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Louis looked around and realized how messy the classroom was and internally groaned. He honestly loved his job, well his main job which is teaching kindergarteners, but the cleaning up after the children was the one part he did not like. Especially on arts and crafts day.
He watched the kids enjoy their arts and crafts then finally the final bell rung. He took a deep breath and helped the kids get their coats on and their backpacks. They headed out to the playground while waiting for all the parents. This is Louis’ favorite part of the day, because he gets to see Harry. Harry is the father of little Delilah. Louis may have a little crush on him, or it could be the sweets Harry brings Louis almost everyday when he picks up Delilah.
“Hello Mr. Tomlinson!”, he heard behind him
“Harry! How many times do I have to say you can call me Louis?”
A sweet blush spread across Harry’s face, “I’m sorry, Louis. We were actually pretty busy today so I don’t have much, but here's a couple peanut butter cookies”
“Oooh thank you so much. This will make a perfect dessert for later”
As on cue a small bundle with blonde hair came up and attached herself on Harry’s leg, “Hello angel! And how was school?”, Harry asked running his fingers through her curly hair that matched his.
“It was good!”, she said a small voice, “I made you a drawing daddy! But it has a lot of sparkles on it so Mr. Tomlinson wrapped it up for me so you can’t see it until we get home!”
Harry’s precious dimples dented his cheeks and Louis couldn’t help but find himself smiling too.
“I can’t wait to see hun. Well it was good seeing you again Louis. I hope you have an amazing weekend!”
And with that Louis was left with a few children waiting for their parents and a messy classroom also waiting. After the final kid was picked up headed to the classroom to fix it up. He picked up the coloring books, wiped up glitter and glue and put the caps back on the markers and so on. An hour later he was finally done. Now it was time to go home, sleep for a couple hours, eat then it was off to his second job at the Love Lounge.
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Louis woke up to the sound of his alarm and groaned hitting his phone. Ten minutes later Louis finally pushed the blankets off and made his way to the small kitchen quickly eating dinner. He then went to change into sweatpants and pulled a hoodie on grabbing his duffle bag of work clothes heading outside to where Liam would be waiting for him.
“Hey I heard there's going to be a bachelorette party tonight. You know Zayn doesn’t like special events so I have a good feeling you’ll get stuck working it”, Liam let him know when he got into the car.
Liam was one of the managers at the club and basically ran in, and Zayn was Liam’s boyfriend. And if Zayn didn’t want to do something he didn’t have to. Louis groaned but nodded his head. He wasn’t a big fan of bachelorette parties either but knew it would bring in good tips.
They made their way through the “Employees Only” entrance in the back of the club and Louis breathed in the smell of alcohol and cigarettes along with the sight of glitter all over the floor and smiled a little. It wasn’t the most glamorous job in the world but he still liked it and the people he worked with. He began with pulling on his tightest spandex shorts then continued with makeup. He decided on simple eye makeup. Just enough to give them a pop. It seemed to drive the men, and sometimes women, crazy. Then he went on to the glitter. He spread it across his chest and stomach then his thighs to give them emphasis.
When he stepped on stage he saw there were only about 10 women. He was glad it wasn’t a huge party. He began his usual routine and gripped the pole slowly walking around it. Once the beat started to pick up he set his back against the pole and slid up and then down. Ten minutes into his show he decided to walk around the stage to collect the tips. As he made his way down the small runway stage that’s when he noticed him. Harry. Harry as in Delilah’s father. At the moment Louis wanted nothing more but to just melt into the floor and disappear. It’s not like he could just walk off stage and run away mid performance. So he did the only thing he could do, kept slowly walking down the runway running his hands all over his own body. Once he made it the end of the stage and got down on his knees and the women lavished him with bills.
He finished his performance and slowly made his way off the stage dreading having to face Harry. Harry was chatting with one of the bridesmaids and sipping cocktails as he made his way over. He smiled at the women and then sat across Harry’s lap wrapping his arms around his neck.
“Hey, Cheryl. You think you could go get me another mojito at the bar please?”, Harry asked the women sitting across from him.
