Fate Chances Moonlight ☾ l.s. AU

2:3

As expected, Louis is late. Really late. But because he is blessed beyond his own understanding, Liam has the bar completely stocked and ready to be opened by the time Louis gets there. And Louis doesn't know whether the lad has done it for a raise or just because he's a good fucking person, but Louis could kiss his feet. Honestly, he might.

"You're a lifesaver, Payne," he says as he hustles behind the bar. He's rolling his sleeves and tucking the shaggier parts of his hair behind his ears somehow at the same time, and when he reaches his friend who is still busying himself with the till, he gets onto his tiptoes, grabs Liam's head with both hands, and pulls it toward him until he can peck the side of his forehead.

"Ugh," Liam grimaces, quickly jerking away.

Seriously, Louis hadn't even texted him. He just...did it. Just juggled both tasks, the front desk and this. "I'm going to do that more than once tonight."

"Please don't."

"Are we busy? Lay it out for me."

"Absolutely not. The construction crew checked out early."

"What?"

Liam steps away from the register and leans against the back counter. The motion jostles a few glasses, but he's unbothered by it. "Yeah. I'm sure they'll be back, but they didn't really explain and I didn't ask. Makes our lives easier, anyway."

It's true that this makes things easier. Actually, Louis will be able to leave early now because he just doesn't see the three rooms currently here - an elderly couple, a middle-aged man here on business (he even had a real-life brief case), and a new family of three - frequenting hotel bars. And even if they did, they don't seem the types to complain if the bar happened to not be open tonight.

Louis begins thinking about what he'll make for dinner for when Niall and Jo get home. It'll be the last thing either of them expect, but Niall will likely be grateful to not have to stay any longer than dinner requires, and Jo will obviously be happy to see him. Hopefully, if this first day goes well. Harry seemed nice enough. Certainly a smiler. He's even a little charming. Louis isn't sure he'll be in love with the guy the way Gemma expects he will be, but honestly anything is an improvement from Marigold and Miss Applebaum and the others.

Liam returns to his post, and Louis already decides he'll be there longer than Louis will be. Second shift stays until eleven, and in no way does Louis plan to be here then. In the three hours since Louis opened, the business man came and left; he had one whisky sour and a small bag of plain potato chips. Louis is bored out of his mind, so he brings the laptop from his office into the laundry room so that he can watch the camera feeds to see if anyone goes into the barroom while he folds sheets with Liam.

At seven, he closes the bar. There's no point, and he's itching to get home. Of course he hopes Jo had a good time and that Harry is all Zayn and Gemma made him out to be, but there's a small part of Louis waiting for this to crash and burn, and he kind of wants to see if he's right. At this point, he's pretty willing to offer that nanny position to Niall. He'll pay him. Plus, come to think of it, Louis has no idea if Niall is even working right now.

Jobs are to Niall what dates are to Liam. They come and go frequently, and once again, Louis has no clue if this is just the way Niall likes to live his life or if in actuality he struggles holding onto a job.

Despite the nice, gourmet dinner he'd been mentally preparing to make all night behind the bar, Louis decides instead on chicken nuggets and tater tots when he gets home. He'll make it look nice, he figures. Crack out the finer china and maybe even offer Niall a glass of wine. At least he won't burn anything or miss an ingredient or use the wrong seasoning; it's pretty hard to get nugs and tots wrong.