Harrycouldn't believe his eyes as he was reading those world-changinglines. For weeks he has been waiting for an answer from universityand now here it was. He couldn't quite believe this. He has actuallygotten in. He would go to Uni in two months and was allowed to studyMusic and follow his dream. Realising this felt surreal. He neededLouis.

Highlyexcited, Harry ran out of his flat and sprinted down the few stairsand down the hallway towards Louis' flat. With shaking hands, heunlocked the door and stumbled over his own two feet, almost crashingto the floor. When he had found his balance back he was hit with adelicious smell.

"Whatis that smell?" Harry asked more to himself.

"Well,you know" Louis' voice sounded close to him. Harry's head shot inthat direction and he spotted Louis leaning against the wall. "Incelebration of today's events I faced one of my biggest flaws andactually fought with the stove to make you a delicious meal. I'm notsure that worked out yet but hey ...".

"You'recooking? For me?" Harry blinked in shock.

"Yes,Haz. Only for you and I'm almost done" Louis confirmed softly,sounding nervous.

"Youare incredible, Lou" Harry approached him. "But what celebrationare you talking about?".

"Yougetting into Uni, of course, Haz. What else?" Louis answered as ifit were obvious.

"Howdo you know ...?".

"Youdo remember that I'm a teacher, right? I have students who applied toThe University Of Domumley and got their letters today. So, I knewyou'd get your as well today, Haz" Louis explained to himlogically.

"Butyou couldn't know I got in" Harry pointed out frowny.

"Ofcourse, you got in, Haz" Louis smiled warmly up at him. "Didn'tya?".

"Yeah,I did" Harry blushed deeply. "Your support means the world to me,Lou. The fact that you've been so sure that I'd get in ...".

"Ibelieve in you, Haz. I just knew" Louis shrugged proudly.

"LikeI said, incredible" Harry wrapped his arms around Louis' waist andkissed him softly.

"No,you are incredible, Haz" Louis mumbled against Harry's lips. "Yougot into Uni, Baby. Congrats".

"Ican't believe it, to be honest. Feels unreal" Harry admittedbreathy.

"That'snormal, Love. This means a lot to you and you were unsure if it'sgonna work out. Now that it did it's hard to grasp that your dream isabout to come true. I understand, Darling. You have to get used tothis thought first and you will. You deserve this, Haz. All of it"Louis caressed Harry's face tenderly, stroking a strand of hair outof his eyes carefully.

"StudyingMusic might be a big deal to me but the only dream I really have isto have you by my side forever, through everything, Lou" Harryconfessed cheesily.

"Youwill. I'm not going anywhere. You mean too much to me to ever let yougo, Haz. I love you" Louis assured him emotionally.

"Ilove you, too" Harry kissed him again.

"NowI should take the food off the stove or it will catch fire and thatwould be such a waste" Louis broke away from the kiss and walkedback into the kitchen, but not without grabbing Harry's hand andtaking him with him.

"Itsmells amazing, Lou. I'm sure it tastes just as great" Harrysniffed the air. He could identify the smell of chicken.

"Ihope so but I don't think so" Louis sounded unsure while takingcare of the meal.

"Hopefullyyou didn't go all overboard for me. I'm happy with a simple meal andan uninjured you. No cut-off fingers or burnt flesh" Harry couldn'thelp but throw in, feeling like the funniest person on the planet.

"Imade something worthy of you fulfilling your dreams" Louis carriedthe food over to the table. "In other words, this was not easy forme but you deserve only the best".

"Itlooks fancy, Lou. Thank you" Harry eyed the meal. It actuallylooked quite good and not burnt. "What is it?".

"LemonChicken Piccata" Louis told him out of breath.

"Soundsgood" Harry whistled before tasting the food. "Mh, tastes good aswell".

"Really?"Louis checked suspiciously.

"Really,Lou. I wouldn't lie about this only to spare your feelings, Love"Harry clarified honestly.

"Thanks,I guess" Louis looked funnily at him.

Whileenjoying Louis' first ever successful meal they talked about theirwork days. By now, Harry had figured out how to keep his job at thecafé although he was hella clumsy. He somehow managed to be good atit and his boss was happy. All of his friends have been at the caféalready to support him and most of all, Louis. He showed up there ona regular basis after his own work or even before he had to go toschool, depending on when they had their shifts and classes.

"No,really. It really looks like it. If I don't find a new apartmentquick than Àmber might keep Alexa for good. She and Jacob just getalong a tad bit too good" Louis claimed when they were talkingabout Louis' puppy, they had found a few weeks ago. Her name was nowAlexa.