The girl, Cheryl he presumed, just smirked at the two and nodded her head and then made her way to the bar.
Louis looked Harry and ran his fingers through his curls trying to make it look less serious to the people around them.
“Listen Harry. This is as awkward for me as it is for you, if anything probably more for me. I’m just here to tell you one thing, please do not tell anyone else about this. You can judge me all you want and never talk to me again. I don’t care. But please just don’t tell anyone else ok?”
As Louis was was getting up he felt a hand pull him back down.
“Louis, I would never do any of that”
Louis took a deep breath nodding and stood up again making his way to the other girls in an attempt to make more tips.
A couple hours later and the party was finally over and Louis was able to take a deep for the first time all night. Luckily Liam was a nice enough boss and let him go home a little early. Since Liam was the one to drive he had to take a cab or the bus. Once he changed and wiped off as much glitter as he could he made his way out the door into the cold night. He checked his phone and realized the last bus had already come and gone. With that he called a cab and made his way around the corner where he knew a bench was. Louis doesn’t have very good luck, so of course as he rounded the corner he saw Harry sitting on the bench taking drags off a cigarette. Louis tried to keep his distance from the bench hoping Harry wouldn’t notice him, but of course he did. They stared at each other for a moment in silence.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my promise”
And with that Harry was stomping out his cigarette and getting in the cab that pulled up to the curb.
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When Monday rolled around knew he’d have to face Harry again at the end of the school day, and didn’t know if he was ready for that.
Louis heard the bell ring to inform the school day was over he felt his heart drop. He went through the motions of helping the children pack up and get ready. When he stepped out the school of course the first person he saw was Harry. Louis made his way over to the playground and watched the children play to make sure no injuries or bullying was happening, while also trying to ignore the fact that Harry was only a few feet away.
It was when he heard a soft, “Hi Louis”, his breath stopped for a moment
He turned around to find none other than Harry.
“Hi Harry. Delilah is right over there on the swings”, Louis replied with a smile trying to keep his composure.
“I know. I just wanted to talk to-“
“Harry, please. We don’t need to talk about this. Just keep your promise and we’ll be good ok?”
Harry gave Louis a confused look and shook his head.
“Louis, please trust me when I said I wouldn’t judge you”
Louis gave another weak smile and nodded.
“Are you busy tomorrow after school ends?”
“Uhm, no. Why?”
“Would we be able to meet up for a little while? I just want to talk”
“Yeah ok. There’s a park a couple blocks away from here. Maybe we can meet up there and talk?”
Harry left with a nod and a small smile.
That night Louis couldn’t stop thinking about why in the world Harry wanted to meet up to talk? Yes they talked almost everyday at the end of the school day, but he thought that's all it would be.
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Louis kind of felt like an idiot. 15 minutes had passed without Harry showing up and he was about to just leave. But just as the thought came across his mind, Harry was sitting next to him on the small bench.
“I’m so sorry for making you wait, I had to drop Delilah off with her mum and we had to talk about some stuff”
“Oh it’s alright, don't worry. How is she doing? I noticed her sniffling and coughing in class today”
“It’s just a small cold, she's alright”
“That's good. I was-”
“Louis, I didn’t come here to talk about my daughter”
“Oh, then why did you want to meet up?”
“Well, there's just something I wanted to talk to you about. It's a little personal but..”
“OK, well go for it, I’m all ears”
“I also used to strip also”
Louis was speechless. Harry was a stripper. The Harry who has an amazing daughter and owns his own bakery.
“Ok, are you pulling my leg or something?”
Harry let out a small laugh shaking his head, “No, I’m really not. I did it for about 6 months. Started a few months before Delilah was born then stopped shortly after she was when I saved up a good amount of money”
“Oh, well. What made you want to tell me this?”
