you're cold and I burn (on hold)

“I’ll respect you when you act like a real father to me.”
There’s a pause of the other side of the phone, <strong>and</strong> Louis can hear a sharp breath exhaled over the
speaker, “Listen, I already told you, this isn’t optional, I need you there. I know you need things
from me too, don’t forget I can always revoke or withdrawal the help you’ve received from me.”
“You’re blackmailing me with my own roommate? Wow, you really are pathetic,
congratulations.” Louis replies, the heat in his stomach building <strong>and</strong> threatening to overflow, he’s
desperately trying to keep his frustration under control but he’s not doing a very good job at it.
“I’ll send Liam to pick you up at five tomorrow, the dinner starts around five thirty. Could you be
ready by then? Liam will lend you a suit, I know that you probably can’t afford one.”
“I have one,” Louis spits, <strong>and</strong> that’s a complete lie. “And you’re lucky you have leverage to make
me go, or you can bet your ass I wouldn’t show up within a hundred feet of you.”
“Lovely, well tomorrow night it is then?”
The leaves crunching from his left catches his full attention, eyes darting to the tall, curly haired
figure hesitantly stepping closer. His face is already blooming a faint pink all over his cheeks <strong>and</strong>
the tip of his nose, probably from the <strong>cold</strong>. He’s all bundled in a coat <strong>and</strong> a thick scarf. Louis
blinks, cocking his head to the side as if to silently question why the hell Harry is out here. Harry
just gives a small smile, stopping a few inches from Louis, waiting.
“Whatever, fine.”
Louis clicks the button to end the call, taking a breath to recompose before turning towards Harry,
“What t’hell are you doing out here, it’s fucking freezing.”
Harry shrugs, “You were taking a bit long to come home, thought I’d see if you were getting
close. I heard your voice, kinda faint, coming from this direction, so.”
Louis nods, biting his lower lip <strong>and</strong> trying to hide the obvious smile that’s breaking over his lips,
“In other words, you were worried about me. Were you, Harry Styles?”
Harry just rolls his eyes, snorting out a small laugh before raising his right arm, showing Louis a
bundled jacket clutched in his h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> Louis can’t help but feel the way his heart swells just the
tiniest amount, “I saw you left without one, I know its pretty frigid out here, wouldn’t want you to
get sick, eh?”
“Is that your leather jacket?”
“Yeah, it’s actually pretty warm, it might be a little big on you but I figured that would only make
it warmer. You don’t have to-“ Harry begins, but Louis jerks the jacket from his h<strong>and</strong>, quickly
slipping over his exposed arms. The warmth makes him shudder, it smells like Harry.
“Thank you.” Louis nudges Harry’s shoulder with his own, undefeated smile on full display
which Harry mirrors, those dimples popping out on both pink-tinged cheeks. He looks the
opposite of ‘trouble’ or ‘dangerous,’ he looks adorable.
“I, uh,” Harry coughs, looking to the concrete <strong>and</strong> tapping the toe of his shoe. “I wasn’t
eavesdropping, but, I heard that you sounded pretty upset. Are you- are you, like, okay?”
“I’ll tell you about it once we get inside, because it’s probably not wise to hang around in the
freezing <strong>cold</strong>, having a conversation when we have a perfectly good flat to go home to, right?”