I Love You, Man (Larry Stylinson AU)

Chapter 06: Women

Louis arrives home to the chatter of Eleanor's usual group of girlfriends.

He places his ring of keys on the shelf in the foyer and takes a peek into the living room. The eight familiar women are all sat around the living room sofas, laughing and sipping on champagne, as Louis goes unnoticed.

"No, I'm serious!" Perrie continues her conversation over the screams and squeals of her friends around her. "You know what my favorite nights are? Hanging out with you girls. And I can do that guilt-free because Zayn loves hanging out with his friends, too," she smiles at the young women endearingly. "I mean, every weekend there's a golf getaway, a ski trip, a weekend in Vegas..."

"Wait, Vegas?" one of the girls suddenly interrupts her. "You're not worried he's gonna cheat on you?"

"He's twenty pounds underweight with pointless tattoos and scrawny limbs," Perrie says blankly, making all the women burst out laughing into their drinks. "Look, I love the guy to death, but I'm far and away the best-looking woman he's ever gonna get, and I'm only a 7, so, come on."

Louis smiles and silently advances into the kitchen as the volume of the girls raises, all shouting protests at how Perrie is so much more than a seven. Even Louis has to chuckle agreeably to himself at that.

Louis spends his next little while in the kitchen, tactily preparing multiple hot chocolate drinks with whipped cream and cinnamon sticks for the women in the living room. He hasn't had the best day, so he figures he might as well do something nice for Eleanor and her friends to get his mind off of it.

As he finishes making the desserts, Louis places all eight glasses onto a wooden serving tray. He's finally about to enter the living room, until he hears a subtle change in conversation.

"Louis is not a freak..." Eleanor says quietly to the group of girls.

Louis frowns to himself. The tray is still in his hands as he peers through the crack in the door separating the kitchen from the living room.

"I don't know, El... I mean, I think this is kind of serious," a young brunette tells her. "A guy without friends can be really clingy." The woman looks a few years older than Eleanor and Louis has definitely seen her here before, but he can't remember her name for the life of him. Louis shakes his head, still listening, completely mute, as she goes on. "My brother-in-law drives my sister crazy. He's always like; When are you gonna be home? Where are you going? Can I come with you?"

"That's terrible!" Eleanor cuts in as Louis rolls his eyes. "Come on! Lou-"

"But nothing's on TV! What am I gonna do?!"

"No, come on. What the-"

"-Be home before midnight!" the brunette continues to whine.

"Louis' not like that. Please," Eleanor looks at the girl. "He's just not like that."

"Well," she shrugs. "Just wait."

"But anyway, you've got six bridesmaids and a maid of honor," a young Italian woman explains to Louis' fiancée. "It's gonna be a little weird if we're walking down the aisle alone."

Nearly all of the women begin chatting again, all supporting the idea of how weird and unbalanced the wedding will look because of Louis' lack in male friends. Louis purses his lips, still peering through the small crack in the door, just waiting for what they're going to say next.

"So who's gonna be his best man?" one of them asks curiously.

"I have no idea," Eleanor lets her shoulders drop. "I honestly think that his best friend is his mom."

The entire group gasps. Louis' eyes widen as he stiffly slinks back through the kitchen door. Eleanor, however, hears his movement and notices the door casually swinging on its hinges.

"Louis?" she calls out, making him stop dead in his tracks. The living room falls silent. Louis doesn't turn around. "Louis...?" she repeats hesitantly when he doesn't appear. "Honey...?"

It's not like Louis can hide out in his kitchen forever. He's not one to run from his problems, really, rather than face them straight on. And his serving tray is starting to get a little heavy.

Louis takes a deep breath, pushing himself through the kitchen door with a smile that's a bit too big to be believable, "Hey!" he sings aloud.

"Hey!" the entire group of girls cheers and chimes back half-heartedly.

"I made you guys some chocolate floats," Louis smiles, setting the tray on the living room table.

"Louis, are those cinnamon sticks?" one of the girls asks, intriguingly.

"Yeah," Louis stands up straight, searching the eyes of all the women around him. "Fresh from the bakery."

"Thank you so much for the floats, baby," Eleanor says to him, understandingly. "That was so sweet."

"My pleasure," Louis purses his lips together. "Enjoy."

"Hey, congratulations on the wedding!" the Italian girl smiles at him, making everyone else share their own congratulations.

"I know," Louis jokes. "It's so exciting. I feel so grown up."

"Alright, sir," one of the girls jokes back with him.

"Okay, ma'am," Louis winks awkwardly before leaving the room. "Okay..."

The door swings back and forth on its hinges as Louis steps back into the kitchen. He tries to clear his mind but all he can hear are the hushed whispers of the girls in the living room.

"Shit, do you think he heard us?"

"No."

"No way."

How could he be so daft? Eleanor and her friends probably talk about him like this all the time. And who does he have to talk to? His mother?

Louis leans against the kitchen counter, chewing on his lower lip until he voices his dilemma into the empty kitchen.

"I gotta get some fucking friends."

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hiii harry is coming soon ;)

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