"do you miss it sometimes?"

harry looked down at his fiancé for a split second before returning to tacking a tapestry he bought to the ceiling. "miss what?"

"blackwater."

"oh." harry chewed on his lip, pushing the thumbtack in with a little more force. "i miss the beginning days. we used to go out and break into peoples's cars and take whatever we could find. there was one time i found a pink rubber ducky with a cowboy hat on it and mitch said i could have it because it was ugly."

"do you still have it?"

"you know the rubber ducky that sits on the windowsill in the kitchen?"

the corner of louis' lips tipped up. "you stole that."

"fair and square."

"what else did you do in your beginning days?"

harry moved the chair he was standing on about a foot away so he could tack the middle of the border. "a lot of fighting. i had to get stitches in my eyebrow when i was nineteen after fighting at a basketball court. they tried to rob me."

"rival gang?"

"yeah, little street gang with kids my age. granted blackwater was a higher organized gang, i dabbled with street gangs. then as i got older, i got moved up with the big guys."

louis rolled over onto his stomach, laying his head in his arms as he watched him. "go on."

"i didn't become underboss until i was twenty. our previous underboss got killed and mitch needed a quick fill in. he chose me when he could have chose anyone else. he said i had the potential and drive, so i was like, 'well, fuck it.' i knew what i was up against and had nothing better to do. make more money, travel more, fight more, it wasn't easy but he believed in me. all i ever wanted since i was a kid was for someone to believe in me."

"and you looked up to mitch..."

"yes. we were instant friends over the firecracker thing. literally inseparable. he would pick me up after my last class and we would smoke before going to get food and rob a neighborhood. shit was great. he taught me what i know. and, i mean...i loved the thrill for a while. that little headrush i would get for breaking windows and taking things that didn't belong to me. fighting to get my pent up anger out and doing some pretty nasty damage. but it got old. and it got repetitive. and then you came around."

"little ol' me?"

"mhm. i knew one way or another mylo and i would end up fighting because i knew him and his reputation. he would have came here, he would have tried to stir with you at our club, and i would have beat him to a pulp. or he would have came to the apartment and i would have found out. one way or another he would have gotten what was deserved."

louis listened closely while harry continued to put his tapestry up. it was a handmade tie dyed tapestry with a grateful dead bear in the center of it. he ordered it from a shop online, but it was a local business right in the state of california.

"do you ever regret joining or leaving?"

"no."

"why not?"

"joining morphed me into someone i wanted to be for a little while. gemma may say i was a good baby brother, but i fought all of her boyfriends. all of them. except for kip, her daughter's father. i actually like him and he hasn't treated her like shit the entire time they've been together. i got in fights a lot in school and was expelled from my middle school for throwing a kid in front of a bus. he made fun of me for my parents being dead, so i blacked out. joining blackwater helped me control my anger and use my fists with a good force when necessary, so there's that."

"right, right."

"i still graduated college. one thing i never thought i would do. i barely made it out of high school, so to be able to go through college and even graduate earlier than expected was quite the improvement for me compared to my younger years."

he just likes listening to harry talk, honestly. this boy could tell him bedtime stories for the rest of their lives. his voice; there's something about it. his slow speech when he's calm compared to the fast loud tone when he's irate (never has he raised his voice at him, but he's been there to witness it) and the deepness. the gravel. his accent. all of it makes louis' body just...float.

"do you miss drug dealing?"

"eh? i miss the money. i made a lot of profit. but i still make good money from inferno, so i'll be alright. i'm set, financially. i'm not all there mentally yet, but i hope one day i will be."

"what do you mean?"

harry motioned down to his ankle monitor. "nineteen year old me would have cut this damn thing off already or busted it without care if we were gonna do time or not. i've matured a lot, but not all the way."

"did nineteen year old you laugh at penis jokes?"

"who doesn't laugh?"

fair.

harry started on the other side of the tapestry. he had already started on the smaller section that was above the bed and the right longer piece. louis offered to help when he started, but harry declined politely by telling him he needed something to focus on to chill himself out. he's been very hyperactive lately like louis gets when he's anxious. instead of being anxious, though, harry is bored and going absolutely fucking nuts on house arrest.

