HIIIIII :D omg I think this is terrible, honestly. I read Amelia's Ziall one and it's like, a lot better, idk. o-o But anyway, here it is! Please comment/vote, and offer any sort of criticism! :D
CHAPTER THREE
Louis groaned aloud, thinking about the horrible experience he had yesterday. The whole of UK could have heard him, and he could just imagine his mother’s disappointment, and his sisters laughing at him. He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. He had to leave for work already.
The past few days had gone by pretty quickly. Maybe it was because he wasn’t spending his time lazing away at home or out with his friend Stan like he would have been if he were back in Doncaster. He wasn’t having a very good time. Sure he’d enjoyed the fact that he now lived in London, but he hadn’t had time to tour the city yet. He was going to do just that during the weekend, to forget about how much he sucked at hosting radio shows.
Then again, it was only his second day at work. Who could blame him for screwing up like that? Well, maybe Liam would just warn him a bit but nothing else right? Sighing, Louis dragged himself out of his apartment, bracing himself for another day at work.
Liam had asked him to meet him in his office at least thirty minutes before the show was due to start, and Louis knew it was the little lecture about his poor performance the day before. If it were any other person, Louis might have been worried. But it was Liam, his nice boss, and probably the nicest one he’d ever meet. So he wasn’t really afraid or anything.
~~~
“Hey Liam,” Louis said warily, in case Liam was in a bad mood. But looking at his face, Liam didn’t seem upset or anything. In fact, there was a smile on his face. “Hey, Louis, I’m sure you know why I asked you here today.”
Louis nodded. “Yeah, uh, because I did terribly during yesterday’s show? I’m sorry about that, I was just nervous. I’m sure I’ll do better with more practice. Please don’t fire m-“ Louis was rambling again and Liam cut him off.
“No! I’m not talking about that! Yeah I’m sure you’ll do better! It was only your first time! Anyway, I was just thinking that you and Harry should spend some time together and get to know each other. I feel that you guys talk to each other too little during the show, and you’re practically like strangers. You know nothing about each other except for your names. So I asked Harry to take you around London this weekend since you’re new here, and you can tour the city and get to know each other at the same time. How’s that sound?” Liam proposed, excited.
Unfortunately, Louis was the opposite of excited. He did want to tour the city, but not with Harry. He wouldn’t be able to enjoy himself with Harry there. “Well, at least I know he’s obnoxious,” Louis muttered under his breath, but Liam caught it anyway, and he frowned.
“Yeah, Harry told me you had something against him… Care to tell me what it is so that I can offer you some suggestions on how to try to accept him?” Liam asked, his tone caring. How could Louis say no to him?
And so Louis told him everything from the smirking to the teasing; everything. It was then Louis realized that Harry actually didn’t do much. He just kept doing the same thing over and over again every day. Then Liam sighed and gave him a sympathetic smile.
“I know how you feel… When I first recruited him, I was quite annoyed by his smirking. It just made him seem really arrogant, right?” Liam paused and Louis nodded. “But as I got to know him better, I found that it was just… His thing. That’s what he does, that’s how he behaves towards people whom he likes. I guess if you get to know him better, it won’t be annoying at all. So take this as me begging you. Could you just at least try and spend a weekend with him to see if it all works out? If it doesn’t, I might have to swap the both of you with Niall and Zayn or something.”
And then suddenly Louis felt quite frantic. He didn’t want to swap partners. Whoa. Did he just admit that he wanted to work with Harry? Yes he did. But then again, now that he thought about it, Harry was kind of nice. He’d gotten used to Harry’s “arrogance” already, so it wasn’t that bad. He wasn’t sure he wanted to spend even more time to get to know new people.
Louis looked at Liam’s expectant face. There was no way he could say no to such a nice boss right? So Louis had no choice but to respond with a simple, “Okay Liam”. And Liam beamed. “Okay, good! I’ll get Harry to introduce you to Niall and Zayn after your show anyway. They’re really nice, and I think you could use a few more friends!” Liam exclaimed excitedly.
It was hard to believe that this nineteen-year-old was a boss of a radio station. He was still very much a teenager at heart. Louis found himself smiling upon seeing Liam’s excitement and… Relief? “Alright, you can get to the studio now! Do you remember how to get there yet?” Louis nodded, not wanting to have to walk there with Harry, even though he wasn’t entirely sure of the route.
