Cupid's Defence

Chapter 11

xi.

Niall arrived at the door with a strange-shaped hat on, and confetti. Louis audibly sighed at both.

"Niall," he blinked, "Please tell me that's not the turkey hat."

"Sure is, baby!" Niall pumped his fist in the air, "Fresh from the last year o'uni."

"I don't know where you dug that thing up from," Louis walked out of the door, visibly grimacing, "But I think you should put it back there."

"For what reason was it buried?" Harry frowned, quizzically.

He followed Louis out of the door, and remarked that the latter looked very soft. It was seven o'clock, and the autumn night was quickly darkening, which meant the corridor lights shone white upon Louis' hair. He'd made some attempt to tidy it earlier, but had eventually given up to play with Angie. Harry resisted the overpowering urge to run his fingers through it, and bury his lips in the dip of Louis' shoulder.

Niall patted Louis on the back whilst he locked the door. "Haha. Louis threw up on it. Infamously."

"It's been washed since," Louis grumbled, "I mean, I hope."

His frown was helplessly adorable, and Harry wished to kiss it. He wished to kiss a many great things of Louis', and he could not begin to fathom where it all came from.

Niall just laughed as they walked down the hallway. "Anyway... You guys look great! Harry, I'm loving the shirt."

Harry looked down and beamed. It was a blue, sequined shirt that reflected the light onto the corridor walls around him, emulating a disco ball. Louis had laughed when he put it on, saying the reflections looked like tiny bubbles. Harry thought they looked more like marbles.

"Thank you," Harry smiled Niall's way, "I found it at the bottom of Louis' wardro--"

"At a store!" Louis blurted, "He found it at a store!"

Niall cackled and wrapped his arms around Louis. "You look ravishing too, my chum."

"Thanks," Louis flushed, and hastily wrangled his way from Niall's grip, "I think."

"I'm so excited," Niall sighed, as they waited for the lift, "We haven't had a sesh in ages."

"I thought you said this was going to be a quiet pub thing," Louis frowned.

"And yet, you showed up in that jacket," Niall winked, "Oh yeah. We're definitely going clubbing."

Harry did not see what he meant, but he did like the shirt that Louis was wearing. It exposed his collarbones, and was accompanied by a denim jacket that Harry wanted to steal. At Niall's words Louis put his head in his hands, and ran short, delicate fingers through his hair.

"Fuck's sake," He looked up. "Harry, are you okay with that?"

"I know of the clubbing," Harry spoke, wisely so, "It is what ABBA speak of, many times."

"See?" Niall grinned, "Harry's down for it!"

"He won't be once he sees you drunk," Louis shook his head, and the lift doors opened, "Where's Liam, anyway?"

"Oh, he's meeting us there," Niall said, "For some reason, he didn't want to be seen with me with the hat on."

Louis sent a blank glance Niall's way. "I wonder why."

"I, too, am excited," Harry beamed, and placed his hands behind his back, "I have not yet 'pubbed' before."

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