Midplay ::: Larry Stylinson ✔

Chapter 5

Niall POV

I turn towards the all-too-familiar voice. My breath catches when I catch sight of his face. He is covered in bruises and walks with a limp. I clear my throat.

"Harry." Harry slides into the booth across from me while I sit awkwardly and stiffly. He pushes his arms onto the table and intertwines then together.

"Are you here with someone?"

"Uh yeah, actually I-"

"Ireland, what's Harry doing here?" Liam questions as he approaches with our drinks.

"I-I don't know."

"Is he bothering you?"

"No no its okay."

"Okay then," Liam replies patting my back, "Well, Harry, we're having dinner, and I don't think it would be very polite for you to interrupt that, now would it?"

"Yes, I'll leave you two to it." Harry sighs, standing up and patting my hand. He walks away, and I hear the bell on the door chime, signaling that he has left.

Louis and Zayn approach, smiling. We have small talk until my name is called.

"Uh, Neil Who-ran?" a boy in wire-rimmed glasses calls out. The guy is short, and the pile of food hides me from seeing his face. I thank him and grab the stack of food to bring it to my table. I stumble around, unable to see. I hear the sound of Louis' laughter and a picture being snapped. Liam rushes up to me and grabs a few of the boxes off the top.

Together, Liam and I make our way back to the table and place my stack of food on the empty seat beside me. Louis takes out his phone again to take a picture of me and the food stack, which is taller than me.

"Ireland, how on Earth are you going to eat all of that?" Louis laughs as I open the pizza and start to shovel it into my mouth.

"m'hungry" I mumble. I continue to shovel the food into my mouth until there is nothing left but crumbs and boxes. Louis, Zayn and Liam are just finishing their second pizza by the time that I am done. They look between the boxes and me with wide eyes. Louis takes his phone out. After he takes the picture, he posts it on his Instagram, after I begged him not to.

"That was pretty good, not quite as filling, but still good," I comment. 

"I swear to god Niall, how did you eat all of that?"

" I honestly have no idea," I reply shortly. After another thirty minutes of talking, we decide that we better leave. I slide out of the booth last. Louis, Zayn, and Liam are already outside, so once I get out the door I try to run towards them.

Key word: Try

I end up falling straight on my face and Zayn yells,

"Oh no Niall!" Liam comes up to try to help me, but the other two are rolling on the floor like hyenas, laughing their heads off. Liam pulls me up and I walk over and kick Zayn and Louis playfully. They both eventually stop laughing.

Zayn and Liam intertwine their fingers together, clutching onto each other as if one of them was about to fall off a cliff into a dark ocean. I laugh slightly as I walk up to Louis, who is walking in front of me but behind Zayn and Liam, and grab his hand. With his other hand he exaggeratingly fans his face and blows out. I swing out hands between each other, thinking about how weird it would've been if I told my yesterday self that this is how I would spend my day today.

I would've never believed it. I always though Louis was kind of a bitch, but maybe that was because I had only ever seen him around Harry. But now that I know him, I know that he is silly and funny and genuine.