Mentally slapping himself, Louis walked out of the office, trying to piece bits and pieces of his terrible memory together. He was determined to get to the studio all by himself, to show that he was capable.
After a few minutes, Louis realized that he wasn’t going to get there on his own, and that he was lost. Sighing, he decided to walk back to Liam’s office and ask him to take him to the studio. He was almost late. Then he realized that he couldn’t remember where he’d come from. Gee, who knew one could get lost in a radio station place thing?
“Lou! What are you doing here? I’ve been looking all over for you!” Louis turned around immediately, feeling relieved to see Harry standing there. For once. Then Louis remembered. He was supposed to be nicer to Harry and give him a chance. “Oh Jesus Christ, thank god. I was starting to worry if I walked into another building or something,” Louis joked, and he found that it wasn’t so hard to be nice to Harry after all.
Harry seemed genuinely surprised and happy that Louis didn’t say something sarcastic or mean. Harry grinned at that. “Nope, just walked in the wrong direction,” Harry replied playfully, a smirk forming on his lips. Louis forced himself not to respond to that. “Alright, let’s just go. Don’t want to start the show late,” Louis diverted the subject.
The both of them rushed to the studio, with Harry leading the way of course. When they got there, Louis found everything set up already. So he just sat down, put on his headphones and attempted to calm himself down. He told Liam he was going to do better, and he would. He didn’t want to get a new partner.
Louis didn’t know that he’d been sitting there for so long, until he heard Harry count down. “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,” Harry stopped counting and flashed Louis a smile and a thumbs up. Louis was grateful for that, so he smiled his first genuine smile to Harry, and the latter beamed.
“Hello everyone! As usual, you’re listening to The Lunchbox with me, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson!” Harry spoke, his eyes not leaving Louis’. That gave Louis strength and confidence, somehow. It was like Harry was encouraging Louis just by looking at him. And that was exactly what Louis needed; encouragement and reassurance.
So he spoke. This time, he wasn’t nervous anymore.
“Hey! It’s Louis here, and I think I’m getting the hang of this. Well, nothing to worry about anyway, Harry will be here if I mess up again, won’t you Harry?” Louis didn’t know what made him say it. But it was true. Harry was experienced at this, although he was just eighteen, and he definitely would guide Louis along the way.
That seemed to catch Harry by surprise. “Oh, uh, yeah of course Lou! Alright, anyway, it’s time to get a move on into the show! Today, we’ll start with a bit of celebrity news.” Harry responded, still recovering from the shock he got when Louis said that, and he gestured to Louis to read off of the piece of paper on the table. Louis smirked at Harry and picked up the paper.
“Right. Wow, Adele is pregnant with her first child with her boyfriend, Simon Konecki! The twenty-four-year-old singer is said to be very happy about it, and so is Simon!” Louis spoke, trying to sound excited even though he didn’t really care. But then again, Adele was an amazing singer, so he was alright with that.
And the rest of the show rushed by like that. Louis didn’t want to end the show; it was too much fun for him. “Alright folks, that’s a wrap for today’s show!” Harry said chirpily, and Louis pouted. “Aww, this was getting fun!” Harry turned to look at him, amusement evident in his eyes.
“Well, as you can see, Lou is excited for tomorrow’s show, so please tune in at the same time tomorrow! Thanks!” Harry pressed the big red “OFF” button and Louis pouted even harder. “Damn, the show’s over! Two hours is waaaaaay too short!” He whined, and Harry chuckled. They left the room quickly as Harry still had to introduce Louis to Niall and Zayn.
The pair continued walking, shooting each other playful glares. “You’re like a kid! There’s only like, twenty-two hours till tomorrow’s show!”
“Am not a kid!” Louis protested.
“Are to!”
“Am not!”
“Are-“ Harry was interrupted by loud laughter coming from in front of them.
“You’re both kids,” a dark skinned, lean, and tall-haired man spoke, smirking. Gee, that guy was like Harry. No wonder they were friends. And next to the man whose hair defied gravity stood a slightly shorter blonde literally laughing his ass off.
