raincoats and wellies | stylinson au

Chapter Seven

I heard Gran begin to laugh as I retrieved my shoes. My vans were dry and as good as new now. I passed by my wellies on the way to the door.

"Say 'hi' to Harry for me, will you?"

"I'll be sure tell your boyfriend that you said 'hello'."

It was only when I reached Harry's floor that I realized I didn't know which apartment he stayed in. It was after that when I realized I hadn't brought his pan with me. I'd also forgotten my wallet, leaving me with very little options for a plan b.

I had decided to turn back for the lift when I began hearing voices, two of them to be exact. One was distinctively familiar. The other, I had never heard before.

The first was Harry's. "Louis?"

The other voice belonged to a lad whose blond hair was gelled up toward the ceiling. "Hiya."

Harry's apartment happened to be the one that I was standing next to. 8D, it was just a right turn once you've stepped off from the lift. "Hello."

"What brings you by?"

"You forgot your casserole pan again," I said, before remembering that I hadn't brought it with me. "And now I've forgotten it."

I heard a chuckle come from Harry's friend.

"No worries," Harry said. "I'll come by for it later."

I locked eyes with the blue-eyed boy. Harry watched the exchange with a smile. "Okay."

I wasn't a fan of introductions but I waited patiently for Harry to familiarize me with the blonde gentleman that stood next to him.

"Niall, this is Louis," Harry said. "He's visiting from London."

"Ah." Niall grabbed my hand. "Pleasure."

"All mine," I said flatly.

"He's taking care of his Gran," Harry explained.

I pushed my hand into my pocket. "And I should probably get back to it."

"You just got here." Harry frowned. "You have to leave already?"

"Well," I said. "It looks as if the two of you are busy anyway."

Niall shook his head. "We aren't, really."

"Yeah, don't leave." Harry pulled out his apartment key from his jacket pocket. "Come inside."

Once Harry got the door open, Niall let me walk in ahead of him.

I don't know what I imagined Harry's apartment to look like. But it was the roughly the same size of Gran's only it looked as if he had an extra bedroom.

The walls were painted a light green and there were quite a few painting of various plants along with photos of him and his parents.

Harry's place also smelled really nice. I noticed several decorative bowls full of potpourri, one on the table, one on the coffee table, and two above his TV. It felt as if a woman had lived here previously. I thought maybe they were things that had been left behind by his mum. Or maybe Harry had laid them out himself. I could have asked Niall. Niall has probably been here loads of times.

I wondered if Niall was the reason that Harry hadn't been coming over lately. It hadn't really dawned on me before that Harry might have had other friends. Or should I just say 'friends'? I wasn't really sure what I was to Harry yet.

I took a seat on the lone chair, closest to the door, in case I needed to plan my escape. Niall took a seat on the long couch while Harry disappeared into the kitchen.

"Anyone thirsty?" he called from there.

"Sure, Harry," Niall, answered back.

Harry came back with three cokes and set them down on the coffee table. I watched Niall reach for one and decided to do the same.

We each cracked them open.

I wasn't sure if I was uncomfortable or not but Harry was all smiles. I think he really enjoyed being a host.

"Louis," Harry said. "Niall was just telling me about the party he's throwing this weekend."

I took a large sip from my coke. "Really."

"It's actually more of a get-together," Niall explained. "But once word gets around, you can't really control who shows up."

I pursed my lips. "Oh."

Is this what Gran wanted, for me to get mixed up with random blond boys and go to crazy adult parties?

I chewed on my lip. I wasn't much of a partygoer. I'd become more of a 'get plastered alone and watch BBC till the wee hours of the morning' kind of person.

It would have been a waste for me to attend. It was hurting my chest just thinking about it.

Harry's quickly voice pulled me from the trance I hadn't realized I was in. "You've scared him, Ni."

The two guys shared a laugh that I felt I wasn't invited in.

"Niall's parties never get too crazy," Harry said. "I mean we've never had the cops called on us."

"Yeah, you should come," Niall said before turning to Harry. "I think he'd get along well with Liam."

"Yeah," Harry exclaimed. "Louis would love Liam."

Who the f.uck was Liam? Neither of them had bothered to explain, but I didn't really care to find out anyway.

"Thanks for the invite," I told Niall. "I'll give it some thought."

Harry's eyes met mine. "He'll be there."

"Cool." Niall seemed pleased.

I offered him a small smile and began thinking of what I would be doing while I wasn't at his party.

I finished the last of my coke. "I should really get back to my Gran."

"Oh, okay," Harry said. "Do you want to talk about the party later?"

I didn't. "Sure."

Harry showed me the way out, even though it was only a few feet away, and clearly visible form the couch.

"It was nice meeting you, Louis," Niall said. "See you Saturday."

I decided there that I would just be straightforward and decline.

But then I made the mistake of giving Harry one last glance and something inside me believed that he actually wanted me there and wasn't just being polite. "See you Saturday."