"what about you?" harry then asked. "do you miss it?"

louis chewed on his lip in thought. he rolled onto his back and sighed, staring up at the ceiling with the half tacked decoration above him.

"i miss the friends i had in montana. i trusted them more than my own boyfriend back then. they never took advantage of me or used me when they were bored, so there's that."

"'m so glad he's dead," harry muttered with a push pin between his teeth. "sorry bastard."

"only part about blackwater i miss was going on runs with you. even though i didn't do shit."

"nope. you were my pretty little shotgun princess. still are once i can drive again."

"did you hear back about the cars?"

"yeah, got a guy that wants two. i know him pretty well, so he wouldn't flake on me. it's just when he can get the time to come down here."

louis hummed in interest. "which ones?"

"the spider and the ferrari. as much as i don't want to lose my ferrari, he's offering me two hundred for it."

two hundred grand is so much for a car. holy shit.

"do we have to get rid of our guns?" louis then asked. "you're a convicted felon. technically you can't be around them."

harry scoffed. "i'm keeping our home protected just the same. even if i'm out of the gang now, there's still that chance someone could come after one of us to get back at mitch. i'm not risking it."

"so i take it as a no."

"absolutely not. i don't care if we have just one."

"cool, because i like my gun."

harry gave him a cocky smirk. "you're welcome."

louis stuck his tongue out at him but continued to watch as he finished putting up his decoration. he zoned out when harry reached up to tack the last corner because his shirt raised and exposed his slight happy trail as he stretched.

harry let out a breath when he completed his task. "finally. thought i'd never get it centered."

"looks good," louis hummed. "adds some color in here, i think."

"that's what i was hoping for. i want the new house to be colorful. something both of us would enjoy. i always kept it dark and proper because it held similarities to my work ego, but i knew nobody would take me seriously if i had a tie dye tapestry above my bed."

"but the record player and shot glass collections are considered serious?"

harry scrunched his nose. "fuck off."

chuckling, louis moved over so harry could sit beside him. he was still upside down on his back because he had gotten quite comfy.

"i think i wanna have a music room," harry then said. "i dunno. i feel like all of these room ideas are starting to become too much."

"i don't. tell me," louis said softly.

harry shrugged. he slipped his hand under louis' shirt and rested it on his tummy.

"a room for the cats, of course, 'cause they love their setup and have too much shit."

"way too much."

"they need a friend."

"uh, no. they're demonic alone and together."

"so you agree emma is a demon?"

louis fishmouthed. "no?"

"yeah you do. i also want us to have a room, of course. but you need a bigger space for your vanity and wardrobe. so that's what...three rooms right there? four, maybe?"

"mhm."

"i don't want a huge kitchen or dining area, though. just a simple small one so we can do everything in one spot. that's too much furniture and traveling. i'm lazy."

"hear me out," louis said softly. "instead of looking for one through a realtor, let's buy a piece of land and build our house. the exact way we want."

"that's gonna take so much time, though," harry whined. "i want our house when we get married and that's seven months away."

"there's no need for the rush," louis then said, sitting up. "h, you're acting as if we don't have all the time in the world now. you don't have to worry about a deadline anymore."

"i know," harry murmured. when louis cupped his cheek, he nuzzled into his palm. "just want us to start off perfect."

"i have you. i'm as perfect as can be."

fluttering his eyes closed, harry nodded slowly. "promise you wouldn't be upset if we waited?"

"i promise," louis said, just as soft. "remember, good things come to those who wait."

"but i am a stubborn, impatient aquarius who wants something as soon as they see it."

"i know, otherwise we would both still be single," louis teased. "look at me."

harry glanced up through hooded eyes.

"we'll get our house," his fiancé told him. "and we'll get our life. don't rush so many things at once, okay? i know you are so used to being the leader and taking matters into your own hands but this is us, not blackwater. we are a two person job. our relationship and where we take ourselves is in both of our hands, not just yours, not just mine, but eachothers."

harry took a deep breath and nodded again.

louis leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "i love you."

