Houseboy ➳ Larry AU |English|

Chapter 35.

Louis looks at the woman in front of him, expectantly, with glassy eyes and tears running down his tanned cheeks.

Jimena gives him a sympathetic look, and lifts her hand to brush some tears away from Louis' face. He is her baby, and he will always remain her baby, no matter how old he gets. He cries as if someone has died, and it breaks her heart to see him that way, Louis is not a person who cries often, it's rare when he does. Something must be torturing his heart.

"Lou, that's good, that's very good, honey. Don't cry, you mustn't cry about it." She comforts him, and Louis throws himself on her for a comforting hug, which he receives seconds later. He feels a great relief, he feels that a great weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He feels relieved and it is a liberating feeling.

The boy is scared, Jimena knows it by the way he begs for support, begs for help. He is young, he still has a lot to learn, maybe he didn't know what love was, until now, and that scares him because he doesn't know how to act in a situation like this. For Jimena it is only love, for some people it is blasphemy, and all that is blocking Louis, his own negative thoughts are the ones that prohibit him from taking that important step. His thoughts of, "What will they think?" or "What will happen next?" are torturing him, preventing him from being happy.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. Tell me what scares you." She holds his shoulders, making eye contact. Louis grimaces, brushing away some tears with his forearm, before replying.

"That sooner or later Harry will get bored waiting for me. That scares me more than anything else." He confesses. His heart squeezes at the thought of that every day.

Jimena frowns. "Then why are you making him wait?"

He takes a deep breath, trying to find a justifying answer. Deep down he knows there's no just reason, it's all due to his fear.

"Because I'm not ready, nana. And maybe I never will be because I'm a coward." He admits in a breathy voice.

"That's inside your head, don't keep thinking you're a coward because you will be. You must think differently. You're a coward because you want to be. Don't be." He grimaces, resigned.

"I've tried..." She interrupts him.

"Not hard enough. Think about Harry, he's not going to wait for you all his life, he's young, he can fall in love with someone who won't be a coward and who will give him everything you didn't want." And those words fall like a bucket of cold water for Louis. It hurt.

"No, don't say that. Harry can't fall in love with any other boy." He shakes his head frantically. The thought drives him crazy.

"Then act fast." The woman says in a firm voice, before standing up and leaving the room.

Louis remains for a few minutes staring at the white wooden door, with multiple debates swirling around in his head. He knows, he knows Jimena is right. He knows Harry won't wait for him forever. It's all in his hands.

After making sure his parents are asleep, he tiptoes toward Harry's room. He doesn't knock on the door, he never does.... The boy has the TV on, but Louis can't tell if his eyes are closed because his back is turned to him. That doesn't stop Louis though.

He walks over to the bed, and manages to peer over Harry's shoulder, who is cuddling the pink dolphin he gave him the day he proposed. He smiles tenderly before lying down next to the boy. He hugs him tightly from behind, sticking his chest against his back, drawing him in. Harry doesn't move, nor does he try to pull away.

He is awake, since he heard the sound of the door opening in the middle of the night he opened his eyes and lost sleep. He visibly relaxes when he realizes it's Louis. It's Louis's smell. Harry smiles and enjoys the hug without saying a word.