"Alright mate, I think the couch would look great here," Louis said, looking down at his phone and sending a text.
"Louis, you arse," Niall retorted, dropping the couch in the middle of the living room. "You said you would help me move the furniture and you haven't done shit."
Niall's brown hair was plastered to his forehead from the sweat he'd been working up and his muscles ached from carrying boxes. His blue eyes blazed into Louis, who was still on his phone -- now giggling at a message.
Niall walked over to Louis and kicked him lightly in the bum, sending him stumbling forward onto the couch. "Fuck you, mate," Louis said giggling. He hopped off the couch and grabbed one end of it. "Alright, alright," he said, smirking. "I'll help you for the rest of the day."
Niall rolled his eyes and snickered at his witty roommate who always seemed to get out of everything that involved manual labor. Back in university, for example, Louis would always flirt with the workmen that the wealthy students hired to move their stuff. He often got them to move some of his stuff as well -- free of charge.
Now, Niall had been tricked into moving most of Louis' belongings, and he wasn't happy. He only really did it because he knew if it was up to Louis, it would be a full week before any of their stuff made it up the stairs, and Niall wasn't one for waiting around. Louis had brought about 15 boxes up by himself in the lift earlier this morning -- but that was about all he had done since.
After moving the couch, the two boys hopped onto it and sat down, tired from a long days work -- at least in Niall's case. The two friends had just moved to London to start new jobs and change up the pace. Louis would be working as an editor at a menswear magazine, and Niall had just gotten a job in real estate. There was something about his Irish accent that seemed to put people in a good mood -- and after just a few hours of talking to people, he could often get them to close a house faster than a leprechaun sliding down a rainbow.
Louis was also gifted at his job. With his spunky attitude and love for writing, he could make just about anything sound interesting. Even men's suits and ties -- which he was the topic he was currently writing about. Louis knew nothing about suits -- or even fashion for that matter -- but he thought they were sexy and decided he would make his audience think so too.
"I am so tired," whined Louis, propping his feet up on the couch. Niall rolled his eyes. "Oh, you're tired. Of course," he said, his brogue thickening as he said the word 'tired.' Louis giggled and reached out to hug Niall. "No seriously, mate. Thanks for moving everything," he said. "I know I've been super lazy."
He pulled 50 pounds out of his pocket and tossed them to Niall, who caught them in the air and shoved them into his back pocket. "You owe me more than that," he grumbled to himself, half jokingly.
"Have you met the neighbors yet?" Louis asked, tracing his prickly jawline with his fingers.
"You have to shave mate," Niall said, smacking him. "But no, I haven't. Who are they?"
"Three mates about our age. Early twenties I'd say. Zayn and Liam I met this morning. They were in suits and shit so by the looks of it, they work at the Wharf for sure."
Niall laughed. "Haha, bet they're uptight then. No more smoking pot at night, Lou. They'll be pounding at the door about the smell."
Louis shook his head, but smiled a bit. Smoking weed was a bad habit of his -- but not as bad as his cigarette habit. Maybe one day he'd find it in him to quit both...
"Anyways," Louis continued. "You're right about that. The lad Liam is super uptight. He freaked when he saw me in the lift because I was making him late. The other one, Zayn, just seemed to follow along, but I can tell he likes to laugh."
Niall raised an eyebrow and gave Louis a look. "Ohhh," he said. "He likes to laugh? Does he like to laugh at you, Lou?"
Louis shook his head, his cheeks flushing. "No," he said quickly. "They're actually together I believe. Harry told me -- he's the third roommate."
Louis felt his skin grow warm when he though of Harry standing in the doorway in his oversized sweats, fumbling with the pies. He felt attracted to his long hair, his big green eyes, his adorable dimples... but he also felt driven away by Harry's standoffish behaivor.
"Oh, what's he like? He single?" Niall asked, poking fun at Louis' overly flirty persona. Ever since Niall could remember, Louis has had a constant desire to be in the perfect rom-com relationship, though over the past few years, he hasn't had much luck.
