Archive of Our Own

Louis Tomlinson walked into the Probation Office on Third Street, trying to figure out who the fuck he was supposed to talk to.

He needed to get his assignment to use toward his court-ordered community service. He hoped it wouldn’t be something gross, like giving out food to sick homeless people, or picking up trash on the side of the road while wearing a hideous jumpsuit.

He wasn’t a big fan of orange.

“Can I help you?”

He looked at the smiling woman who had called over to him.

He crossed the gray, carpeted floor and leaned against the wooden counter that the woman was sitting behind.

“Yeah, um, I’m Louis Tomlinson. I’m supposed to be told where I have to go for community service?”

“Sure. Do you have your paperwork?” she asked.

Louis nodded and shoved his hand into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled packet of papers that he needed to hand in and have signed every time he did a day of work.

With a slight crinkle of her nose, she took the papers from him and looked over it before typing something into her computer.

“OK, Mr. Tomlinson, it looks like you’re helping with the community cleanup at Williams Park on Elm Street.”

Louis raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

She nodded. “Yup. You’re reporting at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. It's brand new: Saturday will actually be the first meeting for it. Liam Payne will be overseeing your progress. I assume you’ve met with him already?”

“… Yeah.”

Oh, Louis had met Liam all right.

He had absolutely met the smiley guy with big biceps and the type of swooshy hairstyle that made him look like the leading competitor in a David Beckham lookalike contest. 

Yeah, they’d met already, and it was clear that Liam looked down on Louis, or, at the very least, pitied him for his poor mistakes.

Louis wasn’t a bad guy. He’d just been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time… Again.

How was he supposed to know that the cops would come bursting into Niall’s party and start searching for drugs? If he had, he never would’ve brought his stash with him.

Well, that, or he would’ve gotten rid of the last joint he had in his pocket.

It wasn’t his fault. Really.

“What exactly do I have to do at this community cleanup thing?” Louis asked.

“Well, the goal is to make the park a better, more family friendly environment. Your daily tasks will include painting over graffiti and cleaning up trash. You may be pulling weeds, planting flowers-”

“That sounds like work,” Louis interrupted.

The woman stared at him, trying to figure out if he was actually serious about the words that had just come out of his mouth.

“Yes, Mr. Tomlinson, you will have to work to keep yourself out of jail. You’re aware that you have committed a crime, right?”

“For a joint!” Louis protested. “It was just a bit of weed. I’m sure you’ve smoked some in your day.”

She raised her eyebrows at his obnoxious statement. “I haven’t, actually. Sorry.”

Louis sighed as she started stamping his paperwork.

“We’ll see you on Saturday morning, Mr. Tomlinson. 9 a.m.; don’t be late. And look at it this way: you’re here for possession. You should enjoy going to the park and being surrounded by plants.”

She handed over his papers and, with a smile, said, “Have a nice day, Mr. Tomlinson.”

---

Louis got to the park a few minutes late on Saturday morning. Admittedly, he shouldn’t have hit the snooze button on his alarm so many times, but he really didn’t want to get out of bed.

He didn’t actually want to be here at all, but that went without saying.

He saw Liam talking to some people that he didn’t know.

It looked like there were about ten people ready and waiting, and he was probably the last one to arrive.

As he walked, he neglected to look down to see if there was anything on the ground he might trip on.

So, of course, he tripped.

“Oh, shit,” Louis exclaimed as his foot caught on something. After steadying himself, he saw that it was another man tying his shoe. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all right!”

He finished what he was doing and bounced to his feet, standing up straight.

“Hi! Are you here for the community cleanup?”

Louis stared back at him, absolutely sure that nobody with this much energy at nine in the morning could be talking to him.

But alas, the man was smiling right at him, so Louis figured he had to answer.

“Um, yeah.”

“Me, too!”

The man looked at Louis with twinkly eyes and a smile so wide that it made dimples. His hair was pulled up into a bun on the back of his head. He wore a tank top that showed off strong arm muscles, black shorts that Louis was pretty sure were made for women and neon green Nikes that probably glowed in the dark.

“I’m Harry.”

Louis gave him another quick once-over, trying to figure out, on a scale of one to ten, how fake he was being with his excitement.

“Yeah, hi… I’m Louis.”

“Nice to meet you!”

“You, too? Um, are you like, the team leader or something?”

Harry shook his head. “Oh, no. But I guess I could see where you’d get that idea. I’m here for my community service hours, too.”

“You got community service?” Louis asked before he could stop himself.

“Yup. Happens to the best of us, right?”

Louis could tell that Harry had been going for humor with that, but Louis would be damned if he laughed.

“I guess?”

“Louis, good to see you!”

Liam walked up to them just then. “I see you’ve already met Harry?”

“Yeah,” he answered. Under his breath, he muttered, “you can say that again.”

“Good. Well why don’t you two come over here and we can get started? We’re gonna be preparing a flower garden today. It’s a lot of shoveling and planting and weed-pulling, so get ready to be sore in places you didn’t know even existed.”

“OK!” Harry enthused. “Let’s get started!”

He and Liam walked off, and Louis just stared after them.

If he survived this, he vowed to never smoke weed again in his life.

Well, at least, he wouldn’t get caught with it.

---

When they finally stopped for lunch, Louis wanted to collapse.

His hands were red from gripping a shovel for the past four hours, his back hurt from leaning over at such odd angles and he was sure he’d sweat more today than he had over the last three summers combined.

He sat down at one of the picnic tables in the park’s gazebo and rested his head on the wooden surface in front of him.

“Rough time?” a female voice asked him a moment later.

Louis peeked an eye up to see a peppy blonde in a pink T-shirt watching him.

“Yeah, I guess,” Louis replied, sitting up. “But no rougher than yours, probably.”

“You’d be right with that statement.”

She sat down next to him and said, “I’m Perrie, by the way. We haven’t been officially introduced yet.”

“Louis. What’d they get you for?”

“Petty theft,” she shrugged.

“Yeah?”

“Only according to the court. What happened was, I lost my bracelet in a club, and it was a present from my ex. I don’t like him anymore, but I love that bracelet. Then I found out it was in a pawnshop down the street from the club. I went to the owner and told him what happened, but he wouldn’t give it back to me. Can you believe that?”

“No!” Louis gasped, pretending to act surprised.

“I know. He wanted to charge me two hundred bucks for it, and I know it wasn’t worth that much. Anyway, I went back one day and reached behind the counter when he wasn’t looking. Well, he didn’t see me, but the security cameras did.”

“Sucks.”

“I know. One of the other guys is here for that, too. Michael, I think his name is. He said it was something about a guitar.”

“Yeah? Anybody here for possession?” Louis asked.

