fine line

𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝

December 2016

"I guess you won't prank me this year," Harry says passively, scrolling through his phone with his head in Louis' lap. Louis is threading his fingers through Harry's hair.

Louis, who'd been distracted by his own phone, abruptly turns off the device and looks down at Harry, whose eyes move to meet his as soon as the hand in his hair stills. "Why's that?"

"Well, I mean...when would you have had time to plan it? We've been attached at the hip since February. And you don't have to get my attention anymore." He says the last part softly.

Louis smiles sweetly at him. "Oh, Hazza. Of course I haven't had time to plan it. Darn. And it would've been the best one yet." He smacks his hand against his forehead in the ultimate show of dramatics.

Harry narrows his eyes suspiciously. "You only say 'darn' when you're up to something," he points out.

Louis tilts his head. "Oops. Guess you'll find out."

Harry groans. "Please don't ruin another one of my suits."

"Don't worry. I learned my lesson with Barbara."

"How did you know I named my sparkly purple suit Barbara? We weren't even talking then."

Louis chuckles. "Niall let it slip. Apparently you were extremely fond of this particular suit. I'm sorry I ruined it. I can buy you another."

"Lewis, it was custom made."

"Well, Harold, they can re-custom make it."

Harry just rolls his eyes and leans up to kiss Louis. "You can't execute a prank this year anyway," he says. Louis chases his lips even as he makes a noise of disagreement. Harry laughs. "How are you going to find the time to do something and be up onstage with me?"

"The Tommo has his ways," Louis says mysteriously, then tackles Harry, pressing him into the mattress and kissing him senseless. He doesn't hear any complaints, and the subject is forgotten.

***

"Stand by, Horan."

"Already in position, Tommo. Just tell me when." Niall's voice in Louis' ear is followed by another.

"And you're absolutely sure Harry isn't going to kill you?" Liam wonders. Louis snorts.

"He won't. I already had a replica of his suit made. Don't worry."

Louis sounds very chill, but Liam still sounds doubtful when he says, "Okay." Louis rolls his eyes at his overcautious friend and focuses back on the stage, where a large digital clock is slowly counting down, and underneath it, the emcee for the night is addressing the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for. Fresh from his first tour stop at Madison Square Garden, please welcome the one, the only, Mr. Harry Styles!"

Harry takes the stage looking like a fucking angel in a shimmering white suit. The pants are high-waisted and the jacket is cropped, with a thin band of crystals at the hem. The band kicks it off with Golden, the first track from Harry's new album, and then he sings Watermelon Sugar, the lead single, and Kiwi, because of course. Harry finds Louis immediately in the crowd and sings most of the lyrics to him. It doesn't look like a lot of people notice, but Louis definitely does, offering Harry smirks and winks as he goes.

After Kiwi, Harry takes a moment to talk to the crowd. "New York! How are we tonight?" he asks, getting a deafening round of applause in response. Harry laughs into the mic. "Thank you so much for having me. It's been five years that I've done this now, and I'm so honored to have had this opportunity for so long. I'd like to play a slower song for you, if that's alright?"