Somebody to Hold Tonight (Larry Stylinson)

9

Although I felt I'd seen many things in my life, relationships weren't particularly my forte. Seeing as my last real relationships ended over condoms, I'd never made it to the "meet the parents" stage. I barely knew Harry and was already sleeping at his house, and when I came downstairs on Sunday morning, I found myself being introduced to his parents.

I hadn't bothered with brushing my hair before I came downstairs. Instead, I'd brushed my teeth and threw my hair back before heading downstairs for a cup of coffee and secretly hoping for more stuffed waffles. However, when I stepped into the kitchen, I found Harry seated at the breakfast nook across from a man and a woman.

"Louis," Harry smiled. He stood and waved me over. I tucked a stray piece of my red hair behind my ear and walked over to him somewhat reluctantly. "Louis, this my mom, Anne, and my dad, Des. Mom, dad, this is Louis."

"Hello," Des said with a nod.

"It's so nice to meet you," Anne said. "Harry's told us so much about you."

I gave Harry a withering look before turning back to Anne. I mustered the best smile I could. "I bet whatever he's told you has made for an interesting tale."

Anne smiled sympathetically. "Well, we understand you've been having a rough couple of days. We're so sorry about your friend that passed on, and what happened to you and your siblings, but I believe you made quite an impression on Harry from day one."

"Mom," Harry said, looking embarrassed as he shifted his weight from foot to the other. I couldn't help but grin at Harry's obvious discomfort. Her cheeks were a rosy shade of pink, but it was oh so cute.

"We can certainly see why now," Des commented with a wink. "I was always partial to bronde myself."

I felt myself blush as Anne scoffed and looked offended. "And what am I? Second best?" she asked, brushing her long brown hair away from her face.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Anne," Des grinned. "You know I'm an even bigger sucker for blue-green eyes."

"Then I guess Louis better watch out for you," Anne said, shifting her eyes first to me and then to Harry. "Looks like you've got some competition, H."

"Mom!" Harry exclaimed, turning pink once again. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Honestly, I thought the whole thing was rather amusing. I thought perhaps his parents were reading a bit too far into things. I didn't think Harry had any attraction to me whatsoever. After all, I'd been pretty horrible to him, but it was fun to watch him squirm and be embarrassed -at the expense of his parents, no less.

Anne waved her son off dismissively as she looked at me. "Why don't you sit down?" she suggested.

"Yeah, get the kid some coffee," Des demanded, but I could tell from his tone he was joking.

"I really don't want to intrude," I said, staying rooted in the same spot.

"Nonsense," Anne smiled as Harry walked over to the cabinets and took out a coffee mug. "We intrude Harry's house every Sunday. He doesn't mind."

I smiled in resignation as I walked over to the booth and sat down across from Anne. "So this is a weekly tradition?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of sorts," Des nodded.

I looked from him to Harry as he sat a mug of coffee down in front of me. "He means they worry about their pathetic, divorced son and feel the need to invade my kitchen on a weekly basis and grill me on my virtually nonexistent social life," he said as he grabbed the box of doughnuts from the center of the table and pushed them toward me. "And, apparently, they also enjoy embarrassing me as much as possible."