coffee stains ; larry stylinson

chapter seven

louis dropped a bunch of books on the wooden table he and harry were sat on.

louis had arrived ten minutes late to the library and was relieved to find that harry had shown up. he was sitting at the nearest table to the door, thumbing through a book of greek mythology. pale yellow sunlight had spilled from the glass windows, bathing his face with gold and for a moment, louis thought he looked like an angel. 

now, he was looking at him expectantly.

"oh, go on then," harry said, suddenly realizing what  louis' pointed look meant. "you wouldn't want me reading them." 

and with that he went back to his mythology book and louis grit his teeth. asshole. with a grimace, he picked up a book and began searching through maps and illustrations. he could feel harry's cold stare on him and suddenly louis felt extremely self-conscious and very deliberately did not make eye contact.

a few minutes later, harry spoke up. "you've been on the same page for six minutes."

and louis hated to admit it, but he was right. he was stuck on the same page for what seemed like forever -- reading the same sentence over and over, trying to make sense of the words on the page but they kept going through his brain. 

"been watching me, have you?" louis said with an indifferent tone. 

without a word, harry got up and exited the library. great. that's how much harry hated him. just the thought of spending time here in his presence he set him off and now louis is alone with a pile of books and geography project to work on and thesis to write and his shift at the clothing store was in an hour and half and he just couldn't be late because--

louis' spiral of thoughts was cut short as a coffee cup was placed in front of him. harry slid into the seat with an air of great self-importance. louis' jaw was agape. did harry styles just get him coffee?

"did you just get me coffee?" louis asked, still trying to process this turn of events. harry's glare from the top of his mythology book was just the answer louis was looking for. he sat back in his seat and suddenly had the wild urge to giggle. he picked up the steaming cup and took a sip. it was black -- not quite the way louis liked his coffee but it helped. the bitterness cut through the fog in his brain and he could focus. 

"thanks," louis said quietly. harry indiscernibly nodded and that was the end of the conversation. not that it was an actual conversation in the first place, but oh well. 

and it continued like this, louis making notes and harry reading his completely irrelevant mythology books until it was time for louis' shift. they began to pack up their stuff and louis was rather surprised to see harry pick up one of the geography books louis had picked and checked it out. 

"i'll give you notes tomorrow," harry told him, without making eye contact and made his way through the door. 

and trailing behind him, louis really couldn't help the stupid grin that was beginning to spread across his face. bastard. 

a/n: if anyone ever bought me a cup of coffee and read mythology books i'd fall in love with them straight away idk how louis does it. 

short chapter, but it's cute.

move for me ay ay 😏

all the love, tay x