courage // larry au // COMPLETED

04

Louis woke up on Saturday to the sounds of the 'Dexter' theme song blasting in his right ear and the noise of a construction work going on. He had accidentally fallen asleep on the couch the night before, which meant the TV had been on all night.

He cursed since he knew the electricity bill wouldn't be cheap and he was just a student, after all. He turned off the TV and went to his bedroom. He let himself fall onto his bed, but the construction workers were determined to not let him sleep. He grabbed his phone, turning it on.

The first thing to show on his screen were his texts. Harry had tried all night to convince him to go to some club with him and Niall. He had about a dozen texts from Liam asking if everything was alright.

Louis had noticed he had been snappy and less cheerful lately, but he blamed it on stress since it was the easiest option and he wasn't feeling like trying to figure out his complicated and confusing mind. He had texted him back that he was fine and there was no need to worry.

He also received a voicemail of Harry whining and begging him to come and keep him company, a very drunk Niall in the background shouting things Louis could barely understand and a girl continuously asking Harry to put his phone away which he responds to with, "I'm the only sober here, Allison. So no, I will not put my phone away."

Louis assumed Allison was the girl from the coffee shop.

He looked at the time and was sure Harry was at her place or sneaking away already, leaving a note and selfmade breakfast behind. A classic Harry move.

Louis let out a frustrated sigh. It had never really bothered him what Harry did. Why had he suddenly started complaining so much?

The sound of the doorbell was audible and he let out another sound of frustration and annoyance. Who the hell dared to ring his doorbell on his day off?

Louis stumbled towards the door. When he opened it Harry was smiling at him with a big brown bag in his hands. "Knock knock, I brought breakfast."

Louis stared at him in disbelief. "Harry? What are you doing here? I expected you to be looking for another prey," He looked as Harry's face fell. "Joking, joking. It's about lunch time, by the way. Also, you didn't even knock so the 'knock knock' doesn't even make sense."

"Huh, rip me to shreds, why don't you. I wanted to have way overdue breakfast with my best friend, but he's behaving like an ass. You mentioned your roommate would be out for the weekend, I didn't want you to feel alone."

Louis took in Harry's appearance. "Why are you panting heavily?"

"I jogged."

"You jogged to buy food and back here?"

Harry nodded with a grin, "Yes, jogging and fresh air is good for you. I'm planning on jogging relugarly. I was thinking about taking yoga.. Anyway, are you going to ask me to come in or should I just leave and enjoy these breakfast burritos by myself?"

"Right, sorry. Come in," Louis stepped aside. "So, did you have fun last night?"

"Yeah, I guess." Harry stepped inside and made his way to the kitchen, knowing every inch of Louis's dorm like the back of his hand. He started unpacking the bag he brought with him.

"What about Allison?" Louis hesitated before asking, not wanting to come off as obsessed or nosy. "Did you.." The last words died in his throat and he trailed off, but Harry seemed to get what he meant.

Harry shook his head, "No, she was intoxicated and I was sober. I didn't want to take advantage of her. Is it okay if we don't talk about it? I don't know, I- um.. I don't want to like- treat people like prizes? I don't want to brag about the people I sleep with.."

Louis was more than fine with that, he knew Harry was polite and a good persom lile that. It was a strange thing of him to ask. Harry seemed uncomfortable, quietly putting things down.

Louis watched Harry start to set up the table. He had been up all night, spent the night at someone else's place, probably not had time to change or shower since then and still looked breathtakingly handsome. Whereas Louis looked like a homeless person who spent the night in a rubbish bin.

"Niall brought Olive," Harry spoke up after a while of silence. "She's really nice. They're cute together."

"Right?" Louis said with a proud smile. "That's what I thought. I take credits for whatever happens between them, it was my accomplishment. Unless it doesn't work out. In that case, it's all Niall's fault."

Louis started preparing coffee, knowing Harry didn't like milk in his coffee and that he only takes it black. A smile made its way onto his face when the curly haired lad's laughter filled the quiet kitchen. It was silent for a few seconds after the laughter died down, it wasn't awkward though.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How come you're not with anyone?"

Louis was leaning against the counter while the water was boiling, his eyes finding Harry, who was sitting at the table, waiting for Louis to join him. Harry was desperately trying not to meet Louis's eyes after he asked the question, the grease on the paper bag suddenly very interesting to him.

Louis thought for a moment before shrugging, "I don't know. Nobody has caught my attention yet, I guess. I don't feel like I need a significant other to survive. I'm content with being single."

"Still waiting for Prince Charming." Harry concluded with a laugh.

Louis hopped onto the counter and grinned, "Sounds about right. Not every stupid boy in this world is worthy of me."

Harry's smile faltered, his expression falling.

"What's wrong?" Louis asked, almost shocked at how fast his mood changed. Was it something he said?

"Do you-" Harry paused, staring into the distance and trying to put his thoughts into words. Louis waited patiently, he knew Harry had trouble speaking sometimes. "Am I a manwhore?"

"I'm not fond of the term, but I suppose," Louis let out a laugh. His answer did not improve Harry's mood, it made it worse, actually. He noticed this. "But you know that. Since when does that bother you? Didn't you always say you didn't give a crap about what others thought of you?"

"But it certainly bothers me what I think of myself." Harry's voice had changed from sad to angry, the paper bag squeezed into a ball in his fist.

Louis sat down at the opposite side of Harry, nudging his foot with his own, "Well, that's always something you can change."

He took a deep breath and started poking at his burrito. "You know, just forget it. Let's eat."

Louis gave him a look of confusion. Something was up with him and he was about to open his mouth and ask him when Harry cut him off.

"Could I use your shower later?" he asked suddenly. "I haven't really been home since last night and I didn't want to use hers, it seemed impolite to me."

"Sure."