I Love You, Man (Larry Stylinson AU)

Chapter 05: Lads

The two men rally up the pitch, gaining in speed and bashing arms against each other as they near the goal. Louis looks ahead, sizing up his shot. He aims, kicks...

And scores.

"Suck it!" Stan yells in frustration as he rips off his goalkeeper gloves and whips them to the ground.

"Nice try, Stan. Sweet block!" although he played his opposition today, Louis continues to commend his teammate as always. "Good job."

Stan simply stares at him, flipping him the bird in response.

"Way to go, buddy," Louis shrugs off the matter, trying to keep things friendly for his own sake. "Great block!"

Stan turns on his heel and saunters off the pitch, where a muffled, "Fuck off!" can be heard just before he's out of earshot.

·

"Bro, really sorry I lost my shit out there," Stan gives Louis a quick handshake once they're back in the locker room. "I just did not see that attack coming."

"Hey, man, don't worry," Louis chuckles, taking a heavy gulp from his water bottle. "You know, you ended with a pretty sweet dive."

"Anybody seen my shin guards?"

"Did you look under your cleats, dick wicker?"

"Fuck you, Rob!"

"Fuck you, Geoff."

"Classic," Louis chuckles at his teammates' usual banter.

"Thank you, Rob!" Geoff playfully prods Rob's pudgy stomach, making Rob let out an entirely gawky and entirely fake laugh before slapping his mate on the back.

Louis puts on a smile, hoping to charm his way into whatever the lads' plans are for the night.

"Hey, so you guys want to, like, get some grub or grab a beer or something?" he asks aloud, looking around at the group of athletic men.

"We're actually heading up to Joshua Tree tonight," Geoff says hesitantly.

"Oh, yeah?" Louis grins. "What's going on up there?"

"We're just doing this thing for Geoff," Stan explains. "You know, kind of a bachelor party slash camping trip kind of thing. You know," he shrugs nonchalantly.

Louis would be lying if he said he didn't fall into a four-second shock at the very least.

"I didn't even know you were getting married!" he finally manages to blurt out.

"Yeah," Geoff says stiffly. "Taking the leap next Sunday."

"Great!" Louis simply continues to smile.

"Dirty little slut," Stan chuckles as he grips onto Geoff's arse.

"He's gonna lose his virginity finally," Rob smirks, making Stan chuckle wickedly.

"I've fucked my girlfriend," Geoff looks at Louis. "He's kidding."

"Right on! Very cool. Very, very cool," Louis can't stop himself from shutting up. And once again, his sickeningly sweet grin is nowhere near genuine. "That's awe- cool."

If Louis could stick his head in a blender right now, he would.

"I would've invited you, man. I just- didn't think that you'd be into it," Geoff explains sympathetically. "You never really come out with us after practice and stuff, so-"

"Oh, no, dude..." Louis raises his hands in protest, starting to feel ashamed not only for himself. "Seriousl- Don't even. It's so fine, really," he exaggerates immensely, making himself cringe.

Louis watches as the other three lads keep their mouths shut, just nodding along to every word he says. The secondhand embarrassment in the room is radiating off of the walls. And Louis just can't make himself shut up.

The levy has broken and now it's just pouring out.

But Louis can't just stand here congratulating his acquaintance when he has his own news to share. His original initiative to come here today was to inform the lads that he's looking for a best man. And hopefully find that best man while he's at it.

This is his only shot. It's a shitty one but he's all out in the open now. He might as well continue to walk into the fire.

"Thanks, though. Thank you, but..." Louis feels himself blabbing on so he quickly advances the subject. "You know, it's funny, actually. I just got engaged myself."

The three men all share their surprised reactions as Rob lets out an exceedingly long, "Woooooow." Maybe he's high, Louis thinks.

"You did?!" Stan blurts out. "Congratulations!"

"That's awesome," Geoff nods along, smiling for once.

"Mazel tov," Rob drones, grinning.

"That's great," Stan tells Louis wholeheartedly, visibly sincere in his regards.

"Good luck with that..." if words could be clumsy, Geoff would be all over the floor.

"Thank you," Louis smiles at him uneasily. "And you too."

"Thanks," Geoff returns the smile.

"Yeah..." Louis' vision trails to the floor as an awkward silence fills the room.

"Alright!" Stan voices confidently. "Well, we should probably hit the road..."

"Traffic," Rob agrees.

"Yes," Geoff hums. He begins to make his way out of the locker room with the two other guys in tow.

"Have a blast," Louis rests with an arm against his locker door, smiling away at the three men.

"Shotgun!" Rob calls out mindlessly.

"We'll be back on Wednesday, right?" Stan points at Louis enthusiastically, walking backwards past the row of benches as he follows the two men out.

"Yeah," Louis shifts his stance, feeling like he should say something more. "Play a U2 record while you're there!"

"Good," Stan laughs out loud as he reaches the door. Louis can tell it was forced. "'Cause of Joshua Tree."

"That's right."

Louis grins stupidly, watching the guys walk away until they're gone from his sight and out the door. That's when he lets his face fall.

I fucked up, is all he can think in this moment.

And not just now, but Louis has been fucking up for as long as he can remember. The lads were right, he has never gone out with them after a match. Them, or anyone else for that matter. Not even his eccentric co-workers after a long day of work.

How is Louis supposed to find a best man for his wedding when he doesn't even have a best friend? Or any real friend, for that matter?

This is going to be harder than he thought.

·

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