Chapter Text
Harry’s House Has a Blue Door.
1.
Louis’ alarm clock beeped noisily on his bedside table, the sound shrill and high in the still of the pre-dawn of another day. His hand shot out from underneath his warm duvet and he slammed his hand down on the offending item cutting off the irritating sound. Silence. Blessed silence.
Louis groaned, and thought about snuggling back beneath his duvet and to hell with his routine. He managed to do that for ten seconds until Stanley, his adoring but annoying cat, began to meow and paw Louis’ back urging him to get up and feed him breakfast.
Louis threw the duvet off of him, sat up in his bed and groaned again. He rubbed his tired eyes, blinked a few times before he reached over to the bedside table to find his glasses. When his hand closed around them, he put them on and blinked behind the lenses bringing his tired eyes into focus. He looked at Stanley who sat on his bed all prim and proper, looking at Louis through large golden green eyes as if he was saying, “well get on with it hooman, I’m ravished and I need to be fed.” Louis rolled his eyes.
‘Alright your Royal Highness King Stanley LeRoy of Notting Hill Kingdom, I’m up and at your service.’ Stanley hopped off the bed gracefully, padded towards the closed bedroom door his tail held high and straight like the King that he was and threw Louis a look. “Well, are you coming to serve me or not?” that look said. Louis let out a small huff.
Welcome to another day in the life of Louis Tomlinson, thirty two year old, divorced, single, old fashioned (I mean who in the year 2024 still used an actual alarm clock instead of their mobile phone?), owner of Notting Hill bookshop, no social life whatsoever excluding time spent having dinner at his friends’ house Zayn and Liam who were married and sickly in love with each other and their daughter, his friend Zoey who was an influencer (or so she liked to think of herself as one when in fact she influenced no one), blogger and professional dog walker, his two other friends who were engaged Anya and Gianna and his loud, messy Irish flatmate Niall and his sister Iris.
Louis was an avid football fan and Manchester United and Doncaster Rovers were his teams, a bookworm, a tea lover, a loner and an introvert who had no time, energy or desire to date even though his friends had been pestering him to jump back on the horse and date again.
For the past year ever since his divorce from his cheating, lying, scheming husband of four years Jordan had been finalised, every chance they got, they had set him up on blind dates. He reluctantly went on these dates but he always claimed that there had not been a connection with any of the men. Then Zayn and Liam had taken it upon themselves to host dinner parties where his beloved friends would bring a co-worker or someone they knew to introduce Louis to hoping he might make a connection but Louis had smiled throughout these dinner parties, laughed and interacted with each prospect but there had never been a connection. He simply did not want to jump back on the dating horse.
Louis stretched and yawned loudly, his joints popping and creaking. He got out of bed and headed straight for the shower. Stanley sat down beside the door and gave Louis an annoyed look.
‘I won’t be long,’ Louis promised. You’re not going to starve so stop looking at me down your cute pink nose you drama queen.’ He closed his bathroom door and turned on the shower, took off his glasses and quickly shaved then got beneath the hot water, letting his muscles relax and trying not to think about how many lazy morning showers he and Jordan had shared in this same shower, the intimate touches and the whispered promises in the throes of passion.
Louis knew that for the past year since Jordan had left him, his life had become a boring, monotonous routine: wake up at 6am, shower, feed Stanley, breakfast, clean up after Niall, brush his teeth, get dressed and open his bookshop at 9am sharp.
In the evening, after he closed the bookshop at 8pm, he’d come home to Stanley, shower, make dinner and sit in front of the telly and eat. Afterwards, read until he fell asleep on the couch with his glasses askew and Stanley purring on his lap.
But as boring as his life was, he loved it. At least it was his and he had created a little bit of structure out of the wreckage that Jordan had left in his wake. It was through this simple routine that Louis had managed to regain control of his life after his marriage and his life had fallen apart. He needed this routine to keep him grounded, and to keep him from straying to thoughts about Jordan and why he hadn’t been enough to keep his husband or who Jordan is fucking now.
So, he stuck safely to his routine because Louis wasn’t spontaneous or carefree. Once upon a time he had been spontaneous, carefree and adventurous. But he had carelessly and blindly given his heart away. He let his guard down and fell head first into love with gorgeous, charismatic Jordan until he crash landed on hard ground when he had discovered that Jordan, his boyfriend of two years and husband of four years had been cheating on him for most of the time they had been together. This had hit Louis hard, the impact had broken him into fragments.
