new year's day (Complete)

I

2. Old and New Friends

"We're gonna be late to seeing lover boy, and it's gonna be your fault!" Zayn shouts across the flat - from the door - as Louis fixes his hair again. 

"I know, I know! I have to look good enough though!" Louis shouts back from the bathroom. 

"First of all, he already likes you! Second, you look fine! And third, he's seen you when you just woke up, nothing can scare him away!" Louis emerges just as Zayn finishes talking. 

"First, we don't know that, second, he could think differently, and third, I hate you" Louis replies, making his way to the door before grabbing his coat and opening the door while Zayn laughs. 

"You love me. And I'm sure he likes you, who wouldn't?" He asks, following Louis outside. 

"Plenty of people wouldn't," Louis mumbles to himself. 

They make their way out of the building and through the snow, which had hardly melted since Louis had been in it with Harry, and despite the extra snow that had fallen since, Louis could see the trail Harry had made carrying him and the awkward pile that had once been Kevin. 

Zayn suddenly wraps his arm around Louis' shoulders, pulling him out of his thoughts. 

"I'm glad you're okay. I don't even know what I'd do if you weren't, I don't want to know. I'll tease you all day, Louis, but I hope you know I always love you and you can always talk to me," Zayn says. He had been giving Louis speeches like this since his arrival Friday, and it had been something Louis was trying to appreciate. 

"I know. It's... It's weird, I was planning on ending it just a week ago, now I'm entering 2013 with the rest of the world, and I'm not even doing it all alone in my flat. It's really weird, honestly, how quickly it all changed," Louis replies. 

"It's a good change. You've been living in London for, what? Three years? It's a good thing you're meeting people now. I'm proud of you," Zayn tells him, removing his arm from Louis' shoulder before opening the driver's door for himself. 

Louis makes his way around Zayn's Porsche and gets in the passenger side as Zayn starts the engine. 

"Is this a good car for all the snow?" Louis asks in a teasing tone, earning a glare from Zayn. 

"I made it through this weather to get here from Bradford, it'll be fine for a ten-minute drive, besides, the roads are pretty well taken care of," he answers while making his way out of the parking lot, and Louis laughs lightly at the defensive tone lacing Zayn's voice. 

"Right, right. Sorry to offend your precious 2012 Porsche Panera," Louis mocks, and Zayn rolls his eyes. 

"Panamera," he corrects. Louis laughs and finishes putting the address Harry had given him into Zayn's GPS before working on turning on music. 

Before the GPS can finish telling them they've arrived at their destination, Louis jumps out of the car and runs to the door, eagerly knocking on it. A blonde opens the door and lights up brightly. 

"Louis!" He exclaims, wrapping his arms around Louis. 

"Who are you?" He asks, hugging the blonde back, simply cause Louis quite enjoys hugs. 

"Niall! You said you wouldn't freak him out!" Another voice yells out from inside before a person - presumably the voice - emerges from the doorway as Zayn stands near Louis and the blonde, perhaps Niall. 

"Harry won't know!" Niall defends, earning an eye roll from the other man before he unwraps himself from Louis, turning to Zayn who immediately hides behind Louis. 

"He doesn't do hugs. Hi, I'm Louis, this is Zayn," Louis introduces, and Niall smiles at him. 

"I'm Liam, that's Niall, I've no idea where Harry's gone, but come on inside, make yourselves at home," the one that hadn't tried hugging them says. Louis smiles at Zayn before happily walking inside, followed by an also-happy Niall. Zayn hesitates but, with a friendly smile from Liam, makes his way through the door, Liam coming in last and closing it. 

"You guys are actually the first here, not that we invited that many people, still new here and all, but still. You get dibs on seats!" Niall exclaims, jumping in front of Louis to lead them to the kitchen as he continues talking, "Harry made loads of snacks, you guys can help yourselves, he tends to go a little bit overboard when it comes to party snacks." Niall shows them the snacks, and they find multiple bowls, filled with brownie bites, cookies, different candies, different crisps - anything and everything. 

"Speaking of - where is he?" Zayn asks. As if Zayn's words had awoken something, footsteps are suddenly heard rushing through the house, and Harry appears before them, in all his - slightly sweaty - glory. 

"I'm really sorry I was having a wee," he says, looking up and smiling as his eyes met Louis', bringing a smile to Louis as well. 

"Well... Welcome back from that, this is Zayn by the way, and they've got first dibs on seats I guess, though it would make more sense for-" Liam's interrupted as another knock is heard on the door. 

"Right, who else did we invite by the way?" Harry asks, making his way across the kitchen to stand beside Louis, casually wrapping an arm over his shoulder. 

"Ask Niall, he invited most of them," Liam answers as he opens the door. 

"Hey! We've got drinks!" A voice Louis easily recognizes says. 

"Awesome! Come on in," Liam replies, opening the door wider with a slightly concerned face. 

"Ay! Louis! How've you been mate?" The bartender asks, placing bottles down and giving Louis a friendly handshake as his three friends behind him place more drinks - all alcoholic. 

"Not bad, you?" Louis asks back. Before Luke can reply, another knock is heard. 

"Might wanna go in there if you want good seats," Niall says, making his way to the living room and opening the door on his way. 

"Hi! Thanks again for the invite," a blonde woman says, coming in. 

"Oh god, this is more people than I expected," Louis whispers to Harry, who leans closer to him. 

"Yeah, that's Niall for you. I think he knows everybody in London. Maybe a bit outside of London as well," Harry whispers back. 

"And how long have you been living here again?" Louis asks. 

"Three months, give or take. Now come on, we've gotta get good seats," Harry removes his arm from around Louis' shoulder and grabs his hand instead, pulling him with him to the living room, smiling brightly before pulling him to a small loveseat in a corner, "this is the best seat here," Harry whispers, and Louis laughs lightly. 

"I'll take your word for it." 

Zayn makes his way to the living room as well, taking a seat on another loveseat. 

"How many seats are there?" Louis asks Harry as they get into their favorite cuddling position - Louis spooning Harry, 

"Not enough for the amount of people Niall knows. At least ten though, two loveseats, two recliners, and the couch," Harry answers, leaning on Louis and letting him play with his curls. 

Louis simply hums in response and pulls Harry closer to him - he had really missed him. 

They don't move as three more girls show up, along with another guy. Niall eventually introduced them all: Luke, Ashton, Calum, Michael, Ashe, Anne-Marie, Julia, Maren, and Lewis - "not to be confused with Harry's love interest, Louis." 

The four girls take up the couch, Luke and Ashton squeeze into a recliner together, Calum takes the other recliner, Michael sits in front of the couch - attempting to flirt with all four girls at once. Liam sits with Zayn on the other loveseat, which Niall sits on the armrest of, while Lewis sits on the other armrest.

"So... Now that we're all settled, food?" Niall offers, smiling at the group, who all broke out laughing.