After a fifteen-minute drive Niall, Cassie, and Harry finally arrived at the site of the party. The sun had already sunk behind the horizon leaving the only light to be that of the streetlights and light coming through the windows of the nearby homes. The street was packed with cars along with teenagers walking towards a large mansion style house.
"Are we really doing this?"
Harry immediately felt his stomach drop at the sight of so many people. All he could think about was that he could be cuddled up on his couch with a cup of tea watching a movie. Harry really did not like being in a crowd.
"Yup, we are going to have some fun tonight!"
Cassie patted Harry's shoulder before opening the door and getting out.
"Come on dude, just try to enjoy it."
Niall and Harry gathered their things before Harry turned off his car as they both got out of the car joining Cassie who was leaning on the car. Niall walked around the car causing Cassie to join him before wrapping her arms around his waist before they began walking towards the party.
"How much farther is this damn party?"
"It's not too much farther."
"Ugh, thank god."
"Well if somebody had been ready when we got to his house we would have gotten a better parking spot."
"Yeah yeah, whatever."
The concrete sidewalk in which the trio along with many other high schoolers began to buzz with small vibrations of the loud music playing through dozens of speakers signaling the party of close, and sure enough only minutes later Harry's sight was filled with dancing teenagers all with a red solo cup in their hands.
Cassie and Niall both grabbed a cup of what they assumed to be beer before heading around the house into its backyard where a band was playing. It had already been decided that Harry would be the designated driver since A, it was his car they drove, and B, he was underage anyway so he couldn't drink. It's not like that stopped a lot of people, especially on New Years but breaking the law was out of the question for Harry.
By the time Harry had followed his friends, they were already on the dance floor along with upwards of another one hundred people.
"Oh god, why did I agree to this..."
Harry's Adam's apple bobbed slowly as he tried to swallow away his fear. He began to try and walk around the dancing bodies politely but when you are walking through dozens of already half-drunk teenagers that aren't paying attention that doesn't really work, so Harry's attempt at being polite ended up failing as he was pushed up against random bodies as he made his way through the crowd.
"I'm sorry. Sorry, Excuse me, Oh I'm sorry."
It felt like an eternity before Harry finally caught a glimpse of Cassie's autumn hair as it swirled from side to side matching the beat of the music and her free hand was intertwined with Nialls. Harry decided it was best to try and match the smiles that they both wore on their lips, the least he could do was pretend to be happy for them.
The couple finished their drinks in a large gulp before placing their empty cups into one of the many garbage bags laid on the floor. Soon both Niall and Cassie each grabbed one of Harry's hand in their own, pulling him into a tight circle.
The band continued to blare their music through the heavy-duty speakers so loud that even being less than a foot apart from each other they three friends couldn't hear each other unless they screamed their words. Covers of songs like Teenage Dirtbag, She's Out of Her Mind, Mr.Brightside, and Jasey Ray made the dance floor turn into a time machine allowing many people, Harry included, to forget about the current problems in their lives.
Tired of dancing and beginning to feel his stomach grumble Harry decided to pull away and head inside.
"I'm gonna go get some food!"
"WHAT?"
"I'M GOING TO GET SOME FOOD!"
"OKAY!"
"HAVE YOU AND NIALL EATEN ANYTHING?"
"OF COURSE MATE! DO YOU THINK I WOULD NEVER NOT EAT?!"
Harry just laughed as he walked away, at least he knew that at least a little of the alcohol they had been consuming was going to be absorbed by some food. Harry made his way over to the opened sliding glass door that lead into the kitchen area of whoever's house this was. Harry thought it was insane that somebody would feel okay having a bunch of strangers over to their house, but hey Harry didn't judge too much as he knew that he himself would never do anything to concern the owner.
As Harry's feet went from the outside grass to the cold tile floor he noticed the shift in the atmosphere. Instead of a cover band playing with people dancing there was Ariana Grande, Shawn Mendes, Justin Beiber, and Khalid blared through the surround sound speakers with people sitting along the couches and stray chairs just doing shots.
