#larryisreal

He can do this.

That’s the phrase Louis’ repeating nonstop, like a mantra that will help keep him upright and fighting. He can do this. He has to believe he can do this, or he’ll drop to the floor, exhausted, dead, or whatever, and he refuses to make his efforts go to waste like that. He’s a warrior, he has what it takes to help defeat the enemy. He just needs to make it to the City, and he’ll be fine.

Or, AU Mulan soulmates; where Louis is an omega going to camp in disguise to prevent his father to die in war, alpha Liam is a big wall of muscles and peace, alpha Zayn is obnoxious but cool knothead, alpha Niall is a cute hillarious baby and Harry is the alpha officer that has to train this weird group, and can't help the feeling that he's got an omega lurking among them.

I want you for worse or for better

Rating: Mature

Pairing: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson

Status: completed

main tags:

friends to lovers, idiots in love, humour, college au, louis has the rizz, not a slow burn, lovers in denial, larry fluff that makes you feel single af, the closet plays a very special role in their relationship

Summary:

"Help me! I'm in the closet!"

"Louis, you came out to me months- Oh you are really trapped in there!"

OR a uni au where Harry and Louis are roommates. If he didn't knew better, Harry would've arrived to a conclusion that Louis was trying to woo him with all his cheeky gestures.

Then a halloween party changed it all or the things that occured before the halloween party did.

(TEASER OF A FANFICTION I'VE WRITTEN FOR @1d-oneliner-fest)

I AM INTERNALLY SCREAMING AT WORK

“Maybe it’s an IG bug”

“NOT ITS NOT!”

The realisation 😭

should i continue this? maybe. will i continue this? probably not

Music has always been there for Louis. Through all the good times, all the bad times, and all the times in between, music has been a safe space that he can turn to when things get to be too much. So it’s really not the best when this boy is standing in the door to the music room, his body angled towards the drum kit that Louis sits at facing away from the doorway. Louis tries to keep drumming, he really does, but it’s so annoying because he can feel the gaze of the boy in the doorway on his back.

So, Louis stops, turns his head around and glares at him, hoping he’ll get the message. Apparently not. Louis sighs and says without rotating his body to face the curly headed boy: “Look, mate, I’m flattered, really. But could you, I don’t know, maybe leave?” Okay, so maybe that was a bit ruder than necessary, but it got the job done, right? Wrong. When Louis checks, the boy is still standing in the doorway with a faint smile that Louis finds a bit creepy, if he’s honest, painted onto his face.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, that was rude-”

Louis is cut off by a boy with dark hair and cheekbones sculpted by the gods - Louis is pretty sure his name is Zack or something like that - walking up to Doorway Boy and tapping him on the shoulder. Doorway Boy jumps a little but turns, relaxing once he sees who it is, and moving his hands in a flurry of activity which Zack laughed at (yeah, Louis was fairly sure that was his name) and… replied to? Shit. He’s pretty sure they were speaking in sign language. Jesus. That’s embarrassing - he was talking and Doorway Boy couldn’t even hear him.

“Hey.” Louis is startled from his thoughts by a voice. He turns, spinning on the stool he is sitting at, to see Zack walking towards him, Doorway Boy following closely behind him. Ugh. Social interaction. “Louis, right?” Zack says.

“Yeah.” If he had to talk, he would make it clear he didn’t want to be doing so.

“I’m Zayn, and this is Harry.” Zack- or apparently Zayn- says. Wow, Louis was way off with that one. Louis' eyes are drawn up to Harry who gives a small smile and a wave.

“Cool.”

“Yeah.” Zayn says, fidgeting on the spot. It was getting awkward now. Interrupting the uncomfortable silence, Harry taps Zayn’s shoulder and signs something to him. Zayn nods. “Harry just said that he wanted me to say that he’s sorry if you said something and he didn’t answer. He’s deaf, if you didn’t catch that.”

Louis nods. “Yeah, I figured it out. Tell him s’alright, it doesn’t matter what I said anyways.” He feels a bit bad about being rude to Harry, even if he now knows that Harry doesn’t know what he said.

“He can read lips, I don’t have to, like, translate or anything.” Zayn says, getting slightly defensive. Louis could guess that he didn’t want Harry to seem helpless. “Just face him so he can see your lips.”

“Oh, that’s cool. It must have been hard, right?” Louis said, facing Harry and making sure he could see Louis’ lips. Harry wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, making Louis burst out with a sharp laugh. A grin spreads across Harry’s face.

