pretty please (with sugar on top) - larry stylinson

63

"Oh, god," Louis moaned as soon as he sank into the mattress, letting his limbs flop limply. "This bed is so sick. Truly the height of luxury. And of course it smells like my soulmate, which is a huge plus, so."

"Stop saying it like that," Harry complained, crawling onto the bed beside him. He hid his smile against his shoulder so it was not so obvious, but it was impossible to keep the fondness from seeping into his voice, negating his efforts.

"I will not. I refuse. You're just gonna have to get over your aversion to the word."

"It stresses me out."

"It shouldn't."

"Well, it does."

Louis turned over onto his side, so they were facing each other. He propped himself up on his elbow' meanwhile Harry snuggled closer to the sheets, his cheek smashed into the pillow, as if he could hide.

"What even happened tonight?" he whispered.

"You know, I don't really know. But I'm happy it happened."

"Me, too," Harry admitted. "Even though I freaked out like a big baby."

Louis' lips quirked up at the corners. "Hah, well, don't worry about it. It's all good."

Harry wanted Louis to lean down and kiss him. His lips were so soft and sweet and just the memory of them on him made his skin tingle and heat up, blood rushing to the surface. He knew he was blushing and yet there was nothing he could do to help it. "Um, so, I have a question."

"You don't have to preface your questions with a question. You can just ask, you know."

"Well, alright. So, the day I called you, when I was, um, freaking out. And you actually picked up? And sent Zayn to get me?"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering how you knew to pick up the phone then, out of all the times I called you. Because that was the only time where I was actually in danger."

"Oh, yeah, about that," Louis said weirdly. He played with the edge of the sheets, fiddling with the line of thread. "It's hard to explain, but I just had this feeling that something was wrong. I don't know, it was like, a very instinctual feeling. And then you called and I put the pieces together and you remember the rest."

Harry took a moment to think about all of the research he did on soulmates, the academic articles and scientific journals he had read late into the hours of the night, huddled up in bed, unable to sleep. They discussed premonitions, and instinctive feelings and urges, the special bond between soulmates, the need to protect.

"What are you thinking so hard about?"

"You really want to know?"

"Always."

Harry scooched closer. Louis reached out and stroked his arm where his t-shirt sleeve didn't cover his skin. Usually he slept naked but he was feeling too vulnerable already for that to happen tonight. He had changed out of his robe and into a pair of soft shorts and a sleep shirt while Louis politely averted his eyes and busied himself with something on his phone. It was kind of funny because they knew each other, to some extent, in an intimate way, yet there was still a large gap between them in terms of familiarity and time spent together. There was still a lot to learn, still a lot of familiarity to gain, something that would only grow with time and proximity.

Louis' fingers brushing against his skin were distracting. He briefly lost his train of thought, and when he looked up, the alpha's lips were pressed together in an attempt to suppress his smirk.

"Oh, now you're so smug."

"Just living life," Louis defended with a laugh. "Just living life."

"Ugh, whatever."

"You drive me crazy too, you know."

"Well it's hard to tell, you're always so calm and collected."

"Trust me, inside, I'm a mess. Whenever you even look in my direction. I can't focus on anything but you. It's totally mutual."

Harry huffed. "What were we talking about? Oh, yeah. I've done a lot of reading about soulmates. The body of research isn't too expansive, because of the rarity of the experience, but... I could tell you what I've learned, if you want?"

His hand slipped down his arm, moving it around his waist, but neither one of them mentioned it, as if Harry were not flushing bright red and hot from the attention. "I'd like that, yeah, that would be nice."

So Harry recited what he knew, mostly staring at Louis' neck and collarbones because it was easier than meeting his eyes. He told him what he understood of the biological changes and blushed when he described how soulmates meeting could affect their mating cycles, often causing them to sync up. He blushed even harder when he explained what he knew about two soulmates bonding, how it was stronger than any other bond and a lot of soulmates preferred mutual marks and more than one for that matter, and how a mark could be anything that drew blood, for example, a common one being the omega leaving scratches down the alpha's back. Louis listened and asked questions and they both shared their doubts and talked late into the night and it ended up being a really, really nice moment.

Near the end of covering Harry's limited knowledge, they got a little distracted, and ended up making out for over an hour, rolling around in the sheets and learning each other. Harry was melting from the absolute attention and care with which Louis showered him, every inch of him glowing from the inside out with pure affection and other warm feelings he decided not to name.

"Here, feel, feel what you do to me," Louis murmured when Harry was sitting on top of him, leant over him and kissing him hard, his curls falling into his face. The alpha guided his hand to his chest, pressing Harry's palm just above his heart.

The steady beat was rapid and hard, thudding against Harry's palm to the same rhythm of his own heartbeat. Fascinated by this, and absolutely distracted by the wonderful feeling of Louis, alive and happy, heart beating beneath him, he laid down and pressed his ear to his chest just to listen and feel. Louis ran his fingers through his hair, petting him and scratching at his scalp in a way that made him go all limp and tingly.

Aside from the small ministrations, they did not move. They stayed like that for a while.