vogue // l.s

two.

The Styles home is impressive in its stature, and in the grounds, but the inside has an entirely different feel. Louis'd almost expected grand halls, and marble staircases, and the like. Inside, the house is more of a home. The décor is rustic, and in neutral, warm tones. The light is dim, but not dark. It feels inviting, and smells a bit like fresh baking.

It's a vision, really. Imagining pretty Harry baking in his sunglasses and lip gloss. Family photos line the entryway, and Harry kicks off his converse by the door, so Louis toes off his own shoes, to be polite. Harry's socks have cats on them, and Louis is entirely too charmed by that.

"Sorry for the mess," Harry says, and he leads Louis and his bags through the entryway, and into hall, so they can go upstairs. "I've been lookin' for my sunglasses all day. Tore the whole house up tryin' to find them, I think Daisy must've gotten her paws on them. Daisy's my cat, by the way."

Louis nods, because he isn't hopelessly endeared, he absolutely isn't. "I'll show you to your room, Mr. Tomlinson. You've got the whole attic to yourself. S'got a gorgeous view of the grounds."

Louis hums. "You don't have to call me Mr. Tomlinson, you know. Louis works just fine, I'm not that old." He says, and his tone is teasing, and light. They ascend the stairs, to the second floor, but don't stop there. Instead, they keep going up, to the door at the top of the stairs, which clearly leads to the attic. Harry pushes it open, and Louis' a little surprised by the stark contrast between the bedroom and the rest of the home.

"This used to be me and Ed-," Harry starts, but cuts himself off very quickly. "This used to be my room." The walls have been painted a soft, pastel shade of pink. Well, on one side. The other side of the room was painted grey. Louis hums, glancing around.

The dresser on the pink side seems to still harbor some of Harry's belongings. A stack of fashion magazines. Vogue, and the like.  "Sorry, again. There's still a few of my things in here. Just... haven't spent much time up here since mama died," he admitted. "But, um. I'll leave you to get settled?" Harry says it like it's a question, not a statement.  "Was actually about to start dinner before you got here. Which, like. I know it's late, but. Yeah. D'you want me to call you down, when it's finished? I get it, though. If you'd rather just sleep, or something."

Louis gives him a warm smile. "That would be good, yeah. Thank you," he says, and just like that, Harry's left him alone to settle. And, well. To snoop a bit, too, because everything about this trip so far has been weird, and this room is... Something is weird, here, and who the hell is Ed? The sound of the attic door shutting is a little startling, even though Louis had been expecting it.

The attic room was large, and there was another two doors, possibly to a closet, or a bathroom. This room was clearly at one point home to two people, not just Harry. He can see that the pink side must've been Harry's.

Upon further inspection- ahem, snooping- Louis finds tubes of lip gloss, and a few bottles of old, now-separated sparkly nail varnish. In the top drawer, Louis finds a leather bound journal. His fingers itch to crack it open and have a look, but that would be wrong. He knows it would be.

On a bookshelf, he finds more magazines, and to his absolute horror, a copy of The Waltz. A signed copy of The Waltz, even. He's only signed two dozen of them. Most were auctioned off for charity, but a few had been given out in contests...

Upon further inspection, he manages to locate the film DVD, and the movie poster as well. Christ. Harry's a proper fanboy, then. Maybe he doesn't even realize who Louis is. That might be entirely too easy, though.

The other side of the room is slightly emptier. In the dresser drawers, Louis discovers old t-shirts with the name of a local school printed on the front, and a pack of cigarettes, half-emptied with the lighter tucked away inside the packaging.

Was this Ed's side, then? God, who the hell was Ed? Maybe a friend of Harry's? A relative, maybe, someone who'd been a regular enough guest to warrant a whole side of a bedroom painted just for him? It was all a bit strange, of course.

Louis decides to open the doors, then. One leads to a small, but clean and inviting en-suite bathroom. The other, opens into a large, walk in closet. The racks are barren, apart from a few lone hangers, and a couple socks on the floor. Tucked away in the corner hides an old, dusty cardboard box.

It feels a bit weird, rooting through these things. He finds, in the box, a large jar, full of coins. In loopy scrawl, it says H + E Travel Fund. Beneath it, are family photos. Old frames. Pictures of Harry, and his mum, and his dad, and... Well, this is. This must be Ed, right?

Louis flips the frame round, and on the back, he reads 'Harry and Edward, 16th birthday'. The photo is of the two boys, and Anne and Des. They're twins, obviously. Harry's hair is longer, and he wears it in two braids. Edward stands next to him, and they were matching party hats. Anne is smiling, and Des is gripping Harry and Edward's shoulders firmly. Harry looks scared. Edward looks angry.

Louis is startled by the sound of a knock on the door. "Louis!" he hears Harry call. "Dinner's finished!" God, how long had he been looking through these things? Louis breathes out, and stands. "Coming!" he calls back. Louis straightens up, and adjusts his hair in the mirror.

Questions, he's got so many questions. Whether Harry will answer them or not is another thing entirely.

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end chapter two.