Louis has had a long day already. At first, some intern had destroyed the electric kettle on his floor, which meant he had the choice between running across the entire building or being the asshole boss that made his assistant fetch him tea all day long. Then, a major company decided to go with someone else for the marketing campaign, even though Louis' firm would have been perfect for the job. And now it's technically his lunch break, but his entire desk is still filled to the brim with paperwork.
Louis tries to resist the urge to bury his head in his hands. Maybe building his own company and consequently becoming one of the most successful CEOs in London hadn't been the best choice all those years ago, when he'd tried to find a new way to pass the time until he eventually met his soulmate.
He would go back-packing around the world or "live his life as an adventure" as the new 'soulmate waiting'-commercials liked to proclaim, but he's already explored about every option there possibly was. Being twenty forever sounded like a dream until you actually had to live it.
With one last look at his paperwork he decides that an actual lunch break isn't an option, but he's got ten minutes to get tea and maybe a doughnut from Brews & Bagels, the café/coffee shop around the corner.
The queue in front of the coffee shop is so long that Louis has to spend several minutes listening to some teenagers in front of him bicker. Most days he thinks he is over the bitterness these past years have caused him – he's tried some podcasts recently to help with a more positive view on life – but right now, standing alone in line to get some tea, he can't help but envy the kids in front of him. Friends are kind of a difficult thing to keep when you don't age.
Sure, Louis would describe himself as an easy-going guy and he's had friends, a lot of them actually, over the years, but they all eventually find their soulmate and leave him behind.
Some stay with him for a decade or two, but no one he has ever met had to wait longer than a century. No one.
Right now Louis' only friend is a guy named Nick Grimshaw who drags him out to clubs once in a while when he feels like Louis isn't getting laid enough. Nick is, like Louis, still twenty and stuck there until he finds his soulmate, but unlike Louis he's enjoying his single life and doesn't show any frustration at not being able to properly settle down yet. Louis hasn't asked, but he doesn't think Nick has been waiting as long as he has.
There is also Niall, but Louis doesn't really know if someone he just sees every ten years when he's "in town" really counts as a friend at this point. The only thing they have going between them is a consistent snapchat-flame, because Niall is intent on keeping up with new technology and not letting Louis turn into a grumpy old man. Louis isn't quite sure that it's working.
"Mate, if you're not gonna tell me your order, I'm just gonna tell Harry over there to be creative. Seeing as he can barely make decent drinks when he has a proper recipe in front of him, I'd reconsider that if I were you." Louis looks up to find the guy behind the counter staring at him expectantly. His face has a startling resemblance to a statue of a Greek god, including his unmoving facial expression. If Louis had to guess, he'd definitely say that guy is also twenty years old.
In his panic to order something, he rambles off his tea order and picks the first baked good in his peripheral vision, a blueberry muffin. He regrets his choice already as he's waiting for his order. He wanted a doughnut. This day can't possibly get any worse.
"Tea and a blueberry muffin?" a voice is yelling through the entire shop, despite the fact that Louis is still standing right there in front of the counter. Exasperated, he turns around to grab his order, when-
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larry- one shots
Fanfictionlarry one shots! all stories' are different and taken from ao3