“Well, we should probably go, H.” Zayn signs as he talks, a feat which leaves Louis impressed. Harry nods, and the two turn to leave, Zayn throwing a “Bye, Louis.” over his shoulder, and Harry waving again. Just before they walk out the door, Harry signs something to Zayn. Zayn turns, a grin on his face. “Harry says maybe he’ll see you around?”

Louis nods quickly - a bit too quickly, that’s embarrassing - smiling widely at Harry, who returns it with a shy one of his own.

“Yeah, see you around.” He says, feeling a pink flush rise to his cheeks. Louis sits in silence after Harry and Zayn, wondering what the fuck just happened, and why is he so happy all of a sudden and why is Harry so cute?

♡♡♡

Harry slaps Zayn’s shoulder. I don’t like him! He signs.

You sure? Why’d you want to see him again then? Zayn teases.

I don’t know. He just seemed cool. Harry responds, his cheeks red.

Sure he did. Look, you’re blushing! Zayn says. A light on the roof of the car flashes, catching Harry’s attention, and both boys look up to Zayn’s mum who is sitting in the front seat of the car next to Zayn. She twists around in her seat so Harry can see her hands.

Home, boys. I made cookies today, you want to get them before the girls find them. She says.

Harry has been living with the Maliks for just over three months now, having moved in when his mum found out he was gay. Let’s just say her reaction was not ideal, and Harry had been living in a refuge for two weeks when Zayn found out about his situation and insisted that Harry come and stay with his family. It wasn’t the best situation to be in, but Harry has come to love his small basement bedroom with the creaky bed and dusty corners.

The two boys jump out of the car and speed-walk (ok, so they ran. What can he say, Trish’s cookies are good) into the house, grabbing as many cookies as they can fit in their hands and heading down to Harry’s basement room, their unofficial hangout room.

So. Back to Louis, huh? Zayn signs, a mischievous grin rising to his face as he lies sprawled out on Harry’s bed..

“Ugh. Zayn, I don’t like him, and I don’t know why you think I do.” Harry says out loud from the beanbag in the corner. He can talk, and he likes doing so, but he only lets people he really trusts hear him talk because no matter how many people tell him that his voice is fine, and he sounds totally normal and not weird at all, he is still self conscious about it. “And talk out loud, Zayn. I can read your lips.”

“Fine. Why were you watching him if you didn’t think he was cute, huh?” Zayn said, turning his body so he was sitting cross-legged and facing Harry.

“I never said he wasn’t cute…” Harry says.

“I knew it! You do like him, you just won’t admit it.” Zayn crows gleefully, pumping his fist in the air.

“What about you, though? Any progress?” Harry diverts the conversation away from himself and onto Zayn, referencing his gigantic crush on Liam Payne, who just so happened to be the most popular kid in the school.

“Well I can’t exactly ask him to prom, can I? But, he did ask me for notes in Advanced Biology, so I’m taking that as a win.”

Zayn had come out as bi to Harry when he was 14, two years ago. He says it was easier coming out to Harry because he knew what to expect and because Harry had kind of always been gay, it wasn’t a big deal for him. Harry supposes that he’s lucky in that aspect, that he never really went through the whole coming out thing. With Zayn, Harry would talk about crushes on boys as normally as Zayn would talk about crushes on girls, and Zayn’s whole family had sort of just automatically known.

With his mum, it was a bit different. Every teenagers idea of a horror story had come true when Harry’s mother had walked in on Harry jerking off to two boys on his computer screen. So it wasn’t like he really had a choice in the matter.

Attention going back to Zayn, Harry guiltily waves his hands around to get Zayn's attention, a strategy that all his friends and family use to get Harry’s attention which had kind of rubbed off on him.

“Sorry, Zaynie. Could you sign while you talk?”

♡♡♡

Louis stares up at his ceiling, dark blue paint an abyss that Louis was falling into. Why does he… like Harry? He isn’t gay, is he? Grabbing his computer out from under his bed, Louis types into the search bar: ‘how do i know if im gay’.

He clicks on an article about a girl who started questioning her sexuality in highschool and is… bisexual? Huh. Bi. Sexual. Bisexual. Maybe that’s what he is? Bi. Yeah, that sounds right.

Louis is interrupted from his crisis/life-altering moment by his sister Lottie yelling at him about pizza arriving. His mum is working the night shift right now as a nurse, and that leaves Louis, the oldest at 18, in charge of his younger siblings - Lottie, Fizzie, and the twins, Phoebe and Daisy. Granted, he should probably be out there taking care of the girls, but Lottie is 11 and can handle them for ten minutes. Pulling on a hoodie (Lottie teases him all the time about how big it is on him, but it’s so soft and comfy that he can’t bring himself to care), Louis plods out of his room and to the front door of the house, grabbing some notes on his way there off the dining room table. He gets the pizza and brings it into the kitchen, setting it on the table.