“Is that why you’re here?”

“Yup. One joint. Just one.”

“They get you for anything these days, don’t they?” Perrie shook her head. “But to answer your question, I think Jesy is. And Ashton, too.”

She pointed out the two people she was talking about.

“Oh. So I’m not a total outcast,” Louis commented as the rest of the group started to slowly make their way over to the tables.

“Of course you are; that’s why you’re with us.”

Louis smiled.

“All right, guys,” Liam called out, wheeling over a cooler. “Come grab a sandwich and a bottle of water.”

Louis was starving, and mentally thanked whoever he needed to thank for the food.

“We have half an hour to eat; then we’re right back at it,” Liam instructed before biting into his sandwich.

Louis took a bite of his own, relaxing a little bit.

They went around the group, talking about what got them into community service. Jade had been pulled over for speeding three times in less than a year. Luke had been caught driving without his license. Leigh-Anne had been driving her boyfriend’s car, which, unbeknownst to her, had an expired insurance card. Calum was arrested for indecent exposure, after his pants accidentally fell down after a long night in a bar.

Then it got to Happy Harry, who Louis had met earlier.

“I assaulted a cop,” Harry answered.

Louis widened his eyes. He didn’t think Harry had it in him.

“You what?” Jesy asked.

“Well, not really; only technically. I was at a protest…”

Of course you were.

“The cops showed up and started to break it up. It was a peaceful protest; there was really no reason to make us leave. Anyway, I was holding up a sign, and my friend behind me said something, but I couldn’t hear him. So I turned around to ask him what he said, and when I did, the sign swung around and hit the cop on his head.”

The girls gasped, while the guys started chuckling.

“It really was an accident,” Harry finished. “But, the judge didn’t agree, so, here I am.”

“What were you protesting?” Perrie wanted to know.

“SeaWorld.”

Louis loudly snorted back a laugh.

Everybody turned to look at him.

“Sorry,” he said. “But, you protested SeaWorld?”

“Yeah,” Harry answered.

“Why?”

“Louis,” Liam said in a warning tone.

Harry looked confused. “What do you mean?”

Louis wasn’t sure why his question was so baffling to Harry. “I mean… Why? Who would protest SeaWorld? Everybody loves SeaWorld.”

“I don’t.”

“How come?” Louis wanted to know.

“Because of how they treat their animals. These animals are captured in the wild, taken from their families and forced to do stunts for treats in tanks that are far too small for them. Louis, do you like dolphins?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then don’t go to SeaWorld,” Harry said. “Dolphins are incredibly smart animals and their intelligence is reduced to ‘amazing’ stunts. They’re forced to breed in captivity and they die much younger than they would if they were in the wild. And don’t even get me started on the whales.”

Louis grinned and leaned forward, resting his forearms fully on the table. “Oh, please tell me about the whales, Harry.”

“Louis, come on; that’s enough,” Liam said. The others shifted uncomfortably around the table, staring down at their food.

Harry took the bait anyway. “How about the fact that these whales have been under so much stress from the captivity they’re in and the performances they’re made to put on that they attack their trainers and ‘fans’? There are over a hundred reports of orca aggression at SeaWorld’s parks, which all could’ve been avoided if those whales weren’t kept in tanks that, to them, are the size of bathtubs. These animals are under stress and often suffer from depression. It’s not healthy, it’s not right and it needs to be stopped.”

“Why do you care so much?” Louis asked.

“Because I have a heart; unlike some people around here.”

“Ooh, you’re bringing the claws out now, huh?” Louis smirked. “I happen to have a heart, believe it or not. Just because I’m not into the tree hugger shit that you are.”

“I’m not a tree hugger.”

“You protested SeaWorld! You want to save the whales! Of course you’re a tree hugger.”

“Shut up,” Harry growled.

“Louis, stop it,” Liam added.

“Oh, hippie Harry’s got a temper,” Louis smirked. “Didn’t expect that one. Also didn’t expect you to be someone who assaults cops, either, but hey…”

“Stop it!” Harry yelled, banging his fist down on the table.

Everybody froze, even Louis, who was, once again, caught off-guard by something about Harry’s personality.

Louis and Harry’s eyes were locked in a tense staring match while the rest of the group waited for something to happen next.

Liam was the one to break the tension. “All right, everyone, let’s get back to work. We only have a few more hours left today, and we need to get more of the flower garden done.”

The rest of the group agreed with Liam and stood up, throwing their food and bottles away in the trashcan.

They started walking back toward the garden, leaving Louis and Harry alone at the table, glaring at each other.

They didn’t stop glaring for the rest of the day.

---

The second week of community service, they were planting trees along the outer edges of the park.

“Before we get started, though,” Liam announced, “I want to just wish a fond farewell to Jesy and Michael, who are done after today’s session.”

The two of them had started weeks ago, meaning that they had been chipping away at their required hours for much longer than Louis had been.

He tried not to be bitter about the fact that they were finished and he wasn’t.

“Yay!” Perrie started cheering, and the others soon joined in.

“I really hope I never see you two again in my program,” Liam told them. “And I mean that.”

They laughed at Liam’s comment.

“No offense intended,” Michael said, “but I hope I never see you again, Liam.”

Liam smiled back before telling them that they needed to get started.

“I’m not using the shovel,” Louis decided. “I’ll plant the seeds or lay the mulch or whatever, but I still have callouses on my hands from last week.”

“I’ll take a shovel,” Calum offered.

“So will I,” Ashton said.

“Can I have one more digging?” Liam wondered.

Louis looked around, seeing who else would do it. He made brief eye contact with Harry, who scoffed loudly and looked away.

Is he still mad about last week?

Luke volunteered. “I can do it.”

The three of them took shovels and walked over to where Liam pointed.

They started digging while the rest of them started looking through the saplings.

“OK, now we can’t open the packaging too early,” Liam instructed, “otherwise the roots will dry out. So, only when the holes are dug should we unwrap them.”

“So, we can just wait until they’re finished digging?” Leigh-Anne asked hopefully.

“No. While they’re digging, we need to unload the bags of mulch I have in the truck.”

He tilted his head toward the red pickup truck in the parking lot.

The girls all sighed and started walking over to the vehicle.

“Something I said?” Liam wondered.

He and Michael followed behind the girls.

Harry started to follow, too, but Louis stopped him with a touch to his forearm. He decided that he would be the bigger man and apologize for his comments about the damn whales.

“Look, man,” Louis started, “I was thinking about it, and, I’m sorry for what I said last week. Can we just move past it or something?”

Harry stared at him, a slight furrow in his brow.

“What? Should I say it in Dolphin? Would that make it easier for you to understand?”