Anybody could tell you that it was a clear divide of the popular's and the regular's. A comical laugh escaped from Harry as he walked straight into the kitchen trying to avoid the drunk teens on the other side of the wall. Harry was thankful that unlike Louis's house the kitchen was completely cut off from the rest of the house, only a faint beat of the music could be heard.
Harry quickly realized that all of the alcohol and major party food weren't in the kitchen, and suddenly it made perfect sense now that the kitchen itself wasn't packed to the brim like the rest of the house. Harry saw a loaf of bread sitting on the counter and took note as he walked to the open pantry. Sitting on the edge of a shelf was a jar of peanut butter and Harry had never been so happy. Harry's large hand grasped jar and pulled it out before walking over to the counter and setting it down.
Trying to keep things clean Harry laid down a small paper towel sheet before opening the bread loaf and taking out two pieces and setting them down ontop. Harry unscrewed the lid of the peanut butter jar before realizing that he didn't have a knife. Quickly and quietly Harry began to open the kitchen drawers looking for something to spread the food.
With his back turned away from the kitchen entrance Harry was still rummaging through the kitchen when he heard the door open. Harry immediately stoped and his head snapped upwards.
"Wow there Haz its just me, no need to become a deer in headlights!"
Louis's voice registered in Harry's head before the sight of him registered in his eyes. Harry's shoulders dropped with relief knowing that it was just Louis.
"Sorry, just wasn't expecting anybody."
"Oh, you weren't expecting anyone to come into a kitchen at a New Year's Eve party?"
"Shut up!"
The boys let out a laugh as Louis walked deeper into the kitchen while Harry stood up.
"What are you looking for?"
"Just a knife."
"in the drawer to your left. Wait, you aren't going to stab me right?"
"If you keep interrogating me maybe!"
Now with a butter knife in his hand, Harry jokingly turned around pointing the dull knife at Louis.
"I'm just trying to make a sandwich."
Harry now walked over to where he had already begun to make his sandwich.
"You know there's food outside right?"
"How much of that food is laced with some form of drugs or alcohol?"
"Good point."
As Harry dipped the knife down into the tan, creamy peanut butter Louis appeared right at his side brushing up against his bicep. Damn, he smelt good. Harry hadn't meant to but with Louis pressed so close to him his actions slowed dramatically almost going in slow motion. Just as Harry started to spread the mixture onto the small pieces of bread Louis jumped up and off his arm.
"You know what would make this sandwich so much better?"
"What..."
Louis tried to hold back a mysterious smirk but failed as his lips slowly curled into a smile. As fast as a cheetah Louis jumped up onto the kitchen counter opening a high up cabinet. He began to shuffle through seasonings and spices before turning around triumphantly.
"Honey!"
"Oh my god, Louis!"
Louis jumped right off of the counter and ran to where Harry was standing basically shoving him out of the way as he uncapped the bottle of honey before squeezing the sweet gold liquid on top of the peanut butter.
"Louis you're gonna drown the sandwich!"
Because Harry was so much taller than Louis he was able to grab the bottle from his hand before too much honey left the bottle, however, some of the honey dripped into Louis's hair.
"Styles!"
"Hey, you're the one ruining my dinner!"
"you got my hair sticky!"
"Oh boo-hoo, I think you'll service Lou!"
Harry was full-on laughing as he tried to finish making his sandwich as Louis tried to rub his fingers through his hair attempting to get the honey out. With the slices of bread now sitting on top of each other Harry decided to cut the sandwich diagonally, handing one half to Louis.
"Thanks."
"Of course."
"How did you remember peanut butter and honey?"
"How could I not remember the one piece of food we ate every day after school for nearly a year. It's probably the only thing I can make!"
"I don't know how I'm not sick of these by now, I'm sure we've eaten at least five hundred of these each!"
"You're telling me I think i ate two of these a day after my dad passed! He loved them."
"Wasn't he the one who first made us one?"
"Yeah mom was away on business and it's all he knew how to make, the two of us ate them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a whole week!"
