C H A P T E R   N I N E T E E N

Boyfriends and Brothers

❄●❄

                  HARRY HELD A hand in the air above his head, widening his eyes at the group of his coworkers standing before him so that they knew he was about to move. At the appropriate time, he dropped the hand to cue them and sang along.

                  "Yes, Virginia, there's a Santa Claus. He's as real as hope and love. Look around and you'll find Santa Claus in the boundless world you're dreaming of."

                  When his eyes met Ella's, a pair of grins cracked on both their faces at the sound of everyone finally getting the harmonies right. They've worked on only this song for more than two meetings at this point, but it sounds like it's finally clicked.

                  "Even though you may not see him on his sleigh on Christmas Eve – yes, Virginia, there's a Santa Claus. It's true if you believe."

                  He couldn't believe not a single other person in the room has heard this song before he introduced it to them. He supposed he was glad that he did now, though at first he just included it because he figured it was as much of a staple Christmas song here as it was at the North Pole. The elflings love it. And it's perfect for carol singers, because the potential for incredible harmonies is everywhere. How could it be so forgotten?

                  After they finished the song without a single hitch, the entire group erupted in applause for themselves. Harry wasn't above joining them, and Ella met him at the front of the group to thank everyone for continuing to show up to the practices and work so hard. A date was set for their next practice, and then bodies trickled out of the room until just Harry and Ella were left.

                  "That went really well," she mused, beginning to stack the chairs they'd been using. "Took longer than I thought to perfect, but we've never had a group of carol singers sound so nice. It's worth it."

                  "This is how every group of carol singers should sound," Harry told her. "They're so good that they make people want to listen. And who wouldn't want to believe in Santa after such a fantastic rendition of 'Yes, Virginia'?"

                  "Do I sense a hidden agenda, Director Styles?"

                  He handed her the chair near him. "Not necessarily a hidden agenda, but I wouldn't mind the assistance, honestly."

                  "You're really hoping to turn your Grinch boyfriend into a believer of the big guy?"

                  "He's not my boyfriend. And... I mean, could it hurt to try?" Harry wondered, mostly to himself. Zayn had warned him to avoid the Christmas thing as Louis loathes it for more than one reason, but maybe Christmas is the one thing that Louis really needs. Everything feels right when you allow yourself to experience the magic that this holiday brings, and if anything that could only help Louis' case, not make it worse...right?

                  Harry didn't know. He was conflicted about it. He'd start with baby steps and hope for the best, but he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep hiding his secret from Louis. And he was afraid that the longer he kept the secret, the harder it would be for Louis to believe it unless Harry was somehow able to convince him to love Christmas as much as he did.

                  "Of course not. Just don't get your hopes up, you know? Expect nothing so that you won't be disappointed either way. That's what I usually do," Ella said, stacking up the last chair and then tugging her jacket on. "Want to grab food somewhere? My little one's at her grandparents' place for the night, so I actually don't have anywhere to be."

                  Harry flipped the lights off on their way out. "Shit, Ella. Does your little one spend the night elsewhere often? I'd love to get dinner with you, but I've got plans tonight."

                  Ella chuckled. "Every other week or so. Don't sweat it. I'll call my girls. It's been a while."

                  "How old is the little one?"

                  "She's five in two months. Her name's Nia."

                  "Nia. I like that a lot. Does she like peppermint?"

                  "Peppermint?" Ella asked, pausing in the lobby when Harry stopped walking. "I suppose I don't know. Maybe. Why?"

                  Harry smiled. "I'm going to bring her a batch of my special cookies. Secret recipe. She'll love them."

                  "You are something else, Harry. You sure Louis deserves you?"

                  Of course, Harry knew that Ella didn't really know Louis outside of what he told her, and that wasn't much. Mostly he wasn't sure how to properly describe him to anyone, so he didn't try, but if he attempted it then maybe he could avoid comments like this one. He tried not to become too defensive on Louis' behalf; he knew Ella meant no harm.

                  "Believe me. I'm the one who might not deserve him. He's...everything." Well, that went well.

                  Tucking her hair behind her ear, Ella let out a soft laugh that reminded Harry of jingling bells. "I can't wait to meet him. All this hype has me on the edge of my seat, truly. But I'm going to get going so that I can make plans for the night. See you whenever we work together next?"

                  Harry lifted a hand and stepped backwards toward the elevator, hoping that Ella would get to meet Louis someday. "See you."

