Yours Truly

II

Keeping true to his word, Niall struggled jogging up beside Liam and Louis, who both always led the team runs, during practice.

"Liam," Niall gasped, once he was close enough behind him and sure he could hear him.

"You're really breaking a sweat there, Horan," one of their teammates chimed in with a smug grin.

"Oh shove off, Greene."

Liam and Louis, who both had briefly looked over their shoulders, laughed. Niall wasn't sure why but - the way they laughed so easily, no struggle with breathing as they jogged and laughed, while Niall was practically dying - it made him mad.

"Yeah, keep laughing. Nothing but a pair of tossers," Niall muttered, shoving between both of them roughly. His sudden anger filled him with energy and he ran ahead a few meters before them.

"What was that for?!" Louis shouted in shock.

He had never had any problems with Horan nor had he seen him do anything besides laugh and smile. Now suddenly he had shoved him and was running with a deep frown.

"Drop it, Lou," Liam said. "I got this."

Liam pushed himself forward to catch up with Niall, who was now leading the team run.

"Hey," Liam called. "Niall, slow down would you?"

"How's it feel?" Niall snapped.

It was safe to say that Liam was utterly confused. Niall and him had just had a friendly normal conversation in the locker rooms and now he was being a bit of a jerk.

"What? I just want to know what you needed. You don't have to get all hostile!"

Niall soon realized how he had gotten angry over nothing. He let it drop with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"Yeah, sorry," he apologized.

Liam accepted it silently.

"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

By then, the pair had slowed down their jog and Louis had caught up right behind them.

"Uh, w-was uh wondering if you wanted to h-hang out sometime?" Niall stuttered.

"Careful, Payne!" Coach Styles yelled from the sidelines.

Liam had stumbled and nearly fell right on his face. He gave the coach a thumbs up to let him know he was fine.

This was the first time in nearly two years that Niall had reached out to hang out. When Liam had grown distant back then, Niall just let him. He figured why bother to keep a friendship going if there wasn't an equal amount of effort from both sides. They had fallen apart and only spoke to each other on the field or back home when they were with their dads.

"Liam?"

Liam hadn't realized how long he had gone silent. He wasn't going to miss out on a chance to reconcile with his old best friend though.

"Sorry," he laughed nervously. "I would love to though! You just let me know when and where, yeah?"

"Uh, actually hows after practice sound? Me and Harry always get burgers and milkshakes at Jo's Diner."

Liam wasn't sure why but when Niall had mentioned Harry, his happy spirit deflated a bit.

"Yeah, that's good. Is - uh - Harry coming then?"

"That's not a problem is it?" Niall asked, getting skeptical because of Liam's tone.

"No, no! Absolutely not. Was just wondering so that I could invite Louis along," Liam said.

Louis had been running along, deep in thoughts with his head down. When the team captain heard his name, his head shot up.

"Me what?" Louis questioned.

"You want to go get burgers and milkshakes with Niall and Harry after practice?" Liam asked him over his shoulder.

Louis contemplated for a second but after Liam shot him a pleading look, he knew what his answer had to be.

"Yeah, sure thing," he smiled at both of them before going back to the thoughts in his head.

"That's settled then," Liam announced, sending a friendly smile in Niall's direction.

Niall nodded happily. He smile reached his eyes because he was just so excited to reconnect with his old best friend and also do something for his new best friend. Speaking of, Niall couldn't wait to tell Harry the good news. His plan had worked out better and easier than planned.

After the team finished their final lap, Niall ran over to Harry, who had a water bottle ready for him.

"I saw you talking to Louis and Liam," Harry mentioned.

"Yeah," Niall said casually.

He was purposely teasing his friend. Niall could see how eager Harry was to know every word they had exchanged.

"What do you mean, yeah? So what did you guys talk about? Did you ask them to hang out? Please don't tell me you made it obvious."

"Harry, calm down," the Irish lad laughed. "It went smooth, mate. I asked Liam to burgers and milkshakes after practice. Told him you were coming and he then asked Louis to go. Who said yes, by the way. Easy peasy."

Harry had to resist the urge to squeal and jump around with joy. He just couldn't believe it. Harry Styles, the water boy of the University of London's football team and a reserved music major, was finally going to hang out with the Louis Tomlinson, who was perfect in every way.

"Thank you so much, Niall," Harry exclaimed, bringing his best friend into a quick yet extremely tight hug. "This means a lot."

"No problem," Niall said. "Plus I think it's time I let the old grunge against Liam go. Especially if you're gonna end up dating his best friend. Then we can all be mates."

Niall was teasing again and it worked like a charm because Harry turned a deep shade of red at the mention of dating Louis.

"Don't get my hopes up," he mumbled.

"Oh come on. Even if he isn't your secret admirer, I'm sure once he gets to know you he's gonna be at your feet."

At the mention of his secret admirer, Harry went deep into his thoughts. Who could possibly have sent that note? Harry truly hoped that by some miracle it was from Louis. Not only because he was crushing on him but because he couldn't bear to let whoever it was down when he told them that he actually liked someone else, that someone else being Louis.