Chapter Thirty Three

Gemma and his mum are a god send. The moment they step through into the kitchen and spot Louis they treat him as if nothing had ever changed. Louis hasn't stopped smiling, a genuine smile this time that isn't plastered on for appearances. He and Gemma tease one another through a glass of red as they sit behind the kitchen bench and he and his mum finish preparing the meal.

He finds himself focusing more on Louis than he does on finishing the meal. To distracted by the way he tilts his head back when he laughs, how his eyes crinkle in amusement and the way he always rebuttals what Gemma throws at him. It's easy between the four of them, so similar to what it had once been like during 'family dinners' that his thoughts scream at him LouisLouisLouis. It's intoxicating to be around the four people he loves most in his life, even if it isn't exactly how it had once been. He's too grateful to have Louis back in his life now, whatever they are, that he doesn't overthink what all of this means. At least he won't for tonight.

Every part of him is drawn to the man before him. Now that he knows how Louis feels it's overpowering the urge to curl up into his side and stay there forever. He's bigger than Louis now, far bigger, but that doesn't stop the feeling of longing to be wrapped in his embrace where he's always felt he belonged.

Even before they were ever together, those agonizing days in the X – Factor house when he'd fought so hard to keep his growing feelings for his best mate in check it hadn't been as much as it was now. Back then he'd been young and naive, sneaking off for a moment of privacy when being around Louis without actually being with him became too much. It was truly a miracle he wasn't caught back then.

But he's not the love sick teenager he once was. He has years of experience having learnt every trace and line on Louis' body, knows the way he feels under him and how he responds to him. He's gone four years without finding that with anyone else and now to have it so close yet not quite is infuriating and creating a desire so deep he isn't sure how much longer he can contain it.

It's hardly just physical either. It's a lot more than simply wanting Louis body. He misses the shared moments between them, it's slowly getting back to that now, especially after their trip to PortMeirion, though they're a long way from curling up together on their sofa or in their bed and whispering to one another. He misses it desperately though, being around Louis, knowing him. The thrill of sneaking around backstage at various venues, squeezing together on the impossibly small bunk beds on tour buses, sneaking into hotel rooms, creating secret signals and gestures on stage meant solely for the other to understand.

Dinner is almost ready when he finally convinces Louis and Gemma to set the table in the room over, watching as they fight over who gets to arrange which cutlery piece as if they were in fact the siblings currently in the house.

Anne turns on him the second those two are in the other room and he has to fight not to shy away from the knowing look in her eye.

"If you were trying to hide your emotions from us all you're doing a very poor job darling."

He doesn't bother trying to appear confused by her words, "Think I'm quite over hiding my feelings when it comes to him."

"Does he know that? More so than guessing from the longing gazes you've been offering all evening?"

"Sort of."

"Sort of...."

"We talked, in PortMeirion. And I may have told him that I'm still in love with him."

"And what did he say?"

"The same." He says quietly.

"Oh sweetheart." His mum comes to stand before him, a steady hand resting on his forearm.

"I guess I'm still just confused where we stand with one another. Now that parts out there I don't know if we're together, doesn't feel like it, if he wants to be again and I just..." He trails off, frustratingly running a hand through his hair.

"Do you want to be with him?" Anne asks softly.

"More than anything."

"Then you'll figure it out, both of you will." The conviction in her voice almost makes him believe it.

"I've forgiven him for what happened back then but it's just hard to not think about sometimes. I trust him, I really do. I just don't know what he wants right now."

"Then talk to him love, it's Louis. I've watched the two of you together since the start, and even after these past few years watching him with you just now, I know he wants you too. Believe me sweetheart, if soulmates are real then you two are it."

"I want him so desperately but I'm so scared of what's happened once before that it feels like a weight being carried around everywhere I go. I'm scared to open myself to him completely again."

"Love takes a leap of faith darling, falling without knowing the outcome, baring yourself open to someone, that's what makes a love real."

He laughs wetly, not realising when he'd started crying in the first place. "I think that's the cheesiest thing you've ever said mum."

She smiles at him, eyes locked with his own, "Doesn't make it any less true."

The sound of Gemma and Louis' voices returning bring them both out of their bubble of conversation. He has just enough time to wipe at the few tears on his checks before the two of them walk back into the kitchen wearing matching grins.

Gemma catches sight of his face, despite his attempts at turning away and immediately comes over to him to wrap an arm around his shoulders. "We're here to have a family catch up so they'll be none of that mister." She states and pokes a finger into his shoulder. He offers her a weak smile and turns away to grab the roast chicken out from the oven.

"Well, nothing screams domestic more than roast chicken for dinner."

The four of them make their way out into the adjacent dinning room. The table now set and Gemma practically shoves him so that he goes to the left side of the table where Louis had already walked across too. Louis raises a brow at him from the gesture, a flash of a lop-sided, amused smile before he takes a seat and he doesn't have much of a choice other than to sit next to him.

