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Chapter 4

Gigi, Hailee and Sophia are in the living room when Louis rounds the hallway. They're gathered around the couches with wine and a cheese board on the coffee table. Their laughter silences when they take note of Louis' arrival, and all eyes fall over to him. Louis smiles tightly as he raises the carton of cupcakes in his hands, and Sophia stands from the couch to grab them from him.

"How nice of you to show," Gigi comments, raising her wine glass.

Louis rolls her eyes and greets Sophia with a kiss to the cheek. He then hands her the carton of cupcakes. "I'm not that late."

"Almost two hours," Hailee notes, chuckling. "Show up right when the food is almost done."

"The guys are outside with Liam," Sophia notes. "He's finishing up on the grill. I'll take the cupcakes." She grabs the cupcakes and disappears into the kitchen to set them alongside the rest of the food. Harry arrives into the living room shortly after and awkwardly glances Louis' way. The burning gaze of his green eyes makes Louis fidget in his spot. He slowly starts heading towards the patio doors as his excuse to keep his distance from Harry. He worries that the longer the two of them stand next to each other, the more Harry will try to talk to him. He doesn't even chance a glance behind him as he slams the door shut upon stepping outside into the fresh air.

All he needs to survive now is the dinner. Sitting at the dining table is what Louis dreads. Harry will be right there. Not so easily avoidable, and he's quite concerned with how this evening will go without having Anne or Gemma right around the corner listening. With just their friends, there could be a whirlwind of possibilities on how the rest of the day will go.

Liam is at the grill when Louis walks out the back patio doors. Zayn is reclined on the lounger, sipping his drink, and Niall is hovering over Liam's shoulder while he flips the meat that is cooking. Louis shakes his head as he joins the two of them, grabbing a beer from the patio fridge on his way over.

"What's going on over here?"

"Niall thinks if he stares, the meat will cook faster," Liam responds.

Niall flushes red and glances over at Louis, stepping back a little. "I'm hungry, okay? Liam pushed off cooking because of you."

"Because of me?" Louis gulps his beer. "What the bloody hell did I do?"

"Showed up late," Zayn calls from his spot, lowering the glasses over his nose to look at him.

"I was busy," Louis responds helplessly.

"More like avoiding," Zayn grumbles in to the next sip of his drink.

"Hey, I'm here. Aren't I?"

"Yes," Liam huffs, turning his head to both sides. "You both are. Give me some space."

Niall groans, but he listens, walking over to Zayn and taking an open lounger to sit on. Louis follows behind.

They lounge around outside for the next half hour while all the food finishes up cooking. The girls remain inside, along with Harry, and every so often Louis can see them moving around from the living room to the kitchen. He tries not to glance over too much on the off chance Harry looks his way as well. Things are still weird and tense between them, and until there is some silver lining about the dynamics of their relationship, then Louis is not putting in any effort towards the boy.

Once all the food is done, Liam platters the meat from the grill and leads the way inside. Louis follows him in, and Niall and Zayn head off towards the dining room to get things ready on the table. Gigi and Hailee are bringing in food from the kitchen as Sophia pulls items from the oven and the fridge. It's a big cycle of everyone getting the food and plates ready, and Louis does his best not to get in the way. He's on drink duty, which is an easy enough task for him. Harry is mending the rolls at the oven that still need a few minutes to cook, and Louis leaves him alone in the kitchen as he brings two bottles of wine to the table.