Letters to Lou *Larry Stylinson*

Age 8

"Auntie Perrie!" Darcy shrieks, running to the door as the blond woman steps through the door.

"Darcy!" Perrie exclaims, sweeping Darcy up in her arms. Zayn walks around them, pressing a peck against Darcy's temple. "My, you have grown! And look at your hair! It looks beautiful in a bun!"

"Did your Dad teach you?" Zayn smirks, earning a playful nudge from Harry. Harry leans to his right, spotting a little girl clinging to the hem of Perrie's dress.

"Alicia? Is that you?" Harry grins, as the girl turns to him, nodding slightly. "Come on, come give Uncle Harry a hug."

The girl approaches quietly, but gives a surprised shriek as Harry sweeps her up into the air. "My goodness, how old are you now?"

"Fwor!" Alicia giggles, poking Harry's dimple. "Well, aren't you a big girl now!" Harry chuckles, setting her down. "Darcy, dear, why don't you show Alicia around?" Harry says, as Perrie gives Darcy one last peck on the cheek.

"Glad you two are here. Alicia is absolutely beautiful." Harry grins, as the couple envelops him in a hug. "Liam and Soph are in the kitchen. Niall should be around any minute with Barbara. Food's on the table." Harry says, guiding the couple into the kitchen.

Soon enough, the doorbell rings again, this time revealing a blond man carrying a large wrapped box.

"Woah, woah, what is that?"

Niall laughs, dumping the load in Harry's arms as he leads Barbara in. "Good to see you Harry." Barbara smiles, as Harry attempts to free a hand for a handshake.

"That's for Dar Dar, by the way." Niall chirps, before nearly skipping into the kitchen. Barbara follows suit, carrying a bowl of pudding they had brought along. "Make sure she doesn't open it before Christmas!" Barbara adds, before disappearing into the kitchen.

Harry quirks his lips in curiously, and sets the box on the living room coffee table. He could already picture how Darcy's face would light up when she later spots the box, and so he quickly ambles into his room and digs through the bottom drawer of the dresser. Finally, he spots the old digital camera beneath bundles upon bundles of socks, and fishes it out. Clicking the on button, Harry's heart nearly stops at the last image taken.

Under the Christmas tree was Darcy, only four years old. Her hair had been put into pigtails that day, and her smile revealed a gap in her front teeth. Sprawled on the ground next to her was Louis, who had a surprised look on his face at Darcy, although Harry couldn't remember why.

Looking at the picture, it was amazing to Harry how much Darcy had grown. He remembered when she barely reached up to his mid thigh, which was quite impressive, considering his long gangly legs. Now she stood above Harry's waist, and he's never felt his heart swell so much.

Then there was Louis, who never grew an inch after he reached twenty. Although he had tried several times to convince Harry he was 5'9'', that would mean he was only a few inches shorter than Harry, which was not the case. In the picture, he had been dressed in one of Harry's sweaters, meaning it hung like a blanket on his shoulders, making him look smaller than he already was.

Before Harry knew it, he felt a tear slip down his cheek and onto the screen of the camera. That picture was taken nearly four years ago after dinner on Christmas eve. Darcy had been anxious to shake the boxes, although Louis tried to persuade her each one was fragile. Later that night, Louis slipped on his coat and drove off, leaving their lives forever.

Even though the door to his room was closed, Harry could still make out the bustling chatter from the kitchen, often interrupted by Niall's bursting laughter followed by the kids' high pitched giggles. Harry took a shuddering breath, and stared ahead at the blank white wall.

"This is what you're missing out on, Lou." Harry says, finding the name so foreign on his tongue. Even as he thinks the name each day in his mind, it must have been years since he's last said it out loud. "It would be even better with you here."

Slowly, Harry eases his way up, and closes the drawer. He wipes away the stray tears on his cheeks, and slides into the kitchen, where it was even louder than before.

"Papa! You're here!" Niall calls out, spreading laughter across the room. Harry feels something solid collide with his leg, and he looks down to see Darcy clinging happily.

"Papa! Papa! Did you know Alicia can do the splits? Did you see Auntie Soph catch grapes in the air? She says she'll teach me how! Oh! And Uncle Niall says your pasta is killer!" Darcy rambles in one giant breath. Harry chuckles and ruffles her hair.

"Well, I have to try some of his pudding then." Harry says, scooping Darcy up into his arms. Admittedly, this was getting harder and harder each year, although he wasn't sure if that was due to his age or Darcy's weight. He hopes it's Darcy's weight."Ooh! Is that a camera? We never take pictures!" Darcy exclaims. Harry laughs, although a part of him cracks at the thought of the pictures Darcy has forgotten.

"Well, why don't we get started today?" Harry asks. Darcy nods giddly, before slipping out of his grasp and to the kitchen table, finding her way on top of a chair.

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen!" Darcy calls out, and nearly immediately the room silences. Darcy grins. "I would like to announce that Mr. Styles will be our photographer for the night, and would like to take a group picture."

"Oh, cool!" Liam agrees, as everyone starts lining their way into some sort of formation.

"Actually," Harry says, as everyone pauses, "I kinda want to just take random photos. You know, like candid."

The adults chuckle and agree, as the children wrinkle their foreheads in confusion at the word. "Candid? What does candid mean?" Harry hears Darcy ask, and Harry nearly slaps his head when he hears Niall's explanation: "It's your dad trying to be hipster."

Despite that, Harry snapped several photos that night, most of them capturing the most unexpected moments, including Darcy sneaking a sip of Perrie's wine.

Once the night closed up and everyone left, it was nearly midnight. Everyone had been particularly kind about clean up, and cleared most of the dishes away, leaving Darcy and Harry slumped tiredly on the living room couch. Although it was way past Darcy's bedtime, she had practically begged to at least scroll through the photos from the night. And as always, when it comes to Darcy, Harry had to say yes.

"Hah! Uncle Niall has pudding up his nose!" Darcy giggles, pointing at the small screen. Harry chuckles and scrolls to the next picture, only to be met with the picture of four year old Darcy. Quickly, Harry shuts the camera, and pulls Darcy in an embrace.

"Well, that was one heck of a night, wasn't it?" Harry asks. For a minute, Darcy is eerily quiet, before whispering into Harry's collar.

"That was Daddy, wasn't it?"

Harry doesn't answer, but his silence was enough. Darcy lies still for a few minutes to the point that Harry was sure she has fallen asleep, until she grabs the camera out of his hands.

"Let's take a new one. Just you and me." Darcy says, angling the lense at themselves. Harry barely has any time to pull on a smile before the camera flashes.

"Hah, you look surprised." Darcy giggles as she scrolls to the photo. Harry peers over her shoulder, and sure enough, he looks as surprised as Louis in the picture from four years ago.

"Make sure to print that one." Darcy says, hopping off of the couch and towards her bedroom. "I want to send one to Daddy."

"Will do." Harry says, before getting up after her. Harry didn't care if the next time he sees that photo is fifty years from now; he will remember why he was surprised.

Oh my goodness, if you read this, then you are my true love. Unfortunately, there is currently donut (is that how you spell it?) views, so if you exist and see any grammar mistakes (there's alot) then please do tell :)- Clayla