It had been a hard pill to swallow for Louis. Many times he had had suspicions: all those late nights at work which had turned out to be secret hook-ups, the different colognes he had smelled on Jordan’s shirts, the changed password on his phone, the secret smiles as he texted relentlessly. But Louis had been afraid to confront him and ask because he had been terrified of giving voice to his suspicions so he had ignored the red flags that waved frantically in his face and came bearing loud warning sirens.
Louis had chosen to ignore them because at the end of the day, Jordan still came home to him and made love to him and treated him nicely as he always had. There had been no change in his attitude toward Louis, no change in the sex or romance either so Louis had locked his suspicions away because he didn’t want them to be true. He didn’t want his life to change.
Jordan had been his first serious relationship, his first love, the first man who had actually wanted to be with him and Louis didn’t know how to be out of this relationship. He didn’t know who he was without his relationship with Jordan. He simply didn’t know if he could even function without Jordan, so he had told himself not to be stupid.
Jordan would never cheat on him. Jordan loved him!
Jordan would never risk their marriage.
Until his friends, roommate and his sister couldn’t take it any longer and took matters into their own hands. It pained them to see Louis so oblivious to what was as clear as day! If they could see it, why couldn't he? They had formed a squad behind his back and stalked Jordan. They had brought Louis proof in the form of pictures and videos that Jordan had been indeed cheating on him with multiple people. Louis had been heartbroken but he had no other choice but confront Jordan. Jordan hadn’t even had the decency to deny it. He had smiled his lopsided, easy, sex smile and had told Louis that since they had gotten married, Louis had become boring, that their sex life lacked drive and passion and that married life wasn’t what he had been expecting. He had told Louis that he wasn’t satisfied and that he needed more.
When Louis had asked him why then had he remained married to him for four whole years, Jordan had just shrugged and told him that he had stayed because it was like living with a maid: he always came home to a clean house, clean clothes, dinner on the table and all he had to do was fuck the maid once in a while. Even though the maid just lay there limp and unenthusiastic but took it and it was still a convenient win for him. In those hurtful words, Louis had understood then why Jordan had put off having babies with him. Jordan had fallen out of love with him and just stayed because it was convenient. Louis had been nothing but a convenience!
But now that it was all in the open, Jordan had no reason to stay. He had moved out of the house with the blue door in Notting Hill the very next day. A week later, Louis had received the divorce papers.
And even though the divorce had broken Louis in all ways a man could be broken, he had found out that he could live without Jordan. Or at least live a half life without him. He hated to think that he wasn’t complete. Jordan had left an emptiness within him, a need for another soul to connect with yet Louis was afraid and reluctant of offering himself up to another person, making himself vulnerable again to being cheated on, dumped and broken. He couldn't take another broken heart. Jordan had said that he was boring and the sex lacked passion and drive. Other men would surely find him as such too.
So, Louis just took life as it came to him without looking for anyone to connect with. He reasoned that if someone was meant for him, they would come to him without him having to go out and look for them. They would find him! After all he had his sister, his friends, his roommate, his bookshop, his cat and his books.
What more could he want? It was enough. It had to be enough because Louis was done and had to content himself with a lonely existence.
He trudged downstairs dressed for the day with Stanley weaving in and out of his legs, purring and meowing his protests at being left so long without his breakfast.
‘Stan, one of these days you’re going to trip me down the stairs and break my neck. Who will feed you then hmm?’ Stanley meowed louder. Louis flipped on the kitchen lights, took one look around the kitchen and silently cursed Niall for being so messy. The sink which he had left empty the day before now contained a dirty plate, a bowl, two glasses, three mugs and cutlery. Crumbs on the kitchen counter. Sauce smudges. Spilt tea. Discarded teabags. Louis sighed.
He flipped on the kettle and while the water boiled began to filled up Stanley’s bowl with food. He put it down on the mat by the backdoor and immediately, Stanley began chomping down the dry kibble as if he hadn’t eaten for days instead of only the previous evening. Louis then began cleaning the kitchen because he couldn’t sit down and enjoy a cuppa while the kitchen was a disaster. Once the kitchen was clean, he made his tea and took it to the living room where there was more mess courtesy of Niall.