❄●❄

                  "HOW DO YOU think it's going in there?"

                  "I don't know," Lottie admitted. "Nobody's crying yet, and Louis hasn't tried jumping out any windows, so we might be alright."

                  Harry leaned over just enough to peek through the kitchen doorway into the living room. Louis was sat in the chair where Harry was the very first night he was ever in this flat, so he could only see the back of his head. Tommy was sat on the end of the sofa as far away from Lou as he could get. They were both staring blankly at the telly.

                  Harry snickered. "It looks like they're both waiting for a funeral service to begin."

                  Lottie stirred the browning hamburger and laughed. After checking the boiling noodles and stirring the sauce, she fetched herself a can of lemonade from the fridge. "Thirsty?"

                  "Not for that," he wrinkled his nose. "Have you ever had sour lemonade and spicy chili together? Bad combo."

                  Pursing her lips, she returned the beverage and grabbed a water bottle instead. "Want one of these?"

                  "For now, yeah, please. You've got milk in there, right?"

                  "Just got a gallon yesterday."

                  "Good. It won't seem very spicy at first – that's the trick of the recipe. You'll end up eating an entire bowl before you realize your mouth and throat are on fire."

                  Lottie leaned against the counter and began stirring the hamburger again. "You and your secret recipes. What did you put in the sauce before?"

                  "If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret." Harry raised a brow and lifted a corner of his lips. He lifted the cover on the sauce pot and shook some red pepper seasoning into it before giving it another stir.

                  "Come on," Lottie pouted. "Cross my heart and hope to die, I won't tell a soul. Not even Lou."

                  He mock sighed and lowered his voice. "Alright, alright. It's Bloody Mary mix."

                  "What?" she gasped. "Really? And it'll taste good? I've tried one of those drinks before and I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth for hours. It was awful."

                  Chuckling, Harry ran a hand through his hair. "Trust me. It's unbelievably tasty. I think the hamburger is done, by the way. Have you got a colander somewhere?"

                  "Here."

                  They strained the hamburger, and as Harry checked it over, Lottie tested a noodle to see if those were finished as well. When she flipped that part of the stove off, Harry decided to see if the sauce was done as well. He stuck his pinky in to test the temperature. "Perfect."

                  "So what now?" Lottie asked. "We just combine everything?"

                  "Yeah. Dump the hamburger into the sauce pot," he instructed as he lowered the temperature, "and then strain the noodles and do the same with them. Stir it all, and then put the lid back on and pop some bread into the toaster. We'll have buttered toast on the side. Can you handle that?"

                  "Sounds easy enough."

                  "Good. I'm going to go break the ice In there before Louis kills your boyfriend with the daggers shooting out of his eyes."

                  Unsurprisingly, Louis and Tommy still weren't speaking when Harry joined them. Upon closer inspection, Tommy was staring at the telly with frightened, wide puppy eyes, and Louis was alternating between glaring at him and glaring at the screen, his legs curled beneath him and his chin resting on his fist. But once Harry was in his line of sight, he lifted his head and sat back, took a deep breath, and lost the glare all at the same time.

                  "So, what have you guys been talking about?" Harry asked, sitting himself on the sofa.

                  "Oh, you know," Louis began, waving a hand. "Just how great of an older brother I am and stuff. Right, Toby?"

                  "It's Tommy."

                  "Yes, that's what I said."

                  "Right," Tommy nodded awkwardly. "Yeah, we were...yeah."

                  "I see," Harry said, amused but hiding it. "Well, dinner is almost ready. I hope you both like – "

                  He was cut off by a clattering sound in the kitchen and Lottie cursing. Before he could get up to see what happened, Tommy jumped to his feet, mumbled, "I'll go help her," and hurried out of the room. Harry watched him go, his lips still parted mid-sentence.

                  Louis exhaled a breath that it seemed like he'd been holding. "God help me."

                  Harry tried really hard not to laugh. "Louis. What are you doing?"

                  "I can't be nice to the kid," he said. "Like, I physically cannot stop glaring at him."

                  "I mean, has he done something to upset you?"

                  "Other than date my little sister?"

                  After that, Harry stopped trying. Laughing, he stood and sat on the arm of Louis' chair, resting an arm over the back of it to keep his balance. "Louis. He's not doing anything wrong. And Lottie really likes him. I think you owe it to her to give him a chance."

