THE DATE AGREEMENT | LARRY AU

0.8 COSTUMES & CLOWNS

THE DATE AGREEMENT | EIGHTH DATE: HALLOWEEN HOUSE OF HORRORS

"A horror house? Honestly?" Harry asked, his mouth agape, as he looked to and fro between the tall, rustic mansion looming over them and Louis who stood there in front of him with barely controlled glee, literally. Harry doubted if it weren't for the people around them and the 'spooky' setting, the man would be jumping up and down in excitement.

"Yes, and not just a horror house, it's like a rite of passage. If you successfully cross that horror maze, the other end of it is a Halloween party in the back lawn of the mansion!! It's going to be so much fun!!"

"Darling, I think your idea of romance is just a wee bit skewed. We're supposed to be on a date." Harry lied, greedily trying to make Louis feel the nervousness Harry felt before he introduced every single one of their dates to him. He loved the idea, really, and it fit the prompt perfectly. Louis was adamant about getting to choose what they did for the remainder of their dates in the agreement because he wanted to be able to explore new things and he wanted himself to fret over the details of the date and have Harry sit back and enjoy.

When Louis showed up to his place with two matching costumes – because, obviously he would pick up couples outfits so Harry would be happy with the cheesy action – the younger one just assumed that they would be going to someplace which had a Halloween theme for the night or something like that. He was right, but just in a slightly different way.

"Stop lying, you love it. Unless," he drawled out intentionally. "You're scared of Halloween and all the scary stuff that could happen in there."

Harry narrowed his eyes at the small man, leaning in closer – close enough so that their lips were only about a few inches apart.

"Oh, I'm doing just fine, my love. Are you sure you're not going to be jumping into my arms out of fright, Lou?"

"I'm not a scaredy cat, Hazza. I don't get uncomfortable by clowns." He countered, not fazed at the distance between them in the least – they had shared quite a number of kisses over the course of the past three months, and grown accustomed to the closeness – and Harry smiled a little.

"Who said anything about clowns?"

"I'm just stating." Louis said but he was pretty sure Harry had seen through the façade. It wasn't a big thing. He really wasn't a scaredy cat, he was always the kid who was as cool as a cucumber whenever they had horror movie nights with his group of friends but he just couldn't stand clowns. Clowns got under his skin just a tiny bit. Not much, really. Just a tiny, little, minuscule bit.

"Okay, then. Let's go in and test that statement."

"Sure."

"Sure."

"Okay, Harold!" The small man finally said, exasperated, with a little chuckle and they stepped in through the front door.

Their surroundings were dark, creepy and cold – just how Louis liked it. He was very much wary of bumping into clowns along the way, and as evil as it sounded, Harry was waiting for the same because he couldn't wait to see what the man's reaction would be. He wouldn't mind being a knight in shining armour and save him from the scary clowns, though. The event literally called for some dramatics, and Harry was more than willing to participate.

The house was filled with cobwebs, giant brewing pots, and pumpkins and just about everything that screamed 'Halloween' in the best sense of the word piled together in every nook and cranny of the place. It's not even as scary as they thought it would be. Sure, they did get a little startled when some random, dressed up people popped out of the place, but Harry thought it was quite alright.

Louis on the other hand, was having a trip down memory lane and not in a good way. He had never been very scared of the occasion, but that was because there was one particular year that had been completely wiped out of his mind – the one where he was barely about 7 years old and his mother took him to a party and he'd gotten lost in the creepily decorated hallways of the place.

It wasn't really a big place and it wasn't really all that scary, but Louis was just very, very small and very, very inexperienced with the scene all in all. As they made their way out of the house and to the other end, he found himself surprisingly scared and just a tad bit shaky. The man didn't know if he should be wary of the dark or be thankful for it because Harry couldn't see the slight shiver in his hand.

"Louis." Harry's voice right by the nape of the smaller one's neck caught him off guard and he jumped just a little.

"Hazza, don't do that!" He said with a light smack on the curly-head's arm, making him bite his tongue and apologize.

"Sorry love, but you're just spacing out a lot. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just too engrossed in the surroundings, I guess."

"You know it's okay to be scared." Harry said as they walked out of the horror house and Louis would have protested but they bumped into all their friends already there in the backyard and the man held his tongue. Harry kept his arm firmly around Louis' shoulder – as they greeted everyone, as they got drinks, as they sat down to smoke a joint or two with old college mates of Louis', as they got hammered, as they danced until their legs turned into jelly and as they got into a cab to drive them back to Harry's place.

"Thank you." Louis muttered slowly into Harry's neck, sleep evident in his voice.

"You're welcome, love." Harry said back, knowing exactly what his short man was referring to and pulling him closer.

"I love that you're always so protective of me."

"I love you." Harry replied simply and felt Louis' lips pulling into a smile against his skin and before either of them could say anything, the latter shifted and straddled Harry's waist, taking his hands and dropping them lower to his waist. Harry smiled, pulling him closer still.

"I love you more."

"I don't think that could be possible." Harry sighed as Louis rolled his eyes at the cheesy comment and pulled in closer for a kiss, before leaning further into Harry's chest and hiding his face in the man's shoulders, closely his eyes and letting out a sigh of relief.

"We are not doing that."

Harry simply chuckled lightly, having already expected the reaction.

"Okay, baby. Go to sleep, yeah? I got you."

"Moonlight, you're my starlight..." Louis muttered sleepily, making Harry burst into laughter and both of them to start chuckling. They eventually settled down again and this time, Louis fell asleep. Harry sighed, content with the man he loved cradled in his arms like a delicate, little baby and closed his eyes. He carried him all the way back to his flat and laid him down on the mattress, before tucking both of them in and letting the sleep finally take over his senses, and if Louis woke up early in the morning with a uniquely pleasurable cure for both their hangovers in the shower, no one had to be bothered about it.

~~

A/N. I KID YOU NOT, MY HANDS LITERALLY AUTOMATICALLY WROTE LOUIS' LAST DIALOGUE BEFORE I COULD EVEN PROCESS IT IN MY MIND. I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO LEVITATING A LITTLE TOO MUCH, JESUS. XD

WE'RE ALMOST AT THE END, PEOPLE. TWO MORE CHAPTERS AND THAT'S THAT. :)

THE LAST CHAPTER IS THE BEST FUCKING THING I'VE EVER WRITTEN, ISTG.

PLEASE VOTE, COMMENT AND SHARE. I LOVE YOU LOT.

~ Love, T.