Drunk on you

Wake me up

It's Saturday, it's been a long week for Harry, but he has a shift at the bar he works at, the Cherry bar. He lives in a small apartment in London that costs him more than what he could afford but he can't help it, he loves London, and he can't imagine himself living anywhere else in the world: that's where he was born and where he truly feels home since he lost his mother in a tragic accident 8 months earlier. He lives alone now and sometimes that makes him feel lonely but he's not ready to live with someone else since he still hasn't recovered from his loss.

It's 6:45 pm and his shift starts in 15 minutes. He's late, again. He puts on his clothes, looks at himself in the mirror, and sees how tired his face looks: his curls are all over the place, his eyes are red from the lack of sleep and his skin is so pale he could easily be confused for a ghost. But he hasn't got the time to do something about his appearance and he wouldn't care anyway. He takes his bicycle and rides as fast as he can but when he arrives at the bar his boss is already shouting at him. On the bright side, Marta is there waiting for him, as always. She's had a crush on Harry since they were kids but he has always been too distracted to notice her as a woman other than just a friend.

It's almost midnight when Harry sees his friends walking into the bar with a guy he has never seen before. "What do you guys drink?" Harry asked, "We'll have a round of shots, tequila for everybody" Jeff answered, "Okay, be right back!" Harry said with the biggest smile on his face. He was truly happy his friends were there since he's rarely seen them since he started having two jobs to pay his bills.

After a few hours, Harry's friends leave and with them the mysterious guy too. Shorter after they left the shift is finally over and Harry and Marta can relax and chat while drinking a beer.
"You look so tired Harry, I'm concerned about you... you can ask me to cover you if you need to rest, you know that right? You do seem overworked".
"Thank you for the compliment! - Harry said while laughing - I know I'm not in the best shape right now but I don't feel overworked, I just need to stop watching Friends until 5 am as I always do..."
"Yeah, you really should stop doing that, you already know every dialogue by heart, you have an obsession for that sitcom!" Marta replied knowing he wouldn't have talked about his problems with her anyways. He's an introverted guy and Marta knows it very well since she has known him for almost all of her life.

After talking for an hour the two of them close the bar and then separates streets to go home. Harry's already thinking about the Friends' episode he's going to watch, his favorite one, 'The One with All the Thanksgivings' where Joey ends up with a turkey on his head. But as he gets closer to his bicycle he notices a guy sleeping on the sidewalk all alone. "Oh shit, that's the guy that was with my friends at the bar before, why did they leave him here by himself? I'm going to call Jeff... that jerk!" Harry mutters to himself while typing Jeff's number. "Hello?" Jeff replied on the other side of the phone, "HELLO? Did you hit your head or something? Why did you leave this guy here all alone?" Harry said trying his best to be quiet to not wake up that guy. "You mean Louis?" Jeff asked. "I DON'T KNOW HIS NAME BUT WHO ELSE WOULD IT BE? HOW MANY PEOPLE DID YOU ABANDON TODAY?" Harry replied trying to contain his anger. "You are so mean when you don't sleep enough...", "Oh, just fuck off" Harry mutters, "... anyways we didn't want to leave him there but he was drunk and he didn't want to come with us. We tried everything, I swear! Anyways he does not live far from the bar, I'll tell you the address so you can accompany him if he's in the mood now, ok?" Jeff said trying to calm Harry down. "Okay, but you owe me a beer" Harry replies. "It's not a problem since you owe me a thousand beers - Jeff said while laughing - I'll text you the address.".

Harry tries to wake Louis up by calling his name "Louis.. Louis? Can you hear me?" but Louis doesn't answer so he touches his shoulder gently calling his name again "Louis? Lou-" when Louis interrupts him: "C'mon man, you are pronouncing it wrong, it's Lou, not Lewis.". "Oh, I'm sorry - Harry answers trying to hide the fact that his face is turning red for the embarrassment - do y- do you need help getting up?", "Fuck you" Louis mutters. "Will you sleep on the sidewalk with only a sweatshirt on while it's 10°C outside?" Harry said while zipping up his jacket. "Of course I won't, but I don't need your help, I can stand up and walk by myself" Louis replies making sure not to look into Harry's eyes. "Okay then, show me!" Harry replied. Louis gets up and takes a few steps before falling and scratching his knees. "See? Ripped jeans are not and will never be a wise choice! - Harry says trying to downplay the moment - Here, put your arm around my neck, lean on me.". Even though he's still drunk, Louis can't help but notice how tall Harry is compared to him and, for some reason, for the first time in his life, he doesn't mind a guy being taller than him. After walking for a few minutes Louis finally says something: "We've arrived, that's the building where I live".