"sweetums," louis was greeted early in the morning with familiar lips kissing his face. "babylove, lou, honey."

"mm," louis whined.

"come on, wakey wakey," harry teased.

louis cracked one eye open and squinted at the man, shaking his head. harry chuckled and patted his thighs, poked his tummy and ended up laying on top of his boyfriend. louis groaned in response but wrapped his arms around harry's bare back, holding onto him and not letting go.

"you gotta get up, baby," harry hums. "we're going to do some things."

"'s too early."

"you don't even know what time it is!"

"still too early," louis shakes his head and harry nuzzles his face in the boy's neck.

"you're complicated."

"i like to sleep."

harry chuckles and scoots off of him but pulls him to his chest, laying back-to-chest with him. "i was thinking we could go find you a tux for your graduation."

"a tux?" louis asks. "those things are bloody expensive, no way."

"my treat," harry leans over to kiss his neck. "i've been saving up to do some more stuff."

"aw, what a sweetheart."

harry hums and pats his tummy. "get up sweets. get pretty for me."

"fine, just because you asked," louis teases and wiggles out of harry's grasp. he sits up and stretches, blushing when he felt harry's lips at the bottom of his spine kissing the dimples there when his shirt rose up.

"you up for some ihop for breakkie?"

louis turns his head and sees harry being super affectionate. the man was tracing up and down louis' spine, pressing tiny kisses along his back. he was cute.

"if you're up for it," louis shrugs. harry nods and sits up as well, finally wishing his boyfriend a goodmorning. louis says it in return and kisses his cheek before searching through his duffel bag for some jeans and underwear. he and harry share most of harry's shirts, mainly because if harry isn't in his work clothes he is shirtless. louis definitely didn't mind though.

louis finally got to take his shower and when he cracked the bathroom door open to let the steam out, harry was actually at the door about to knock.

"hey creeper," louis jokes.

harry rolls his eyes but grins. "hi honey. do you wanna eat and then go shopping or eat and go see liam?"

louis bites the inside of his cheek. "i'm fine with either, really. i live with liam but i do miss him kind of."

"kind of," harry snorts. louis flips him off and grabs his toothbrush, beginning to brush his teeth.

---

liam follows harry's car to the ihop a town away. he understands, though, since louis is a student and harry is a teacher -- they can't really be seen in public holding hands and kissing. louis invited them to go out today since they haven't had the chance to spend time together with everyone. liam and zayn barely knew what harry was like outside of school but judging by how chill he is there, he was probably just the same elsewhere. zayn was slumped in the passenger seat with his legs hiked up on the dash and one hand on liam's thigh.

"do you think louis is happy?" zayn asks softly.

liam nods. "i know he is. he's happier than he was before, that's for sure."

zayn looks back to the road and watches the cars pass them on the roads. "do you think he's in love?"

liam bites his lip. "louis has never been shown what love is, so i dunno. but i know if it wasn't for harry he probably wouldn't be here..."

his boyfriend nods at that. "oh yeah. harry pushed lou to go into therapy and stay on his meds. i know he would have listened to us but i know how he thinks. he used to think he was a nuisance to us but once i smoked him out and got everything out of him, we became sidekicks. hope you don't mind that i stole your best friend."

"bitch," liam chuckles and zayn grabs his hand, kissing the back of it before locking their fingers.

"i love you," he murmurs.

"i love you, zee baby," liam gives him a glance and grins. "i hope you're hungry."

"i always am!"

---

louis stayed tucked into harry's side once they entered the restaurant. harry didn't mind one bit. he kept an arm around louis' waist and his fingers curled into louis' belt loops just to keep him near. the couples were seated at a booth and given menus, ordering their drinks before their food.

louis was playing with the wrapper to his straw when harry pressed a gentle kiss below his ear.

"i love you," he whispered, bumping his nose against louis' cheek.

louis smiled softly and turned to give him a kiss. "i know."

harry kissed him again before skimming through the menu. he closed the book after deciding what he wanted, carefully placing his hand on louis' thigh. louis didn't tense up. he relaxed in the man's touch and placed his hand on top of harry's, giving it a soft squeeze.

"you two are so cute that i'm gonna be ill," zayn groans and turns his head. louis stifles a laugh, throwing his straw wrapper at his friend. zayn gasped and threw it back (and it hit harry in the nose.)

harry narrowed his eyes at zayn and grabbed the wrapper, leaning over their table and flicked his forehead before throwing the wrapper at him. liam snorted and shook his head. he must be the only mature one at the table.

their food came soon and louis' mouth watered at the sight of his pancakes. he got the blueberry ones with extra butter and syrup.

"i remember when i would barely even touch food," louis said quietly, causing liam and zayn to look his way. harry put his fork down and tucked some of louis' hair behind his ear and moved his jaw with his finger so that they were looking at eachother.

"and now you're happier than a stoner with the munchies. and i am so fucking proud of you, baby," he said softly. "you're eating and you're healthy, i couldn't ask for anything better."

louis smiled and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "you're amazing, haz. and if it wasn't for you, or you guys," he turned his head towards the couple sitting across from them. "i probably wouldn't be here."

