new year's day (Complete)

VIII

9. Birthday Parties

Pasta.

Of all the foods Zayn could have chosen for his birthday, he had chosen pasta.

It seemed as if he was begging Louis to tease him for wanting pasta to "go with your Panera." - "Panamera!"

Of course, Harry - being the angel he is - was happy to make pasta.

Zayn couldn't choose a certain type of pasta, so Harry - again being an angel - had made a variety and he, Niall, and Liam arrived together, all carrying a pot of different pasta.

"The noddles are store-bought, still haven't figured out how to make them, but everything else is from scratch!" Harry announces proudly after Louis opens the door.

"He tried, his noodles looked like snakes though," Niall adds, to which Harry pouts slightly.

Louis laughs, gently kissing Harry's pout before inviting the three inside, leading them to the kitchen where they leave the pots of pasta.

"Where's the birthday boy?" Liam asks, and Louis reminds himself to tease Liam and Zayn over their mutual excitement to see each other.

"Right here!" Zayn shouts as he appears in the hallway.

Liam smiles brightly before he rushes to hug Zayn, who happily hugs him back.

"Happy birthday Zayn!" Niall yells, running to join the hug. 

Louis feels a slight pang in his chest, no one came for his birthday. The pain leaves as fast as it came as Harry's arm wraps around his waist. He meets Harry's eyes and they smile at each other before Harry gently guides him to the other boys, joining their group hug. 

"Where are my gifts?" Zayn asks - loudly and dramatically - after the group hug ends. Niall bursts out laughing, and the other share small laughs as well. 

"Still in my car, we brought up food first," Liam answers. 

"I gift you daily with my presence. And I'm letting you sleep on my couch and use my shower," Louis says sarcastically. He did get Zayn a gift, but it's no fun saying it's in his room. 

"Twat," Zayn replies, Louis simply shrugs and sticks his tongue out at him. 

Louis and Zayn set up music and look at the food that had been brought while Harry, Niall, and Liam go back outside to grab presents. 

And cake? 

"You didn't have to get a cake," Zayn says as Harry enters with a cake on a platter. 

"He didn't get it, he made it!" Niall tells him, coming through the door. 

"It's his personal recipe, spent eight years perfecting it," Liam adds, following Niall in and closing the door. 

"He's been working on this since he was ten?" Louis asks, looking at the cake, which has white frosting with red decorations. 

"Almost nine years actually, my first ever cake from scratch, I made it myself for my tenth birthday. The recipe was simple but I've been adding to it and changing it since," Harry answers, carefully leaving the cake in the middle of the table and taking one of the gifts Niall had been carrying, placing it beside the cake, where Liam and Niall also put their gifts. 

"So food first?" Niall asks, and the group laughs lightly. 

"Yeah," Zayn answers, grabbing paper plates and plastic forks - Louis didn't want to do any dishes - and handing them to each of the boys before they serve themselves. 

The group laughs and jokes with each other as they eat, and even as snow begins falling, Louis feels warm - he dares say his flat begins to feel like a home. 

"Time for gifts!" Liam shouts, grabbing a gift bag off the table, "this one's from me!" He smiles brightly and Louis can't help but feel happy, not only had he found someone for himself, Zayn's got someone that's this happy to be around him. He can't help feeling happy for Zayn. 

"Oh- Liam! You didn't have to," Zayn says as he removes the paper and looks inside, smiling almost shyly. 

"Shush. Happy birthday," Liam smiles at him and Zayn's smile grows as he leans forward, hugging Liam. After pulling away, Zayn reaches into the bag and reveals... a hair care kit? Louis figures it would make Zayn happy. 

He then puts the kit to the side, reaching into the bag again and revealing a candle, apple cinnamon scented, and Louis is taken back to visiting Zayn as a kid, always loving the apple pie smell of the house, and he smiles at the gift. Liam's good at this gift thing - Louis isn't. 

Next Niall gives Zayn his gift, once again Zayn says "you didn't have to" and hugs him, before revealing a set of spray paint, with red, yellow, and green paint. After hugging Niall once more, Zayn takes Harry's gift. 

"Louis helped pick it out," Harry tells Zayn as he begins to open it. 

"Don't tell him that, he'll think I care about him," Louis says, and Zayn flips him off. 

"Aw, Harry, you didn't have to," Zayn comments - again - as he opens the gift. 

"It wasn't my idea actually," Harry replies, still accepting Zayn's hug. 

"Now you can stop complaining," Louis explains as Zayn pulls a steering wheel cover out of the bag. "It's too cold, why's the wheel so cold, blah blah," Louis mocks, and Zayn flips him off once more - laughing as he does - before he pulls out an air freshener for in the car as well.

"Thank you all for making today special, now-" Zayn starts

"Wait!" Louis yells, jumping up and running down the hall. He comes back with a small wrapped box in his hand and an envelope hidden in his pocket. "Happy birthday," he says, handing Zayn the box. 

"Thanks, wanker," Zayn replies, rolling his eyes. He unwraps the box and opens it, not revealing the contents but looking at Louis, "seriously?" 

"Cause you smell," Louis tells him as he pulls a bar of deodorant out of the box, rolling his eyes but laughing, and the other boys in the room laugh as well. 

"You're a menace," Zayn manages to say through his tears as Louis pulls the envelope from his pocket. 

"Here's your actual gift," Louis says as he hands the envelope to Zayn, who shakes his head slightly as he takes it. Louis sits back then, pulling out his phone and opening the camera - he's gotta tease Zayn for everything about to happen. 

"That's not real," Zayn says after looking at the tickets. 

"It is," Louis replies.

Zayn covers his mouth with his hand and stares at Louis for a few seconds before reacting. He jumps forward, engulfing Louis in a hug that pushes them both to the floor. 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Zayn repeats, holding onto Louis tightly. 

"Yeah, yeah, cake time now," Louis says, rolling his eyes fondly. 

"Harry's cake!" Niall shouts. As they cut pieces, Zayn tells the rest of the group about Louis' gift, tickets to his favorite band's upcoming tour, and he then goes on explaining his love for one of the members, Perrie - Liam got jealous - and his voice seemed a couple of octaves higher.

They eat the cake and Louis swears his mouth is in heaven - as it is when anything relating to Harry is put in it, including Harry's d-

"I guess we should get going, Louis's got a house full," Niall says eventually, and Liam and Harry both agree hesitantly. 

They say their goodbyes before the three leave, though right before Louis can ask Zayn if he plans to stay up longer, there's a knock on the door. 

"Just my luck this would happen again, there's a giant blizzard," Harry says with a goofy smile as soon as Louis opens the door. 

"Great! Come back in, sleepover!" Louis replies excitedly.