The Road Less Travelled By freetheankles (From AO3)

Chapter 8

"I'm scared as hell to want you. But here I am, wanting you anyway."

- Crash Into Me part 2, Grey's Anatomy

When Louis woke up, buried in a mess of sheets, with Harry curled up against the side of his body and the bright light of the midday sun burning at his eyelids, Louis' first instinct was to flee - as far away and as quickly as possible.

Out the window, the sky was peppered in white, as the snow had resumed falling in tiny, irregular flakes upon Abateemat sometime during the night.

The view would be lovely if Louis weren't in a state of mild panic, heart hammering against his ribs and bile rising in his mouth.

Carefully, he managed to untangle himself from the web of limbs sprawled over his stomach without waking Harry, knowing full well that talking to him before Louis even had his morning coffee was the last thing anyone needed.

Ignoring the dull ache in his butt, he made a beeline to the kitchen.

As he waited for the coffee to brew, sleep still tugging at his limbs, he let his gaze wander - it was easier than trying to process the previous night, and it suddenly struck Louis that Harry Styles was fucking everywhere.

In his kitchen, with all the marked tupperware boxes lined up in his fridge, in his study where all his books had been rearranged by genre and alphabetical order, in his yard where the vegetable garden had been covered by a greenhouse for the winter, in his bathroom where scented candles were now a permanent fixture, in the living room where little carved figurines were scattered on every surface-

And now in the bed he used to share with his husband for the better part of a decade.

He used to call Harry the "invader" when he first moved in, but in hindsight it was more to show his annoyance than anything else. Now though, Louis couldn't help but notice how insidiously Harry had settled into Louis' house - into his life.

When he first woke up, Louis was met with Harry's traces over the sheets, his smell lingering on the pillow, Harry's watch on the nightstand on Teddy's side. The view was as crippling as a hand closing around his throat, choking him, choking him, choking him.

The thing was, Louis had tough skin, he had worked really hard at building big, wide, bulletproof walls to protect himself, with reason . So how exactly Harry Styles had managed to get under his skin, in between his cracks, without Louis noticing no less, was beyond him.

Yes, Harry was everywhere, maybe even a little bit in Louis' shattered heart now. And Louis shouldn't, couldn't, wouldn't let that happen.

Louis' breath stuttered when he heard Harry's footsteps closing in on the kitchen. He busied his hands with breakfast, but forced himself to stay calm. He had control over this situation, he was okay, everything was fine, he knew what to do.

He felt a little bit of his resolve leave him at once when Harry appeared in the door frame, only wearing little, turquoise briefs and a worried frown. In broad daylight, his shoulders appeared broader, his abs even more defined, and the little soft flesh he had around his waist just begged to be poked at, and petted, and lick-

"Hey." Harry said, awkwardly.

Hey gorgeous. The words Harry had said tenderly ricocheted against the walls of Louis' skull, making his neck feel warm, his chest even warmer.

As Harry approached, every inward breath Louis took brought in the fresh scent of pine and honey, and arousal unfurled low in his belly again.

Shit. No. Not again.