(no subject)
the riddles that you speak
Part 1
“Niall just texted, Lou,” Louis looks up from the book he’s been pretending to read for the past hour to pass the time. “They’ll be here in about five minutes.”
“Okay,” Louis chokes out. He ignores Harry’s eyes, the way he can feel them boring into the side of his head. He looks back down at his book and tries to find a good place to start reading but nothing about World History seems particularly interesting and then there is knocking on the door and Harry said five minutes.
But Harry is already doing his hair flip and checking to make sure he’s presentable in the hall mirror on his way to the door. Louis would usually call out a “you look great, love,” or a “your arse is phenomenal in those,” but he’s too nervous at the moment because Liam is on the other side of that door.
Louis closes his text book and places it on the coffee table in front of where he’s seated on the couch and stands, dusting off imaginary lint from his trousers and smoothing invisible wrinkles from his gray t-shirt.
“Lou,” Harry’s voice calls from the entry way, and Louis takes the four steps necessary to reach the hall. “Liam’s here. Niall and I are going to see The Apparition, I’ll be home in two or three hours. Don’t burn the place down, yeah?”
Louis grins at the sight of Liam standing awkwardly beside Harry in the entry way, tight pants and a black shirt that Louis wants nothing more than to rip off. Harry ahems quietly and Louis jumps, tearing his eyes away from Liam’s biceps and landing on Harry, who has a huge smirk on his face.
“That was like, one time. ‘Sides, I figured Liam and I would order something in,” Louis answers, and then looks back to Liam. “If that’s alright with you, that is.”
“Yeah,” Liam says quietly, a small smile on his face. Louis nods and smiles back. Harry heads out the door with a “bye” thrown over his shoulder, but Louis catches him tell Niall, “it’s been four times. He’s almost burnt the place down four times.”
“It really hasn’t been,” Louis tells Liam earnestly. And then he says, “Well, come on in, we’ve got some movie channels and video games and, my personal favorite, YouTube.”
“YouTube, really?” Liam asks. He steps farther into the flat, following Louis into the small living area. Louis gestures him to the couch and then takes the seat next to him, leaving an appropriate amount of space for - well, he’s not sure what for. But he knows it’s appropriate. For something.
“Absolutely! I have a lot to teach you about YouTube, Liam-“ he stops and frowns. “I don’t know your last name.”
“Payne.”
“Tomlinson. Nice to officially meet you, Liam Payne.”
Liam grins and the corners of his eyes crinkle a bit and Louis decides it’s his favorite thing.
“So,” Liam says after a moment of awkward smiling at each other. “YouTube?”
“Later,” Louis answers, grabbing the remote from the arm of the couch and flipping the telly on. “For now we should find a lame movie and order in, yeah?”
“Okay.”
Louis aimlessly flips through the channels because he can never remember which station the movie listing is on. He notices Liam is sitting rigidly and with his shoes still on and frowns. “You can, um, get comfortable. You know, like, I won’t mind if you take your shoes off, or whatever. It’s fine. Um.”
And Louis can’t remember the last time he said that many ‘um’ and ‘like’s in a sentence but it has him flushing and he notices Liam’s flushing as well. He mumbles something that Louis can’t make out but he shoves his shoes off and pulls his feet up, crossing his legs under his bum.
“Better,” he grins and goes back to the television. When he finally lands on the movie channel, he nudges Liam and says, “Tell me if you see something you like.”
“Okay.”
Louis slowly scrolls through the movies until Liam says, “Friends with Benefits. What’s that?”
“That one with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman. Or the one with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. I honestly couldn’t tell you which.”
Liam giggles, honest to God giggles, and Louis bites his lip to stop himself from leaning over and kissing him quiet.
“That’s fine with me,” Liam relaxes further into the couch. “If it’s good for you.”
“Yeah,” Louis agrees, starting the movie. “Before it gets too far, do you want to order dinner?”
“Sure, what are you thinking?”
“Honestly?” Louis pauses. “Something greasy.”
“Pizza?”
Louis smiles widely. “I think I’m really going to like you, Liam Payne.”
*
“I’m just warning you,” Harry tells Niall as they get situated in the back row of the theater, “I am a scaredy cat. And a cuddler. We should honestly just lift the arm rest now, there’s no point to it.”
Niall ducks his head and smiles as Harry lifts the arm rest between them. Niall can feel the body heat radiating off of Harry, is hyperaware of where the skin of their arms is brushing. He can barely concentrate on eating his popcorn and Harry keeps reaching over and stealing pieces when the movie finally starts.
The first scene is a lot of commotion that Niall can’t keep up with. He’s squinting at the screen and wants to ask Harry questions but Harry seems into what’s happening so he stays quiet. But then.
“Hey,” he says, “That’s the Twilight girl, yeah?”
Harry chuckles into his shoulder and whispers, “How should I know?”
Niall gives him an incredulous look that he’s sure Harry doesn’t even see. “Don’t tell me you’ve never watched Twilight.”
