taming mr.tomlinson [larry stylinson] ✔️

25.

As soon as Harry gets to the bar with the other teachers, he suddenly remembers how much he despised them. The feeling of being inside of a bar made him feel so dirty, maybe even filthy, and it had everything to do with what occurred inside of the bar.

People grinding up against each other as they moved off beat to the music, and the strong smell of alcohol forcing it's way up his nostrils as he walked inside. He felt like he was going through his past high school experiences all over again as he took a seat at the bar, letting out a shaky breath as he tried to tell himself to have fun. So he took the initiative to call the bartender over and ordered an alcoholic beverage, wishing that most of the teachers hadn't run off to the dance floor—Liam—because now he had to sit alone.

"Hello, Princess." Louis said, appearing in the bar stool next to Harry with a grin on his face, though he wasn't looking Harry in the eye. "Why aren't you out there dancing?"

The way Louis spoke to him always managed to take his breath away, so it took him roughly one minute to pull himself together to answer. "I'm not a good dancer. When I dance, I look like a chicken. A really, really concerning chicken." He shyly smiled when he heard Louis laugh at his joke, giving a polite smile to the bartender as he was handed over his drink. "You aren't going to order a drink?"

He knew from Principal Plowser that Louis didn't drink, but he kind of just wanted to hear it from Louis himself; maybe get a little insight on the reason why. But Louis simply shook his head and caught the bartender's attention by waving him over, looking composed and well mannered. "Can I get a water?"

"No, I mean, like, alcohol?" Harry pushed, giving a quick thank you as the bartender handed over both of their drinks carefully, then walked away to take someone else's request.

"You sure do ask a lot of questions." Louis said with amusement, taking a steady sip of his water, and Harry really needs water and Louis to be banned from interacting with each other because someone drinking water should not be this hot. Harry's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly from watching, and his cheeks heated up when he saw that Louis was eyeing him with suspicion. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry. You're just really...like, your face. I really like it—"

Suddenly, Luke was shoving himself in between the two, wrapping his arms around both of their shoulders with an obnoxious grin spread out across his face; and Harry resisted pushing him off by taking a tentative sip of his drink. Louis was really good at hiding how he was feeling, so Harry couldn't tell what the man was thinking at this point as Luke began to speak, his words slurred. "Hey! Is this fun or what?"

"What's the other option?" Louis inquired slowly, causing Harry to giggle into his drink and almost spit it out onto the table.

Even though Luke didn't hear it, he laughed and leaned in closer to Louis, who was staring at him blankly from the corner of his eye. This was something that Harry was used to, Luke being drunk up until the point where he might forget every idiotic thing he did the night before, so much of what was happening didn't phase him. But seeing Luke cuddling up to Louis was making his blood boil, and he knows that he's drinking his alcohol too fast at the moment, but he's too jealous to care about his intoxication level.

"Mr.Tomlinson, did I ever tell you that you're the most attractive man that I've ever seen?" Luke asked lowly, his pointer finger trailing up Louis' arm in attempt to get a rise out of the man, but Louis hummed and grabbed Luke's wrist to stop him.

"Mr.Hemmings, while I do enjoy your free spirit, I don't enjoy your shameless flirting with me; so if you could keep your hands to yourself, thank you." Louis replied, gently shoving Luke's arm away before standing up from the bar stool; looking at Harry, who was staring at him with glossy eyes, before walking away, disappearing into the dark.