Summary : Harry slowly peeling his badass layers to show Louis the Harry inside (before dating) .

Enjoy x

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It'd been a week since Louis met Harry ; the night they met , Harry gave Louis keys to an apartment and helped him settle in ; he helped Louis carry all of his things from his car and into the apartment , and left his phone number on a note on the kitchen island .

It was only two days later that Louis had enough courage to send Harry a text message . He'd been trying to form a proper text the entire day , and finally around late afternoon he sent that dreadful text .

hey Mr. Styles , its louis . i just wanted to thank you once again for offering me a place to stay at . i was wondering when you'd be free to tell me how do i pay rent and bills ? ive been looking for a new job and hopefully ill find one in time

He put his phone down and moved away from it , deciding to shower while he waited for an answer . He took his time in the shower before getting dressed , he checked his phone and raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw that Harry answered his text four minutes after he sent it .

Hello Louis. Please call me Harry. I'm free now if you are too, I'll stop by and we can talk. Dinner on me.

i am free , you can stop by . thank you

Louis looked around the apartment and quickly tidied it up , then went to change his clothes into more presentable ones that weren't sweatpants and a hoodie .

Soon enough there was a knock on the door and Louis hurried to open up , he unlocked the door and pulled it open , giving Harry a shy smile , "Hey ."

"Hey ." Harry stepped inside , still wearing his work clothes and holding a takeout bag . He closed the door behind him and locked it , following Louis into the kitchen .

"I-I know you brought dinner , but I thought I'd still ask i-if you want coffee ? Or tea ?" Louis asked , Harry shook his head , "I'm all good ."

Louis nodded and brought him a glass of water instead , getting one for himself aswell .

Harry sat on one of the island bar stool and pulled the one next to him out for Louis to sit aswell . "How have you been ?"

Louis sat down , "I've been okay . Better , definitely . Still .... ehm , taking things in ."

"In the text you sent me , you said you were looking for a job ."

Louis nodded , "Yes , yes , I -- I'm looking for a job but only started yesterday . So I don't have anything yet . But I promise I-I'll pay rent , I have saved-up money and I can do this . --"

"Louis ." Harry stopped him before he continued . "I want to offer you a job ."

Louis' jaw dropped but he quickly closed it as Harry continued to talk .

"Two nights ago you said you'd wanted to be a dog trainer . My offer is for you to train guards dogs , attack dogs , sniffing dogs - you'll be part of my security team ." Harry offered , "I know a number of good dog training courses in the city , I'll get you any course you want ."

Louis kept quiet as he processed the offer , heart racing in his chest .

"You don't have to decide now ." Harry told him when he saw the look on his face . "I'll give you a week to answer . I want you to think about it , but I can't have you take too much time ."

Louis nodded , "Y-Yeah , yeah of course . I-I'll let you know ."

"Good ." Harry nodded , before reaching his hand out and grabbing the takeout bag , "I brought chicken tenders , I hope you like it ." 

"I love chicken tenders ." Louis smiled and went to grab plates and utensils as Harry unpacked the food .

Harry filled Louis' plate first , Louis thanked him and cut into his food .

"Harry ."

Harry looked up from his plate , Louis placed his utensils down and shifted a bit in his seat . "I-I know I don't have too much money right now , but I promise I can pay rent . I wouldn't want to be a bother and live here without paying bills . I was just , just wondering --"

"Louis ." Harry stopped him , "I don't need you to pay rent and bills ."

Louis' heart dropped a bit in his chest ; he can't , he can't live off of someone . He shook his head , "I can't not pay you --"

"I've got enough money , I'm not worried about your rent and bills . You're not some asshole taking advantage of the situation , I'm not worried about it ."

"This is not okay though ." Louis tried to argue , "If not rent , at least the bills ."

"Do you really want to pay ?"

"Yes . Of course ."

Harry took his phone out of his pocket and tapped on it , then Louis' phone pinged with a text message . "I sent you a list of organisations in the city , you can donate your money to any organisation you'd like . You can choose how much to donate ."

