Dignified Minds, Tempted Hearts

5 - the dinner

The day after, Harry adjusts his blouse as he stands in front of the Tomlinson household.

He washed and styled his hair before heading over, spending a good amount of time styling his curls and letting them dry evenly.

Something about Mrs. Tomlinson wants to make him impress her. She seems like such a lovely and strong woman that Harry wants to be liked by her. It would be an honour to spend more time with such a sweet woman and family.

Being with the Tomlinson family makes him feel less lonely. All the siblings - well excluding Louis he supposes - are so nice and he loves spending time with them.

He doesn't know them well, but he would like to, especially because he doesn't know any other people in town yet.

And if their mom likes him, he hopes he might be able to come over once in a while.

So he adjusts his hat one more time, taking his ray bans off as he inspects his outfit one more time. He's wearing a black suit with a matching black blouse with a black patterned scarf to make it a little less formal, but still elegant.

After one more deep breath, he finally knocks on the door. He feels unusually nervous, maybe because of Louis' threats yesterday or because he is going to talk properly to Mrs. Tomlinson today - he can't figure out what is making him so anxious.

When he sees the laughing faces of Phoebe and Lottie as they open the door for him, some of the tension in his body disappears and he smiles back brightly. "Hello there!"

"Wow, you look nice." Phoebe says with her mouth hung wide, her hand touching the scarf around Harry's neck. "Are you going to a wedding after supper?"

Harry blushes, suddenly feeling overdressed. "No, I'm not. I just wanted to look nice for dinner." He chuckles nervously, shifting uncomfortably before deciding to take his hat off.

"You look great." Lottie assures him, probably sensing his nervousness.

He shoots her a grateful smile as he follows them into the living room. He makes eye contact with Louis, whose eyebrows shoot up in shock when he sees Harry's outfit. This causes Harry to quickly avert his eyes, looking for Mrs. Tomlinson.

He spots her in the kitchen, running around and stirring in a lot of pans. He can see sweat covering her forehead and his heart tugs when he notices how much effort she is putting in.

She looked so pale and vulnerable the day before that seeing her so worked up and busy worries Harry.

So, he quickly walks towards her, laying a hand on her shoulder as he says. "Hi, Mrs. Tomlinson, can I help you with something?"

She jumps in surprise when they make contact but then smiles gratefully. "That would be lovely, thank you, Harry. I'm sorry it's not done yet, it's taking a little longer than expected."

Harry quickly shakes his head. "That's no problem at all, I actually adore cooking, I'm happy to help."

She snorts, wiping a strand that is sticking to her sweaty forehead from her face. "Louis can learn something from you, then. He can't cook at all."

Harry smiles, not surprised by that statement. He moves to the pan with some chicken in it and starts stirring it occasionally.

Suddenly, Louis enters the kitchen. "I did offer to help you, mom..."

"Well, I'm sorry that I don't want to have a fire in the kitchen again."

Harry's eyebrows shoot up. Fire?

"That was one time, mom!" Louis whines as a blush covers his face. He's desperately trying to not make eye contact with Harry.

"Well, Harry here is helping me already and he is doing a great job." She smiles at him before pointing at the seasoning. "Can you season that for me? It's for an Italian pasta recipe."