There’s a shushing sound from a few rows in front of him and Niall rolls his eyes and Harry giggles some more. He manages to keep quiet for a while but the movie isn’t keeping his attention. He doesn’t care about this cactus or tent this couple is buying. He doesn’t care about their giant ass house except for-
“How can they even afford this house?”
There’s another shush and Niall huffs.
“They just said,” Harry whispers, breath hot in his ear, “That it’s her parents’ house.”
Niall can’t really formulate a response aside from the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. He manages a nod and feels more than hears Harry laugh.
As the movie continues Niall only gets more and more confused. He doesn’t understand the weird mold and- “Why is she never wearing pants?”
Harry barks out a laugh that has more than one person shushing them, so he hides his face in Niall’s shoulder until his amusement dies down.
Once Harry is calm he lifts his head up but keeps his body pressed against Niall’s. Niall notices his hand resting right against his leg, so close that just a few inches and he could grab it. He is just about to reach for it when-
“Sorry, sirs?” Niall looks up at the voice by his side and sees a security guard. He bites his lip. “There have been some complaints about the noise level. If you could please keep it down, it would be appreciated.”
Niall can feel Harry laughing silently beside him, so he just nods at the guard who goes to stand at the end of the row.
They last a well enough amount of time. Sometime during a scene that Niall didn’t really find frightening but seemed to terrify Harry, Harry had grabbed his hand and held on. It took about five minutes for Niall to gather his courage and link their fingers, and when he did, Harry leaned over and nosed his ear for a moment before falling back into his own seat.
But now Twilight-girl and her boyfriend are calling an elusive character and when he arrives it’s actually Tom Felton.
And Niall really can’t help it. “Look, Draco Malfoy’s back!”
He would be a bit more upset about being kicked out of the theater for the first time if Harry hadn’t held his hand on the way to the car and whispered, “Want to come to my place?” in his ear.
*
“That’s ridiculous!”
Liam’s laugh fills the flat and Louis shakes his head earnestly, but he can’t hide that he’s laughing too. “No, I swear, he just burst in and-“
The door slams open and Louis and Liam both jump, eyes wide.
“Um,” Liam says.
Louis crinkles his eyebrows and stands up slowly, leaning forward as far as he can to peek into the hallway and when he catches sight of the source of the noise he groans loudly.
“Really, boys?” He groans again. “Can you at least wait until you’re in the bedroom?”
“Is that Niall and Harry?” Liam asks and Louis can only groan again. He falls gracelessly onto the couch and sighs when he hears the door close softly. Harry and Niall enter the room. They both have flushed faces but that’s where the similarities end. Niall is looking very sheepish and is sporting a rather bright red mark on the side of his neck. Harry, however, is looking smug, a smirk on his swollen and dark pink lips.
“Oh my God,” Liam mutters.
“I agree, Liam. Oh my God.” Louis shakes his head shamefully. “Here we are, enjoying a lovely night in, having a great time, watching movies and eating pizza and having wonderful conversation, when suddenly we’re attacked with this horrid image. Well, you didn’t actually get the image. Trust me, you’re lucky. Every time I close my eyes to go to sleep tonight I’ll see Harry trying to eat Niall’s neck.”
Harry lets out a small chuckle.
“Stop looking so proud of yourself.” Louis shakes his head again.
“Oh, you guys had pizza?” Niall asks. “Any left? I’m starved.”
“We had a large popcorn at the theater!”
Niall shrugs.
“He can eat forever. Never stops. No one’s really sure where it all goes,” Liam informs Harry as Niall grabs a slice of pizza from the box in the kitchen. When he returns, Louis notices Harry’s staring at him with an adoring glint in his eye. He believes Harry may be in this for more than someone to make out with, and Louis can’t decide if he’s happy for Harry or jealous that he himself has no one to make out with. He looks at Liam, who’s watching Niall with a bored expression on his face, and frowns. He and Liam had spent the same amount of time with one another as Harry and Niall did, and only one of them ended the night making out.
*
“Do you think that means he only likes me as a mate?”
Harry groans into the pastry he’s eating. “Would you give it a rest?”
“No, I will not give it a rest, Harry. I have been working on this for three weeks now. Three! And still, the most I’ve gotten out of him is a hug! And not even a particularly long hug, either!”
“Maybe he’s not the type to make first moves?” Harry suggests with a careless shrug.
“I already made the first move! And the second and third! I’ve invited him over, I’ve taken him to dinner-“
“At a pub, Lou. Not exactly romantic.”
Louis ignores Harry and continues. “-And I invited him to the library to study.”
“Yeah, that’s a way to get in a guy’s pants. Books.” Louis hears Zayn snort from his place at the counter where he’s serving a customer.
“Liam likes studying, Harry. I’m trying to play on his interests. You don’t even know what Niall likes because all you two do is stick your tongues down each other’s throats.”
Harry rolls his eyes and huffs and levels Louis with his serious look. “Louis, I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe he just doesn’t know you’re interested. Maybe he’s shy. Maybe he doesn’t like you back. Point is, you’re never going to know unless you ask him.”
Louis pouts. “You’re not supposed to suggest that he doesn’t like me back, Harry. You’re supposed to analyze everything he does and explain to me why he does like me.”