"Thenyou really have to look faster and be less critical, I guess. I mean,how many apartments have you seen so far and not liked for whateverreason?" Harry looked smugly at him, suppressing the thought ofLouis leaving.

"Ey!I had my reasons" Louis huffed offended. "If you don't believe meyou might have to accompany me to my next apartment viewing in anhour". "

"MaybeI should".

Likethis, Harry found himself next to Louis on their way to Louis' nextapartment viewing a few blocks away from their building. The area wasa lot nicer and quieter and many children were running around theempty streets here. It looked somehow family-friendly, which suitedLouis quite well. He would be the nice and funny neighbour all thechildren loved around here. Harry could see it.

Whenthey stopped in front of a small house with a red door and a garageHarry got a little confused because this was not an apartment. Thiswas a small house, which was still affordable but obviously not aflat for one person. A middle-aged man came towards them and showedthem inside, confusing Harry even more. Has Louis been looking forhouses this whole time?

Andhonestly, the house looked amazing on the inside. It was not too bigand kept simple. An entrance area and a nice living room. A bigkitchen, way too big for Louis, who normally didn't cook. The houseconsisted of three bedrooms in total and two more tiny rooms, like anoffice. Two balconies and a nice little garden rounded everything up.

"So,what do you think, Mr Johnson?" the man asked. If Harry rememberedcorrectly his name was Leon Henderson but Harry could be wrong. Hehas been too distracted by everything to pay attention to this guy.

"It'sreally nice, actually. I like the little garden in the front and theone in the back just as the balconies and the bathrooms. I was hopingfor two and I got it. What more could I want?" Louis repliedcheekily, sounding impressed.

"Doesthis mean you're taking it?" Mr Henderson hoped.

"I'mnot sure yet. Can you give us a second?" Louis pointed with hishead at Harry with a meaningful look.

"Ofcourse, gentlemen. I'll be right around the corner if you need me"Mr Henderson understood and left them alone.

"So,what do you think, Haz?" Louis asked awkwardly when they were leftin silence.

"Ithink you never told me you're looking at houses instead ofapartments" Harry stated the obvious.

"Tobe fair, I did look at apartments most of the time but when nothingreally satisfied me I thought maybe I was looking for the wrongthing. Maybe I wanted more. I don't know" Louis reasoned hisbehaviour.

"Youdidn't say anything" Harry noted sadly.

"Iwas about to mention it at dinner but I was way too happy for youtoday to bring up my inner struggles. And with being here noweverything feels right, in a way" Louis explained.

"Thenwhy are you hesitating? Is it because of the prize? A house isdifferent from a flat and it has a lot of rooms" Harry wonderedcuriously.

"Theprize is not the problem. Well, there isn't really a problem. Just anissue. The house is affordable and the area is nice. I'm not rich butas teacher I earn enough for this. For now. And I still have moneysaved from my dancing career. It would work" Louis told himmatter-of-factly.

"But?"Harry hooked suspiciously.

"Allthis empty space will make me feel lonely, I guess. Two stories andspare rooms all for me by myself sounds ...".

"Maybea flat is better then" Harry interrupted him. "I know it didn'tfeel right yet but there will be a flat that feels good and not aslonely because it's smaller".

"Actually,I've been looking at four-room flats for a while now. Not that muchsmaller, to be fair" Louis admitted squeaky, sounding somewhatembarrassed.

"Why?"Harry stared at him in surprise. He didn't know. He has been thinkingLouis wanted a two-room flat.

"Um... I don't know ... I ... It's stupid" Louis stuttered, turningbright red.

"Nothingyou feel or think could ever be stupid, Lou. You can tell me" Harrytook a hold of his hands gently.

"Please,don't feel pressured or weird now, okay? It was just a nice thought.For the future, of course" Louis nibbled on his bottom lipnervously.

"Promisebut what thought are we talking about?" Harry wanted to knowanxiously.

"Nothingreally. Um ..." Louis looked down, staring at the floor. "Justsilly me imagining scenarios in my head since I started looking for anew home. I was ... At first, I have been looking at small flats justfor me myself and I but then ... I thought about you and how you'rewith me every day anyway and I thought a bit more space couldn't bewrong? So, I started looking for three-room flats, which turned intofour-rooms at one point because I kept having thoughts about thefuture. Our future. And then ... I don't know. A house sounded niceto me. It's silly really".

"Whatare you trying to say? What about our future, Lou?" Harry needed toknow if his initial thoughts were right and Louis was hinting at whatHarry was thinking he was.

