It's Complicated || Larry & Ziam [COMPLETED]

thirty-three

Harry was amazed.

Louis Tomlinson was not who he was before. The boy standing next to him, holding his hand, was not the same asshole who had knocked his books from his hands countless times. This Louis came up with a plan to take Harry to see his sister because he wanted Harry to be happy again.

He was so different, and yet still the same, somehow. Harry had just seen a different side of him. They hadn't known each other well for very long, but Harry could feel little pieces of Louis's personality in his own. Louis was everything and everywhere.

He was contemplating these things as they approached Gemma's dorm. He hadn't seen her in weeks, and he'd missed her deeply, but all he could think about was Louis, whom he saw every day. Nice, Harry.

Louis was still holding his hand, surprisingly enough, as Harry knocked on the door, which swung open a couple moments later. Only when Gemma pulled him into a hug did Louis let go. Harry found himself missing it already and silently willed it to come back as he hugged his sister tightly.

"Oh, I missed you," Gemma said, her eyes squeezing shut as Harry hugged her.

"I missed you, too," Harry responded, trying not to glance at Louis, even though he desperately wanted to. "How's Uni?"

"Grueling," Gemma answered instantly, pulling back from the hug but staying close. "But kind of fun, too, when I get the time to have fun. Are you having fun, baby brother, or are you staying home every day because you think it won't be as fun as it sounds?"

"Are you asking if I've been to a party?"

"Maybe."

Harry almost laughed, then, and almost turned to Louis to laugh and smile and reminisce on the first time they'd kissed and how much drama it caused and how Louis has grown so much since then, only so many weeks ago. It felt like it wasn't all that far away, even though it'd been months. But he didn't, and forced himself to focus on seeing his sister, because Louis would always be right there, while Gemma wouldn't. He only had so many opportunities to see her.

But apparently, Louis has all of the Styleses under a spell, because Gemma turns to him and hugs him as if they're lifelong friends. "Everything alright? You obviously haven't seen H's bad side yet if you're still here with him."

Harry's face flushed and he opened his mouth to defend himself but no words came out when Louis smiled his crinkly-eyed smile at him. "Everything's great. I'd quite like to see Harry's bad side now, to see if he's actually got one."

"Ugh, I hate you guys," Harry muttered, even though he didn't. He loved them in their own ways. Yes, he loved Louis, and he'd come to that conclusion as he'd lain awake the night he'd come to him in the library and told him how serious he was about this. Harry loved Louis, and it both terrified and excited him. There was new, unknown territory when it came to dating someone like Louis, someone as spontaneous and incredible and, yes, even someone not completely sure of his sexuality yet. It scared him and made him want to kiss him all the time, because Louis deserved it. Louis deserved everything after all he'd done for Harry.

The dorm was small, he noted, trying not to focus on the utter and actual angel that was standing a couple of feet away from him. There were two beds and two desks and two night stands and a window. That was pretty much it. That was all there was room for. The dorm was empty other than them.

"Where's your roommate?"

"Off with her boyfriend, I suppose. I'm glad, honestly. She's always studying with him and spending the night with him and it gives me some peace and quiet. But that just means I get to spend time talking to you and not having to bother with introducing her."

"You two sound close," Louis quipped, and maybe Harry laughed a little too loudly and a little too quickly.

"Well, since you brought it up, you two look even closer. Boyfriends yet?"

"No," Harry said bashfully. Louis was smiling at him good-naturedly, as if anything he said was okay. That there were no wrong answers with him. Nothing to be afraid of. "Not yet," he corrected mildly.

"Could've fooled me," Gemma said honestly. "How long are you guys staying?"

"As long of a time period as we want between now and Sunday. Can't have Harold here being late for school," Louis answered cheerfully.

"Of course not," Gemma easily responded, making conversation with him like he truly was her best friend. Harry felt a rush of affection for these two people in his life. "Well, there's plenty to do on campus, but I don't know what the policies are about non-students. I guess you'll just have to find out. Don't get arrested."

They stayed for a while longer, talking with Gemma about everything, from relationships to school to their family to their plans for the future. Harry was so grateful for Louis and everything he'd done and everything he'd continue to do.

I love you, he thought, looking at him in earnest and smiling. He didn't say it. There wasn't a reason to say it yet. He didn't want to scare him away or freak him out. Plus, he didn't want to take it too quickly. Harry'd already been in a relationship that had been taken too quickly once before, and it wasn't good.

But Louis was different. What Harry felt for Louis wasn't what he'd felt for that other boy who'd managed to hurt him so badly. Louis was entirely different and Harry liked that.

"I haven't had my daily dose of tea yet," Louis murmured as they left the dorms with a goodbye to Gemma and a promise that they'd see her again before they left. Much to Harry's luck, Louis held his hand again, their breath billowing visibly into the cold, darkening air.

"It's a little late for tea, don't you think?"

"There's never a wrong time for tea," Louis countered, leading Harry to the campus café and ordering himself a cup of tea (milk, no sugar) and Harry his own order of tea (milk and sugar). Harry didn't bother to ask how Louis knew his tea order and instead smiled at the intimacy of it. The barista looked tired and like he wanted to go home, but made their teas adequately anyway.

"You never told me where we're going to sleep," Harry told Louis as a reminder when they'd reached a bench to sit on and drink their teas in the warmth of each other.

"I didn't?" Louis asked in fake surprise. "Oh, then that means I didn't tell you that my parents actually own a number of hotels — why, exactly, I don't know — so we don't have to worry."

Harry rolled his eyes fondly. "You're very odd."

"That's a good thing to be," Louis replied, leaning his head on Harry's shoulder.