“I need a fucking fag and I’m not even in this conversation,” Zayn mutters as he heads out the back door, phone already up to his ear. Louis, again, doesn’t have it in him to joke about his fake girlfriend.
Harry just stares at Louis and for once in his life Louis can’t figure out what the look means. The two are in an awkward silence until someone at the counter clears their throat.
“I’ve gotta get to work, Lou,” Harry tells him.
Louis stops going to the coffee shop between classes.
*
Niall groans loudly, causing Liam’s head to shoot up from where he had positioned himself in a ball on the couch. “Can you stop moping now?”
“No,” Liam answers gruffly before his head falls back to its previous position.
“Really, mate, this is getting ridiculous. When was the last time you showered?”
“The last time me and Louis hung out,” Liam says with a sigh. “That was three days ago. He’s only texted me four times since then. None of them had cute emoticons.”
Niall tries not to laugh.
“I thought you said he was flirting with me, Niall.”
Niall sits on the couch next to Liam and rests a hand on his back. He’s always unsure of how to comfort Liam.
“You and Harry just hit it off so well and I thought that maybe me and Louis would too but it just… Nothing’s happened. We just hang out and nothing ever happens.”
Niall isn’t sure what to say so he just rubs circles into Liam’s back through his shirt. Liam sighs and closes his eyes. Once he’s asleep, Niall stands up and leaves the flat, a certain destination in mind.
*
“Hey, babe,” Harry grins widely, and Niall can’t help but smile back. There’s a skip in his step as he makes his way to the counter and he ignores Zayn’s catcalls when he leans over and kisses Harry’s lips. “What are you doing here? Thought you had class soon?”
“I do, but I wanted to ask you about something first,” he says, biting his lip. Harry nods encouragingly and Niall takes the plunge. “Does Louis, um… Does Louis like Liam?”
Harry’s eyes widen and Niall bites down on his lip again.
“Well,” Harry starts, his voice shaky. “Um, that depends on your definition of the word ‘like’, I suppose.”
“Liam just. He was so excited when he gave Lou his number, and when he asked him to hang out. And then afterward he was so disappointed because he hadn’t made a move on him and he didn’t understand why. So he kept giving him chances, kept hanging out with him and texting him and calling him but he’s a bit hurt that nothing’s happened. And he’s curled in a ball on the sofa.”
Niall is confused when Harry bangs his head against the counter.
“That’s not exactly the answer I was looking for, Harry,” Niall says awkwardly.
“He is such a fucking idiot,” Harry mumbles, and Niall gasps.
“Hey, he’s my best mate, he’s not-“
“Not Liam,” Harry interrupts. Niall’s shoulders sag in relief. “Louis. He’s been pouting and complaining and whining and being annoying and jealous and awful because he’s too scared to make a move on Liam. He’s been taking it out on me and now he won’t talk to me because I got sick of it.”
“Well I think it’s about time we intervened, wouldn’t you say?” Niall grins at the way Harry’s eyes light up. He can practically see his brain whirring, already thinking of a plan.
*
“Hey, Lou,” Louis hears Harry’s voice calling out to him. He jumps up from his bed and sticks his head out of his room in confusion, clutching the door frame so he doesn’t fall.
“Are we speaking again?” He calls out cautiously.
“Yeah,” Harry answers softly. Louis nods and comes out of his room, sitting down on the sofa where Harry’s already made himself comfortable. “I wanted to ask you something, actually.”
Louis nods slowly. He doesn’t like the gleam in Harry’s eyes.
“This Friday Niall, Liam, Zayn, and I are all going out to that pub you really like and I want you to come. I know things have been weird between us the past few days but I miss you, Lou,” Harry says, and Louis melts.
“I miss you, too, Haz,” he answers, falling into Harry’s already outstretched arms. “Sorry I’ve been a twat.”
“S’okay, I was a bit of one, too, really,” he feels Harry’s fingers make their way into his hair and he sighs, snuggling deeper into the sweater Harry’s wearing. “I got caught up in being in a new relationship and I was ignoring your problems. It wasn’t a very nice thing to do.”
Louis just mewls and closes his eyes.
*
Louis spends the entire week texting with Liam. He learns that Niall had spent an hour convincing him of going, and he only agreed because he found out Louis would be there, too. Louis had grinned so widely his cheeks began to hurt.
Im so tired i could fall asleep right here at my desk, Liam sends Friday afternoon. Louis grins and types out a response, ignoring the sign at the front of the classroom that reads ‘no cell phones’.
Been there done that! Falling asleep in class is nothing, payne!
Is 4 me im a good person
Are you calling me a bad person???
Yes :)
Louis bites his lip hard to keep a ridiculously goofy grin from appearing on his face in the middle of class and before he can respond his phone buzzes again.
Im so hungry i could eat my foot
He can’t fight the smile after that, no matter how hard he bites his lip.
*
Harry has to drag him into the pub when Louis catches sight of Liam through the window.
“Look how pretty he is, Harry,” he moans loudly, ignoring the strange looks from passersby. “I can’t do this. He’s too pretty.”
