A Handcuffed Christmas

4

They were still wearing the same shirts as the day before. Louis sighed and found a scissor in the bathroom cabinet and before Harry could even blink he started to cut his shirt open.
"Hey! It's a favorite of mine." He protested.

"So what's your solution then, sunshine? Are you going to wear it for a month without showering? You'll be dragging a dead weight behind then because I would die from your odor." Louis said.

"Fine, cut it open. Niall can buy me a new one." Harry sighed.

He felt very exposed when Louis got rid of their shirts. They were standing in their boxers.
"Let's not drag this out any longer than we have to. Get in the shower." Louis ordered and started to pull off his boxers.

Harry turned his eyes away and got naked as well. They got in the shower and Louis turned the water on. They hurried to wash up, trying their best to avoid touching each other with any body parts. It was easier said than done. It was a small shower.

It didn't help that their arm just waved there in the air as they took turns shampooing their hair. The situation was tense and awkward and they didn't utter a single word.

Harry let out a breath of relief when they finally climbed out of the shower and wrapped towels around their waists.
"How about we don't shower every day?" Louis suggested, avoiding eye contact.

"Deal!" Harry immediately agreed.

They hurried to get dressed, helping each other with the buttons on Niall's specially-made sweaters.
"He planned this, that little fucker." Louis snorted.

"Are you surprised?"Harry questioned.

"Not really but I'm pissed. He's destroying my Christmas break!" Louis complained.

Harry got tense.
"You mean that I'm destroying your Christmas break. Niall isn't here. You're stuck with me."

"Well, I'm destroying your Christmas break too, so we're even." Louis snorted, totally missing the hurt look on Harry's face.

"Right. I wanna go and see my family now." Harry said with an edge to his voice.

"Can we at least have breakfast first?" Louis wondered as he pulled on a pair of trousers.

"Sure." Harry agreed.

They walked downstairs as soon as they were dressed. Everyone was already gathered around the kitchen table. Jay gave them both a hug before they took a seat.
"So have you decided how you're gonna divide your time off? I know that Anne wants to spend time with you, Harry." Jay asked as she put two cups of tea in front of them.

"We haven't really discussed that yet." Harry replied. He refused to look at Louis.

"This is ridiculous. Let's just get these cuffs off. You, my dear family wouldn't tell Niall, would you?" Louis questioned.

"I would totally tell him." Louis' sister Fizzy grinned.

"Yeah, me too." Lottie agreed.

"Rats! I'm your brother!" Louis snorted.

"Well, Niall promised to give us Justin Bieber's number, so..." Fizzy shrugged.

"He bribed you? Of course he did. It's Niall." Louis muttered.

"I also have Biebers number." Harry said, looking at Louis' sisters, ready to make a deal.

"Sorry Harry. We already promised Niall, and we agree with him. You two should make up." Lottie replied.

"Yeah, I don't even get why you're at each other's throats all the time. What happened?" Fizzy asked.

"Girls, that's between Harry and Louis, and before you try son, I already promised Niall as well." Jay smiled.

"Some family I have." Louis muttered.