Chapter Text
SIX YEARS LATER
"There you go" Harry smiles widely and places the plate of pancakes onto the surface of the kitchen island.
It's a warm day, the sun shining through the large windows, illuminating the wooden style kitchen. Harry has his work suit already on, but the floral jacket is still over the back of one barstool, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows. His light blue fingernails fit the blue of his suit perfectly.
Milo looks up from his book, smiling back at Harry before pulling the plate closer.
"Thank you" He mumbles with his cup raised to his lips, sipping on the tea Harry made him. He holds the mug with dark brown sweater paws, the knitted sweater almost the same colour of his hair.
Harry sits down opposite Milo, folding his hands on the table. "Did you manage to sort everything from yesterday out?"
"Yeah" Milo replies, turning the page in his book. He glances up at Harry and smiles again, warm and genuine. "Thanks again for that"
"No worries, love. If you need any more help, always ask me yeah? After all, I studied law"
Darcy next to Milo rolls her eyes slightly at that. "We know, you don't need to tell us every day, dad"
"Be nice, sweetheart" Louis scolds, walking into the kitchen and bringing more sunshine with him.
His hair is short again, his skin even more tanned and his eyes still so fucking blue. He's wrapped up in a blanket, Noah hanging at the front in some sort of cocoon. Louis raises his eyebrows at Darcy to get his point across, before stealing a blueberry from her plate.
"No books on the table" he then says to Milo, the brown haired boy sighing before closing the book and sliding it into his leather bag. "Or anywhere, actually" Louis corrects himself, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen island. "Catch"
Milo doesn't catch it, but Darcy does, sticking her tongue out at her brother.
Harry looks at Louis, trying to have a stern, scolding expression on his face. But Louis looks really fucking cute in the blanket with baby Noah in front of him, his big blue eyes wide as he drools into his hand. "You can't just throw things at him"
"Hell yeah I can! Here, Haz, catch" Louis says confidently, throwing the next apple at Harry, who catches it with slight effort. Louis only smiles at that, turning his body so he doesn't squeeze Noah when he leans in to kiss Harry's lips shortly.
Darcy makes gagging noises, and Milo looks up from the book he secretively continued reading underneath the table. "Good morning, light of my life. And good morning, my grumpy children"
Harry smiles at that, watching Louis reach around the table to ruffle Milo's and Darcy's hair, making them both groan out in annoyance and fix it again.
"Morning you too, second favourite dad" Darcy mumbles, trying to sort out her dark curls with her hands.
Harry doesn't say anything as he untangles Noah from the blanket, balancing him on his hip while he hands Louis his tea. Louis pecks his lips for that again and sits down opposite Darcy, stealing a pancake. "Sooo, want me to bring you to school?"
While Milo shrugs, Darcy immediately pulls a face. "Ew, no, dad. That's fucking embarrassing. Nobody is brought to school, especially not when your dad is a teacher and everyone knows him"
Harry chuckles into his own tea as he sees Louis' cute pout. "But I'm the cool drama teacher, and I'm not even working right now" he points out. "Paternity leave. Duh"
Milo decides to take Darcy's side at that. "But you're still our dad. That's embarrassing. It's as if anyone would openly brag about understanding Hamlet, like... everybody does"
Louis slowly chews on his pancake while Harry high fives Milo across the table. "What have you done?"
Harry only cackles as Louis shakes his head slowly. "I've done gods work"
Louis sighs dramatically. "Yeah, whatever. Darcy love, today's footie day?"
"Oh yeah" Darcy says with her mouth full, checking her phone. "I was actually gonna ask, can Khai join us today?"
Harry immediately stops playing with Noah's nose and everyone in the room looks at Darcy. It seems so quiet all of a sudden, as if the slow eighties song in the background also stopped. "Who's Khai?"
"Um" Darcy makes, swallowing and cutting another piece of her pancake. "She's kinda like... my girlfriend, I guess"
"Oh" Harry says, a smile slowly forming on his face. How fast they grow up, right? They adopted Darcy when she was twelve, she's now fifteen and apparently has her first girlfriend.
"Of course she can join us" Louis smiles warmly.
