Summer Shade ➳ Larry

Chapter eight

(Louis's POV)

It's been two incredibly boring, bland, and ridiculously long days since I last saw Harry. I've had to settle for only phone calls and texts and Skype conversations with him. I know he needs to spend time with his family but I just miss him. I also know that to some people two days might not seem like a long time, but when I'm not with Harry, time goes by slowly and brutally painfully.

I sit cross legged in the living room floor, holding a feather catnip toy in front of Brownie. She purrs and claps the toy between her furry kitten paws. She rips it away from me and puts it in her mouth, digging her teeth into the fabric.

I giggle as she rolls onto her back with the toy half way in her mouth and half way in between her paws. I scratch her head gently and make sure to pay extra attention to her ears, which I know she loves.

My laptop suddenly beeps in the nearby kitchen, startling both Brownie and I. Brownie gets up and jets into my bedroom immediately. She's very skittish and the slightest noise can scare her half to death.

My laptop beeps once again. I guess I must've left it on in the kitchen when I was Skyping Harry earlier. I walk under the arch way and sit down at the bar stool with my computer in front of me. I narrow my eyes at the screen through my black frames.

Chat request from Alex_Visterale93

I smile and immediately accept it. Within seconds, Alex's pixelated face starts to clarify and his familiar features are displayed on screen. His caramel eyes are staring into the web cam and a gentle smile plays across his pink lips. He's clad in only a tank top, showing off his biceps very well, I must say.

"Hey Lou," he says, his Irish accent thick and distinct.

"Hi Al, how's Germany? Or Ireland or-- wherever you are," I chuckle.

"We're in Ireland. Zayn and I are staying here at my house, actually. I introduced my family to Zayn an' they love him," Alex says.

I smile, "That's great."

"Yeah, they get along real well," Alex grins.

"I'm happy for you," I say genuinely.

"Thanks. So how are you? What's new?" he asks, propping his elbows on the desk he's seated at.

I sigh deeply, "I'm alright, I suppose. I got my own place."

"Oh, really? D'ya share it with Harry?"

"Not technically, but he is here a lot," I explain.

"Is he there right now? I wanna say hello!" Al asks.

I shake my head, "Nah, he missed his family, he's been gone for a few days."

"Shame."

"It's quite lonely around here without him, to be honest," I mutter, glancing around the emptiness of my apartment. It's so . . . quiet. I hate it. I miss hearing Harry's voice and his loud footsteps echoing through the walls. I miss him indefinitely.

"After Zayn and I finish traveling Europe and America we'll stop by, alright?" Alex promises, bringing me back to reality.

"That's be great," I admit.

Suddenly, something shuffles in the background. I laugh when I see Zayn wrap his tan arms around Alex from behind and lean down to sloppily kiss Al's cheek. Alex chuckles and wipes away the spit from his kiss and grimaces.

"Ew, Z, not in front of Louis!" Alex groans, blushing brightly.

"Hi Louis!" Zayn exclaims, waving at the webcam.

I laugh, "Hello Zayn. How's Alex treating you?"

"He's amazing," Zayn smiles, kissing the top of Alex's head quickly. They literally ooze cuteness.

"Alright lads, I think I'll leave you two alone now. Have fun," I pause,"but not too much fun," I add as an afterthought.

"No promises," Alex laughs.

I roll my eyes.

"Bye Louis!" they both say at the same time.

"Talk to you later, text me pictures of America!" I say before ending the chat.

I exhale deeply, closing my laptop shut. I feel something brush against my leg. I look down and bite my lip at the sight of Brownie nudging me.

I scoop her up and gather her in my arms, nuzzling her furry head into my neck, "You'll never leave me, right?" I ask. She stares up at me with gleaming green eyes. I smile and scratch her head, "Good."

I take out my phone and send Harry a simple, straight forward text, not even caring if I sound foolishly desperate because that's just what I am; desperate. Desperate for the feeling of Harry's lips, desperate for the scent of him filling my apartment, desperate to hold him in my arms again.

