Christmas With Lou || Larry Stylinson Christmas Short Story

December 24th

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas," the radio sung as Harry sleepily went down the stairs, rubbing the crust out of his eyes. After the minor blow up Harry had had the night before, and the ten hour flight, the man had gone upstairs and fell asleep quickly and soundly. Several hours later and Harry was brought back to the real world in the gentle embrace of breakfast cooking downstairs and the radio playing softly as Anne hummed along. Harry smiled when he reached the bottom of the steps and could spot his mum swaying in front of the stove, flipping some pancakes on a pan.

"Morning, Mum," Harry greeted as he entered the kitchen. He pressed a kiss to the side of Anne's head, then looked down at the stack of pancakes she had made alongside some bacon, sausage, and fried eggs. He hummed as his stomach growled with hunger, moving to grab a plate from the cabinet above the stove.

Anne tsk'd, stopping Harry from pulling down the dish. Harry frowned at his mum with confusion. She placed the plate back into the cabinet, then said, "It's a someone's special day today, so we're going to eat together. Breakfast isn't done yet."

The crease between Harry's brows deepened as he thought the words over and over again, trying to think what special thing Gemma had done today. Then, it dawned on Harry what day it was and which special guest they had for Christmas this year. His jaw grew taut as he remembered last night again, seeing Louis for the first time in years. He sighed and shut the cabinet, sulking over to the dining room table. He snatched an orange from the middle of the table and began to peel it to tide himself over.

"How did you sleep?" Anne asked casually as she stirred something in a big bowl, hidden from Harry's line of sight.

Harry shrugged, popping a slice of orange into his mouth. "Fine, I guess," he murmured, throwing some peel onto the table. A creaking step from the left perked his interest, bringing his attention over to the kitchen doorway. There was the special guest himself, a shy smile on his face as he waved a good morning to Anne. The woman put down the bowl in her hands and ran over with her arms wide open, ready to give Louis a crushing hug. She peppered kisses all over Louis's face as she squeezed him tight, murmuring something over and over again to him.

Louis blushed hotly as he hugged Anne back, chuckling softly at something she whispered into his ear. When she pulled away, Anne cupped Louis's cheeks lovingly and stroke them with her thumbs, a proud smile on her face like he was her own flesh and blood. "Oh, Louis. I wish Jay were here to see how happy and beautiful you look right now," she said, her voice a mixture of fondness and sadness. She patted his left cheek, which Louis leaned into for a moment until Harry suddenly cleared his throat, causing the older man to jump just the slightest.

"Happy birthday, mate," Harry said, looking away from his mum and Louis. He chewed on the last slice of the orange, gathering the peel pieces to throw into the bin. He gave Louis a tight, forced smile as he passed by him, then left the kitchen afterwards. As great and awesome as it was to see his mum fawn over Louis, Harry wasn't in the mood for it. He had better things to do, he decided.

"Gems!" Harry greeted as he entered the living room, where Gemma was wrapping something on the floor. She jumped, her body lurching forward to cover whatever it was she taping up.

"Harry! Get out!" Gemma hissed, shooing him away with her free hand.

With a laugh, Harry tried to catch a peek of the present. "Oh, Gemma, is that for me?" he asked, coming over to give Gemma a tickle to her sides, laughing harder when she squealed and tried to squirm away. "You shouldn't have!"

Gemma finally got away from Harry and successfully smacked his hands away, then quickly folded the wrapping paper back over the present. "Actually, blabbermouth, it's a birthday gift for Louis. I don't want you spoiling what I got for him," she replied, placing a piece of tape onto the top of the box.