we get a LOT of larry in this chapter. yes it will have a bunch of stupid stuff in it, but they probably will never get to have this opportunity ever again because i am an asshole. it's fluffy as FUCK with a bitta steamy shit. strong bonding over this way.

song in the media is mentioned in the chapter!

finally, what you've been waiting for has arrived ❤️‍🔥 (no not that one. the other one. hehe.)

—-

"please bring him back safely," zayn says to harry as he hands the man an envelope. he wants a souvenir too, damn it. "i will not hesitate to buzzcut you if my lou has even a scratch on him. understand?"

harry nods and gives him a salute. "understood."

louis bounces out of his bedroom with his backpack over his shoulders and a duffel in his right hand. harry takes it from him and goes to put it in the car while louis says his goodbyes to everyone at the apartment.

"you gonna do it?" zayn asks.

louis shrugs and suffocates him with a tight hug. "thinkin' bout it. i want to. i really do."

"so go for it, lovey. you know what's best for you and i think this is a good one."

louis grins against his shoulder. "yeah?"

"oh yeah," zayn kisses the top of his head. "have fun. if i find out you did any of your schoolwork, we are gonna fight."

louis laughs as he pulls away and gives niall a hug, too. "thank you for watching emma."

"'s no problem, i might steal her if i'm honest," niall jokes. he mutters a "kidding" when he sees harry popping back inside to grab louis' backpack and anything else he decided he wanted to bring. even though they'll be gone for roughly 3 days, he might get bored in the hotel room so he made sure to bring three of zayn's coloring books (gotta have variety) and plenty of colored pencils. harry put his camera in louis' backpack the night before in case he wanted to take pictures so it had a bit of weight to it.

zayn did the extra work of making sure louis' seatbelt was buckled and that he had absolutely everything he needed, even sneaking a bit of other items in louis' backpack and promised that emma would be okay in their hands. harry went over the protocol once more: please don't leave any evidence of feline torture or sex, spare key gets hidden in it's hiding spot, and don't try to drive the ferarri, niall.

on the way to the plane, louis wiggled and squirmed because his stomach was in knots. he hadn't been on a flight in quite some time and it makes him nervous every time he goes. something about being in the air and not on solid ground just makes him iffy. he's okay once they're out for a bit, but the starting and landing is what he dislikes most.

mitch is waiting for them with their pilot, a local friend of blackwater's that has nothing better to do than fly a plane, and the four of them load up. the seats in the plane were similar to booths, even had tables between them, so louis decided to definitely use his resources and color on the flat surface. he was left by himself for a little bit while harry and mitch discussed their plans for the next few days with one another.

harry slides into the seat across from louis and smacks his hand on the open book, nearly making louis mess up his picture.

"hey!" the boy pouts. harry lets out a laugh, crooning over the way louis' "angry face" at him looked more like a frustrated child, and he leans over to kiss his cheek.

"you looked really interested, i had to come mess that up," he shrugs. louis rolls his eyes and continues to color. zayn likes intricate coloring books, ones that take time to complete. louis' photo is a trippy psychedelic mushroom.

harry watches as louis bites his bottom lip in concentration like he does when he works on his schoolwork and just admires him. his hair curtains over his face, covering his eyes. there's a blanket wrapped around his shoulders to keep him warm even though he's already wearing a hoodie and joggers, and he takes his time sorting through colors. shades of red, yellow and purple are already taking up almost half of the picture.

he flips through the other two books on the table and decides to color as well since there's nothing else to do for the next two hours. he ends up coloring a pink and blue dragon and writes on the back of the page once it's finished, fuck you zayn -H (:

landing came sooner than expected, much to louis' appreciation. and it's colder than he thought it would be. it's also the middle of october in the midwest and not as sunny and bright as california. there's a car waiting for them at the end of the landing area that their friend drives to the hotel mitch booked for them all to stay at.

"we don't have to meet his people until tomorrow," harry says as louis tightens his blanket around his shoulders in the back seat. "was thinking we could go do something then. there's a few clubs we could look at, maybe go to a restaurant. you look sleepy, might not be the best idea to do anything crazy tonight."

mitch turns his head to look back at them. "there's a zoo and an aquarium, couple of museums, also. harold likes shit like that but doesn't like to admit it."

louis cracks a grin and looks up at harry. they're here for a few days, might as well make it worth it. "whatever you wanna do."

harry glances at mitch, who shrugs, and he says, "tomorrow after our meeting we can just take the day and do all the big stuff. maybe tonight we can just chill out for a bit."