"Why don't you invite her for dinner sometime? I want to meet her too"
"Dad" Darcy whines, getting up from her stool and grabbing her backpack, littered with stickers and pins, and her skateboard. "We've been a thing for like a week now, give me some time"
Harry gives her a supportive thumbs up, Noah tugging at his curls for attention. "I love that you're wearing the sweater, by the way" He calls after her into the hallway.
Darcy stops and looks down on herself, at the red sweater Harry knitted for her last week. She smiles and walks back into the kitchen, doing her super secret, super complicated handshake with Harry, hugging Louis shortly and ruffling his hair as revenge, before she skips back into the hallway. She grabs her leather jacket that was actually Louis' when they were their age, before she's out of the door and Harry hears her skateboard roll down the front yard.
Louis turns his attention to Milo, who has his book back openly on the kitchen island, now that the attention was on his sister.
"Really don't want to bring me to school? I could let you out around a corner or something"
"No, it's fine, thanks dad" Milo chuckles, closing his book for good now and packing it away. He's wearing Harry's old pearl necklace. "I know you're bored at home because you're not working at the moment, but you don't need to. I'm seventeen, not nine. And Noelle picks me up anyway"
Noelle is Milo's girlfriend, of three years now, they got together when Milo was fourteen.
"With what?" Louis asks, raising his eyebrows.
"With her motorbike, she got her license last week"
With that being said, Milo goes to put on his shoes, while Louis and Harry gasp in unison and turn to grin at each other. "He's dating the mysterious baddie" Louis whispers.
"I heard that" Milo says, but he sounds unbothered, amused even.
"You should write a school play about that" Harry says, nodding along.
"You're not going to write a play about me and my girlfriend"
Louis ignores their son, looking as if he's in deep thoughts. "Mhm, yeah" Then he snaps his attention back on Harry. "Now though, don't waste your smart lawyer braincells on that and bail some people out, I'll clean this" He nods over the plates and empty bowl Harry used for the pancakes.
"Thank you" Harry mumbles, handing Louis Noah back and kissing him shortly. "I love you"
There's a honking sound outside and Milo quickly walks back in to grab his bottle and say goodbye, to them and a tired old Cliff on the couch, before he skips out of the door.
"Also" Louis murmurs, fingers tracing Harry's suit jacket. "I love your sexy lawyer suit, so you better stay here today as long as you can while they're still in school. Lottie wanted to go out with Noah today anyway, so... we have the house to ourselves"
Harry smiles, shivers running down his arms. "You could at least pretend to whisper, with our few months old boy inches away from your face right now" He pointedly glances at Noah, who smears some maple syrup over Louis' beard.
Louis only grins and turns to him. "Noah honey, I love your dad so very much much, we will play many card games while you're with auntie"
Harry laughs, burying his face in Louis' free shoulder.
"Maybe even some tag. Or hide and seek. Thumbs war sounds great, doesn't it? Your dad is really good at thumbs war"
"Dadda" Noah giggles and Louis and Harry freeze, staring at each other.
"Can you say that again, sweetheart?"
"Dad" Noah says, hiding his face in Louis' chest.
Ten minutes later, Harry is outside, waiting for Lottie on their porch with Noah now fully dressed in his arms making him say the word over and over again. Louis is inside, grabbing all of Noah's things Lottie might need while she's out with him. Harry, since he's pretty close with him, got his boss to agree to him coming a bit later today.
Louis does that all the time, makes him stay home when the rare opportunity comes of their kids being gone. It is in fact really rare, with three of them. Especially when one is a baby and the other two are old enough to make their own decisions, you never know when they could come home early. So, as soon as the occasion is there and they definitely have a few hours, Harry obviously immediately calls his boss.
Noah is right now starting to be a little impatient, hands fisting the material of Harry's suit until it wrinkles, while Harry makes him say "dad" over and over again. Noah, though, looks like he's about to throw up, so Harry just shushes him and holds him closer, slightly swaying them while he waits for Louis. "Sorry, love. We have to wait for dad, he's a bit slow right now"
"I heard that" Louis' voice says warningly as he comes barging down the stairs of the porch, Clifford following shortly. "He looks like he's going to spit a bit" Louis mumbles, taking Noah from Harry again. "Wouldn't want him ruining your sexy suit, right? I'll go get vayw" He announces and Harry rolls his eyes playfully.
