Undone, Undress (Larry Stylinson)

sixty-six

They exchange Christmas gifts in the living room, as per Louis' idea.

Harry makes mugs of hot chocolate for the both of them, and they sit together on the couch, handing over their presents shyly. The TV is on, playing a holiday movie, but the volume is turned so low, it's just a hum in the background.

"Open yours first," Louis tells him.

"Alright." Harry carefully pulls the layers of tissue paper out of the bag, smoothing them out so they don't make much of a mess. Louis has learned from previous discussion that Harry saves things like wrapping paper and ribbon, in order to reuse it later for another gift. It's better for the environment, that's why he does it.

If it one someone else, Louis might tease them about it but the way Harry is so careful and earnest makes Louis' heart ache as he watches with an overly fond smile capturing his face.

The awed expression on Harry's face is worth it, of course, when he pulls out a box of Prisma colored pencils, 150 count.

"Holy shit, Lou, is this really..?"

Louis bites his bottom lip to keep from grinning like a loon, and waits patiently, not saying anything, letting Harry find out for himself. With reverent fingers, he slides the cover off the box and finds six tins of pencils, organized by color.

"Lou you can't've- I mean, they're so expensive... How?"

Louis shrugs. "I've been wanting to get them for you for a while."

It's true, he has been thinking about replacing Harry's set of colored pencils, because Harry complains about them almost daily. He uses the ones the university offers, which are all so short they're a challenge to hold, and the lead keeps breaking. He isn't allowed to take them from the studio since they belong to the university, but Harry doesn't like to do work in the studio, so he usually ends up just not using colored pencils.

"Oh god," Harry breathes. "These are beautiful, thank you. I can't even imagine how expensive this must've been."

"It's worth it, though." For you, he doesn't say. "There's something else at the bottom, too. It's something small but it reminded me of you."

Harry shushes him and digs deep into the bag, pulling out a jewelry box. "Lou..." he breathes out, staring at the unopened box, overcome. His eyes are glassy with unshed tears and it makes Louis feel emotional too.

The moment is too soft and sincere for just friends. Of course, they're not really just friends. They've been having sex every day for a week, and just last night they shared half-drunken I love you's.

Harry opens the velvet box and gasps. "Oh Lou... It's beautiful." He wipes away a tear that slips down his cheek and laughs a little, looking over at Louis with adoration in his eyes. "You're amazing. Will you help me put it on?"

"Of course, love," he smiles encouragingly, taking the necklace from Harry's fingers. It's a delicate gold chain with tiny gold stars that dangle from it, and little amethyst gems every so often. Harry turns around and waits patiently, but shivers visibly when Louis softly brushes his hair away from his neck. He takes his time latching the tiny clasp and then rearranging Harry's hair, smoothing it out so it falls as beautifully as it always does. "Merry Christmas."

When Harry turns back around, his face is blotchy and the tears are falling freely now, languidly wetting his face like a gentle rainstorm during summertime. "It's amethyst, right?"

"Yeah," Louis agrees. "Your birthstone."

Harry collapses forward, wrapping his arms around Louis' neck and clinging to him. He presses his face into his neck, sighing lightly, humid breath tickling his skin. "Thank you. I don't deserve any of this."