Fooled (Larry Stylinson) ✅

1. The Bar

Louis' POV

'Oh god,' I thought to myself. 'Where in the bloody fuck is he?' It was 10:30pm on a Thursday night and I was waiting in a downtown bar for my friend Niall, who was supposed to have met me here an hour ago. Personally, I much prefer a night in watching Netflix to a night out wasting money and being pressed up against sweaty people with beer breath. Honestly, if Niall hadn't begged me to come -- telling me "the best band ever is performing tonight" -- I would never have came. But the joke was on me because now I was standing alone at the bar sipping on an unknown fruity drink while Niall ignored my texts and left me to fend for myself amongst a crowd of random people.

Taking my phone out of my pocket, I texted Niall for the third consecutive time ("where the fuck are you, bro?") and opened up a coloring book app to help calm myself down as a shit storm of drunken women wearing bachelorette party sashes made their way to the counter. When one of them nearly knocked my phone out of my hand with my elbow, however, I decided it was best to just step outside for a smoke on the adjacent balcony.

Slipping through the mahogany doors, I popped the cigarette into my mouth and pulled out my lighter, holding it steadily as I lit the butt. Suddenly, as I inhaled, sweet relief filled my lungs, the smoke soothing the internal panic the bar crowd had caused me. I took another hit and then walked towards the edge of the balcony and looked down at the ant sized cars beneath it. Rooftop bars are supposed to be all the rage but I didn't really get what the point was... it's still gross and crowded, just a few feet higher in the air.

Finally, a few minutes later, my phone buzzed in my pocket. To my relief, It was Niall telling me he was here next to the stage. 'It's about god damn time,' I thought to myself, ready to give Niall a firm talking to as soon as I saw him. But suddenly, as I began to make my way inside, I realized things had changed inside. The lights were dim and music was playing, soft and sweet. It wasn't that ukulele hipster shit I was expecting. It was different -- deep, soulful. Smooth like honey. Without realizing it, I began to relax, my body slowly swaying as I slunk my way to the crowd to search for Niall.

By the time I got to the front, the song had ended, and that's when I really got a look at the band mates. The drummer was cute -- drummers usually are. This one was wearing a red bandanna that covered his dark, shaggy hair and he had a lip ring, which kind of turned me on. All the hot musicians have one of those, don't they?

The guitarist wasn't really my type. He was tall and muscular with short, brown hair, cut a little to close to his skull. Kinda reminded me of my childhood neighbor, Neville, who I'm pretty sure is in jail right now.

My eyes fluttered from the guitarist over to the lead singer, who I couldn't see all that well because he had his back to the stage. He was getting a drink of water or something -- maybe vodka. Who really knows at these types of concerts. I would sure need vodka if I were up there.

Then, he turned around, and I tried really hard not to let out an audible 'oh my god' as I saw his face. This guy was single handedly one of the prettiest humans I have ever seen since meeting Zac Efron for a fleeting second on the subway. He had long, curly brown hair, which was tied back in a red, white and blue bandanna and his face was perfectly sculpted, with a sharp jawline and incredible cheekbones. His pouty lips seemed to poke fun at me as I bit my own lip in astonishment. And his green eyes... was he fucking looking at me? I turned to see if anyone else was looking up at him. But there was no one in the area focused on the stage.

Turning my head back up to face him, I tried to hide my embarrassment as our eyes connected. Did I have something on my face? Why was he looking at me? I ducked down nervously and started to move down the stage, making my way to the corner where I couldn't be seen. That's when I bumped into Niall.