it's golden, like daylight » l.s.

one: falling without caution

HARRY

When Harry entered his apartment, he heard Megan Thee Stallion blasting from the speakers in the living room. It had to be Zayn, he thought as he toed off his sneakers. Zayn was obsessed with Megan. Walking further inside, he was met with the sight of Niall dancing around their living room to "Body" in his bright red boxers.

Perhaps not Zayn then.

"Having fun?" Harry asked the beta. He'd known him for three years now, and as long as there was music playing, Niall was ready to jam, whether it was his favorite genre or not.

Niall whirled around, grinning at the alpha in greeting. "I'm getting ready for Taylor and Cara's party and Zayn turned his playlist on. Did you just get in?"

"Yeah, I was at the library finishing up assignments."

"It's the third week of the semester," Zayn said, walking into the room. The beta was dressed in just his black jeans, working on his hair which was wet from a shower. "How many assignments could you possibly have that you had to finish on a Friday night?"

"Not that much," Harry replied. "Which is why I thought I'd get it done today instead of leaving it for tomorrow when I will likely be hungover. Or Sunday when I will likely be lazy."

"Smart man," Niall remarked, pulling a grey t-shirt over his head.

"When does the party start again?" asked Harry.

Zayn was still working through the knots in his hair. "In an hour," he responded.

Harry nodded. "Right, I'll go on and get dressed then." He walked to his bedroom and put his red backpack on the floor beside his desk. Walking over to his long mirror propped against the wall, Harry inspected himself. His ratty, old white t-shirt wasn't going to cut it. And he had to do something about his hair, which was starting to look a little greasy from the product he'd used on it this morning. Grabbing a towel, Harry quickly made his way to the empty bathroom and freshened up.

Later, after he was dressed and his hair looked much better in a nice quiff, Harry once again stood in front of the mirror. He'd chosen to wear a pair of dark-washed jeans and a maroon t-shirt on top. As he was checking himself out, Niall popped his head in through the open doorway.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, grabbing his phone and wallet before heading out with his roommate. The three of them had moved in together sometime last year. Prior to that, Harry had been living with another alpha who was much too dirty and never cleaned after himself. Harry often found that he didn't really mesh well with his kind. They were way too loud and abrasive and all over the place, which was a bit of a stereotype but nonetheless true. When Zayn and Niall offered him their third bedroom he jumped at the chance, and it had been smooth sailing since.

The three of them met during frosh week at the University of Oregon along with the rest of their friend group. Over the years, despite all of them studying completely different majors, they still hung out and grew closer. Harry usually saw this kind of luck in finding good friends only in movies or TV shows but turned out it could be a reality too.

"Alright," Niall said as they walked to the party. "Let's take bets on who will end up hooking up with someone tonight."

Harry chuckled, shaking his head. "Niall, it's just going to be the core group, and none of us have ever hooked up with each other."

"H, please. Don't be naive," Niall retorted. "People in our group have definitely hooked up. We're all hot and single. Why the fuck wouldn't we hook up?"