Louis looked at his phone , then back at Harry in surprise . He almost couldn't believe the number of layers he had ; one moment he was scary , then another moment later he was caring , and another two moments later he was being Mr. big bossman .

A world wonder .

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Louis agreed to Harry's job offer three days after Harry asked him to be a dog trainer . Louis was excited ; he was going to have his dream job , it'd pay him well , he was finally going to have the puppy he'd always wanted to have .

Harry invited Louis to his office building for a short meeting to show him around the place , and also show him the dog training courses to choose from .

Louis arrived at Harry's office building fifteen minutes earlier ; he passed the area a few times since he moved to the city and always wondered what was going on there . The office building was very tall , it had a lot of security guards walking around the wide space that surrounded the building .

He walked over to the front gates and into the security checkpoint .

"Good morning ." The guard nodded at him , "Show me your ID , please ."

Louis handed him his ID , the guard took it , "Do you have a meeting appointment ?"

"Y-Yes . I uh , I'm here to see Mr. Styles . He t-told me to let him know when I'm here ." Louis nodded , shifting on his feet a bit .

The guard looked at his ID , then scanned it . He nodded and put the phone to his ear , speed-dialling a number . "Hey Laura , let Mr. Styles know that Louis Tomlinson has arrived and that he's here at the front gates ."

The guard hung up the phone and handed Louis his ID back , "Mr. Styles will be here shortly ."

"Thank you ." Louis nodded and went through the barrier into the building's front . He looked around a bit , not sure where to go or what to do . He made his way slowly towards the building's entry , there was a big parking lot to cross on the way .

He reached the entry and waited for a minute longer at the bottom of the stairs , soon enough the automatic doors opened and Harry stepped outside . Louis felt himself blushing a bit ; Harry was a very goodlooking person , and being around him made him shy and nervous .

"Hello ." Harry approached him , "Was going through security okay or did they give you a hard time ?"

"No it was alright , the guard was nice ." Louis said .

"Good . Let me take you on a short tour around ." Harry gestured with his hand and started walking , slowing down his pace for Louis to keep up . "After you agreed to my job offer I handed over the final sketches of the dogs' pavilion , where they'll be staying and where you'll be working ."

Harry showed him where the pavilion was beginning to be built and showed him the sketches .

Two men approached them , Harry introduced them to Louis . "This is Liam , he's my operational manager and my close friend . And this is Victor , he's my head of security ."

Louis shook their hands ; he recognized Liam from the nightclub the other day .

After the short tour they headed into the building and up to Harry's office . Harry took his laptop and sat at the dining table , which stood near the massive glass wall watching over the city . He turned to look at Louis , a faint smile twitching on his lips when he saw he was in awe of his office , looking around the room as he took everything in .

"Louis ."

Louis' head snapped to Harry and he blushed , walking over to him . "S-Sorry . Your office looks really nice ."

Harry pulled out two chairs for them and they sat down ; he showed Louis the list of courses and emailed it to him , they went through the pros and cons of each one before Louis chose a training course . Harry helped him apply to the course and sent a quick email to the head of the training school , "Step one is done ."

Louis had a grin on his lips that he couldn't wipe off even if he tried . Harry looked at him and smiled a bit , and before he could open his mouth to talk Louis' jaw dropped a bit , "You have dimples ."

Harry smiled a bit wider at that , "I do , yeah ."

Mr. big bossman Harry Styles having dimples ? Louis thought things couldn't get any more interesting about the man .

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Louis grabbed a shopping cart and rolled it into the grocery store , he opened the list in his notes and started filling the cart .

He hadn't seen Harry in three weeks ; he knew that he was a busy person so he wasn't surprised . They texted fewer times throughout those three weeks , though never met . Louis found a temporary part-time job at a small corner flower shop , to both have an income and too keep him busy while he waited to begin his dog-training course .

Which was why he jumped in surprise when he saw Harry at the grocery store , walking over to him .

"Hello ." Harry approached him , Louis' eyebrows were raised in surprise , "H-Hey , what -- what are you doing here ?"

"I was out with my guards and saw your car parking out here . Thought I'd come in and see if you need any help ." Harry looked at his cart , which only had a few items inside .

