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|forty-four|

3 December 2016

the first week of december brought a chaotic but enchanted, rosy winter, harsher, blustery winds, layers and layers of white powdery flakes, runny noses and chapped lips and- louis and harry's first argument.

(not that they didn't bicker- in some sense romantically and childishly- about the smallest of things, but those always ended in feverish and sometimes apologetic kisses and fond cuddles, this one, however- didn't.)

hugging his jacket tighter, louis knocked on the door of the styles' household and enters on hearing the familiar 'come in'. the sweet fragrance of another one of harry's mother's delicacies welcomes him as he removes his snow-covered shoes on the rug by the door, and he follows it to the kitchen where he spots anne afront the counter.

"hi louis" she greets.

he goes up to her, sliding an arm around her shoulders, "what's up, mama styles?" he smiles at her. anne had been more of a mother to louis in just the few months he'd known her than his own mother could have been in the short ten years he had her, and they'd quickly reached this level of an easement with each other. whether it was watching movies curled up to harry's side, trying out anne's endless bakes or playing scrabble with gemma and harry, they had truly shown louis the meaning of a family.

"just found this great recipe for honey muffins and thought i'd try them out" she smiles warmly, gesturing to the half-filled cupcake moulds. 

"ooh, looks good," louis says, running his finger all along the rim of the batter bowl to scoop some batter and pop it into his mouth, "tastes even better"

anne smiles before pulling it away from him, "and you're gonna be a good boy and not eat up all the batter" she scolds, and louis pouts cheekily, "you're gonna go up to harry's room and i'll bring them up to you all in a few" 

louis grins, pressing a kiss to her cheek and bounding up the stairs to harry's room. his favourite sound in the whole wide world, the one of harry's laugh, hits him as he steps through the open door, a smile quickly spreading over his face. he spots the head of wild curls leaning against the headboard, looking adorably small and soft in an oversized jumper, eyes holding the same glint that had lit up louis' life, fixated on gemma sprawled next to him.

"louis!" she exclaims on noticing him, making harry turn over as well. something changes in his eyes, something so minute, only louis would notice, but it was there- in a bad way. he ignores the slight pang in his chest and walks over to them anyway. "so you're alive. i hadn't seen you for almost a week, haz was not on his phone every waking second, was seriously beginning to question your existence" she adds, cheekily.

"nice to see you too, gem" louis sarcastically remarks, and she playfully sticks her tongue out at him. 

"hey" harry says, sitting up with his legs crossed now, making louis turn to him.

"hi" he replies, moving forward, his knees sinking into the mattress, meeting harry's lips with his own. he immediately feels the warmth rush over him, as harry cups his cheek lightly and louis' fingers fit into his curls. they both smile at gemma's grumbling in the background as she stomps out of the room. 

louis could tell something was definitely wrong as they detached and he sat before harry, who wouldn't pick his gaze from his lap.

"what's wrong?" he asked gently, and harry's eyes snapped up to him, slowly blinking, like a deer caught in headlights.

his stature disappears as quick as it came, masked by another smile, "nope, nothing" 

"harry" louis says softly, placing a hand above his. harry grits his teeth, staring back into his lap. he sighs, reaching out for his phone under the pillow, he unlocks it, taps onto something and tosses it to him. louis feels the dread wash over him as he blinked down on the screen because he knew this was bound to come up sooner or later. he knew it from the look on harry's face the first time they saw the post, and how they'd nonchalantly dismissed the topic.