They make it perhaps three quarters of their way through dinner before anything really happens. Louis spends most of that time talking with Anne seated directly in front of him across the table, asking her all sorts of questions as he catches up on what he's missed over the past few years. In return, Anne asks him about his family at which he grins and fills her in on everything his numerous siblings have been up to. The way he talks about them is a comforting, familiar thing about Louis that he adds to his list of things he's missed about this man. Louis has always been passionate about his family, his role as the sibling he'd always said was one of the most important factors of his life.

They used to speak constantly about family, starting their own someday. Harry had always thought he'd be happy with perhaps one or two children who he could spoil, that was until he'd met Louis. Louis had wanted a 'brood' of his own as he'd always used to call it. Harry had been more than willing to accommodate to the idea, the thought of having numerous mini Louis' running around a future home of theirs had been circulating in his head for years.

"Excuse you!" Gemma cries out and Harry tumbles out of his own thoughts. "Lottie and I could take you two out any day, in fact the next time we're both in London we're challenging you both."

"What exactly have you non-consentedly signed me up for this time?"

"I don't think that's a word love." Louis remarks but Harry flashes him an unamused look, despite the slight flutter of his heart at the expression, and Louis gives in. "Gemma here seems to think that her and Lottie could beat the two of us at scrabble."

"You do not!" He says whirling on his sister who's looking between the two of them with a wicked grin.

"Is that a challenge accepted I hear?"

"Dam right it is, Lou and I will take you both down."

"Lord help us." Anne mutters.

"Then you'd best bet when Lottie and I are proclaimed the Queens of scrabble that we're documenting your defeat to the world."

"Bring it on Gemma."

"I truly thought we could make it through a full dinner without such childish antics." Anne says with a sigh but there's far too much fondness in her voice for their to be any bite behind them.

"Don't know what else you'd expect from me Anne." Louis replies with a devilish smile and Harry wonders what on earth he's signed up for, again.

"Oh my gosh!" Gemma says whirling towards Louis. "Your album! I haven't seen you since you released it, Louis it's amazing! I absolutely love it!"

Louis blushes slightly at that, the colour of his checks tinting pink ever so slightly. "Thanks Gemma."

"So I mean it's really amazing, I cried about a dozen times and have barely listened to anything else."

Harry's glad that it's his sister gushing over Louis' album and not him. He's wanted to ramble on to Louis about it since the first time he'd heard it but felt it was his place, especially since he suspected so much of it was about him or their relationship in the first place. He was more than happy to let Louis squirm under Gemma's praise instead.

This sparked the next conversation about all the music they'd each been listening too. By the time they'd all finished he'd found out about several bands he'd never heard of and swore to himself that he'd listened to when he next had time.

He and Gemma head towards the kitchen with their now empty plates whilst his mum and Louis disappear off towards the lounge for Anne to show him a record that she'd recently bought him.

"You two were seriously playing footsies under the table!?" Gemma squeaks the minute they step from the room.

"Absolutely not." He says in a deadpan voice.

"Bullshit! His foot hit me at one stage and I knew what you two were doing the second it happened! You both used to do it all the time, I haven't forgotten. Insufferable the both of you."

"You love us though."

"Always." She replies with a wide smile and begins rinsing the plates and outing them in the dishwasher. "I'll join you guys out there in a minute, you go ahead."

"You sure?"

"Yeah course, not like there's much to do anyway." They'd done most of the clearing up as they'd waited for dinner so he supposed she was right, it wasn't much use him standing around doing nothing either.

Walking out to join his mum and Louis he hears the music and laughter before he sees them. Sure enough Anne stands beside his record player whilst Louis sits across from her on one of the low seated sofas. He remembers not a few months ago when Ny and Sarah had been sat on that very sofa and they'd first talked about him seeing Louis again for the first time in years. Now here he was, comfortable and at ease around his family again, looking like he belongs and Harry really isn't sure what he makes of it all just yet.

"But it's just wrong! This is like, punk, not rock!"

"Since when are you a rock connoisseur?" He asks as he takes a seat beside Louis.

"I'll have you know I was in a very successful boyband and therefore that qualifies me to be able to judge music genres."

"Ahh, a successful boyband you say?" He teases and Louis pokes him sharply in his side.

"Oi! No abusing the host!"

"Oh please." Louis says and shoves him again. His mum barely trying to withhold her fondness of seeing the two of them tease each other so easily.

A notification dings on his phone in his pocket but he ignores it completely, instead turning to face Louis once more.

"Alright but this coming from the guy that once listened to Blink for a week straight then proceeded to call them 'a funk group'. How's that for cultural knowledge."

"I believe it was punk rock, not funk! I know the difference between those thank you very much."

"Since you were the one who was drunk at the time I'm fairly sure I remember you calling them a funk group."

"Who on earth calls Blink a funk group? That's two entirely different music genres!"

"Exactly my point Lou."

"And as you can tell." Gemma's voice announces as she makes her way into the living room, iPhone in her hand, "The bickering between bandmates is still just as strong as ever."

"Gotta live up to peoples expectations of us Gems." Louis says with a cheeky smile towards the camera.

"What are you doing?" Harry asks her instead as she stops on the edge of the sofa.

"Say hi to 100,000 odd people guys!"