“You’ve hung out with him before, Lou,” Harry reminds him with a laugh. He grabs his hand and pulls him to the door.
“Harry!”
Louis laughs at Niall’s loud greeting from across the room and feels a little weight lift off his shoulders when Liam turns around and gives him a small smile. He waves back and Liam’s cheeks flush. He’s sure his own are bright pink but he follows Harry through the pub and to the table Niall, Liam, and Zayn have already procured.
Harry plops down in the open chair next to Niall and the only empty seat left is next to Liam. Louis is positive he’s being set up and suddenly his nerves are on overdrive. He watches as Niall and Harry exchange looks and then turn to stare at he and Liam and he thinks, oh, God, this is the actual end.
“Hey,” Liam says softly. Louis turns to look at him and smiles and wills his heart to stop beating so fast.
“Hi,” Louis replies, voice just as quiet. Liam isn’t exactly smiling with his mouth but his eyes are crinkled at the corners the way Louis loves it and he wants to just reach over and do something, anything. Liam ducks his head after a moment and reaches for his drink, taking a sip of what looks like Coke, when-
“Sorry you’re a bit of a fifth wheel on our double date, Zayn,” Harry’s voice is louder than usual and Liam chokes, sputtering and coughing.
Niall, who is seated on Liam’s other side, pats Liam on the back. “Alright there, Liam? Need Lou to give you mouth-to-mouth?”
Louis’ eyes widen and he’s almost positive he’s just been transported into a terrible comedy where his entire life is the joke. Liam is bright red and his mouth is open. Louis knows his own mouth is making fish-out-of-water noises but he feels a bit helpless to stop it. Harry is laughing and Niall is just grinning at Liam like he has no cares in the world and then-
And then a girl walks up to their table and plops down in Zayn’s lap.
“Um,” Harry says.
The girl wraps her arms around Zayn’s neck and kisses him on the mouth. Louis can’t quite believe what he’s seeing.
“Who exactly, um,” he starts, then pauses because his mind is completely reeling. “Who are you?”
The two separate with a loud smack and Zayn has a huge shit-eating grin on his face when he says, “Boys, meet my girlfriend, Tammy.”
Louis’ jaw drops. “Does that mean you genuinely don’t smoke pot?”
Tammy turns in Zayn’s arms. “When did you start smoking pot?”
Louis can’t help but laugh when Zayn sighs loudly and says, “I told you my friends were idiots.”
But when Louis laughs, his whole body shakes, and Liam is still so close and it’s like he’s being electrocuted when their arms brush together. His breath catches in his throat and he slowly turns to face Liam, who is just staring at him, brown eyes wide and a little confused but so open and Louis is sick of waiting.
“Will you come outside with me?”
Louis is thankful that all Liam does is nod, because he’s not sure he could hear anything outside of the loud drumming of his heart. He stands up and waits for Liam to stand before turning on his heel and walking toward the door, turning around twice to make sure Liam is still right behind him. When they’re outside, he grabs Liam’s hand and pulls him along toward a secluded corner of the building, backing himself up against the brick wall and letting go when Liam is right in front of him.
“Harry... when he said we were on a date,” Louis begins with his eyes shut, afraid that if he speaks looking into Liam’s eyes he won’t be able to finish. “When he said we were on a date he wasn’t… He wasn’t wrong. At least, from my side of things.”
It’s quiet apart from the city noises around them and Louis slowly opens his eyes only to be met with a blinding grin.
“Yeah?”
Louis feels relief seep through his pores and drain all the nervous energy he’d had before, and he smiles back. “Yeah, of course. I was hitting on you from the beginning, remember?”
“Yeah, but,” Liam looks at the ground. “I thought when you just asked to hang out that you only wanted to be friends. Because I was so rude to you the day we met. Wouldn’t have really blamed you, anyway.”
Louis shakes his head and still can’t keep the small smile off his lips. “Nah, you were cute enough to get away with it.”
Liam giggles softly and looks up, brown meeting blue, and Louis feels like they’re really seeing each other for the first time.
“Does that mean I can kiss you now? I’ve wanted to for a long time,” he says, and is caught off guard when Liam doesn’t answer, just leans in and brushes their lips together once, softly, before pulling away.
“Yeah,” he whispers, “You can kiss me.”
So Louis does.
*
“They’ve returned!”
Louis watches as Liam blushes bright red. He grins to himself as they sit back down at the table where Tammy now has a chair for herself. Everyone at the table is quiet, staring at Louis and Liam and Louis knows Liam feels awkward, can feel the tension radiating from him.
So he says, “Well, I say it’s about time we get this triple date started, yeah?”
And he knows everyone at the table is speaking to him, their voices loud and filtering through his ears, but Louis can’t take his eyes off Liam. Liam, who is staring at him with a bright smile that crinkles the corners of his even brighter eyes.
“A date, huh?”
Louis chuckles softly and reaches over to grab Liam’s hand. He laces their fingers together and lets himself think about how perfectly they fit.
“Yeah,” he responds happily. “A date.”
