keep me » larry a.u.

thirty

[almost 2 years earlier]

It's only his first day of school, and Louis' late to his fucking art class. What a wonderful first impression he's making on this teacher.

Upon entering the room, the middle-aged woman standing at the front of the room eyes him judgmentally. "Sorry," Louis says sheepishly, giving her an awkward smile she doesn't return. She just hands him a syllabus. He sighs quietly before taking the only seat available. Each table fits two people, and all the other pairs are glancing at Louis. Great. He's made a spectacle of himself.

He looks over at the boy sat next to him, his head resting in his hand. He's got curly hair, and long eyelashes, and he's wearing a cable knit sweater that looks a size too big. Louis likes him already just from his appearance. It's welcoming, and warm, and the warmth spreads when the boy looks over at him and smiles shyly.

"Did I miss anything?" Louis whispers to the boy.

"Nothing important," The boy assures. Louis just nods, turning to look at the art teacher as she goes over the syllabus. What's the point of printing out a syllabus for everyone is you're just going to read it word for word to the whole class?

After she drones on for ten more minutes, she passes out pieces of paper and instructs everyone to practice sketching some flowers for a project they'll be starting. Rummaging through his rucksack, he realises on top of being late, he has also forgotten a pencil. This school year is off to a great start.

"Fuck," Louis mutters under his breath. He turns to the boy next to him again. "Um, hey, do you have a pencil I could borrow?"

"Oh, yeah, one sec," The boy reaches into his own rucksack and pulls one out, handing it to Louis.

"Fuck, thank you so much," Louis grins, and when he goes to grab it, their hands touch. He looks up from the pencil and meets the boy's eyes. He softens, swallowing thickly before ducking his head down. "Um. My name's Louis."

"I'm Harry," The boy giggles a little bit, bashful. Louis can feel his cheeks begin to turn hot.

"I'm, uh, usually not this much of a mess," He mentions, looking down at his blank piece of paper. "Today's just not my day."

"I'll take your word for it," Harry smiles, and Louis' sure he's giving away how cute he thinks this boy is, because his cheeks must be absolutely red. He just came out, like, two weeks ago, and he's already infatuated with the first boy he meets.

He looks down at his paper again. "I hate art," He mumbles.

"Then why'd you take it?" Harry laughs a little.

"The guidance counsellors threw me in because I forgot to fill in my classes last year," Louis twists his mouth. "Maybe I really am this much of a mess."

Harry laughs, and Louis grins, proud of himself. "My sister told me it's an easy A, just do your best," He starts to draw some flowers on his paper, and Louis watches curiously before looking down at his own. He starts to draw, soon realising how much he sucks.

"You can pull out headphones and listen to music while you work, if you'd like," The teacher says from the front of the class. Louis is really excited to listen to some Green Day until he realises he probably forgot his earbuds too. Harry's pulling his own out, and he glances over at Louis before offering him one.

"Are you sure?" Louis asks.

"Yeah, 'course," Harry smiles at him brightly.

"That's really nice of you, thank you," Louis smiles back, taking the earbud and putting it in. Ariana Grande is playing, and Louis can't help the laugh that escapes his mouth. Harry pouts.

"What's so funny?" He whines.

"Nothing, just wasn't expecting it," Louis assures. "Not really my taste."

"You've probably only heard Dangerous Woman," Harry scoffs. "Here, listen to this."

Harry changes the song. In Louis' opinion, it sounds just like Dangerous Woman, but Harry's really cute, and he wants him to like him, so he plasters a smile on his face. "Oh, yeah, this is really good."

"You hate it, don't you?"

"Just a little."

Harry giggles, and Louis melts. "I think I'm done," He holds up his flower sketch. It's really good. Louis thinks it's a lily.

"Oh, yeah, me too," Louis holds up his. There's a very small, very poorly-drawn flower in the middle of his paper. Harry laughs, and Louis grins.

"Beautiful," Harry says. "Belongs in the Louvre, I reckon."

"The what?"

Harry just laughs again. Louis can feel his whole body become warm at the sound, and he just laughs with him. It's only the first day of school, and he's gone and fallen for someone.

♛

"Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Harry grins, leaning against the pillow on Louis' bed. This is the third time they're hanging out, and Louis' finally going to do it. He's going to tell Harry he likes him. Liam and Niall had already hyped him up before Harry came over, but that was probably just because they were sick of hearing about how big of a crush Louis had.

Louis runs his fingers through his hair, swallowing thickly. He can feel his cheeks and the tips of his ears become hot, and he's cursing himself for being so obvious.

"Um," Louis sighs a little, looking away from Harry. "I...I really like you, Harry," Harry's eyebrows shoot up towards his hairline, his face flushing. "Like...like you."

He's too embarrassed to look Harry in the eye. "Lou," Harry says, laughing nervously. "I like you too."

Louis looks up at him, biting his bottom lip to keep himself from smiling too much. "For real?" He asks, and Harry nods, beaming. "Am I supposed to like...kiss you now?"

Harry giggles before leaning forward and pressing their lips together. Louis' never kissed a boy before, but now he can see what people mean when they say they get fireworks. He can feel Harry's hands against his cheeks, and everything is going really smoothly until he hears the door open.

He jumps back from Harry, whipping his head towards the door to see Lottie standing there, eyes wide open, mouth the same. "S-Sorry!" She squeaks before closing the door again. Louis looks back to Harry, who's biting his lip to keep from laughing.

"I, uh," Louis should be really embarrassed right now, but he can't stop grinning.

"Let's just resume," Harry giggles, grabbing Louis' face again. Louis kisses him again.