Louis felt his cheeks turning pink with blush as he smiled a bit , "Oh . That's nice of you ." He said shyly . "I can do this alone , I - I know you're very busy and I don't want to waste your time ."

"I'll help ." Harry took the cart , "Lead the way ."

"Are you sure ?" Louis asked , Harry only pushed the cart down the aisle .

They went through the store as Louis filled the cart , making sure he stuck to his list . He let Harry help him reach the items that sat on the high shelves and refused to answer when Harry asked him how tall he was .

At the registry Harry helped him put all of his items into bags , then helped him carry everything to his car and load the backseat with the bags .

"Thank you for helping ." Louis smiled shyly and hugged his jacket around himself , "You really didn't need to ."

"It's all good . Drive safely , text me when you get to the apartment ." Harry opened the driver's door for him , Louis thanked him once again and got into the driver's seat .

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Harry knocked on the door to Louis' apartment ; it had been another almost three weeks since they saw each other and Harry offered to buy him dinner , knowing Louis had to work a double shift that day .

Louis opened the door , and the sight made Harry frown ; Louis looked exhausted - his eyes were fallen and he had bags , his mouth was in a frown , his small shoulders were tense , he looked a bit pale and unfocused .

"Hey , come in ." Louis tried to smile as he held the door open , Harry walked into the apartment and closed the door behind him , locking it .

He followed Louis into the kitchen and placed the takeout bag on the countertop , he still hadn't said a word as he watched Louis for a bit longer .

Louis rolled his sleeves up a bit before grabbing a plastic bag and going to the sink , then carefully started taking glass shards out of the sink .

Harry walked closer and grabbed Louis' trembling hand , "Go sit , I'll clean this ." He gave him a gentle nudge , and Louis was too weak to fight so he plopped down on one of the island bar stools and rubbed at his eyes .

Harry quickly cleaned the sink from glass shards and put the plastic bag in the trash , washing the sink with water to get rid of the small shards he couldn't see to pick out . He wiped his hands on a towel and turned to Louis , going to sit next to him .

"What's wrong Lou ?"

Louis' bottom lip wobbled , and before he knew it he was crying ; he hadn't been feeling well since the day before , though said nothing because he needed to work and make money .

Harry frowned deeper and before he could stop himself he was moving closer and pulling Louis into a hug ; he wrapped one arm around his shoulders , his other hand cupping the back of Louis' head to lean on his chest .

Louis melted into the hug ; in the poorly state he was in , he was barely even taking in the fact that he was hugging Harry .

He calmed down and slowly pulled away from their hug , wiping his cheeks , "S-Sorry . Didn't mean to c-cry ."

"Talk to me ."

"Jus' not feeling well . Took painkillers an hour ago but they're not really working ." Louis sniffled .

"You're not feeling well and still worked a double shift , why ?"

"Need the money ." Louis wiped his eyes .

Harry shook his head , "You can't do such thing . If you're unwell , you stay in until you're well again . Don't worry about money ." He stood up from his seat and quickly fixed Louis a cup of tea .

He placed the cup in front of him , "I'll put your dinner in the fridge and you can eat it tomorrow . For now just go rest , go to sleep early . Want something small to eat ?"

Louis cupped his hands around the cup and shook his head , "No . Thanks for the tea ." He sniffled a bit .

Harry sat next to him and placed his massive hand on Louis' back , rubbing softly , "I'll be going now , I want you to rest . I'll call tomorrow , and if you're feeling worse I'll take you to see my friend , he's a Doctor at the main hospital here in the city ."

"I don't need a Doctor ." Louis shook his head , "Just sleep will do . I'll be better tomorrow and make some soup ."

Harry nodded , mentally reminding himself to tell his chef , Rodrigo , to cook Louis some chicken soup . "Okay ." He stood up from his seat and put Louis' food containers in the fridge , taking the bag with his own containers .

"I'll be going now , I'll talk to you tomorrow . Rest , or I'll know if you don't ." The last part was said only half playfully ; he truly cared about Louis' wellbeing .

Louis gave him a smile , "I will . Thank you , Harry ."