Part 1
“Niall just texted, Lou,” Louis looks up from the book he’s been pretending to read for the past hour to pass the time. “They’ll be here in about five minutes.”
“Okay,” Louis chokes out. He ignores Harry’s eyes, the way he can feel them boring into the side of his head. He looks back down at his book and tries to find a good place to start reading but nothing about World History seems particularly interesting and then there is knocking on the door and Harry said five minutes.
But Harry is already doing his hair flip and checking to make sure he’s presentable in the hall mirror on his way to the door. Louis would usually call out a “you look great, love,” or a “your arse is phenomenal in those,” but he’s too nervous at the moment because Liam is on the other side of that door.
Louis closes his text book and places it on the coffee table in front of where he’s seated on the couch and stands, dusting off imaginary lint from his trousers and smoothing invisible wrinkles from his gray t-shirt.
“Lou,” Harry’s voice calls from the entry way, and Louis takes the four steps necessary to reach the hall. “Liam’s here. Niall and I are going to see The Apparition, I’ll be home in two or three hours. Don’t burn the place down, yeah?”
Louis grins at the sight of Liam standing awkwardly beside Harry in the entry way, tight pants and a black shirt that Louis wants nothing more than to rip off. Harry ahems quietly and Louis jumps, tearing his eyes away from Liam’s biceps and landing on Harry, who has a huge smirk on his face.
“That was like, one time. ‘Sides, I figured Liam and I would order something in,” Louis answers, and then looks back to Liam. “If that’s alright with you, that is.”
“Yeah,” Liam says quietly, a small smile on his face. Louis nods and smiles back. Harry heads out the door with a “bye” thrown over his shoulder, but Louis catches him tell Niall, “it’s been four times. He’s almost burnt the place down four times.”
“It really hasn’t been,” Louis tells Liam earnestly. And then he says, “Well, come on in, we’ve got some movie channels and video games and, my personal favorite, YouTube.”
“YouTube, really?” Liam asks. He steps farther into the flat, following Louis into the small living area. Louis gestures him to the couch and then takes the seat next to him, leaving an appropriate amount of space for - well, he’s not sure what for. But he knows it’s appropriate. For something.
“Absolutely! I have a lot to teach you about YouTube, Liam-“ he stops and frowns. “I don’t know your last name.”
“Payne.”
“Tomlinson. Nice to officially meet you, Liam Payne.”
Liam grins and the corners of his eyes crinkle a bit and Louis decides it’s his favorite thing.
“So,” Liam says after a moment of awkward smiling at each other. “YouTube?”
“Later,” Louis answers, grabbing the remote from the arm of the couch and flipping the telly on. “For now we should find a lame movie and order in, yeah?”
“Okay.”
Louis aimlessly flips through the channels because he can never remember which station the movie listing is on. He notices Liam is sitting rigidly and with his shoes still on and frowns. “You can, um, get comfortable. You know, like, I won’t mind if you take your shoes off, or whatever. It’s fine. Um.”
And Louis can’t remember the last time he said that many ‘um’ and ‘like’s in a sentence but it has him flushing and he notices Liam’s flushing as well. He mumbles something that Louis can’t make out but he shoves his shoes off and pulls his feet up, crossing his legs under his bum.
“Better,” he grins and goes back to the television. When he finally lands on the movie channel, he nudges Liam and says, “Tell me if you see something you like.”
“Okay.”
Louis slowly scrolls through the movies until Liam says, “Friends with Benefits. What’s that?”
“That one with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman. Or the one with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. I honestly couldn’t tell you which.”
Liam giggles, honest to God giggles, and Louis bites his lip to stop himself from leaning over and kissing him quiet.
“That’s fine with me,” Liam relaxes further into the couch. “If it’s good for you.”
“Yeah,” Louis agrees, starting the movie. “Before it gets too far, do you want to order dinner?”
“Sure, what are you thinking?”
“Honestly?” Louis pauses. “Something greasy.”
“Pizza?”
Louis smiles widely. “I think I’m really going to like you, Liam Payne.”
*
“I’m just warning you,” Harry tells Niall as they get situated in the back row of the theater, “I am a scaredy cat. And a cuddler. We should honestly just lift the arm rest now, there’s no point to it.”
Niall ducks his head and smiles as Harry lifts the arm rest between them. Niall can feel the body heat radiating off of Harry, is hyperaware of where the skin of their arms is brushing. He can barely concentrate on eating his popcorn and Harry keeps reaching over and stealing pieces when the movie finally starts.
The first scene is a lot of commotion that Niall can’t keep up with. He’s squinting at the screen and wants to ask Harry questions but Harry seems into what’s happening so he stays quiet. But then.
“Hey,” he says, “That’s the Twilight girl, yeah?”
Harry chuckles into his shoulder and whispers, “How should I know?”
Niall gives him an incredulous look that he’s sure Harry doesn’t even see. “Don’t tell me you’ve never watched Twilight.”
