Young & Beautiful

He shook his head. “They cancelled it awhile ago. Couldn’t rely on Des Styles, could they?”
Louis bit his cheek at the tone of Harry’s words—a bit bitter, a bit sad.
“How has he been to you? How’s he been treating you?”
Now it was Harry’s turn to bite his cheek.
“When I visit him he tries to attack me,” he says slowly, after a long pause. “He’s afraid because
he doesn’t know who I am. Doesn’t, like, recognize me. It’s like he’s so far gone within himself
that he just…forgets everybody else. It’s like he caters to his demons. Or something. I don’t
know.” Harry’s voice was soft, lightly uncomfortable. He chewed his lip.
“What are you going to do when term’s over?” Louis asked gently. He never took his eyes away
from Harry.
“Go home.”
“Harry.”
“I’m not leaving him, Louis.”
“You’ve said yourself that it’s hard.”
“I’m all he has.”
“And you can continue to be his, but you can do it in a safer way! Get him some in-home help!
Hire a nurse or a whatever. Let him be at home with someone who is trained to handle him and
live your own life, Harold. Stop getting swept up in his shadows.”
“I’m sick of talking about this,” Harry frowned. “Let’s do something. Do you want to drink wine
under the stars? Wine tastes better in the spring.”
“Harry…” Louis sighed, shaking his head. Because Harry needed to listen.
And he needed to stop fake-wooing Louis with wine and stars and all that evil, tempting crock of
shit.
“I only want to have fun,” Harry sighed in response, as if it were that simple, as if the corners of
his eyes weren’t crinkled with weight. He scowled at the sky, hands deep in the pockets of his
jacket, the gold buttons glinting through the darkness.
“It’s okay to, like, feel things, android. To feel emotion,” Louis teased, but everything about him
was still gentle. “It’s okay to be sad. Okay to be happy too, you know.” He nudged Harry’s ribs
with a smile until he looked down at him, his scowl instantly transforming into a matching quirk of
the lips.
“I can be happy,” he said, the words dipped in tar. His dark curls clustered against his pale neck
and his eyes became warm and lidded, teetering on amused. “I’m happy when I’m with you.”
And Louis’ smile quieted, his blood jamming to a standstill.
Ouch.
Ouch and…beautiful. Yes.
“You make me happy, too,” Louis said immediately, so breathless and so brittle from the perfect