Vayw is an old towel they put on their shoulders while holding Noah, because the boy is unpredictable. Louis then named the towel VAYW (vomit anywhere you want) and Harry both hates and loves him for it at the same time.
Right now, he only cackles as Louis walks back into the house, hearing a car approaching. He turns towards the street, fully expecting Lottie's old blue one, but instead it's an expensive looking Bentley pulling into the front yard. Harry has to do a double take as soon as he sees the person stepping out, clad in a black suit and sunglasses.
"Hey" The man says simply, shutting the drivers door carefully.
"Francis?" Harry says, it comes out as a question. He hasn't seen this man in about six years. "What are you doing here?" He can't help but cross his arms in front of his chest defensively. Francis hurt him, deeply.
"I'm sorry for just coming here like this without asking first, but I was in the neighbourhood and I have to get something off my chest before I move to LA next week"
Harry raises his eyebrows at that new information. He knew Francis doesn't live in their old house anymore, and he couldn't really care less about it being empty all the time now.
"Alright, but make it quick, I'm busy" He agrees, but doesn't invite him inside. That's his home, and Francis doesn't fit in there at all. He won't let him ruin that. But he will give him a chance to explain whatever he came here for.
Francis seems quite awkward about standing outside, but he doesn't ask for anything else, just steps a little closer and rubs his hands together. "I, um. I wanted to thank you"
"Thank me?"
"Yes. For showing me that I needed to stop working so much. Because of you I decided to see someone who could maybe help me, and it worked. I realised in the end that I was doing this whole workaholic thing and that it wasn't good for my mental health, or the people who cared about me. And I just wanted to say thank you for pointing that out"
Harry nods slowly, he didn't expect that at all. But Francis doesn't seem to be finished just yet, taking another deep breath. "And I wanted to apologise for hurting you, I never meant to hurt you. I realised I was a shitty fiancé and that you always deserved better, and I know I never really apologised, so I wanted to get that off my chest too, before I leave"
"Thank you" Harry mumbles, looking down at the floor and smiling slowly.
"Also, I'm sorry for accusing you of cheating, and for what I said when my friends were over. And the makeup thing"
When Harry looks up again, he smiles genuinely. "Thank you Francis, that means a lot to me"
Francis smiles as well, and for a second Harry sees the person he fell in love with. It's a tiny moment, and it doesn't really matter, but Harry is glad that person is still there. Or maybe that person is there again. He's just happy Francis is doing alright.
"I'm glad you found someone who makes you as happy as you deserve" Francis nods towards the front door behind Harry, and Harry looks over his own shoulder, seeing Louis standing on the porch with Noah in his arms. Louis looks at them, smiling peacefully. Noah seems to be asleep, and Louis slowly sways him.
Harry smiles and looks back at Francis. "He does" he says quietly.
"I'm sorry that I didn't manage to do that"
Harry only shrugs slightly, because he doesn't know how to answer that. "I hope you're happy as well"
"Oh, I am" Francis seems to practically light up at that thought. "Found someone" he says, almost shyly. "She's great"
"That's amazing" Harry says, and he means it. Somehow it feels like the last missing piece of the puzzle finally finding its place. Francis is apologising, he got help, he figured himself out and all.
"Yeah" Francis says slowly, swaying on his feet slightly awkwardly. "So... I just wanted to drop by also because of the house"
"Oh, yeah" Harry says, turning to look at it. He's only been in there a handful of times since he got back together with Louis, to get all his things. "Are you going to sell it? Now that you're moving to the states?"
Francis shrugs, turning towards his car and opening the backseat door to pull some papers out. "That is entirely up to you"
"What?"
"It's yours"
Harry gapes at him, then at the papers Francis hands him. He recognises them as the same ones he signed when they bought it, well, Francis bought it because he was older and he had the money to buy a three floor house with a garden in London. He didn't even really look at what he signed at the time, because he was so giddy and young and wanted to be naive. But there, back on white, it says clearly that the house was under his name the whole time. He owns it. It's his. Francis bought it, but made it Harry's.
"Oh"
"I actually always thought you knew, but I figured when I saw you didn't do anything to sell it, all this time"
"Francis, I... I don't know what to say"
Francis just waves off. "It's fine. I did it and I never regretted it. You will always be an important part in my life, Harry. That's why I thought it would feel wrong without apologising and saying goodbye"
Harry can only smile and nod, lost for words.
