Checked | Larry Stylinson

One| Louis

"A cup of coffee, please!"

Louis looked over from his laptop towards Zayn, his best-friend of God knows years, and turned away to typing again, ignoring his presence completely.

"I think I know the password to your laptop,"

Now, That, made Louis look up from his manuscript he was working on giving Zayn a questioning raised brow.

"See, to that you respond. You know that selling cups of coffee is your job too, right?"

"Mhm," He looked over Zayn to see a standing customer behind him. So Zayn was not budging then. He closed his laptop and made one of those stupid Matcha drink which Zayn hates and handed him with a ghost of teasing smile on his lips.

"Uh,"

"What would you like to have, sir?" Louis asked the man, straightening his composure and going back to his professional-coffee-guy attitude.

"Um, Latte?"

"Latte. Anything to go with it?"

"No,"

"Okay, please wait on the side while we prepare your drink. Thank for coming here!"

It took him to count until 5, with sheeps, to hear a loud, "Fuck, Asshole. I hate you!" coming from one end of the shop.

So, Zayn must've had his drink, then.

After three hours, 1200 words on his manuscript and 8 cups of coffee, it was finally his off-time. Now, usually it was only Zayn this late in the shop, but today there was the awkward-latte guy sitting and reading a book in the corner too.

"Uh, we're closing up. I need to ask you to leave, sir."

"Okay. But before that, can I talk to the owner, please?"

"Um, you're speaking to him. What's the matter?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend, it's just I thought you were hired. Um, Is it alright if we talk somewhere more private?" The guy said, his eyes flicking towards Zayn.

Louis understood but made a sort of eye-conversation with Zayn, which was a thing between them, and Zayn left within a fraction of time.

"Uh, so, I'm here from BlueBird Publications? I got this address to meet up with Jeremy Williams?"

"Oh. Oh! Right. Um,"

"So, uh, I was told through a confidential mail that he is the owner of Checks, and this was the only coffee shop I could find?"

"Uh, right. Before we begin though, I'll have to ask you to sign an NDA. You're Harry Styles, I'm assuming?"

"Right,"

Louis hands him the papers and while Harry skims through the details, he makes them another cup of coffee. 

"I've signed them. Would I need to hire a lawyer for publicity purposes?"

"Oh, if you want. I don't really have a lawyer, my mate knows one and he drew up an NDA for confidentiality purposes. You might need one, I don't really know, we can see after the book publishes,"

"Um, can we have a meeting with our agents and publication streams? I don't really know how this works,"

"I told you, I really keep myself out of the public eye and I have a lowkey presence. So, I don't have any agents or as such. I would prefer if we kept this between us, though."

"Oh, yes. That's fine."

"Go ahead, ask. I know you're curious."

Harry's eyes widen, almost looking caught but he smiles sheepishly anyways.

"Why are you working as a waiter? I mean your name is a literal brand in the world of literature, Jeremy Williams is everything any writer would want themselves to be, but no one knows you? Why?"

"Physically, I might not be present, yes. But I allow the public to know me at my most vulnerable state, don't I? I allow them to enter my imagination, I think giving away that part of myself is enough, really."

Harry drops the topic at that, but it's obvious that he isn't satisfied with Louis' answer. He'd bug him with more questions, but he doesn't want to scare away New York's sensation.

"Um, So I think this is it, for today? Let's discuss the rest at my hotel, maybe? Next week, Saturday works for you?"

"Mhm, that's okay. See you, then." Harry replies with ease, unsettling nervousness within him, some kind of future anxiety per se, he's getting to co-author a Jeremy Williams Series for fuck's sake.

"Alright. Bye, Harry."

"Bye, Jeremy."

Harry leaves the Checks and Louis breathes a sigh of relief. He was so fucking scared for meeting up and allowing someone to co-author a book of his, but Harry seemed decent enough. He doesn't know what tomorrow holds for him, but it'll be better.

It'll be better. He tells himself.

Zayn: So should I break and enter because the outside of the flat is creeping me out, dude.

He gets a text from Zayn, while locking the back-gate of the café. He crashes with Zayn on regular basis, and even though he's the one who's bought the house, it's Zayn's home. Louis just sometimes lives in the flat to crash with Zayn or when he needs to be by himself he goes to the hotel-apartment.

He drives to the flat thinking of all his incomplete novels and the future influence of Harry's on them.