~*~ Harry ~*~
“Do I get to play, too?”
Harry jumps, startled at Louis’ voice. He feels his face flame, and he looks away from Louis’ examining perusal. Louis slips down next to him on the floor. “You look beautiful, love. Sorry, I was gone so long.” He kisses Harry’s shoulder, half afraid his lips would stick to him if he kissed him anywhere else.
“Only about an hour,” Harry confirms. So what if he had been watching the time while waiting. That’s his business.
“Yeah. It looks like you put that time to good use though.” Louis nods to the nail polish. “Do mine?”
Harry looks up at Louis from his lowered lashes, suddenly shy. “If you want me to.”
“Of course, I do. Slap on some black. I need a new coat anyway,” Louis suggests, wiggling his fingers with chipped black paint at Harry.
Lunchtime rolls around and everyone has taken a turn getting a makeover, even a grumbling Zayn and bashful Liam. Some results were better than others, but no one seemed to mind. Louis’ sister even commandeers Gemma into helping her with her hair and makeup for dinner.
Liam and Zayn take charge of lunch, and Louis organizes a shower rotation. Harry is fascinated by the level of authority Louis commands without even realizing it. His siblings all adore him and cling to him like baby koalas while still following through with whatever Louis is asking them to do.
Louis’ mom disentangles the two youngest of the kids and herds them into the bathroom. Louis wastes no time in slipping his arms around Harry, mimicking his siblings’ koala vibes. “You and I are last for showers. Is that alright? I figured you would want another one, what with the hair and crazy makeup.”
“That’s fine with me. Can I do anything to help for now?”
“Playing with the kids and keeping them entertained is a huge help; but if you could wrap some gifts, that would make things go faster. I have a few I personally need to wrap but several more that you can assist with.”
Harry nods his head. “Definitely.” Harry freezes when he hears Gemma’s phone ring. He knows that ringtone. Dad.
“Hello,” she singsongs, answering the call. Harry watches as her guards slip back into place as she listens. “Nope. I don’t know where he is. We had breakfast instead of lunch. He had other plans come up.” A frown mars her face as her dad speaks on the other end of the line. “No, I won’t go looking for him. I’m with friends, and he’s an adult. It’s time you started treating him like one.”
Harry holds out his hand, silently requesting the phone. Gemma shakes her head. “Whatever. We will see you in February.” She disconnects the call.
“Everything okay?” Harry asks quietly, embarrassed that everyone had heard.
“Same shit, different day. He said if we didn’t show up for Christmas that he was going to return our gifts,” Gemma explains with a hard roll of her eyes.
Harry shrugs. “Whatever.” At least this time, he’s pretty sure it isn’t a kitten.
Gemma giggles, “That’s what I said.”