"we know," zayn sits up straight. "but you know what any of us would bend over backwards for you, bubba."

liam nods in agreement. "yeah, and you already know i won't hesitate to attempt murder again over you."

"you didn't even attempt," zayn snorted. "you just thought about it."

harry facepalms and grabs his orange juice. "either way," he clears his throat. "lou, baby, we are so fucking proud of you and how far you have come."

"thank you," the smaller boy says shyly.

zayn lifts up his cup. "to louis."

"to louis!"

"to me!" louis picks up his chocolate milk and breaks out in laughter when everyone else does.

---

"oh, this is nice," louis says as he searches the shirts. he and harry are stuck in spencers because zayn wanted some new decorations for his room but none of the other stores were "good enough."

harry places his hands on louis' hips and kisses his shoulder. "do you want something?"

"haz, you can't just buy anything i like," louis said with a pout. "i can't pay you back at the moment."

harry turns him around and shushes him with a kiss. "so? if you like it, get it. i already told you i've been saving up for us."

louis continues to pout, looking up at him with his big blues.

harry quirked an eyebrow. "don't look at me like that."

louis crossed his arms over his chest and stomped his foot. harry dipped down to cup his jaw and a small grin plastered along his face.

"you're so cute," he says. louis stays silent but puckers his lips and harry happily gives him the kiss he wants.

"lovebirds!" zayn sings and hops over to them and points to louis. "i found something you may like."

harry pulls louis to the little section where they have the herbal things. the oils, diffusers, inscents and mainly homeopathic items. zayn picked up a small inscent holder but it was actually a hand holding up the middle finger. the inscent would stay in the top of that middle finger. louis gasped and took it, letting out a small laugh and harry tapped his fingers along the bottom of louis' back.

"you want it?"

louis bit his lip and looked up at him. "uh...yeah."

"'kay." harry takes it and grabs some scent packages for him as well. zayn raises his eyebrows and louis blushes, following his boyfriend around the store.

louis clings to harry, grabbing the back of his shirt in fistfuls. harry skims through the small aisles and finds some shirts, offering to get matching ones with louis.

"are we really that gay?" louis laughs as harry picked out shirts of deadpool riding a unicorn.

"no, it's deadpool!" harry defended. "deadpool is an icon."

"touché, baby, touché," louis hums and grabs a medium. harry got a large and carried it over his shoulder, brushing off louis' protests to carry it.

"sometimes i want to squeeze you until your eyeballs pop out," louis groans but stays on his heels. "hazza, baby."

"yes, princess?" harry teases.

louis tensed up and stayed silent. harry turned around and went to speak but judging by the way louis began to look around and twitch, he knew what was happening. he put the things in his hands aside and cupped louis' face, gaining his attention.

"baby?"

louis gulped and shook his head, placing his hands on top of harry's.

"was it something i said?" harry asks softly.

louis nods and closes his eyes. "h-he called me..while he-"

"fuck, i'm so sorry," harry pulls him into a hug. louis buries his face in his chest and clings to him, not daring to let go. harry kept apologizing over and over, telling him he was safe with him and the lad who hurt him would never be around anymore. he kept giving louis comforting back rubs and soft kisses to his shoulder.

"'s not your fault," louis murmurs. zayn peeks his head around the corner to see harry trying to make sure louis was alright. liam steps up and walks to the couple, asking if everything was okay when he saw louis trembling in harry's arms.

"i said something that was bad on his part," harry said softly. "i didn't know, and he kinda...flipped."

"is he okay?" liam asks.

louis nods as harry wipes the boy's eyes. "i'm okay," he says. "just bad memories."

harry sadly kisses his temple and apologizes again. louis pressed the sleeve to his sweater against harry's face, shushing him. harry furrowed his eyebrows and bit louis' hand through the shirt, causing the boy to squeal and yank his arm away.

"fucker," he groaned and shook his hand around. harry cooed and kissed where his light teeth marks were, grabbing their items he put aside once he made sure louis was fine.

harry paid for their things and kept apologizing. he felt horrible. but he didn't know, louis said it wasn't his fault. he understood harry was just messing around but it was still triggering on his behalf.

"i love you, and i'm sorry," harry says once they leave spencer's and kisses his cheek.

"i know, babes," replies lou, turning to face him. "it's just something i never told anyone and that's my bad."

harry shrugs and takes his hand, kissing his knuckles. "that's alright, love. now i know better. can i call you king instead?"

"i think i like baby better."

---

here's a filler (:

sad news but i think optional will be ending soon. i wanna say atleast before 35/40 chapters in. i already have the ending planned out, and im so fucking excited for it but also sad at the same time. like ugh. i remember writing this book as a teacherxstudent bdsm when i was like 13 and now i remade it & idk im just more proud with this version.

who do you think has developed more as a character between all 4 members so far? what makes you think that?

what would you like to see happen before optional closes up shop?

i love you all, please comment & dont forget to vote. all the luv, kiwi x