"i love you," harry mumbled into his palm. "i just want you to have the life you deserve."

"i want nothing short of the same for you. but we can't dive head first into this. one thing at a time. let's get you off of house arrest, get your cars sold, and go from there."

"i love your brain. i just wanna swap brains with you for a day so i know what it's like to be-"

"i'm not level headed, don't even try it."

"smart," harry corrected. "you are a lot smarter, more mature and wiser than i will ever be."

"bull." louis kissed his cheek again. "you haven't eaten today. are you okay?"

"yeah. just not feeling food-y. i want food, but not what we have."

typical.

"wanna get thai for dinner?"

"i could suck your dick for some thai."

the smaller man smirked. "i mean, i'm not opposed to the idea..."

"come here then."

—-

"liam!" louis shrieked. "no!"

laughing, the bouncer booked it for the stairs with louis' phone in his hand.

"oh my god," louis groaned loudly before taking his shoes off. his sneakers were hurting his the back of his ankles anyways.

he followed after the taller man, skipping nearly every other step as he went down. if liam looks down at that screen, he will be mortified.

"liam!"

"i just wanna say hi!"

"you have his number!"

"but texting him on your phone is more fun!"

louis jumped over the railing to the last bit of stairs and slid on the carpet, stumbling and twisting over his feet. he landed to the ground and immediately groaned out in pain, rolling onto his side.

"god damn it," he pushed himself up after his head stopped throbbing from the fall. he put his hand on the knee, face twisting in discomfort. liam was already gone with his phone. fuck it. let him see harry's dick. he'll never touch his phone ever again after that.

he caught combat boots in his peripheral, and heard a small chuckle.

"why are you on the ground?"

"lost something," louis muttered.

"what?"

"my fucking balance."

snickering, zayn crouched down and brushed louis' hair out of his eyes. there was a scrape right next to his eyebrow. "mean case of carpet burn right there, babe. you okay?"

"i think i twisted my knee," louis whined out. "i'm gonna need help getting up."

zayn helped him to his feet, catching him when he stumbled back down. "what even happened?"

"liam ran off with my phone."

"he's gonna regret that."

"he'll learn," louis hissed as he tried to steady himself. "yeah, i fucked it up."

zayn sighed dreadfully. "fucking princess," he grumbled before picking louis up bridal style. the smaller man whined in his shirt the entire time they walked because his knee was bumping into zayn's arm.

"here." zayn lowered him into a chair at one of the empty tables. "stay put. i'm gonna get you some ice."

"trust me. i'm not moving."

louis slouched in his seat when zayn disappeared to get him some ice.

and the night was just halfway over, damn it. this was a nice way to spend his 30. all he was trying to do was have a very adult (rated r) conversation with his partner in private so he could giggle his little heart out like he does when harry makes him all shy and bashful without someone asking what he was doing. but no. liam came and did just that. then he snatched his phone so he could see because he thought harry sent him something sappy and sweet when really he sent him something louis was quite happier with.

in no time, zayn returned with a ziploc baggie full of ice with a bar towel wrapped around it. he applied it gently to louis' knee while propping it up with another chair.

"do you wanna go get it checked out?"

"i hate hospitals."

"i know, but you can't walk, lovey. you won't even be able to drive home if it's that bad."

it's always his dominant side that he fucks up too. just his luck.

"ice it for a bit and we can go from there. maybe you just bumped it really hard and it had a meltdown. you are quite fragile, you know."

"thanks for the heads up, mum," louis muttered. "i'm sorry. this just hurts really bad."

"and you're running on two hours of sleep. harry said you had a panic attack last night..."