You could say I was "whipped". I guess I kinda am. That's the effect he has on me. Love does weird things to your brain, y'know?

To: Harry!!!

I miss you.

* * *

I almost have a heart attack when Harry tells me that he'll be coming over. I squeal and read the text over and over again like a teenage girl at a boyband concert. It's a simple text, not silly or cheeky like I'm used to, but he signed it with kisses so I guess that's a good thing.

I decide to order food and plan a cute little candle lit dinner for when he comes over tonight. I can't cook worth shit (as Harry realized in our fajita incident) so I decide to order pizza instead. It doesn't matter what he food is, as long as it's romantic and cute and special. I order his favorite toppings, extra cheese, sausage, and onions. A weird combination but Harry absolutely adores it.

I walk in the dining room and dig out a silk, red table cloth from the junk drawer full of other useless rubbish that I rarely use. I spread it out across the surface and smooth out the creases carefully. I want it to be perfect. I mean, Harry went out of his way to get us into the auditorium and sang to me and we ballroom danced and he even let me fuck him for crying out loud, so I think I owe him at least this much.

I set up several vanilla scented candles around the table and light them up with matches. I dim down the lights so the candles gleam. I look proudly at the scene in front of me. It's quite beautiful if I do say so myself.

There's a sudden knock on the door. I jump up and run over, looking through the peep hole. It's the pizza guy. He has brown, greasy hair and he's really really tall so I can barely see his face through the hole. I open up the door and give him some notes that I had stuffed in my pocket and tell him to keep the remainder. I thank him and shut the door in his face. Oops.

I place the pizza on the table, and the air smells like a confusing mixture of vanilla and pizza but I'm not complaining. Oddly enough, the combination of scents smells amazing.

A few moments later, there's another knock at the door. I almost trip running over to the living room. I swing open the door in a ridiculously short amount of time but I don't care at the moment. As soon as I see him I crush the curly haired lad in front of me in a tight hug, squeezing his torso.

Harry doesn't say anything and loosely rests his hands around my neck. God, he smells so good. I breathe in the scent of his flannel shirt and smile instantly. He's always so warm and I can never get enough of it.

I pull away and tug him inside just enough so I can slam the door behind him. I push him up against the door and attack his lips hungrily. I've missed this so so much.

I peck his lips. "I've." Then the corner of his mouth. "Missed." Then his cheek. "You." His neck. "So." His collarbones. "So fucking bad."

It's only now that I realize he hasn't said anything and he's not making any expression whatsoever. He's just . . . blank.

I cautiously remove my lips and raise an eyebrow, "You okay, love?" I ask, genuinely concerned.

Harry gulps, "Did you do that?" he asks, gesturing towards the candle lit dinner. He ignores my question completely.

"Huh? Oh, yeah it's no big deal--"

"You shouldn't have done that, babe. I . . . I don't deserve it," he says, looking down at the ground. I worriedly tilt up his chin. A single tear has fallen from his emerald eyes and trickled down his cheek. I brush my thumb there, making it disappear. Harry rarely cries unless he's feeling guilty about something or has done something wrong, so that worries me.

A lot.

"Talk to me," I whimper.

Harry meets my eyes and intakes a sharp breath, "I did something wrong last week. It's not my fault I promise but I should've told you and now it's kinda gotten worse and I don't know what to do and--" his voice cracks in a broken sob.

I hush him and kiss his cheek softly, "Stop crying, Haz. Tell me what happened, I promise I won't get mad," I say.

I comb my fingers through his curls in a calming manner. I know he loves it when I do it.

"But you'll hate me. I didn't do it but at the same time I feel guilty for it all and things have escalated since the thing happened . . . just please don't get mad, please."

"I won't, I could never hate you. Ever," I assure him.

He swallows a nervous lump in his throat, "Promise?"

"Promise. Now tell me."

Harry intakes a sharp breath, "Drew and I kissed."

I freeze completely and feel my stomach drop sharply. This boy has some explaining to do.