The Titanic (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter Six

Larry Stylinson/Titanic!AU

Chapter Six.

AN: I’m drowning in fluff, oh dear god. How is it that I begin these chapters thinking they’ll be too short and instead they end up being too long? 

~thewhitetoymaker

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“When the golden sun sinks in the hills, and the toil of the long day is o’er, though the road may be long in the lilt of the song, I forget I was weary before.” Niall’s voice was as loud as it ever was as he sang, proudly and exuberantly, and he did not bother to check himself for the volume as he stood up on the rickety barstool; hands held wide at his sides and his head thrown back in a dramatic serenade while the others fell about laughing at his performance.

As it turned out, there had been some sort of point to Louis’ question about Harry’s opinion on cabaret music – to a fault – but he could not have said that he had anticipated that style of song when they’d all gathered in the emptied out dining hall, collapsed on the stage while the other staff cleared up the remains of their supper. Harry had absently wondered whether his family had noticed his absence while he had taken off with Louis for the rest of the evening, enjoying the company of the other boys as well as his newfound freedom, but the concern had rapidly fallen from his mind as he had watched Zayn clambering onto the stage set up in the middle of the massive hall while the others followed him up.

“I’m going to be the one performing here, soon,” the boy had stated, gesturing firmly to the floorboards beneath his feet as he stepped up to the imaginary microphone that had already been cleared away for safety reasons. All that remained was the small chair left to accommodate the musical entertainment of the evening, and the ballroom had lost some of its mystery without the different decorations added onto that platform.

Nevertheless, they had all slouched onto the stage alongside him as Zayn addressed his imaginary audience and Louis had cheered and whooped him encouragingly. Their voices had echoed strangely throughout the gilded dining hall that circled out from that point, undoubtedly due to the very design of the room, and the acoustics had been more than welcome.

Liam was there, too, and Harry had not feigned his surprise at seeing his friend stumbling into place at Niall’s side, grinning so widely that it seemed his entire face should have been aching from the strain of it. The blonde boy had been cackling with laughter as they went, banging elbows and staggering through the hallways, and there had been only the briefest moments of exchanged shock at being confronted with a strange mirror of themselves. Then Louis had exclaimed his delight upon seeing Niall’s face, swept his friend up in a tight hug and whirled him around, and the momentary awkwardness had dissolved into more camaraderie as they continued together as one, picking Zayn up on the way.

Now, Harry turned his head to the side to address the boy that was sprawled very closely beside him, elbow leaning into the ground while he grinned at his Irish friend. “So why is Niall the one singing if we’ve got an aspiring singer sitting two meters away from us?” he murmured amusedly, as the blonde boy continued to sing raucously in the background.

“Far ahead, where the blue shadows fall…”

“Because it’s never wise to interrupt an Irish boy while he’s singing,” Louis whispered back joyfully, openly laughing as Niall nearly toppled off of the spindle-legged chair in the midst of his performance. Whether he intended to or not, he swayed to the side so that his head was nearly resting against Harry’s bicep as he glanced up into the younger boy’s face and added, “That, and it’s far too much fun this way. You should see him when he’s actually drunk.”