"we're not gonna talk about it."

he had a bad dream that whatever harry said the day before became their reality. someone using harry in retaliation against mitch. taking the both of them. he remembered it all in full detail and it's one that's going to be stuck right behind his eyelids for a while even though he knows it's not really going to happen.

he had woken up from that nightmare to harry nowhere to be spotted and flipped out. the last thing he remembered was them falling asleep on the couch together. they had built another fort in the living room and had a movie marathon. the fort included the couch this time because it was a mutual agreement that the floor was not comfortable enough to sleep on.

harry had returned to the living room to see louis glued to his spot on the couch with teary eyes and trembling hands, then the smaller man full on exploded when he came closer to him. he didn't let him go for fifteen minutes. those fifteen minutes were filled with nothing but sniffles and staggered breaths and pleads for harry to not get kidnapped for as long as he lived.

he didn't go back to sleep after that. neither of them did. harry made him a cup of tea to calm him down and played with his hair while they watched one of the live action scooby doo movies. he also made him cinnamon rolls at six in the morning, whipped an assignment out for him that was due at noon and took a very small hour long nap with him. then, they laid in bed until louis had to go to work. harry said he should have stayed home so he could try to sleep, but louis didn't budge.

"it's alright," zayn told him. "wanna call harry?"

"no. i'll be fine."

"sure?"

"yeah, just give me a few. might have to do cash handling and mikey take over throughput."

"i'll talk to him. you sit here and look pretty. i'm gonna go beat liam up." zayn kissed the top of his head and offered him his jacket. "i was gonna go out and smoke, but here."

louis laid the jacket over him as a blanket and huffed.

"ditzy little princess."

"at least i'm a princess."

liam returned with his phone and apologized for everything. he even showed the tiny red mark on his forehead to prove zayn smacked him with louis' phone and banned him from kisses as a punishment for taking it.

louis took his phone hesitantly. "did you-"

"i didn't go through your texts. i played plants vs zombies."

nodding, louis looked down at his knee with a pout. "this blows."

"i'll take you to the emergency room myself and have jana look at it if you would like," liam offered. "and even take you home so harry can be the one to really beat me up."

"he's not gonna beat you up."

"over you? he'd kill me." liam scoffed. "wouldn't be the first."

louis smirked at that. yes, his fiancé has killed over him before. it's not something to brag about but if they knew their past, they'd understand. maybe.

"what can i do to help?"

louis shrugged, eyes still focused on the bag of ice on his knee. "a beer sounds good to me."

of course his wish was granted. he snapped a picture of the beer bottle beside his iced knee for keepsakes and put his phone on the table. if he told harry, he would immediately make him come home or break his house arrest rules by coming and getting him himself. he would let his ankle monitor go off for the whole drive there and back and probably get arrested in the process.

or, he would demand one of the boys take him to get his knee looked at and blow his phone up with questions as to how this happened, what doctors were saying, and whose ass he needs to kick. typical protective and helicopter harry. he's always shadowed louis like a guard dog even though he tells everyone louis is the more protective one between them. it's really harry. he just says it to make louis feel better about his height and they know it.

liam sat with him until he felt like he could walk again but as soon as louis stood on both feet, it felt like his knee was going to give out. so liam carried him around just like zayn did. only this time louis laid pliant in liam's arms, sighing dreamily that he "really is a princess" and "everyone else in the world are his village bitches."

liam called jana and asked for an emergency consultant that did not involve major injuries or blood so that she was prepared for a potential quick exam. they were all three convinced that louis fucked his knee up regardless because he couldn't walk even after letting the swelling go down.

mitch filled in as a bouncer so liam could leave and promised to fix any injuries if harry were to sock him in the face. it striked a bit of fear in liam's already sad eyes. he was the cause of louis' injury and harry scares him.

at the clinic, jana met them outside with a wheelchair and kissed the top of louis' head. "hi, sunshine."

"hi," louis groaned. "i missed you."

"you can always come see me when you hurt yourself, you know. this is my job."

"technically he shouldn't be a patient of yours anymore since he and harry aren't part of us now," liam said to the gang medic, hushed.

