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“Mate, you’re a right mess” Zayn said half scolding and half from disgust as he shut off the television. He examined the area of the living room that his friend had inhabited. Wrappers, empty cans and boxes of takeout were scattered all over the table, couch and floor.
“Oi! That was a new episode of Doctor Who, you twat” Louis protested, lobbing the balled-up empty bag of Doritos at his roommate’s head. It wasn't really, he already watched that episode many times already, he just didn't want to admit that he had spent the past week watching reruns.
“Lou, you’ve been on that couch the whole day. I bet you really got to piss right now but you’re too much of a lazy arse to get up,” Zayn pointed out (which was soon proven right later on).
Louis looked up from his spot and got a good look at the quiffed boy, he noticed that his friend was dressed for going out. He wore a plain, grey T-shirt, and jeans, with a leather jacket to complete the look. Interesting.
“Oh, fuck off, what’s got you all dressed up? Meeting up with the ol’ boyfriend, now are we?” Louis teased and laughing at Zayn’s scowl. He liked Niall (not as much as Zayn of course) he was a fun bloke; always making others laugh with jokes. But he always got a kick from teasing the other lad, Zayn would get extremely flustered and blush like a 12 year old girl with a crush.
“I am actually” He said while fixing the collar of his jacket, a tint of pink painting his cheeks. “But you’re coming with us this time”
Louis shook his head frantically “No way, I am not going to be a third wheel for any of your dates again.” He thought back to the times where he was forced to tag along to any of Zayn’s dates with Niall. They were terrible, terrible experiences but mostly because they could never keep their hands to themselves. Their love struck eyes made him feel sick not because he didn’t have someone to have that with –in fact, he did- but it was due to the fact that he couldn’t do that with his beloved boyfriend. The Harry Styles, the young singer who shot to fame when he won the X-Factor at 16. The boy who had girls (and boys) falling to his feet with his handsome looks and smooth cheekiness. Don’t get him wrong, he loves Harry –with all his heart- and he understands why he can’t be public with him but sometimes it would be nice if he could walk outside with his super amazing (and hot) pop star boyfriend. It’s a secret relationship, one kept away from the public, from their families and their friends. That’s why, Zayn, his best friend still thinks that he's a miserable lonely chap who spends all his days on the couch watching reruns of crap telly while stuffing his face with junk and take out (which is mostly accurate, except the lonely part).
Harry calls from time to time, and sometimes they skype but its never the same as the real thing.
Zayn wondered why Louis never liked going out, often questioning the boy for his reasons but received no proper response. He began to think that his best mate has a fear of the outside world.
“C’mon, Lou, it’ll be fun. You might even meet a bloke to take home” Zayn teased, nudging the boy beside him which Louis grimaced at. “When was the last time you got laid?”
Last week, the Doncaster boy thought. Harry had a short break from his worldwide tour, which he insisted to be spent with Louis. The curly haired boy was only in London for one night before he had to fly to Japan for some promo. Louis was against it though, he wanted Harry to spend that one day with his family since he was going to visit him on tour soon anyways. But even he knew that his heart wasn’t 100% with that argument and found himself agreeing with Harry. They missed each other dearly and he was sure that Anne (who is the only relative that knows about their relationship) wouldn’t mind if her son stayed with his boyfriend for his day-off.
“Please” Zayn’s eyes pleading; something Louis doesn’t usually see often when the younger boy begs. It was because of that rare sight that Louis finally reluctantly agreed. One night out couldn’t hurt.
A large winning smile spread across his roommate’s face. “Ha! Yes, finally! I thought that wasn’t going to work. Thank you drama class,” Zayn cheered proudly before throwing a clean shirt at the gaping boy’s face, cutting off any future protests.
xxxxxx
The club was packed, the atmosphere warm and tight from the bodies moving around. Spot lights were turned towards the stage as a performer sang his set. He was good, Louis thought, not as good as Harry though, but he may just be a bit bias. He glanced around, catching the eye of a well fit blonde near the bar. The man winked, inviting him towards him. Louis shook his head quickly and ignored the man’s invitation then followed Zayn to the booth where Niall was waiting at.