“Well, I saw how upset you were the other night. I just wanted you to know you’re not alone. I get what it's like”
“Well I don’t know what your experience with stripping is, but mine hasn’t been terrible. I actually like it. I was just very embarrassed when I saw you and was worried word would get out”
“I wouldn’t of judged or told anyone if you didn’t want me to no matter what. I’m not like that”
They ended up staying the coffee shop another hour. During that time Louis learned a little more of Harry’s story. He learned that Harry chose stripping because he simply knew it made good money and need money fast for him and Delilah. He just knew it was something he couldn’t do forever and needed to move on. That’s when he took the leap into making his own bakery.
Louis left the park with Harry’s number in his phone.
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It was a Friday night when Louis was laying in bed on the verge of sleep when he got his first text from Harry.
“Looo00us”
Louis stared at the text for a good minute in confusion.
“Harold! Hello!”
His reply came in less than a minute,
“Ur prettyy. relly pretty”
Louis had a good feeling Harry was drunk.
“Why thank you Harry. You’re pretty good looking yourself”
“lou ur extra pretty thouh”
“I wanna kiss ur mouth”
“very pink lips”
“look soft”
Louis stared at his phone in shock and started laughing.
“well thank you harry”
Louis’s phone started buzzing and he looked down and realized Harry was calling him.
“Hey Harry”
“Looooouuuuuuuuehh”
Louis couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips. He couldn’t help it, Harry seemed like the cute giggly kind of drunk.
“Yes Harry?”
“You’re pretty”
“Yes, we already went over that”
“Oh yeah! Well.. Uhm.. Here’s the thing. I came out with my roommate but we got in a argument and I really don’t want to go back to my place and see him... So I’m stuck here”
“Do you need a ride Harry?”
“Yeah I do! How’d you know?”
Louis rolled his eyes with a fond smile, “Just a lucky guess. Where are you?”
He heard Harry mumbling for a moment, “I guess I’m at a pub on Grove street. I don’t know. Bright signs in front of me”
“Ok, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Please don’t leave ok!”
“Ok I won't”
When Louis didn’t see Harry at first he started to panic. Then a moment later his passenger door was being swung open and a drunk Harry was scurrying into the seat.
“Hi Looouuuu!”
A smile crept across his face but faded quickly he realized there was a bruise on Harry’s cheek, “Wow Harry, the hell happened to your cheek?”
A giggle escaped Harry’s lips and Louis frowned, “Told you. Fight with roommate.”
Louis sighed and stared at the small bruise blooming for a moment. When he heard argument he thought it was a verbal altercation. “Ok well, where do you want to go? Another friends house?”
He heard mumbling and looked over to passenger to see Harry nearly passed out. Well it looked like Harry was spending the night.
Getting a tall lanky drunk person into bed is a damn challenge Louis learned. With him wobbling and stumbling like a newborn deer, it was a challenge. The second challenge came when Harry passed out the second Louis got him into his bed. He didn’t want to leave the poor lad in his tight shirt, tighter jeans and heeled boots. But he also didn’t want to make Harry uncomfortable by taking off his clothes, so he settled for pulling off his boots and draped the blanket over him. He grabbed a blanket from his closet and headed out to the couch.
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Louis woke up the sound of breaking glass and nearly fell off his couch. He quickly realized the noise was coming from the kitchen. When he entered the kitchen he saw a mess of glass and Harry trying to clean it up.
“Harry I got it, it's ok. Let me go get the broom and help”
Harry looked up with bloodshot eyes and nodded and leaned back on the floor in defeat. After Louis cleaned up the glass he looked back and realized Harry was asleep leaning against the cabinets.
“Harry, hey, Harry!”
Harry jumped up looking at Louis and sighed.
“I am a mess. I am so sorry oh god. I was just trying to get some water”
“It’s alright. Why don’t you go lay back down while I clean this up and make some food?”
The cutest little pout came across Harry’s face.
“Are you sure? I can just go home if you want, it's ok”
“I’m sure. Now go get some more rest”
With that Harry was standing up and stumbling to Louis’ bed and passed out instantly.
In that time Louis was able to clean up the glass and make a decent breakfast of waffles, fruit and coffee. When Louis entered the room all he could do was stare. Harry was curled up in his comforter hugging another pillow. He just looked so soft and sweet.
“Hey sleepy head. I have some food and coffee!”
