Tranquility

Second meeting

He calls the next day.

"Hi Harry, it's Louis."

"Hi!" I sound way too excited.

"I had a great time last night." He says.

"Me too." I immediately reply.

"Are you busy today?" He asks.

"No."

"Do you wanna hang out? Maybe we could go for a pizza or something. I'm a bit hungover, to be honest." He chuckles.

"Me too. Yeah, okay. I just woke up, though. Can you give me an hour? I need to take a shower." I say.

"Yeah, yeah, of course. Uhm, wanna meet me at Central Station in an hour?" He suggests.

"Sure."

As soon as we hang up, I rush out of bed and hit the shower. An hour later, I'm at the central station. Louis shows up five minutes later.

"Hi, Harry." He smiles and goes in for a hug. He smells amazing.

"Hi."

"Do you have a favourite pizza joint nearby?" He asks.

"Not really." I shrug.

"Alright. There's a decent one a block from here." Louis suggests.

I agree, and we walk out of the station. I glance at him.
"How are you?"

"As I said, hungover, but otherwise I'm doing pretty well. How are you?" He retorts.

"Me? I'm fine, hungover too." I say.

He giggles. It's adorable.
"Your friend Niall drank us under the table. I like him. He seems nice."

"He's the best! I like Oli too. A bit shy, isn't he?" I ask.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. I've known Oli since high school. He's shy around new people, but as soon as he feels comfortable, he opens up. He's a funny guy." Louis smiles.

"Alright."

"How long have you known Niall?" He asks. Smiles at me. His eyes are so blue.

"We were roomates at Uni."

"Oh, okay."

He continues to chat about this and that, asking me questions about my family and where I grew up. We reach the pizza place and make our orders, and find a table. I need to say something. I twist uncomfortable.
"Louis? Have you heard about something called The Florence Nightingale syndrome? Or that's not exactly correct. That is about a caretaker. Ehm, like hero worship, maybe?"

"What are you getting at?" He asks.

"When someone saves you, you sometimes develop feelings for that person out of gratitude, like, you form an attachment to your rescuer...."

I blush. He stares at me.
"What? Well, teqnically, my rescuer is a paramedic named Burt." He says ironically.

I turn even redder.
"Right, I..."

"Harry, I'm thankful for you being there at me worst. It was such a dark time. I'm sorry I have to break it to you though, I'm not in love with you." He chuckles.

I wanna sink through the floor.
"Of course not! I'm sorry. I just had to address it."

"I get it. Alright, full disclosure. I think you are a great guy, and I'm attracted to you. I would like to get to know you, but if you can't see past the dark and twisted guy you talked to over the phone, I don't wanna do this. I don't need another therapist. The one I'm seeing is great. I'm also not magically cured from a trip to the psych ward, but I'm not suicidal anymore, and I'm working through me grief and guilt, and I have the support I need." Louis says and looks at me intensely the whole time.

I bite my lower lip.
"You're attracted to me?"

He throws his head back in a loud cackle.
"Geez, that's the only thing you heard from all that?"

"No, I heard all of it, and I would like to respond. As long as this isn't a Florence Nightingale syndrome situation..."

"It's not!"

"Okay! Sorry. Full disclosure, I'm attracted to you too, and you intrigue me."

"I intrigue you?" He questions.

"Yeah, I would like to get to know you because even at your darkest, you still had humour, and you're smart. You once told me that you see the world through Fibbonacci sequences and double dutch, and that stuck with me."

He laughs.
"Fuck, I really did say that. It sounds really fucking pretentious. Sorry about that."

"It's poetic, Louis. With that said, I can see past the dark and twisted guy. I'm just glad you're doing better."

We smile at each other, and then our pizzas arrive.