“Who was that?” Zayn questioned after he greeted his boyfriend with a kiss and took a seat practically on Niall’s lap.
“I don’t know, some guy trying to get me over to him” Louis shrugged, looking down and fiddling with his fingers. Ever since he met Harry he has never really looked at other guys, he lost interest. Obviously, of course, because he loves Harry and can never imagine being with someone else, he just hopes that Harry feels the same. Louis didn’t usually worry, he was a pretty careless guy, but he can’t help but be worried that he wasnt enough for Harry; even though they have been together for years now. The singer had the whole world falling to his feet, guys and girls, he could choose anyone to be with, and he chose him. Plain old Louis Tomlinson from Doncaster, uni student and living off the small amount of money he makes at the recordshop.
“You go tap that, Tommo” Liam teased as he sat down with his friends, which caused the trio to burst into laughter because that is so unLiam.
“Where did you come from, Li? Thought clubs aren't your scene?” Louis asked as he gave his newly-arrived friend a one armed hug.
“Well, I heard from a certain little leprechaun that a certain celebrity that Lou, here, quite fancies is in this very club. Right. Now.” Niall shrugged and sipped his drink, an evil smirk on his face.
“Oh god, what did you guys do?” Louis’ eyes were wide, not knowing what to expect. The two boys glanced at each other and smiled.
“Harry Styles is here.”
Louis choked on his drink, what. the. hell. “Oh c’mon, Louis, you can’t chicken out on this. Your favourite celebrity is here, you have to talk to him.”
Harry is here? His boyfriend never told him that he would be back so early. The curly haired boy wasn’t supposed to be here for another week, and if he was here, why didn’t he tell Louis? He thought that you were supposed to tell your partner if you suddenly arrive early from your trip.
“We’ll give you 10 pounds if you talk to him and 20 more if you get a kiss.” Zayn offered, which the other boys agreed with enthusiastically.
“Where is he?” He asked and despite his worries, he was excited to see his boyfriend. He got up and followed the direction that Niall pointed at.
He walked closer to the bar and passed the man he saw earlier who was now chatting up a new guy, who look surprisingly like Nick Grimshaw. He didn’t say anything when he saw his three friends move to a booth closer to him, god they’re embarrassing. He spotted Harry sitting by himself at the end of the bar, staring off into space. Louis snuck up behind the curly haired boy and lightly tapped his shoulder.
“I told you, leave me alone,” the boy snapped, still not turning around.
Leaning in, “Sorry, just thought I’d say hi,” Louis whispered, surprising the boy as he spun around.
He blinked. “Lou,” he said, clearly not expecting him, “what are you doing here?”
“Could ask you the same, thought you won’t be back for another week.” Louis stated as he wrapped his arms around the boy’s waist.
(“Do you know what’s going on, Z?” Liam asked as he watched Harry Styles and his friend act like they’ve known each other for ages.
Zayn shrugged, surprised himself, “Lou is really getting it”
“I think, we’re going to lose ourselves 30 pounds” Niall said, still confused with the two boys’ exchange and the other two nodded in agreement.)
“Wanted to surprise you, but Nick dragged me here and took my phone away,” The younger boy pouted and buried his face into Louis’ neck, arms wound tightly around his boyfriend. “Missed you,” he murmured loud enough for the other to hear.
“That jerk,” Louis half-joked. He never liked Nick, he was always taking Harry away from him and making him do stupid shit. “And I missed you too. Wait, Haz” He pulled away from the embrace and met his boyfriend’s eyes. He brought their lips together for a kiss and swiped his tongue across the other’s bottom lip. A groan slipped from Harry’s mouth as he whispered about how much he missed this then letting Louis in.
(“Yup, we just lost 30 pounds” Zayn said.)