“Oh, right, Lou, meet Niall and Zayn. Niall’s the hyena and Zayn’s the… The other one,” Harry said the last bit with a feigned look of disgust on his face before directing a wink Zayn’s way. Louis was amused. The blonde was still chuckling slightly, and the guy next to him, Zayn, shot him a “dude-what-the-hell?” kind of look.
Niall glared at Zayn and looked over to a very confused but yet amused Louis. “Hellooooo Louuuuuu-ieeeeeee! I’m Niall! This is Zayn, and we’re partners at the radio station but outside of it, we’re actually secret boyfriends, and we’re Harry’s only friends! Besides you, maybe,” Niall introduced himself very cheerily, grinning. Louis found it contagious, and soon he was grinning too. But then Louis realized that Niall had said that he and Harry were friends.
“No. Harry and I are not friends. We are acquaintances and partners,” Louis found himself saying. And then he regretted it. There went his plan of trying to be nice to Harry. It was, to be honest, quite easy and natural. But then he couldn’t help but just say that. He wasn’t ready to be considered “friends” with Harry yet, and he had no idea why. But anyway, Niall and Zayn were a couple, that was cool. They looked cute together.
“We aren’t friends, Lou? Wow, that’s harsh. We’ve known each other for what, three days and we still aren’t friends? Your bluntness has hurt my heart, babe,” Harry teased, smirking. Then Louis remembered exactly why he didn’t really want to be Harry’s friend just yet. He couldn’t accept his excessive smirking yet.
Louis just rolled his eyes. “Anyway, nice to meet you, Niall and Zayn, I’m Louis and well, I’m from Doncaster.” Niall and Zayn nodded, smiling. “That’s pretty cool, mate. Like it here in London?” Zayn asked, and he seemed really interested.
“Gee Lou, three days and you haven’t told me something about yourself without me asking you. But three minutes and you tell them stuff spontaneously? I am hurt again,” Harry clutched at his chest dramatically, earning a loud laugh from Niall. The blonde seemed to laugh at anything and everything.
So Louis told them about how he felt about London over a cup of tea at Starbucks. Louis decided that they were a lot nicer, somehow, than Harry. Not to mention more normal too. He was glad that he’d made two more friends. That brought the total number to four. It was an achievement.
~~~
“Gee Lou, three days and you haven’t told me something about yourself without me telling you. But three minutes and you tell them stuff spontaneously? I am hurt again,” Harry was teasing Louis again. Like he said, it was fun. He meant no menace at all though.
But underneath his teasing, there was another side. He wanted Louis to tell him about himself willingly and not just because he’d asked. He wanted to be considered as Louis’ friend. He meant more like, best friends. Yeah, that’s what he meant.
Harry only said that to see Louis’ reaction. He’d hoped for something more… fun. Perhaps like playing along with him. But unfortunately, Louis just ignored him and continued telling Niall and Zayn about himself.
Inwardly, Harry was sad, no doubt. But he wasn’t going to show that. Louis already hated him enough, and he didn’t want him to hate him more. If Louis hated him anymore, any chance of them being friends would be shattered. So Harry just listened to Louis, taking the chance to learn more about the elder boy.
He watched Louis as he spoke so fondly of his hometown, his sisters and his mother. Louis seemed to really love them. And now Harry had learnt something new about Louis. Louis was a very filial son and a very doting elder brother. It was obvious from the way his eyes shone with love and tenderness, and from the way he’d just smile to himself naturally.
It was quite beautiful to see actually; the fact that Louis wasn’t keeping straight face or frowning.
So Harry didn’t complain or comment any further. He just listened and watched. That was enough for him. He was glad that Niall and Zayn would be there from now on to make things between him and Louis less awkward.
Niall and Zayn, those two were inseparable. They were irrevocably in love, and sometimes Harry just wished he’d find someone like that for him. They were always smiling and laughing like they were having the time of their lives. They probably were anyway. Who wouldn’t be having fun with the man that they loved with all their heart?
The three of them had been friends for ages, ever since Harry joined Capital FM. Niall and Zayn were his first friends, and since then they’d been joined at the hip. They hosted a show together, and they often had a tough time trying to stop themselves from just making out in the studio during the show.
