the pants book ≫ ziam & larry

viiii

the universe seemingly comes to an undesired hault. zayn concludes that this is actually happening.

he turns to gape at niall, who expectantly gapes back.

"any chance you heard anything from the hall?"

**

harry is slightly confused why liam from book club is standing inside his corridor, accompanied by niall, who looks as though he is on the verge of tears.

apparently for niall, however, showing up in front of apartment doorsteps uninvited is becoming a regular event.

harrys eyes dance between the two of them, previously unaware that the pair had ever met. It's particularly uncomfortable on his part, and he can't for the life of him figure out why all his friends complicate things much more than the necessary. it seems the curly haired one always ends up smack in the middle.

poor, poor liam. niall will corrupt him with his breakdowns sooner or later. he best evacuate this friend circle before he ends up in a vortex of drama like harry.

"so..." harry starts, rocking on his heels back and forth awkwardly in his pajamas, "nice weather, today?"

at this, niall bursts into a wild fit of slapping his own face with a good portion of sobbing. very loudly. its as terrifying and cryptic as it sounds.

harry's eyes divert behind him, hearing louis moan, obviously annoyed, from the bedroom. if these two buffoons wake him, it will be disastrous.

this makes harry panic slightly, as he really cannot afford to sleep on the couch for another night, his back is suffering to the maximum extent-- louis has been especially on edge since wednesday. harry never did figure out who was on the other line.

"buddy, please calm down. what's wrong? come sit," his mother instincts kick in.

rushing to niall's side, harry attempts to comfort him with a pat on the back, which, expectantly, did not work.

niall collapses on the floor and crawls into fetal position, sniffling into his knees.

harry is frantic and this 22 year old man sobbing on his cherry wood floor for reasons unknown is causing a great deal of anxiety, likely for the both of them.

he forgets liam is there, until he doesnt, and then it's uncomfortable again, because harry knows many things about him that liam does not, and, well.

he briefly wonders if that raven haired bastard has anything to do with this.
It's funny the way things tend to somehow always relate back to zayn.

harry grabs a pillow from the coach and tosses it at niall's head. when he doesn't do anything, harry grabs liam's wrist and pulls him out into the hallway, out of earshot.

"what are you doing here? who gave you this address? how do you know niall?" harry pauses, "would you like anything to drink?" liam looks at him funny. it's times like this his good hostess qualities do not need to be known.

"um, no," liam puffs out, and woah, zayn was right, his lips are huge. harry can clearly now see what all the fuss over this guy is about, after receiving a closer examination. He is brought out of his trance when liam continues, "let me explain."

harry stares at him for a few seconds, half waiting for him to finish the train of thought and half hypnotized by the buff muscles peaking out from under liam's white t-shirt. this is why he needs to break up with Louis.

"apparently, er.."

"come on, man! I haven't got all day!" harry shout-whispers. louis rolls over in the bedroom. liam holds his breath.

"jadah? do you know her? janice, jillian... started with a j? purple hair?"

the pieces begin to come together. jade. It's jade. niall. zayn. dear god.

"jade, you idiot!"

"sorry. I... um. well, there is no easy way to say this, so.. I, well-"

"say it, dammit!" harry screeches in annoyance.

"i, well. i slept with her last night-"

"oh, sick," harry shuts his eyes, trying to block back the image of the situation in his mind.

"and.. apparently, your friend, zayn, is it?"

harry sighs, saddened at what he thinks he is about to hear, "yes, the guy who comes with me to book club sometimes? yeah, that's zayn."

"yeah... so, after Jade and I... you know, did it, we decided to go back to her flat-"
harry almost ejects bile onto louis' good hardwood floor when he realizes, "you surely don't mean-you and jade-"
"yes.. er, the club bathroom-" liam blushes beat red. harry will never be the same man again.

coughing in disgust, he begs liam to spare him the details and get to the issue at hand- the blonde guy sixteen yards away bawling like a newborn infant.

and he certainly will never look at jade the same. zayn can do better, honestly. and, wait a moment-
"aren't you gay, though?" harry wonders aloud.
"er.."
harry stifles a laugh, "those skinny jeans could have fooled me," he points to the blue ripped denim covering liam's leg.
"you realize you are stereotyping- never mind, I came here to return your sobbing friend, okay?"

"whatever. carry on, I haven't got all day," harry says.

"oh, stop being so immature. I am getting there, okay? so, we go back to jades, and, go figure, the building is closed for fumigation. by then, it's like, 11.30 and we're smashed. she says, let's hit up my best friends place and crash there. I'm like, cool, because I live 40 minutes away and-"

"liam."

"right, sorry. turns out her best friends is the dude from book club and the blonde guy in the hall. we show up, they both loose their shit for unknown reasons. I don't know, man. I'm just here to drop the guy off. zayn-?" liam pauses, harry nods, signaling that he is keeping up and that Liam should carry on, "from book club is still at his place, seemed pretty messed up about everything when I left, so,"

harry forcefully squeezes his eyes shut and mentally face palms. this can not be happening.

"cool, now that everything's sorted, i'm just gonna.." harry's eyes fling open again and he grabs liam's wrist in protest, determined to obtain every detail of information from him as he can. there is something this meaty-bushy-eyebrowed-and-puffy-lipped man is not telling him.

and of course, this is the exact moment the bedroom door flings open to reveal an irritable louis, awoken from his nap, presented with killer bed head, only concealed by a pair of boxers.

harry almost grins at how cute he looks, until he remembers who's standing next to him, and he doesn't. harry looks at liam, then at liam's wrist, then at his hand on liam's wrist, and then at louis' face. harry exhales loudly and tilts his head up to the ceiling.

"fuck."