Half a heart

Chapter 15

They grow fast.

That's what Harry thinks as he watches Scarlet play with Sugar in the park in late January. There's snow on the ground and the two month old pup is loving it, she practically blends into the fluffy white stuff. Sugar is about double the size she was last month - so yeah - they definitely grow fast.

It's been a good month. The bakery has been busy, Scarlet's nearly done with her therapy on her knee, and Louis' still a constant presence in their lives. Harry wanted to say it was a surprise because he still didn't trust Louis one hundred percent but he can't really say that he isn't surprised either. Louis had sworn not to go anywhere - and he hasn't.

Scarlet's grown used to the older man being around whether it's at their flat, at the park, or at a restaurant, Louis is frequently there. Like right now, Louis is currently over at the coffee shop nearby getting tea for himself and Harry and a hot chocolate for Scarlet.

It must be nice, Harry thinks as he spots Louis walking back over with three cups in a carrying tray, to be able to just not go into work like Louis does. He keeps his cell phone on and attached to him when he doesn't go into work just in case they need him, but never lets the ringing of his phone interrupt his time with Scarlet or Harry. He's had to rush off a couple times when one of the bands or singers becomes too much for one of his employees to handle and even then normally he just has them put on the phone and threatens to drop them right then and there if they don't 'cut their shit and get to work'.

Sometimes it takes a lot for Harry not to burst out laughing when Louis assistant, Marina, calls him with an issue. The way Louis' ears start turning red when he's angry was always something that humoured Harry. He had always told Louis it was cute and the red from anger would suddenly become red from blushing - not that he could say that now, he still thought it.

"Scarlet, come on bug, your dads back with drinks." Harry called out as Louis came closer.

Scarlet looked over at Harry from where she was still playing in the snow with Sugar then picked up the small dog and walked over to the bench. Harry clipped Sugar's lead onto her collar and sat her on the bench next to him so she wasn't sitting in the snow.

"Alright!" Louis smiled as he stopped in front of them. "One hot chocolate with extra marshmallows our bug and one Yorkshire tea for her daddy." he said handing them their cups.

"Thanks Lou." Harry responded taking his cup, their fingers brushing. "Be careful bug, don't burn yourself." he warned as Scarlet lifted her cup to her mouth.

"So, were we done in the park? Did you want to head back to your flat now?" Louis questioned looking over at Harry once he was sat down on the other side of Scarlet.

"We can, yeah. The temperature is starting to drop, I don't want her to get sick again." Harry replied, giving one of Scarlet's curls a gentle tug.

She had gotten sick right after New Year's. Their families had returned from heir Disney trip so Harry insisted Louis go spend New Year's with his family while Harry took Scarlet to his own. They had had a great home cooked dinner thanks to Anne and then had just sat around until it was time for the countdown. Gemma had kept Caden inside out of the cold but Scarlet pleaded to go outside and watch fireworks. Harry had made her put on her heavy coat, scarf, beanie, and gloves and yet the very next day she had a stuffy nose and was sneezing and coughing with a low grade fever.

Louis had given Harry another reason to believe in him that day. He had text Harry asking how their New Year went and Harry had proceeded to tell him that Scarlet had gotten sick from being in the cold. An hour and a half later, Louis was at the flat with a bag of chicken noodle soup from a finer dining restaurant in London and two chicken caesar salads. Louis had pour some of the soup into a bowl, grabbed a spoon from the drawer, and set it down on the table in front of Scarlet who was wrapped in a blanket.