i love you, don't you mind? [larry stylinson]

Chapter Fourteen

Almost two weeks later, Detective Vance allowed Louis to reopen his gallery. Unfortunately, they had no leads. In the meantime, Vance had gathered as much evidence as he could in order to allow Louis to return to his studio.

It was the first day for Louis to reopen his gallery, and while he was eager, he was also stressed. He needed to recreate the center ceramic pieces that were broken. He was also unsure of how safe he felt being at the gallery. Because of this, him and Harry decided to have a staff member present at all times.

All morning, Harry was worried about Louis. He could tell the omega was worried about returning to the gallery. As an attempt to calm Louis' nerves, Harry decided to drive him to work. He also needed to be in the office, which was helpful since he could see Louis at any time during the day.

On their drive to work, Harry stopped at Louis' favorite coffee shop and purchased him a latte and a pastry. During their drive and coffee stop, Harry thought about how today was their first day being apart. Lately, Louis had practically been living at Harry's house. The omega had his own drawer with clothes and his own bathroom products. While Harry could work from home most days, neither of them saw the point in Louis going back to his apartment.

As Harry parked in his staff assigned lot, Louis spoke up, "I feel like you've been quiet this morning."

It was true, Harry had barely said anything to him this morning, aside from asking his coffee order. Harry smiled softly and shook his head. "Yeah, sorry about that. I've been deep in thought."

"About?" Louis questioned. He worried Harry was upset about something, but his scent didn't seem angry.

Harry paused before turning to Louis and placing his hand on top of his. "I want you to be my boyfriend," Harry said. "I've been thinking all morning about how I hate being apart from you. Obviously, it's healthy to have our alone time and focus on our work. But, I don't want to go one more second without you being my boyfriend."

Excitement washed over Louis and a smile became evident across his face. "Yes!" He exclaimed. "Yes, yes. These past few weeks have been amazing. Every moment with you has just been wonderful."

Harry grinned and brought Louis into a kiss. "I'm glad," Harry said. "Have lunch with me later? I'll find time between a meeting."

Louis nodded enthusiastically. He wasn't thinking about the question Harry had just asked, instead, he was feeling delighted they were finally boyfriends.

-

Louis dedicated majority of his studio time working with the ceramic wheel, trying to make center pieces again. Abigail, one of their university students, was working front desk for him. Since it was the middle of a weekday, service was slow and they only had a few people walk in to observe the art.

Louis was deep in concentration, his hands shaping clay around the wheel. He was surprised when he heard Abigail's voice. "Hey Louis, someone is here to see you."

Louis took his foot off the ceramic wheel and turned it off. He wiped his hands with a nearby wet rag before asking Abigail, "Who is it?"

Abigail shook her head. "He didn't give me a name, but he has flowers and said you'd know him."

Louis paused and furrowed his eyebrows. "It's not Harry?" Surely, Abigail would've recognized him.

"No, definitely not Harry," Abigail replied.

Louis waved his hand and said, "I'll go, thanks for letting me know. Can you stay here and take some pieces out of the kiln? They're finally cooled."

Abigail agreed and Louis walked out to the front, being hit with a familiar scent. "Aiden?" Louis asked. Louis was surprised Aiden would be here, as the omega never responded to a text or call since Taylor's party.