There’s a shushing sound from a few rows in front of him and Niall rolls his eyes and Harry giggles some more. He manages to keep quiet for a while but the movie isn’t keeping his attention. He doesn’t care about this cactus or tent this couple is buying. He doesn’t care about their giant ass house except for-
“How can they even afford this house?”
There’s another shush and Niall huffs.
“They just said,” Harry whispers, breath hot in his ear, “That it’s her parents’ house.”
Niall can’t really formulate a response aside from the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. He manages a nod and feels more than hears Harry laugh.
As the movie continues Niall only gets more and more confused. He doesn’t understand the weird mold and- “Why is she never wearing pants?”
Harry barks out a laugh that has more than one person shushing them, so he hides his face in Niall’s shoulder until his amusement dies down.
Once Harry is calm he lifts his head up but keeps his body pressed against Niall’s. Niall notices his hand resting right against his leg, so close that just a few inches and he could grab it. He is just about to reach for it when-
“Sorry, sirs?” Niall looks up at the voice by his side and sees a security guard. He bites his lip. “There have been some complaints about the noise level. If you could please keep it down, it would be appreciated.”
Niall can feel Harry laughing silently beside him, so he just nods at the guard who goes to stand at the end of the row.
They last a well enough amount of time. Sometime during a scene that Niall didn’t really find frightening but seemed to terrify Harry, Harry had grabbed his hand and held on. It took about five minutes for Niall to gather his courage and link their fingers, and when he did, Harry leaned over and nosed his ear for a moment before falling back into his own seat.
But now Twilight-girl and her boyfriend are calling an elusive character and when he arrives it’s actually Tom Felton.
And Niall really can’t help it. “Look, Draco Malfoy’s back!”
He would be a bit more upset about being kicked out of the theater for the first time if Harry hadn’t held his hand on the way to the car and whispered, “Want to come to my place?” in his ear.
*
“That’s ridiculous!”
Liam’s laugh fills the flat and Louis shakes his head earnestly, but he can’t hide that he’s laughing too. “No, I swear, he just burst in and-“
The door slams open and Louis and Liam both jump, eyes wide.
“Um,” Liam says.
Louis crinkles his eyebrows and stands up slowly, leaning forward as far as he can to peek into the hallway and when he catches sight of the source of the noise he groans loudly.
“Really, boys?” He groans again. “Can you at least wait until you’re in the bedroom?”
“Is that Niall and Harry?” Liam asks and Louis can only groan again. He falls gracelessly onto the couch and sighs when he hears the door close softly. Harry and Niall enter the room. They both have flushed faces but that’s where the similarities end. Niall is looking very sheepish and is sporting a rather bright red mark on the side of his neck. Harry, however, is looking smug, a smirk on his swollen and dark pink lips.
“Oh my God,” Liam mutters.
“I agree, Liam. Oh my God.” Louis shakes his head shamefully. “Here we are, enjoying a lovely night in, having a great time, watching movies and eating pizza and having wonderful conversation, when suddenly we’re attacked with this horrid image. Well, you didn’t actually get the image. Trust me, you’re lucky. Every time I close my eyes to go to sleep tonight I’ll see Harry trying to eat Niall’s neck.”
Harry lets out a small chuckle.
“Stop looking so proud of yourself.” Louis shakes his head again.
“Oh, you guys had pizza?” Niall asks. “Any left? I’m starved.”
“We had a large popcorn at the theater!”
Niall shrugs.
“He can eat forever. Never stops. No one’s really sure where it all goes,” Liam informs Harry as Niall grabs a slice of pizza from the box in the kitchen. When he returns, Louis notices Harry’s staring at him with an adoring glint in his eye. He believes Harry may be in this for more than someone to make out with, and Louis can’t decide if he’s happy for Harry or jealous that he himself has no one to make out with. He looks at Liam, who’s watching Niall with a bored expression on his face, and frowns. He and Liam had spent the same amount of time with one another as Harry and Niall did, and only one of them ended the night making out.
*
“Do you think that means he only likes me as a mate?”
Harry groans into the pastry he’s eating. “Would you give it a rest?”
“No, I will not give it a rest, Harry. I have been working on this for three weeks now. Three! And still, the most I’ve gotten out of him is a hug! And not even a particularly long hug, either!”
“Maybe he’s not the type to make first moves?” Harry suggests with a careless shrug.
“I already made the first move! And the second and third! I’ve invited him over, I’ve taken him to dinner-“
“At a pub, Lou. Not exactly romantic.”
Louis ignores Harry and continues. “-And I invited him to the library to study.”
“Yeah, that’s a way to get in a guy’s pants. Books.” Louis hears Zayn snort from his place at the counter where he’s serving a customer.
“Liam likes studying, Harry. I’m trying to play on his interests. You don’t even know what Niall likes because all you two do is stick your tongues down each other’s throats.”
Harry rolls his eyes and huffs and levels Louis with his serious look. “Louis, I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe he just doesn’t know you’re interested. Maybe he’s shy. Maybe he doesn’t like you back. Point is, you’re never going to know unless you ask him.”
Louis pouts. “You’re not supposed to suggest that he doesn’t like me back, Harry. You’re supposed to analyze everything he does and explain to me why he does like me.”
