Cupid's Defence

Chapter 3

iii.

When the doorbell rang the next morning, Louis answered. Usually, it wouldn't have been a problem, but since there was a Greek God staying in his apartment, the place was a tip. He had to step over countless piles of clothes in order to get to the door, not to mention the glitter strewn everywhere: on the walls, on the carpet, on the light switches. It was ridiculous.

Harry was asleep on the sofa, his big limbs spread everywhere, and the bra snugly seated on his head. Louis fought the urge to remove it and walked on. If he had learned one thing, it was that gods were not only very silly, but endlessly insistent upon the strangest of things. He didn't even need to sleep, for fuck's sake.

Louis opened the door, and it was Liam. He looked alien there, in Louis' doorway, in a dark peppermint suit and circular glasses. Then again, Liam had the extraordinary gift of looking alien anywhere that wasn't a workplace. He cleared his throat, awkwardly so.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah," Louis said, cautiously, "Sure."

Liam stepped in, and Louis instantly felt underdressed. If Liam was about to give him some bad news, he'd prefer it if he wasn't wearing his pyjamas to receive it.

"Tidy as always, Lou," Liam remarked, looking at the mess.

Louis laughed, awkwardly, and stumbled over, beginning to pick up cola cans and cereal boxes as he walked. "It's mostly just, uh, stuff I was about to put away anyway...This wasn't gunna stay here."

"Ah yeah," Liam laughed, richly, "Sure."

As Louis rushed to the bin, Liam stopped in the doorway of the living room, a quizzical look on his face. When Louis scurried over to share his view, he found himself looking at Harry, still asleep on the sofa.

"He's here," Liam commented, blandly.

"Uh," Louis scratched the back of his hair, "Yeah."

"I didn't know..." Liam trailed, "I mean, are you two..."

Louis paused. And then, realising the implication, stared at him.

"Oh-- no! He's not here because--No, no. No. We're not--" He went bright red, "Harry and I, we're not-- He's just staying here!"

"But he barely knows you," Liam blinked.

"He barely knows anyone!" Louis threw his hands in the air, "And just because he's in my apartment and he's asleep doesn't mean that we slept together. Or are sleeping together. At ALL. Jesus."

"Okay," Liam looked at Harry once more, "I was just making sure."

"Why does it matter to you, anyway?" Louis slowly felt himself become twitchy, "You weren't gunna take on the case in the first place."

"Well," Liam grimaced, "About that."

He began to walk, and Louis followed in pursuit. They made their way to Louis' kitchen, where Angie was fast asleep on the counter, and the mid-morning light was just beginning to creep up the walls, the loveliest pigment of warmth. Louis squinted in the face of it.

"I've had a think about the case," Liam announced, slowly, "And even though it's absurd, I met with Sheila, and she seems very intent on following through with it."

"She genuinely thinks Harry is to blame for her marriage," Louis stated, "I mean, it's failures, and stuff."

"In a bland term- yes," Liam kneaded his hands, "But through a legal lens, she's blaming him for the integration of both hers and Tim's companies, put into affect as a result of their marriage."