Beneath the Midnight Sky

Eight

Louis awoke with a heavy pounding in his temples and his stomach cramping violently. On the desk beside him was a bottle of water with a straw in in it and a lemon wedge barley hanging on. He found crackers in a ziplock bag with a note attached to them:

Hey man,
I feel like shit. I know you do, too. Worse probably. Please at least drink the water and stay hydrated. It'll help the headache. Try to eat while I am gone. I will be asking Harry if you did. I need to be away for the weekend. Have a lot to think about.

Love you, (not like that remember)
Z, XoXo

P.S Sorry about last night. Please try and don't be weird about me.

Letting out a smile, Louis grabbed the lemon and put it in his mouth. Puckering his lips together, he spit it out and chugged the water before texting Zayn.

(iMessage):

Louis: things will never be weird. You're stuck with me for life.

Louis: You and me got a whole lot of history. Hope the weekend brings you peace. You deserve it. 🙂

Louis: thanks for the water and crackers. I do feel like complete and utter shit lol :🤢

He waited for a minute and when he didn't see reply bubbles, he put his phone down and wiped the sleep from his eyes and reflected on the previous night. He knew he wanted Harry to be his first, but it wasn't the right time. He wanted to get to know him better and he hoped Harry understood that and didn't think he was too sensitive. Zayn confessed his love but then said it wasn't love after all. Letting out a lament, he realized that was the most eventful night he had in a long time.

Walking over to his closet, he quickly became overawed by all the choices. Usually, Zayn had his clothes laid out for him to wear. Louis knew he was high maintenance and wasn't good at adulting.

He settled on a vintage band tee, maroon skinny jeans, and some black sneakers. Looking in the mirror, he sighed.

"I don't even know what he sees in me," he thought out loud as he pinched the non-existing fat on his stomach.

Looking away in disgust, he grabbed his gym bag.

******

Hearing the sound of an Irish fiddle, Harry groaned and rolled over on his side, trying to go back to sleep.

"Niall! It's Saturday! Turn that alarm off" he complained.

"Can't do that I am afraid, mate. I have to practice for my guitar recital." He said cheerfully jumping out of bed.

He walked over to Harry's side of the room and stretched out beside of him, making him the big spoon.

"I figured you'd be giddy this morning after the kind of night we had." Niall giggled.

Harry turned over to face his friend and simply smiled.

"I mean....we danced all night to the best song ever." Niall said. "And you, well, we didn't see you for hours after you carried Lou up the stairs..." he teased.

Harry winched. "Oh, stop your daydreaming. Nothing even happened. Not like that anyway."

"Wait...you mean to tell me...Harry got...rejected? I know you tried." Niall asked. "The man who gets invitations to different dorm rooms all the time got turned down?" He snarcked.

"I didn't get rejected," Harry spit. "He's different. This isn't some one night stand." Harry smiled.

Niall made cooing noises. He loved love. He loved the idea of love.