Hate me to the Moon

Chapter 6

"S'great to see you bro ! I feel like we haven't seen each other for ages..." Liam smiles, looking guilty as if he had been blaming himself for the sudden distance with his friend.

"Yeah...I'm sorry Li..." Harry says when he hugs him, making him tighten the embrace as if to say it back.

"Hey Liam !" Louis calls from behind them after climbing the fence.

"Hi mate !"

They clap their hands together and Harry is expecting it to stop at that, but Liam pulls Louis in his other arm, rests his chin on his shoulder, and pats his back; and Harry may or may not grin too much witnessing them reaching a new level of friendship right in front of him.

Louis had convinced Harry to call Liam to hang out, and invite him along to prove they were nothing but friendly. With the bad weather, none of them were willing to do anything outdoorsy though, so they ended up sitting on Liam's bed to binge watch The Big Bang Theory.

Harry and Liam share an obsession for that show, so they were glad when Louis said he actually liked it too. He eyes Harry weirdly when he corrects the characters if they misuse a scientific term, and half judges Liam when he laughs at a sexist joke, but overall they're just giggling every five minutes and it's comfortable, no mention of anything going on from Liam.

Harry's friend was sitting between them anyway, so they didn't have to be scared of showing too much affection in front of him. They do sometimes talk as if there's no one else in the room, and share knowing looks, and laugh in sync when no one's said anything funny because their brains are apparently connected...but Liam seems to just enjoy not having them bicker.

"Harry's like Sheldon. Hundred per cent." Liam says when they wonder which character they identify with the most.

"I actually am..." Harry giggles and hides his face in his hands.

He knows he's a bit of a nerd. He knows he always corrects people anytime they're wrong about scientific related topics, knows he pities people for their ignorance sometimes, knows he can feel lost when people are talking about mainstream things or trends he has no idea about, and knows he shouldn't be this passionate about Marvel characters...But he has no issue with that whatsoever, and it gives Sheldon Cooper an engaging personality, so maybe it can work for him as well.

"Minus the socially impaired part though !" He adds, and tries to ignore the few quiet coughs disagreeing with him. But what's wrong with spending a whole week skipping calls and declining friends invites to finish a book locked in his room ?

"I think I'm more like Leonard. Minus the genius part." Liam states.

He is indeed a bit clumsy with women and has a tendency to obsess over a girl for years if she dares say one word to him. He's not as much into science, but he's got every personal trait that guy represents. And he has to put up with his own version of Sheldon as his best mate, when he's in Nice anyway, so he might be his real life version really.

"Who am I like though ?" Louis asks himself. Liam frowns to think, but Harry already has the answer ready.

"You're Penny." He says, almost like he'd thought about it before.

"Are you saying I'm a light-minded alcoholic failed actress with dad issues ?" Louis turns to face Harry over Liam, clearly offended. "Who ends up with a sexist self-obsessed walking insecurity on top of it ?...No offense bro." He adds, lowering his voice to sound polite when he speaks to Liam.

"Non tak-" Liam starts but is completely ignored as Harry speaks over him.

"I'm saying you're a confident and strong woman who chases her dreams and comes out of nowhere to change the boys' life and make them see how being wrong can be a good thing sometimes." Harry says firmly, facing Louis who's waiting for him to say one bad thing to storm out of the room. "And everyone knows Penny would be with Sheldon if social construct didn't make their appearance this incompatible."