Two hyper six year olds race into the room at the smell of pizza. “Lou-Lou, can I have pepperoni, pretty please with sprinkles on top?” Phoebe asks, clasping her hands around Louis’ leg with the intention of not letting go.

“Sprinkles and pizza? That’s something new.” He laughs and bends to hoist her into the air, spinning her around in a circle. “‘Course you can, bub, I got pepperoni especially for you!”

He hoists Phoebe onto his hip - she is way too big for this - and turns to the other twin. “And Miss Daisy, I’m sure you would like ham and cheese?” She nods, a gappy smile spreading across her small face.

“How’d you know?” She asks.

“Because I’m magic! Shhh, don’t tell the others, it’s a secret.” Louis held a finger to his lips and sets Phoebe down on the ground. “Now, Pheebs, I’m assigning you a special mission to go get Fizzy, and Daisy-Doo, I’m gonna need you to go hunt down Lots. Got it?”

The two little girls nod enthusiastically and run off to get their sisters.

♡♡♡

The five of them end up snuggled on the couch, stuffed full of pizza with Bambi playing on the TV. The twins are fast asleep, and Louis snaps a quick photo of them tangled up in the corner of the couch, snoring away, and sends it to his mum. She wouldn’t see it until her break, but he liked to keep her updated anyways.

Louis looks over to see Fizzy struggling to keep her eyes open, and smiles fondly at his sisters.

“Right then, I think it’s just about time for bed, what do you think?” He says, reluctantly getting up from his position on the couch. “Can you girls get yourselves to bed? Don’t stay up or you’ll regret it tomorrow.” he says to the two older girls, and Lottie and Fizzy nod before getting up for bed, murmuring their ‘night’s and ‘love you’s’.

“Now, what to do with you two monsters.” Louis says under his breath, walking over to the two girls sleeping on the couch. After many manoeuvres and complaints from sleepy children, Louis manages to get his little sisters into their shared bedroom, tucking them in with cuddles and kisses before turning on the nightlight and heading to his own room.

Flopping down on his bed, Louis puts in his headphones, How to Save a Life by The Fray coming on. He closes his eyes, letting all the stress and tension from the day melt out of his body with the soft melody. Drifting off into sleep, Louis' thoughts turn to a boy with curly hair and green eyes who can’t hear him, and as he sleeps, Louis dreams about kissing those pink lips.

♡♡♡

Harry has been deaf ever since he could remember - he was born deaf, so his family had learned sign language to communicate with him. Harry had met Zayn when he was six, and had spent so much time at the Malik’s house that his whole family had ended up learning. So, sitting at the dinner table, it was easiest for everyone to sign.

How was school then, boys? Trisha signs.

It was good, I got an A on my assignment for Spanish. Zayn replies, grinning at Harry and saying: I think Harry had a pretty good day as well, right, H?

Harry glares at Zayn. My day was good. I got an A+ on that assignment though, Zayn.

Zayn’s older sister, Doniya, laughs. Harry… Did something happen today at school?

Harry’s cheeks flush red as he takes his last bite. Thanks for dinner, Trisha! It was delicious. I can wash up. He signed. Exiting the dining room, he gathers up everyone’s empty plates.

As he scrubs plates and glasses, Harry’s thoughts drift to a certain blue eyed boy, sitting at a drum kit and looking so focused, almost as if he was in another world. Not many things made Harry wish he could hear, but he yearned to hear the music which Louis created so earnestly.

♡♡♡

The next day at school, Harry is sitting at his desk halfway through Math class copying equations off of the board, when a familiar boy walks into the room nonchalantly, a scowl on his face and his hands shoved in the pockets of his black hoodie.\

“Ah, Louis.” The teacher, a cranky old lady named Mrs Anderson, who quite frankly could use some help getting rid of those lumpy cardigans and long skirts that look like they’re made of curtains, said. “How kind of you to join us.”

Louis nods his head, and Harry can’t see his lips but he says something to Mrs Anderson which apparently doesn’t please her.

The teacher waves a finger in the air and tuts. “That simply won’t do, Louis.” She proclaims to the class. “Now, this is a prime example of what you shouldn’t do. What is your excuse, Mr Tomlinson?”

Louis turns slightly as he speaks, and gives Harry a view of his lips, which, let’s be honest, Harry thinks, are completely adorable. “...rather not say, can I stay after class?”