Little noises and groans fell from Harry’s mouth before he finally opened his eyes. Harry’s face immediately got red and he sat up.
“How long was I asleep for?”, he asked in a soft raspy voice and Louis’ heart was melting more.
“Only about an hour. I made us some breakfast, scoot over”
Louis quickly found out that Harry is a cuddly person. As they ate Harry began by sitting right next to Louis with their legs pressed together. Halfway through breakfast Harry’s head was resting on his shoulder.
Louis looked down and saw the small bruise across his cheeks and last night came into his memory.
“So, what happened last night for your roommate to hit you?”
A sigh came out of Harry’s mouth and he sat back up not looking Louis in the eye.
“Well, when Nick drinks he’s not afraid to speak his mind. And he decided to say something about my daughter and I did not hesitate to sucker punch him”
“What did he say?”
“He just mentioned that he wished Delilah wasn’t there as much so he could have more freedom and invite more blokes to come over”, he replied rolling his eyes.
“What the bloody hell. Please tell me you kicked him out or something”
“Of course I did. I gave him 3 days to find a new place or I said wouldn’t hesitate to take legal action of some sort”
“Good! I wouldn’t even given the arsehole 3 days. I would told him he was kicked out right there an then”
Harry let out a small chuckle, “Yeah. I’m too nice for that, so”
“Well, let’s just relax for now and watch a movie and eat ok”
Louis woke up with a warm back. He could feel sweat sticking to his neck. He looked around and realized he was still laying his bed the warmth was Harry. Harry was pressed against his back and he could feel the small puffs of breath against his neck. Louis knows he should move, wake Harry up, just do something. But he couldn’t. Not only was he comfortable, it just felt so good to be in this moment and to be held. After a few minutes he felt squirming behind him and the tell tale groaning that Harry was awake.
“I know you’re awake”, Harry mumbled against Louis’s neck
“And how do you know that?”
“Well not only because you just responded, but you’re also not snoring anymore”
Louis mocked gasped and sat up turning around to face Harry. That was when he almost actually gasped. Harry was laying on his side looking up at Louis. The way his long curls were scattered around the pillow, his big eyes still blinking sleep out of them. He just looked so precious and Louis was overwhelmed.
He realized the furrow in Harry’s eyebrow and noticed he hadn’t responded yet.
“Thats absurd, I do not snore!”
“Ok, maybe it was more of a heavy breathing”
Louis checked his phone realized they had been sleeping for nearly 2 more hours. Then he felt arms wrap around his waist and he was being pulled back down.
“More cuddles please”, Harry mumbled against his neck.
Louis squirmed for a minute and turned around so he was facing Harry.
“Hi”, Louis said softly. He just felt the need to talk softly.
“Hi”, Harry responded just as softly.
Louis took a chance and moved closer to Harry so they were chest to chest. Louis could feel Harry’s puffs of breath hitting the top of his nose.
Somehow in the mix of bunched up blankets and breaths mingling together, their lips found each other.
Louis knew this was wrong. So wrong. Harry was a parent of one of his students. There had to be laws or something against that. But when Harry slipped his tongue past Louis’s lips, every thought disappeared.
Since they were both tired the whole thing was calm and slow. Not rushed at all. Louis opened up Harry with slow deft fingers. He made Harry cum with the slow and deep rolls of his hips and it was a beautiful sight.
An hour later and they were still lying in bed. “Its nearly dinner time, I should probably head home. I’ve been intruding your space for too long”, Harry said as he stretched out to get all the kinks out of his back. Louis couldn’t help but let a small frown come across his face.
“Oh, ok. You probably have to get home to Delilah right?”
“Nah, she’s with her mother for a week since she hasn’t seen her in a little while and with the whole Nick situation”, Harry replied standing up and pulling on his pants.
“Well you can stay for dinner if you’d like. I mean, I was just going to order food and watch tv or something..... I wouldn’t mind you staying”
A smile came across Harry’s face and nodded his head, “Of course I’ll stay. Do you mind if I use your shower to wash up?”
