If Soulmates Were Real (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter 6

Three days later and Louis is preparing for a presentation for his Music Theory class tomorrow. He still has a few more slides to complete, but Ryler is crawling all over him and just won't sit still.

"Ry bug, can you please settle down for a couple minutes so I can do this?" Louis asks, trying to remain in his peaceful voice and tranquil mindset.

He's completely freaking out because he'll fail if this project isn't done and Zayn is out with Liam while Ari is at Gigi's again, leaving him with his over-hyper child.

The past hour has been dedicated as Louis' work time and Ryler's nap time, but the mini ball of energy just won't calm down.

"Please, dada! I jus' wanna play game with you!" Ryler contests with an irate whine, sitting back onto his knees, his legs going into an uncomfortable looking 'W' shape while he over-dramatically hunches his shoulders.

Louis practically has to draw his tears back into his eyes when he nods. "Okay, love. What should we do?" He asks, unexpectedly hearing a knock on his door.

He sighs and Ryler runs to the door, sliding on his socks along the way. He waits for Louis' permission and when he gets it, the door is opened to Harry who is holding a little box.

Harry's face drops when notices Louis' dull and empty features. The past few days have been great with Harry. He's memorized Louis' schedule and picks him and Ryler up when he can, which ultimately, is most times.

They now consider themselves at the dating stage—even though they haven't been on another actual date—and it's been really nice and easy with each other. They're not ready to have the 'boyfriend talk' just yet, but they now kiss when Ryler isn't looking, though nothing else sexual has happened purely from lack of time.

"Hi, boys. You alright, Lou?" Harry concernedly asks, collecting Ryler and settling him on his hip dip while moving inside.

Louis nods, worried that if he talks, his voice will crack and the tears will fall without authorization.

"Hey Ry-guy, why don't you go play with your toys. You can even have a cookie I made." Harry hastens, not even caring if Louis will get mad at him for giving Ryler too much sugar.

Ryler dolefully pouts, but when Harry hands him over a cookie, he takes it with a 'thank you' and goes back to play.

"Let's go talk." Harry says, entwining their hands together.

"I need to watch Ry." Louis uninterestedly denies, focusing his eyes onto his son. It's not that he's actually uninterested, it's just, well, he knows what Harry's going to say; he's working too much, blah, blah, blah. He doesn't want to hear it again, he has had enough people patronize him.

Harry shakes his head and pulls Louis along. "We'll leave the door open." He says.

Louis hesitantly allows Harry to drag him into his bedroom room. When there, Harry sits against the headboard and pulls Louis onto his lap so they're chest to chest, Louis' head going straight to Harry's shoulder and turning it sideways.

Louis sighs and winds his arms behind the younger boy as Harry squeezes him close. "Do you wanna talk about anything?" He asks and Louis doesn't verbally respond yet, still not trusting his voice. Harry just holds Louis close and tries to keep his breaths steady. "I think, I think you're doing too much, Lou."

And there it is. Exactly what Louis doesn't want him to say. He's heard it all before. He shakes his head and pinches his eyes tighter. "You can't tell me that, Harry. It's not like I have a choice. I can't just...I can't just not take care of Ryler or not go to football or classes. They're things I have to do."