"You're live streaming?" He asks as Gemma points the phone towards their mum and Anne waves at the lens.

"Yup."

"So this is H's living room, he's gonna scold me later for showing off his private space and... oh! Lottie!" Louis looks up at that and they all wait whilst Gemma scrolls through on her phone till she finds Lottie's name.

"Surprise!" Lottie's voice comes through the phone and Gemma sits between he and Louis on the sofa, flipping the screen so that the live stream goes through the front lens. He leans into his sisters' side, resting his head on her shoulder as he sees Lottie and the twins on the other side of the screen. It would seem as though they were just normally facetiming if it wasn't for the rapidly climbing view count in the top corner. "Very offended I wasn't invited for dinner you guys."

"Next time." He says with a smile.

He's well aware they're likely causing a social media frenzy right about now. He doesn't even want to think about what Twitter is going to look like after this. Louis being in his house, just Louis and not the others, and now an Instagram live with his sisters.

"So what's the news in the Styles' household?"

"Oh you know," Anne says wandering around the back of the sofa till she's in view, "Trying to herd five young men around a stage before they jet off around the world."

"So the usual then?" Lottie teases.

"Pretty much." Gemma says with a smile. "So for everyone watching where here in London, all the other boys are around somewhere." Gemma continues and guesses it's likely a smart thing to say. To subtly hint that it isn't just Louis here, even though it is, but makes it sound to the fans that there is the possibility they're all here too, hopefully that will quieten some of the news when it blows up that they're all here. "It's not too much longer till I get to watch my dear brother here and his mates fleet around a stage and honestly I'm pretty excited for it."

"Aww thanks sis." Louis says with a wide grin and drapes his arm over Gemma's shoulder whilst Lottie and the twins laugh through the screen.

"Oh Gemma is definitely an honourary Tomlinson by this point so we'll take you Gems!" Lottie announces.

"Oi! She's mine!" He protests and wraps his own arm across Gemma's waist.

"See what I have to deal with?" Anne resounds with a sigh causing everyone to laugh.

"It's alright, we'll take you too little Styles." Daisy comments.

"Ha!" Louis cries, "How does it feel to be called little now Haz?"

"As long as I get to claim your sisters as siblings I'll take it, so long as I get the role of big brother."

"Sorry Lou, we're disowning you, Harry is my new big brother." Lottie declares.

"Fuckin' rude of ya." Louis grumbles.

"We'll take Gems and Harry and you can have Lou Anne." Phoebe says.

"Sounds a fair trade, bye kids." Anne replies wrapping her arms around Louis from behind and smiling widely at the camera. Louis removes his arm from around Gemma's shoulder and awkwardly leans back so he can wrap them around Anne though it looks extremely uncomfortable.

"Does that make me Louis Twist now?"

"Absolutely darling." Anne says and kisses his head.

"Is this what getting cheated on feels like?" Gemma turns to Harry and he shrugs.

"Our mum ditching us for my best friend, I think so."

"Have fun being a Tomlinson you two." Louis says, finally lowering his arms.

Before any of them can saying anything more he's phone begins ringing in his pocket. They all turn to him expectedly and he quickly pulls the device from his trouser pocket. Niall's name flashes up on his screen and he hesitates to answer it, wondering if it will give away that it is just Louis here.

Before he can make up his mind however Louis is reaching across Gemma and snatches his phone from his hand, accepting the call before he can warn Louis against it.

"Nialler!" Louis proclaims the moment the call connects.

"Tommo! Firstly, very rude of you to go live without inviting the rest of us."

"Yeah that might be my bad." Gemma admits and there goes their cover that all the boys are here.

"Appreciate the honesty Gemma, and secondly, Anne I would like to submit myself as a candidate to become the next member of the Twist family and lastly, Louis did you leave your dogs alone at home?"

Harry can't help it as he shakes his head fondly and Niall's antics, it's hard to stay mad at someone who seriously calls his mates in concern for their dogs welfare.

"Bruce and Cliff are with Eleanor," Harry definitely doesn't miss the short tone of Louis words as he says her name, "Because I'm a great dog owner and certainly would not abandon my children like that and secondly as I am now a member of the Twist household I reject your application to join us."

"It's alright Niall, he's just sour that we've just disowned him!" Daisy says with a laugh through the phone and he'd forgotten for a second that they were live and no doubt currently being recorded by tens of thousands of people.

"Alright, I think it's time we end this before anymore people end up switching families!" Gemma announces.

"Fair point, ok everyone bye! Love you guys!" Lottie and the twins call through the live and then they're gone.

"Thanks everyone for tunning in for a chaotic night here in London, hope to see some of you guys out on tour very soon!" Gemma says and he, Louis and Anne call their goodbyes to everyone before she too ends the live.

"You're dead." Harry says turning on Gemma.

"What did I do!" Gemma shrieks.

"You're gonna pay for this." He says deadpan, catching Louis' eye from around Gemma. She has just enough time to scream before Louis pounces, pinning her to the sofa and the two of them waste no time diving in to tickle her.

All in all, it's not that bad of a night.