how to: steal someone's boyfriend. [larry stylinson] ✔️

eighteen | the mighty fall

** HA, i lied, so theres like one more chapter after this and it will be a time jump ! ((not something i put in the old book, so this is exclusive vip passes)) ((not that important but yaknow))

((would you guys like for there to be smut? if so, who would you like to top? majority rules so if you're allergic to one of them topping leave))

"I don't want to, Harry." Louis said nervously as he watched Harry's thumb hover over the play button of his father's voicemail, then he looked down at his hands and rubbed them together. "Not after what he did. I don't want to hear anything that he has to say."

"You never did tell me why you don't speak to your father anymore. Can I at least have some insight on what happened before we delete it then?" Harry asked sadly, lowering the phone onto his lap.

They were sitting on the bench inside of the park, which was just up the street from Harry's house. No one was here since it was Christmas morning, but Louis had asked to come by here to see how much has changed since he left—it wasn't much. The swings were a little rusty, but still in tact, as well as the slides that they use to slide down when they were younger.

After they opened their presents, they left out the house to spend more time together, and Anne wasn't really against it since Gemma and Snake were doing the same thing. Harry agreed that they'd both be back by the afternoon for the annual family dinner—a few of Harry's family members were dropping by today.

Louis breathed deeply and began to tap his foot on the snow covered ground, his demeanor becoming protected, frightened. He looked uncertain as he opened and closed his mouth, consequently, taking about a minute to speak. "When I was much younger, he use to touch me in more ways than one. When my mum wasn't home, he use to hit me and—when I told her, she told me that I was making things up. That it was all in my head...and then I met you." He smiled shyly. "I suddenly enjoyed waking up everyday even though I knew what would come later. Then he started to accuse me of becoming homosexual and hit on me some more. He didn't like you, and he didn't like me hanging around you, so we moved."

And here I thought you left because I didn't kiss back that day. "Oh, Louis, I had no idea...No wonder he hang up so fast when I answered. How did you leave? Did he ever get in trouble for it?"

"No," said Louis quietly. "Because I didn't say anything to anyone else, only you. Him and my mom eventually broke up and she had to get a restraining order just to keep him away, which was hard to do.We lived in this crummy ass apartment for a few years until she...died. Then I went to live with my grandma—very sweet lady. She died a few weeks go; 86 years old."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry asked.

"Because no one wants to hear about sad lives, sad stories, or sad people."

Harry went silent at that statement, knowing that it was not the case for him. Just because he grew up protected from all the negative stuff in the world and never had to deal with unfit parents did not mean that he couldn't empathize with others. "I don't mind...at all. You mean a lot to me, and relationships are all about accepting the person for who they are and what they use to be. I love hearing about your life, good or bad."

"Harry, you do realize that I doubt myself 99% of the time, cry myself to sleep occasionally, and sometimes have episodes that I can't come down from for hours? I'm a mess, and you'd have to see me at my worst." Louis said, then he grew even more afraid, stabbing his foot into the pile of snow under his bench as he thought more about it. "Then you're going to leave me."

"No, no, no—" Harry whispered, taking Louis' hand in his and looking the boy into his eyes, which were beginning to water from the amount of overthinking he was doing. The fact that Louis was thinking about all of this was making him crushed, and it pained Harry that convincing wouldn't be enough for Louis to be sure. "I'm not going to leave you. I'll be right by your side through it all. If I can't handle your worst, what gives me any right to be with you at your best? I care a lot about you Louis."

Louis' face softened at the word care, and he began to weakly smile; using his other hand to wipe his face, which was now damp from how he was crying now. "And I care about you a lot. I care about you so much. Thank you for taking me to see your family and on this trip, and for helping me celebrate my birthday."

"I'd do anything to make you happy," responded Harry softly, rubbing his thumb against Louis' wrist as they turned to watch two children run through the park with cardboard swords. "Those kids remind me of us."

"Except we were much more cuter."

"Louis!"

Louis laughed and tucked his face farther into his sweater, shivering when a strong gust of wind blew past them and pierced through his skin. It was getting much colder and Louis didn't bother to wear any layers over his outfit even though Harry begged him to. "I am ready for death to take me. Hypothermia, unleash your powers on me."

"Come on, we're going back home."

—

The family dinner was a complete failure and the reason why was because half of his family members consistently called Snake 'she' and 'her' and then got frustrated when the boy corrected them, and they also wouldn't get over the fact that Harry was dating a boy. Harry wanted to stab a fork in their throats while they were eating from the amount of questions they were asking.

"So Harry, when did you figure out that you liked...penis? Did Louis force it on you?" Was one of the questions that his Uncle Rob asked him, and Harry doesn't believe that he ever saw Louis leave the room that fast just to 'use the bathroom'. Anne had tried to tell them to relax with the distinct homophobia and getting Snake's pronouns wrong, but their excuse was that it was all so new to them.

After the dinner was over, Gemma and Snake went upstairs to pack their bags to go on their flight back to their college first thing in the morning, but Harry already made sure that him and Louis were leaving by tonight. He knew that it wasn't his mother's fault, but Louis was growing eager to return back to the dorms, and Harry couldn't say no when the boy was shaking like a wet dog. It must have been difficult to nearly relive his past like that, so Harry understood his discomfort.

"Baby," cooed Harry gently, taking Louis' cheeks in his hands so that they were seeing each other eye-to-eye. Harry was kneeled in front of Louis, who was sitting at the edge of the bed with an unreadable expression on his face, and was trying to find a way to get the boy to relax. "You have to help me pack, okay? We're going back to the dorms."

"M'sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your time with your mum. We don't have to leave because of me. They were just comments, small comments that I can get over." Louis explained while shaking his head, looking everywhere but at Harry's eyes. "I can get over them..."

"Regardless, we are leaving."

They packed their suitcases in silence, the only sound being the occasional clatter of dishes from downstairs and whispering coming from Snake and Gemma in the next room over. Eventually, Louis came up from behind Harry and stopped him from packing, pressing his soft lips against his neck and nipping at the skin while muttering sweet nothings. They decided to leave the next morning.