Got The Sunshine On My Shoulders || larry stylinson

PART 15

The first time they meet after the studio, Harry is standing in Louis's kitchen half-naked.

He's most of the way through a huge glass of water, has probably got it dripping all over his chest, when Louis walks in with his laptop under his arm and stops short.

“Oh,” he says in lieu of a greeting. “Sorry. I thought you were done.”

Harry swallows the last of the water that's suddenly turned acidic in his mouth, puts the glass down, and self-consciously wraps an arm around his middle. Louis is looking him in the eye with a scary, burning kind of focus.

“Almost,” Harry replies, pulling the bandana around his neck up to wipe at his forehead. He must look a red, sweaty mess, if Louis's pinched face is anything to go by. “Last couple of things out of mum and Robin's bedroom, and then we'll be out of your hair.”

He smiles as he says it, but it feels stiff. He's not happy to leave, to go back to a life that doesn't have Louis in it.

As both of them shift on their feet, he realises that the last conversation they had in here led to-

“Do you need help?” Louis asks, almost alarmed. “Anne said all the heavy stuff was done, I thought-“

“No, it is,” Harry replies. He tries to control his breathing, tips his head back, runs his hands through his hair to stir a little breeze around the back of his neck. Louis's face is even more drawn when he looks back at him. “I think that's me done, actually, mum said she's got two boxes left to find and that's it.”

Louis opens his mouth to reply, but he doesn't get a chance before mum all but trips into the room.

“I can't find it,” she says, and sneezes into the crook of her elbow. Her hair's come out of the meticulous bun she put it in in the morning, gone frizzy at the temples, and her face is flushed. Louis puts his things down and rushes over to pull out a chair for her.

“Find what?” Harry asks, concerned.

She coughs, and sneezes again, gratefully taking the glass of water he's offering. “The box I brought over with Dusty's things. She hasn't left me alone all day, and she's started sneezing because of the dust, I wanted to see if I could find those drops that the vet gave her.”

“Did you look under the bed?” Louis asks, rubbing her back. “There's a lot of old stuff down there, maybe it just accidentally got lost.”

She shakes her head. “I did, that's why I'm like this,” she points to her nose, which has gone a worrying shade of red. “I couldn't see it anywhere. There were just so many things we brought with us, I have no idea where-“

“I'll go look,” Harry offers.

“No, darling, that's okay, you've done enough today. I just needed a little break.”

“You look exhausted,” Louis says, looking at her apologetically. “It's just one box, I'm sure Harry can handle that.”

She sighs. “If you're sure.”

“I'm sure. What does it look like?”

“It's,” she coughs, “a shoebox. A black Nike shoebox, I think.”

“Okay,” Harry smiles, and kisses her on the cheek as he passes. “I'll be right back, then.”

She calls something after him that he can't quite decipher. He runs all the way to the top of the stairs without stopping, and has to take a minute to breathe once he's up there. The way Louis had been looking at him-it was a little too much in a whole lot of ways.