                  Louis tipped his head back so that his hair brushed Harry's forearm. "It's so hard, though. Haven't you ever disliked any of your sister's boyfriends? Or girlfriends?"

                  Harry shrugged. "She doesn't date often. I don't know that she's really into it. But...if she did date, I'd at least give the person a shot. You know, innocent until proven guilty and all that."

                  "I guess." Louis began poking and prodding at his pursed lips as he stared blankly ahead and thought things over. Harry watched him, captivated by every small movement. He fought the urge to do anything that might disturb him. After a while, Louis looked up at him. "How do I be nice?"

                  Harry chuckled. "Pretend he's a friend of mine. I've brought him back from home with me, and I wanted you to meet him."

                  "If I pretend he's a friend of yours, I'll probably be even less nice."

                  "I was nice when you introduced me to your friends."

                  "Yes, but things were different then. I hardly knew you, and you probably didn't like like me then, so you wouldn't have cared if I was fucking any of them," Louis explained.

                  Harry barked a laugh at that. "Louis, when did you first read my poems?"

                  He shrugged. "The night before we met. Found them on the floor. Why?"

                  "The ruin poem was one of them, was it not?"

                  Harry watched as realization dawned on his little friend. "You're telling me you like liked me before we even met? Harold, what the hell?"

                  "I couldn't help it! Haven't you ever taken one look at a stranger and thought, 'Well, shit,' before?"

                  Faintly blushing, Louis pressed his lips together, fighting a smile. He shook his head rapidly, but Harry wasn't fooled. "Bullshit," he laughed. "You're a rotten liar."

                  "You're a rotten...poet," Louis countered childishly.

                  "Is that why you became so obsessed with a poem I wrote about you that you had to have it turned into a song for your band?"

                  "Fuck off," Louis teased, shoving Harry off the chair.

                  "Guys?" Lottie called then. Harry propped himself up onto his elbows so that he could see her poking her head through the doorway. "Dinner's ready."

                  Louis pushed himself out of the chair and stared down at Harry for a second before holding a hand out. When Harry took it, he debated making a move and yanking Louis down to join him on the floor, but he reminded himself that tonight was meant to get Louis to loosen his reigns on Tommy. So he let Louis pull him up.

                  Once vertical and right in front of Louis, Harry peered down at him with a small smile for just a second before stepping around him and heading toward the kitchen. He heard quiet footsteps following him, but in that short second before he moved, he caught sight of a set of freckles beneath Louis' left cheekbone, and he catalogued them somewhere in his mind for future use.

                  "Is everything all good in here?" Harry asked after looking around and finding nothing out of place. "Heard quite a bit of a racket before."

                  "Yeah, I just dropped the sauce pot lid," Lottie sighed. "All is well otherwise. Do either of you want toast?"

                  "What'd you make?" Louis asked, sliding onto the stool beside Tommy, whose eyes filled with so much terror that Harry had to cover his mouth and nose for a second to keep from snorting.

                  "Harry's secret chili recipe. He's very proud of it."

                  When Louis looked to Harry and raised a brow, Harry nodded. "You're going to love it."

                  "More secret recipes?"

                  "That's exactly what I asked," Lottie said, bringing the pot over to the island.

                  "I'm full of them," Harry shrugged. "Lot, grab the sour cream, oyster crackers, and shredded cheese." He fetched bowls and spoons for the four of them and handed them out. "Everyone drink milk here?"

                  "I'll have toast, Lot, yeah. And yes to the milk," Louis declared. After too much silence from the fourth person in the room, Harry watched Louis reluctantly look over at Tommy and ask, "Milk and toast for you?"

                  Tommy blinked, but otherwise didn't falter, which was good. If he made a big deal out of every moment Louis is civil toward him, Harry knew Louis would stop doing it. "Yes, please."

                  "Milk and toast for everyone, then," Harry said, delivering the cups he'd poured in the last minute. Lottie finished handing out buttered toast to everyone, and then she sat on the stool on Tommy's other side. When Harry was finished, he sat on Louis' other side. "Enjoy."

                  One by one, everyone dished themselves a bowl of Harry and Lottie's chili. Harry liked to eat it the way it was, but Lottie and Louis both dropped a spoonful or two of sour cream onto theirs, followed by the shredded cheese and oyster crackers. Tommy ate it plain at first before grabbing a handful of the crackers and mixing them in.

                  After a couple minutes, Lottie raised her brows and aimed a thumbs up Harry's way. "You were right. Surprisingly tasty."

