Word Count: 1495

Edited

~~~~~

"Hurry up, Niall! He'll be here literally any second!" Louis yelled, stress filling every square fucking inch of his voice.

"Mate, I love you, but we still have five ours until he gets here," Niall exclaimed, showing Louis the time on his phone.

Louis dropped the blue paper banners he was holding, and squished the sides of his face together with his hands, "That doesn't matter. What if he takes off early and comes in unexpectedly! Oh God, I'm wasting time just by talking to you!"

Then, he was dashing away.

"Thanks, good to know you like talking to me!" Niall called, laughing loudly afterwards.

Zayn and Liam were in the kitchen, trying to take the cakes out of the pans after the chocolate circles had cooled enough.

Then, they would get to work on the frosting.

"Lou?" Liam called.

Louis sprinted from where he was, in the living room putting up the banners, into the kitchen.

"What?" He asked, "Why did your voice sound like you just saw a kid get hit by a car?"

Zayn raised an eyebrow, "Weird metaphor, but okay."

"Well," Liam started, staring nervously at a frantic Louis, "I- this second cake is sticking to the pan, and I fear that, if we get it out, part of it will stick to the pan and have a chunk missing from the cake."

Louis rubbed his eyes in frustration, and walked over to the other side of the kitchen island to inspect the cake closer.

"Zayn," He said, "Can you start working on the frosting? All of the ingredients except for the cold stuff are out already, on the counter over there."

Zayn nodded, and moved to the other side of the kitchen to start making the frosting.

"Okay, we can try tapping the bottom edge with a knife, and scrape around the edge of the cake to separate it from the pan," Louis thought.

He remembered that tip from when he was little - him and his mom used to always bake cakes together to eat with their elderly neighbor.

"Smart idea, Louis," Liam praised, opening a nearby drawer and retreating a knife.

He handed it to Louis, the expert, so he could get to work trying to get the cake out.

He tapped along the bottom of the round pan, multiple times.

And then, began separating if from the walls of the pan by running the knife along the inside, between the pan and the cake.

"Okay," He sighed, setting down the knife, "Moment of truth."

He tipped the pan over, placing it carefully on the cooling rack, and gently lifted it, shaking it a bit to get the cake loose.

It plopped out of the tin and onto the cooling rack, and Louis grinned with relief, until he pulled the pan completely away.

There was a huge chunk missing from one of the sides.

Louis dropped the tin, and put his head in his hands.

He could feel tears springing up into his eyes with frustration.

He wanted everything to be perfect for Harry's 33rd birthday, but so far everything was going wrong.

He had ripped a banner that was supposed to hang in the front entry way, he stepped on one of the party hats that had been left on the floor, he ran out of wrapping paper on one of the presents, so he had to use a freaking grocery bag, and now the cake had a chunk missing.

The top tier of the cake.

The most noticable layer, and it had a whole chunk missing from it.

"Hey, it's alright, Lou," Liam said, hugging Louis tightly, "We can stick the piece that stuck, back to the cake with some frosting, okay? And besides, the frosting will cover the mistake, anyway. Harry will love it."

Louis nodded, and he tried to wipe away the hot angry tears running down his face.

His cheeks heated up with embarrassment from crying in front of one of Harry's friends after only knowing them for five days.

Sure, the group had gotten super close over that time, but it was still very embarressing to Louis.

"Sorry," he sighed, "I just wanted everything to go perfectly for Haz. It's been longer than I can remember since the last time I celebrated any birthday with anyone, and Harry is my soulmate, so I want this to be great for him."

Liam nodded, and placed a comforting hand on Louis' shoulder, "I get it, Louis. I definitely am not in the same position as you, but I understand wanting things to go perfectly for the people you love. There's been a few hiccups here and there, but that makes it more special, hm? I'm sure no matter how many holes this cake has, Harry will love it just the same."

Louis chuckled, and nodded his head, "Thanks, Li. That makes me feel much better."

Liam shrugged it off, but his cheeks still went a bit pink, like they do every time someone compliments him, Louis has noticed.

-

Once the frosting was finished being made, Louis got to work icing the cake and stacking the three layers together.

Zayn, Niall and Liam all got to work cleaning the dishes, the rooms, finishing up the decorations.

Louis was very conscious about thanking them all profusely for their work.

-

"He's here!" Niall squealed, "He's here! Hide, guys, hide!"

Louis grinned as he hid behind the couch with Niall, while Liam hid behind a curtain, and Zayn hid behind Louis' recliner.

They heard the keys in the door turn the locks, and then the door to the house was opening.

"Sweetheart!" Harry called, causing Louis to blush and Niall to poke him in the side, giggling behind his hand.

"Sweetheart, I'm home!"

When Louis heard him walk into the living room, he jumped up, as did all the others.

"Surprise!" They all yelled together.

Harry jumped, startled, before grinning widely.

He looked at Louis, "You guys made me a surprise party?" He asked.

Louis nodded, climbing out from behind the couch, "mhm! Do you like it?"

Harry engulfed him in a hug, wrapping an arm around his waist tightly and kissing him.

He set his briefcase on the ground, "I love it."

"Louis is the one who planned everything," Zayn said, and the others agreed.

"Yep, this wouldn't have happened without him," Liam smiled.

"Uh huh, he's awesome," Niall nodded.

Louis blushed, "But they helped a lot, like Zayn made the frosting all by himself."

"'All by himself?'" Harry whistled, admiring the three tiered, triple chocolate cake sitting on the kitchen island, "That's a lot of frosting to make."

"Yeah, man," Zayn started, "My arms are already twice as big now, from all that mixing and stirring."

That made the others laugh.

"Well, how about we open presents first?" Harry suggested, "I love opening them."

Louis nodded, and lead them to the couch, sitting Harry down in his recliner, while Zayn, Liam and Niall took the couch.

"I'll hand you them so you don't have to get up, okay?" Louis told Harry, since the presents were on a small table on the other side of the living room.

Harry nodded, "Thank you, love."

Louis smiled, and got to work handing Harry his presents.

He was nervous for Harry's last present, which would come later that day, but he kept the confident smile on his face the whole time Harry was opening his gifts.

From Zayn, he got a new coffee maker, since theirs had broke two days ago, a sweater that said "I'm an idiot" on it, a deck of playing cards, and a rolex watch.

From Liam, he got a sweater with an 'H' knitted on the front, exactly like the one Harry Potter got from Molly Weasely, a remote control car, a book about the Hundred Years' War, and socks that had Niall rolling on the floor with laughter.

Niall got him a bag of jelly beans, a set of golf clubs and golf balls, along with a flyer of best places to golf, a pack of guinness beers, and a book about Ireland.

Everyone was laughing at the presents from him.

And lastly, Louis got him a bracelet that had L.T. engraved on the inside, a nice jacket for when it rains, a Marvel poster, and a box of sweets Harry had been talking about for weeks.

Harry had gotten up to kiss Louis each time he opened a new gift from him, and by the end of it, Louis was blushing like a mad man. 

"Anyone up for some cake, now?" Harry suggested, helping the others collect the gift wrap and bags.

"Fuck yes!" Niall cheered, heading to the kitchen with Harry.

Zayn trialed along behind his soulmate.

"Hey, Liam," Louis said, grabbing Liam's shoulder to stop him.

"Where do you work? I know where all the others work, but not you."

"Oh!" Liam smiled, "I own four strip clubs."