Forever and Always (Larry)

Chapter Six

August 17, 2020

Louis walked into the coffee shop and looked around for a man in a blue sweater. He smiled when he saw a very, very beautiful man walk up to him, smiling widely. "Are you Louis?" The man asked. Louis nodded his head, he wasn't able to say anything because his voice was stuck in his throat. For the first time, Adam picked a nice looking man for Louis to see. Louis blushed and shook the man's hand. "I'm Stanley, but you can call me Stan." He told Louis.

Louis and Stan made their way to a booth, Louis sitting in the seat opposite of Stan and picked up the tea that Stan had ordered him. "I hope I ordered it right.. Adam told me that he thought that Yorkshire was your favorite.." Stan blushed and looked down at the table. Louis smiled widely and took a drink of it. "It is my favorite, thank you, Stan." Louis thanked him. Stan sat up straighter and cleared his throat. "Sorry, I'm not used to going on dates.. Adam told me that you agreed and told me to get here.." Stan admitted. Louis laughed loudly. "Oh, God. Adam has trying to get me back on the dating scene for ever!" He giggled and covered his mouth in embarrassment. Stan smiled wider and grabbed Louis's hand and pulled it away from Louis's mouth. "You have an adorable giggle.. And you're even cuter when you blush." Stan told Louis, causing Louis to blush even more,

"So.." Louis began. "Tell me about yourself?" He asked, raising his right eyebrow and taking a sip of the tea. He looked in Stan's eyes and smiled. For the first time in seven or so years, he was happy with another man who wasn't Harry and Harry wasn't even on Louis's mind. 

"Well, I'll be thirty in a few months, my birthday is in November.. November 16.. Uh.. I work at the clinic here in town... I'm the co owner.. Uh. I went to Harvard... I don't have any children, but I really want some.. And my favorite color is blue!" Stan grinned widely. Louis was impressed about Stan's job and that he went to Harvard and that he co owned a business. 

"Wow..." Louis mumbled. "Uh.. I work at the school.. I'll be twenty nine on Christmas Eve.. I have four kids... Two sets of twins.. One set is mine, Edward and Darcy.. And one set is my ex's.. He didn't want them and their mother passed away from cancer last year.. Their names are Eric and Mary-Anne.. I work at the high school... Head of the drama department.. And I used to be in a band.. But I don't talk about them much.." Louis told Stan, whispering the last part sadly. He hated bringing up the band that he hadn't spoken with in years.

Stan nodded and took a drink of his own tea. "I understand why you don't want to talk about them.. My little sister was in love with them, until you left. The band just wasn't the same after that, But about your kids! Wow, four? That's amazing." Stan smiled and sat his drink down. Louis was happy that Stan didn't want to talk about One Direction and he was happy that the subject was changed quickly. 

Louis nodded and took a bite of the cinnamon roll that was brought their way. "Yeah. They are all six.. About a month apart.." He smiled. Louis absolutely loved talking about his kids. His kids were his safety, He could always talk about them. "I even have a picture of them!" He smiled and got his phone out, showing Stan the pictures of the four children.

Stan looked at the pictures and cooed at how cute the kids were. Louis decided that maybe, just maybe, dating wouldn't be that bad. Maybe, just maybe, he'd give it a try. He also decided that he liked Stan and he hoped that maybe, just maybe, Stan liked him back. At the end of their little meeting, Stan and Louis exchanged numbers and set up another date for them to get to know each other better. 

Hours after he left Adam's house, he arrived with a large smile on his face. Adam opened his front door and smiled at Louis. "How did it go?" He asked as he pulled Louis into the house. Louis only smiled wider and sighed happily as he dumped his body on Adam's couch. "Amazing! He's perfect! And he didn't run when I told him about the kids!" Louis gushed, not caring that he sounded like a teenage girl. He was happy and nothing was going to change that. Nothing, nothing at all.

Adam smiled and pulled Louis in for a hug. "I told you that you would like him, so do you two have another date?" He asked. Louis nodded and blushed. "Yeah, he asked me to accompany him to a movie and dinner date Wednesday. And of course I said yes!" He smiled at Adam. Adam was happy that his best friend finally found someone who made him happy. "And I'm guessing that I'm babysitting?" He asked, Louis nodded. "Please. I don't want them to meet him until Stan and I are more serious than we are. I don't want them to be attached to someone who isn't going to stay around.." Louis whispered. Adam smiled and hugged Louis again. "I'd love to watch them, you and Stan be careful on your date.. And you better tell me how it goes Thursday at school!" Adam told Louis. Louis nodded and mumbled an 'of course'. 

Soon, Louis and Adam carefully put the four sleeping children in Adam's car and Adam drove them home. Louis thanked his friend again for setting up his date with, who he thought was, the most perfect guy in whole world and for taking them home. "Really, Lou. It's not a problem." Adam told Louis for the umpteenth time as they put the kids in their respective rooms. Louis smiled at Adam and pulled him in for another hug, whispering his thanks again before Adam left to go to his own home and Louis got ready for bed. For the first time since Harry, Louis slept peacefully with no night mares what so ever.