Eccedentesiast || Larry

6. Glum

((I changed Louis' age to 21 just to make things a little easier))

H

Harry was having a calm, relaxing day until his phone started ringing around 7:15. It's an unknown number, but Harry answers it anyway, just in case it's a family member calling from someone else's cell.

"Hello?" Harry asks, pressing the phone to his ear.

"Hi, is this Harry?" The person on the other line asks.

"Um, yeah. Who is this?"

"This is Zayn Malik. I'm calling on behalf of Louis Tomlinson." Zayn replies, and Harry's breathing stops. Zayn Malik is calling him on behalf of Louis Tomlinson. He has to sit down, for his heart is starting to beat at an unnatural pace and he's almost fainted way too many times now.

"Uh- I- go on." Harry stammers.

"Louis wanted me to ask you something. Where did you two meet?" Zayn questions.

"I- in the- we met in the bathroom? At the premiere of Breaking Down?" His statement comes out as a question, even though what he said was completely honest.

Seriously, Harry is going to faint. Louis freaking Tomlinson sent Zayn freaking Malik on a mission to find him. He hears muffled voices in the background. He manages to make out a few phrases, like 'It's him? It's really Harry?' and 'Good job, Z'.

"So, Harry- what is your last name?" Zayn asks.

"Styles!" Harry yells into the phone because he's so excited and just can't hide it.

"Right. Harry Styles, would you like to meet up with Louis, say, tomorrow at six?"

"Um, yeah, yeah, that'd be great."

"Cool. I'll make reservations for you two someplace for dinner."

And their phone call ends after an awkward moment of silence because Harry doesn't know what to say and Zayn was waiting for Harry to give him the okay.

The air in the room is suddenly thick and Harry's finding it hard to breathe. He finds his inhaler on his nightstand, using it with practiced ease, just in case he was really going to have an asthma attack. He takes a few minutes to relax and really take in all that just happened, because it's a bit too overwhelming to think that a big celebrity like Louis William Tomlinson wants to see an average kid like Harry Edward Styles. God, Harry has played this moment over and over again in his head a million times, and now it's really happening. He's going to dinner with Louis Tomlinson.

Harry wants to start getting ready right now, even though he has a little less than twenty-four hours until his rendezvous with Louis. Whatever this- this thing is that Zayn set up, he wants to look good for. Like, holy hell, Harry is just an average looking sixteen year old kid who has a nose that's too big for his face and who isn't fit at all, besides his slight abs that are just barely poking through from the sit ups he so rarely does. Louis is like a God sent from above, his face and bum and whole body is perfect. Harry, on the other hand, is far from it. (At least, that's what he thinks.)

And when Gemma tells him to 'just shut up about it, you need to calm down' when he calls her a few minutes later, he's still smiling from ear to ear.

-

Harry looks himself up and down in the full length mirror in front of him, hands shaking and chest heaving. He's still unsure about what he wants to wear, and he's got about twenty minutes until Louis picka him up. (Louis had texted him earlier today and said he would drop him back off. Not having your license sucks.)

It takes him at least another fifteen minutes to finalize his ensemble; dark jeans, brown boots, black button up. And, then his mother is calling for him and he's racing down the stairs.

"Harry, Louis is here!" Anne calls just as Harry enters the living room, where Louis freaking Tomlinson is waiting for him on the couch, his mother sat on the chair across from him.

Louis' looking stunning, as always, in jeans and a white t-shirt. He smiles at Harry when he enters the room and walks over to Harry's side. Harry's mother beams up at them. He, on the other hand, stares—down, Louis is so short—at Louis like he's some prized possession that mustn't be touched.

"Go have fun, you two! Curfew is at 11:00," Anne says, practically shoving them out the door. Does my mother think this is a date? This can't be a date, no way, Harry thinks as they exit the house and make their way to Louis' car that's parked on the street.

But, when Louis opens the passenger door for Harry, he thinks this might just be a date.

Well, shit.

-

"So, um. . . why did you- uh," Harry tries to start a conversation while they wait for their meal to arrive.

"Why did I want to meet up with you?" Louis clarifies, raising his eyebrows and smiling at Harry's awkwardness.

Harry shakes his head yes.

"I didn't know I had to have a specific reason for wanting to have dinner with someone," Louis replies, trying to seem serious, but a smile breaks out on his face anyway.

"I know, but I'm sixteen, and you're twenty one."

"And. . .?" Louis asks. He gets it, but he doesn't want to remind himself that he may have a crush on someone who is five years younger than him. At least Zayn is glad Louis is getting out there after last time.

"Never mind." Harry shyly says, looking down at his lap.

The rest of the night goes by smoothly after that. Harry's more comfortable and has stopped fangirling internally, while Louis is cracking jokes to make Harry laugh. They ask some questions, like what each other's favorite color is (Louis' is red, Harry's is green) and little things like that; the ones that weren't important, but you still needed to know.

They even stop for ice cream, which Harry tries to pay for with the little money he has, but Louis pays for their cold desserts just like he payed for dinner. Louis has to resist the urge to kiss Harry when he's gotten some of it on the corner of his mouth, and just tells him he 'has a little something right there'.

When they get back to Harry's house around 9:00—two whole hours before his curfew—they just sit in the car for a minute.

"I- um, I had- I had fun tonight. God, I'm sorry, I can't even talk because this is just- you're- I'm sorry." Harry puts his face in his hands to hide his embarrassment.

Louis laughs and Harry has to lift his face to see his reaction, to see that same face he saw in the bathrooms. It's as beautiful as he remembered when Louis' eyes crinkle at the corners and he covers his mouth with the back of his hand.

"No, no, it's fine. You're cute when you're flustered." Louis says, laughing lightly.

"Oh, God," Harry mumbles into his hands again, but he can't help the smile that appears on his face.

-

(A/N: hi so basically Harry dresses like he did when he was 18/19/20 but looks like he did when he was 16/17 oKAY? Cool. And, since when did 57 people start following me? I love you all so much! (I'm done signing my initial))