Soulmate Search // larry

'He's My World'

"Happy birthday, Harry!" his younger sister squeals, running into his bedroom at exactly midnight. "You can legally drink now, yay!"

"Gems, I'm sleeping," Harry whines, rolling over and burying his head under a pillow.

Gemma jumps onto his bed, laying on top of him and giving him a big hug. "But it's your birthday! C'mon, you've got to be excited."

"I will be in, like, eight more hours at least."

"You're no fun," Gemma sighs. Harry turns onto his back once more, wrapping his arms around his sister as thanks. She takes that as her cue to leave. "Geez, you disturb one of his dreams about Louis and he's suddenly Mister Grumpy Pants."

Harry sits straight up, no longer feeling tired. His sixteen year old sister is leaning against the doorframe, smirking, knowing that that was all she had to say to get his attention. His eyes are wide in shock as he stares at her.

"Um, erm, it's Lou. Remember?" he chuckles nervously, hesitantly, hoping that he misunderstood what she had said.

"Maybe his nickname is."

Harry feels his heart plummet, feels his vocal cords being tied up. He tries to reply, just say something, but he only manages to look like a fish out of water. How could Gemma possibly know about his boyfriend? He thought he was being subtle, not doing or saying anything that could give him away. But Gemma obviously found out somehow.

He covers his face with his hands, taking a sharp and shaky breath. He shouldn't worry, he knows that, because out of all of his family members, his baby sister would definitely be the most accepting of him. But he wanted to tell her, not have her figure it out.

"How do you know?" he whispers.

His sister's smirk is gone now, having seen his reaction. She feels a bit guilty for springing it on him this way. Slowly making her way back to her brother, her bare feet padding across the hardwood floor, Gemma sits next to him and rests her head on his shoulder.

"I heard you talking the night Mom and Jeff went out to dinner," she replies. "No one was supposed to be in your room, so I peeked through your door and saw you Skyping him."

It's silent for a moment, the only sound being the siblings' breathing and the ticking of the kitchen clock echoing through the house. Gemma hugs Harry tight and, after a few minutes, he pulls his hands from his face and hugs her back.

"Does he make you happy?" she asks.

Harry can't help but smile. "More so than I could describe."

Gemma grins, too. Hearing her brother sound so incredibly head over heels for this boy makes her heart flutter. It's so cute to see him this way, she thinks.

She withdraws her arms from him and lies down, tugging the covers up to her shoulders. "Tell me about him."

"Well," he says, lying next to her. They're both on their sides, just staring at each other. Harry's cheeks are slightly pink, whether from embarrassment or from this odd surging feeling in his chest, he isn't sure. "Where do I even begin?"

"With the small things. The things he does that makes your heart do little flips."

"Okay, well. He's amazing.

"He's so tiny. When we hold hands, mine envelope his. When we hug, his head is buried into my chest because he can't quite reach the crook of my neck. And when we kiss, he's slightly standing on his tip toes, and the moment our lips touch it's as if all the warmth in the world is residing in my body.

"He is absolutely, breath takingly beautiful, Gems. His nose is adorable and small, and he's always crinkling it up. His glasses slip down his nose more times during the day than I can count, but it's so cute when he pushes them up and his sleeves cover most of his hand. His hair, it's so soft, and I never want to stop running my fingers through it. And his eyes, they're such a vibrant blue they almost sparkle. But it's such a calm, comforting blue as well.

"His laugh brings me pure joy, and it could make me smile even if I felt down. He's adorable. He's always looking for some way for us to be touching, or he's goofing off and giggling, or he's simply sleeping. I've never seen anyone look so peaceful while asleep. He's just so beautiful."

Harry comes back to Earth then, and blushes profusely. He didn't even manage to get out half of the things that Louis does or says that brings him happiness, but he is sure his sister doesn't wish to hear anymore.

"Wow," she breathes. He raises an eyebrow at her. "You really like him, don't you?"

"He's my world."

Gemma can't help but smile so widely it seems almost painful. "Do you have a picture?"

Harry laughs, because of course he has a picture. He has like three hundred. Unplugging his phone from where it's charging, he opens his camera roll and clicks on his file that contains only pictures and videos of his beautiful boyfriend.

He chooses his favorite one, the one Eloise took of them asleep in each other's arms, and shows his sister. Then he shows her the one of Louis at the ice rink, right before they began skating. And before he knows it, they're going through every single picture and video of the couple until it's nearly three in the morning.

The siblings decide to go to bed after that, but Gemma is too comfortable to leave the warmth of her big brother's bed. The two lie quietly, neither quite tired, but both knowing they should be. There's just so much running through their minds, that sleep seems like an almost impossible feat.

"Haz?" Gemma breathes out after a while.

"Hmm?"

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Being in love. Finding a soulmate. What's that like?"

And Harry doesn't really know how to respond.

"I don't think there's any way to describe it. It's like walking on a cloud, but even more amazing. Your chest feels like it's going to explode every time they text or call you or simply whisper your name. It's the best thing ever, I think."

They fall asleep after that, neither noticing the continuous lighting up of the birthday boy's phone.

A/N: I'm so sorry for these long waits between updates, guys! At least they're still like twice a month, right? cx

Predictions, anyone? What do you guys want to happen?

Dedicated to @GoldThongHarry

-c8