as he thought about Valentine's Day.

"Aw, our little Lou is growing up," Niall pretended to cry, putting his hand over his heart as Liam wiped a fake tear from his eye.

"You two are so weird," Louis mumbled, opening his textbook to subtly ask the boys to leave. They didn't get the hint.

"As your parents, Louis, this is an emotional time for us," Liam continued, putting his hand on Niall's shoulder. "But we're still proud of you, and we love you very much. Now, do we need to have the talk, or can that wait until we've finished that chapter of the parenting book?"

"Oh, for God's sake, just get out!" Louis answered, laughing as he stood up to push them out the door.

"Speak to your parents like that again and you'll be grounded for a whole week! No football, no phone, and especially no Harry!" Liam yelled as Louis closed the door in their faces.

"We're very ashamed of you, young man!" Niall shouted too, and Louis could hear them make their way back down the stairs together.

"Love you mum and dad!" Louis called out, earning a loud laugh from both boys.

A few weeks later, and Harry found himself sitting in the passenger seat of Louis' car as they drove towards Doncaster. They'd been given a reading week at university, meaning they had a whole week to visit their families and catch up on some of their work. Niall didn't want to go back to Ireland just for a week, so he was going with Liam to Wolverhampton to spend time with his parents and sisters. Harry and Louis had discussed it at length and decided to spend a few days with each of their families, introducing each other properly as boyfriends. Louis had only spent two days with Harry's family over New Year, and Harry had only spent one night with Louis', so they were both a little nervous to do things properly. Harry fell asleep as Louis drove, and only woke up when he felt someone shake his shoulder slightly. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light, he got out of the car and helped Louis grab their bags from the boot. It was Saturday afternoon, and they were staying until Wednesday, so they both had quite a bit of stuff with them. As they were walking towards the front door, it suddenly opened, revealing two identical girls running down the path to meet them.

"Louis!" they both squealed, clearly excited to see their older brother again.

"Hey girls, let's get inside so I can put these bags down, then I'm going to squeeze you both so hard," he smiled, stepping through the front door as the girls nodded happily.

"Lou, my baby, it's so good to have you home," Jay sighed, instantly taking her son in her arms and kissing his cheek. Louis hugged her back, telling her he missed her and was happy to be home. Harry stood awkwardly in the hall as Louis greeted his family, tickling his sisters as his mum enjoyed having the family back together again.