hope your life leads you back to my door » l.s.

nine: the only one

Sightseeing in Lahore with Louis proved to be quite fun. It involved a lot of walking since Louis believed in getting the real feel of the place he was exploring. He didn't want to rely on any public transportation if he could help it, and Harry didn't mind doing it his way.

They started out at the Tomb of Jahangir, a mausoleum built for Jahangir, one of the most accomplished emperors of the Mughal Empire in the 1600s. From there, they headed to Lahore Museum but stuck to only walking around the grounds. "Museums can be so fucking boring," Louis had said when Harry suggested going inside. They then walked to Badshahi Mosque where Louis took about a hundred photos. It seemed his big, bulky, professional camera never ran out of space as Louis took pictures of everything, even a few of Harry, which Harry was less than amused about.

For lunch, the duo went to Fort Road to try out different street foods and admire the colourful buildings. Harry's personal favourites were the chaat and samosas, while Louis preferred the Bhalla.

"I didn't know you could handle so much spice," Harry said, sounding impressed.

"Big fan," Louis told him cockily. "In more ways than one." He added a lascivious wink at the end of his sentence, making Harry cackle delightedly.

It was just so easy spending the day with Louis that Harry couldn't help but feel warm from head to toe over how happy he was. They chatted effortlessly, laughing at each other's lame jokes, and catching up on the last six years. When Louis had jetted off to have adventures around the world, they hadn't kept in touch at all. The most they knew about each other came from their mutual follows on Instagram, but that didn't measure up to actually talking in person and learning the intimate details about how the other was faring.

They settled their fast-paced morning and afternoon a few hours later in Lahore Fort, a popular tourist spot. Despite having been destroyed over the years by wars and invasions, it was beautiful and massive even only partially restored. Within its grounds, there were many palaces, gardens, and museums for them to explore. Harry was shocked to see Louis wasn't taking many pictures this time, but simply taking it all in.

"I've heard the gardens here are really nice," Harry mused after some time. "We should check them out."

Louis hummed in agreement. "Would you say you're close with your mum?" he asked suddenly.

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Erm, yeah. But it wasn't always like that. We've gotten much closer in recent years. There was a time when I felt like she was too overprotective, probably because of how I struggled to make friends in school. I had to have a lot of talks with her to get her to back off and let me make my own decisions."

"You guys are sweet," Louis said quietly. "I liked how comfortable you two were with each other this morning." Harry smiled, not sure where Louis was going with this, but appreciative of his kind words nonetheless. Louis' expression became a touch more somber, eyebrows pinched and lips in a small pout. "My mum and I — we were never that close even though she was all I had. We were both so independent and we just kind of did our own thing. I think at times I was never really nice to her, you know? I took her for granted and constantly acted like a brat and she didn't deserve that."

It was a touchy subject, Louis' mum. When she'd passed, Zoya had tried reaching out to Louis many times, especially when he didn't come to the funeral. But no one heard back from him. His phone was off and he never returned any calls or messages. And yet, he was voluntarily bringing it up now. Harry was caught off guard and didn't want to make Louis feel uncomfortable for finally talking about it.

"You know, it took me a while, but I finally sort of understand parents now," Harry said. "While you may have been bratty and mean, as you say, it probably didn't matter to your mum. All she wanted was for you to be happy, and in return, that made her happy."