Young & Beautiful

“No, Lou! No, that one’s too loud,” Harry chastises, his baritone verging on whiny. Oh dear lord.
“Have you even been listening to a word I’ve said this whole day? Do you even care about today?
You aren’t even trying to make this luncheon nice for Liam. You’re just—“
“Whoah, whoah, settle there, Curly, hold on,” Louis rushes, drowning out Harry’s pouts. With an
exasperated sigh, he slides past him, setting the boxes on the table—careful to avoid the china and
artfully folded napkins—before turning back around and stepping toe-to-toe with him,
immediately cradling his lip-jutted face in his hands.
So it’s going to be one of those kinds of days.
“Harold,” he begins, feeling a smirk form, and Harry’s eyes fall to his mouth. “I know you want
to make this perfect for Liam—“
“He’s going to rehab, Louis. Of course it has to be perfect—“
Louis silences him with his forefinger, pushes it against the cushion of his lips.
“Be that as it may, it’s going to be perfect regardless of the flowers you choose to put on the
table.”
Harry very nearly squawks at that, but Louis digs his finger in deeper, feels the ridges of Harry’s
teeth beneath his skin.
“You’ve done a beautiful job, love. As you always do. And it’s going to be a wonderful
luncheon. Not just because of us five lads, but because you always manage to create quite the
setting—whether you’re aware of it or not. Now. Can you please just set the roses on the table, set
the lilies somewhere else, and help me unpack these five—very large, I might add—boxes that
I’ve generously hauled from the bakery? On foot? Because you asked me to? And I didn’t
complain once?” With that, Louis extracts his finger from Harry’s lips, ready to begin pastrydistribution
in as timely a fashion as possible because Zayn had said he’d be back with Liam any
minute.
And that was an hour ago.
But then suddenly Harry’s grin blazes into life and he’s catching Louis’ hand between his own,
holding him in place.
“You’re quite stunning,” he mumbles, pressing his lips into Louis’ palm. His eyes are lidded with
affection, sliding up to lock into Louis’. “Did you know?”
Something pops in Louis’ heart. It spreads goo throughout his insides, might even leak to the floor
a bit, soaking the ancient floorboards.
“I did,” Louis tries to say smugly, but his voice cracks and he’s almost positive his eyelashes are
fluttering, his cheeks flushed. He has a traitor for a body. “But it’s always nice to be reminded.”
Harry grins wider at that, swoops in for a kiss and pulls Louis to him, arm hooked around the
small of his back.
There’s goo everywhere. Goo stuck to Louis’ feet so he may never be able to move away from
Harry’s arms ever again.
Oh well.
“I shall remind you always, then,” Harry murmurs against Louis’ lips, his dimple skidding Louis’