after a night of movies, presents and mind blowing sex as a congratulatory gift from harry, louis took a shower with him and snuggled against his chest until the sun rose in time for him to get up and go to work. after they left the ceremony, the three families went out to eat to celebrate everyone's accomplishment and shared gifts upon gifts with eachother. liam got a new car, zayn got a tattoo kit to be able to finally open up his own shop and louis got concert tickets to see ed sheeran in three months. they were good seats and he only had two tickets but liam and zayn already knew who he was taking and they didn't complain about it. mainly because they got their own tickets to see a live action version of phantom of the opera in july

harry pulled louis closer to his body, bare chest flush against his lover's naked back. he had one arm wrapped around the small boy and the other tucked under his pillow, wild chocolate locks along his face and stuck to his skin. he was sleeping peacefully with soft snores escaping his lips and louis rolled over, rubbing his eyes before laying his hand on harry's arm. he gently took his finger and traced the tattoos littering his arm and chest, pressing a kiss to his collarbone and nuzzling his nose against it.

"haz," he says quietly. "baby, wake up."

"no," harry says and tucks louis' head under his chin. "wanna stay like this forever."

"i have to go to work," louis reminds him. "i gotta be there at nine."

"what time 's it now?" harry asks with a yawn. louis peeked over harry's shoulder and glanced at the alarm clock sitting on the night stand before snuggling back into his chest.

"'s eight."

"so early for a saturday," harry huffs. louis chuckles and nipped at his neck, grazing his teeth over a hickey he left on him the night before.

"last night was amazing," louis says and snaked his hand around to harry's back, digging his nails into the thick skin and yawning. "you know how to make a boy swoon."

"you called me mr. styles last night, i think i won the grand prize," harry chuckled. louis hums innocently and kissed harry's adams apple before trailing his mouth up his neck and to his jaw.

"i gots to pee," louis says. harry whines but lets go of him once louis promises he would be right back. louis does his thing and brushes his teeth while harry slips in the bathroom to do the same thing. louis finishes brushing his teeth first and leaves to grab clothes to change into but harry grabbed him by the waist and pulled him back, shutting the water off and peppering kisses on his shoulder.

"babe," louis pouts. "gotta get dressed."

"i don't want you to leave," harry mocks his pout. "call in and tell them you're on life support or something."

louis snorts and tilted his head so harry could have room to kiss his neck. "i can't do that, haz. i get off early today anyways."

"how early?"

"one."

harry whines and leans louis against the counter, tightening his arms around him. "but that's too long!" he protests.

louis giggled and squirmed to where he was face to face with the man. "when i get home we can cuddle all day long, okay?"

harry sighed in defeat. "okay..."

"you're clingy after doing the dirty," louis notes and tapped his nose.

"no, i jus' love you and wanna keep you forever," harry argued and kissed louis' lips. the smaller boy hummed into his mouth and raised one hand to cup his cheek while the other stayed flat against his chest. harry took the opportunity to sneak his hands down louis' sides and grip his bum in his large hands, pulling their crotches together and got a soft moan out of louis from it.

"horny bastard," louis blushed and whimpered when harry nibbled on his lip. "i gotta get ready."

harry pulled back with a childish pout. "okay, fine," he sighs and louis kisses his cheek before leaving the bathroom. his boyfriend tailed him like a lost puppy and burrowed himself back underneath the bedsheets and watched louis search through his clothes to get ready for work. he remembered when louis would get sad that he had to leave and now he's experiencing the same feeling. he didn't want louis to go, he wanted to cuddle with him and share kisses all day long. but he was also glad that louis found a job that he liked. the boy loved animals and finding them a safe home was louis' top priority. they were his babies that he didn't get to keep.

"you're so handsome," harry says softly as louis picks up a shirt.

louis blushes as he changes. "thank you," he shyly replied and wiggled into some jeans. he winced as he pulled them on, mainly because he was a little sore from last night, and harry couldn't hide the smirk growing on his face. louis threw harry's shirt from the night before at him and rolled his eyes. he could really be a bugger sometimes.

