Lie no. 24:

It was about nine in the morning on a Saturday when he came to the realisation that Harry was in love with Squalo. His head was lying on the Italian's chest as they lay together in Squalo's bed. Possibly the first time the two had ended up in it (usually they go to Harry's flat). Squalo's fingers were playing in his black hair, Harry wasn't fretting over lies and truths. Rather, he was focused on the warmth from the cocoon of duvets and blankets he had, somehow, made.

It was sickeningly domestic.

Maybe it was the way that he wasn't bothered about the face staring problem like Clara had been. Or it could have been the way that Squalo was actually interested in the dissertation that he had put his blood, sweat and tears into. It might have been the way that he casually teased Harry about polygraphs. Or the warm hugs and the way he wasn't bothered when Harry flinched (memories of Vernon's rage returning to the forefront of his mind). Or the way that when he didn't come into the bar on Saturday mornings, he would call and they would talk for hours on the phone about nonsense. Or maybe it was the unspoken fact that he most definitely cleaned out his Saturdays to spend time with Harry. Or the unabashed loudness that was his nature. Or the way his volume would lower when he was worried. Or how determined he was to be the best swordsman. Maybe it was all of these things. But harry was absolutely in love with Squalo.

"You ok?" Squalo asked, breaking the silence.

"...Yeah I'm fine."

It was the first time he lied to Squalo ( he hoped it would never happen again).

Lie no. 25:

It was about a month later that their Saturday schedule would be broken for the second time. Squalo had shown up at his door bleeding for the first time (and sadly it wouldn't be the last).

Harry helped him to a seat in the open kitchen and pulled out a first aid kit from a cupboard. Putting on the gloves, he began to clean out one of the wounds in his left shoulder. "Will you tell me what happened?"

"Got into a little fight, I'm fine."

Harry paused for a moment before dabbing the alcohol swab over the wound again. "Squalo. I care for you. Deeply. And I know you can't tell me things about your job, I accepted that long ago. But do not insult my intelligence by telling me such things." he told him blandly; any emotion previously there, gone.

After sewing the cuts shut, he tied them with bandages and leaned back, going off to turn the kettle on for tea. Turning around to find the tea bags, he stopped when he saw Squalo standing over him. Harry let himself be pulled into a hug as Squalo lowered his volume (a rare thing outside of sex) and murmured: "Voi… I'm… sorry."

He was being honest.

Truth no. 2:

That just made Harry fall in love with him more.

Lie no. 26:

It was Halloween again when Harry told him. The anniversary of his parents death. What made it worse was that it was on a Saturday, so he was missing Squalo. He was sitting at home wallowing in guilt and alcohol, Sirius was doing the same at his home. Harry would have gone, but he didn't want to hear another conversation about why he was so much like his father.

A knock on his front door was what finally dragged him away from his couch and beer. Unlocking it, he saw Squalo leaning against the railing opposite with his arms crossed with anger on his face (he had given up trying to hide it once Harry had shown what he could do at the bar). "Voi! If you're not gonna show up, call me!" he yelled at him. Guilt crashed through Harry as he looked away. He heard a few steps being taken and then a hand on his cheek. "You ok?"

"Not really…" he told him. It was silent for a moment until Squalo sighed and took his hand, pulled him into the apartment and sat him down on the couch. He went about picking up all the empty bottles around the floor. "How much did you drink?"

"I don't know…"

When he finally set down, he curled Harry up into his side and for once the wizard felt safe. His hand in Squalo's and he held on as if it was a dream that he would wake up on and all of it would be a lie and he would wake up drunk and hungover.

"When I was about 1, on this day my parents murdered. I can't tell you everything, but they died and I was the only survivor. The idiots back in England thought I, the baby, had done something that killed their killer. They threw a huge party, because the killer was a terrorist and everyone had a great time. But it was the day I was shipped off to my aunt and uncle and… they were less than nice relatives. All because my godfather was more interested in avenging them rather than raising their child in their stead.

