Once in a Lifetime

Twenty-Two.

"I promise he will be the most, um, cared for and treasured person in the world," he smiled, turning around when he saw Louis walk into the room.

"Everything okay?" he asked nervously, stepping closer to Harry to stand beside him. Harry nodded before they all said goodbye, and he led Louis out of the house and into his car. The music played softly in the background as they drove, their chatter filling the air inside the car.

"For our first date, I wanted to take you somewhere that didn't, um, cause any pressure. I thought about a nice restaurant, but I thought that may feel too stuffy. I thought about the cinema, but then we couldn't talk. I thought about watching the sunset at the beach, but it's too cold. So, finally, I settled on the idea of the amusements, is that, um, is that okay?" Harry asked, looking across to Louis as he sat in the passenger seat.

"Haz, it's a perfect idea, I can't wait," he smiled, following Harry's lead to get out of the car. As they walked towards the entrance, Louis could see the bright lights of all the machines, and he felt like a child again. For almost an hour, Harry and Louis put their coins into the slots, attempting to win tacky keyrings for each other. When the fun of that died down, they went to the other section of the arcade, paying to play on the more competitive games. Louis beat Harry at air-hockey. Harry beat Louis at Just Dance. Louis beat Harry at basketball. Harry beat Louis at motorbike racing. After over two hours, they decided they were hungry. They walked back through the building, Louis following behind Harry as they weaved through the crowd. Suddenly, without any warning, Harry stopped, and Louis crashed into the back of him. "Oi, what the hell?" Louis complained, looking up to see why Harry had stopped.

"Come with me," he insisted, grabbing Louis' sleeve and pulling him along. He stopped in front of one of the claw-grabbers, smiling like a lunatic. "I want to win you something," he announced, taking some coins out of his pocket, and putting them in the machine.

"You really don't have to do that, Harry, we're not children," Louis laughed, watching as Harry poked his tongue out as he concentrated. He failed both of his attempts, so he put more coins into the slot.

"But I want you to have something to, um, remember tonight by," Harry whispered, still concentrating on where he was placing the claw. He moved it across the machine, pressing the button when he was ready to drop the claw. They watched it grip onto a green stuffed animal, lifting it up and carrying it back to the drop-box. They cheered when it fell into the box, Harry bending down to get it. When he handed it to Louis, he pulled it into his chest, hugging it tightly and smiling at Harry.

"Hey, it looks like you!" Louis joked as they walked back to the car, Harry huffing and shaking his head at him. They stopped off at MacDonald's on the way home, demolishing the food in the carpark as they sang to their favourite songs. When Harry pulled up outside Louis' house, he walked him to the doorstep, treating Louis like the prince he was. "I had a really great time tonight, Harry," Louis said, looking into the meadowy eyes of his date.

"Thank you for accepting my invitation," Harry added, stepping closer to Louis and taking his hand. "Um, could I, maybe, um, can I kiss you?" Harry whispered, his eyes gazing into Louis' ocean spheres. Louis nodded, closing the gap between the two until their lips touched. When they pulled apart, they smiled softly at each other, both of them agreeing to a second date as Louis walked inside. The moment he closed the front door, Liam and Niall jumped in front of him, bombarding him with questions.

"Where did you go?"

"What did you do?"

"What's it like to date Harry Styles?"

"What's with the frog?"

"Why are you smiling and blushing?"

"Oh my God, you kissed him!" Louis laughed and continued to blush as they fired questions at him, eventually squeezing around them to get a drink from the kitchen. He leant against the counter as the boys eagerly waited for details.

"Fine," Louis laughed, "we went to the amusements. and we played on all the machines and then we ate Maccies in the car. Harry's such a gentleman and he opened doors for me and paid for everything even though I protested. He won me the frog on the claw machine, and I like it because it will always remind me of tonight. It was so nice to spend time with him and he's really sweet and I really like him," Louis mumbled the last bit, but Niall and Liam grinned when they heard it.

"Aw does skater-boy Louis Tomlinson have a crush on studious Harry Styles?" Liam cooed, earning a glare from Louis.

"Anyway, back to the important topic at hand, you kissed him, didn't you?" Niall asked, raising his eyebrows at his friend.

"Maybe," Louis mumbled again, but the smile that worked its way across his face gave the game away. Liam and Niall both hugged him, telling him they were proud of him for letting Harry in and that they were happy for him. When they'd finished winding him up, they all went to bed in preparation for the first day of classes to start.