new year's day (Complete)

VI

7. Cribbage. Yea, cribbage.

Louis spent most of the next week staring at his phone's screen, smiling like a teenage girl, which Zayn had teased him for relentlessly.

The few hours he had spent not messaging with Harry, he and Zayn planned Zayn's birthday.

The lad had decided to stay in London and celebrate with Louis - along with the new group they had acquired.

"Earth to Louis. How much more time do we have?" Zayn asks, bringing Louis to snap his eyes away from his phone screen - he was waiting for Harry to finish showering - and towards Zayn.

"About an hour," he answers after looking back at the screen briefly to find the time.

In an hour, Louis was going to leave the flat, pick up Harry, and take him to lunch. He would also probably bring Harry back to the flat after. Yes, it would be a date. Yes, Louis had begged Zayn to let him use his car, under the condition that Louis would clean his flat to host Zayn's birthday.

"You should probably start getting ready then, heaven knows you take over an hour," Zayn tells him, putting away the notebook they had been planning food in.

"Yeah, I probably should. I'm gonna shower real quick, don't mess up my flat," Louis says, pushing himself off the floor and walking the short distance to his bedroom.

Zayn looks around the already-messed-up flat, furrowing his eyebrows before looking back to the hall Louis had disappeared into, mumbling a drawn-out "okay."

Louis showers, taking his time while also trying to rush - it didn't go well, he almost slipped and fell multiple times while trying to wash his hair, shave, and host a concert all at once.

It also hadn't been a good idea to shave his face in the shower. He figured he'd been shaving long enough to know what to do without a mirror, he was wrong and cut his cheek before leaving the shower only half-shaved.

He quickly finishes shaving - managing to not harm his face more than he had - and leaves the bathroom with only a towel around his waist.

In his room, he pulls on boxers and his favorite bum jeans, before he calls for Zayn.

"What seems to be the problem dearest princess? Surely you can find a gown fit to woo prince charming," Zayn says sarcastically as he enters the room, finding Louis holding up two shirts.

"Shut up and help me, which one?" Louis asks, starting to worry he'd taken too long in the shower and would be late to pick up Harry.

"Neither. Go naked, he'll like that," Zayn answers with a chuckle, going past Louis to pull yet another shirt from his closet, "this one."

Zayn holds up the jumper Louis had given Harry after they had played in the snow. Harry did wear it when he went home, but he had made sure to wash it and return it to Louis over New Year's, and Louis was happy to find it still smelled of Harry.

He pulls on the jumper and runs to the bathroom, grabbing his hair products and beginning to style his hair.

"5 minutes, let's see how fast you can go," Zayn teases, leaning on the door frame.

By the time Louis decides his hair's acceptable, he's five minutes late. He shoots Harry a text, letting him know he's running late and that he's on his way.

"Message me when you guys are on your way back, I'll go shopping so you have the place to yourself, and let me know when it's safe to return," Zayn tells him, giving him a quick hug before Louis rushes to the door.

"I won't eat your Panera!" Louis shouts, running out the door.

Through the door, he hears Zayn shout back "it's Panamera, and don't hurt it!" But he brushes off whatever threats Zayn had given him that he hadn't listened to.