" Are you sure you're not made of peanut butter and honey?"
"Maybe."
Both boys held a smile as they finished their food. Louis had once again needed up on the counter, this time sitting on top while Harry stayed standing. Harry began to clean up his mess, tying the bag of bread shut and putting the jar back on the jar of peanut butter before taking it back to the pantry. Remembering where Louis had gotten the honey Harry put the bottle back where it belonged.
"How in the hell can you reach that!"
"Not all of us are short like you Louis."
"How tall are you?"
"Around 6ft I think."
"Geeze."
"How short are you?"
"Hey give me a break, I'm tall!"
Harry shot daggers at Louis as if to say 'yeah right'.
"How tall?"
"5'9"
Harry burst into laughter before trying to cover his mouth with his hand.
"You're not 5'9, Niall is 5'9 and you're at least an inch shorter than him."
"Shut up, I am in fact 5'9 you can call my doctor if you want!"
"Yeah sure okay Mr. 5'9."
"Stop laughing!"
"I-im sorry!"
Louis had picked up a washcloth and ran it under water wetting the material so he could attempt to get the rest of the honey out of his hair.
"Here let me help."
Louis happily gave Harry the washcloth since he couldn't reach the back of his own head where a glob of honey still laid in his hair. It wasn't until Harry stood right behind him with one hand holding the side of his head and the other rubbing his hair against the wet towel that he noticed something strange.
Louis's chest began to feel tight and he could feel his heartbeat quicken. All of his muscles began to go stiff as he continued to feel Harry's presence strong behind him. What was happening?
Meanwhile, Harry had tried to keep himself calm. He focused heavily on keeping his breaths slow and steady while having to remind himself to not rub his free fingers along Louis's soft feathery hair. They were friends and nothing more. They could never be anything more so why would Harry allow himself to get carried away at the moment. Harry just made sure to take in every moment, he knew there would never be another opportunity like this.
"Okay, you're all good."
"Thanks."
Instantly Louis jumped off of the counter his small feet colliding loudly with the floor before he quickly made his way towards the kitchen door. The last thing Harry saw was a half-smile of Louis as the door started to separate the two.
Harry stood there confused for a minute before walking over and washing out the washcloth in the sink before folding it neatly over the edge of the sink. Making sure the kitchen was indeed clean Harry himself walked out the kitchen slowly, still trying to commit the events that just happened to his memory.
Finally looking at his phone Harry saw the time, 11:45 pm.
"Huh, at least the time passed."
As Harry stood between the barrier of the preppy popular that stood insides listening to the pop radio icons and the average people just like him who danced like nobody cared he only remained of the difference between him and Louis. Harry felt a sharp sting in his chest and heaviness deep in his gut.
Stepping back out onto the grass Harry caught one last glance at Louis. He was sitting on the edge of a white leather couch with Ronnie sitting on his lap talking happily while he was staring blankly at a painting hanging on the wall.
Not having a clue where Cassie and Niall were and not coming here with a date Harry decided it was best to just sit on a barstool that was next to a table high top. And for the next fifteen minutes, that's where he stayed, just sitting and observing his fellow classmates, many of them looking like they had met their soulmates under the December stars.
---
When Louis finally returned to his group he could tell that Ronnie was absolutely pissed, but of course, needing to play the perfect couple Ronnie didn't say anything instead just climbing on top of Louis's lap.
Louis had absolutely no idea what his friends were talking about but he felt a sharp tugging on his wrist.
"Come on Lou only one minute until midnight!"
Louis tried to contain his eye roll by deciding to put on his jacket. Something begins instantly pulling his attention. Louis popped up the collar of his jacket and a vaguely familiar scent entered his nostrils intoxicating his body.
Louis was still trying to figure out why this random scent of firewood and cinnamon felt so close to him when he felt Ronnie slip her hand around his waist pulling him down slightly before she pressed her lips to his.
It wasn't until Louis opened his eyes and looked out the window that he figured out what the scent was.
It was Harry.
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Well i guess that the party was good for something! It looks like some tea is begging to boil...