Drunk Words, Sober Thoughts

3

And so they were.

They parked a ways away from the party, Louis' stomach heaving with regret every step he took.

"C'mon Louis, here's the place. Besides, you already know people here, you know Harry." Liam reasoned.

Louis snapped his head to the two, "No I don't. We barely talked once."

"You guys were gone for like fifteen minutes." Niall questioned.

"I got lost on the way back- let's go in." Louis quickly slipped into the mansion, not even thinking about his past fears as he reached for a scapegoat from the conversation.

The mansion itself was rather lavish. It had a white and black color theme, with lots of marble, but really, the main part of the party was in the backyard, which, by the way, was huge.

It took barely five minutes for Louis to be separated from the other boys, drunk people stumbling around, hoisting trophies from what must have been the award show that had happened beforehand (Louis really needed to start catching up on his pop culture).

And amidst all the champagne flutes and Gucci suits, Louis suddenly deeply hoped that Harry had been the one to send the invitation.

Because then, he could track down Harry, who could guide him through the crazy world he now claimed his own.

Frankly, it was still hard to wrap his head around- the fact that Harry had made it- it wasn't like he ever doubted that, but then again, it wasn't like he suspected to just run into Harry one day and find out he was a millionaire with a world of adoring fans.

A selfish part of Louis wished Harry and his talent was still a secret, a secret that only Louis knew of.

"Louis! Hey, Louis!"

Louis whipped his head around, snapped out of his reverie.

He had mingled around, talked to a few people, who mostly questioned who he was, and what made him important.

It was Niall.

On a couch, definitely drunk, with Liam by his side, and someone who looked vaguely familiar.

He quickly pushed through the crowd, grateful for a familiar face, even if it wasn't Harry's.

Harry would have seen how out of place Louis felt and he would have taken him away without another thought.

But, he supposed a couch would do fine for now.

"There ya are! Been looking around!" Louis greeted jovially.

"Louis, this is Zayn, Zayn, Louis- he's our other flatmate." Liam explained to the man next to them, who was surprisingly put together.

"Oh I know, Louis, you were our waiter back at the gala." Zayn said easily.

Louis blinked. And then blinked again.

"Right! You're Harry's friend, yes?" Louis said, finally remembering Zayn, who had sat next to the blond.

"Yeah, that's me." Zayn nodded, brushing a stray hair from his forehead.

"Oh- so then is Harry here?" Louis asked, looking around, almost hopefully.

"No, no, he couldn't make it this time." Zayn said with his damn silk voice.

"Wait, what?" Louis said suddenly.

"Yeah, I don't know, I think he had some press today. Why?" Zayn shrugged.

"Oh... Well-"

"We thought he might've been the one who invited us." Niall explained.