I wove my way through the NYC bar, drinks balanced in my hands. Three British boys, and an Irish boy started to sing a somewhat slurred version of Forever Young by Alphaville. I glanced up at them, noticing that they were obviously drunk. But even so, the words of the old song hit me hard.
"You guys? I don't ever want to be old." I said as I sat down at my table. "I definitely want to be forever young."
"Lou, you're drunk sweetie." My friend Bellie laughed, "No one wants to be stuck at 20 forever."
"I do." I replied defensively, looking around the table, "What about you guys?". The other two people at our table just looked at me. Erica, Bellie's brunette best friend, made a noise that sounded half way between a giggle and a snort while Adam, her Latina boyfriend, cocked his head before burying his head in her hair.
"Don't mind them, they're drunk too." Bellie said nonchalantly.
"Remind me why I hang out with you people?" I said lazily, knowing the answer.
"Because we've known each other for years?" Bellie smiled shaking her long blond hair and turning to poke me in the ribs, "And because people expect us to get maaaarrieedd." She said, drawing out the word in a sarcastic way.
"Awww, Bells, you know I'm gay." I said putting my arm around her. She curled up against my chest and huffed.
"You could have told me earlier. I wasted YEARS of my life on you." She smiled up at me before pulling away, "Speaking of gay, Mr. curly-haired Brit up there just might be staring." She pointed toward the mini-stage with her drink before knocking it back.
I turned around to one of the tipsy singers looking my way, then blushing and saying something to one of the other members. "You should go talk to him," Bellie said eying him, "then introduce me to his friends. But first let me out, I need another drink."
As I got out of the booth and stood up, Curly's head shot up, eyes twinkling. I turned away, feeling blood rush to my cheeks, and looked to Bellie. She shrugged, winked, and started to make her way to the bar.
I turned back to the stage as the song ended. Curly hopped off of the stool he been sitting on and made a 'come here' signal with his head, smiling. I looked back to Bellie for support. She was walking through the crowd, drink slightly over her head. "Go for it!" she mouthed.
The band had gone behind the curtain for water, coming out as I neared the base of the stage. Curly came out last, smiling as one of the others finished saying something, he saw me and smiled widely.
"Hey mate! I'm Niall Horan." The blond Irish said, enthusiastically pulling me up onto the stage while smiling widely.
"Vas Happening? I'm Zayn Malik!" A very attractive raven-haired bloke said, waving, before I could reply to Niall.
"H-" I started.
"-Sup man, I'm Liam Payne" A taller boy with floppy brown hair interrupted, pumping my hand. I just smiled and turned to Curly.
"I'm Harry Styles," Curly said, his voice deep and somewhat raspy, not unlike a stoner. I suprised myself by being vaugely attracted to it. Harry was still shaking his head and smiling, "and I apologize for...them" He waved his hand at his friends, who made protesting noise
"Come on mate, we were just being friendly towards the bloke!" Zayn huffed.
'Harry.' I thought, my mind drawing out the name. 'Harry.' I smiled
"Hey Harry, I'm Louis. Louis Tomlinson." I smiled."Oi! He's a Brit!" Niall exclaimed, breaking into a grin at the sound of my Doncaster accent.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Liam said teasingly, rolling his eyes at Niall. Niall's smile wavered, and his eyes looked down to the ground. Liam pulled him into a hug.
"I'm sorry, Nialler. I didn't mean it." They stayed in that position, arms draped loosely around one another, and something inside me went off. They were a couple. I smiled, 'Good for them.'
"So! You're British." Harry said pulling my attention back to him. "What are you doing in New York?"
"Oh, I moved here when I was 12. I go to Uni here. My school friends are here, they're over there." I said pointing to them. Bellie waved a huge grin on her face, but Adam and Erica were too busy snogging to notice the British boys making fun of them.
"We go to Uni here as well. Are they British too?" Zayn asked, his eyes raking over Bellie appreciatively. I laughed.
"No mate. Just me."
"Oh. That's alright. American accents are cute." Zayn murmured, then looked over at me, embarrassed. "I am SO sorry mate, standing here talking about your girlfriend like this..." He trailed off, confused by the smile on my face.
"That's not his girlfriend." Harry, Liam, and Niall said together, laughing. My eyebrows went up.
"Are you saying that she's out of my league? Because, she did really like me at one point. And I've always thought I was somewhat attractive..." I realized I was rambling. "And yeah." I finished lamely.
All of the boys, except Zayn who was still staring at Bellie, were stifling giggles, eyebrows raised. "What?" I said, somewhat annoyed.
"She's not out of your league, Man." Liam said, still smiling, "but, technically, you're not even playing the same sport."
"What does that mean?" I asked, genuinely confused, as my eyebrows knit together.
"You're gay, Mate. And not being very subtle about it." Niall said. Harry smirked, running his hand through his hair, and leaning up against a wall. Liam excused himself, and went to talk to the drummer. Niall's eyes followed him in a loving way.
"Oh." I said, as it hit me. They could tell I was gay in the same way that I could tell that they were. I looked up and the two were still looking at me, suppressing laughter. "Well, yea. I am" I said to the floor peeking up to see their reactions. They were still smiling.
"Welcome to the club, Mate." Niall winked. I must have looked disgusted, because he immediately corrected himself, chuckling. "It's an American expression, there isn't really a club." I probably looked comforted, because Niall laughed.
"Let's get some drinks boys! Zayn!" The three of them started down the stage steps, but I hesitated, not knowing if I was invited.
"Coming, Lou?" Harry asked, looking surprised at how easy it was to use a nickname with me, when we had only just met.
"Right behind you, Haz." I winked, and Harry blushed slightly.
"Wait!" Liam called out from the back of the stage, and we all turned around as Liam walked up. "We have one more number to do. THEN, we can party." The other members groaned. "Only one more boys." Liam prompted. "Then we'll drink."
"EXCEPT HARRRRRYYYY!" Niall sang loudly, obviously enjoying the way Harry's face flushed at this.
'What? Harry wasn't legal drinking age? Well, TECHNICALLY neither was I, at least not in America...but why was Harry singled out?' I looked over at a uncomfortable Harry.
"I'll explain later."
"Alright..." I agreed skeptically, wondering how old he was.
"Meet you at the bar in about 4 minutes?" He said, adjusting the mic on his collar, then glanced at his watch.
"I'll be there." I confirmed, and his eyes sparkled. Then, I turned away and made my way back to Bellie, Erica, and Adam.
"Sooooo?" Bellie asked, pouncing on me as I sat down. "Did he ask you out?" I rolled my eyes.
"No Bells. We just met. But I'm going with all of them to have drinks after this song." I nodded towards the stage where the boys were. Niall was absentmindedly strumming an acoustic version of the Michael Buble song "Haven't Met You Yet", but then focused and started playing the intro chords. And then Harry began singing.
