Moments

There are a few moments which Louis can confidently say have defined his life; running onto the field as a kid for his first footie match and feeling the pitch beneath his boots, his twelfth birthday when he got his first microscope, the first time he kissed a boy, finishing university, and publishing his first paper. They're wonderful memories, monumental ones that shaped the man he is today. He's proud of his achievements and, at twenty-nine, feels that he's on course for the future he has been working towards since the first time he looked through the lens of that microscope. Focused, driven, following the path he had set himself with no distractions or detours.

Looking back, Louis should've known that the universe likes to fuck with idiots like him who think they've got it all sorted.

Looking back, he should've known that the minute he relaxed and let his guard down, when he thought things were going smoothly, that's when it would hit him.

Looking back, he should've known to be on the lookout for a curveball.

He just hadn't accounted for that curveball to have long legs, green eyes, and dimples; a curveball named Harry Styles.

~*~

The bar is heaving, music pumping out of the speakers, the smell of beer and cologne hanging in the air and seeping into Louis' pores. For a Thursday night, the crowd is larger than he'd expected, but the upcoming bank holiday weekend probably has something to do with it. People are always less concerned about making a good show at work on Friday when it'll likely be a wash anyway.

He's jostled from beside, a gruff sorry mate as the man passes somehow meant to make up for the beer sloshed onto his trainers, though it's probably not the last spilled drink that will end up on them this evening.

They're packed in like sardines, the heating too high for the amount of body warmth being generated by the hundred or so people in this churning sea of chaos.

He spots Niall making his way back from the bar, weaving through the throng, two bottles of beer in each hand held above his head. Louis thinks it's a risky move, but Niall seems to be able to navigate the floor with an ease Louis could never hope to achieve.

"Queue was mental," Niall says as he hands over Louis' beers, bizarrely each with a small umbrella poking out of the top. "Got us two each. Save us the trouble of going back again for a bit."

"I like your thinking. Cheers, mate." Louis clinks the necks of their bottles together and removes the little umbrella before taking a long swig, the amber liquid quenching his parched throat.

By some miracle, they'd managed to secure a high top table towards the back, but unfortunately in a direct line between the pool tables and the loos, hence the constant bumping and knocking from passersby.

He and Niall haven't known each other long, only working together over the last few months, and this is their first time meeting up outside of the office. Louis doesn't tend to socialize much, but Niall, as Louis is quickly discovering, is an exception to almost every rule. Louis had politely declined the first ten or so invites, which is usually more than sufficient for people to stop asking, but it seemed not to deter the persistent Irishman in the slightest. Louis' long list of excuses had been whittled down along with his fortitude and he'd finally caved and agreed to a night out. It's not that he doesn't enjoy a good session when the mood takes him, it's just that he's laser focused on his research right now, so that is always his top priority.

Louis twirls the little paper umbrella in his fingertips. "What's with the decoration?"

Niall chuckles as he turns his own umbrella over and twists it on the table like a spinning top. "Ran into an old friend at the bar. He's a bit quirky like that. Said it was hot enough in here for it to be the tropics so when in the Bahamas and all that..." Niall gives a small shrug and a fond shake of his head. "The tropics? Who even talks like that? He's always been a bit of a romantic."