chamber of reflection ➵l.s

romeo, o romeo

Harry sprinkles seasoning onto the potatoes in his cooking bowl, while Junior sat across the counter, working on his calculus homework. The teenager's been having to be more disciplined than the littles, due to how bad he's been doing in school. With a head as big as his, you'd think that he'd be smart, but it seems all that space in his head is just hallow. Junior sighs loudly and drops his pencil on the counter, throwing his hands up. "I give up." 

Harry frowns, placing the seasoned salt down. "Don't say that, June. It's just some calculations, right?" 

"Mom, think seriously. When am I ever going to have to do this in the real world?"

The older man shrugs. "On a random day, someone could come up and offer a million dollars if you can figure out a problem." He scenarizes. Junior rolls his eyes. "Serious, mother. I'm very serious, I just think that it's dumb that we have to learn all this, just to never use it again and likely forget. I bet you, you can't even solve this problem." 

Harry purses his lips. "I was never good at math, anyway." 

"It's a waste of time." Junior finalizes. 

"It may be wasteful to you, but it surely isn't for me. I don't care if you fail the paper, but you're going to finish it." Harry tells him. He returns to dinner, and as he's putting the potatoes in the air fryer, Louis walks through the door. 

"Hello, family." He exclaims. 

Harry smiles softly. "Hey, baby." 

"Guess what I've got." Louis says, wanting all the suspense, and Harry being the good husband he is, plays with it. "What?"

His husband smiles, digging into the brown bag in his hands. "I already got the gloves that I heavily appreciate, but I also got another pair specifically for use, because I am going to start boxing!" Louis explains enthusiastically. Harry grins widely. "Oh, that's great! When's the last time you've boxed?" 

"Exactly! I think I've already freshened up a little. Last time was like.. when we first moved in." 

Harry's eyebrows raise. "Almost nine years ago," he comments. "oh, I wanna try!" 

Louis happily obliges, putting the gloves on Harry's hands. He smiles like it's the most amazing thing in the world and starts to imitate punches to Louis' palms like he's practicing. Of course, he has to get too excited, and somehow redirect his glove to his face, punching himself in the eye. "Ow, I hit myself in the eye!"

Louis bites his lip so he doesn't laugh and directs him to the couch. "I can't believe I just did that, I feel like such an idiot." He whines. 

Louis chuckles a little. "Don't beat yourself up."

Harry scoffs, although he's smiling and holds his eye, feeling it throb. "Come on, I'll kiss it better." Louis offers, only making him hurt more. Harry grumbles and pushes his head away. "I'll get you an ice pack." Louis says. The younger husband hums, standing up. "I'll come with you."

Someone knocks on the door and Eileen comes running towards it, expecting Evan. She greets him at the doorway and Audrey looks up from her drawing. "You just missed it, Mommy got a black eye." 

Evan looks from Louis to Harry, completely getting the wrong idea. He approaches Harry, who's sitting at the dining table and places a hand on his shoulder, genuinely concerned. "Oh my gosh, Mr. Tomlinson, would you like me to take you to a shelter?"

Harry shakes his head. "No, Evan, it was just an accident."

"Denial is the first stage in the pattern of abuse." Evan says.