pretty please (with sugar on top) - larry stylinson

7

As much as he tried, Harry couldn't fall asleep.

He sat upright in bed, the 1,500 thread-count sheets falling down around his waist, and stared at his reflection in the mirror on the wall. The room was dark, the moonlight reflecting off the sea illuminating everything in soft silver hues and charcoal shadows. He could barely see his face, but his eyes were bright and piercing, clearly alert.

He checked his phone for the time: 2:56 AM. Almost four hours after he and Louis said goodnight and went to their separate rooms. After Louis brought his bags to the room, they finished the bottle of Dom Perignon in the kitchen and laughed about the misunderstanding. The more Harry thought about it, the happier he was that Louis was kind enough to give him some time off. It wasn't at all what he planned, but once he fully adjusted to the idea of having a real vacation, he would be excited.

Now, he was faced with the fact that he didn't know how to sleep in an unfamiliar place without an alpha beside him.

He tried rolling to different sides of the bed, experimenting with different sleeping positions: curled up on his side, sprawled out on his stomach, resting peacefully on his back, bringing his knees up to his stomach, stretching his legs out, folding his hands beneath his cheek. None of it worked.

He tried different breathing techniques he learned from yoga, and though they calmed him down and made him feel marginally better, he didn't fall asleep. So he turned the bedside lamp on, scrolled through his phone, unpacked some of his clothes into the wardrobe, rearranged his belongings, drank some water, and then had to pee.

Going to the bathroom made him realize he should probably shower, so he did. Just as Louis said, there was also a beautiful tub overlooking the sea, but that would be a last resort—three o'clock in the morning was too late for the hassle of a bath.

In the shower, he exfoliated his entire body, shaved his legs, double-conditioned his hair, and stood under the warm spray until his fingers pruned. The towel waiting outside for him was cloudlike and fluffy and it felt like heaven. He followed his extended skincare routine in front of the mirror, using each of the expensive products he had gathered over the years with care. Most of the bottles were in different languages but he was familiar enough with each product to remember the use of each one. By the end, he smelled like jasmine and rose, and everything was smooth and perfect—but he still couldn't fall asleep.

After sitting out on the balcony and seeing if the fresh air would make him feel any more tired, he gave up and tried one last time to fall asleep in bed. It wasn't working, though, and Harry was faced with the fact that he had a problem with sleeping in unfamiliar places.

It had never been an issue before, because whenever he was sleeping somewhere that wasn't his own bed, he was with an alpha and certainly already exhausted from at least one orgasm, but probably multiple. The alphas who were willing to spoil sugar babies with gifts and money tended to be the alphas who enjoyed rough, vigorous sex with little to no breaks between rounds. Even though Harry did this all the time, he couldn't stop his stupid omega self from getting tired and cuddly after being knotted once or twice. Usually, by the time the alpha was finally done, Harry would already be on the verge of passing out. Falling asleep in those situations had never been an issue.

Right now, he didn't have that particular sleep aid though. At least, he didn't have a knot to satisfy him. But... Harry made eye contact with his reflection in the mirror and considered jacking off. Maybe an orgasm was what he needed?

It wasn't, apparently, because he didn't fall asleep afterwards. He also had to clean up the mess of slick dripping between his thighs, which was annoying. He wondered if Louis was awake... If he could smell Harry's slick even down the hallway...

Stupid. It didn't matter if Louis could smell him or not, because they weren't going to have sex. Harry pulled up his soft sleep shorts and stared at his reflection. Half of his face was kissed by moonlight and the other half was cast in shadow. It was all very dramatic. He decided to suck it up and just do what had been on his mind all night.

Louis' door was cracked open when he got there, and he rapped his knuckles softly on the door before stepping inside. The room was grand and dark, and Harry could just barely make out the shape of Louis swathed in the lush bedsheets and fluffy duvet.

"Louis?" he whispered, unsure of what to do if he didn't wake just from the soft sound of Harry's voice.

Luckily, he didn't have to worry about that, because the bed sheets rustled, and then Louis propped himself up on an elbow, rubbing his eyes. Light sleeper, apparently. "What's wrong?"

Harry cringed, already regretting his decision and feeling sorry for waking him for something so stupid. He couldn't back out now, though. "Sorry, um. I can't sleep."

Louis sat up a little more before reaching for the lamp and turning it on. He rested against the headboard and squinted, appraising Harry.

"S-sorry, this was stupid, I should go-"

"No, no," Louis said, comfortingly so. He seemed to think about it for a moment. "Sit down, get comfortable. Let me make you a cup of tea."

Harry agreed tentatively. "Alright," he said, sitting down on the edge of the mattress and folding his hands in his lap.

It was now more than ever that he could tell Louis was the eldest sibling, because he came back minutes later with two mugs of hot tea, and he rubbed Harry's back briefly before returning to his own spot in bed. He offered Harry a soft smile that said don't worry about it and even just his aura was comforting.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Harry figured he owed him an explanation, so he gave him an abbreviated story about rarely, if ever, having to sleep alone in an unfamiliar place. Louis shared his sympathy with him and then hesitantly offered Harry to spend the night in his room, if he wanted.

The omega was immediately relieved. He had been too shy to ask for it, but what Louis offered was exactly what he was hoping for. He gave him a friendly hug in thanks, finished his tea, and then got settled on the open side of the bed.

"Alright if I turn this off?" Louis asked, gesturing toward the lamp.

"Oh, yes, go ahead," Harry responded, pulling the sheets to his chin. Everything smelled heavily like alpha, and Harry let the scent comfort him. He half expected them to cuddle or at least get closer to each other, but then remembered their agreement and resigned himself to laying beside Louis, within an arm's reach but unable to touch.

Louis turned on his side, facing the wall. There was a very polite, respectable distance between them, almost as if they were in their own separate beds. "Wake me if you need anything."

"Thank you," Harry whispered. He snuggled closer to the sheets and let the cadence of Louis' slow breathing lull him to sleep.