your lipstick stain is a work of art » stylinson

twenty⚤

part twenty

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"so...," anne says around a bite of anchovy pizza, covering her mouth with her hand as she chews, looking between harry and louis, "how have you been?," she asks, and harry and louis exchange a glance.

"uh...," harry shrugs, swallowing his own bite of pizza, "i've sort of moved in with lou and his roommate, jesy - even though i still have my flat in brighton - and louis' recently finished his therapy," he smiles proudly over at louis, who blushes and rolls his eyes.

"act like my therapy was such a big deal. you're the one who goes three days a week," he says modestly, nudging harry with his shoulder, bringing his hand up to move his hair from his face.

"but you're there with me - everyday. and you're graduating next month! juggling a footless boyfriend while still getting a college education. he's a wonder, mum," harry declares, and louis scoffs at him, trying to keep his impending graduation at the back of his mind.

"oh? how's uni life treating you, then? i imagine it's changed since i was in," she asks, tearing off another bite of pizza.

"we've sort of achieved a celebrity status. everyone knows us as the couple who lost feet during the blizzard," he rolls his eyes, and louis bites his lip, trying to remain neutral. they do call them that... but they call them a lot of other things, too.

"i didn't lose my whole foot...," louis tries to joke, wedging himself into the conversation from where he had been trying to be as quiet as possible. harry seems to notice what he's doing, because he grins wider, and louis melts. which anne seems to notice, because she smiles a little, her kind eyes soft.

"yeah, and good that. you wear heels - mum, have i told you that lou can run in heels?," harry asks excitedly, and louis blushes as anne nods like she's heard about it a million times (she has). "oh... well he can! and he can do winged eye makeup whatever and walk at the same time without bumping into anything. majestic," harry says, nudging louis' jaw with his nose, and louis smiles, intertwining their hands under the table.

anne smiles knowingly at them, but neither boy notices her, too caught up in each other, fiddling with their fingers, feet intertwining under the table. they're in love, she inwardly croons, my baby's in love! "so, louis," she says, still smiling widely, "what are you going to uni for?," she asks, and louis and harry look up at her.

"er, i originally went in for theater, but i've changed my major to english and french literature," he says, and anne raises her eyebrows, intrigued.

"you speak french?," she asks, looking over at harry, who looks absolutely smitten.

"oui madame," he smiles, shrugging a little, "y un poco de español," he adds, then blushes and giggles at anne's confused facial expression. "i said 'and a little spanish'," he explains, smirking a little as harry rubs up and down his arm, obviously effected by hearing him speaking other languages.

anne nods, impressed, "multilingual? where did you learn so many languages?," she asks, taking a sip of her steaming tea.

"i was in an foreign exchange program in grade 9 and grade 11. it looks great on an application," he chuckles, reminiscing on all the days he spent roaming madrid with his spanish host family, the sanchezes, and going to the eiffle tower with his french host family, the barbieries. "i still talk to my friends josé and juanita sanchez and leonardo barbieri from time to time, but we can't really call... foreign fees and all," he sighs, taking a bite from his salad.

"harry, didn't you have a french friend in grade school? i can remember you talking about how thick his accent was?," she asks, and harry nods a little.