Undone, Undress (Larry Stylinson)

twenty-two

"I'm home!" Louis calls as soon as he enters the apartment, kicking off his shoes and throwing his bag to the floor. He's been out all day at the research lab and is so glad to finally be back for the night, ready to relax. Clifford comes running up to him, whimpering impatiently until Louis smothers him with affection, scratching behind his ears just like he likes.

"In the kitchen," Harry responds, his voice light and happy. It feels like a good day.

Louis follows the smell of food, with Clifford trailing happily behind him. He isn't let down by the sight of Harry in front of the stove, cooking eggs and facon—fake bacon, because Harry is vegetarian. Louis actually likes the taste of it, which is surprising. He had been hesitant to try it the first time Harry made it, but now it has become a regular counterpart of their meals together. Nowadays, because Harry mostly cooks for him, Louis rarely ever eats meat. It's something he never thought would happen, but here he is now actually craving facon. Crazy.

Anyways, Harry is wearing shorts and a t-shirt, despite the fact that it's winter, and his bare legs look long and lean like a model's, the line of them so aesthetically pleasing Louis has to admire him for a second. Harry is also wearing a cooking apron with a bright red and orange floral design on it—the apron he uses whenever he's frying facon. The room smells so heavenly, Louis might be salivating.

"Breakfast for dinner?" Louis asks hopefully, coming up behind Harry and peeking over his shoulder. He can do this without fear of startling Harry because it's a regular occurence now, and he already made his presence known by announcing his arrival.

"Eggs, facon, hashbrowns, and toast," Harry informs, smiling easily but keeping his eyes down on the stovetop.

Louis wraps his arms around Harry from behind and squeezes his middle tightly. Harry freezes like he usually does when Louis touches him but doesn't pull away immediately. Louis knows he'll relax in a moment or two. "I love you, roomie. You treat me so well. What did I ever do without you?"

"Cereal for dinner," Harry huffs, shrugging Louis off of him. Straightaway, Louis misses his warmth.

Louis doesn't say anything because Harry isn't wrong about eating cereal for dinner. It's hard to believe he used to have very subpar meals, before Harry came into his life. Now he eats like a king. A vegetarian king.

It's Wednesday night, a little more than a week after they walked the gallery together. Every weeknight Louis comes home from class or from research at the lab and is greeted by Harry cooking in the kitchen, making another delicious meal for dinner. It's become quite the habit, and Louis repays him by doing the dishes and helping him shop for groceries.

Louis starts placing napkins and utensils on the kitchen table before Harry asks, "Will you set the table, Lou?" not looking away from the stove and Louis laughs, saying yes, I'll do it even though he's already halfway finished with the task. It's hard to ignore the fact that it seems like their minds are on the same wavelength, like sometimes they're thinking the same thoughts.

So they eat breakfast for dinner, sitting at the table which is so small their legs are jammed against each other and Louis' ankle is wedged in between Harry's shins. They ask about each other's days and end up having one of their endless discussions, this time about the merits of living in a big city versus living in a small city.

It brings up questions about their families, and a month ago Louis might've been hesitant to breach this topic because he knows how sensitive it is for Harry, but now that they're so much more familiar with each other, he feels braver.

"Do you miss home?" Louis asks eventually, after watching Harry light up when talking about the aspects of small towns he finds endearing and attractive.