"So" Francis chuckles. "Goodbye"
Harry laughs, slightly coming back to his senses. "Goodbye, Francis"
Francis nods and bites his bottom lip awkwardly. In the end it's Harry who initiates the hug, stepping closer and briefly wrapping his arms around the other man. Francis' hands are hesitant and gently on his upper back. It's a short hug, but it's refreshing. Harry feels free now.
He turns back to Louis, who comes walking down onto the lawn and over to them. He doesn't say anything, just smiles at Harry and then briefly at Francis. Francis seems more awkward than ever, but smiles back when Louis offers him his free hand that isn't holding Noah.
Nobody says anything after that, and Francis nods one last time, sends them one last smile and then gets back into his car. Louis wraps his arm around Harry's middle as they watch him speed off.
"I own the house" Harry says after a while, showing Louis the papers and the other key Francis gave him.
Louis just smiles at him and squeezes his waist. "What do you want to do with it?"
"I want to sell it" Harry says, leaning his head on Louis' shoulder. "We could easily pay for Milo's and Darcy's uni with that"
Louis hums and grins as Lottie's car eventually pulls into the driveway.
They're not necessarily short on money, but they did pay a lot for their traveling. After Louis and Harry got back together, they just lived, breathed and... had sex for about half a year, until Harry asked Louis if he could show him his favourite places all over the world and hell, Louis did. They planned to do a smaller version of what Louis did before, but in the end added a few more places and were gone for two years.
Harry wouldn't be able to say which of them was his favourite, or which was his favourite memory made on the way. Except that he totally can.
It was a disgusting motel in Italy, but they just ended the camping road trip part along the coast and desperately needed a real bed and showers and all. Louis unlocked the door and threw their bags onto the cheap bed, while Harry dramatically swayed in like a zombie.
Everything was hurting, his back most of all. But he was happy. He was so unconditionally happy. "A bed" He whined, but collapsed right in front of it on the ugly carpet floor. Louis only laughed at him, cracking his spine and opening he door again. "I'll go get us some tea, love"
Harry nodded, eyes closed and a happy smile on his face. "Don't be too long. We have a bed"
He heard Louis' laugh again and then how the door closed, so Harry eventually got up and took a quick shower. When Louis came back into the room with two cups in his hands, he was sitting on the floor in sweats and one of Louis' shirts, looking through one of their duffel bags. "This is the kind of motel people get killed in" He noted, nodding at a coffee stain on the carpet. He hoped it was coffee.
Louis only cackled and put the cups aside, crouching down in front of Harry. "If you want, I could kill your arse tonight"
"Oh really" Harry smirked and raised one eyebrow.
"Really" Louis nudged his shoulder and Harry immediately fell back against the carpet, Louis crawling on top of him. He pressed one of his legs between Harry's own and god, if that wasn't Harry's weakness.
He stayed strong though. "And how would you do that?"
Louis pretended to think and lifted his gaze to look around pointedly, but froze. "Haz"
Harry hummed and slipped his hands under Louis' t shirt.
"Don't freak out"
"Oh" Harry wiggled his eyebrows. "Getting kinky tonight?"
"Harry"
"Why did you say my full name?"
"Harry, don't freak out" Louis paused. "There's a rat"
Harry, obviously, freaked out and then ran out of the room as a screaming mess.
Long story short, they slept in the van once more, but it was alright, because they got the money for the motel room back and a breakfast for free the next morning. That is easily Harry's favourite, though also most terrifying memory of the whole trip.
Then they came back to London, realised how much their place and their life and Clifford and each other were home for them, and decided to have children.
But since adopting is a heavy process, it's better to be married for that, as Anne said one Christmas with over-exaggerated winking.
That's why one stormy night in January, they sat in their bed, listened to vinyls and Harry was with his back to Louis chest, crocheting, Louis wrapped his arms around him and took the wool out of his hands. That night, Louis proposed to Harry with a small plastic ring he bought for him back when he was fourteen and had a crush on Harry but was convinced Harry was straight. He never had the chance to give him that ring back then, but he found it while moving and what occasion was better for that than when eventually asking him if he would marry him.
