under your bed in new york. // larry stylinson

six.

It was 12:12pm when Louis could finally drag Harry away from his office to go for lunch.

As soon as Harry stepped into Louis' office and caught sight of the twins, he melted into a puddle, and Louis thought Harry was about to start crying right there and then.

"Mummy? Who that?" Kai hid behind his mother's legs, Aurelia following his example.

"That's Harry, love."

"Harry? Unca Lou boyfriend?"

Both Harry and Louis froze. They exchanged an awkward glance and Louis cleared his throat, saying, "Um, not anymore. Never mind that! Kai, Aurie, why don't you come say hi?"

Aurelia and Kai immediately took to Uncle Harry and begged to play with him for a while before Allie and Louis insisted it was time for lunch, and they parted ways.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work? What's The Lonely Fish going to do without their head chef?" Louis asked as they walked out of the building.

"Jenna's filling in for me so I can come see you."

Louis' cheeks flushed red. Jenna used to fill in for Harry too, when they had to make sacrifices and changes to their job in order to see each other more often when they were dating. "Where do you want to go for lunch, then?"

"You can pick, I really don't mind." Harry rifled through his bag and took out a set of neatly folded, clean clothes. "Here are your clothes, thanks a lot for lending them to me."

"I wasn't about to let you go home all covered in coffee," Louis said, taking the clothes from Harry and trying to stuff them into his briefcase. "Besides, it was my fault you ended up covered in coffee anyway."

"You were always clumsy and messy."

"You're the clumsy one! You can trip over thin air, plus you spilled hot chocolate on me on our first date," Louis defended himself, immediately regretting it when he mentioned their first date.

"Oh yeah, I did that," Harry laughed. "Well, I guess we're even now."

"I guess so."

They settled on a diner near Louis' office, small and cozy and intimate. Louis hummed as he scanned the menu, deciding to eat a classic cheeseburger and waiting for Harry to choose his own meal. Once they'd ordered, they sat at their table facing each other, letting a comfortable silence fall over them.

"I forgot how fancy you look in a suit," Harry said, breaking the silence. "Did you gel your hair back?"

"Hmm?" Louis reached a hand up to pat his hair, feeling the familiar hardness of his hair gel. "Yeah. I've always done that for work, don't you remember?"

"No, no, I remember." Harry raked his eyes up and down Louis' body, but that was probably just Louis' imagination. "Just... more used to your other look, s'all."

"My other look?"

"You know, hoodies, sweaters, sweatpants, fluffy hair? Soft Louis," Harry described. "It's kinda funny how you can go from looking so cute and tiny to looking like a model once you put on a suit and gel your hair."

Louis felt a soft blush appear on his cheeks. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Harry took a gulp of his water. "I prefer the other you, though."

"You're confusing me, Harry. What other me? You've got to be more specific."

"Soft Louis with all your oversized hoodies."

"Why?"

Harry shrugged. "Dunno. You're homier, I suppose. Cuter, sweeter, softer. More approachable, you know? More cuddleable. Plus, I saw more of soft Louis, anyway."