Harry’s jaw dropped, and he looked like he was about to say something. Instead, after a moment, he just closed his mouth. He shook his head and rolled his eyes before walking away.

“Some people are so sensitive,” Louis muttered to himself.

---

“I’m done today, I’m done today!” Leigh-Anne cheered excitedly the next week.

“Don’t be too happy about it, Leigh,” Liam grinned. “You won’t like what we have to do today.”

Leigh-Anne sighed. “What do you have for us, Liam?”

Liam pointed to the wooden tables where there were different piles of equipment waiting to be used.

Louis could see yellow rubber gloves, plastic buckets, nets, grab hooks and trash bags.

He also spotted a pile of dark rubber that looked like it was meant to be worn.

That didn’t look promising.

“What the fuck are those?” Louis found himself asking.

“Those are your outfits and equipment for today,” Liam answered. “We’re cleaning out the lake.”

“Excuse me?” Jade asked. “That lake is disgusting.”

“Yeah. Hence the assignment.”

“We have to get in there?” Ashton wondered.

“Yup. Don’t worry; the water isn’t more than waist-deep.”

“According to whose waist?” Perrie wanted to know. “Because, if you haven’t noticed, I’m really short without my heels.”

“So am I,” Leigh-Anne added.

“Me, too!” Jade whined.

It was obvious that Liam was trying not to roll his eyes at the expected lack of enthusiasm.

“Anyway…” he said, picking up a one-piece from the table. He held it up, showing them what it looked like. “It’s mostly adjustable: you can make the straps shorter or longer, depending on how tall you are. So, girls; relax. You can wear it over the clothes you’re wearing now, and the pants tuck into boots, so nothing should get wet. Unless you fall over; in which case, I can’t help you.”

Liam opened a plastic tub next to the table, revealing the boots he had mentioned. “There should be some for everybody,” he explained. “If not, then you might have to wear boots that are a little bit bigger than your regular size. Anyway, we’re gonna get the trash out of the lake and put it either in the buckets or the trash bags, depending on how deep in the water you are. It’ll be better to use buckets if you’re out in the middle of the lake. Now suit up and let’s get started.”

With only minor grumbling, the group of them put on their wet suits and boots. They pulled on thick, rubber gloves and took different equipment with them to get the trash out of the lake.

Some of them grabbed long poles with nets at the end to fish out what couldn’t be pulled out with the grabber tools.

“This is bullshit,” Calum swore as he grabbed a bucket.

“Would it be dumb to wear two pairs of gloves?” Perrie asked Jade. “I don’t want to mess my nails up.”

“Use one pair of gloves, Perrie,” Liam cut in. Louis could see that he was trying to hide a smirk as he said that.

Perrie pouted, still looking unsure about the status of her manicure, but did what Liam said anyway.

About ten minutes later, once everyone successfully got into their gear, they made their way to the lake.

It was a manmade one, meaning it really wasn’t more than about three feet deep. The problem was, the water was murky, made dirty and disgusting by years of trash constantly falling into it, whether it was on purpose or accidental.

“It smells in here,” Perrie commented, wrinkling up her nose.

“So let’s work fast, then,” Liam replied.

Louis slowly stepped into the lake, feeling the warm temperature of the water instantly surround his boots.

He waded his way further in, knowing that the others would stick to the shallow parts of the lake for as long as they could.

It was difficult to clear out the garbage, since Louis could barely see. He used the sunlight streaming from above to make out any shadows at the bottom that he could. He squinted his eyes, and was able to see a few soda cans sitting by his feet.

He used his grabber to pick them up and put them in the bucket secured in his left arm.

He moved around, looking for anything else in the water that he could fish out, and nearly collided with Harry, the only other one brave enough to start out in the deepest part of the lake.

“Having fun?” Louis asked.

“Not really,” Harry answered. He tilted his head down, looking beneath the surface of the water.

“Really? I would’ve thought this would be right up your alley.”

“Why? Because I’m a ‘tree hugger’?”

“Well, yeah. Don’t you want the lake to be clean? You seemed pretty wound up the other day about the whales having a good place to live.”

“This isn’t at all the same thing,” Harry sighed. “I mean, yeah, the lake should be clean, but the animals at SeaWorld deserve a safe place in the wild to live, not in a pool.”

“Oh, so you don’t care about the water at SeaWorld being clean?”

“Of course I ca-”

Harry cut himself off, pressing his lips together to hold back whatever else he had to say.

Instead, he replied, “You know what? Forget it. It’s not worth talking to you about. You clearly lack the intelligence to have an adult conversation.”

“Excuse me?” Louis asked angrily.

“Which part of that sentence was above your comprehension level? I said, you’re obviously not smart enough to talk about things that matter, or, keep yourself out of trouble. I mean, who gets caught with weed anymore? It’s 2015.”

“I didn’t know the cops were gonna come busting in!”

“Really?” Harry scoffed. “The loud sirens on top of their cars didn’t tip you off?”

“Listen, stop acting like you’re better than me just because of what you protest over. You and I are both here for what we’ve done in the past.”

“Yeah, but I’m here because of something important. You’re here because of complete stupidity.”

“Take that back,” Louis growled.

“No.”

“OK,” Liam said, appearing from out of nowhere. He slid in between Louis and Harry, who had gotten very close to each other as they argued. “I could see your disagreement brewing from a mile away. Let’s separate, shall we?”

“Gladly,” Harry spat. He backed up and turned around, walking over toward Luke and Ashton, who were pretending that they hadn’t just been watching Louis and Harry’s fight.

Liam looked over at Louis with an eyebrow raised. “You doing OK, Louis?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “Just peachy.”

---

“All right, gang,” Liam said after signing all of their forms, “we can call it a day.”

After they spent a few hours cleaning out the lake, they’d taken a break for lunch and then started regular trash pickup.

They’d broken up into groups of two and spread out across the park, using the grabbers to make sure that all litter was picked up and placed in their trash bags.

Now, it was finally 5:30 – quitting time – and Louis couldn’t wait to get home and take a shower. Maybe two.

They packed the gear into the back of Liam’s truck before heading for their own cars.

Louis waved goodbye to the others and started walking toward the parking lot.

Before he got in his car, he reached into his pocket, expecting to find his phone.

But, he came up empty.

“Shit,” he whispered.

He checked his pockets again before unlocking his car and checking in the cup holder, hoping he’d put it there this morning and just hadn’t noticed.

But he was sure he’d had it with him at lunch earlier.

He got out of the car, closing the door behind him.

He turned around, resolving to retrace his steps, and found Harry walking up to him.

“You dropped this.”

Harry tossed him his cell phone.

“Thanks,” Louis said, catching it in his hands.

Harry walked by without a word.

“I said ‘thank you!’”