"God,this is embarrassing" Louis kept staring at the floor, avoiding tolook at Harry. "I've been thinking about our future together, whichis early, I know. But ... seeing other couples viewing the flats Iwas at made me miss you by my side and I've been wishing we wouldlook for a new home together? Like, I imagined how it would be toactually live together because we practically already do, in someway. And that led to imagining our future even further after seeing acouple with a baby two weeks ago. I ... they kept talking aboutwanting a house but also looking at apartments for them and theirfuture children and I just ... I looked up small houses here the verysame night because I couldn't get the picture of us in a garden outof my head. I know this is all a little bit much, especiallyconsidering we're standing in an empty house that I was looking atafter picturing us living here without telling you about it, so I canunderstand if you're freaked out or overwhelmed or shocked and mad atme. I was simply daydreaming".

Inshock, Harry was trying to process everything Louis had just admittedto him. He has been picturing them living together as a family withkids of their own in the near future. Something Harry had alwayslaughed at because this was such a cheesy and cliché thought. Ahouse and kids and a dog in a quite area full of families.

"Youwant us to move in together?" Harry brought out.

"Um,yeah ... one day ... I mean ..." Louis blushed in pureembarrassment, fiddling with his fingers.

"Butwe're here right now. In a house. A house that you want. With me andkids. Today. Not one day. Right this second, Louis" Harry statedthe obvious.

"Iknow. I ... God, I should have never brought you here today or eventold you this so early. Now it looks like I'm rushing things and...".

"Youtalked about kids" Harry blurted out, still in shock.

"Shit,yeah, I did. I'm sorry, Haz. I um ... I'm gonna go and find MrHenderson and tell him I want it but obviously alone, which isunderstandable and I never wanted or expected anything else. I mean,obviously. Sorry that I told you this. Just forget about it. I ... um... Alexa is gonna love the garden. I can finally bring her home ..."Louis rambled and apologised at the same time, backing away from him."Home, yeah. I'm gonna take her here. Then I'm not alone, afterall".

Standingthere rooted to the spot and watching Louis leave made Harry snap outof his trance-like frozen state. "No, Louis. Wait! Stop! Lou!".

Stumblingafter him, Harry grabbed for Louis' wrist and turned him back aroundto him, his face showing shame and guilt and embarrassment andsadness. All caused by Harry's inability to function as soon as Louishad confirmed his guess about the house. Louis looked right outmiserable but was trying to put on a smile to cover up his, in hiseyes, misplaced emotions. Harry wasn't having any of this.

"I'msorry, Louis. Please, don't feel like you did something wrong now,okay? You didn't, first of all. And yes, I was shocked. I did notexpect any of this and maybe it's a bit fast for outsiders and alittle earlier to think about kids but this here with you feelsright, Lou. Living with you. Being our own little family. All ofthis" Harry babbled out quickly, fearing Louis might leave him.

"Butyou ...".

"Iwas shocked and overwhelmed, Lou" Harry cut him off determined."The picture of the perfect family or home is not something I'mused to or I ever dared to even dream about because I never had it. Ahouse, a dog and kids with one person only. The love of my life. Itwas a forbidden dream to me, something I never wanted because likethis, I couldn't be disappointed if I never got it, you know? Butthings changed. I changed. I met you and I wanna be with you forever.This includes a shared future, obviously, you idiot. I didn't expectthe future to knock on my door so early but my heart is ready forthis, Lou. It is ready for us to be home".

"Doesthis ... Do you want to ... Are you saying you wanna move in withme?" Louis couldn't believe it. His eyes were all teary just likeHarry's own eyes.

"Yes,Lou. That's what I want. I wanna move in with you. Here. In thishouse. It feels right" Harry nodded emotionally, a few tearsescaping his eyes.

"Areyou sure about this? Don't feel pressured into this just because Ihave been dreaming about this for some time" Louis hookedunconvinced.

"Iam one hundred per cent sure, Lou" Harry said surely. Maybe it hadbeen a shock at first but his heart knew. This was what he wanted. Afuture with Louis. Now. "Let's tell Mr Henderson".

"Iheard everything. An empty house has a very good sound. Sorrygentlemen but it was very touching" the voice of Mr Hendersonsounded from downstairs, making Louis and Harry laugh but blush atthe same time.

"Shit,he heard my emotional rambling" Louis giggled cutely.

"Lookslike there is no turning back now, Sunshine. Welcome home" Harrypulled Louis into his arms.