louis nods and lays his head on his shoulder, remaining silent for the rest of the ride. he slips a hand out of his blanket to text zayn and inform him that they've arrived, then returns to cuddling up against the boy beside him.

the hotel is nice, and the beds are huge so that's a plus. mitch got three separate rooms (harry begged because apparently mitch snores too loud) and they have free roam to just about anything. there's a balcony connected to each room for smoking or outside activities and even a microwave and coffee pot for travelling food and drink desires.

louis tests the bed out first and harry is almost positive the boy fell asleep that instant after the noise of satisfaction he made once he got comfortable. louis was in fact still awake because he poked his head up and claimed that the bed was probably the most comfortable thing he had ever laid on, then rolled over and buried his head under the pillows.

harry lays next to him and agrees that the bed is quite lovely. "now i don't wanna move."

louis giggles from under the pillows. "that's what i'm saying. i'm takin' a nap."

their "nap" ended up being all night without interruption, just eleven straight hours of sleep.

harry wakes up at eight in the morning to mitch texting him that they're ready whenever he is. it's not a big meet, it's just some possible links to use for better sales and possibly some guns because the person they're meeting with is a good friend of mitch's and needs more money coming in.

louis is curled up against his back, both of them wrapped in the thick blankets provided by the hotel and he can't help but smile into the pillow his head was laying on. he doesn't mind being the little spoon one bit.

he gets dressed and brushes his teeth carefully so he doesn't wake the boy up but louis ends up stirring at the feeling of a somewhat empty bed.

"what time is it?" louis asks, rubbing his eyes and squinting around the room.

"too early for you," harry says. he leans down and presses a kiss to the boy's temple. "go back to sleep, baby. we're gonna go do this meet and we can go do our stuff when i get back. give me a few hours."

louis nods, pulling the covers back over his shoulders. "be safe, please."

harry nods and gives him a second temple kiss. "always."

once he's sure louis is knocked, he meets mitch in his room and they leave the hotel. the meeting lasts about two hours and harry is ashamed to say he's stoned, but he definitely paid a pretty penny to bring some back to louis because he would definitely like this.

louis is awake when he gets back, hair damp and dropping a pill into his mouth. he must have missed his alarm.

"i got you something," harry hums. he pulls a tiny bag out of his pocket and opens it, shoving it under louis' nose and the smaller man's eyes light up at the smell.

"holy shit," louis groans. "i love it."

harry grins and puts the bag in his duffel. the larger amount he bought was put in mitch's care, he just kept that for a sample. "have you eaten?"

louis shakes his head and tells him he's only been awake long enough to shower so harry searches for a nearby restaurant they can go to instead of waiting on room service. once they're both ready for their day's adventure, harry snags the rental car keys from mitch so they can go.

they get breakfast to go and drive about thirty minutes from the hotel to the aquarium. louis is amazed by all of the creatures inside and even got to pet a little crab. it felt very weird. he gets a souvenir from there to start his collection off and once they finish exploring, they go in search of the zoo. harry was definitely serious about doing all of the big things today.

louis also made a friend at the zoo. a very tiny baby giraffe named olive was very attentive to him. even though they don't like to be touched, olive was happy to accept the handful of food that louis offered to her. every step louis took, olive followed.

harry stayed about twenty feet away from the giraffe exhibit, keeping his eyes on louis the whole time instead of staring at the 15 foot tall creatures on the other side of the exhibit.

"harry," louis pouts. "she's just a baby."

"nope," harry shakes his head.

"come on!" louis pleads. "look how cute she is!"

harry takes the quickest glance at the baby giraffe and then back at louis. he watches louis lean over to talk to the animal before they're both taking slow steps over to him. louis gets another round of food to feed her and places a small amount in harry's hand, easing him over to the little thing.

"harry, meet olive. olive, this is my person, harry," louis introduces the two as he feeds olive the rest of the greens that was in his hand. "he thinks you're scary. show him you're not scary."

louis guides harry's wrist to the giraffe and harry cringes when olive goes to take the greens from him. she's gentle with her bite, though, and harry carefully pushes his hand out a little further to feed her.

"see?" louis crouches next to him and grins. "she's a doll."

once olive finishes her snack she takes a step back and harry doused his hands in hand sanitizer. he takes his camera out of louis' backpack and snaps a photo of louis and olive for memorabilia.

"goodbye sweet girl," louis croons and waves to her as they depart. olive only follows until she makes it to the edge of the exhibit and they end up circling around to the other side because louis wanted to feed a giant giraffe too. he ends up feeding two giant giraffes, one from each hand, and he notices that harry steps beside him with a handful of greens too.

