Strawberries & Cigarettes

Chapter 12

May 04, 2015

"What's this?" Zayn asks Harry when he steps into the bakery's glass door, the ring of the golden bell above indicating the other three that he arrived.

Harry clasps his hands together. "The plan to get Louis and butterfly, Aurora, to like each other... I call it friendship cupid!"

"Again, what's this?" Zayn deadpans, about to walk out the door but Liam steps in front of him and grabs his forearm.

"Just go along with it," Liam whispers, dragging his raven-haired friend to take a seat beside him.

Harry pulls out a chair and spins it around, sitting down with his legs wide apart and his arms hoisted on the back of the chair.

"As we all know, recently Louis became more of a dickhead and punched Spencer, Aurora's best friend. And with that, I suppose it made butterfly dislike him even more."

"Don't suppose, it's a fact," Niall comments, taking a big bite out of a sweet and sour slice of lemon bread.

Zayn sighs, his hazel eyes dropping to his lap to scroll through his phone, but Liam shoves his shoulder to hint to pay attention.

"And thus, friendship cupid was created! About an hour ago, but still reliable," Harry says with a soft chuckle, his index finger and thumb stroking his chin to dig through his mind.

Niall swallows his pastry, questioning more so to himself, "Wait, Louis fought Spencer, not butterfly? Shouldn't it be between them?"

"Shut up, Niall!" Harry pauses, scrunching his eyebrows together. "Oh, you just disregarded everything that I was going to say."

Zayn rolls his eyes, shifting his stare out the large window, the orange-pink darkness of camouflaged clouds casting across the sky.

Louis must be out smoking, or out in some girl's bedroom ready to leave behind his sins and his cravings for touch.

But Zayn guesses it's the first option.

Or both.

Liam laughs with Niall, the loud, obnoxious noise making Zayn turn his head in their direction and chuckle.

"But, Louis and butterfly didn't like each other even before the fight, so technically this can still work!" Harry points out, pursing his lips in thought.

"Go on," Zayn adds, snorting when he notices small bread crumbs on Niall's mouth.

The taller baker's emerald eyes light up, standing up on his feet with his hold remaining on the back of the chair.

"To make them like each other, we must know the reason as to why they don't."

Liam chuckles. "Easy, Lou's a prick and butterfly goes along with him 'cause why would she be nice when he isn't?"

"Be serious, Li," Harry says in feign disappointment, tsking as he shakes his head, and then he faces Niall.

"For one, Louis fought her best friend and he's rude to her... Why he's rude? 'Cause, she's like herself, so, there's no way we can make him like her," Niall explains, his attention more on his nearly finished lemon bread.