Heterosexual of the Year [l.s]

II. Obsessed?

' OBSESSED? '

[Zayn's Office in Cowell Enterprises, London, 6:28pm, Afterhours]

"YOU'RE OBSESSED," Zayn notes amusingly. "Mystified, consumed, whipped, whatever you want to call it, English major."

      Louis scoffs in disbelief. "I am not. Pardon me for going about my daily monologues and actually acknowledging him. I'll just pretend he doesn't exist next time, yeah?"

Zayn snorts. "You could certainly try."

      "Wow. Nice, Zack. Real nice," Louis deadpans in a mockingly slow manner as he leans back onto the black executive desk. His friend raises an eyebrow challengingly.

"I hate his stupidly long curls. How long does it even take in the morning to groom them?" Zayn sings in a high-pitched voice, supposedly resembling Louis' to prove a point. "His dimples are dumb. They're literally just holes in his face."

"Okay, okay. I think I get the point," Louis abruptly stops him. His cheeks are tinted pink as he self-consciously crosses his arms. "That was like ages ago, if you weren't aware."

He begins staring at his hands while chewing on the inside of his cheek, quietly wondering if he's actually talked about Harry to that extent. He huffs to himself when he comes to the conclusion that Zayn's only cherry-picking details to get a kick out of him.

Louis is too busy wallowing in his own sulking to see his friend's knowing smile, which disappears with a shake of his head as he resumes his work. The faint sound of Zayn's typing and the ongoing traffic below becomes background noise to him.

"I was just taking a piss out of you," Zayn finally says. "If it makes you feel any better, everyone's in love with Harry. Even Niall, the straightest straight boy. It's kinda just natural law. He's everyone's gay crush and we've come to accept it."

      Louis relaxes slightly. "Good to know, Zachary," he replies, flippancy shadowing the hint of relief in his voice. He pauses before adding almost fondly, "I can see why. He's a really good friend, or person in general, to have around. Sweet kid, he is."

      Zayn stops typing, smiling softly. "Yeah. He is." He mutters sadly, "Maybe a bit too sweet."

Louis' eyebrows furrow. "Woah. What. It's too early in the night to probe his traumatic life story or whatever." The raven-haired man chuckles lightly in response before shrugging and replying with a simple 'my bad'.

      Louis nods—more so to himself—and pushes his body off the desk, sauntering over to the large window which looked over the city of London. Admittedly, the view was one of the only things he enjoyed about his cursed job.

      For as far as his eyes can see, London is a blanket of darkness, save for the pinpricks of light from nearby buildings. He sighs to himself. There was always something unconventionally beautiful about the city at night. Maybe it was the contrast of the darkness to light. Or the sense of secrecy and security. Whatever it was, night was Louis' favorite time of day.

      His curiosity quickly becomes overbearing and he can't help but ask, "What did you mean by that?" He clears his throat awkwardly as he turns around. "What you said about Harry."

      "Weren't you just asking me not to 'probe his traumatic life story'?" Zayn smiles again, though it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "He's just a pushover is all, not that that's a bad thing."

Louis nods again, not very satisfied. He bites his bottom lip and feels his face heat up in shame when he continues pushing. "Pushover? He doesn't seem like one."

At this point, Zayn has stopped typing into his laptop and is now staring at the boy. "Maybe pushover's not the right word to use. But he doesn't ask for a lot in return, you know?" he retorts cooly, though the slight hesitation was telltale.

He watches Louis for a moment before turning back to work. "It's seven now. Shouldn't you get going? We can go out for drinks this weekend."

Louis grins giddily. "You're paying?"

Zayn rolls his eyes. "As if. Have your brain cells gone to your huge ass?"

      The petite male continues grinning cheekily and wiggles his eyebrows. "How d'you know it was huge, Zander?"

"Sorry. It's just kinda hard to miss the ninth planet of our solar system," Zayn says nonchalantly. "Stop calling me random names that start with Z or I swear I'll pull out the Lewis card," he jokingly scolds.

Louis dramatically gasps. "Anything but the Lewis. Oh please spare me, great one. I offer my firstborn child and half a corn crisp."

"That's right, little boy. I'm not playing around. I'll do it," Zayn goes along with the ridiculous skit.

      Louis starts laughing. "Okay now it's getting  a little weird. I can feel the sexual tension."

      His friend pulls a face and fake gags.

      Louis makes sure to grab his cigarette lighter from Zayn's desk and his brown bag from the corner of the room. He slings it over his shoulder before turning to Zayn, saluting as he heads towards the door.

      "Don't work too hard, eh?"

      Zayn cracks another smile. "I'll try. Have a good night, Lou."

      "Drinks on Sunday, right?" Louis confirms. He grins when the seated male nods in response. Halfway through the door, Louis happily yells out, "Night, Zack. Sunday's on you."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
i'm still in disbelief i had the pleasure of witnessing harry styles in person on june 22. not to mention the show was larry as fuck,,, ive truly been blessed by the gay gods
kinda a filler chapter i'm sorry

THANK YOU for 500 reads! it really means a lot to me that people actually want to read this.

SHOUTOUT: straighthomosexual for being a k00l reader (they've written some p swanky fics as well)

and of course A VINE THAT BUTTERS MY EGGROLLS: weLL if i wanted to see a stinky steamhole, i woulda stayed at home jeffrey uAH ur not jEFFREY