Chapter Text
When Louis was 10, he, his 3 year old sister, and his mum went to the Styles household. Now it’s not like Louis hadn’t met Anne, because he’d known her for his whole life. His mum, Jay, and Anne were best friends at university. This meant meeting for dinner every few months. This didn’t bother Louis. In fact, he loved seeing Aunt Anne. He even enjoyed seeing Gemma, her 5 year old daughter, despite the fact that all she wanted to do was play dress up and dolls.
For Louis, this dinner was the most exciting one. He was finally going to meet Harry, Aunt Anne’s newest child. Until now, Louis had only seen pictures. His mum had been scared that the rambunctious 10 year old might hurt the young baby, but now, they were going to be celebrating Harry’s first birthday.
The minute Louis entered the house, he was on a mission to find Anne and the new baby. He navigated through the people and in less than 5 minutes he found them sat in the corner on a rocking chair.
“Aunt Anne!”
“Louis! How are you?”
“I’m good. Is this Harry?”
“Yes it is. Isn’t he cute?” Anne moved Harry in her arms closer to Louis. Slowly, he inched closer to her.
Green. That was the first thing Louis saw. Big green eyes and a cherubic face stared up at him. Louis cocked his head to the side and watched as Harry mirrored him. Grinning, Louis spoke quietly, “Hi there, I’m Louis.” To his delight, Harry giggled and made grabby hands towards Louis.
“Can I hold him?” Louis asked Anne hopefully. She smiled and nodded.
“Why don’t you sit on the couch and I’ll hand him to you.” Anne suggested softly as she stood up. Louis was nearly bursting with joy. He quickly plopped down into the plush sofa and held his arms out. Slowly, Anne placed Harry into his arms and watched Louis’ eyes light up.
“Hi Harry.” Louis whispered and Harry gurgled in response. Louis chuckled and looked up to Anne with the biggest grin on his face.
That was it. For the rest of the night, nobody could separate Louis from Harry. He played and talked to Harry, made sure he was safe and happy. He took care of Harry like it was what he was born to do.
At the end of the night, Louis helped Anne put Harry to bed. And if anyone listened close enough, they would’ve heard Louis whisper, “I’ll look after you, Haz.”
~
When Louis was 15, Harry was 6. Being a teenager meant Louis often ditched the Styles/Tomlinson dinners. Louis did attend a few though. He always enjoyed seeing Aunt Anne, Gemma, and Harry. When he did ditch, he instead went out with his friends. He even had a girlfriend at one point, before deciding that he was most definitely gay. Thankfully it went off without a hitch and everyone important in his life accepted him.
As Harry grew older, Louis observed that he kept his cherubic appearance and developed an innocent mindset. Louis knew it meant that he had to protect Harry. That didn’t stop him from teasing Harry though. Louis was a teenager after all, and Harry was a kid with a stupid bowl cut that Louis couldn’t help but be fond of.
One weekend, Louis’ family hosted a get together, which included Louis’ aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends. When the Styles arrived, Harry immediately found Louis. Louis noted that Harry amazingly hung onto every word he spoke.
To Louis, the concerning part was his cousin, Jake. Jake had some mental problems, and Louis knew it wasn’t Jakes fault but Louis didn’t trust him around Harry. Louis made sure that Jake kept his distance and kept Harry preoccupied with other things. It was his protective nature over the 6 year old. He knew Aunt Anne trusted Louis to watch Harry and Louis took it very seriously.
Louis never really realized it, but whenever the Harry was with him, he assumed the role of his protector. Even if the kid did have a really stupid bowl cut.
~
The summer Louis turned 19 was the first time he got to see the Styles in a while. Due to his university being on the other side of England meant he didn’t visit home often.
When he, his mum, and his sisters went to have dinner with the Styles, Louis finally got to meet Aunt Anne’s new husband, Robin. Once Louis had deemed Robin a worthy man, he moved on to watch Harry. Harry was 10 and, if Louis was being honest, Harry had an even worse hair cut than before. But instead of telling him that like he would have when he was 15, he decided to find a way to entertain Harry. Together, the two of them played video games. If Louis let Harry win every time at Mario Kart, nobody would know. And if Harry strongly admired Louis, who could blame him?
