No Strings Attached

Chapter Two

“Oh hey,” Zayn suddenly said, looking up at Louis like he had remembered something. “How did serving One Direction go? It got so busy, I didn’t really get to follow up with you.”

Louis couldn’t help but groan.

“Were you that bad then? That socially awkward?” Zayn looked genuinely concerned.

“No!” Louis exclaimed defensively. “I mean, I had a rather decent handle on myself up until Harry Styles started treating me like some sort of sub-human.”

Zayn narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Sub…human? What the he – I mean, what does that even mean?”

“Like he got a real kick out of bossing me around and acting like he was better than me. I felt like it was all some kind of joke to him, one that I wasn’t in on.”

“Yeah but mate, he’s the mischievous one, isn’t he? Liam is sensible and Niall’s just along for the laugh. That’s probably how Harry usually is.”

Louis laughed at that one. “I swear, you watch one series of X Factor and you act like you know these blokes personally.”

The other boy shrugged and returned his attention to Rosie, who was now actively scanning the area for another donut to eat. He obliged and gave her a pink frosted one, drawing out a wide grin on her face.

“Point is, I’m sure you were just being too sensitive to the whole situation.”

“Hey now,” Louis said, frowning. “I was not being sensitive, thank you very much. If you were in my shoes, I’m sure you would’ve felt the same.”

“But I would never wear Toms, so thankfully, that’s a situation I’ll never have to deal with,” he said, smirking.

“Who invited you here again?”

“This little one,” he cooed as he leaned over and gave Rosie a quick kiss to the cheek. Her voice trilled with amusement. “So long as she’ll have me.”

Louis folded his arms, smiling. “Not very long then.”

They resumed breakfast with normal conversation. They discussed typical work frustrations, predicted if Zayn would find a date in time for tonight and debated whether or not Rosie could have a third donut (which earned a resounding “No!” from Louis and a heartbreaking but persuasive frown from the toddler). But throughout the whole thing, a growing sense of relief bloomed within Louis. And when he finally realized what it was, he felt he could finally push last night’s events out of his mind.

At least he would never have to see Harry Styles again.

***

Zayn stayed well past breakfast, spending the day with the father and daughter pair and watching some football before falling asleep on the couch by mid-afternoon. Louis thought twice about waking him up before realizing he could take advantage of his best mate’s presence. He got ready as quickly as he could and left a note on the coffee table beside his snoozing friend that said he would be back within an hour.

“Behave,” Louis said before placing a kiss on Rosie’s forehead. She was in the living room with Zayn, surrounded with toys scattered on the floor. She was usually very loud when she played, but she was also very aware of her sleeping godfather and respectfully kept a quiet voice. Louis was always impressed by her attentiveness. “If he wakes up before I get back, do something cute, won’t you?”

Rosie nodded as if she understood, and Louis kissed her once more before heading out.

It only took Louis ten minutes to get to the store and by then, he felt lighter than he usually did in the mornings. He often spent his mornings indoors with Rosie, which was hardly anything to complain about, but some fresh air from time to time also worked wonders on his disposition. This was also his first time in a long while grocery shopping without Rosie, and he was inwardly thankful for the prospect of getting food in relative silence.