"harry's family and louis will be too eventually. kind of already is. fuck the rules."

louis stuck his tongue out at liam and nestled in his wheelchair as jana pushed him into the hospital. she didn't check his weight for his vital chart since he couldn't stand that well but wheeled him straight to x-ray instead of having him wait.

she took his blood pressure manually to see how high it raised. due to pain, blood pressure rises. it was a little high but not too concerning. his temperature was fine, everything else was good.

after getting x-rays, jana gave him a pain pill and wheeled him to a room where he would then wait for the results to come back. she propped his leg up and let him choose from her sticker wheels for "being a champ."

he chose some stickers with frogs on them because one had a cowboy hat and it made him think of harry's rubber ducky in the kitchen.

thirty long minutes pass with texts from niall and zayn asking for updates. louis told them the same thing every few minutes, that the pain meds helped the pain but it was still difficult to move.

when jana came back, she had a small sad smile on her face. "guess who has a sprain?"

louis threw his head back with a groan. "the muffin man?"

"if his name is louis, then yes."

"fuck me," louis huffed. "i was supposed to be on the floor tomorrow night."

"no clubbing for six weeks, babe. you'll be on crutches until you can walk right."

the patient let out another whine. "just kill me now."

jana measured the brace around his knee carefully. "luckily you're in leggings right now, but i would definitely recommend some shorts for a long time to keep your knee from being confined in tight clothes. i'll get you the good pain meds too."

louis mumbled a thank you and pouted down at his knee.

"you. are. so. dead."

"i'm so dead," louis whined as he stared at the brace around his knee. "harry is going to be so mad."

"he'll be more upset that you didn't call him compared to the fact you thought it was smart to try and jump the railing."

"you took my phone when harry and i were-" louis groaned. "whatever. this is your fault. i'm sorry i didn't want to traumatize your poor eyes with my husband's nudes. next time i'll show you a video."

liam cooed. "you called him your husband."

"i'm trying to get used to it now so it doesn't freak me out later."

jana raised her eyebrows then. "this is news."

"nobody told you? wow, they suck," louis rolled his eyes. "harry proposed before he went to jail back in september, got the ring when he got out. you wanna come to the wedding?"

"of course. i better get an invite or i'll turn harry into luke."

liam and louis both flinched.

"he better watch himself," jana hummed. "i'll go get you some crutches and get you out of here quickly, alright? go home and rest. do you need me to send anything to harry for you?"

"he doesn't know i'm here."

"so i take it as a no. okay. i'll be right back. want some more stickers?"

of course he would want more stickers. they're covering the back of his laptop already. he needs some on the keyboard.

when he got discharged, he pouted his way to liam's car while hobbling on crutches. he had crutches when he was maybe twelve or thirteen after twisting his ankle playing footie, so he'll have to adjust to hard plastic digging into his arms all over again.

the pain pill had kicked in very faintly, but jana said it'll hit him all at once here shortly. it'll start easing that throbbing sensation out first then make him really drowsy to the point he'll knock out cold in no time. maybe it was a good thing liam drove him.

"zayn's got your car," liam told him. "he's gonna meet up with us. can i at least buy you ice cream or something to make up for this?"

"it's okay," louis chuckled. "but if you insist, i want dibs."

"dibs?"

"yeah? the little ice cream things you can get at the gas station."

"so that's what they're called. okay. gotcha."

louis got his ice cream and even shared some of the little frozen bites with liam on the drive back to the house. he might as well make their last time together good because harry will rip him a new one.

zayn stepped out of louis' car when they pulled into the driveway and helped him out of the vehicle, holding his crutches steady for him to grab onto. "house key?"

"on the clip."

zayn took louis' keys off of his belt loop and stuck by his side down the driveway. "are those stickers that are about to fall out of your pocket?"

"yes. jana said i am a champ, so i took as many as i wanted."

zayn snickered and took the folded rows out of louis' back pocket to look at them. "frogs and sharks?"

"yup."

"alright."

downstairs was dark and quiet, signifying harry was somewhere upstairs. he's probably in the shower or asleep. it's two in the morning, so it's a possibility. he was up all night with louis the night before. he must be exhausted.

zayn flipped the hallway light on, illuminating the staircase.

"bunny?" harry called out.