"Have a good night ."

"Good night ."

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Harry invited Louis to his office building again , telling him there was a cafeteria on the seventh floor where he could sit with his laptop and have something sweet to eat and drink .

Louis took his offer , and on a rainy day came by to pass time outside the apartment . He'd been doing some research about dog breeds , writing down facts and important things about each breed , saved pictures and links to training videos .

He sat in the corner of the wide cafeteria for privacy , next to the glass wall watching over the front of the building with a nice view of the close city area . He'd been working for an hour , having finished a mug of hot chocolate and a chocolate chip cookie , when he saw Harry walking over to him .

"Hey Lou ." Harry pulled out the chair closest to him and sat down .

"Hi ." Louis smiled , "How's work ."

"The usual ." Harry looked at Louis' computer screen , "What have you been up to ?"

"Doing my research ." Louis turned the laptop more towards Harry , "I've been doing research on dog breeds best for training , saving up some facts and important things I need to know . I'm also watching some training videos , too ."

"Which breeds did you find ?"

"Well , for guard-dog and attack-dog training , we have German Shepherd , Malinois , Doberman , Cane Corso - they're literal beasts , Mastiff ." Louis said as he showed Harry pictures of the breeds too .

Harry smiled a bit , "They're very large dogs , and you're quite a small person ."

Louis laughed a bit at his words , "I know , but there's no need to worry . Once they're trained properly they'll know to listen ."

Harry smiled wider at the sound of Louis laughing , so he decided to keep going . "Would be quite amusing to see you merely standing next to a Cane Corso ."

"I know ." Louis giggled a bit , "But I'll probably get a German Shepherd as a first puppy ."

"Why's that ?"

"They're more calm and easy to work with for beginners . I actually thought about a Malinois but a lot of reviews said that beginner trainers should wait with them because they're a bit more problematic . Not that they're not great and a good trainer will be able to handle them properly , just not very recommended for beginners ."

Harry listened as Louis explained ; his voice was so soft , and he sounded so passionate about the entire thing . It was cute , he actually found it all cute .

"Sounds like you know what you're talking about ." Harry nodded . 

"Want to see some funny videos that I saved ?" Louis asked , Harry smiled a bit , "Sure ."

Louis took his phone out and opened his Instagram account , going to his Saved on his profile . He looked through the videos before showing Harry a video of a grown Malinois dog running all around a living room , jumping from one couch to another , to the floor and back on the couch .

Harry was watching the video , though paying a bit more attention to the soft giggles coming from Louis .

Louis picked another video of a Doberman , looking muscular and big , though was whining like a baby as it's owner laughed from behind the camera . Louis laughed a bit , "Dogs can be so funny I really can't wait to have my own puppy ."

"Not too long now ." Harry assured him , "The course starts next month . We'll go to a shelter next week , or the week after that . Have you looked at the shelters that I told you about ?"

"Yeah , I think I have one to pick from . I'll check them again closer to when we're going ." Louis nodded . He saved up all of his work and closed the laptop , "I need to go now , I have work soon ."

"Alright , I'll walk you out ." Harry nodded , Louis put his laptop into his backpack and pouted when Harry grabbed it's strap to put it over his shoulder .

"I can carry that ."

"Doesn't mean you have to ." Harry started walking .

Louis quickly caught up to him and walked alongside him , they made their way out of the building and to where Louis' car was parked in the front parking lot of the building .

Harry put his backpack in the passenger's seat and closed the door . "Text me when you make it to work safely ."

"Okay ." Louis smiled . Before he could think twice about it , he stepped forward and put his arms around Harry's middle in a light hug , "Thank you ."

Harry hugged him , "Anytime ."

He watched as Louis got into the car and pulled out of the parking lot , giving him one last shy wave before driving off to the front gates of the building .

Louis' heart raced in his chest as he pulled to the main road ; it didn't take him very long to realize that he had a crush on Harry . He pushed every thought away , thinking he had zero chance with the most powerful and handsome man he'd ever met .

Little did he know .

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Mistakes will be edited later on .

Hope you liked it x

~Author