"Thishouse is gonna be our home but I've been home for a long time, Haz"Louis kissed him passionately.

Harryknew what Louis meant with his words and his heart felt warm at thisindication. He could only agree with Louis. They definitely were eachother's homes. "Me too".

Aftertalking some more details with Mr Henderson they left the house andmade their way back to their apartments. They were silent but it wasnice. Harry's thoughts were running wild and he couldn't believe hewould move out as well and in with his boyfriend. He was happy andwanted someone special to know about this.

"Lou,can we take a departure? I wanna introduce you to someone and tellthem how happy I am. With you" Harry made them stop abruptly.

Louisstudied his face and seemed to understand what was going on withoutneeding more words. "Of course, Haz".

Handin hand, they walked towards their destination. Harry felt hisheartbeat picking up and his throat felt dry. He has never been herebefore. This was really hard for him but he wanted this. He needed italthough it was tough.

Afterwalking for some time and entering the graveyard he stopped at twotombstones with the inscriptions AnnabelleJones andAlexandraJones."Hi, Mum. Hi, Alex".

"Youwant me to give you a second?" Louis asked in a respectful whisper,squeezing Harry's hand.

"No,please stay. I um ... you know I've never been here to visit them.Today felt like a good day to change that. So much has changed in mylife since I met you and I want them to know everything" Harryrevealed to him emotionally.

"I'mright here, Haz" Louis smiled encouragingly.

Harryexhaled shakily before he faced the tombstones again. "Hi, um ...I'm really sorry I've never been here to visit you two but I wasstruggling a lot with your absence. I miss both of you terribly anddidn't always handle that very well but I'm better now and will visityou more often. So, um ... this is Louis" Harry started and pulledLouis closer into his side. "He is my boyfriend and makes me reallyhappy. He helped me to figure out who I wanna be and what I wanna dowith my life. Thanks to his endless support I applied to Uni afterall these years and actually got in today. I'm gonna study Music anddo something I love, isn't that great? Speaking about love, I loveLouis with all my heart and I know you would have loved him. He isfunny and sassy and kind and caring and lovely. The list goes onforever but I won't go there. Um ... we're gonna move in togethersoon. A house close by and he even has a dog. One day we're gonnahave kids and I'm gonna tell them about you two. Anyway, I justwanted to let you know I'm doing okay and someone is looking afterme. I love you both and miss you every single day. Mum, Alex. I loveyou deeply".

Lettingall of this finally out felt relieving to Harry. He had tears on hisface, streaming down his cheeks but they were good tears. Very good.He was good. They were good

"Wow,this was long overdue" Harry breathed out trembling, feeling Louisdirectly squeeze his hand tightly.

"I'mvery proud of you, Haz. No matter how weird that might sound. I knowcoming here was a big deal for you and I'm happy you felt safe enoughwith me to let me be here" Louis spoke up faintly, not breaking thequiet between them.

"Thereis no one I feel safer with, Lou. I wanted you to be here and meetthem. You're my world and they are my family. Now you've become myfamily. It ... you know?" Harry tried to word his thoughts but justgave up.

"Iknow, Baby" Louis gently stroked with his fingers over Harry'scheek. "Do you wanna meet my Mum?".

"I'dlove to" Harry beamed touched at him.

Withtheir fingers entangled, the two of them walked a bit over thegraveyard until Louis stopped at a simple but very beautifultombstone by a huge tree. The inscription said JasmineFlorence Johnson. Atthe sight, Harry felt himself tear up. This woman has given him thelove of his life.

"Youhave a very similar second name" Harry said out loud before hecould stop himself.

Louisonly chuckled at that. "Yeah, I've always loved that. If we hadever chosen to go by those names we'd have the same nickname. Feelsgood to know".

"Evencloser to her, I guess" Harry mumbled quietly.

"Exactly"Louis smiled up at him.

Thissmile was Harry's favourite. Well, everything about Louis was hisfavourite thing in the world but this smile in particular just alwaysgot him the most. It's open and genuine and warm and solely forHarry. This smile has always connected them in times when theyweren't sure where they stood or if the understanding was there andmutual. This smile was symbolising everything to Harry.Understanding, Passion, Affection, Love. A safe place.

"Youwanna introduce me to her?" Harry asked breathy, overwhelmed by hisown emotions.

Louisonly smiled at him again before he faced his mother's tombstoneagain. "Hi, Mum. It's been a while. So much has happened since welast talked. Anyway, I wanna introduce you to someone. Mum, this isHarry. My boyfriend".