Pretty in Plastic (l.s)

v

"Louis, listen carefully." Harry says as Louis eats his bowl of cereal. It's early in the morning, and Louis woke Harry up because he was hungry. "I'll have to go back to work soon."

"Work?" Louis looks at Harry with a frown, chewing on his Lucky Charms. Harry just sighs at how boyish the doll-man looks. It's adorable.

"A job. I go to a store, put on a name tag," Harry reaches into a kitchen drawer and pulls out one of his many badges, "and I serve people. Remember the lady we saw when we went shopping, before we left the store, and I gave her money?"

"Yes." Louis nods.

"Good. She was cashier, it's a job." Louis 'oh's. "I do that, too. That's how I get money to buy you nice things."

"Work." Louis nods. "You have to leave?"

"Only for eight hours." Harry says, and Louis looks at his bowl. "It's just in the morning. I'll be back at five."

"What do I do?"

"You stay here."

"And do what?"

"Sleep, watch tv," Harry shrugs, "I'll buy you some snacks so you can eat, too."

"Sounds boring..."

"Well, I can't take you with me."

Louis finishes his bowl. "I understand. It's only for eight hours?"

"Only for eight hours." Harry nods, and Louis stands.

"Then you'll be home?" Harry nods again. "You won't leave me like mommy did?"

"Huh?"

"Mommy left me in the attic, and didn't come back. You said she won't ever be back." Harry swallows. "You won't do that to me, right?"

Harry watches Louis cast his eyes down in a sad way, and he can tell Louis was rather upset. Like Harry, Louis didn't get a proper goodbye. Although, nobody thinks to give a toy a proper goodbye in the first place, but now Louis' human and his mind seems to be processing the loss of Anne. He seems to feel abandoned, even if Anne never intended that to happen, and Harry is once again wondering how much or little Louis knows about life.

Harry just hums, and pats his head fondly. Louis looks up, and Harry just smiles at him. "I'll always come back for you, okay? I promise."

"Okay." Louis says again, all the more trusting.

—————

The next day, Harry leaves Louis to go to work. His uncle, who owns a small shop, hired him so Harry could make a small living for himself. Anne mainly pulled the strings for Harry, and he was grateful for her.

"Harry!" Harry looks up as he walks through the glass door, the small bell dinging, and smiles.

"Hi, Uncle Jo." He says, and sheds his coat before hanging it up behind the counter. He puts his name tag on, runs a hand through his hair, and smiles. "I'm the only cashier today?"

"Niall, and Liam are stocking today so yeah." Jo pats his shoulder. "Are you okay? Your sister called, and asked me to give you more time."

"Don't mind her." Harry mumbles, and does his best to hide the agitation. "She's worried about me, but I'll pull through."

"She was my sister, you know. We were close." Harry nods. "I'm here for you, kid. She would want me to watch over you, and Gems."

"I know." Harry starts to do the morning recovery: filling bags, cleaning the floor, and small adjustments to the displays.

"How's Kala?" Harry looks at Jo, and shrugs. "Haz, you know you can't close her off."

"We aren't exactly seeing eye to eye right now."

"I can get why," Jo crosses his arms, "but you've been together for awhile."

"Did she come by here?" Harry stops, and looks at his uncle. Jo just sighs, and rubs the back of his neck. "You don't even like her."

"I don't," Jo agrees easily, "but she was the closest person you had. Besides Anne, of course. You grew distant with everyone else over the years. Now that your moms gone, I think you need Kala more than ever."

Harry clenches his jaw. "I can't talk to her about this. She doesn't understand."

"Harry, you have to talk it out."

"I can't. I'm not ready." The tone in his voice makes Jo fall quiet, and his uncle just shakes his head.

"Well, when you are, talk to somebody. I'm worried about you."

—————

Louis blinks his eyes lazily when the sound of knocking wakes him from his nap. He got up earlier to see Harry out, but laid back down to sleep some more. He looks at the time.

"Not five." He mumbles, and frowns when the knocking persists. He sits up, and stretches before standing. He scratches his lower back, and brushes his fringe from his face. His feet patter across the wooden floor, towards the door, and he places the side of his face against the cold surface.

"Harry!" He jumps at the velvet voice, and quirks an eyebrow. It's a woman, he knows that much. "Harry, baby, open up. I want to make sure you're okay."

Now the voice oozes honey, but a shiver runs up Louis' spine at how firm she sounds. He stares at the door, and sees a tiny hole in it. He stands on his tip-toes, and does his best to look in it. He takes a deep breath, amazed that he sees a pretty woman with a rather annoyed look.

Louis, being the extremely friendly doll he was, opens the door and screams. "Oh my God, I love your hair!"

"Huh?" She says dumbly, and raises an eyebrow.

"Your hair! It's so thick, and cute." Louis reaches for it, but gasps when the woman slaps his hand away.

"Don't touch my hair." She frowns, and looks past him. "Who are you, and where's Harry?"

"Harry's not here right now. He'll be back at five." Louis smiles. "I know that because he promised."

"Who are you?"

Louis bounces on his toes. "I'm Louis! I'm Harry's forever friend!"

"Forever friend?" The woman watches Louis before her eyes turn cold. She's quick to lean in closely, and Louis backs up a bit. "Louis, are you gay?"

"Gay?" Louis blinks. "What's that?"

"Don't play stupid." The woman takes her acrylic nail (Louis can tell it needs refilling), and pokes his chest. "You trying to steal my man?"

"I'm no thief." Now Louis' upset, and he puffs his chest out. "You aren't being very nice right now. Calling people names can really damage a person. You should be very careful with what you say."

"Who the fuck are you?"

"I'm Louis, Harry's—"

"Right, right." The woman pushes her way inside. "Forever friend..."

"That's right." Louis faces her, and smiles. She seems to understand now. "I'll be by Harry's side forever. When he needs someone, I'll be there."

The woman crosses her arms. "I don't know what Harry told you, but he's mine."

"That's okay. Good friends share because spreading love is always better than being selfish."

"What—?"

"I'm willing to share Harry with anyone. A friend of Harry's is a friend of mine." Louis smiles. "Want to be my friend?"

The woman doesn't answer, and shakes her head in disbelief. She struts by Louis once again, heading for the door. "You tell Harry to call Kala. Him, and I need to have a conversation."

"No problem!" Louis waves goodbye, but Kala turns back to him with an icy stare.

"And remember," Kala points at him, "Harry's mine."