“I heard you; Jesus. You’re welcome.”

“Hey, are you just gonna be pissy toward me the whole time we have to work together?” Louis asked.

“Probably,” Harry answered. He stopped walking and shifted his body slightly toward Louis. “At least until you show some kind of remorse over the bullshit you said to me two weeks ago.”

“I apologized for that!”

“You call that half-assed insult about ‘speaking Dolphin’ an apology? No way. If you have a real one, I’m all ears. Until then, just leave me alone, Louis.”

Harry turned all the way around and continued walking.

“Harry, I’m sorry,” Louis called earnestly after him.

Harry stopped where he was, one foot hovering above the street where he had been about to step down.

“Sorry for what, Louis?” Harry asked. His voice was stiff, and his shoulders were still slightly hunched in, like he would snap if Louis said something else that was wrong.

“Sorry for what I said about the st- I mean, about the whales.”

Harry spun around to look at Louis. “You were about to call them ‘stupid,’ weren’t you?”

“No!”

“Yes, you were! God, you know, when you apologize, you’re not supposed to insult the thing that the other person was defending.”

“I didn’t insult the damn whales, Harry.”

“But you wanted to, didn’t you?”

Louis tried to think of another word that started with ‘st-’ that he could tell Harry he had been about to use to describe the whales.

But, of course, he was forgetting every word of the English language that he had ever learned.  

“You know, it’s because of people like you that the whales and dolphins and all the other animals are still in Sea World,” Harry said.

“What do you mean, ‘people like me’?” Louis wanted to know.

“I mean, people who genuinely don’t care about the animals in those places. You couldn’t care less, because they don’t affect you. You may act like you’re concerned, when, in reality, the less I talk about the subject, the better. And why is that? Probably because you don’t want to think about it. You don’t want to think about how dire of a situation those animals are in because then you might feel guilty about your undeniable lack of effort. You don’t want the fact that those whales are being held in captivity to ruin your perfect life.”

“What perfect life?” Louis wondered. “I’m in community service, just like you, Harry.”

“For weed possession. It’s not that big a deal.”

“Uh, the courts would disagree. That’s why I’m here. Oh, and for the record?”

“What?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Harry scoffed. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Shut up. Do you ever let anyone else talk when they’re around you, or is it all about you and what you have to say? My God, you must get winded after those preachy sermons you go around giving to people who don’t want to hear it.”

“I don’t give preachy sermons.”

“Yeah, you do. In the past few weeks we’ve worked together, I don’t even know how many times I’ve heard you mention whales, or global warming, or recycling or whatever other tree hugger shit you care about. But I’ll give you one thing: you’re right. I don’t care. I mean, yeah, it sucks about the whales, and if everything you’re saying is true, then it’s not fair and the whales shouldn’t have to be kept like that. But come on, Harry, I’m only one person. What kind of difference could I make with my lack of connections to anything relevant?”

Harry was silent, but Louis could tell he was at least listening to what he was saying.

“And, you know what sucks the most for you?”

Louis didn’t even give Harry a chance to respond, not that Harry really wanted to, anyway.

“After this is done, nothing will change. For me, that’s fine. I’ll go back to my friends and my weed that you clearly look down on, and I’ll be OK. But for you, it sucks, because nothing will change. The whales will still be in Sea World with their bath tub aquariums and you’ll be no closer to freeing them than you were at the last protest. Sucks, doesn’t it?”

Harry’s chest was falling and rising quicker now, showing Louis just how angry he was getting.

“Have a great day,” Louis wished. “See you next week.”

He backed up a few steps before turning around completely, returning to his car.

“Prick!” Harry yelled after him.

Louis flipped him off over his shoulder as he got in, managing not to break his stride.

---

The following Saturday, they were fixing the playground area.

Liam gave out power tools so that they could put new screws and bolts on the slides, swings and jungle gyms, making them sturdier.

Ashton and Luke went over to the basketball nets to make sure that they were secure and to see if the paint on the courts needed to be touched up.

Perrie volunteered to paint a hopscotch court on the sidewalk.

Harry tested out the monkey bars, hanging from each of the poles to see which ones were wiggly.

He started at one end, picked his feet up off the ground, and carried himself to the other.

When he finished, he dropped his legs back down to the mulch below and slowly walked out from under them, careful not to hit his head.

“You’re really good at that, Harry,” Jade complimented. “I was never good at the monkey bars. I have no upper body strength.”

“It takes practice, Jade.”

“I’ve tried, but I can’t do it.”

Harry nodded before kneeling down and grabbing Jade around her knees.

He picked her up easily, and walked over to the start of the monkey bars, still carrying her as she protested and told Harry to put her down.

“Do it now,” he instructed.

Jade put her hands up and grabbed hold of the first bar. She reached forward and grabbed the next one, and easily pulled herself across, now that most of her body weight was supported by Harry.

“See? You did it!” Harry enthused.

Jade laughed. “Because you helped me, you loser.”

“Whatever works!” he said, laughing right along with her.

From his spot at the top of the jungle gym, Louis watched Harry, giggling like he was a child on the playground himself.

The thing was, Harry was really attractive. He had gorgeous, green eyes with little flecks of gold in them, and his curly, brown hair was long enough to be pulled. And Louis had a feeling that Harry would like that.

Every now and then, Louis would look over at Harry and see that his nipples were puffy, like Harry had just been having dirty thoughts about something.

Louis wasn’t sure what that would be, considering they were doing manual labor, and he had to be sore by this point.

Unless Harry liked to be sore.

Now Louis was the one having dirty thoughts.

Anyway, if Louis had met Harry in a bar, he totally would’ve taken him home and fucked him. That much he could admit.

It was just that damn mouth of his. Of course, his pretty, pink lips would look perfect with Louis’ cock between them, but that wasn’t the point. The point was, Harry had a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude that was a huge turnoff. For god’s sake, the first day they met, they’d gotten into a near-screaming match about fucking whales.

Louis liked a bit of banter between people he wanted to hook up with, but that was pushing it.

Maybe Harry wouldn’t be opposed to being gagged…

Louis shook his head at the surprise thought. He needed to get his shit together.

---

The next week, it was raining too hard to work in the park.

Liam called them all to give them an address downtown.

Louis pulled up into a Goodwill parking lot at ten, which was a nice change from his standard nine o’clock start time.

He walked up to the front door and entered the building, seeing Liam there with Perrie, Calum, Luke, Ashton and Jade.

Harry wasn’t there yet.

“Hey, guys,” Louis greeted the others as he walked up.

