we'll live to tell the tale (l.s.)

this side of paradise

hope you are having a great day! take care of yourself x

-

when they arrived back at the younger boy's apartment, louis felt himself relax a bit more, and he had noticed more things about the place than before. the first time he came, they were both hardly sober enough to think coherently, not to mention see the small details of the room in the dark. the second time, which was just earlier today, louis only waited at the door briefly before they departed. so he was here for what felt like the first time, despite the odd familiarity of it all.

like his car, harry's apartment was also very him. candles and incense everywhere, a neat, albeit small kitchen, and everything being perfectly organized in the most disorganized way possible. a way that only harry could seamlessly find everything—yet not everything was practical. but that's just who harry was. decorated, but impractical. one of the things that the smaller boy found so enamoring about him.

there was a wall of bookshelves with a large selection of novels, magazines, textbooks, comics, and academic journals that had caught louis' eye.

"i didn't know you read so much," he said pointedly.

"you didn't? i assumed you would have noticed from coming here the first time."

"neither of us were particularly... present. or paying any sort of attention to our surroundings. so, no. i didn't notice."

"what, we were talking about the meaning of life but you weren't even present in the moment, talking to me?" harry smirked, itching to tease the boy to get a cute reaction.

"first of all, curly mchazza pants," louis emphasized, trying not to giggle, "we were not talking about the meaning of life. nothing so pretentious. you don't even remember our conversation." he pouted, feigning hurt.

"we spoke about writing and music and loneliness, thank you very much. basically life summed up, no?" harry retorted.

"okay, fine. you win, styles. but only because i'm choosing to be the bigger man and can accept that you're still a stubborn kid,"

"you're not the bigger anything," harry laughed, carefully watching the ocean boy's reaction. he'd begun to watch his tongue now, ever since the first day, when talking about size or food or anything. today's mess had only reinforced that.

luckily, louis only laughed, turning his attention to the bookshelves. "man, styles. you really have quite the assortment, here," he quipped, adding on quietly, "makes me jealous."

before harry could really think about what he was saying, the words just fell out of his mouth. "you're welcome here anytime, though. and you can borrow whatever you want. even keep your favorites."

louis gave him an astonished look, causing his stomach and heart to flip inside of him. what if he was too hasty, or came off as too strong? but the ocean boy's eyes ended up melting into a smile, crinkling up at the corners in that way harry loves. "thank you, love," he said warmly. "i-"

as if some greater power were trying to sabotage their moment, harry's phone had begun to ring obnoxiously. he cursed under his breath, taking it out of his pocket to see that it was niall. the lad was never really considerate, but harry knew there was not way for him to have known, and it was his own fault for not having his phone on silent anyway. reluctantly, he accepted the call.

"hello? i'm kind of in the middle of something," he said, annoyed, to which louis snickered childishly at.

"oh, sorry! i didn't know. i was just wondering if i could drop by tonight and pick up my bag i left at your place last week. but i mean, if you've got something going on, it can wait. it's just, it's got this textbook i need for econ, and i've got this paper due, and i don't really kn-"