As Louis was finishing up the living room, fluffing up the cushions and folding the blanket, Niall walked down the stairs in just his boxers still half asleep, scratching his balls and his head at the same time. Louis thought he looked like a monkey but he kept the thought to himself. Niall flopped down on the couch.
‘Make us a cuppa mate,’ he told Louis as he yawned loudly, continuing to scratch his balls while with the other hand he grabbed the remote and flipped on the telly. Louis made a mental note to sanitize the remote control. Louis threw him the dusting cloth he had left on the side table when he had finished dusting, smacking Niall in the face.
‘Oi,’ Niall complained.
‘Make your own cuppa. I’ve cleaned up your mess. Would it kill you to not leave so much mess behind you?’ Niall smirked at him.
‘Not my fault you have OCD mate.’
‘It is not OCD to keep a clean apartment,’ Louis argued.
‘It is in your case,' Niall replied. Louis huffed.
‘What if we have unexpected guests?’ Louis asked him. Niall chuckled.
‘What guests? We never have guests let alone unexpected ones. Make us a cuppa love,’ Niall said grinning up at Louis. Louis rolled his eyes.
‘I’m off to work. It’s nearly nine. Please Niall keep the place clean.’
‘Sure,’ Niall said round a yawn.
Louis shook his head leaving Niall as he stretched across the couch flipping through the channels. He picked up his messenger bag, phone and keys. He looked at Stanley who was busy grooming himself on the kitchen counter.
‘Stanley you know you’re not allowed on the kitchen counter! You'll get hair everywhere. Get down,’ Louis told him but Stanley LeRoy, the King of Notting Hill Kingdom didn’t even spare Louis a look. He continued to groom himself. Louis groaned, turned and walked down the stairs. He pulled open the front door, the Blue Door in Notting Hill and stepped out into the busy street.
It was Spring. The sun was shining even though there was a chill in the air. It was market day on Portobello Road. The fruit, vegetable and flower market was up and running, people already filling up the streets of Notting Hill. They sold every fruit, vegetable and flower known to man! Louis took in a deep breath, exhaled softly and started walking towards his book shop waving good mornings to the people he knew. Many of the market vendors and shop owners on Portobello Road called out their 'Good mornings' to Louis as they opened up their shops for the day’s business, waving at him, wishing him a good day. He loved Notting Hill.
This is where he lived, in a small village in a big city. He was divorced, single, shared a his flat with his unusual, loud Irish friend and he had friends and a sister who loved him. He loved his life.
He stopped at a stall selling flowers and he bought a colourful bunch. He didn’t know what the names of the various flowers in the bunch were but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that they were colourful and smellt nice. He loved to have fresh flowers at the shop and it wasn’t because they reminded him of how Jordan used to send him flowers when they had first started dating. No, it wasn’t that. Flowers made Louis happy and he bought them for himself because he didn’t need a man to buy them for him. He thanked the seller and continued on his way to his shop, whistling as he went. As he opened his shop, the little bell above the door chiming cheerfully. He stepped inside loving the smell of books that always greeted him. Sun streamed in from the front window. He had a shipment of books coming in today and he had to change the books on the display table by the front window.
‘Good morning,’ he said into the empty shop. Of course no one replied back but he always greeted his books with a good morning. They were not just books. They were his babies, they were his friends. They had consoled him when Jordan had broken his heart. They had been his companion through those long nights after Jordan had left him. He flipped on the lights as he went and set about getting organized for the day.
He put the flowers in a vase, smiling at them as he arranged them in the freshwater, humming to himself, a song that had been playing on the radio for the last few weeks. It had been at the top of the charts for a few weeks. Nick Grimshaw played it constantly on his breakfast show but then again, Harry Styles was Nick’s bestie so Louis thought it was sweet that Nick played his best friend’s song on the radio. His shop assistant Lionel would be in soon and come bearing gifts in the form of coffee from Delia’s little coffee shop down the road and if he was lucky, Lionel would remember to bring him one of Delia’s homemade blueberry muffins.
Yes, life was good. He may not have a partner, he may not have the love of the man of his dreams but life was good. Louis was determined to be grateful and focus on what he had rather than wallow in self misery and self-deprecating thoughts wishing for what he didn’t have.
Life didn’t work that way. At least his life didn’t work that way.
He wanted to manifest good things, great things for himself, he knew that if he thought positive thoughts and sent out nothing but positivity into the world, then the Universe would hopefully, maybe someday send something good his way.