With A Touch Of Magic (Larry Version)

24. A Garden Full Of Feelings

If Louis had been fascinated by officially 'travelling' with a portal, then he looked tremendously blown away by the village in itself. Harry was so used to this part of his life, that it was actually nice to experience seeing it for the first time through Louis' eyes with him. It felt like another privilege he was allowed to have.

"This looks so cute" Louis marvelled at the sight of the village and its inhabitants and little shops. "Not what I expected".

That piqued his curiosity. "What did you expect then?".

"I'm not sure, to be honest. But definitely not this" Louis let his eyes wander over the different buildings in awe. "It all looks so bloody adorable and the magic seems so seamless here".

"It is. We just let it flow however we please. That's technically the entire purpose of these villages" Harry took in the sign of a tiny shop on his right side. It was a bookshop and the figures drawn on the sign were moving. That was normal for him but definitely not normal for Louis. Nonetheless, he took it all pretty well.

"I didn't expect to see bookshops or any of the sort" Louis came up beside him to look at the moving sign. "Magic books?".

"Of sorts but also children's books but different from yours and with a lot of moving images" Harry let him know informatively.

"That sounds sick" Louis peaked through the window at the books. "Maybe with books like this, I would've read more".

"Oh, so you're not a bookworm?" Harry glanced down at him to see Louis shaking his head without looking away from the many magic books. "But you're an author".

That did make Louis look up at him with an expression Harry couldn't read and it made him realise that they haven't talked about this at all. Not since he had thanked him for his unexpected gift, which had sounded like a lame excuse to get sex back then but it hasn't been. Until this day, he hadn't been able to clarify that. Maybe today was the day for that.

"I still didn't read much for as long as I can remember. That's why I was literally shocked by myself when I enjoyed writing so much" Louis opened up to him right in front of this bookshop like it was nothing but it was everything to Harry. "And even now, I write way more than I read. Writing actually stops me from reading, so I wouldn't call myself anything close to a bookworm, no".

"I've never thought about authors having no time to read, to be honest. But it makes a lot of sense" Harry mused out loud, knowing they could stop this topic right here but he needed to get this off his chest, for both of their sakes. "While we're at it, I just need to tell you how much your gift meant to me. I know I said it before but the circumstances were all weird and wrong and I need you to know that I actually meant it. I didn't just say that to get something from you. I really loved it. It meant everything".

Definitely taken aback by that confession, Louis reached out to caress Harry's cheek, making Harry wanna nuzzle into the touch and bloody purr. Coco was definitely rubbing off on him. "It meant everything to me, too. Thank you".

"No, thank you" Harry placed his own hand over Louis' hand. "You didn't have to tell me but you still did. And the way you told me was ... I'm sorry I never asked. I should have".

"Let's just put that behind us as well and do better, yeah?" Louis tilted his head aside with a warm smile on his face. "We're kinda starting over here, Haz. If not completely but partly, at least".

"I know" Harry sighed out, leaning further into Louis' touch. "I just still feel so bad and want you to know how serious I am about this right now. About you. Us. For real this time".

"You make it sound like you're the only one who did things wrong but you're not" Louis' face scrunched up adorably. "We both did".

"But we also both know that I fucked up way more. You might've exploded on me on two occasions without me knowing why but it all made sense after we talked it out. I, on the other hand, acted like an asshole and treated you ...".