                  Harry beamed. "Told you."

                  "Quite possibly the best chili I've ever had," she added.

                  "Quit sucking up to him," Louis told her, "or he won't shut up about it for a week."

                  Harry was going to elbow him, but he got distracted by Tommy chuckling quietly and exchanging a quick smile with a very pleased Louis. Instead of ruining that moment, Harry said, "Hey. How about, 'Wow! Thanks for the meal. It's the best I've had in months. You should cook for me more often. Wow, Harry. You're so great.'"

                  Louis rolled his eyes. "Tone it down, golden boy. You're making me sick."

                  "Aw," Harry teased. "You think I'm golden?"

                  "Speaking of people who are going to get sick, if you guys don't quit flirting I fear this chili is going to make a reappearance," Lottie cut in, pretending to grimace. "Tommy?"

                  "Same."

                  "We can flirt if we want to," Louis countered, sticking his tongue out at her. Harry's heart swelled.

                  "Not during dinner. Manners, Lou. Mum would be ashamed. Oh! That reminds me..."

                  Louis' eyes widened and he aimed his spoon at her. "That reminds me too, actually. Didn't you say a while back that we were going to have the twins for a weekend this month?"

                  "That's what I was just going to say. It's this weekend. As in, tomorrow."

                  "Tomorrow? For sure?"

                  "Who are the twins?" Harry asked, looking between the two Tomlinson siblings, who were staring at each other as if both were trying to figure out if they had any conflicting plans this weekend.

                  It was Tommy who answered him. "Their little siblings. Nearly two years old, I think."

                  "Babies?" Harry felt his face light up at the thought.

                  Finally, Louis looked over to assess his expression. "Yeah. You like kids, I take it?"

                  "A bit."

                  "Good. Doris and Ernie will love you, Harry. Be sure to wear your hair down when you meet them," Lottie said.

                  "Doris and Ernie," Harry smiled, peeking over at Lou. "This is going to be a good weekend."

❄●❄

                  LOTTIE AND TOMMY left to spend the night at his place as soon as everyone was finished eating. She assured Louis she'd be back to help him with the twins in the morning, but he still didn't really want to let her leave. It was Harry who had to talk him into it. But Harry figured Louis only ended up giving in because it meant they had the flat to themselves for a few hours now, which was fine with Harry, honestly.

                  They were just finishing up the dishes now. Harry was drying while Louis washed, and they were down to the silverware. He was trying to decide whether he wanted to approach the topic of why Louis hates Christmas tonight or not. He knew that eventually they'd have to talk about it, but he didn't necessarily want to rush it. He was just impatient, and so, so curious. It was killing him. What could have happened? And more than once?

                  Zayn said that there were lots of reasons Lou abhorred the holiday. What could they be? A bad Christmas breakup? Something else?

                  It was hard to avoid discussing the one thing that Harry was most passionate about with the person Harry cared most about. He wanted Louis to love Christmas as much as he did, wanted him to feel the peaceful, enchanting feeling that Harry feels every year on the same day. It was such a beautiful thing, and Harry wanted nothing more than for Louis to be able to experience it too. Of all people, Harry thought Louis deserved to experience it more than anyone.

                  Even if Louis gave Christmas a chance, he wouldn't be able to experience it this year anyway, Harry thought. It's canceled, and I'm apparently the only person who can turn that around.

                  Harry let his eyes close. He didn't want to think about this right now. He wanted to enjoy the rest of his night, so he'd avoid the Christmas topic for both of their sakes...for now.

                  "Do you work tomorrow?" Louis asked, elbows-deep in suds. His fringe had gotten stuck in his eyelashes as he looked over at Harry.

                  Charmed, Harry reached out and fixed it for him. "Yeah, in the morning. I can come back right after, though. We don't have carol practice."

                  "Would you mind picking up a box of Cheerios? Just the plain ones. They like to snack on those, but I clearly wasn't prepared for peckish toddlers this weekend."

                  "Sure thing. Anything else?"

                  "Um," Louis hummed, pursing his lips. "Maybe a film that they'd like. Any animated film that looks like it could occupy two two-year-olds for a while. I'll pay you back."

                  "Don't worry about it."

                  Louis finished washing the last spoon and handed it over to Harry. He pulled the plug from the sink's drain and used Harry's towel to dry his hands; Harry tried fondling his hands through the towel, but Louis watched him with slightly narrowed eyes and a mischievous crooked smile and avoided his games pretty easily.