"if i survive this, you owe me," harry says. "i'm so nauseas right now."

louis frowns. "you don't have to, h. olive is good enough."

harry shrugs. "she's cute. she deserved it." he looks up at the animal that is nearly three times his height with wide eyes. "holy...hi."

louis stifles a small laugh and helps harry feed the giraffe standing before him. "i think this one is june. they said she's olive's mum."

harry watches in astonishment as the giraffe carefully nibbles on the greens from his hand. that...wasn't too bad, actually. he's been afraid of a lot of things in life and as silly as it seemed, giraffes terrified him. he's been shot at, been jumped, seen things your average teenager shouldn't see, yet he freaked over the thought of a giraffe.

there's a click of a camera and louis giggles to himself. "this is so going to your sister."

harry rolls his eyes at him and they sanitize their hands once more. harry holds his camera around his neck and keeps a tight grip on louis' hand as they scavenge the rest of the zoo. louis makes them get matching keychains (and of course they had to be giraffes) and he found a stuffed frog to take home to zayn.

after the zoo, they grab another quick bite to eat and louis shares a cigarette with harry while he drives around town. so much to do and see with such little time. harry plugs an address in his gps and louis nearly shrieks when they pull up to a house.

"is this-"

"the gallagher house," harry nods. "apparently people actually live here, but you can leave five bucks to stand on the porch and take pictures."

louis stares at the building in amazement and leans over the console to kiss his cheek and rush out of the car. he leaves a ten in the mailbox and takes plenty of photos with harry, then sends a photo of just the house to his chat with zayn and niall.

he finished the rest of his food on the way to their next destination and took photos for everyone else to see when he got back. it's almost dark outside by the time they figure out what to do next.

finding something to do for the night wasn't difficult at all. there was a nightclub not too far from the hotel, a good fifteen minute walk, and louis could definitely go for a drink or nine. he packed too many clothes anyways. they shower and get ready separately but louis stands in front of the mirror for too long trying to apply the right amount of makeup and it causes harry to check on him in the slightest bit of concern.

"tryin' to get you a boyfriend or something?" he leans against the doorway with a smirk.

louis closes his mascara and shrugs. "maybe."

harry grabs the black denim jacket that louis laid on the bed and holds it up for him to put on. it blends in with his black jeans. he's also wearing a very tight red tee shirt, so tight harry can see the barbells in his chest. harry makes him spin so he can check his outfit out and nods approvingly, telling him he looks hot, and they head out.

they get wristbands once they make it to the club and are greeted with loud music and fog from a nearby fog machine. the main lights are dimmed and multicolor strobe lights illuminate the club. there's a bar on the far right, a dj booth front and center and way too many bodies dancing on one another. the hot air is making him sticky already.

harry seems to know people from all around. louis sees a few people nod his way and harry nods back in recognition as he guides louis through the club with a hand on the small of his back. they make it to the bar first, grabbing drinks, then harry leads him to empty seats at a nearby table. louis sits in the seat beside the man and sips on his lemonade silently, getting used to the scenery around him. the music is definitely good. for the next hour the dj switches from artists like beyoncé and kanye to some doja cat, drake, and even pnb rock. he hasn't heard pnb in a long time.

alcohol can come later. he needs to move.

he finishes his drink and takes his jacket off. he then leans over to plant a kiss to harry's jaw. "come on."

"i'm coming," harry allows the boy to drag him to the dance floor. louis bites back a smirk as harry's hands glue themselves to his waist and he feels harry's firm chest against his back once they find a somewhat clear spot. the song playing fades out and roc me out by rhianna blares through the speakers.

louis turns so they're chest to chest and wraps his arms loosely around harry's neck. harry slips his hands under louis' shirt to have a better grip on his hips as they sway their hips to the beat.

"i haven't done this in a while, i'm a bit rusty," harry admits. "i'm not the dancing type."

"just follow my lead."

their hips move something filthy against one another when louis turns his back against him and lets loose. he can feel the beat of the bass in his bones as he grinds back a little harder against harry and he tilts his head back against the man's shoulder when he can feel harry's head drop a bit. harry nips at his earlobe before kissing the side of his neck. he's a quick learner.

louis' knees almost buckle. he has to intertwine his hands with harry's just to maintain some sort of stability. if this is how it's going to be sober, he could only imagine how they would dance completely trashed.

they're hot and sweaty by the time the following song is over and louis is the one that takes them back to their table. harry's fingers are wrapped in his belt loops for guidance as they weave through fellow clubbers. it's much cooler in the seating area, thankfully.

harry grabs his drink as he sits and louis places himself on harry's lap instead of sitting in the chair he was in before. harry keeps a protective arm around his waist as he relaxes in his spot.

