"Hey, Ni!!! Stop touching me, I'm good," Harry whined as they made their way into the Zete apartment, which was covered in rainbow ribbons, with only minimal glitter this time.
"Okay, harry. Then stop stumbling," Niall said, letting him go. Tripping forward, Harry nearly crashed into a nearby table with punch on it. "Oh my god, yes. It's a dream come true," Harry laughed. "I need more."
"You don't! But I do," Niall said, grabbing the cup from harry and filling it in the punch bowl. "Wooooo! That's a lot of everclear."
"I want evermore!! Gimme," Harry said, pawing at Niall's cup. Niall rolled his eyes and allowed Harry a sip, pulling it away after a couple of seconds. "Save me Some," Niall quipped.
Harry released the cup and looked over at a group of men standing in the corner, talking. It was the Zete guys, and they weren't in their glitter outfits today, but harry could still recognize some of them from the last time he was here.
"Fuck, Niall. Louis is over there," Harry said, his face turning red. "I don't know what to do!"
Niall giggled at Harry, who was now gripping him by the shoulders, his breath smelling of everclear. "I thought you were excited to see him?" Niall asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but scared too. I think I like him," Harry blurted out, covering his mouth the minute he said it.
"Oh," Niall said nodding. "Ohhh.... oh shit. I didn't know that. Okay. Well it's natural to be nervous, don't worry," Niall said. He didn't have any idea that harry was interested in men, but now that he brought it up it made perfect sense. And there was nothing wrong with that in Niall's book. He supported love between any genders.
"Yeah but... I'm not like. I've never been with a guy.... so... oh god. Oh god. I'm freaking you out Niall!" Harry cried, shaking his head wildly. "Fuck. I'm sorry I'm sorry. Too personal."
Niall shook his head, steadying harry by grabbing his shoulders. "Harry, calm down. You're not freaking me out at all. I don't mind hearing about this. You're freaking your self out, Though. So try to calm down," he said, lowering his voice. "Let's go outside for a sec, yeah?"
Harry nodded and followed Niall towards the exit. They were just heading out the door and when Niall felt a hand on his back.
Camille.
"Niall! Harry! My two favorite lads," she squealed, throwing her arms around each boy and bringing them close. Camille was wearing a dress made of an oversized gay flag, with maximum cleavage and minimal material, bright green eyeshadow coating her blue eyes.
"Like my outfit?" She giggled at Niall, who was staring.
"Sure," Niall replied half heartedly. "Good to see you, Camille. Harry and I were just going for a smoke. Need some fresh air." Harry nodded, waving tímidly at Camille. He was getting emotional now and didn't want Crazy Camille to be a witness of it.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Camille asked, turning towards him.
"I'm great," he managed to say, though he stumbled on his words a little.
"Drinking before you got here? I taught you well," Camille giggled, rubbing Harry's shoulder. "Well, enjoy your smoke. I'll be dancing in 20! Can't wait for you to watch us." She winked at the two roommates and then scurried back into the mess of bodies, her body glitter glistening under the strobe lights.
"She's insane," Harry giggled, seeming to forget about his Louis problems for the moment.
"Sure is. I wonder what the dance will be like," Niall replied, hoping this distraction would be enough to calm Harry down. They continued to head out the door and into the hallway, opening a window at the end of the corridor.
Niall took out a cigarette and lit up, aiming his smoke out the window. He handed it to Harry, who stared at him, dumbfounded. "I don't smoke, that's cancer!" Harry bellowed. "Do you have weed?"
Niall laughed and shot harry a look. "I don't but I can ask around. You feeling better?" He asked, leaning back against the wall as he continued to smoke.
Harry shrugged. "Dunno. I guess I'm just... afraid of who I am, ya know?" He said. Oh shit, gone was dancing, happy go lucky harry and here was philosophical harry. The different phases of drunkenness at its finest.
"Like... there's this ideal of what you should be. What my mum and dad and friends want. And there's what I am... and they don't match.... and I feel... lost. Like a failure, you know?" Harry said. He stared up at Niall, his big green eyes wide and unblinking.
Niall nodded. "I can't say I've felt that exact way, but yeah. I feel like society has expectations that I can't always meet or follow. And guess what? It's okay. It's alright to be different, Haz. Everyone's gonna except you," Niall assured him. "And guess what, if they don't... fuck em. Because it's 2018 now. No more of that discrimination rubbish."
Harry nodded, his hair falling into his face. He was crying now, his shoulders bobbing up and down as the tears flowed down his cheeks. "That's the most beautiful thing anyone's every said to me," Harry wailed, grabbing Niall in a giant bear hug. He picked him up off he ground and twirled him around like a child or a stuffed animal. Niall was bewildered, and tapped on Harry to let him go.