"Stop bugging me, Niall," Louis said, sticking his tongue out at his roommate. "Not all of us can have a perfect relationship with the perfect girl..."
Niall smiled at the thought of Sophie, his girlfriend of two years. She was a chef with long blonde hair, sparkly blue eyes, and a kind heart. The two had met during final year of uni and continued to date the following year, doing long distance while Sophie worked at a hotel in London and Niall lived in Doncaster with Louis. He was excited to be close to her again -- and was hoping that Louis would meet someone too. Not just because he wanted to have the flat to himself with Sophie some nights, but because he also genuinely wanted Louis to finally have a stable relationship.
"She is perfect," Niall said back, giggling. "Thanks for pointing that out. But tell me more about the Harry lad."
Louis shrugged, his face falling a bit. "Well he's gorgeous, for one. He's got these long brown curls and huge green eyes. But there's something off about him. He was very quiet and freaked out when I gave him a pie... and his hands were freezing and he was covered up in layers..."
Niall's face turned a bit pale and he frowned at Louis upon observing the pain in his eyes. "You don't think.... he has what your sister had, do you?" he asked quietly.
Louis nodded slowly. His sister Fizzy had struggled with anorexia in the past, and while she was doing much better now, eating was still quite a struggle for each day. Louis made an effort to check on her at least twice a week to make sure she was well and has been eating, but he was still worried sick about her, especially since moving away to London.
When Louis met Harry earlier today, he had exhibited many of the symptoms he had seen in the sister, and it saddened him to think that yet another person in his life was struggling mentally. After what he had seen his sister go through, he decided that eating disorders were something he didn't wish upon anyone.
"Yeah, I think so," Louis replied, looking at the floor. "The signs were there. Baggy clothes, fear of dessert, freezing cold hands, pale, thin face. Poor lad. I hope he's doing okay..."
Niall patted Louis' back to comfort him. "That's really sad. It's tough, it's really tough," he told him, not really knowing what else to say.
"Yeah," Louis agreed. Then he jumped of the couch as he thought of an idea. "Hey -- I just thought of something," he said excitedly, his blue eyes lighting up. "Why don't we invite them over tonight for drinks? It's a Friday. No work tomorrow... and we need some fucking friends here in London. I don't know a soul."
Niall nodded, excitedly. "I brought a ton of Prosecco," he said, raising an eyebrow. "And yeah the only people I know are Sophie and you -- and you hardly count."
Louis elbowed his friend in the ribs and laughed, running off to find the Prosecco. "Why don't you go ask them now, then? They haven't met you yet," he called over to Niall while sorting through a box.
"Okay, sure," Niall replied. Some people might have been nervous to meet new people, but Niall was mellow as a clam. He walked across the hall calmly and knocked on the door.
A dark-haired man with soft brown eyes answered. "Hey," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm Zayn. Are you Louis' roommate?"
"That I am. The name's Niall," he said, reaching out and shaking Zayn's extended hand. "Louis and I wanted to know if you would be down for a drink tonight. We have a ton of Prosecco, and we thought it be fun to get to know each other."
Zayn shrugged. "Sure, we don't have any plans," he said with a smile. "Thanks for the pie by the way. It was delicious!"
Niall made a confused face for a moment and then remembered the pie Louis had mentioned earlier. "Oh, yeah. Those pies are great aren't they? Made in the best bakery in Donny," he said, his blue eyes twinkling.
"You're from Donny?" Zayn asked, wrinkling his brow. Niall laughed.
"With this accent thicker than heavy cream?" he asked giggling. "Of course not. I'm from Mullingar. But I moved to Doncaster for uni. How about you?"
Zayn went to answer him, but suddenly someone began yelling in the back of his flat. Zayn felt his cheeks turn red and he gave Niall an apologetic look. "Sorry about that," he said quietly. "Liam and Harry-- well, they have a difference of opinions on something. Will you excuse me for second?"
Niall nodded. "Sure, I'll go grab something in my flat and be right back," he said. Zayn thanked him quickly and then closed the door.
"What the fuck is going on Li?" Zayn said, storming into the living room. "The new neighbors invited us over for drinks. I was having a conversation, but you two were yelling."
