almost // l.s

eighteen

as spring started, so did louis' greater need to get away from it all. he and harry had been spending an enormous amount of time together over the christmas period, and they practically lived together anyway. the only thing left was for the pair to seal the deal.

along with niall, liam and zayn, harry and louis had explored many flats and homes around the manchester area as that's where the eldest would be attending university. every place had been nice, but only one felt like it was perfect. harry had immediately expressed his interest to the others, and the group had agreed that it was, by far, the nicest house.

it was the first of april, and the five boys were about to leave for a meeting with the real estate agent that was taking offers on the home they were looking into. it was a four bedroom, two storey house, with a spacious, open-plan living room and kitchen. when they'd first arrived, harry was certain that the place would be far too expensive for the lads, but thanks to niall's wealthy, late grandfather who'd left him a great sum of money years ago, they were able to afford it. naturally, the four less rich friends were worried that niall was spending too much on the lot of them, but the boy insisted that if he was gonna use his dosh on anything, he'd want it to be this. harry thought that was sweet.

so there they were, in louis' car, travelling the half hour distance to their arranged meet-up spot. harry was anxious. he desperately wanted to get away- plus, he'd applied for a job at a local bakery, and the little old ladies seemed to love him. barbara had labelled him as an "outright charmer," and poked his dimple. each and every mate was silent, the only noise being the soft sound of the crackling radio as they drove. 

-

"you have made a very good offer boys," mrs seymour said happily. she was the agent looking for a buyer, "and everything looks good for your staying?"

everyone nodded eagerly, "we're ready to go as soon as possible!" niall exclaimed.

"that's very good to see," she grinned, "now. are we looking at buying  with or without a mortgage for the time being?"

all heads turned towards louis, "uh," he hummed, "we do have enough for the whole house right now, but it would be nice to have some money to live off. plus, all of us are getting jobs soon."

the woman chuckled, "so mortgage?"

"yeah please."

"so, your offer seems very reasonable and the owners are happy to accept," the lads cheered, harry and louis sharing a quick kiss, "how much do you want to pay right now?"

this was niall's turn to be the centre of attention, "is 100 grand ok?"

"sounds brilliant," mrs seymour wrote something down on her legal documents, "and you boys are sure you don't need any financial help with this? that the buy isn't off student loans?"

"it's not," the irish boy confirmed, "my granddad left me a bit of cash and there's nothing i'd rather spend it on than these boys."

she cooed admiringly, "that's very sweet, mr horan."

"when do we move in?" harry asked, obviously excited beyond belief.

"moving day for the current owners is, in fact, tomorrow, so how does next monday sound for you? we can organise trucks."

liam nodded ferociously and zayn placed a hand on his back, "suits us."

"us, too," louis said on behalf of him and his partner.

"count me in," niall said.

"that's settled then."

-

it was overly surreal to harry that exactly one week later he was sat in his living room with his best friends. it was also their living room. that seemed crazy. 

the goodbyes had been somewhat emotional- mainly mums crying over the fact that their sons were all grown up- but happy at the same time. jay had sent her prayers to louis and harry, and promised to not speak a word to her ex-husband or eleanor ever again. louis had begged his mother to abide by this simple contract, and after a while, she obliged.

"guys," harry said quietly, disturbing the comfortable silence in the room. four heads turned to face him, "i love you all." he didn't know why he said that, but harry was glad he did. each and every one of the boys' faces lit up into beautiful smiles, and niall leapt into his arms. 

"this is gonna be incredible," zayn shrieked, causing liam to cover his mouth with a hand.

"yeah but it won't be if noise control gets called this early on!"

laughing felt good in that moment. everyone was happy, beaming, loving where they were. seeing his best friends so elated rose harry's spirits even further, and all he wanted to do was live in that world forever. he knew that it'd last, because all of the group had decided to start college together, and that was something to look forward to. everything up-and-coming was something good.

that was, until the soft melody of 'hey there, delilah' began to ring through the room signalling louis' phone ringing.

'it's mum,' he mouthed, answering quickly.

 harry watched the one-ended conversation intently. he saw signs of bad news in the creases that formed on his boyfriend's forehead, and the narrowing of his eyes. whatever jay was telling louis was not satisfying him.

when the call ended harry placed a hand on louis' thigh, "what happened baby?"

"i need to talk to you," he whispered, taking harry's larger hand in his own, "come with me."

the two slipped out of the lounge, their mates barely taking their gaze off the tv, and up the stairs.

"god, h," he ran a hand through the messy fringe that adorned his face, "something's happened."

"what?"

"m' dad's sick. really sick," he emphasised, "been in a car crash. mum doesn't know how long he'll last."

harry's eyes widened, "i thought she had no contact!"

"she doesn't!" louis hissed, frustrated, "but they legally had to tell her or something- i don't know, haz. all i do know is that i don't wanna go see him."

"then don't," harry suggested simply.

"it isn't that easy," louis reasoned, "mum said it would be good if i could support her."

he younger boy exhaled deeply, "whatever happens, lou, i swear i'm with you."

louis embraced his boy gladly, "i know you'd be happy if he died."

"that's an awful thing to say," harry murmured.

"but it's true, and i don't blame you."

a tear slid down his cheek, green eyes turning dark.

♡♡♡

sad or happy news about l's dad? not sure.

vote and comment if you're enjoying, lovelies. thank you so much for 100+ votes and 600+ reads, i never imagined my story would do so well.

treat people with kindness.

alyssa xx