Kids in the back of the class have begun to snicker, and Harry feels like death glaring at them because he can see genuine panic in Louis’ eyes.

“No, Louis, tell the class why you’re so late? Surely something important must have kept you so long?” This teacher is pure evil, Harry swears.

“Fine. Do you want me to tell the whole class how my mum was working the night shift ... so fucking poor that she has to do that… drove… sisters to school… so tired… goddamn car crash… I had to help them? Is that...wanted to hear?” Louis speaks so fast and moves around so much when he talks that Harry finds it difficult to read his lips, but he gets the idea.

Mrs Anderson fish mouths for a few seconds before appearing mollified. “To your desk, please, Mr Tomlinson.”

The lesson continues, though the students all kept sneaking glances at Louis, who had collapsed at a desk which just so happened to be next to Harry. Biting his lip, Harry decides to chance it and rips a scrap of paper out of his book, writing a message on it and kicking Louis in the foot before tossing the ball of paper over discreetly.

♡♡♡

Louis sighs and rests his head in his arms on the desk, trying to ignore the gaze of the other students on his back. Ok, so his little outburst may have been slightly aggressive, and poor Mrs Anderson had been left quaking in her boots (horrifically ugly leather things, they were), and probably a little shell shocked. To be fair, though, he had had a fairly horrific morning, beginning with his mum insisting on driving the girls to school so that Louis wouldn’t be late, and ending with a trip to the hospital that Louis mum had just left, which resulted in a mild concussion to Jay, but the girls being safe and sound. All of this, however, had left him half an hour late for first period, and he’d half a mind to skip and go for a smoke in the alley with his friend Liam. He’d decided to stick with his New Year's resolution, though, which turned out to be not the best idea judging by the glares being shot his way by the teacher.

Louis frowns as he feels a sharp kick to his shin, glancing up to find Harry (who, huh, just so happens to be in the seat next to Louis, which is crazy and not like Louis did that on purpose, not at all), looking at him before ‘discreetly’ throwing a ball of paper over to Louis, who unfolds it and breaks out of his somber state to quirk the corner of his mouth up in a half-smile. On the scrunched up piece of paper a single word is written: ‘number?’.

Louis scribbles an answer before dropping a pencil on the ground and rolling it over to Harry as he bends to pick it up: ‘pretty forward, huh, Curly? :) here:’ and lower down on the page is Louis’ number. Harry tucks the paper into his bag, and Louis returns the bright smile coming his way.

“Text me,” Louis mouths. Harry nods enthusiastically, then turns his head to his hands on the desk when Louis motions towards the teacher, the same stupid grin never leaving his little froggy face.

♡♡♡

After school, Louis rushes home as fast as he can without getting pulled over for speeding. Bursting into the house, he immediately calls out: “Mum! Girls! I’m home!”

Walking into the lounge, he sees his mum surrounded by a gaggle of girls, green goo on her face and hair wrapped up in a towel.

“Hey, baby! The girls have given me the proper spa treatment today, it’s been lovely, right girls?” Jay replies.

A chorus of agreement comes from the huddle around their mother.

“That sounds… awesome.” Louis says, somewhat scared.

“Don’t be scared, Lou-bear! Come, we can paint your nails!” Daisy calls.

Louis teeters, apprehensive. “Maybe… maybe not the nails, yeah? We can do other things, though! Why don’t you give me some of that lovely smelling hand cream?”

“Lou, pleeease? We can wash it right off, promise. We need practice.” Fizzy wheedles.

“Fine. But we’re washing it straight off, ‘k?”

♡♡♡

Z, I did it! I got his number! Harry signs, dancing around his basement room.

Zayn grabs Harry and pulls him onto the bed. Slow down, H, I can’t see your hands. What did you do?

I got Louis’ number! A grin comes to Harry’s face at the thought of the number in his phone.

Zayn gapes for a second or two before punching Harry on the shoulder. How’d you pull that one off, huh?

I gave him a note in math class. Harry signs, hands moving a million miles an hour.

Well have you texted him? Zayn says.

Harry looks down at his hands sheepishly. Not yet. I don’t know what to say.

Zayn rolls his eyes goodnaturedly. Should I leave you, then? Have a deep conversation with your eternal soulmate who you’re gonna marry and grow old with? He teases.

Harry buries his face in his hands. Get out, loser.

Watching Zayn’s retreating form, Harry thinks about Louis. Again. Should he text him? What does he say?

After much procrastination, Harry comes up with a simple ‘hiii its harry’.

Almost immediately, his phone vibrates and he snatches it up to read the text.