“Yeah go right ahead. I also have some extra toothbrushes under the sink you can help yourself to”
After Harry finished up his shower Louis decided to wash up also. They ended moving their cuddling fest to the couch with a few takeout containers scattered across the table.
“So, you’re not with Delilah’s mother anymore?”, Louis asked.... And instantly regretted it the second he saw Harry’s face fall.
Harry smiled softly nudging Louis with his shoulder, “Hey, it's ok. I just haven’t talked to a to a lot of people about it, that's all. But no I’m not with Lucy anymore. I was a lot different 5 years ago than I am today. A whole lot different”
“Oh, I see. Sorry, that's probably too personal. I was just curious that's all”
“Louis, it's honestly ok. Like I said, I just haven’t talked about it a lot. No one's really asked that's all. Long story short, I struggled with my sexuality during high school. I didn’t realize and accept that I was gay until Lucy got pregnant. We weren’t in a relationship at the time, just messing around. She was actually very helpful and accepting the whole thing. So we were able to make it work”
“Oh, uhm wow. I’m not sure what to say Harry. What do I know is that you two raised an amazing daughter”, Louis said nudging Harry’s shoulder back.
The dimples popped into Harry’s cheeks and Louis felt his heart racing again
“Thank you for trusting me with all of this Harry. I know it probably wasn’t the easiest thing to talk about”
Harry placed his arm around Louis, “Well, you make it easy to talk to”
Louis couldn’t help but smile peering up at Harry, “In that case don’t hesitate to come to me if you need someone to talk to”
Louis doesn’t remember how much time had passed, or remember falling asleep. But here he is cramped on his small couch covered in a blanket. He sits up to realize the table is clean of takeout containers, lights are off and it's a little past 11 PM. Then he notices the paper on the table,
“Lou,
You fell asleep so I took it upon myself to clean up a little as a thanks for letting me stay and for dinner. So thank you!
Harry xx”
Louis felt the warmth spread through his chest and he layed back down. After a little while of tossing and turning he gives up on sleep. He finds his phone tangled in the blankets.
“Hi. Thanks for cleaning up :)”
Louis was surprised to receive a text back almost instantly.
“Hi! No problem. Like I said, I just wanted to thank you in some way”
“Well once again, thanks! What are you still doing up??”
“I don’t sleep a whole lot. What are you still doing up?”
“Considering all we did was sleep I’m not very tired haha. So now I’m just up watching whatever is on TV”
“Yeah that does make sense. I can talk to you until you fall asleep if you want?”
“That sounds perfect to me. What did you want to talk about?”
“What are you watching?”
The night went on like that. They texted about anything and everything. Louis would tell Harry is something funny on whatever show he was watching, and Harry would tell him how his kitten was getting hyper and running back and forth between the rooms.
Another week went by with Harry and Louis texting back and forth as much as they could. Louis found his feelings getting deeper for Harry but he wasn’t sure how to go about it. He had the smallest feeling that Harry also felt something, but when there's a kid in the mix it's confusing. For the moment Louis let it be and kept his mouth shut.
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It wasn’t until another two weeks later that Harry threw Louis the biggest curve ball. He wanted to have dinner together with Delilah. Louis didn’t know what to think. Yes, Louis and Delilah spent nearly everyday together, but this was in a different setting. He didn’t exactly know how to feel and even though he was nervous as hell he still agreed to go.
So here he was on Friday night trying to figure out what to wear. They were just going to a simple italian place that wasn’t fancy at all but Louis still found himself still freaking out. He ended up settling on a pair of jeans and plain white shirt. On the way to dinner Louis can’t help but overthink the whole thing. Like what if Delilah ends up not liking him or he says the wrong thing and upsets Harry or him and Delilah just don’t click and it goes bad. He was a mess by the time he pulled into the parking lot. But the moment he saw Harry and his soft smile he felt his mind calm and his heart relax. Not only that but Delilah actually seemed happy to see Louis. With a big smile across her face she ran up to say hi to Louis.
The night went better than Louis could ever expect. He felt so comfortable so quick and he just couldn’t believe it. The conversation flowed so easily and within minutes they were laughing together.