"Any more spinning and I'll puke my everclear all over you!" He said with a laugh, slapping harry on the back as his feet returned to the ground. "But I'm glad to hear that mate. You're a great roommate, Harry. And a great friend."
"So are you. You're the bestest there ever was. Even better than jimmy with the weed from first year— and he gave me free grams!" Harry giggled, color flushing his cheeks.
"Wow. I must be amazing then," Niall said, putting out his cigarette on the windowsill. "Back inside, yeah?"
Harry nodded and jogged to the door— of course it was the wrong door, so Niall directed him to the correct room where the party was happening.
Niall and Harry were surprised to find that no one was in the foyer, and that they had all congregated to the main room — the dance room. Oh shit, Camille was up. Her dance had started. Oh well.
The two roommates quietly made their way to the crowd, standing on their tip toes to see the spectacle. Camille was on the center of the table, squatting down low to the ground and shimmying back up, while three of her sorority sisters shook their hips in the background.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Typical," he said to Niall. Niall nodded, snorting at Camille's attempt to seduce the crowd. She was attractive, with her blonde hair and big blue eyes, and her body was toned and curvy. But her attitude was enough to cancel all of that out, which is what was happening now for Niall and Harry. Instead of the show being sexy and provocative, it was just funny, a silly attempt to get them interested.
"Hey! Enjoying the show?" In the midst of his giggling, Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and whirled around to find Liam standing before him in a blue tank top and cut offs.
"Sure," Harry giggled. "Liam. Liam. How are you, maths mate? Mate from maths. You're so bloody smart." Harry hugged Liam, slapping him enthusiastically on the back, and Liam laughed in response, taken aback by how drunk harry had gotten. He'd never seen him so carefree, filterless.
"Liam, meet Niall. He's my best friend. My best roommate ever," harry giggled, throwing his arm around Niall. "That I am," Niall said, raising his hand and saluting Liam like a sailor.
"Wonderful to meet you, Niall. I'm Liam," Liam said, giggling and extending his hand to Niall. Niall shook it, smiling, and then grabbed himself another drink at the nearby table. This time, it was shots of Burnett's. Only slightly better than everclear punch.
"Here, you've got to meet my boyfriend, Zayn," Liam said, signaling for Zayn to come over to the group.
Boyfriend, Harry thought in his drunken state. So lou and Liam were just friends, right? COOOLLLLL.
"Hey mates," Zayn said, jogging over. He was wearing black athletic shorts and a white tank top, his dark hair swept to the side. "Harry, good to see you. And you're Niall, right? I feel like we've met."
Niall nodded, cocking his head to the side a bit as he examined Zayn's face. "Yeah, we did. Went out for drinks once with Melissa, right?" He said, his stomach dropping as he remembered her— and his mission for tonight. He still hadn't seen her in the crowd yet. Maybe she wasn't coming after all.
"We did," Zayn nodded, his face neutral. "You guys enjoying the party? Technically we're not working tonight, since it's hosted by Theta, but Lou always wants to make sure everyone is feeling at home here at Zete."
"Oh, we are like supeerrrrr at home," Harry said, grabbing Zayn by the shoulders. "Lou said that? Louis? Does he like me?"
"Okay.... Harry is super plastered," Niall said, stepping in and doing damage control before Harry revealed his feelings even further. Who knew how emotional he could be when his inhibitions weren't intact?
"I don't really know," Zayn replied, shrugging. He looked at Liam for support.
"He does, mate. He has his eye on you," Liam admitted, a small smile creeping across his lips.
"Really?" Harry asked, eyes widening. He has bit Bit lips so much throughout the night that they were a cherry color now. Now, he was biting them again, his face flushing the same shade of red.
"Really," Liam replied, giving Zayn a gentle kiss on the head. "Look there's Louis now!"
Sure enough, Louis was making his way through the crowd, drinks in hand, only a few feet away from the where the boys were standing. Harry felt his heart start to race and his hands grow clammy with sweat as he anticipated facing Lou. He had absolutely no idea what to say to him.
Unfortunately, he never got the chance to say anything to him because, at that very moment, Camille launched herself from the table, jumping down into the crowd and causing a scene. Bodies began pushing and shoving and Louis lurched forward, falling and spilling his drinks everywhere.
"Oh fuck, we better go help him!" Zayn cried to Liam, running into the crowd.
Niall and Harry stood there dumbfounded, staring as they lifted Louis off the ground.
Louis, wiping the spilled punch off of his shirt and picking shards off glass out of his hands, stared in Camille's direction.
Some wing woman she was. He was fucking pissed.