“Hey, Lou,” Liam said. “So, as you guys can see, we can’t work in the park today, so we’re going to be helping out here at Goodwill. I already talked to the manager, and I have assignments for all of you. Perrie and Jade, you’ll be sorting clothes: getting all of the clothes put away in the right section. Apparently, they’ve been busy the last few days and haven’t had time to get it all done. Calum, you’re on dusting duty: clean everything. Luke, you get to sweep and vacuum. Ashton, you’re helping the manager get anything else done he needs to get done: helping customers, ringing up sales, putting things away or whatever else.”

“What about me?” Louis asked.

“Louis, you’re on laundry duty. And so is Harry, whenever he shows up.”

Louis groaned internally. He didn’t want to be stuck in a laundry room with… him.

They all went to their assigned spots.

Reluctantly, Louis went in the back toward a small room with an old washer and dryer. There were five bags of clothes sitting in the corner, so Louis figured he should start sorting them to wash.

Ten minutes later, once Louis was nearly done, Harry came rushing in.

He hung his wet jacket up on the door handle and shook his hair out before putting it up into a bun.

“Nice of you to join us,” Louis commented.

Harry scoffed. “Sorry. Bus schedules don’t always work out the way you want them to.”

Louis looked over his shoulder just as Harry started the washing machine. He poured in unscented detergent before throwing in a pile of jeans.

“That sucks,” Louis finally said.

“Good observation.”

“You know, I’m trying to be nice here.”

“By telling me that it sucks to take the bus? Groundbreaking.”

“Are you actually nice to anyone?” Louis wondered, spinning around. “I’m trying to make small talk so it’s not totally awkward in here with all of our blatant dislike for one another, and you just can’t let me, can you?”

“I don’t particularly want to talk to you,” Harry replied, turning around, as well. “You’re not the kind of person I usually associate with: the asshole who thinks he knows everything and is above the law because of… well, to be honest, I don’t know why you think so highly of yourself.”

“I don’t think highly of myself. I know I’ve made mistakes; and I’m paying for them. I’m here, aren’t I? And if there’s anyone around here who thinks he’s better than everyone else, it’s you. I see how much you judge me. And why? Because I smoke weed? Because that’s why I got community service? Because I don’t care as much about the whales as you do? What is it?”

Harry stood tensely, leaning back against the washing machine. He had his arms crossed and his lips slightly pursed out.

“You don’t have an answer, do you? You just hate me?”

“I definitely don’t hate you…”

“But you don’t like me,” Louis reasoned.

“You don’t like me, either.”

“No, I don’t; but I’ve just made it pretty clear why I don’t like you. I wish you could do the same, tree hugger.”

“That’s it! That’s it right there!” Harry spoke loudly, pointing a finger at Louis. “You calling me a tree hugger.”

“That really bothers you that much?”

“Yeah! And you know why? Because you’re the first person who’s called me that just so he could be mean. I’ve heard it before from people, how I’m a ‘tree hugger’ and a ‘hippie’ who just wants to save the whales, but I’ve never heard it as an insult. Until you said it, and made me feel like what I cared about was extremely inadequate.”

Louis looked down at the ground, embarrassed enough that he didn’t want to look at Harry.

He had been pretty tough on the other man, and had, admittedly, formed an idea of him before even speaking to him.

“You called me ‘stupid,’” Louis reminded Harry.

Harry sighed. “Yeah… I did.”

“I’m sorry,” Louis said softly.

“I’m sorry, too,” Harry replied. “I was out of line.”

“No more than I was. Honestly, I was easily more of an asshole between the two of us.”

“Well, you and I can both agree to that.”

Louis looked up at Harry and let out a chuckle. “Only took, what? Six weeks for us to agree on something?”

“I guess so. Can we call a truce or something now? It’s really draining hating you so much.”

“Thought you didn’t hate me?”

“I lied.”

Louis let out a loud bark of a laugh. “You know, you’re actually kind of funny when you’re not being annoying.”

“Thank you?”

“You’re welcome,” Louis said.

“You’re not too bad, either, I guess,” Harry finally replied. “When you’re not being super obnoxious.”

“Which is like, never.”

Harry laughed. “Yeah. That’s definitely few and far between.”

They were able to work together after that, washing, drying and folding the clothes that they had left.

When they were done the laundry, they were in charge of distributing it to the right sections. They gave half to Perrie and Jade, and took the rest to hang up throughout the store.

Naturally, the two of them turned it into a competition of who could put away their clothes – correctly – the fastest.

Louis may have cheated a little, by taking the size tags off Harry’s racks, leaving the other man confused about where to hang the clothes he still had in his hand.

“Winner takes it all,” Louis grinned, handing the tags over once his clothes were done.

“Jerk.”

Harry snatched them from Louis’ hand and slid them back on the racks.

“Yeah, well…”

The manager ordered them pizza for lunch to say 'thank you' for helping on almost no notice.

They ate it in the back room, and returned to the sales floor quickly, assisting customers until it was time for them to go home.

Louis caught Harry eyeing up the weather outside before they returned to the laundry room to grab their jackets, and remembered that Harry would have to go wait for the bus again.

The rain hadn’t let up all day, which, for Louis, wasn’t too bad. He had a car to get home, but Harry didn’t.

“Come on,” he told Harry.

“What?”

“I’ll drive you home,” Louis offered.

“Oh. No, I couldn’t. Really, it’s fine. There’s a bus stop just down the street.”

“And my car is right out in the parking lot. Come on. I promise not to kidnap you or anything.”

Harry shifted his weight from one foot to the other before looking out the window again.

“I mean, if you really want to go wait in the rain, you can,” Louis started, “but I don’t think you want to. Come on. Didn’t we call a truce or something a couple of hours ago?”

“Yeah, I guess we did,” Harry replied, running his fingers through his hair.

“So, let’s go.”

Harry followed Louis to the front door of the building, and the two of them ran outside and over to Louis’ car.

They jumped inside of it, and Harry got a chill up his spine as Louis started it.

“What’s your address?”

Harry gave it to him, and Louis nodded. “I think I know where that is. There’s a farmer’s market near there, right?”

“Yup. Sure is.”

“You would live near a farmer’s market.”

“Duh.”

Louis laughed and backed out of his spot.

“So how long have you been a protester?” Louis asked as they drove.

Harry looked over at Louis, evaluating the seriousness of the question.

“I really am just asking out of curiosity. It’s clearly important to you, so… I just want to know why.”

“If you’re not gonna make fun of me, then I guess I can answer. I watched a movie called Blackfish, maybe a year or so ago. And it really stuck with me. It’s all about what I told you the first day: whales in captivity and why it’s not safe. It focuses on this one whale, Tilikum, and talks about how he’s been responsible for three deaths in ten years.”

“Wait, what?”

“What?”

“Whales have actually killed people before?” Louis asked in surprise.