Louis: hi harry

Louis: what u doing?

Harry: nothing much

Harry: i was hanging with zayn but i kicked him out lmao

Louis: haha u guys live together right

Harry: yeah i moved in with him a few months ago

Louis: that must be cool

Louis: living with ur best friend i mean

Harry: yeah ig

Harry: he’s awesome i love him

Harry: and his family is great and stuff

Louis: is it rude to ask why u live with them?

Harry: nah its fine

Harry: my mum kinda kicked me out when i came out to her

Harry: well. It wasnt voluntary

Harry: and anyways they took me in

Louis: oh nooo

Louis: im so sorry u went thru that

Louis: but its awesome that they were there for u

After texting back and forth, it almost began to seem as though the two of them were having a real conversation, and Harry can almost picture Louis, sitting on the edge of his bed (Louis! In his room!) in an oversized hoodie and jogger bottoms.

“So you’re… you’re gay, right?” Louis says, uncertainly.

“Yeah.” Harry says.

“When did you, like… know, I guess?”

“I’ve kinda always known, you know? Like, it’s never really been a big realisation for me because I’ve always liked guys.” Harry answers.

“Oh.” Louis seems mollified.

“But it’s not like that for everyone, yeah?” Harry rushes in, hoping he hadn’t just confused Louis further if he was trying to, like, figure stuff out. “Some people might not know until they have a crush on a guy. Like, Zayn, right? He’s bi, but he didn’t realise he was because he’d always liked girls, and when he had a crush on a guy he got really confused.” Harry pauses. “Although, don’t tell anyone that. He’s not, like, in the closet, but I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate being outed.”

Harry can picture Louis nodding, feathery hair bouncing as he thought. “Of course I won’t say anything. Yeah, I get what you mean.”

“Yeah.”

Their conversation is interrupted by Trisha coming into Harry’s room.

Dinner’s ready, H. No rush, come up when you’re ready. She signs with a smile.

Thanks, Trisha. I’ll be up soon.

Harry texts Louis reluctantly to say goodbye:

Harry: zayn's mum just came to say dinners ready so i should go

Louis: np, see u tmrw?

Harry: yh sure, byeee

♡♡♡

Louis, in fact, did not wash the (purple) nail polish off - the six of them had fallen asleep in a pile in the living room, cozy in a nest which they had spent a solid hour constructing. And it just so happened that they had woken up late, so Louis had had to rush to get himself and the girls ready, meaning that he had run out of time to wipe it off.

On another note, did it mean something that while sitting in the library where one should be doing homework, Louis is currently reading a book (a book?!). Well, close enough to a book. A sign language dictionary is sitting in front of him and he is trying to teach himself sign. It probably means nothing. Probably.

At that exact moment, a shadow falls over the book. Looking up, Louis is greeted by the face of a certain curly haired boy.

Harry waves, grinning.

“Hi Harry!” Louis says, probably too loud for a library. Butterflies erupt in his stomach (butterflies? Really? Could you be any more cliche?) and he gestures to the seat next to him. Once Harry has settled and starts getting out his work, Louis taps him on the shoulder. Lifting his head from the paper, Harry looks at Louis inquisitively. Quickly, Louis moves his hand in one of the few signs he had spent the better part of an hour memorising.

How are you? He signs, a radiant smile coming to his lips. This smile, however, is nothing compared to the positive sunshine that beams out from Harry. Quickly scribbling something on a scrap of paper, Harry shows his words to Louis.

You learned for me?

Making sure Harry could see his lips, Louis says: “Well, I’m not that good, I only know a few phrases, but I want to be able to talk to you.”

Harry writes something else.

You don’t know how much that means, Louis. Trust me.

Taking a moment, Louis thinks about it. It’s not likely that Harry would have had many people make the effort, just so they could effectively communicate.

Louis feels a bit stupid and also disruptive talking out loud in the silent library, so he writes on the paper in answer.

I do.

Smiling gently, Harry answers. How’s your mum? I got the gist of what happened in math class.

Groaning softly, Louis hides his head in his hands. God, that was humiliating.

She’s fine, a little knocked around, but the girls took care of her.

Cute. Harry writes back. Did they extend that to you? I’m assuming they did your nails.

Ugh. Louis is a fucking mess today.

Yeah, they did. He writes. That’s embarrassing, sorry.

Harry frowns. I don’t think it’s embarrassing! I do mine sometimes.

Whoops. Hoping he didn’t offend Harry, Louis quickly scribbled down something before he could stop himself.

Do you wanna get coffee with me this afternoon?