Chapter Text
Louis paced his room nervously as he waited for his phone to charge. His heart was racing and his hands were all sweaty, which was weird. He never felt like this when it came to telling Gemma things, and he told her everything pretty much as he thought it. Always had. He’d never been good at having a filter when it came to his words, but he didn’t even try when he was with Gemma. They’d known each other long enough at this point that if she didn’t hate him already, he figured he was pretty much safe.
Pressing the home button to see where the phone was at, Louis growled a little when he saw it was still at 42%. He’d told Gemma he would be over as soon as he could after school, but he knew she wasn’t really expecting him until closer to 4. That was when he was planning on having to get his sisters from school, though, and now that his mom had gotten home from work early, he could go over whenever.
If he waited much longer to go and finally have this conversation with her, he was going to vibrate right out of his skin.
Louis had been waiting to talk to her about this particular subject anyway, because he wanted to be more sure before he actually said the words out loud. It felt like a big deal to say it, like it solidified it or made it more real somehow. He wasn’t really sure, because it didn’t make total sense to him. But he felt like he’d done as much figuring out as he possibly could on his own. He needed her help and insight now.
He was incredibly glad that it happened to be the weekend that her mom and dad were going out of town for a birthday celebration or something. Maybe it was an anniversary. Louis wasn’t actually completely sure, but whatever it was, they were leaving this afternoon and weren’t going to be back until Sunday morning. Gemma hated being at her house alone at night, so whenever they went away like this, Louis was a given. He slept at the Styles’ house most weekends anyway, so it wasn’t a huge difference, it just meant that they’d be able to watch some of the movies her mom and dad usually said no to.
Tired of waiting, Louis grabbed his phone off the charging cord.
“Mom?” he called out as he ran down the stairs, the bag with a couple changes of clothes in it bouncing on his back. “I’m heading over to Gemma’s.”
“Alright, honey,” Jay answered back. “We’re right here if you two need anything, no matter how late it is, alright? We’ll leave the back door open, just in case.”
“Thanks,” he said, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before leaning over the twins and offering them their own. “Bye, babies. Love you!”
Louis was out the door in a flash, somewhat regretting his choice to just run over barefoot and without a coat. It was freezing out, but she was so close and always left the kitchen door open for him so he figured the extra time wasn’t worth it. But as the wind cut him down to his bones, he did start to wonder.
He could feel the texture of the grass change when his backyard shifted into the Styles’, and he tried to go just that much faster.
With the speed he was going, he didn’t slow down fast enough and ended up crashing into the door a little bit which was fine. He just wanted inside.
The only issue was when Louis grabbed the handle, it didn’t turn.
“Noooo,” Louis groaned, knocking on the door obnoxiously like he always did so they knew it was him at the kitchen door and not someone at the front door. “Gems, it’s so cold! Let me in!” he yelled as he knocked all over the door as if that would get her attention. He saw movement through the fluttering curtains over the window, and he sighed in relief even as he knocked harder, faster, and louder. “You promised to leave it unlocked! You lied!”
The door swung open and…
“Oh,” Louis said, frozen with his eyes wide as he took in the sight before him.
Apparently her parents hadn’t left yet, because instead of Gemma standing there, watching him unimpressed, it was her dad. In a towel. Looking fairly wet.
“Not an emergency, I hope?” Harry asked, clearly worried.
“No,” Louis agreed, shaking his head and swallowing harshly.
His voice might have even cracked on that single syllable, but he honestly didn’t know. He hoped it hadn’t. He wasn’t doing great at the moment as it was, trying his hardest not to stare and take in all the details of Gemma’s dad’s chest and stomach and maybe the hints of his happy trail… okay, yeah. He was definitely failing miserably.
Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Nope. No emergency. Just cold.”
Harry hummed and looked down, his eyes widening when he realized that Louis was without a hat, coat, or shoes.
“Good lord, Louis, get inside! I will not have your mother taking my life in exchange for yours because you’re behaving like an idiotic teenager who doesn’t care about his health.”
Louis was still having issues breathing, much less speaking, thanks to Harry so obviously having answered the door right from the shower, so he simply gave an embarrassed smile and stepped inside. He sure wasn’t feeling the cold anymore, that was for sure. At this point he was quite thankful for it though, because it had saved him from quite a bit more of a situation. Hell, just the other day he’d shifted in his seat during geometry at just the wrong time and had been left with an awkward situation in his pants right there in the middle of class, praying his teacher wouldn’t call him to the board. A repeat of that, but right now in front of Harry of all people, would have been the end of Louis. He was sure of it.
He’d always thought that Harry had a nice smile and Louis had teased Gemma for having the same adorable dimple for as long as he could remember, but the way Harry’s wet curls hung over his forehead made him look younger, not to mention the fact that Louis had never been so close to his tattoos. Or his chest hair. Or his abs. There was a drop of water trailing down from one of those perfectly placed chest hairs down his stomach and Louis was fairly certain that he’d now also lost his ability to swallow.
