Together (Larry Stylinson) ✅

Best Mates

"Hey, Niall, you know you're my best friend, right?" I was currently at an Irish pub in East Village, hanging out with my long time buddy — and favorite Irishmen — my first ever roommate who I lived with when I first moved to New York. At this point in the night, was safe to say I had lost track of my drinks, and so had he.

"Me too mate. You're back in NY now. LA can't keep us a party," He replied, patting me on the back. I giggled as I inspected Niall's dark hair, which he used to bleach regularly. He looked so different now, more serious. Or maybe less serious. I was too drunk to tell.

"Remember when you did a keg stand at that one party," I snickered, elbowing Niall in the side. Niall laughed, and elbowed me back, nearly spilling both our pints.

"Of course I fucking remember. And you tried and you ended up puking," he giggled. That's not exactly how I remembered it, but I wasn't about to correct him. We were having too much fun.

"Woops," I giggled. "I guess I couldn't hold my liquor, just like you couldn't on St. Patty's Day." Niall shot me a dirty look but then burst out laughing once again. That had been a particularly hilarious day. We had both only been in New York for maybe a month at that point and ended up going to the St. Patrick's day parade and getting hammered. After watching the floats and performers pass by, we spent the rest of the day wandering the streets of New York and going the wrong way on the subway until we reached Coney Island, an amusement park at the last stop of Brooklyn.

Niall and I stupidly thought it would be a good idea to go on a roller coaster that went upside down. Needless to say, it was a pretty nauseating experience. But I somehow managed to hold my puke until the ride ended. Niall actually vomited on the ride, while we were upside down. And it got all over him and the people behind him. It was fucking hilarious.

"Oh my god. Those were the days," Niall said with a grin. "Minus the puking of course. But it's great to have you back lad. You know, here in NYC. I missed ya."

"Yeah, I just wish Lou could see it that way. Like I know LA was a mistake. I know I abandoned him. I just... really needed that job. I was gonna get promoted manager without going to business school— which never happens. And I just... it felt right. But it was wrong, ya know. I got the money. I got the power. But I lost the most important thing in my life...." I started to blush as I began to realize I had shared too much. Niall was here to have a good time, not be my therapist.

"Hey," Niall said, bringing me in for a hug. "It's never too late to tell him how you feel. Is he single?"

Niall was sort of crushing me with his hug so I patted his back and then quickly began to pull away, grabbing my pint and chugging. I needed more alcohol to talk about this.

"He is. But he's really messed up. His mom died last year and he's been depressed. And he stopped eating," I said, avoiding eye contact. Suddenly I was starting to feel sober.

"Oh, that's awful. Poor lad," Niall said, his face falling. Fuck, I really was ruining this night out.

"Yeah, so I feel like I owe it to him to help him get better, ya know? The way he did with me..." I continued. As much as I wanted to change the subject back to drinking and puking and what girls Niall was chasing, I couldn't resist sharing about my situation with Louis. It was really cathartic.

"Oh. Yea. Well are ya doing it because you think you owe him or because you still love him?" Niall asked, taking another swig of his pint. I grabbed mine and chugged the remains until it was empty.

"Both," I said, shrugging. "I do... love him. He just is very upset with me still and doesn't want me to hurt him again and I can't promise him I won't. Im a bad person, Ni."

"No you ain't," Niall said, hopping up and grabbing our empty pints. "I'll be right back, gonna get some pickle backs."

I started to giggled, thinking about the last time Niall and I had done pickle backs. I was technically still anorexic at the time, but I was starting to get better and was going out more. My tolerance had dropped significantly though, and I remember Niall and I did four rounds of pickle backs, which ultimately resulted in me trying to dance on the bar table. I succeeded, but only for a few minutes before Niall pulled me down and got up to dance himself.

"Here we are," Niall said a few minutes later. He set the shots on the table and we both grabbed one, tossing our head backs and swalllowing quickly. I grabbed the pickle juice after, swigging it down as a chaser. It was the best combination of bitterness and saltiness.

"Fuck yeah!" Niall said, laughing. "But yeah, it wasn't like.... you're not a bad person. Just talk to him. Tell him how you feel. You don't owe him anything. But if you love him, tell him. It can't hurt. If he says no, you'll be in the same boat as you are now. There's nothing to lose."

I nodded, standing up and wobbling towards Niall to give him a hug. "You're so right, mate. Bring it in here. Best advice giver ever," I said, pulling him into a classic Harry Styles bear hug.

Then I skipped off across the sticky bar room floor to get us another drink.