“Mr. Louis, do you love my dad?”
Louis nearly choked on the bite of chicken he was eating.
“Uhm, no Delilah I don’t”, Louis replied with wide eyes.
A frown appeared across Delilah's small face and Louis couldn’t help but frown a little also.
“Delilah, what in the world made you ask that?”, Harry asked with a equally shocked face.
“You two just seem to make each other happy”
“We do make each other happy. That doesn’t mean we're in love though ok darling?”, Harry quickly answered
That seems to satisfy Delilah and the conversation ends there.
After that Louis can’t help but feel tense and a little awkward. Harry keeps glancing him and Louis tries to send back reassuring smiles.
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Later that night when Louis is curled in bed scrolling through random social media apps trying to fall asleep when he gets a call from Harry. Louis didn’t know if he should answer or let it ring. In the end he answers.
“Hey Harry. Whats up?”
“Hi Lou. I, uhm, just wanted to call to check up and see if everything was ok?”
Louis face scrunched in confusion the he quickly realized Harry couldn’t see his reaction, “Why wouldn’t I be ok?”
“Louis, I saw your face when Delilah asked if we were in love. You looked like you wanted to run out of the restaurant”, Harry said with a small chuckle at the end.
“Well, I won’t lie and say it didn’t surprise or shock me. I was definitely thrown off guard. But I understand she’s just a kid Harry. She’s just curious and probably a little confused”
A small sigh came through the phone, “Thank you Louis. For everything. For understanding and not running away”
“Why would I run away? I don’t know if you realized Harry, but you mean a lot to me. So does Delilah”
“You mean a lot to me too. Probably too much”
“What do you mean ‘probably too much’?”
Louis was waiting for a response when he heard a small commotion in the background on Harry’s end.
“Sorry Lou, Delilah woke up from a bad dream. But I really want to continue this conversation. I’ll see you soon ok?”
“Ok Harry, goodnight”
“G’night Lou”
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They see each other nearly everyday when Harry would pick up Delilah. But they don’t have the time or privacy to continue the conversation that came to an abrupt end.
It was that following Saturday when Louis had just finished finally showered and still had a few hours to spare before his shift at the club. He was catching up on his reading when his buzzer went off. He was confused since he didn’t invite anyone over or order any takeout.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it's me Harry. Was wondering if I could come up for a little bit?”
“Oh, hi. Yeah of course. Come up”
When he answered the door he was a little surprised to also see Delilah attached to Harry’s leg.
“Hi. Sorry, I hope you don’t mind I brought her along too”
“No I don’t, it's alright. Hey Delilah! What do I owe this pleasure to?”
“Why doesn’t Delilah watch some cartoons and we can talk”
“Of course! Come on little one”
Louis said with a smile and helped Delilah pick a channel and gave her some orange juice.
He sat down at the small table in the kitchen across from Harry.
“Look, I’m going to get right to it. I have feelings for you Louis. And I have a feeling that you might feel the same way so I’m here to figure this all out”
Louis was stunned. He was frozen not knowing how he should respond.
“Wow, uhm. Ok. Yes you’re right. I do have feelings for you Harry. Have for a while now”, Louis responded with a soft smile.
“Is there a reason you haven’t told me or?”
“Yeah. The reason is sitting in my living room. I’ve never been with someone with a kid. It scares me. I mean I know I’m good with kids since I teach them and have siblings. But I’m still terrified. What if she doesn’t like me? Are either of our places big enough for the 3 of us? What about my second job? Do I keep stripping or stop?”
“Louis, Louis hey. Calm down. You know for a fact that Delilah loves you. As for the other things, this is only the beginning Lou. We have plenty of time to figure that all out”
Louis smiled and leaned forward kissing Harry’s cheek softly.
“I have to go to work in a couple hours. In the meantime I’m going to make a very fancy dinner of mac n cheese. You two are more than welcome to stay”
The dimples popped into his cheeks and Louis felt the fluttering in his heart again.
“I plan on staying for a while if that's alright with you”