Back To December

21. (Louis)

"Damn it Lou! Hire a damn electrician. I give up."

Zayne yells tossing the book into my lap. I had just finished hopefully hooking up the plumbing in the upstairs bathroom.

"Z. I can't. I spent everything I had saved on this house and the stuff to fix it."

He sits next to me. "Have you told him?"

I shake my head. "That I used all my savings? No. Have you told Li you lost your job?" He looks away. "Didn't think so. Now let's see if we can figure this out."

We can't. The whole weekend passes and we still don't have electricity. We followed every step the book said. Connect the black wire to the white one. Set up the breakers. I groan there's so many wires. I'm an idiot for thinking two 21 year olds could do this. This house hadn't been lived in for years and needed so much work to get up to code but when I walked through it with the realtor I could see it.

Our family.

Here.

It had been a month since I brought Harry here. He loved the house and we loved having sex in every room exploring the house. I took him back after the weekend so he wouldn't miss classes, but then I came back. I don't understand why he needed school really. He was already a fantastic writer he just needed to finish his book and send it to some publishers.

"KNOCK KNOCK! PIZZA IS HERE!"

I hear Liam's voice carry through the house. I knew Harry was with him since it was Spring break now and Liam picked him up then rented a car and drove out here. A part of me wanted to run upstairs and bury my face in his neck. Another part wanted to have at least electricity by the time he got here. I failed.

I take all the wire apart and decide to start over. I don't know how long I sit there in the basement trying to figure this out. I heard Zayne and Liam laugh about something but I still didn't bother to go upstairs. It wasn't until I heard the basement door open and footsteps approach me that I dropped the wires. I threw the book across the room and hit my palm against the wall.

"Baby."

A gentle kiss to my neck. I lean into him and he sets a plate of pepperoni pizza in my lap. "Haz."

"You okay?" Another kiss.

I nod. He steps away and I watch as he picks up the book from across the room. I grab the pizza and start picking pepperoni off. I slowly eat the pizza picking it apart little by little. I watch him crinkle his nose and run his fingers along the pictures in the book then look at the wires. He twists a few together and disconnects some to connect them somewhere else. I watch him as I finish my pizza. I put the plate to the side and pull him onto my lap.

"Loooou. I'm almost done."

I raise my eyebrows. "Done?"

He nods. "Look." He grabs my hands and guides me to the wiring.

I rest my head on his shoulder and watch as he makes my fingers move. It's almost graceful looking. I have no idea what he's doing but it doesn't look anything like what I had going on. Once the last two wires are connected he grabs the front of the breaker box and screws it on the wall.

"Flip it." He whispers to me stepping back.

I hesitantly flip the switch up and the light turns on in the basement.

"AND THEY SAID LET THERE BE LIGHT!!" I hear Liam yell upstairs.

"How did you do that?" I look over at Harry.

He shrugs. "I just followed the instructions. I also may have learned a few things from Ed whose dad is an electrician."

"Hmm. Well then full of surprises aren't you?"