"hi," louis rasped back, hissing when he bumped into the stairwell.

footsteps padded to the top of the stairs. "you're home ear-" his eyes widened at the brace around louis' knee, then narrowed at the three men at the bottom of the stairs. "explain. now."

louis huffed as he tried to hop onto the first step with zayn's help. "i fell."

"bunny decided to take a pretty big hop," liam said, guilty. "he was chasing after me. i took his phone and he jumped over the stairs."

"over the stairs," harry wheezed.

"bottom stairs," louis corrected. "i'm not dumb enough to jump a whole story. i jump them all the time."

"you have got to be careful, lou," harry frowned as he walked down the stairs. "come on. i got you."

he picked the smaller man up with ease. "bring his crutches?" he asked liam.

"of course."

the four of them made it up to the bedroom, where louis pouted even more because shark and emma were immediately alerted with curiosity as to what was wrong with him. the orange cat was sniffing his knee while the black cat was running circles around their feet to try and say hello.

"i took him to jana. she said it's sprained and he can't work for at least six weeks. she gave him some pain meds to last through the night and sent some to the pharmacy for the morning," liam told harry as they got louis comfortable in bed. "i'll pick them up, or zayn can."

"i'm not gonna be off of work for six weeks. give me two and i'll be back."

"uh, no." harry shook his head. "a sprained knee can worsen over time if you don't follow the aftercare with it. you're lucky it's just a small one because it could have meant no more dancing whatsoever."

"right, and who am i to stop what i like doing? definitely not louis tomlinson. i'm going to work and that's that."

"alright. fuck your knee up even more then." harry shrugged. "it's not like i'm your boss and can just fire you if i wanted to."

"you wouldn't."

"try me."

louis glared at his fiancé and crossed his arms over his chest.

"when did this happen?"

"about midnight. we didn't go to the hospital until one-ish. i had to have mitch cover for me," liam informed.

"and why wasn't i informed?"

"he didn't want to freak you out."

louis cuddled with shark and drowned out the rest of the conversation. his pet laid down his chest with his head tucked in the crook of his neck, fluffy tail twitching every once in a while.

harry's upset. he has every right to be but he also wanted to wait until he knew exactly what was wrong and how to fix it before worrying him. he could have easily just bruised it or knocked it real good instead of spraining it and would have been fine.

he's upset with him, and liam, and everyone else that failed to give him a heads up that louis was getting x-rays on his knee instead of working. he didn't even clock out. if mitch doesn't pay him for his hours, they're fighting.

his zoning out was interrupted by a thump, a groan from liam and a snorted laugh from his best friend.

"cause my boy to hurt himself again and it will be more than just a dead leg," harry muttered as he rubbed his knuckles.

"jesus, we have got to lock the basement somehow. he punches harder than he used to," liam told zayn, who was still laughing over him getting hit in the leg. "i might need lou's crutches."

"nope. suffer. you want another one?"

liam immediately shook his head, massaging his throbbing thigh.

zayn picked out louis' sleeping clothes because he wanted the smaller man to be comfy so he handed harry a sweater from the closet and a pair of white shorts.

"socks or no, lovey?"

louis nodded silently.

"fuzzies?"

he nodded again.

zayn went through the dresser and grabbed a pair of louis' fuzzy socks, throwing the wad of fluff right at the smaller boy. it hit shark in the bum and bounced off of him, landing next to harry.

"hey," harry furrowed his eyebrows. "don't bully him. he's hurt."

"he's just being a baby right now because we're babying him. he'll be fine, see?" zayn pointed to where louis was trying to undo his knee brace without moving the cat.

harry sighed softly and peeled the velcro apart to free his knee. "i'll change you. it's alright."

"babying," zayn reminded him.

"my baby. i do what i want. don't you have a club to go close?"

"unfortunately," zayn sighed. "so we have to head out. you gonna be okay, lou?"

louis nodded, running his hands down shark's back.

"i love you."

"love you back," louis mumbled. "pain meds are kicking in. i'm so fucked right now it's not even funny."

smirking, zayn grabbed liam's hand and tugged him to his feet. "on that note, we'll go. take it easy, okay? i'll bring your meds by tomorrow with some food."

