nobody shines the way you do » l.s.

part eighteen

Louis found Greg at a Starbucks nearby their workplace. He was sipping a cup of coffee and engrossed in his phone when he walked in. Louis quickly breathed in and breathed out to relax before making his way over to his table, smiling when Greg looked up at him. "Hi," Louis said, bending down to give him a hug.

Greg gave him a small, tentative smile as he hugged Louis back. "How are you?" he asked.

"I'm good," Louis replied, letting go. "You alright?"

He nodded his head, leaning back in his seat. Louis sat down in front of him and rubbed his hands together, trying to warm himself up. Greg looked at him and gave him another small smile when he noticed Louis looking back. "You feeling any better than last night?"

"Yeah," Louis nodded. "I wasn't like drunk or anything. Maybe a little bit tipsy, if anything. You?"

"Wasn't drunk either," he said.

Louis nodded, noticing how tense the air was, and realized he couldn't stall it any longer. He had to be honest with Greg because Greg wasn't an idiot. He could put two and two together to understand why everything happened the way it did last night. Albeit he would need an explanation. Regardless, Louis knew he owed him that much at the very least.

"So, last night was a bit of a mess," Louis started.

Greg nodded, biting his lip and looking at him expectantly. "It was, but I'm sure you can tell me how it got to be that way."

Louis nodded. "It's just--I shouldn't have ever left you alone with Peter. I knew he would have done something to mess up our night. The thing is, remember how I said he's not that great of a person?"

Greg nodded in response.

"Well," Louis continued. "He's not a big fan of me, especially, because he doesn't like my friendship with Harry. Harry said he feels threatened by it and we'd never gotten along, Peter and I. And it's always been an issue for the past few years. So, soon after you and I'd broken up, we all went out and Peter had seen me and Harry a bit too close for his liking and blew up on him."

"Yikes," Greg remarked, raising his eyebrows.

"I know. It was so dramatic and unnecessary. Anyway, I was drunk and I said some stupid things, which led Peter to believe Harry and I were dating. And for some reason, I thought it'd be a great idea to pretend to date to make Peter jealous and help Harry win him back."

"Let me guess. It wasn't a great idea."

"I mean it worked," Louis shrugged. "He got him back, but their problems didn't stop."

"So, that's it?" Greg asked.

Well, a part of it, Louis thought to himself. He gave a tentative nod and Greg let out a low whistle. "And that's why Peter was trying to create problems between us last night?"

"He's mad, really, because Harry wasn't paying attention to him. Harry was a bit upset and just wanted to keep to himself the entire night, is all."

"I saw you two come back from the bathroom at the same time," Greg said. "Did Harry tell you why he was upset then?" He gave Louis a look, which told him that Greg knew. He knew that Louis may have feelings for Harry and that there was something there. There was no point in hiding that either.

"Yeah," Louis said, shortly. "He did."

Greg nodded, pausing for a moment and looking at the other people in the Starbucks with them before turning back to Louis. "Listen," he started. "I don't want to accuse you of anything, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but did you invite me last night because you wanted to prove something to Harry and not because you actually wanted me there?"