The Suburbs

f i v e

c h a p t e r   f o u r

b a k e r s  d e l i g h t

l o u i s

Louis awoke the next morning feeling warmer and more alive than he had in a long, long time. Harry had been there in Louis' thoughts since the moment Louis had closed the door on him the night before. Never in his twenty-odd years of living had Louis had butterflies as intense as he'd had when he was with Harry, and he'd never had such a magnetic connection with someone before, it was truly amazing. As Louis got out of bed he couldn't stop waiting for the knock to come on his door from Harry's arrival, but as the morning dragged on it didn't come, and Louis started getting anxious.

Taz seemed to sense how tense Louis was and he kept bumping his nose against Louis' leg, looking up at his owner and waiting for some kind of response, but he didn't get it.

Eventually Louis kicked his normal morning routine into action, going out into the warm morning air to check the letterbox and pick up the newspaper he could never get Taz to bring in for him. He threw down a couple of letters on the coffee table in the living room, the power bill, a letter from one of his sisters, and a tattered looking, tea stained piece of paper folded in half with 'Louis' written across it in delicate and unfamiliar handwriting.

Louis hesitantly picked up the note, and opened it, his eyebrows furrowed until he saw who it was from, and his lips pulled up ever so slightly.

'Louis, I'm so sorry, I would have called but I don't have a phone or your number, and I didn't know if you would be awake when I dropped this in so I didn't knock, but I have my first day at the bakery today which I don't think I should miss. It completely slipped my mind, and I am so sorry if you're waiting for me. I'm not sure what time I'll get to finish, but if you don't mind me still coming around, put the flag up on your letterbox. Sorry again, I'm usually a lot more prepared than this.. Harry, x.'

"Oh thank god," Louis huffed, falling onto the sofa and letting out an exasperated breath.

He'd been thinking the worst, that Harry had forgotten him, or didn't want to see him again, or that Louis had scared him off or he'd gotten hurt and couldn't leave the cottage or call anybody for help; but he was safely in the best smelling store in all of Silverstate, and Louis felt silly for getting so worked up about it.

Louis had known Harry a day or so, but it felt like he'd known him his whole life, and maybe that was why he didn't even hesitate to put up the flag on his letterbox, or leave a note on the door saying 'it's open, come in :) x.'

To keep himself busy, Louis pottered around his home, cleaning every surface that needed cleaning, doing a round of washing and getting through some papers that had been in desperate need of being marked for weeks.

It was a little after midday when Louis heard the front door open and the soft thuds of Taz's paws as he hurried to greet the visitor. Louis got to his feet slowly, taking a few deep breaths in preparation for seeing Harry.

"Hello? Lou?" Louis heard Harry call out gently, and Louis just about lost all the composure he'd just worked so hard to gain.

"Hey," Louis said, rounding the corner and freezing in his tracks when he saw Harry.

Harry was standing just inside the entrance way, Taz panting at his ankles which were as bare as his feet. He had on a pair of black jeans that had slight tears in the knees, and a long coffee coloured jumper that had the sleeves rolled up ever so slightly, showing off his wrists which Louis was surprised to see were littered with ink. His thick curls were swept back off of his face and he was wearing that damn flower crown that just did something to Louis' heart every time he saw it.