Liam had warned them not to do that; or at least to refrain from doing that. “I don’t care what you do at home, but please, keep it at home. I don’t want to hear strange… Things while you host the show, am I clear?” Those were Liam’s exact words, and Harry had been there to hear them.
It was funny for Harry. He was trying not to laugh, while Niall was just freaking out about not being able to touch Zayn for two hours and glaring at Harry for gloating at their misery. And Zayn on the other hand was just playing it cool like the Bradford bad boy he was. “Okay man, we’ll keep ourselves in check mate,” Zayn replied Liam coolly.
And now, Louis was going to be added into their group of friends. Or so Harry hoped.
“And so with that, I was on a train here to London,” Louis finished his story and Harry regretted missing part of it.
“So anyway Lou, according to Liam, I’m supposed to take you out this weekend, on a city tour sort of thing. I’ll be your personal tour guide,” Harry said with a wink.
Inwardly, all Harry really wanted to say was “I’m sorry for being the obnoxious twat I am, and um, I just really want to be your friend,” but he couldn’t, for some strange reason. He just couldn’t say that. Louis made him feel like a wimp sometimes, because he couldn’t tell Louis what he really wanted to say.
Harry was always one to express his feelings even if it involved a few “ums” and “so”, because he couldn’t hide them very well. He’d always been told that he was terrible at hiding his emotions, but somehow, Louis couldn’t tell when Harry was being genuine or not.
That was because Louis didn’t put in the effort to get to know Harry better, and Harry knew that. That was why he was looking forward to the weekend with Louis. Maybe then he’d overcome his strange fear and awkwardness around Louis. It was ridiculous. He was Harry Styles, the man who constantly had girls flocking to him, but yet he was feeling so weak around Louis.
“Well then, thank you, I’m sure this is a great honour for me, isn’t it?” Louis teased. If Harry was being honest, that made him somewhat happy. Louis was slowly warming up to him, and he hoped that during the outing, Louis would behave the same way as he had been today.
“Of course it is! After all, your tour guide is me, Harry Styles,” Harry replied playfully, winking. “Could you give me your number by the way? So that we can communicate and stuff,” Harry continued, shrugging it off like it was no big deal. But inside, his heart was thumping wildly. Louis made him feel like a little boy all over again and Harry couldn’t stand how much of a teenage girl he was being.
Louis nodded before pulling out a pen from his pocket and scribbling his number on Harry’s arm. And Harry stiffened. Louis touched him and it felt kind of… Nice. Different, but nice. Then Harry slapped himself mentally. He’s just writing his number on your arm, you loser, he told himself.
“Right, I’m tired so I’ll go off first. Bye Niall, Zayn and Harry,” Louis said, offering them all a five-star grin. He stood up from his seat and waved to Niall and Zayn, refusing to look Harry’s way. Then he walked off without looking back. And if Harry said he wasn’t disappointed he’d be lying.
Zayn was giving Harry a look that said, “I saw how you reacted, so you better tell me all about it later,” while Niall was just completely oblivious. “Bye Louuuuuuu-ieeeee!” He exclaimed dramatically, and the whole of Starbucks stared at him. But he didn’t even know. Of course he didn’t, he was Niall.
Harry ignored Zayn with a roll of his eyes, and Niall started yapping about being hungry and wanting to spend some alone time with his boyfriend. So Harry awkwardly excused himself and went home, not wanting to witness any PDA with his two best friends. Once, Harry saw the both of them making out in the studio after their show, and he almost fainted. That was when he found out they were a couple. He ran off before Zayn and Niall could see him. It was quite a terrible and embarrassing experience, really.
And the next time Harry saw them, he told them about it, and Niall sheepishly admitted that they’d been dating since they met him. But that was cool for Harry, because he wasn’t some kind of homophobe, although it did make things very awkward between them for a while. Harry often felt like he was playing gooseberry, but Zayn said it was alright, and Harry was slightly relieved.
That didn’t mean that he was entirely comfortable being around Zayn and Niall though, because he did feel quite awkward most of the time they were hanging out.
Hanging out; that was what Harry couldn’t wait to do with Louis, and he wondered if Louis felt the same way too.