And then for three years straight, bad things happened on Halloween. Like it was just this huge karmic 'fuck you'. Like 'hey! You survived but we're gonna make your life hell in return! Have a nice day!', y'know? I talk to my godfather now, we lived with each other for a few years... but I can't help but not hate him just a little..."

He was pulled into a side hug and the two sat in silence for a while until Squalo said "I haven't talked to my boss in about seven years. Like you, I can't tell you everything. But this was a man that I had given everything to! We were on top of the world, and then things came crashing down. We were betrayed, he's been sorta arrested by his own father, I've been in charge in his place. And it's shit. Because my boss is like a brother to me."

"I think Karma hates us."

"Probably."

They sat in more silence until Harry said "You do realise I'm in love with you and, while I'm grateful you did this, it does not help me deal with it."

Lie no. 27:

When Harry came to, it felt like someone was taking a sledgehammer to his head, everything that had happened in the morning (it was Saturday afternoon. At least his phone was charged, but who had put it in?) was a blur and he was in bed. "I need to stop drinking…' he told himself before getting out and shuffling out of his room.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he walked into the kitchen, where Squalo was sitting on a stool, and sat down. Laying his head on the cool table, he felt Squalo pat him on the back in sympathy (really? That's new…). "Hey Squalo… did I say anything weird last night?" he asked, his voice mumbled by the table.

"No."

Pitch raised higher than baseline, he paused in what he was doing. Lie.

He didn't say anything about it though.

Lie no. 28:

Technically, the two had never had a date. Usually people go to restaurants for dates or concerts or bars (which would never count for the two of them because Harry worked in a bar) or whatever. And that was ok with them. Neither of them were romantics and Squalo was getting busier after Halloween hit for some reason (even though he would never fail to still call when he didn't show up).

Then it changed a bit. One Friday he was being taken to a museum, sure it was one of the rare times that Squalo wasn't in uniform, but it didn't feel like a date and their conversations were the same as usual. Although… he could feel a slight annoyance coming off of Squalo. "Are you ok?"

"My… coworker found out about us. She was… annoyed, to say the least, that we have never gone out on a date."

Harry smiled and slipped his hand into Squalo's. "Y'know, quite frankly I find dates overrated. I'd much rather be at home watching TV or something. As long as you're there I don't mind."

At that, Squalo came to a halt. He turned and stood directly before him. It was times like this that Harry realised how much taller than him Squalo truly was. It was in the middle of all this mental floundering when he felt something brush his lips. A few seconds later it was gone and Squalo was leaning away from him again.

"Let's go home."

Lie no. 29:

After the date (that wasn't really a date), Harry kept randomly finding some of Squalo's clothes in his flat here and there. And then he started leaving some of his things into Squalo's apartment by accident. Before he knew it the two were finding entire drawers filled with their things in each others homes.

When Squalo asked him to keep a bag in his apartment he didn't hesitate to say 'ok'. It was heavy and looked like it was anything. When he asked, because he couldn't not ask (somehow Squalo had gotten used to Harry's on and off curiosity about things most people would not be curious about), the silver haired man said "It's an away bag. Has everything I need just in case I'm called into work while I'm here."

So, in response, he gave Squalo a key to his apartment.

He just didn't think he would use it the one time he decided to wear one of Squalo's sweaters. He had the sleeves rolled back and he was practically drowning in it. He was drinking his tea when he heard the front door open. Footsteps approached before stopping for a couple of seconds and continuing over. He felt arms go around his waist and lips on his neck.

"You got work?"
"Yeah, but I can call in."
"Good."

The thing about this pairing that i wasnt to express straight up, is that it isn't conventional, in terms of how they approach ther relationship. As said before, Squalo will probs never admit he's in love because he's proud and Harry has personal issues a mile long and to avoid dealing with them, he drinks. Not a lot, mind you Harry's not an alcoholic (If he was he wouldn't be a good bartender and this would be a lot darker with how I write things). Most of the time he drinks moderately, but sometimes he just gets blackout to avoid certain things as seen in the last set of lies and in this one in terms of the anniversary of his parents' death.