Bang & Blame [Larry Stylinson]

Chapter Four

Pizza boxes warming his hands, keys jingling in his pocket, Louis treks up three flights of stairs to his apartment. Curse the idiot who put the elevator out of service, forcing him to exercise properly for the first time since he moved in.

Louis pauses outside of his apartment to unlock the door. He calls out to Liam, his flatmate, but the only sound he receives in response is the couch squeaking. He furrows his eyebrows.

"Liam?"

He slowly walks into the living room, immediately wishing he hadn't. He almost drops the pizza to the ground in surprise, and he quickly turns around.

"For fuck's sake!"

Liam has Andrea, his girlfriend, spread out on the couch, her legs over his shoulders. She screeches, and Louis hears the rustling of the blanket on the back of the couch being thrown over them.

"Are you two decent yet?" Louis asks.

"Yes."

He turns around cautiously, just in case one of them were to be lying, and he lets out a relieved sigh when he sees them covered up by the blanket.

He holds up the pizza boxes. "I'm going to grab plates and drinks. You two better have clothes on by the time I'm back."

Louis sets the boxes on the table and scrubs his palms over his face as he heads to the kitchen. Since Liam and Andrea got serious two years back, Louis has seen them in far too many compromising situations. More than he'd like to admit.

When he comes back to the living room, only Liam is sitting on the couch, his cheeks flaming. He's playing with his fingers, looking at the carpet.

"Where's Andrea?" Louis asks.

"Bathroom," Liam answers, looking up. The distant sound of running water confirms it.

Louis shakes his head in disbelief as he lays plates out on the coffee table.

"I come home with dinner and you repay me by giving your girlfriend oral on my couch," Louis says in a huff.

Liam goes even redder, but he snaps back.

"Tell that to all your one night stands I've been forced to listen to you having," he says. "Living with you was probably a damaging decision."

Louis merely shrugs. "Probably. Tell Andrea to get her ass in here."

"Save your breath," she says, patting him on the cheek. She curls up beside Liam on the couch, head on his chest, and reaches for two slices of pizza.

Louis takes a bite. "Your days were good then?"

Liam scowls. "Leave us be, Louis. This isn't the first time. You should be used to it by now."

"Fine."

"How was your day, Louis?" Andrea asks.

He shrugs, but a smile plays at the corner of his lips. "Decent."

She eyes him. "That smile says otherwise."

"There's this really cute guy that works at the library," Louis says.

"How cute?" Andrea asks.

"Proper cute," Louis answers. "Dimples, curly hair, green eyes. And he's shy. He blushes every time someone speaks to him."

Andrea and Liam exchange a look.

"What are you going to do about it?" he asks.

"I talked him into staying late with me," Louis says. "I spouted some bullshit about getting a promotion. Which would be nice, but I only wanted to get to know him."

Andrea cracks a smile.

"What's his name?"

"Harry," Louis answers. "But he's got a boyfriend, which completely sucks."

Liam frowns. "Damn."

"I know. What luck, right?" Louis reaches for another slice of pizza. "His boyfriend is a total nut job."

"You've met him?" Liam asks.

Louis nods. "Yeah, he drops by the library every day. He's crazy possessive. He's always touching Harry, getting up in his face. And he lectured me for talking to him. I don't know what the hell his problem is, but he's crazy."

Andrea frowns. "That doesn't sound normal."

Louis shrugs. "I'm not going to intervene. Their relationship is their business."

"And if this guy is actually crazy, you'll probably only make it worse," Liam says. "Stay out of it, Louis. Meddling isn't worth it."

"Yeah," Louis says. "Yeah, of course. I won't meddle."

Liam eyes him. "You better not. Now, who's up for a shit horror movie?"

-

After his shift on Monday, Louis finds Harry by the classic novel section. He's got his long curls tied up in a bun, and his nose is buried in a book. Louis smiles.

"Your hair looks nice," he says.

Harry jumps, dropping the book in surprise. He doesn't say anything. Instead, his cheeks darken and he reaches up to tug at the elastic. Curls spill over his shoulders, and he snaps the elastic on his wrist.

Louis frowns. "Why did you do that?"

"My hair looks dumb when it's up like that," Harry says, shrugging. "I only did it to get it out of my face."

"Does your boyfriend tell you that?"

Harry can't meet his eyes. He doesn't say anything, but his silence speaks louder than any words ever could.

"Well, he's wrong. You look good no matter how you do your hair," Louis says. He gently touches Harry's arm, but he jerks away.

"Do you like me or something?" he asks. "Because you're always trying to flirt with me."

"Getting ahead of ourselves, are we?" Louis smiles. "But yeah, I was trying to."

"I have a boyfriend."

"And I don't date taken guys."

Harry stares him down. Louis takes the moment to drink him in. There's a dark freckle by his lip, and his forehead is dotted with acne scars. His eyelashes cast shadows over his delicate cheek bones, and his lips are so pink, so pouty.

He's the most beautiful person Louis' ever seen.

"Can I get your number?" he asks.

Harry hesitates. "I don't know. My boyfriend wouldn't like that if he found out."

"Just as friends," Louis says. "I'm not going to come between you two, or anything like that. You love him and I respect that."

"Right." Harry looks down, lips pressed in a thin line. "Alright, you can have my number. But I don't text very often, and when I do, I can't talk for very long."

Louis passes him his phone. "Here, put your number in."

With shaky hands, Harry types his number into Louis' phone. He passes it back to him and stands up on trembling legs. Louis is stupidly endeared.

"How about I start teaching you how to shelve now?" Harry asks.

Louis smiles. "Alright."

When he returns home after work, Andrea rolls her eyes at his dopey grin and hands him a plate of leftover pasta.

"Had a good day then, Casanova?"

Louis is far too happy to tease back.