pretty please (with sugar on top) - larry stylinson

42

"Hey, I meant to tell you, there's something for you by the door."

"What is it?"

Niall nudged him forward. "See for yourself. I'm gonna get ready for bed. Do you think you'll be ready to leave tomorrow?"

Harry nodded, and then Niall nudged him once again, and he went for the front door. When he rounded the corner, his eyes landed on a mountain of shopping bags in the foyer. There were so many, it was like out of a movie scene. Some of the labels were visible, mostly Gucci and Chanel. Tentatively, as if something was going to jump out at him, Harry peaked inside the closest bag and saw the yellow trousers he had tried on in the dressing room and asked Louis for his opinion.

They had to run out of the store without buying anything because Harry had been rapidly slipping into heat. Louis must've gone back to the store or at least ordered the items he remembered Harry liked. The gesture made his heart beat even faster as he peered into a few more bags, finding the luxurious fabrics of some clothes he recognized and others he didn't. If Louis didn't care about him, he wouldn't have done this.

There was a box near the top of the pile which was different from all the rest. Harry thought it smelled like Louis, but it was more than possible that he was going crazy. He picked it up, noticing the small white card tucked into the side.

I'm sorry, it said.

Harry stared at the note for a long time before shaking himself out of his stupor and opening the box. Inside was a worn black shirt. It was obviously well loved because the material was soft, the color faded. That wasn't what was abnormal about it though. No, what was abnormal was that it smelled so heavily of Louis' scent, Harry almost passed out.

He didn't, though. Instead, he pressed it to his nose and inhaled as deeply as he could.

Every positive emotion he could think of flooded through him in that moment. He felt so comforted, so seen. His inner wolf that worried Louis had forgotten about him was suddenly appeased. Louis had left this shirt for him. It was like Harry was his mate. His omega.

"Pet, what in the heck are you doing?"

Harry gasped, spinning around on his heel and clutching the shirt to his chest. "I thought you were upstairs!"

"I came down to see what was taking you so long. It's been fifteen minutes. I was getting worried."

Oh. Time flew by when he was smelling Louis' shirt like an addict, apparently. Harry lifted it to his nose again and glared at Niall. "Don't judge me." His voice was muffled by the fabric. "I just got out of heat and I'm needy."

"C'mon upstairs, then. You're such a weirdo. What did the note say?"

"I'm sorry. What would he be sorry for?"

Niall shrugged, setting his hand on Harry's shoulder to guide him up the stairs, and didn't say anything.

"Maybe he's sorry he left."

"Maybe he's sorry for growling at me like a crazy person," Niall proposed.

"Why would he write it to me, then?"

"Maybe it's not for you. Maybe all those fancy gifts are for me."

Harry rolled his eyes, pushing the door to one of the guest bedroom's open. "I heard you guys snarling at each other when I was in heat. I didn't know it was you and him, though."

"Who'd you think it was?"

"Burglars or something, I dunno. Thought some random alphas broke into the house." He laughed, but didn't mention how scary it had actually been. His heat made everything blurry, but he could distinctly recall hiding under the bed, terrified out of his mind. The image was pretty pathetic. It was almost laughable. For once he was glad no one had been there to witness it.

"Oh, that sucks. Sorry, pet. We should've been more careful. I'm sure you were terrified."

They crawled into bed, facing each other. Niall opened his arms and Harry shuffled forward, wiggling as close as he could get in order to maximize skin to skin contact.

"So, you had fun? Before it got all complicated, I mean."

The dopey grin that broke out across the omega's face couldn't be helped. He hid it against Niall's shoulder, squirming and giggling at the question. "You have no idea."

"Do I wanna know? I feel like I don't wanna know."

"Not really. But I'm gonna tell you about it anyways. We went shopping and I put on this pretty lace kimono for him. And then he pinned me up against the mirror in the dressing room and kissed me. It was like... life altering," he blushed, thinking of all the sensations he experienced when Louis touched him like that. Physically, it had just been a simple kiss, nothing Harry hadn't done before. Emotionally, it was a different story. "Like, Ni, his lips, god. I've never been kissed like that before. And his tongue..."

"Could do without the details, thanks. Funny that he got you to slip into heat just from kissing you. You're on suppressants and everything. That's crazy. I've never heard of that before. Well maybe with those cheap suppressants, but you take the really expensive ones, don't you?"

"Yeah," Harry sighed, still thinking of how it felt to be touched by Louis. What he remembered from their tryst kept playing on loop in his mind. "You don't think it's anything bad, do you?"

"Nah, 'course not. Just make an appointment with your doctor and I'm sure they'll get everything sorted out, with your pills and stuff."

"Right. I'm worried about my birth control, though. Like, you know better than anyone how many alpha's I've had up my ass in the past few months."

Niall didn't even have the decency to flinch at Harry's crude wording. "Including Louis?"

"I wish."

"Gross. He's my friend."

"You're the one who set us up," Harry pointed out.

"True. And it worked, so you owe me one."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "It only partly worked. Until there's a bite mark on my neck, I'm not giving you any praise."

Niall rubbed his fingers over Harry's neck, which was nothing but bare skin. "Guess I'll have to work a little harder to get you two together next time, then, huh?"

"You think there'll be a next time?"

This was finally what surprised Niall. "What, you planned on ghosting him?"

"No," Harry huffed, indignant even though he could feel himself turning drowsier and drowsier. "It's just that we never talked about it, about where we go from here. When d'you think we'll see each other again?"

Niall wrapped him in a loose hug and kissed the top of his head, letting him snuggle closer. Harry felt safe in his arms, comfortable and happy. It had none of the heart-fluttering allure as it did with Louis, but that didn't matter right now. Niall was Harry's favorite friend, maybe his only friend. It was calming to know he was here, looking out for him.

"I dunno," Niall said eventually. "I'm sure he'll call."