“Yeah. I wasn’t making that up.”

“No, I believe you, I just- I had no idea.”

“It’s because they’re not supposed to be there,” Harry explained. He then told Louis more about the movie. “Sometimes, the whales don’t realize that their trainers are human, and can’t play the games that the whales can play with other whales. They pull them in the water, and sometimes the trainers can’t escape. It’s horrible. So, to answer your question, I guess I started protesting about a year ago. I’ve never been to SeaWorld, and after seeing that movie and doing my research online, I don’t want to go.”

“I’ve been to SeaWorld, but now I don’t know if I want to again,” Louis realized as he pulled up in front of Harry’s house.

“It’s a start. Hey, maybe one day you can come to one of my protests with me.”

Louis shot Harry a look.

Harry giggled. “Relax. I’m just kidding. We only called our truce this morning. But hey, thanks for the ride.”

“You’re welcome. Any time.”

“I’ll see you next week?”

“Sure will.”

“Cool. See you then.”

Harry got out of the car and hurried into his house, the rain still coming down.

After Harry had gone inside, Louis pulled away from the curb, finding himself eagerly awaiting next week’s meeting.

---

Now that the tension between him and Harry had been resolved, the rest of Louis' community service sentence flew by.

He didn’t dread going anymore, since he knew there wouldn’t be any more shouting matches or death glares.

In fact, his complete change of opinion was so obvious that even Niall picked up on it.

“Are you still doing community service?” Niall asked one day while the two of them were in Niall’s living room, playing FIFA.

“Yeah; got a few weeks left. Why?”

“I didn’t know if it ended or not. You haven’t been bitching about having to go the last week or two.”

Louis shrugged. “It’s not so bad.”

“It’s not?”

“Nah. It’s actually kind of nice, feeling like you’re doing something for other people for a change.”

Niall paused the game and turned on his friend. “Huh?”

“What?”

“You’ve been spending too much time around that guy you hate. What was his name? Henry?”

“Harry.”

“Yeah, him,” Niall said. “Wasn’t he the one who you said could ‘out-yoga Buddha’? Did his peace-loving ways rub off on you?”

“No, he didn’t rub off on me.”

“But you want him to!” Niall laughed. “Well that makes sense.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You want to get with him, don’t you? I can see it on your face. You’re one of the most obvious people in the world.”

“I am not!”

“Yeah, you are. And you’re not denying it, by the way.”

“Because I don’t want to. I would get with him in a heartbeat; he’s hot. But I don’t see that happening.”

“Why not?”

Louis shrugged again. “I don’t know. I don’t think I’m his type.”

“You’re everyone’s type.”

“Are you calling me a slut?”

“No. That was actually meant to be a compliment, because everyone likes you.”

“Oh. Well, thanks, then.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I don’t know, though…” Louis sighed. “I mean, we only just stopped sort of hating each other. I don’t want to mess it all up by flirting with him if he’s not into it.”

“Wow. You’re worrying about his friendship. You really do like him.”

“I do not.”

“Yeah, you do.”

“Do not!”

“Do, too, Grumpy,” Niall teased. “You like a tree hugger. Who saw it coming?”

Louis pouted. “Fuck you.”

Niall laughed. “Do I need to play matchmaker?”

“Why would I need you to do that?”

“Because you’re pouting. That means you’re nervous.”

“When did you become some kind of therapist, anyway?” Louis asked.

“Do you remember Paul? The kid you liked all through high school and never said a word to?”

“Yeah.”

“And remember how, on the day of graduation, he came up to you and asked you out because he liked you, too?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s when. Because you always second guess yourself and hold yourself back. I told you forever to go talk to him, and you didn’t. Meaning, you wasted so much time you could’ve been dating Paul. And then he moved to New York for school, and whatever relationship you had – or could’ve had – was over, because he went across the country.”

“So you’re saying I should make a move?”

Niall sighed. “Please, do.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Jesus… Whatever. I’ve done what I can. Let’s play some more FIFA.”

---

It was the following Saturday – the eighth week of Louis’ community service – when he found himself saddened by what he just found out.

It was Harry’s last day of his required time, meaning Louis wasn’t sure if he would actually ever see Harry again.

After Liam announced it to the small group they had left, they started working. Today, they were painting over graffiti in the park.

Louis and Harry partnered up, as they had the past two weeks, and moved through the park together.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me today was your last day,” Louis said. He propped a stepladder up next to the wall they needed to paint over and climbed up.  

He dipped his roller in white paint and reached up, painting over the red and black spray paint at the top of the brick wall near the park’s front entrance.

“Sorry,” Harry replied from the bottom, where he was putting an extender pole on his rolling brush. “It slipped my mind.”

“How? I only have two more weeks left and it’s all I can think about.”

“I don’t know. Guess I was just glad that I get along with everybody here now.”

Louis looked down at Harry and smiled. “You’re cute.”

“I know.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “You had to go and ruin it.”

Harry laughed while he painted over the graffiti at the other end of the wall. “You love it, though.”

“I guess… I am glad we stopped arguing, though.”

“Me, too. It’s a lot easier.”

“You’re right about that.”

Louis dipped his brush in more paint and stretched up, getting the little bit in the top right corner.

“Hey, so, do you think I could get your number?”

Louis almost slipped off the ladder with how off-guard that question had caught him. “What?”

Harry shrugged a shoulder. “You know, so we can hang out after this. Not like, today, after this, but just in general. You actually are a cool dude when you’re not making fun of me.”

“I do that with love, though.”

“Oh, gee, thanks. I feel honored.”

“As you should. But yeah, I can give it to you. You have your phone on you now?”

Harry reached in his pocket and pulled his cell out. “Go ahead.”

Louis rattled off the number, waiting until Harry finished typing it in before saying, “Just so you know, that is my real, actual phone number.”

“Wow,” Harry gasped. “It’s not a fake number? It’s not the one you give to weird people who hit on you at the bar?”

“Nope; it’s real. Not the number to a gay bar, or the number to a pizza place. Not my ex-boyfriend’s number, either.”

“I love doing that: giving the guy my ex-boyfriend’s name and number and letting him field the phone calls.”

“You do that to anyone in particular?” Louis wondered.

“Yeah, my last ex. I don’t miss him, either.”

“Why’d you break up? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

“He went to SeaWorld.”

Louis looked at Harry’s face, which was so stern it was a bit scary. “Um… Oh.”

And then Harry started laughing. “I’m totally kidding. Did you really buy that?”

“I don’t know, man; you’re pretty serious about hating SeaWorld.”

“Yeah, well…” Harry shrugged. “No, we just drifted apart. We started arguing a lot toward the end and I just decided I’d had enough of him. So I ended it, and he wasn’t too happy that I was the one who broke up with him.”

