I'm in Love With A Criminal

~27~

It was now mid-February and word about Louis' disappearance (once again) was all over the media. Families that didn't even know the Tomlinson family was determined to find him, and those that were close to them were—quite literally—risking their lives to also find him.

People were going mad. They knew victims didn't come home for a few days and suddenly leave again. They claimed the Tomlinson's were hiding something or at least knew something about his locations, but they rebutted against their words. The public, however, thought Lottie was shady. She never said a word about his disappearance.

As for the house, the boys never told Harry and Louis about what the public thought. In fact, the couple didn't have any interest about what the community thought or that they wanted to find Louis. They were wrapped in their own worlds, too focused on each other.

For Harry's birthday—which was early February—Louis asked the boys to distract Harry the night before so he could set up a beautiful outside setting, perfect for a birthday dinner.

He struggled setting up everything, of course, but the end result was out of a fairytale. He strung fairy lights along their trees in the back yard and emptied an area of grass to lay down a picnic blanket. Zayn helped make a chicken recipe that Louis came up with on his own. It was messy, to say the least, but it was delicious.

Louis even made Harry and him flower crowns made out of their bluebells and orchids that grew in their yard. He didn't want to brag, but they were absolutely gorgeous. Harry was never into that stuff, but he grew a soft spot for Louis which welcomed in these things that he would never take a second to appreciate.

The house struggled to get through the germ season. With Niall getting the flu, Louis getting extreme nausea and dizziness, and Liam getting a very bad cold, the five boys tried their best to keep their distance. Harry being stubborn, he had to continue fighting off the boys so he could stay close to Louis. The house found him to be quite protective and possessive.

The group of boys were slowly recovering from their sicknesses. With enough vitamins, resting, and extra help from Zayn, they were quick to get better and return back to their healthy state.

Now, Zayn finally allowed Harry to be close to Louis. The two of them lay in bed together watching movies all day. They would sometimes mute the TV and create their own script for fun. It was always fun to see what the other one would come up with. Louis also just wanted a way to hear Harry laugh. It was like music to his ears.

Louis found himself playing with Harry's fingers and rings as he was cuddled against his side, Harry's free hand running through Louis's messy bed hair.

"Your fingers are huge," Louis said under his breath. He then held Harry's hand up and brought his own hand to his, staring at their size difference. "So is your hand."

"Your hand is so tiny," Harry fonded. He only took a few glances towards their hands as his eyes were fixed on his lover.

They sat there for a few seconds in silence before Harry intertwined their fingers and held his hand. Louis' face grew a sweet smile as he brought their conjoined hands together and kissed Harry's knuckles.

As Louis did this, Harry swooped down and placed his lips on his temple. He could feel Louis smile against his hand.

When he pulled away, Louis went back to playing with his rings. He had many, even multiple on a single finger.

Louis gently pulled one off and held it over his ring finger. He dropped it, watching it fall easily onto his finger with plenty of extra room. Noticing what finger it was, he held it in front of them two of them and playfully wiggled it as if it was an engagement ring.