He locked eyes with Liam, who was sitting on the couch next to Harry holding a plate with single piece of unbuttered toast.
"He won't even fucking eat this," Liam said, shaking his head. Harry was sitting on the edge of the couch, as far away from Liam as possible, looking at the toast like it had just served 20 years in federal prison.
Zayn looked at Harry helplessly, his eyes watering. "Harry," he said calmly. "Please eat it. Or don't. But don't drag this out anymore. Liam had a long day and we just want to relax."
Harry nodded slowly and reluctantly took the toast, his hands shaking as he brought it to his trembling lips.
"Thank you, love," Zayn said, smiling at him. "By the way, we're getting drinks tonight with the new neighbors. I know you probably don't want to come, but they invited you and we would like you there. What do you think? Do you think you could try for us? It's just across the hall. And you won't have to drink or eat anything if you don't want to. We'll make up an excuse.... for now..."
"We can't keep making excuses for him," Liam said, standing up and walking towards Zayn. Zayn felt sexual tension building, and tried to cover his growing bulge as Liam got closer to him. Sometimes he felt like Harry got in the way of his relationship with Liam. Not because he was a third wheel, but because he required so much extra attention -- so much so that Liam was actually terrified to even mention their relationship to Harry. He feared that it would just make Harry more upset or feel more alone than he already did.
It's not like Harry didn't know though. To Zayn and Liam's horror, he had walked in on them a few times while they were doing it. But even after Hattu found out, Liam tried to keep their relationship as private as possible, never expressing their feelings or demonstrating PDA in front of Harry. Zayn understood Liam's reasons, and agreed that it was probably best for Harry, but that didn't mean it didn't upset him.
Zayn looked up at Liam and shook his head. "I know we can't keep making excuses. You're right. But what do you say we try to enjoy ourselves and make some new friends tonight? We haven't been out in ages Li..." he said, stopping himself before he mentioned that Harry was the primary reason as to why they had stopped going to the pub in recent months.
Harry sensed that he was putting a damper on the plans and turned towards Zayn. "I'll go for a little. It sounds fun. I met Louis and he was really nice -- and rather cute..." he said with a smile. Liam's face lit up upon hearing Harry express interest in something, anything, besides weight and calories.
"That's great, Harry," he said, rubbing his back, encouragingly. "Okay, then it's settled, Zayn. Tell them all three of us will go." Liam got up and patted Zayn lightly on the back, though he had to physically restrain himself to prevent from doing more than that....
Zayn nodded, embracing the pat, but flashing a longing glance at Liam before he left. "Harry, no drinking without eating first, alright love? You know what happened last time..." he whispered, wincing as he remembered the sight of Harry being wheeled away on a stretcher after just a few drinks at the pub. That night, in fact, marked the day they stopped going out drinking.
Harry nodded, lazily, trying to suppress the unpleasant memory Liam had just reconjured. "I won't he said," taking a sip of the water. Liam realized the toast that they were fighting about was now gone -- and there was a high chance that it had handed up somewhere in the couch rather than inside Harry's stomach.
Liam sighed and stood up, walking to his room to pick out an outfit for tonight. Harry scurried to his room, claiming to do the same. But he was more likely to just stand in front of the mirror for the next hour, peering at his bony torso and seeing nothing but fat staring back at him.
Zayn jogged back to the front door, worried he may have taken too long and that Niall might be getting impatient. "Sorry, lad," he said, opening the door to find Niall playing a videogame on his phone with a little too much excitement.
"Sorry," Niall said with a laugh as Zayn caught him making explosion noises with his mouth.
"No worries," Zayn replied, readjusting the bracelets on his wrists. "So, the gang said they're all free to come. What time is good?"
"How does 9 sound?" asked Niall. "Sure," replied Zayn coolly.
"Perfect," said Niall, shuffling back to his flat. "I'll see you mates soon!"
"See you," said Zayn. He closed the door, and upon realizing that Harry was out of the common room, he dashed to Liam's bedroom for the first bit of alone time they've had in a while.