“Gem’s in her room, I’m sure you can hear her music playing,” Harry said, waving towards the stairs. “Go on up. Marie and I are running a little late, but we’ll be gone soon. Please remind Gemma to order the pizza or it’s going to take forever to get here.”
“Okay,” Louis managed, but he was still staring even as Harry turned around and headed back towards the primary bedroom. His back was beautifully toned as well. Louis knew that Harry worked out a little bit, but he really wanted to feel the results of his routine himself.
The realization that he’d just thought that about Gemma’s dad was what finally hit Louis hard enough to shake himself out of it. Louis squeezed his eyes closed and silently cursed the fact that he was having this inconvenient discovery right before delivering his big, important announcement to Gemma.
“Stop it, it’s her dad!” Louis whisper-lectured before making his way upstairs.
Standing outside of Gemma’s door, Louis took a deep breath to steel himself for the conversation he wanted to just get over with. He needed to remind her about ordering the pizza first, but then, he’d say it.
Knocking and then opening the door, Louis saw Gemma turn towards him from where she was dancing to her music in front of the mirror, and as she flashed a smile at him, the same surprised one as Harry before his face had turned to all concern, and Louis couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“I think your dad is really hot,” Louis blurted out before making his way over to her bed and falling onto it, face down. “God, that wasn’t even what I meant to say, but I guess it gets the point across.”
“Uhhhh,” Gemma said, sounding confused before Louis heard the door latch shut. “My dad’s like… my dad. As in, a boy. Do you even like boys?”
Louis whined. “If what just happened downstairs hadn’t happened, I would have said that I’m pretty sure. Like really sure? As sure as I can be when I haven’t kissed anyone other than Margaret Brite two years ago on a dare.”
“What?” Gemma asked before turning down the volume. She was still on her White Stripes kick then, considering Louis finally registered Jack White’s voice coming out of the speaker.
Louis felt the bed shift, and he finally moved his head so he could see her.
“What just happened downstairs?” Gemma looked mostly confused, which was fair. He was kind of throwing a lot at her at once.
Louis pouted at her. “Your dad tried to kill me,” he said, absolutely serious. “I would have popped an amazingly unfortunate boner if it hadn’t been for the fact that I was freezing my incredibly cute butt off, so I guess I should be thankful I’m an idiot. But it wasn’t my fault!”
Louis sat up so he could face Gemma fully and explain why he wasn’t exaggerating this time. Once he got comfortable sitting cross legged, he took her hands in his and looked at her in the eyes, her bangs falling into her eyes a little bit.
“Your dad rescued me,” Louis started slowly, squeezing Gemma’s hands before adding, “but he was completely wet and straight out of the shower. Like wearing only a towel straight out of the shower.”
Amusement danced across her features, but she also studied him with narrow eyes, her mouth pressed into a straight line. “I think I’m still missing a few details. But also please don’t ever mention boners having to do with my dad again, that’s disgusting.”
“Gemmaaaaaa,” Louis whined. “I don’t know how I didn’t realize this before, because like, it seems stupidly obvious now, but I have a crush on your dad. I absolutely like boys. I have never once in my life felt anything even close to what I was feeling towards your dad downstairs, and it might be hormones, but you’d think I’d get excited about seeing some of the boobs that Oli keeps texting to me at some point and I never do.”
Gemma arched her brow. “Oli has sent you topless photos of girls?”
Louis rolled his eyes. “He found his dad’s stash of dirty magazines and he’s been checking them out the last few months whenever he’s sure he won’t get caught. He sends what he thinks are the best ones to me.”
Grabbing his phone, Gemma unlocked it and immediately thumbed into the messenger app.
“What are you doing?” Louis cried, yanking his phone back. “I delete them as soon as I get them. They’re not there. You know how often my mom checks up on my phone! I’d be dead if she found boobs.”
“I guess,” Gemma said with a shrug. “I just wanted to know if they were actually any good, and as a gay guy, I’m not sure I can trust your opinions.”
“They weren’t bad. Mostly,” Louis said with a shrug. “Kinda weird. Different from what I was expecting?” Shaking his head. “This isn’t the point.”
“Wow. You really are gay,” Gemma said, smirking. “Cool. So. Do you have a type? Other than my dad, I mean.”
Louis made a face. “Before I ran into your dad, who was wearing only a towel and still wet from the shower, as a reminder, I wasn’t even sure I was into dudes!” Louis cried, throwing his hands in the air. “How am I supposed to know if I have a type?”
“Oh my god, you’re worthless,” Gemma said with a sigh. “Come on. Let’s go downstairs. We can order the pizza and then use the iPad to google photos of hot guys and figure out if you do have a type other than dads.”
“Hot dads,” Louis corrected.
“Right, whatever,” Gemma said, rolling her eyes. “You coming?”
“Do I have a choice?” Louis asked.
“Not unless you want pineapple on the pizza.”
“Heathen!” Louis cried, pointing at her as menacingly as he could manage. “You will not!”
Gemma cackled and ran, Louis following close behind.