1D AF

College AU Larry

BASED OFF THIS:
my favorite college experience is when i had a 7am class and the kid next to me literally poured a monster energy drink into his coffee said "i'm going to die" and drank the whole thing

~

Louis didn't know which re-incarnation of the devil decided that college wasn't torture enough, and felt the need to make some classes begin at the ungodly hour of 7 in the morning, but whoever they were; Louis hated them... with passion. His sleep schedule was fucked enough as it was before he was told he needed to drag himself out of his dormitory at this hour.

One pen in the back pocket of his barely clean jeans, and headphones blaring the loudest music he could find, he dragged himself through the door and headed towards class.
He walked up to the coffee shop just by the complex and stared at the barista, who, within minutes was handing Louis a dangerously strong cup of coffee.

One of Louis' friends; Stan, who was also destined for the same torture that Louis was, held out a Monster energy drink as Louis walked by. Ignoring the coffee in his hands, Louis took that too and begrudgingly pushed open the doors, sheltering his eyes from the blistering lecture room lights.

Of course there was only one seat left in this room. Louis shot daggers at his friends all sitting together as he slid into the available seat. It was too close to the front for Louis' liking and the chances of Louis surviving the year sitting here seemed slim at best.

Louis shifted over and gave the boy next to him a once over. Louis didn't think he would ever find someone more different to him. His hair was long, styled and in ringlets falling around his face, his smile was tattooed onto his face and his soft aftershave exuded the expensive vibe. In his hands he held not a phone like the majority of other students, or breakfast, or anything any normal human would ever be caught dead drinking...

Kale.

A bright green Kale smoothie in one of those reusable, "earth friendly" glass cups. Louis tried not to look so disgusted and instead turned to the drinks in his hands. Louis clearly wasn't thinking straight when he poured the monster into his coffee and whispered "I'm going to die" before downing half the drink in one gulp.

The boy next to him perked up and asked "What was that?" eyebrows raised and enthusiasm warming the air around him.

Louis, instead of making some snide comment, decided to offer him the deadly drink. The boy shook his head, curls flying around his head and dimples appearing in his cheeks. He was so awake for this time of the morning, and so contagiously cheery that Louis found himself unwillingly smiling too.

"You sure?" Louis offered, one last time.
Instead of replying, the boy just nodded, grinning and picking up the pen on his desk, ready to take notes now that the professor had walked into the room.

Louis chugged the rest of his drink and sighed, waiting impatiently for the caffeine to kick in so he could feel at least a little more awake.

The rest of the class involved the two of them sneaking glances at each other and making very subtle eye contact every now and then, at which they both blushed and pretended never happened.
The boy's phone went off and he hid his embarrassment as he tried to silence the Marimba tone that it was very loudly making. Louis held back a giggle and mentally noted the boy's name; Harry.

Louis probably would have started making sassy comments under his breath regarding the lecture, and trying to get to know the boy, but he was too busy, well... doing nothing. He wasn't taking notes or even half paying attention because the nerves he felt were something he wasn't used to at all. In part, it could have been the high content of caffeine coursing through his bloodstream, but he thought it was more nerves than anything else.

Harry was nervous too, not like he normally was shy around other guys. He had a natural charm about him that made other guys absolutely weak, yet this time, Harry was the one who felt overwhelmed. He hadn't touched his highlighters or his smoothie or even taken down a page worth of notes. He looked down and found that the lines he was tracing on the page were words and drawings, a mental image of how he planned to ask out the boy sitting next to him. Despite their obvious differences there was just something irresistible about him. Something different that Harry wasn't used to, but wished he could be.

He reached for his smoothie just as Louis reached for his pen which had started rolling along the desk. Their hands brushed and they both hastily pulled away, neither wanting to be the one who had initiated anything. A blush rose in both of their cheeks and they pretended to continue taking notes, wishing that they had the confidence to do something more.

Class eventually ended and both boys stood up and turned to face each other; Louis ignoring his friends and every other person around them. Whilst Louis had planned to get out of there as soon as he could, he found himself wanting to stay.

"It's Harry, by the way."

A few hours ago Louis regretted everything, the idea of getting out of bed and even standing up before midday was miserable at best, yet now, he regretted nothing other than his inability to open his mouth.
Harry spoke up instead. "You offered me that shit but you can't tell me your name?"
Not exactly how Harry had planned to ask him out, but he guessed it would have to do. Both boys burst out laughing and Louis, between breaths managed, "Louis, but you can call me Lou."