When You Know You Know

16

On their regular Friday night dinner, Niall had some exciting news. Liam had picked a sushi restaurant this time, which usually would put Niall in a frenzy (who the hell wants to eat raw fish?) but he didn't as much as bat an eye at the menu. Something was up.
"Guys! I've met someone!" He almost shouted as soon as they were sitting down.

"Really? That's great Ni." Liam smiled.

"Absolutely. Tell us about her." Louis chipped in.

"Her name is Amanda and we had our first date last Wednesday. I took her golfing." Niall grinned.

Louis and Liam shared a look.
"And she stayed the whole date?" Louis teased.

"She loves to golf!" Niall grinned and threw his hands out in the air.

"Well, that's fantastic! You met her on the dating app?" Liam asked.

"Yes! We're going out tomorrow on a second date. I have a really good feeling about this." Niall smiled, looking really excited and happy.

"We're happy for you. Look at us, all dating." Louis said.

"Yeah, so things with Harry is going great?" Niall asked.

"Yeah, he's amazing. I...fuck, yeah." Louis beamed.

"Aaaw, look at him. He's falling for him!" Niall cooed, talking to Liam.

"It's way too soon for that." Louis said.

"Says who? Not when you find that special one." Niall argued.

"Yeah, I guess, but I don't want to rush it and scare him away." Louis sighed.

"Does it feel like he's about to run?" Liam wondered.

"No, not really. It feels like we're on the same page." Louis smiled.

"Awesome!" Niall grinned.

"Yeah, that's great Louis. So I have news too. Emma and I are officially a couple now." Liam smiled.

"Congratulations. So, when do we get to meet her?" Louis asked.

"I don't want to scare her away first thing." Liam joked.

"We will behave! Bring her to dinner next Friday?" Niall suggested.

"Yeah, is that okay? This is our thing." Liam said, looking between Niall and Louis.

"Of course mate. We want to meet her. The more the merrier." Louis smiled. 

"Alright, I'll bring her and you should bring Harry." Liam suggested.

Louis thought about it. Why not?
"I'll ask him."

"And feel free to bring Amanda too." Liam said to Niall.

"I don't know if we're at that stage yet but I'll consider it." Niall smiled.

Louis wasn't sure if he and Harry were at that stage either but he would talk to him about it if it felt like the right thing. Their food arrived and Niall finally seemed to realize what they were eating.
"Seriously Liam? I'm starting to think that you chose restaurants that you know I will hate just to spite me."

"You're figuring that out just now?" Liam chuckled.

"Not cool!" Niall huffed while he glared suspiciously at one of the bites. He sighed and picked it up, dipped it in some soya, and put it in his mouth. His face shifted and he looked disgusted.

"That's the reason I do it. Cracks me up every time." Liam chuckled.

They continued their dinner in a friendly banter. Niall gave the restaurant a zero while Louis and Liam both enjoyed the sushi, giving the place a solid eight. They went to a bar after that to have a beer but they were all tired.
"Are we getting old? All I can think about right now is how nice it would be to crawl underneath a blanket and watch a movie." Niall said with a yawn.

"Our partying days seem to be over." Liam laughed.

They made an early night and parted ways. Louis took Niall's suggestion and landed on his sofa with a blanket over him. He fell asleep halfway through the latest Avengers movie.

He woke up at lunchtime and stretched his arms over his head with a yawn. Then he remembered that he was going over to Harry's in a couple of hours and headed to the kitchen to get something to eat. His phone rang and he answered it.
"Hi, Lou. How are you?" Harry asked.

"I just woke up actually. I'm good. You?" Louis retorted while he tried to find something to eat.

"I'm fine. Late night?" Harry asked, making conversation.

"Not really. We went out to dinner as usual me and the guys but then I just watched a movie. How was your night?" Louis asked while he sniffed some half-eaten pizza, trying to recall when he ordered it.

"Zayn and I hung out in his studio. He's making a new album." Harry said.

"That's cool." Louis smiled. He had decided that he would take his chances with the pizza and put it on a plate.

"Yeah, so I just want to check if you have any allergies?" Harry asked.

"Avocados." Louis immediately answered.

"For real or do you just don't like it?" Harry asked in amusement.

"Uhm, the second one. I don't have any allergies." Louis smirked.

"I just wanted to make sure. I'll see you in a couple of hours then?" Harry said, making it sound like a question.

"Absolutely. Can't wait." Louis smiled.

They hung up and he went back to the living room with his pizza. He turned on the tv and watched the rest of the movie he missed last night, rating the pizza cold. As soon as the movie ended he put the plate in the dishwasher and headed to the bathroom to get ready. He took a long, steamy shower, washed his hair, and made sure that he was clean before he got out, and dried himself on a fluffy towel. He whistled a tune while he shaved. He was in a good mood.

Then there was the issue of what to wear. He stared into his closet for a solid ten minutes before he picked out an outfit, deciding to go black and white this evening, black trousers, a white sweatshirt with long sleeves. Simple but effective. He chose some white vans as well and got dressed before he unfixed his fringe. He glanced at the clock. It was time to go.