“Ahh… The sensitive male ego.”

“Exactly. So it’s fun to mess with him every now and then.”

“Remind me not to get on your bad side,” Louis joked.

“You already were. Remember?”

“How could I forget? It was the longest six weeks of my life.”

“I like you not being on my bad side.”

“I do, too. I’d much rather be where I am right now.”

Harry smiled, ducking his face to hide the blush creeping up over his cheeks.

---

When they were finished for the day, it seemed sadder than when the others had had their final days.

Harry hugged everyone goodbye, and they told him, ‘good luck on the other side.’

“I’m glad you guys worked out whatever it was that you had going on,” Liam said honestly.

“Yeah, me, too,” Harry agreed.

Louis nodded.

“Get on out of here, Harry. I’ll see you next week, Louis?”

“Sure will,” Louis replied.

Liam smiled one more time before walking to his truck, leaving the two of them alone.

“Do you want a ride home?” Louis asked quietly.

Harry nodded wordlessly.

“So you have two weeks left, right?” Harry asked as they made their way to Louis’ car.

“Yeah. Two more times and then I’m done.”

“You gonna miss it?”

“Are you nuts?” Louis asked. “Of course not.”

“Really? Not at all?”

“I mean, I’m glad to have my freedom back. I can do what I want on Saturdays now.”

“But…?”

“But… This whole community service thing… It’s not so bad, I guess.”

“See?” Harry grinned. “It’s nice to give back every now and then, isn’t it?”

“Whatever. I didn’t say that; you’re twisting my words.”

“You like being a model citizen.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, Harry.”

Harry chuckled softly to himself.

“So what are you gonna do next weekend?” Louis asked.

“I don’t know. Sleep, probably.”

“That’s first on my to-do list, too. Sleep ’til noon, eat breakfast for lunch, and maybe for dinner, too.”

“It really is the little things, isn’t it?”

“Got that right.”

They reached the car and got in. Louis put the key in the ignition, but didn’t start it yet.

Instead, he looked at the park through the windshield.

“We really have done a great job here,” Louis said honestly.

“I think so, too. I don’t have kids or anything, but if I did, I would feel a hell of a lot more comfortable bringing them here than I would’ve a few weeks ago.”

“Hell, I might come here myself just to hang out. The lake is clean, the graffiti is covered up, the playground equipment is better and there isn’t trash anywhere it’s not supposed to be.”

“We had a good team. I’m gonna miss working with you guys.”

“You know, you could come by next week if you wanted to.”

“Why would I do that? I’d be missing out on valuable sleeping time.”

“You could see me,” Louis replied.

Harry paused, and Louis could see his response forming in his head.

“Yeah, but I can see you any time I want.”

Louis raised an eyebrow. “Oh, can you?”

“Believe it or not, when I asked for your number, I had every intention of using it to ask you out.”

“Really?” Louis asked, biting his lower lip.

He watched Harry’s eyes follow the motion.

He gently chewed on it for a moment before asking, “You want to take me out?”

Harry just nodded.

“How come?”

“So I can kiss you good night.”

Louis’ breath hitched. He hadn’t been expecting that.

“Show me.”

“Show you?” Harry asked.

“Yeah. Show me how you’d kiss me good night. You clearly have high expectations for a good-night kiss, so you must be pretty good at it.”

Louis saw the side of Harry’s mouth tilt up, like he was saying, “Challenge Accepted.”

First, Harry took one of Louis’ hands in his own and started lightly playing with his fingers, twisting and twirling them between his own.

After a moment of that, Harry ran his hand up and down Louis’ arm, letting his fingertips brush over Louis’ skin.

The whole time, Harry’s gaze stayed on Louis’ face.

Louis licked his lips, and once again, Harry’s eyes followed the movement.

He could feel his heart rate already picking up at his anticipation of what Harry would do next.

Harry moved his fingers down Louis’ arm again before slowly letting his hand drift over to Louis’ waist.

Harry let his hand rest there as he slowly leaned in. With his other hand, he cupped Louis’ cheek and let his thumb caress Louis’ face.

When their faces were within an inch of each other, Harry paused, and the two of them stayed still, staring into each other’s eyes and breathing each other in.

At long last, just when Louis thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest, Harry leaned in just a little more, and, impatiently, Louis shut his eyes and tilted his head up so his lips could meet Harry’s.

The kiss started out slowly, their lips moving smoothly together. Louis sighed, relieved to finally have some kind of action with Harry.

He’d only been thinking about it for a few weeks.

But then Harry pulled back, no more than an inch, leaving Louis to open his eyes just long enough to chase Harry’s lips, capturing them again.

Harry tightened his grip around Louis’ waist and easily kissed Louis back.

He parted his lips after Louis licked across Harry’s bottom lip, letting Louis slip his tongue into his mouth.

He was so distracted by the sudden tongue action that he almost didn’t notice Louis’ hand wandering down his torso.

In fact, it wasn’t until Louis was cupping his crotch that he let out a loud moan, breaking them apart.

They watched each other tensely, catching their breath.

“Back seat?” Louis proposed.

Harry’s nod was the only answer he needed. He climbed into the back, shifting over so that Harry could do the same.

Once they were both situated, Harry leaned over and roughly kissed Louis, pushing him back so that he was laying down across the seat.

Louis propped one leg up on the door and wrapped the other around Harry’s waist.

He snaked his arms around Harry’s back, holding him close.

Harry rested on him so that his weight was pinning Louis down, leaving him unable to move. He inched one hand down until it reached the hem of Louis’ shirt. He let his fingers dance over Louis’ side, caressing the warm skin he found there.

Louis rolled his hips up, trying to get some kind of friction. The pressure on his cock from Harry’s body on his was nice, but it wasn’t enough. He was going to need more.

Louis moaned when he found the contact. He parted his lips, and Harry didn’t hesitate to slip his tongue in between them.

Their tongues found each other immediately, and Harry let out a sigh as he felt his being massaged by Louis’.

They lay there, rapidly kissing and slowly grinding on each other.

“God,” Louis sighed, dropping his head down to the seat so he had a chance to breathe.

Harry sat back and pulled off his T-shirt.

Louis wiggled out of his, as well, and reached over to push down Harry’s shorts and boxers, leaving Harry naked from the waist down.

Harry grinned at Louis’ mildly shocked expression.

“Like what you see?”

Louis’ gaze flickered up to Harry’s face before sliding right back down to his cock.

“It’ll do.”

Harry snorted before reaching below him and pushing down Louis’ shorts and boxers, as well, letting the clothing pool around Louis’ thighs.

He leaned down, letting his lips ghost over Louis’ throat.

