A Slide Into First ➵ narry

Chapter 2

“You!” Louis yelled, pointing at Niall, “You!”

Niall was starting to blush, and Harry settled himself in for some discomfort for Niall.

“This man, this man right here,” Louis yelled, hugging Niall around the shoulders so that his arms were held down, “Hit one homerun, two triples, and had two double-plays. He’s a fucking legend, I tell ya,”

Everyone in the stand started to cheer for the star player, but Niall broke out of Louis’s grasp (relatively easily) and grabbed his dog. It was what he was there for, anyway.

“It’s nothing, really. Their pitcher was pretty down this game, and my teammates obviously assisted on those double-plays. It’s not as impressive as you make it out to be,” Niall said, taking a giant bite out of his hotdog. Sauce started to dribble down his face, but Liam grabbed a napkin and wiped it up.

“Get back to work!” Pablo yelled from the back of the stand, and Liam returned to his spot scrubbing the grills. But as Harry turned to leave, Niall yelled out to him.

“Hey, Curly Man!” Niall yelled. Harry did a quick spin to face him.

“What’s your actual name, by the way?”

“Oh, it’s Harry. Did I not tell you?”

“Nope,” he said through a mouthful of hotdog.

“I’m Harry. Harry Styles. Originally from Jacksonville, but just moved here to live with my mom and sister a few days ago,”

Niall’s mouth dropped.

“You’re not from around here either?” he kinda yelled.

“No… it kinda sucks, right?”

“Yeah! I’m from Boston so coming to Braxton is like downgrading from a Range Rover to a Honda Civic. Still functions, but there’s a lot less room and a lot less fun to have,”

“How did a kid from Boston end up in a minor-league team in Michigan?”

“They had the best offer. And honestly, I wasn’t that good in high school. I mean, I wasn’t bad obviously. You don’t get into any leagues by being bad, but for some reason between when I graduated last January and now, I got a whole lot better,”

“Styles, I don’t call that fucking working!” Pablo yelled again.

“Sorry, man. Really got to get back now,” said Harry, backing away from Niall.

“No biggie! I’ll see you around!” Niall said before walking away.

The crew quickly finished cleaning and left the stadium. Louis was waiting in the car, texting someone on his phone. Liam got into the front and Harry squeezed himself into the back again. He was considering kicking Liam out of shotgun.

“Hey pals, one sec,” Louis whispered.

“Louis, you’re not talking on the phone you’re just texting,” Liam correctly pointed out. Louis responded with an impossibly loud “shh”.

They sat in uncomfortable silence until Louis finally put down his phone and addressed them.

“We’re going to a party tomorrow, boys,” he said as he buckled himself in.

“What? Where?” Liam asked. Harry was intrigued.

“While you two were on all fours scrubbing that kitchen, or whatever you do, I made friends with a new PR intern and he’s throwing a party tomorrow. He lives in some nice building downtown,” Louis started speeding away.