"you're the best."

once zayn and liam were gone, harry was very careful not to jostle louis around too much while he changed him. louis changed his shirt, but harry got his shorts on him and his fuzzy socks so he would be warm and cozy.

the younger man leaned down to press his lips against his partner's injured spot before putting the brace back on it. "what can i do?"

louis shook his head, arms now wrapped around his cat entirely.

"you wanna watch a movie?"

louis stayed silent but responded with a head nod.

harry turned the lights off and picked a movie for them to watch. he settled in bed after getting the comforter over louis' body so he would be able to cuddle.

about halfway into the movie (which consisted of louis laying his head on harry's chest and harry running his fingers through his hair), harry heard small sniffles from below him.

"bun?"

louis wiped the corner of his eye with the sleeve of his sweater, balling his fist up between them.

"are you hurting, baby?"

louis shook his head.

"then what's wrong?"

"i made you mad. i'm sorry."

harry looked down at him confused before gently nudging the smaller man off of him. he inched down the bed so they were the same height.

"you didn't," harry assured. "i worry about you all day when you're not home. i always worry something's gonna happen to you and i can't be there because of this monitor. it's okay. it was an accident. i'm not mad at you, honey."

"you sounded mad..."

"i haven't slept. i wanted to wait until you got home so i could sleep with you. i'm just tired. i didn't mean to make you feel bad," harry murmured. "'m sorry for upsetting you. i promise i'm not mad."

louis nodded, sniffling again.

harry kissed his forehead with a soft, "you still have your job if that's what you're worried about."

chuckling, louis said, "you'd never fire me."

"never. because then my job would be pointless."

louis wiped his tears away again and smiled faintly at the kisses that were spread along the side of his face.

"can you just give me a heads up next time?" harry asked. "i don't care if it's a papercut. i need to know you are safe at all times when i'm not around."

"you gonna punch the paper too?"

"maybe."

"okay," louis mumbled. "i just didn't want you to panic, is all. i know you're a worry wart."

"i believe i have every right to be," harry kissed the end of his eyebrow. "do you need anything?"

"kiss."

"a kiss?" harry cooed. "want me to kiss your knee again?"

"me," louis mumbled. "kiss me."

harry teased him by kissing his cheek, then his nose, the corner of his mouth and his chin. louis whined, batting at his chest and trying to redirect his face because he wanted an actual kiss. maybe he is being a baby. but harry always took the best care of him when he was hurt or sick (don't tell zayn.)

harry tipped louis' chin up and kissed him sweetly. "better?"

"no."

harry gave him a second kiss. "what about now?"

"somewhat."

a third and fourth kiss were given, then louis wrapped his arm around harry's waist. he tucked his head under his chin, letting out a soft sigh.

harry held the smaller man a little tighter tonight, thankful that it was just a small sprain and nothing more. they're going to be down one of their best dancers and bartenders, so they're going to have to make due with what they have. if louis does something to worsen his knee then his entire career is over right there. stripping uses almost every part of the body. he needs to take care of himself if he really wants the money like he says he does (even though he literally does not spend it. it's like he goes to work as a hobby.)

"try to sleep, please," harry murmured. "you've had a rough few days."

"wanted to finish the movie," louis said, a small, squeaky yawn following shortly after.

"you haven't even been watching the movie, bun," harry teased, poking his cheek.

"uh huh."

"nuh uh."

"yes i have!"

"we can watch it again tomorrow. sleep." harry ordered gently. "i'm not going anywhere."

"okay..." louis whispered. he planted the softest peck to harry's collarbone. "promise you're not mad?"

"i promise."

"alright. guess i can sleep now." louis tried to get comfortable without bothering his knee but failed and just opted to stay where he was. "goodnight. i love you. i'm sorry again."

"it's okay. goodnight, bunny. i love you more."

—-

poor lou was so worried that harry was mad at him to the point he didn't want to sleep on bad terms i love him sm ):

we got a bit of deep conversation and a slight dip inside of harry's marble brain. thoughts?

loves you ❤️‍🔥