                  With the dishes completed, the boys grabbed a couple of beers and went into the living room. Harry figured they were just going to pop in a film like they usually do, but Louis went to a closet and pulled out the jacket that Harry had given him a while back. He tossed Harry the coat he wore here, and then stuck his feet into his shoes. "Suit up, H."

                  "Where're we going?"

                  "I want to show you something."

                  Once they were dressed properly for the evening London weather, they grabbed their drinks and left Louis' flat. Harry wanted to press Louis about their destination, but he noticed that Louis was wearing this firm expression -- a set stare, tight lips, clenched jaw -- and he figured he wouldn't get an answer. So he didn't bother. Instead, he walked beside Louis down the sidewalk until they reached a bus stop.

                  On the bus, Louis pulled out his phone and plugged a pair of earbuds in. He gave one to Harry and popped the other into his own ear. Though the curiosity was driving Harry mad, he put the earbud in and decided to just go with it.

                  "When the moon fell in love with the sun, all was golden in the sky. All was golden when the day met the night," Harry heard. He definitely didn't recognize whatever song Louis was playing, but it piqued his interest now that there was nothing else to really focus on. "When the sun found the moon, she was drinking tea in a garden under the green umbrella trees in the middle of summer."

                  Harry peeked over at Louis and thought that he was sitting beside the sun right then.

                  "When the moon found the sun, he looked like he was barely hanging on. But her eyes saved his life in the middle of summer."

                  Louis turned and met his eyes. Some of his hair poked out of the hat he'd put on before they left, and it framed his face like a little lion mane. Harry was pretty sure that Louis hasn't cut his hair since the day they met; it's the longest he's ever seen it.

                  Harry reached for Louis' phone and checked what song was playing. When the Day Met the Night. He kept the title in mind and returned his gaze to Louis for a second before dropping it to his lap.

                  They arrived on a side of London that Harry had never been to before. He followed Louis as they crossed the street from the bus stop onto a bridge that overlooked a huge river. A layer of fog below them prevented Harry from being able to see the water, but he stared down at it in wonder anyway. Louis stopped to wait for him, though it looked like he intended to keep walking.

                  "Where are we?" Harry finally asked.

                  "River Thames. Pretty, isn't it?"

                  Harry turned away from the river for a second to examine the rest of his surroundings. The city was quiet here. The buildings were all older-looking, and the sidewalks and bridge were paved with stones instead of concrete. There were some statues nearby that Harry couldn't make out in the dark, but he hoped to get a closer look sometime, and if he looked out over the river again he could see some stars in the sky. Still not as many as he could see back home, but for London, quite a lot.

                  "I didn't even know a place like this existed around here," Harry said. "It's...stunning."

                  "I don't get to come here very often at night anymore, but I used to love it. It's a lot different than during the day."

                  Louis' voice grew soft by the end, and Harry noticed how small he sounded. Suddenly Harry was sure that there was a reason Louis must have brought him here, but he didn't know what it was and he didn't know that he was going to find out. He proceeded with caution.

                  "What's it like during the day?"

                  "Grayer. It's like everything's in black and white, and you sort of feel like you've left London and entered a different universe somehow. Like you've hopped into an old film."

                  "That sounds really nice."

                  Giving up on continuing their walk, Louis joined Harry at the railing of the bridge. He rested his folded arms on it and gazed out at the night sky, his expression impossible to read. "Sometimes it is. Not always."

                  Harry didn't want to weird him out by staring at him, so he tried to focus on the sky as well. "What makes it not nice?"

                  Louis lifted a shoulder. "There's so little to distract you from your own thoughts, you know? This is..." he sighed. "This is where I come when I..."

                  "Drop off the grid?"

                  "Yeah. I was here when I, um, called you while you were gone. Probably almost in this exact spot, actually," he said, cracking a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I want to, uh..."

                  Harry waited for him to finish his sentence, but instead of doing that he shook his head slowly and looked down at the water. "You want to what?"

                  "I want to, like... I want to tell you about it sometime. I thought I'd be able to tonight, here, but um...yeah, I don't think – " he tried explaining, squeezing his eyes shut for a second. "Tonight's not the night, I guess." Lacking all humor, he chuckled dryly at himself.

                  Harry pressed his shoulder against Louis' and nodded. "We've got all the time in the world, Louis. I'm not in a hurry – are you?"