“I need a fucking fag and I’m not even in this conversation,” Zayn mutters as he heads out the back door, phone already up to his ear. Louis, again, doesn’t have it in him to joke about his fake girlfriend.
Harry just stares at Louis and for once in his life Louis can’t figure out what the look means. The two are in an awkward silence until someone at the counter clears their throat.
“I’ve gotta get to work, Lou,” Harry tells him.
Louis stops going to the coffee shop between classes.
*
Niall groans loudly, causing Liam’s head to shoot up from where he had positioned himself in a ball on the couch. “Can you stop moping now?”
“No,” Liam answers gruffly before his head falls back to its previous position.
“Really, mate, this is getting ridiculous. When was the last time you showered?”
“The last time me and Louis hung out,” Liam says with a sigh. “That was three days ago. He’s only texted me four times since then. None of them had cute emoticons.”
Niall tries not to laugh.
“I thought you said he was flirting with me, Niall.”
Niall sits on the couch next to Liam and rests a hand on his back. He’s always unsure of how to comfort Liam.
“You and Harry just hit it off so well and I thought that maybe me and Louis would too but it just… Nothing’s happened. We just hang out and nothing ever happens.”
Niall isn’t sure what to say so he just rubs circles into Liam’s back through his shirt. Liam sighs and closes his eyes. Once he’s asleep, Niall stands up and leaves the flat, a certain destination in mind.
*
“Hey, babe,” Harry grins widely, and Niall can’t help but smile back. There’s a skip in his step as he makes his way to the counter and he ignores Zayn’s catcalls when he leans over and kisses Harry’s lips. “What are you doing here? Thought you had class soon?”
“I do, but I wanted to ask you about something first,” he says, biting his lip. Harry nods encouragingly and Niall takes the plunge. “Does Louis, um… Does Louis like Liam?”
Harry’s eyes widen and Niall bites down on his lip again.
“Well,” Harry starts, his voice shaky. “Um, that depends on your definition of the word ‘like’, I suppose.”
“Liam just. He was so excited when he gave Lou his number, and when he asked him to hang out. And then afterward he was so disappointed because he hadn’t made a move on him and he didn’t understand why. So he kept giving him chances, kept hanging out with him and texting him and calling him but he’s a bit hurt that nothing’s happened. And he’s curled in a ball on the sofa.”
Niall is confused when Harry bangs his head against the counter.
“That’s not exactly the answer I was looking for, Harry,” Niall says awkwardly.
“He is such a fucking idiot,” Harry mumbles, and Niall gasps.
“Hey, he’s my best mate, he’s not-“
“Not Liam,” Harry interrupts. Niall’s shoulders sag in relief. “Louis. He’s been pouting and complaining and whining and being annoying and jealous and awful because he’s too scared to make a move on Liam. He’s been taking it out on me and now he won’t talk to me because I got sick of it.”
“Well I think it’s about time we intervened, wouldn’t you say?” Niall grins at the way Harry’s eyes light up. He can practically see his brain whirring, already thinking of a plan.
*
“Hey, Lou,” Louis hears Harry’s voice calling out to him. He jumps up from his bed and sticks his head out of his room in confusion, clutching the door frame so he doesn’t fall.
“Are we speaking again?” He calls out cautiously.
“Yeah,” Harry answers softly. Louis nods and comes out of his room, sitting down on the sofa where Harry’s already made himself comfortable. “I wanted to ask you something, actually.”
Louis nods slowly. He doesn’t like the gleam in Harry’s eyes.
“This Friday Niall, Liam, Zayn, and I are all going out to that pub you really like and I want you to come. I know things have been weird between us the past few days but I miss you, Lou,” Harry says, and Louis melts.
“I miss you, too, Haz,” he answers, falling into Harry’s already outstretched arms. “Sorry I’ve been a twat.”
“S’okay, I was a bit of one, too, really,” he feels Harry’s fingers make their way into his hair and he sighs, snuggling deeper into the sweater Harry’s wearing. “I got caught up in being in a new relationship and I was ignoring your problems. It wasn’t a very nice thing to do.”
Louis just mewls and closes his eyes.
*
Louis spends the entire week texting with Liam. He learns that Niall had spent an hour convincing him of going, and he only agreed because he found out Louis would be there, too. Louis had grinned so widely his cheeks began to hurt.
Im so tired i could fall asleep right here at my desk, Liam sends Friday afternoon. Louis grins and types out a response, ignoring the sign at the front of the classroom that reads ‘no cell phones’.
Been there done that! Falling asleep in class is nothing, payne!
Is 4 me im a good person
Are you calling me a bad person???
Yes :)
Louis bites his lip hard to keep a ridiculously goofy grin from appearing on his face in the middle of class and before he can respond his phone buzzes again.
Im so hungry i could eat my foot
He can’t fight the smile after that, no matter how hard he bites his lip.
*
Harry has to drag him into the pub when Louis catches sight of Liam through the window.
“Look how pretty he is, Harry,” he moans loudly, ignoring the strange looks from passersby. “I can’t do this. He’s too pretty.”
