Before Christmas

Sixteen

Harry POV

When I woke up, late in the morning, around ten thirty, Louis was still fast asleep. But I was lying on his chest and his arm was around me. If he woke up now would he freak out? 

I could hear people moving around in the next room. The living room door was closed so thankfully no one had seen us cuddling because if they had they definitely would think there was something going on between Louis and I. I wished something was going on between us but if people starting asking me about it I'd probably break down because there wasn't.

I don't know how long I lay there but I seemed to be paralyzed, taking in his scent without realizing and breathing in time with the rise and fall of his chest beneath me.

I jumped when my phone buzzed underneath my leg with an incoming call. I quickly moved over as Louis woke up, startled at the noise. He seemed shy when he noticed his arm was trapped beneath me as I accepted the call from James put my phone to my ear.

"Hey mate, how's it going?" he asked.

"I'm alright, what's up?" I replied, trying not to look at Louis' face as he woke up, yawning and rubbing his face.

"Just wondering if you and Louis want to come to the park today and we can have a picnic for lunch? There's no snow so we can play some football and put a blanket out to sit on, all the lads are coming." James said.

"Hold on," I said, turning to Louis, "Do you want to go down to the park and have a picnic with the boys and play some football?" I asked.

"Uhh, yeah, sure." Louis replied.

"Yeah, we'll be down at twelve." I said, returning to the call.

"Okay, see you Harry." James replied.

"Yeah, see you." I said and I hung up.

"Well, I'm going to go and have a shower then. We'll leave at like quarter to." I said and Louis nodded, reaching for his phone. I got up and stepped over Louis to leave the living room and go upstairs, my back hurting slightly from sleeping on the air mattress.

I had a nice long, hot shower, enjoying the water falling down from my hair and shoulders. I washed my hair with Gemma's nice shampoo that made my hair really soft and then turned off the water, wrapped a towel around my waist and stepped out of the shower.

I stood in front of the mirror but it was all steamed up so I couldn't see myself. I brushed my teeth and put on some deodorant then went back to my room and got dressed into some tracksuit pants and a shirt with a hoodie on top. 

In the living room downstairs Louis was still lying in bed, talking on the phone. I heard him say 'El' so I guessed he was talking to Eleanor. Swallowing uncomfortably I went into the kitchen and got myself a piece of toast.

A text came through from the groupchat with the boys and it said that Louis and I just needed to bring some snacks. I grabbed a bag and put some biscuits, crisps and a few apples into it, calling to Louis to get up because we had to leave soon.

"Sorry, sorry, I'll go get dressed." he said, running out of the living room in his pajamas and up the stairs.

I put the bag by the door and checked we had everything we needed then I told Mum we were going out and put on my walking/running shoes. Louis came downstairs then, pulling a beanie over his hair and he slipped on his shoes without untying the laces.

"I'll grab that for you Harold." he said with a grin, picking up the bag when I reached for it. I pulled on my coat and he got his too and we left, shutting the door behind us.

It was a short walk to the park and we arrived pretty soon. Only Jack and Ed were there, putting a picnic blanket down and rubbing their hands together to keep warm. It was a pretty stupid idea having a picnic in the middle of December.

"Hey Harry, hey Louis." Jack said.

We sat down and Louis and Jack started a conversation. Ed joined in after a few minutes and I played with the grass, listening to them talking about a horrible date Jack once had.

Before long Aaron and James arrived, passing a football between them. Almost straight after Nick arrived, hugging us all, even Louis. I was glad he was being friendly and had seemed to get the idea that him and I were only in the past.

We played a small three on three football game because Ed had hurt his knee and couldn't play, which evened the players out.

It was me, Aaron and Jack against Louis, Nick and James. We used sticks to mark the two goals and Ed was sitting on the blanket in line with the middle of our little field.

We got pretty hot after a while and soon all of our coats were on a pile next to Ed. Louis scored another goal and cheered loudly, hugging Nick in celebration. They were currently beating us by two goals.

I had noticed that when Louis played football he was really hot. He constantly swept his hair out of his face and he was fucking adorable when he cheered and laughed and swore under his breath when he was under pressure.

"Fuck you Styles." he muttered as I tackled the ball off him, my fingers brushing his arm. I didn't want to carry on running, I wanted to stay here, touching Louis and listening to his tired breathing. Instead I smirked at him and sidestepped him, kicking the ball through those stupid sticks.

Aaron and Jack hugged me like we'd just won the World Cup, even though we were still losing and I tried to read the emotions on Louis' face. There were a lot all mixed together but I seemed to detect jealousy, pride and a slight smile seemed to be tugging at his lips as I stuck my tongue out at him teasingly.