~
Once he began high school, Harry and his parents decided on boarding school. Similarly to Louis, Harry began to experience change. He decided to come out as bisexual and was glad when his best mate Niall accepted him. When he was 15, Louis had long since graduated high school. The lad was 24 and living with his best mates, Zayn and Liam. Because of this, Harry and Louis hardly saw each other.
It happened to be November when they finally saw each other again. Harry, his mum, and Robin went over to the Tomlinson household.
When green eyes met blue for the first time in months, something changed. Harry realized that the last time he had seen Louis had been at least a year ago. At age 15, Harry was a short curly headed kid with dimples the size of craters. And Louis, Harry could barely look at Louis, seeming shy for the first time ever in Louis’ presence. Harry knew that Louis was attractive, he had always been aware of it, but now, Harry was so attracted to Louis that he opted to direct his attention toward Lottie instead. Harry knew it was stupid and coaxed himself to engage with Louis.
As the night went on, Harry slowly climbed out of his shell. He laughed at jokes being told (mostly Louis’) and actually contributed to the conversation.
It was after dinner when Harry realized something. Louis had been eyeing him up, he was sure of it. Sure, Louis had had a few glasses of wine and was probably a bit tipsy, but right from the start Louis seemed to be seeking for Harry’s approval. From the conversations directed at Harry in the beginning, to a one on one chat. Harry’s heart fluttered whenever they made eye contact. Harry knew he was slightly attractive, the girls at his school made him aware of that, but what made Harry’s heart soar was the fact that Louis finally acknowledged Harry as an (almost) adult. It meant more than it probably should have.
When Harry left with his parents, Louis called out, “I’ll see you soon, Harry”. And if Harry happened to call Niall, exclaiming that he was attracted to his family friend who was 9 years older than him, who could judge him?
~
Louis was drunk. No, correct that, Louis was hammered. Harry had lost count at how many drinks Louis had. Now there wasn’t really anything wrong with that, except it was Harry’s high school graduation party and Louis was 27 years old. The 18 year old had graduated a week prior and then flew home with Niall to celebrate. Likewise, Louis drove up for the weekend with Zayn and Liam.
1:07 am. That was the time. Almost all of the guests had gone by now. The only people still there and awake were Louis, Zayn, Liam, Niall, Harry, Gemma, Lottie, and a few other young adults.
Harry sighed as he watched Louis pass out on the couch. He looked around, searching for anyone else who may have noticed but sighed when he found no one paying attention. Instead, Gemma and Lottie were engrossed in a serious girl talk while Liam and Niall were having a drinking contest with Zayn cheering them on.
“Hey Zayn, I’m going to bring Louis upstairs and put him in one of the beds. I’m assuming the rest of you are going to crash here for the night?”
“Cheers, mate.” Zayn raised his glass at Harry and then returned to watching Liam and Niall.
Harry looked down at Louis, admiring his sleeping figure, then picked him up bridle style. He carried Louis up the stairs and went to the guest room. As he got to the doorway, he realized someone was passed out on the bed. Harry chuckled to himself and then carried Louis into his old bedroom. He gently placed Louis down on top of the bed and flipped on a lamp. He then pulled the covers down from under him and began removing Louis’ shoes and socks. He then started unbuttoning Louis’ skinny jeans. Harry, being too concerned for his drunken friend, barely even registered the fact that he was literally taking off Louis’ pants. He tried his best to pull them down without waking Louis up, but no avail.
“What’re ya doin’, Haz?” Louis slurred, bleary eyed.
“Helping you get to bed. Can you take off your shirt and pants?” Harry looked down at the ground.
He didn’t physically watch Louis shrug the clothing off, but he saw them fall to the floor. Once the shirt and pants were both off, he looked up at Louis to find him already staring.
“My ’azza, c’mere.” Louis reached out. Hesitantly, Harry walked up to Louis.
“Closer.” Louis demanded. Harry smiled slightly as he lent down.
“What is it, Lou?”
“My ‘azza got the prettiest eyes.”
“Lou… Go to sleep.” Harry tried to pry Louis’ hands off of him but Louis wouldn’t let go.
“No!” He suddenly shouted. Harry put a finger up to his lips to shush him, which caused Louis to giggle.
And then it happened. Faster than Harry could’ve predicted.
At first, Harry didn’t realize what was happening. Then, he became aware of two warm lips on his with a hint of alcohol. Before he was really able to register what had happened, Louis pulled away.
“You’re so pretty ‘azza. I wish you could be mine.”
~