“My friends are here and they’re kind of watching us..”
Harry laughed, “I would love to meet them then.”
The couple walked back to the booth, hands linked, and sat beside each other. Liam, Zayn and Niall were quiet, just watching the two. Louis looked down and blushed, he was in for quite a yelling later.
“Hi, I’m Liam.” Of course, he would be the one to first introduce himself.
“Harry.”
“Oh we know, alright.” Niall said, receiving a jab in the ribs from Zayn.
“That twat, is my boyfriend, Niall. I’m Zayn.” He extended his hand across the table which Harry shook with a firm grip.
“Louis has told me so much about you, you seem like fun people” They curly haired boy said, a smile plastered on his face.
Meanwhile, Louis remained silent, not moving an inch under his boyfriend’s arm. He knew his friends would be mad that Louis hadn’t told them about his relationship with the Harry Styles. He always hid it with the excuse that he was his favourite artist, and he never explained how even though him and Zayn struggle to pay the monthly rent, he would always have VIP tickets to Harry’s shows in London. He claimed that he won them off a radio contest or that a friend gave it too him, but even he knew no one could have that kind of luck every time theres a concert in the city. But luckily, his friends trusted him enough to believe him, which is a main reason why he felt so guilty at this very moment.
“Boo?” Harry asked curiously, squeezing Louis’ waist in an attempt to grab his attention.
“Huh?” Louis snapped out of his thoughts. He looked up and met the eyes of his three friends at the table.
“I was asking, why you’ve never told us you knew Harry Styles” Zayn explained with a stern look in his eyes, he was hurt that Louis bothered to tell him about Harry.
“I, uhm, it’s complicated, we, uh,” He looked up to his boyfriend pleading for help.
“Well, when we met, while I was still on the X-Factor, we were just friends and then we started dating around the sixth week of the show, was it, love?” Which Louis nodded in confirmation. “Right, ‘cause I sang that Elton John song for you,” Louis’ cheeks were now a bright shade of red, and his friends were all listening intently with their drinks in hand. Niall cooed, it was a rare sight to see Louis this flustered.
“As I was saying, when I won, my management said that I could be a huge star and if the press found out that I was gay and taken, the results will be bad. So I signed a contract where it said that I could be with Louis as long as its not public and I would have to go on random dates with famous girls around the world-”
“-SO THATS WHY YOU WERE WITH TAYLOR”
“Niall, don’t interrupt.”
“Sorry, Li, continue, Mr. popstar”
Harry chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah, and well Louis had to sign one too, where he can’t leak any information about me-”
“It’s not like I would, babe” Louis said.
(“BABE, he called him babe!” Niall squealed, receiving another jab to the ribs)
“-I know, love, but yeah, he had to sign one where he can’t give out info and could only say, if asked, that he was a friend of mine, or in your cases, just a big fan.”
Louis looked down at their intertwined hands on the table, it was a small act of rebellion, even if it was in a small club where no one paid attention to them.
“I approve.” Zayn said randomly, which Niall and Liam nodded in agreement. “I can see how much you love each other, and I know you hid it from us, Lou, but we understand and we’re not going to be mad at you, well maybe a bit ‘cause how long have you been together?”
“Four years?”
“FOUR YEARS? Okay, understandable.. I think. But lets make a toast, to Louis and Harry for surviving this long as a couple, even though you’re not completely forgiven yet, Lou.”
The five boys raised a toast and downed their drinks, Niall dragged Zayn off to the dancefloor and Liam excused himself to go talk to one of the women making eyes at him at the bar.
Louis let out a sigh of relief as he leaned back into his seat. “You handled that well, thank you”
Harry squeezed Louis’ hand tighter, “Mmm, anytime, babe,” he leaned in closer to Louis’ ear, “how about, we ditch this place and go out to eat. ‘m starving.” The older boy nodded happily before pulling Harry up to stand up with him.
“I’ll pay this time, the boys owe me quite a few pounds.”