                  "I just wish I could get it out of the way," he said. "It's so annoying to feel like I'm harboring this big, bad secret from you and to expect you to deal with my shitty attitude every time I'm having a bad day. And it's going to keep happening more often now because of fucking Christmas and my fucking birthday and I'm so – "

                  "Your birthday?" Harry couldn't let him continue for fear of blurting something he'd regret in his favorite holiday's defense. "When's that?"

                  "Christmas fucking Eve."

                  Damn, Harry thought. What kind of bad luck... "Ah. Um... Let's..." he tried, racking his mind for a way to lighten the mood quickly before Louis' entire night is ruined. "How good are you with stars?"

                  "What do you mean?"

                  "Do you know your constellations?"

                  "Some, I guess. The main ones. Why, can you pick out constellations?"

                  Harry smiled and nodded, deciding to be brave while he's got Louis distracted. "I'm really good at it. Back home, the entire night sky is visible and you can see every star. Like right there? Those five stars?" he pointed. Meanwhile, he snuck his free arm beneath Louis' and wrapped it around, hugging it to himself. "Cassiopeia. Named after an Aiethiopian queen who boasted about her unrivalled beauty. Story goes that she was placed in the sky as punishment for bragging that her daughter, Princess Andromeda – or even she, herself – was more beautiful than the Nereid sea nymphs."

                  Louis looked over at him with clear surprise on his face. "How the hell do you know this?"

                  Harry shrugged. "I think I always figured that if I could see the stars so clearly, why not learn about what I was seeing? To be able to put names to clusters of them, to know the stories behind them... I think it's one of the greatest things I taught myself. It's incredible to sit and admire it all."

                  "You taught yourself astronomy?"

                  "Just stuff about the stars. I never really went in-depth with the planets or anything. But anyway, so, Cassiopeia was forced to circle around the North Celestial Pole on her throne for eternity, which meant that half the time she had to cling to it to keep from falling off. Her daughter was punished as well – bound to a rock as prey for a monster. Cetus, I think it was called. But then Perseus saved her and they got married, so...happy ending for her."

                  "Wow," Louis said, looking up at Cassiopeia's constellation again. "That's actually fascinating."

                  "Your turn."

                  Louis chuckled and then pointed. "They call that one the Big Dipper. Back story? Because it looks like a ladle."

                  Harry grinned. "I hate to be that person, but the Big Dipper isn't a constellation."

                  "What? Yes it is."

                  "No. It's an asterism."

                  "You're telling me my entire life is a lie?"

                  Laughing, Harry explained, "It's part of a constellation. Ever heard of Ursa Major?"

                  "Isn't that the bear one? I thought that was separate and somewhere else."

                  "No, it's the actual constellation, and then the Big Dipper is just part of it."

                  "Of fucking course it is. Does this one have a story too?"

                  "It has several, but I like one more than the others. Want to hear it?"

                  Louis sighed happily and rested his head on Harry's shoulder. "Lay it on me."

                  Smiling down at the little man beside him, Harry launched into the tale of a beautiful young woman named Callisto, who was turned into a bear by a king's jealous wife. And after that story, he told the story of the hunter Orion, and then after that he told the one about Cygnus, the backbone of the galaxy. That entire constellation wasn't visible from where they stood – just the Northern Cross was. But it was enough. And Louis seemed content to listen to all of Harry's stories, and Harry has never been so grateful for all of the time he spent back home staring up at the night sky with the book of constellations he stole from Gemma's bookshelf.

                  But before the night was over, he couldn't help telling one more about a constellation that he never named.  Louis listened quietly to the tale of a young boy with the entire world against him, a heart of gold, and the mark of a triangle on his face, who was watched from afar by a prince's servant.  The servant told stories about the young boy to his prince every single night, and the prince ended up falling deeply in love.  But he would never be able to be with the boy or see him in person, so he made a deal with the gods, and in exchange for the thing that the prince loved most -- his ability to hear -- the gods put the mark from the boy's face into the sky for the prince to admire whenever he pleased.  He'd never be able to hear another of his servant's stories, but that constellation was everything to him.

                  Harry knew that Louis didn't realize he'd just made up a story about the freckles beneath Louis' left cheekbone, but that was okay.  He didn't mind.  The story was mostly for himself anyway, and the entire time he told it, he was staring down at the very cluster of stars glowing in the moonlight on Louis' face.  He knew that he'd give up more than he already has to be able to see that constellation every night, even if it meant never seeing another constellation again.