darling darcy [l.s.]

chapter two

chapter two,
september 21st, 2018
1:11pm:

"fanks, love. keep the change."

hold on.

harry had only ever heard one person with a voice like that. it was so distinctive, in pitch and in accent.

but that was preposterous. why would he be here?

harry almost laughed out loud at the insane thought. but the longer he stared at the man's haircut and outfit, hearing his voice and becoming increasingly more anxious, the more he thought it might possibly be him.

could it be?

no, that was ridiculous. it couldn't possibly be—

"oops!" he squeaked, freezing in place.

shit. shit shit shit. he was right. the painfully familiar man turned around (with perfect timing, harry must say) to reveal that he was indeed who harry thought.

which was just bloody fucking amazing, because it meant...

he just spilled his coffee on louis tomlinson.

louis tomlinson the famous singer. louis tomlinson with whom he had a one night stand five years ago. louis tomlinson who was the father of his child. louis tomlinson who didn't know he was the father of his child.

yup. bloody fucking amazing.

"hi," louis smiled gently, not sounding nearly as angry as harry had expected after having hot coffee spilled all over his probably expensive jumper, "are you alright?" he placed a soft hand on harry's shoulder, studying his mortified expression with a glint of curiosity in his eyes.

is he alright? is he alright? did louis just ask if harry was alright? after he spilled hot coffee on him? why the bloody fuck would he do that?

"um..."

"it's fine, don't worry. didn't like this jumper much anyway." louis chuckled lightly, grabbing a napkin from a nearby table and beginning to pat the large stain on his chest.

did he just make a joke? how was harry meant to respond to that? what should he say? 'hi, i'm harry! sorry for spilling coffee on you! oh and hey, guess what? see those bags of kid toys by my table? they're for my daughter! and it gets even better! she's yours!'

"louis tomlinson." is what was blurted out instead, and harry immediately regretted it. louis' face fell just a little bit but he forced a small polite smile to stay on his cheeks.

"yep, that's my name. don't wear it out." his lips thinned to an awkward line of a smile as he looked down at his shirt, his gentle demeanor from before beginning to slip away all of a sudden.

harry mentally facepalmed.

from what he could remember of his short time with louis all those years ago, he hated being seen as anything but a regular guy, just like everyone else. he actually told harry it was the reason he was attracted to him to begin with, because harry treated him like he was normal.

harry forced the memory away and focused his eyes on louis before him. he had changed a lot in the time since they were together, but he already knew that. it was hard not to see his pictures all over the internet and news. he was louis tomlinson, after all.

but seeing him face-to-face, in person, made harry feel like a train had crashed into his chest. because, fuck, darcy looked a lot more like louis than he had ever realized.

"i-i'm sorry!" harry finally fell back into reality as he thought of darcy, "shit, i'm really clumsy—i am so sorry—can i get you something? a croissant? coffee? money for dry cleaning? i'm really sorry, i didn't mean to—"