Fortuitous » h.s

Chapter 2 - Aubrey

I'd known that Eleanor's boyfriend was Louis, but I honestly just didn't think hard enough to realize… yeah. Call it a mistake - a stupid one. Harry seems like a nice lad; but that's all he is. He’s a great friend, though. I mean, let's be honest, not loads of guys will defend a complete stranger from a drunk guy they knew nothing about. But Harry did. And I'll admit it, I owe him big time.

"We're here," Eleanor's voice broke my train of thought as I returned with a silent smile and hopped out of the car.

We walked out of the car and were soon joined by Harry and Louis. The four of us walked into the building and into the elevator. As we were waiting, El and Louis were whispering and giggling.

"What," I whined, putting on a pout.

Eleanor shook her head. "We're just talking about team Haubrey," She had hardly finished before bursting into laughter. I glared at my friend who once again only laughed.

Harry was laughing quietly and trying to hide it by faking a cough. He walked over to Louis and whispered something I couldn’t understand before Louis burst into giggles. I rolled my eyes dramatically and grinned.

We made our way down the hallway together, everyone stopping at the flat door that read the number “513.” Not even bothering to knock, Harry strolled into the flat. I followed him nervously, taking in the appearance of the place. There were two leather couches set up, sitting across from each other, along with a dark wooden coffee table placed in between the two couches. Two matching leather seats were on either end of the couches, making it look like a little meeting area. The flat was gorgeous, with a beautiful view of the city outside of the window. If you looked to the left, you could see a medium-sized kitchen opening, but you couldn’t see much into the actual kitchen itself, due to the walls closing it off. A small hallway was lead off next to it, presumably leading to the bedrooms. I could practically feel the expensive-ness radiating off of the place. Despite that feeling, the casual banter coming from the main room made the place feel homey, and the occasional piece of clutter reminded me someone did live here.

The three men I didn’t know, but recognized as other members of the band stood up. "You must be Aubrey. I'm Liam." One boy said, standing. He had brown hair, probably a few shades lighter than Harry’s, and was tall and bulky. I shook his hand as he introduced the rest of them to me. Niall, the blonde one, ordered pizza as we all sat in the living room and made small talk. Zayn was cool the majority of the time, his voice deep in comparison to the rest, making him easier to pick out in conversations. I was seated next to Harry and Eleanor, with Liam and Zayn across from us and Louis seated next to El. Niall was in the other room making calls for the pizza, I presume.

Eventually Niall brought out the alcohol. I wasn't even sure when, or where he got it, and I couldn't bother as much to care. I found myself tipsy and leaning against Harry, who was pretty drunk by that time. Before I could tell what was going on, we were all sat in a circle on the floor with shots around us. Louis would do the countdowns as we downed them. I think I stopped after two... Or was it three? Even with the fogginess of the alcohol, I could tell that everyone's had more to drink than they should and nobody was about to drive. Of course, nobody really cared. We continued our drunken shenanigans well into the night, not giving a damn about anything. The least drunk of us was Liam, he was pretty tipsy though. I had planned to stay with El the whole time but she and Louis went off in the guest bedroom and I don't think I wanted to find out what was going on in there.

After hanging around for an hour or so - hell, I don't even know how long it was, could've been three days and I wouldn't have been able to tell - everyone crashed in Niall's living room.

*

I woke up and quickly felt that I wasn't in a bed, but on top of a person. As I flicked my eyes open, I was met with closed eyelids and a mop of curls. I rolled off of him halfheartedly, feeling my head throb and my throat close as I moved. It took me a moment to remember where I was, and the flashes of last night poured into my throbbing head. Liam was already awake - most likely since he drank the least amount of alcohol - and gave me some water and Advil, which I was thankful for.