larry stylinson one shots

bruises

a/n this idea is derived from 'for sure we'll meet again sometime' by thebiinbitch on ao3 and the song bruises by train

i was going to write a request i had but stopped once all this stuff with liam happened. i don't know if yall are comfy w me still using him as a character in future one shots (he was in the band so it's difficult NOT to) but i'm just writing this one first without him.

summary: they grew up together at boarding school, and for some reason never kept in touch. 10 years later its their reunion party.
> obv an au

louis' pov

i definitely should have planned this better.

i definitely should have done many things better.

the only reason i'm even going to this thing is because my mum said it would be fun. now, her idea of fun must be fucked, because these people obviously do not want to talk to me.

you would think that after sharing a dorm with four other boys for those horrible dreaded years of school, that you would keep in touch. i think a little too often about the late nights awake, strobes of flashlights lighting up the room when we would pinky swear and promise to stay best friends forever. but then, after graduation it was plain radio silence.

i sit in my car, staring up at the school i used to have to call home for 10 months of the year. the only reason i get out of my car is because i know i didn't call, or text, or try just as much as everyone else didn't. we all waited for someone else to start the conversation.

the actual reunion started forty-five minutes ago, give or take. back in my school days i was never on time and i think me being late is a character flaw everyone is going to have to live with.

i walk into the building. the foyer is just as i recall it and nostalgia hits me like a train. i remember nights sneaking out with zayn, when we wanted to stay up in the grass watching the stars until they faded and the sun rose. i used to tell him that once we were adults we wouldn't need to sneak past professors to watch night turn to dawn.

there are signs guiding me to the dining hall, but i could find my way there without the large red arrows. a woman walks past me, i recognize her from my year. (of course she's in my year. it's my ten year reunion.)

i follow her to the party. the first thing i notice is a table with Hi! My name is [ ] stickers and a bucket black sharpies. i grab a name tag and a marker and begin to write my name. i write 'louis' too large which makes the 'tomlinson' all squished up against the edge and i feel like a moron as i stick it onto my chest.

i don't move away from the table, i just look around. there are a lot of adults just milling about, talking in small groups. there's a small buffet of food and drinks on a table to the side. i don't know when we all got so old, i swear just last week the adults here were our parents on the introductory evening.

i see a face i recognize, but he doesn't see me. should i call out for him? does he want to talk to me? ah, fuck it.

"niall—!" i'm cut short by a loud crash. the crash coming from me, because in my awkward haste to shout at my old friend i trip over the fold-up table with all the name tags on it. markers go flying, the table falls and i nose dive into the floor.

"louis?" i hear him say. i look up from my spot on the ground sheepishly. in one hand he's holding a red solo cup, the other one extended towards me.

"yep! that's me," i say then laugh awkwardly. i take his hand and pull myself up. his hair is significantly darker than it was during school, but it's because he used to bleach it. i remember nights in the dorm bathroom when it would take all five of us to colour his hair.