I Love You, Man (Larry Stylinson AU)

Chapter 09: Greg

"Honey, he just moved to London," Johanna explains to her son on the phone as she seasons her raw pork cutlet. "He barely knows anyone. He's an architect," she opens her oven, sliding the glass pan onto one of the racks. "His mother says he's so excited to meet you."

Louis sighs on the other end, "Liam told me not to have dinner with any of these guys."

"Your brother's a crazy person," Johanna wipes her free hand off on her shirt. "One dinner won't kill you."

It's true, Louis caved and decided to call his mum. If she's one of the only people he can talk to right now, then so be it. But maybe she's right. Maybe he has to take that extra step.

Maybe Louis doesn't need to play by the rules.

·

Louis pulls his car up to the side of the restaurant, stepping out to see a tall, well-built man smoking a cigarette by the side of the building.

"Greg?" Louis points a finger at him.

"Louis?" the man tilts his head in a smile.

"Hey," Louis extends his hand out to him.

"Hey," Greg shakes Louis' hand, taking another pull from his cigarette as they lock eyes.

The two men sit at the restaurant, making small talk while skimming over the pricey menu options. It's a nice place. Both men are wearing suit jackets with crisp button-down shirts and have ordered similar brands of white wine.

Greg is a massively tall man but his height suits him. Louis barely passes his shoulders when they're standing but now that they're sat next to each other at this classy dining table, it's much easier to make eye contact.

"So you just moved here, huh?" Louis looks up at Greg over his menu.

"I did. Pretty recently," Greg places his booklet on the table. "A couple of weeks. Fresh off the train from Norwich."

"Yellow town," Louis chuckles.

"Rainy city," Greg smirks back.

"Yeah..." Louis take a moment to think what the Norwich City football club is called until he swiftly remembers. "The Canaries!"

"And BBC East!" Greg adds, reminding Louis of the famous studio's headquarters. "You know what else, the other bloke on BBC who I love? The-" Greg snaps his fingers, trying to recall his name. "What's the show the Irish guy does with all the celebrities, like..."

"Graham Norton?" Louis offers.

"Yes! Yes!" Greg beams.

"Let's start the show!" Louis imitates the host's accent but his parody is very poor according to Greg's reaction. However, Louis ‒ never knowing when to stop, especially around people he's trying to impress ‒ just keeps going with his shitty imitation. "Let's start the show!"

"That sounded kinda more like a leprechaun," Greg fiddles with his fork next to him.

"It did?"

"It did sound a little like a leprechaun."

Greg tilts his head at Louis, not really sure what to think of the guy's personality just yet, but his soft, let-down expression is far too endearing to not release a chuckle at.

After getting past the awkward first-time banter, Louis seems to be really be getting along with Greg. They've talked about things Louis would have no idea others would even care about and they've shared stories that made them both laugh until they were red in the face.

Louis has mentioned nothing about Eleanor but in all honesty, he hasn't felt the need to all night. It's nice having a break from home away from his fiancée. It's refreshing to be around someone who shares the same sentiment towards classy restaurants without having to bring up anything about their chatty girlfriends.

"Is the wine treating you well?" a young woman dressed in a server's uniform stops by their table. She gently touches Louis' arm, smiling down at the two men.

"It opened up beautifully," Greg says with a twinkle in his eye. "Thank you."

"Excellent," she moves along with a smile.

Greg and Louis share a look once she's out of earshot.

"Hot," Greg whispers, watching the woman's rear as she walks away. "Hot."

"Oh my god," Louis touches his face, fully taking in the woman's beauty. "She's so hot."

"She's smoking!" Greg chuckles, grazing Louis' arm like the woman did moments ago.

Louis smiles at Greg, giving him another expression that's reciprocated with ease. He really feels a connection with this guy, more than he ever has so far since they met.

Maybe his mother was right.

Maybe dinner dates aren't such a terrible thing.

·

"I gotta tell you, Greg, I really enjoyed this," the two men walk past the bouncer outside of the restaurant, towards their separate cars. "You know, I've been out with so many jerks recently. It's nice to meet somebody I can have an actual conversation with."

Greg turns to face Louis, stopping them on the pavement as a warm grin spreads across his face, "Let's do it again."

"I'd love to!" Louis chuckles remarkably.

"Okay, uh..." Greg smiles, taking in all the features of Louis' expression. "Tomorrow night. The Savoy. Eight o'clock."

"I will see you there, sir," Louis raises an eyebrow playfully.

"Awesome," Greg raises his arm and gives Louis a strong, manly handshake before pulling him in by the neck and connecting Louis' lips with his own.

Greg is kissing him.

Louis is being kissed by a man and, oh- there's his tongue.

Louis is left in shock as Greg pulls away to look in his eyes. His jaw is dropped but Greg seems not to notice as he goes in for another small peck.

Louis watches in dumbfoundment as Greg turns on his heel and walks away to his own car. It takes him a few moments before he realises what actually just happened. He wants to yell back to Greg that he's straight ‒ that he has a fiancée who's a female ‒ but his utter astonishment has left him completely silent.

He's had his doubts before but now it's official.

Louis is definitely never doing dinner dates ever again.

·

yes, this is greg james for anyone who's wondering!

had to throw a little grouis action in there ;)

i'm so glad many of you are enjoying the story so far!

thanks for all of your feedback! :)