Restricted

Chapter 6

Louis was still glaring at Liam as he opened the door, privately hoping that if he didn't look, the person he assumed would be there, wouldn't be.

He was, of course, without such luck. Harry Styles' voice (not unlike God's) rang through Louis small cottage just as he stepped inside.

"Er--" He was unaware this was Louis's residence, that much was clear. "Is Liam about...?" Louis's knees went weak because of course Harry was blushing from embarrassment, and what the fuck!!! Why couldn't Louis keep it together around this boy?? He was mentally slapping the shit out of himself as he tried to hide his irritation with Liam so he could properly flirt Harold's socks off.

"What, am I not enough for you?" Louis replied cheekily with his most suggestive grin. This spurred another 'bout of Harry's blushing which translated to Louis's rolling stomach. Harry was seriously pretty.

Harry regained his composure quickly before snapping back, "Sorry, but I'm not interested." Yeah right, Louis rolled his eyes. "Is he around?" Harry repeated.

Grumbling, Louis led Harry into the kitchen where Eleanor and Liam were still red and recovering from their excessive laughter.

"Harold, bro!" Liam called pleasantly before walking over to clap their guest on the back, "So glad you could come, find the place easily enough, yeah?"

Louis never enjoyed Liam's attempts at awkward small talk. Mostly because Liam remained totally oblivious that all his attempts were, in fact, sensationally awkward. He glanced up at Harry to see if he shared in Louis's opinions and was surprised to see the curly one smiling wide with two huge indents in his cheeks. Whoa. Louis's vision went blurry for a second before he realized he'd wanted to make a comment.

"A-HEM" Louis obnoxiously cleared his throat, "and by 'the place', you mean 'my place', of course." He added finger quotes around his words as to stress his sarcasm. One could never be too snarky. Harry rolled his eyes at Louis and Louis could just pounce on him because nobody gets away with rolling their eyes at Louis Tomlinson, he was damn adorable. Instead, he found his gaze locked with the back of Harry's head as he turned away, imagining what it would be like to run his fingers through the chocolate curls that blanketed his head.

Louis was broken out of his stupor by Eleanor's voice: "Lou, are you even hearing us?" Sensing she was right in her assumption, she repeated herself. "We were just telling you that we ran into Harold here at the bakery in town and thought he might like to join us for brunch? You are new after all. It might be nice to have a friend in town."

Louis stared at her incredulously. For one: he was famous, and the whole point of this organic rehab bullshit was to not be known by people. To detox. Then again, Harry didn't seem to have any idea who Louis was and for that, he found himself immensely grateful. And for two: Louis was gay. And Harry was beautiful. Eleanor might not know Louis's sexuality but she should know well enough that most men outside of Liam are hardly comfortable around him. Instead of pointing out her ignorance, Louis smirked.

"How very considerate of you El, darling. And you as well Li. True friends, you both are." Louis's sarcasm was light, he didn't want to give their new friend any reason to punish his ego anymore than he already had, but he was certain it was just enough for his friends to sense it.

"Speak like Yoda, you do" Harry commented. Louis's face heated without his consent and okay THAT does NOT happen. It wasn't even a suggestive comment, and yet, simply having Harry acknowledge him seemed to be enough to transform Louis into a full on tomato.

Liam chuckled fondly, "Yeah, you'll learn fast that Lou's quite the dramatic."

"Lou?" Harry questioned. And oh shit. He forgot to introduce himself. He straightened up, intent on impressing this gorgeous flower if it was the last thing he did.

"Louis William Tomlinson, at your service." Louis waved his arm in a very regal manner before dipping to the ground in a bow before Harry. Harry giggled at Louis's antics and Louis's insides fluttered. God, this must be what heaven feels like. Or meth. Or both. Probably both, times 50. He smiled at Harry and Harry quickly turned away towards Liam. Well, okay then.

"So let's have at it shall we? I just made this biscuits this morning, and I must say, they turned out wonderfully" Harry beamed. He seemed very proud of his work at the bakery. Louis admired that much more than he would ever admit. And though he tried, honestly he did, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to a naked Harry covered in flour.

Louis thoughts stayed along those lines for the remainder of breakfast and all through their FIFA session on Louis's flat screen. Eleanor was sitting in the corner reading off Facebook shit nobody cared about while Liam kept reciting movie lines and yelling "JESUS" every time something interesting happened in the game. Harry stayed quiet for the most part except for the few times when Louis's gaze would drift over to him, just to watch his face, and notice he was peeking over at him from beneath his thick dark lashes.

Louis could definitely get used to Holmes Chapel.