Harry obviously said yes immediately with a minimal amount of tears and squealing and a maximal amount of sex.
He just didn't want to go back to the whole being engaged thing, so they got married only three weeks later, in the garden of Harry's childhood home with only their families and closest friends.
Then, half a year later they adopted Milo, then Darcy about a year later, both of them already teenagers when they moved in. Darcy and Louis were a team from the beginning, from when Louis noticed Darcy's football in her room in the orphanage.
Louis taught Milo how to play the piano, and Harry often said with Darcy on the couch and just talked while they both played in the background.
Of course, they sometimes had moments filled with tears, because no matter how much Louis and Harry tried, they just weren't their real parents. But Darcy and Milo quickly became incredibly close, and Harry thinks they were there for each other amazingly during those times. And at the end of the day, Harry would do anything for his kids, and they know that.
Then, two years later, they collectively decided that Darcy and Milo should get a baby sibling, and this time they adopted a boy only a few weeks old, since they already got everything done during the pregnancy of the teenage mother who decided against keeping the baby. Since they could give him a name, Harry got his little romcom thing through, and they named him Noah.
After all, Louis can't say no to Harry, ever. And hell, Harry knows that.
Now, with Louis and Harry, Milo, Darcy, Noah and Clifford, they're one big family and Harry doesn't know how he could love them more.
He finished law school and over the years got promoted right to the top of the firm, Louis finished his drama courses and became a teacher at the closest school, but decided to take two years of "paternity leave" for Noah, so that Harry could still go to work. Harry taught him a bit of cooking, but they do a good job in sharing all the housewife responsibilities. They often cook together, Milo sometimes helps them.
Every day, its shocking to Harry how much he loves Louis. He never knew someone could be capable of loving someone else that much. He loved Louis before, but that was more of an extreme butterfly crush situation.
He's now deeply in love and in awe with this man, and every day he comes home to Louis and hugs him and kisses him and tells him as much.
His favourite days are probably Sundays, when the whole family is home, the kids are not at any parties and they have a big dinner together, or play games or something like that.
That's when Harry stands, leaning against the frame of the window with a glass of his favourite red wine in his hand. Milo, on special request, plays a John Lennon classic on the grand piano. It's raining heavily, and Louis and Noelle are fully covered in mud as they play football against Darcy and Khai in the garden.
Noah, now one year old, sits on the piano with his legs dangling as he giggles to himself. Harry smiles at the scenery in front of him. He looks around, at the living room he built with Louis, all the furniture they dragged inside, back when it was supposed to be a distraction from Harry's misery. If it had to be like that, it was definitely worth it, leading to this now. This pure happiness.
Harry looks at all the pictures he and Louis hung up after getting back together, and one catches his attention more than the others. It's the one showing him and Louis in his old garden, at the age of sixteen and sweaty and dirty, Louis holding a football under one arm and the other one around Harry's waist. It was a few weeks after they got together for the first time, when they were so obsessed with each other they had to spend every second of the day together.
Much like now, Harry did everything for Louis back then, so of course he played footie with him in the cold rain, if Louis just asked nicely enough. The picture makes Harry get an idea. He abruptly moves away from the window and places the wine glass onto the piano, lifting Noah up from it. Milo stops playing and looks up at him questioningly.
"I need you to help me with something"
About a week later, Harry hangs up a new picture next to the one he loves so dearly. It shows almost the same motive, it shows Louis dirty with mud and sweaty but grinning from ear to ear. On his right is Darcy, in about the same state as her dad, holding the football under her arm. Even though he is drenched in mud, Louis has his arm securely around Harry's waist (where it fucking belongs) in the picture. Harry holds Noah in his arms, Milo standing next to him, and there is Clifford sitting by their feet.
Now, that might be Harry's favourite picture. Or maybe it's the comparison between those two. How he fell in love with Louis at such a young age, and then, as if no time has passed, almost the exact same picture just that Louis and Harry are married and have their own family now.
That night, Harry makes them all squish together on the couch, cuddling into Louis' side as they watch the notebook and eat tacos from a tray sitting on the coffee table. This is home, this is love.
They did it, they fixed the house together and moved in together.
They fell in love again and found their way back to each other. Louis let him in again and showed him what love can be.
Louis' house is their house now.
THE END