"do you want me to drive you or do you want to take my car?" harry asks as he tosses his button up in the laundry basket.

louis scoffs and puts his hands on his hips. "does it look like i can drive, silly boy?"

harry pouts and shrinks down into the bed. "sorry."

chuckling, louis knelt on the bed and kissed harry's temple. "i really need to get my license."

harry nods in agreement. "driving can be fun." he moved the blanket over and pulled louis in his embrace, tucking his head in the boy's neck and inhaling his sweet scent. "i love you so much."

louis smiled softly as he wrapped his limbs around him. "i bet i love you more."

"no way," harry argues. "i love you to the moon and back five hundred times."

louis pouts. "well...well i love you to the end of the milky way and back five hundred times."

"'m not arguing with you," harry mumbled against his neck. "i love you more and that's it."

—-

one month later

"stewart styles! how dare you?!" harry yells across the house, chasing after the dog who has his bag of chips in his mouth. "come back here, you little rascal!"

louis watches from the doorway of the kitchen as the german shepherd darted past him and into the corner of the living room. this was a typical day in the tomlinson-styles household. stewie was always up to something and harry was the one who would chase him down while louis laughed and recorded everything. the eight month old pup has adjusted to his parent's schedules with harry getting up and taking him for a walk while louis got ready for work. then when louis was gone, harry would sometimes take him to the dog park when he was bored or go get himself something to snack on from their local dairy queen and get a cup of ice cream for stewie too. he was spoiled rotten.

louis moves over to the couch once harry finally wiggles his bag of chips out of the dog's mouth. harry sat on the floor next to stewart and fed him some chips even though he was being a bugger. he would make the dog sit or shake his paw before giving him anything though, just to prove to him he had to earn his rewards.

louis adjusts himself on the couch and grabs harry's laptop that was sitting on the table in front of him. he signed into his account and returned to what he was doing earlier that afternoon. he had a surprise for harry but he just didn't know when the right time was. they were so happy right now with the way life was going for them. the news could potentially make harry cry but he knew he would be so happy at same time.

once harry and stewie finished their snack, harry tossed the empty bag into the trash bin and stretched.

"lou-weeeeeeeeee," he said, patting the smaller boy's head.

louis pushes his glasses up his nose and tilts his head back. "yes, honey?"

harry leaned over the couch and gave him an upside down kiss. "i lava you."

"you're so stupid," louis giggled against his lips before kissing him again. "but i lava you too."

"'s what i thought," harry chuckles before climbing over the couch and sitting beside the boy. "what are you doing?"

louis hums as his fingers glide down the mousepad on the laptop. "applying for financial aid."

"for?"

louis blinks and bites his lip. "college."

harry gasps and throws his arms around him. "college? you're really gonna do it?"

louis giggled and nods. "i kind of got accepted into the uni here in town so that we aren't too far away from eachother. i could even do online classes if i wanted to."

harry beams a big smile and peppered kisses along the side of his face. "my baby, i'm so proud of you. i'm so excited!"

laughing, louis puts the laptop on the coffee table and allows harry to smother him with affection. the older man continued to love on him and tell him he was so proud of him while louis began to cry and cling to him. it was a big step for louis to take. he used to not want to go but it had been dawning on him recently that he can't work at the pet shop for the rest of his life. if he could bring himself to graduate high school then he could start college and get a degree. he knew what he wanted to do, he knew it would be a hard road to travel but it would be so fucking worth it in the end.

—-

he got into college! im such a proud mom right now!

who has been your favorite character in this fic? why?

who has the most/best character development?

thank you all so much for 21k, but i am also sad to say the epilogue will be next chapter. ): as of now optional will be my first completed book except for tomgirl but we dont speak of her. she's old news.

the epilogue will be tearful. it will be full of emotions that im not even prepared for. but just know im gonna try to make it the best chapter and ending i can because YOU deserve it. your loyalty to this book is what kept me writing it. im so excited to see what my writing future has in store! and soon a new fic will be up, just give me time!

i love you all so much x