“You’ve hung out with him before, Lou,” Harry reminds him with a laugh. He grabs his hand and pulls him to the door.
“Harry!”
Louis laughs at Niall’s loud greeting from across the room and feels a little weight lift off his shoulders when Liam turns around and gives him a small smile. He waves back and Liam’s cheeks flush. He’s sure his own are bright pink but he follows Harry through the pub and to the table Niall, Liam, and Zayn have already procured.
Harry plops down in the open chair next to Niall and the only empty seat left is next to Liam. Louis is positive he’s being set up and suddenly his nerves are on overdrive. He watches as Niall and Harry exchange looks and then turn to stare at he and Liam and he thinks, oh, God, this is the actual end.
“Hey,” Liam says softly. Louis turns to look at him and smiles and wills his heart to stop beating so fast.
“Hi,” Louis replies, voice just as quiet. Liam isn’t exactly smiling with his mouth but his eyes are crinkled at the corners the way Louis loves it and he wants to just reach over and do something, anything. Liam ducks his head after a moment and reaches for his drink, taking a sip of what looks like Coke, when-
“Sorry you’re a bit of a fifth wheel on our double date, Zayn,” Harry’s voice is louder than usual and Liam chokes, sputtering and coughing.
Niall, who is seated on Liam’s other side, pats Liam on the back. “Alright there, Liam? Need Lou to give you mouth-to-mouth?”
Louis’ eyes widen and he’s almost positive he’s just been transported into a terrible comedy where his entire life is the joke. Liam is bright red and his mouth is open. Louis knows his own mouth is making fish-out-of-water noises but he feels a bit helpless to stop it. Harry is laughing and Niall is just grinning at Liam like he has no cares in the world and then-
And then a girl walks up to their table and plops down in Zayn’s lap.
“Um,” Harry says.
The girl wraps her arms around Zayn’s neck and kisses him on the mouth. Louis can’t quite believe what he’s seeing.
“Who exactly, um,” he starts, then pauses because his mind is completely reeling. “Who are you?”
The two separate with a loud smack and Zayn has a huge shit-eating grin on his face when he says, “Boys, meet my girlfriend, Tammy.”
Louis’ jaw drops. “Does that mean you genuinely don’t smoke pot?”
Tammy turns in Zayn’s arms. “When did you start smoking pot?”
Louis can’t help but laugh when Zayn sighs loudly and says, “I told you my friends were idiots.”
But when Louis laughs, his whole body shakes, and Liam is still so close and it’s like he’s being electrocuted when their arms brush together. His breath catches in his throat and he slowly turns to face Liam, who is just staring at him, brown eyes wide and a little confused but so open and Louis is sick of waiting.
“Will you come outside with me?”
Louis is thankful that all Liam does is nod, because he’s not sure he could hear anything outside of the loud drumming of his heart. He stands up and waits for Liam to stand before turning on his heel and walking toward the door, turning around twice to make sure Liam is still right behind him. When they’re outside, he grabs Liam’s hand and pulls him along toward a secluded corner of the building, backing himself up against the brick wall and letting go when Liam is right in front of him.
“Harry... when he said we were on a date,” Louis begins with his eyes shut, afraid that if he speaks looking into Liam’s eyes he won’t be able to finish. “When he said we were on a date he wasn’t… He wasn’t wrong. At least, from my side of things.”
It’s quiet apart from the city noises around them and Louis slowly opens his eyes only to be met with a blinding grin.
“Yeah?”
Louis feels relief seep through his pores and drain all the nervous energy he’d had before, and he smiles back. “Yeah, of course. I was hitting on you from the beginning, remember?”
“Yeah, but,” Liam looks at the ground. “I thought when you just asked to hang out that you only wanted to be friends. Because I was so rude to you the day we met. Wouldn’t have really blamed you, anyway.”
Louis shakes his head and still can’t keep the small smile off his lips. “Nah, you were cute enough to get away with it.”
Liam giggles softly and looks up, brown meeting blue, and Louis feels like they’re really seeing each other for the first time.
“Does that mean I can kiss you now? I’ve wanted to for a long time,” he says, and is caught off guard when Liam doesn’t answer, just leans in and brushes their lips together once, softly, before pulling away.
“Yeah,” he whispers, “You can kiss me.”
So Louis does.
*
“They’ve returned!”
Louis watches as Liam blushes bright red. He grins to himself as they sit back down at the table where Tammy now has a chair for herself. Everyone at the table is quiet, staring at Louis and Liam and Louis knows Liam feels awkward, can feel the tension radiating from him.
So he says, “Well, I say it’s about time we get this triple date started, yeah?”
And he knows everyone at the table is speaking to him, their voices loud and filtering through his ears, but Louis can’t take his eyes off Liam. Liam, who is staring at him with a bright smile that crinkles the corners of his even brighter eyes.
“A date, huh?”
Louis chuckles softly and reaches over to grab Liam’s hand. He laces their fingers together and lets himself think about how perfectly they fit.
“Yeah,” he responds happily. “A date.”