lonely hearts club | zianourry au [COMPLETE]

four

niall meets louis next.

he doesn't mean to. he's avoiding harry with everything within him. he sits at the opposite side of the room for his english. 

"you're not coming to your own club," calum frowns at him one day during lunch. he hunts his best friend down, finding him sitting in the lunchroom by himself. 

"i know," niall says back. he wrinkles his nose. "i'm avoiding harry."

"well, maybe he won't come," calum suggests, and niall rolls his eyes at him. "don't look at me like that. it's no fun when you don't come."

"you seem to be having plenty of fun with luke," niall responds dryly, and calum's cheek flush pink.

"shut up," he mumbles. "you made me start this stupid club. you have to f --" he hesitates, "fuckin' come."

niall looks up at calum in surprise. "did you just swear at me?"

"yeah," calum responds, glaring. 

niall lets out a sigh. he knows calum is right, that he has to come to his own club. plus, calum never swears, so he must mean this. "fine," he says, "but if harry shows up, i'm leaving."

"okay," calum nods, looking much happier that niall is coming. they make their way to the room. halfway through the trek, calum has to reach back and take niall's hand because he's turned around twice now.

when they get there, harry is standing there, holding hands with someone. niall fights the urge to roll his eyes.

"bye," he tells calum, fully intending to leave the room immediately.

"seriously? you won't even say hi?" harry smirks.

"i don't take time out of my day to greet cheating a-holes," niall replies dryly.

"oh, he is cute," the guy holding hands with harry smiles. niall softens a little, unwillingly. his smile is really cute. "hi, i'm louis."

"hi," niall says awkwardly. he points to harry. "you know he has a boyfriend, right?"

louis laughs. "liam? yeah, i know."

"..." niall is shocked into silence for a second. "you know," he repeats.

louis nods. "yeah, i'm dating liam, too."

"i told you it was complicated," harry smiles. he looks way too satisfied standing there.

niall doesn't know what to say, and looks over at calum in desperation. calum just shrugs. he has no idea what to say either.

"um. okay," niall replies.

"you didn't properly explain?" louis asks harry.

"no," harry answers, "he just kind of flipped out on me and called me a cheating a-hole." louis snorts.

"to be fair, you just said that your relationship was complicated," niall points out.

louis smacks harry's arm. "you should've let liam explain. or zayn."

niall's so confused. "you're dating zayn, too?" niall doesn't know zayn, but he knows of him. he's one of the popular guys in the school -- calum has described him as, 'a beautiful man. a very beautiful man. you could cut your arm on his jawline.'

"it's complicated," harry answers.

"stop saying that!" niall and louis exclaim at the same time. the fact that louis feels the same about this as niall does makes niall beam at him.

"oh my god! that was so cute!" louis gasps out, and niall blushes. there's no discreet way for him to hide his face, so he just covers it with his hands. when his face feels less like he's going to explode, he uncovers it, just to see both harry and louis smirking at him. it's unnerving. 

"stop staring at me!" he yelps uncomfortably. he looks to calum to save him, but his best friend is just staring at him with an amused smile on his face.

"zayn should explain," harry says to louis. "he's good at that kind of thing."

louis nods, and then turns to niall. "want zayn to explain?"

"that rhymed," niall responds, because he has no idea what to say to that, honestly.

"dork," calum mutters, and niall nudges him. "you should go."

niall whips his head around to stare at him. "are you crazy?! they want to explain their multi-person relationship and you think i should go?"

"i mean...you think they're hot," calum points out. out of the corner, niall sees harry smirk again. he ignores it. "like...all of them."

niall lets out a loud huff. "okay. fine. let zayn explain."

- - -

so. zayn is hot.

niall shouldn't have been surprised by this, but he's hot. really, really hot, and it's frightening. he finds himself shifting closer to harry, whose hotness is no longer intimidating.

"so you're niall," zayn greets him, smiling. somehow his smile makes him look even hotter. it's confusing.

"you have to explain it to him," louis says, dropping himself in zayn's lap and stealing a few chips off of his plate. zayn kisses the side of his head. "because harry's done a shit job."

"i have not," harry says, offended.

"yes, you have," niall responds without thinking, and both louis and zayn laugh.

"very cute," zayn says, grinning. niall goes pink again. he feels like he's constantly blushing when he's around these boys. "well, niall, the best way to explain our relationship is that we are all dating each other, i guess. liam and i started dating first, and then louis, and then harry. it just kind of...happened."

"...what about, like...jealousy?" niall questions. he just can't wrap his head around this.

zayn shrugs. "there doesn't seem to be much of a problem with it, honestly? i don't know. we all trust each other very much. maybe that's why it works out so well."

"um. okay," niall replies.

"so," harry says and niall looks over at him.

"so what?" niall asks.

"so...is this something you would be interested in possibly being a part of?"

niall's mind goes blank with shock. "what?"

"you heard me," harry responds.

"you...wait. wait. slow down. pump your fuckin' brakes. i don't even know you," niall blurts.

"no one's saying jump into a relationship," zayn smiles. "we're just asking if you think it'd be a possibility."

"i...i don't know," niall says, shaking his head. "i've never even dated one person. i don't know."

"how about this...what if you went on a date with each of us and then made your decision?" louis suggests.

"i...i don't know," niall says again. it seems like all he knows how to say.

"i think it's a good idea," harry says lowly, suddenly whispering in niall's ear. he shivers, the rough sound of harry's voice making goosebumps raise.

"stop harassing him, harry," zayn scolds harry. niall is able to think more clearly when he steps away. "look, just let us know, niall, okay? no pressure either way, yeah?" his gaze has gone gentle, fond, his eyes soft as melted caramel, and niall can't say no. 

so he nods, like the idiot he is.