He heard Louis suck in a breath in anticipation of what was to come, so he took his time guiding his face down Louis’ body.

He placed a soft kiss on Louis’ abdomen, and continued kissing until he got to Louis’ cock.

“Please,” Louis whispered from above him.

Harry dropped his knees down to the floor of the car so he would have more room and a better angle before he ducked his head, pulling Louis’ stiffening cock into his mouth.

Louis looked down, groaning at the realization that he had been correct a few weeks ago: his cock looked perfect between Harry’s lips.

“Shit,” he sighed as Harry bobbed his head down, taking Louis in a little at a time.

He expected Harry to pull back, but he didn’t. Harry moved his head all the way down until Louis’ cock hit the back of his throat.

Louis almost came when he felt the pressure at the tip, but he squeezed his eyes shut, making himself hold it back.

Harry stayed there for a moment, his mouth and throat completely covering Louis’ dick, before he slowly moved back.

He pulled off completely, taking in air, before licking up the underside of Louis’ cock and sucking the tip back into his mouth.

He suckled there briefly before moving down again, inch by inch.

“Fuck.”

Louis shot a hand down to grab onto Harry’s curls, taking hold of them between his fingers.

Harry released a groan, and as Louis tightened his grip on Harry’s hair, he saw Harry’s eyes flutter shut.

Curiously, he tugged on Harry’s hair, only for Harry to moan again and move his head down more.

Louis threw his head back when Harry deepthroated him again, accidentally pulling down on Harry’s head.

He heard Harry gagging, and he let go of him.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” he said as Harry pulled off.

“It’s OK,” Harry told him as he wiped his watery eyes. “Do it again.”

“You’re really not the saint I thought you were, are you?”

Harry winked and took Louis’ cock back into his mouth. He only took in a few inches, but moved his tongue back and forth over what he had.

Louis grabbed onto Harry’s hair again, and pulled. Hard.

Harry groaned and wrapped his hand around what he wasn’t covering with his mouth. He started to bob his head up and down, and moved his fist and face in sync with each other.

With his other hand, he started fondling Louis’ balls, rolling them between his fingers.

Louis hissed at the sensation, starting to feel overwhelmed.

He looked up at the windows, which had fogged up at some point.  

“Harry,” he begged.

Harry hummed in acknowledgement, the vibrations of it running down Louis’ cock and sending shivers up his spine.

“Make me come. Please.”

At that comment, Harry pulled his mouth off Louis’ dick, and instead, flattened his tongue across Louis’ hole.

“Fuck!” Louis shouted out, his toes starting to curl and the feeling in his abdomen starting to grow. “Oh, my God.”

Harry kept his fist moving over Louis’ cock, and his tongue sliding between Louis’ cheeks.

Louis pulled on Harry’s hair so hard he was positive he’d pulled out some of it.

But Harry kept going, his tongue prodding at Louis’ hole. Louis could feel the tip of it starting to press inside him.

Louis let out a sob and looked down at Harry working him over.

The sight of it wound up being too much.

“Harry,” he whimpered. “Oh, Harry…”

And then he came. He felt his body finally relax as he released all over himself, gasping for air.

His own eyes rolled back into his eyes as he shot white spurts up his chest. His hand loosened on Harry’s hair and he could swear he was melting into the seat.

Harry worked him through it, milking every ounce out of Louis’ cock.

As Louis came down from his orgasm, he heard Harry jerking himself off.

“Stop that,” Louis demanded. “You’re gonna get your spunk all over my car.”

“What else should I do? We don’t have any condoms with us.”

“Fuck my face,” Louis ordered.

Harry looked at him skeptically.

“What? You don’t want to?”

“No, I do. Trust me; I do. Just…”

“What?”

“I’m gonna hit my head on the roof of the car.”

Louis raised an eyebrow, challenging Harry to do it anyway.

“Fuck,” Harry muttered.

He carefully climbed back onto the seat, straddling Louis’ waist. He slowly moved up as far as he could. Louis slid down on the seat so that his knees were pressed up against the car door.

“Good?” Louis asked.

“I think so.”

“Good.”

He opened his mouth as wide as he could, waiting for Harry to do something.

“Oh, shit,” Harry said in awe. He braced his hands against the car door he was facing before licking his lips and sliding his hard cock into Louis’ mouth.

Louis relaxed his throat and made sure to keep his teeth covered as Harry thrusted his dick in and out.

“Not gonna last,” he gritted out, rolling his hips down.

Louis slid his hands up, holding onto Harry’s waist.

He flattened his tongue along the underside of Harry’s cock when it was in his mouth, and flicked it over the tip when Harry pulled it out.

“Oh, fuck, Lou.”

He slid his cock all the way down, feeling the pressure around the tip increase as it slipped down Louis’ throat.

Louis stared up at him, blinking innocently as he sucked around Harry’s cock.

Harry moaned, pulling his hips back and pushing himself back into Louis’ mouth.

Louis blinked extra slowly, staring right up at Harry as he thrusted his hips forward and back.

That was what did him in.

After a few more thrusts, his hips stuttered and he came down Louis’ throat.

He pulled back just enough so that Louis wouldn’t choke.

Louis swallowed around him greedily, his gaze still on Harry.

When Harry was done, he got off Louis and lay back down on top of him.

“Fuck,” Louis said, his throat slightly raspy.

Harry chuckled lightly to himself.

“We should try that again, but in a bed, and with lube,” Louis suggested.

“I’d be down for that. My place or yours?”

“You choose.”

Harry smirked and ducked down to kiss Louis again.

The moment was ruined, however, when they heard a tapping at the window.

“LAPD. Please step out of the car.”

They stilled, looking wide-eyed at each other.

“Now, gentlemen.”

The two of them sat up and quickly redressed, hoping to God that they were putting on the right clothes.

After a moment, they got out, facing an annoyed, yet sheepish-looking police officer.

“Sirs, are you aware that this is public property?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” Harry said scratchily.

The cop raised an eyebrow at them before continuing. “Are you also aware that it is considered a misdemeanor crime to have sex in a public place?”

Louis and Harry looked at each other before looking back at the officer.

“No, sir,” they answered at the same time.

“Uh-huh,” the officer said, not believing their answer. “I’m gonna need to see some identification.”

---

In the end, they went to court – again – and were charged with a ‘Lewd Act’ misdemeanor, which resulted in a fine and, of course, community service.

It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, though.

They got to have Liam as their supervisor again, and were sent to another community cleanup project: this time, helping restore an old warehouse into a homeless shelter.

Plus, they got to be together.

Harry swore up and down that once they were done with this assignment, he was going to organize another protest against SeaWorld.

Louis promised that he would go with him.