oops! ➸ one-shots

snow angels

winter, louis thinks, is what hell is like. screw that burning idea; if satan really wanted to torture louis, it would be cold. (it's not that louis really believes in that, anyway.)

but really, winter is simply months of blistering cold, including: coats, boots, frozen fingers, wet clothing, cold-burn, wind-burn, and other burns that shouldn't even exist because a burn is associated with hot...

that's what he's repeating in his head as he gets ready for work this december morning, not anxious to leave the warmth of his house and brave the cold. he hasn't bothered to look out the window, yet, so he's not aware of the foot of snow they got last night - when they only were expecting five inches. he's also not aware that it's still snowing, even if it's only little flurries.

after he's brushed his teeth, he puts on a trench coat and braces himself for the wilderness. (the wilderness of his house to his car, that is. and his car is in the garage, but for louis' sake, pretend you don't know that.)

he opens his garage door to be met by a foot of snow, and at that moment in time he swears, if there was one thing he could never see again, it would be snow. he mumbles a few (or a lot of) cuss words before grabbing his shovel with a sort of aggravation that no one could fake.

louis is suffering, having not put on a hat or gloves before he came outside, and he's sure his extremities will be falling off if he's outside for just a few more minutes. plus, he's going to be late for work.

that's when his savior comes. a lad with a puffy white jacket and blue earmuffs climbs through the snow, over to where louis is standing. he already has a shovel, and that's when louis realizes that his neighbor - sharol's - driveway is nearly free of snow. he looks back and forth between the clear driveway and this guy in front of him, putting two and two together.

"need any help?" the lad smiles, not waiting for louis to give an answer before he gets going. his longer arms help him with leverage in this, contrary to what louis has. nonetheless, louis follows the man's example and starts shoveling.

"i'm louis, if you were wondering." louis speaks up after a minute, feeling a little awkward that this man is doing work for him without knowing anything about him.

"'m harry." the man responds, stopping shoving for a moment to toss a smile in louis' direction.

"harry." louis whispers, to test the name on his tongue. "well, harry, thanks for your help."

"no offense, but," harry starts, and louis can see the side of his smile even though he's not facing towards the shorter boy, "you look a little small to be doing this alone."

"hey!" louis yips, hitting harry playfully with his shovel. "i am perfectly capable, thank you."

"if that's the case..." harry begins to walk off, trudging back in the snow towards sharol's house.

"oi, come back!" louis yells out, and with a winning grin, harry returns to his post and starts shoveling again. louis, feeling the need to clarify, says, "it's not that i need your help, but i appreciate it."

"right." harry teases, and louis doesn't respond. he's quite honestly thinking that this guy is really easy to get along with.

when half the driveway is done and louis' arms feel like they're just about ready to fall off - or, rather, freeze and snap off - harry asks if louis would like to take a break.

"i can't," louis sighs. "i'm already late for work."

"work?!" harry exclaims. "you still have to go to work when there's this much snow?"