"you being here has made this better," he says softly.

"yeah?" louis beams when harry nods behind his drink. "i think so too. thank you for inviting me."

"of course," harry sets his cup on the table. louis drapes his legs over the arm of the chair as harry slowly massages his fingertips into his side. maybe he doesn't need the alcohol. he has a good time with harry no matter what.

louis leans back and strokes his index finger over harry's jaw. he shaved again recently. and there's this really bright sparkle in his eyes that he wouldn't mind getting lost in for all eternity. it might be because of the lights. harry's had half of a beer so it's definitely not because of that. but he's pretty. so, so fucking pretty.

he pulls harry's face closer to his, brushing his lips against the man's jaw as he kisses it. with a gentle push of his finger, he tilts harry's face so they're nose to nose. harry watches him through hooded eyes as louis contemplates an exaggerated life or death situation. louis sunk his teeth into his bottom lip as he slowly drew away.

"baby," harry mumbled, and louis nearly moaned at how low his voice was. "just do it already."

louis inches forward again to close the gap between them. harry's grip tightens on him as he almost immediately kisses him back. it's soft and innocent, probably the sweetest kiss louis has ever had in his life.

it's like they're magnetized to one another with the way their kisses get slower and slower, neither one of them bother to detach from one another.

"now kiss me like your life depended on it," harry says.

louis cups his hands on either side of harry's face, weaving his fingers through the little strands of curls framing around his jawline. he moves to where he's straddling him so they're both much more comfortable. he catches the man off guard by nipping at his bottom lip, causing harry to hold his breath for a second. louis is then surging forward to deepen the kiss.

louis' whole body feels as if someone lit a flamethrower inside of him. he moves his hands to link his arms around harry's neck as everything around him begins to drown out even though nobody is paying attention to them, all too busy with their own people, probably doing the same damn thing.

he parts his lips to gently graze the tip of his tongue along the cupid bow of harry's top lip. harry's head lifts just the slighest, mouth still parted, and he sucks on the tip of louis' tongue before taking over the kiss. he grabs louis by the thighs to pull his body closer as he rasps his tongue along louis' into his mouth, getting a taste he's craved for so long.

louis goes completely pliant in his touch as harry draws away to kiss the corner of his mouth and down his jaw. louis tilts his head back, exposing the column of his neck and harry leaves wet kisses in his path, biting his skin at the last second before kissing him again.

the older boy is definitely numb by the time his phone starts to go off in his jacket pocket and louis pulls away with blown out eyes and cherry red lips. harry's an exact mirror of him, looking up at the boy in absolute awe.

louis swipes his tongue over his lips and nods slowly. "not bad, styles."

harry slumps in his seat with a bitten smirk and the smaller boy checks to see who was blowing him up. it's zayn telling him how pretty liam and niall are. he turns his sound off and sticks his phone back in his coat before settling back down on harry's thighs once more.

he rests his palms on harry's chest and says softly, "i know i've been a bit of a handful lately but i've been doing a bit of soul searching, as zee would say...been working on school and myself and i've found that i am in a bit of a pickle."

"dill or bread and butter?"

louis scrunches his nose with a small gag. "bread and butter are a disgrace to humanity."

the taller boy takes a mental note to never offer them to louis.

"i can't let mylo stay in my head," louis murmurs. "i want this. i want whatever we are, whatever we could be...i don't want to be scared. i'm not, really..." he starts to fumble with the hem of harry's tee shirt as he continues. "i wanna try."

harry rests his hands on the sides of his thighs. "yeah?"

nodding, louis looks up to see harry fighting a smile. "i don't want to rush into things. i wanna take things slow. maybe, it depends on how pretty you look that day."

harry laughs with a nod, "okay."

the smaller man continues to blush as he asks just loud enough for the two of them to hear, "you wanna try?"

harry quirks an eyebrow with a teasing grin. "try what, bunny?"

god damn it, fuck, louis wants to cry. harry's too good for him. "will you be my boyfriend?"

harry grabs his chin and pulls him down for another kiss. "i'd love to."

—-

AYO????? THEY JUST FULL BLOWN SUCKED FACES IN FRONT OF GOD AND EVERYBODY AND LOUIS ASKED HIM OUT?????? IM PROUD

harry faced his biggest fear like a bad bitch. go shawty, go shawty 🤩

thoughts?

what do you think will happen next?