Keep It A Secret (Zarry)

Chapter 9

Louis's still not sure how they get in, but Zayn says some things to the bouncer, bats his eyelashes, and then they're in. Harry drags Zayn to the bar, then out to dance, so by the time he fights his way back to the bar to get another drink-he can't dance this much on little alcohol.

They were all in a small club, in Bradford at the moment. Once Louis, Niall, and Liam got to Zayn's place. Louis had suggested that they got out before they leave for tour in the morning. The lads had thought it would be a good idea, so that's what they did.

"Louis!" Liam cries, appearing next to him. His eyes are bright, and he's clearly drunk. "Having fun?"

"How are you so drunk?" Louis asks, catching Liam around the waist.

"I dunno, people bought me drinks." He kisses Louis's shoulder, then pulls away again, grinning.

Louis snorts. "Have you spent any money?"

"Why would I?" Liam asks, like it's obvious. "Have you seen Niall?"

Louis shakes his head. Liam turns Louis so he can see the other end of the bar. Niall's leaning against it, talking with a tall guy with red hair and broad shoulders. As they look, Niall finishes his drink. The guy says something, and Niall tips his head back and smiles and looks at him, and the guy gives him an openly admiring look, and gestures to the bartender.

"He doesn't pay for drinks," Liam tells Louis, mournfully. "He's too pretty, you know?"

"You don't either, though, right?" Louis asks. Liam shakes his head.

"No, but..." He gives Niall one more mournful look, then lets go of Louis. "I need another drink." He slides onto the bar stool next to him, looks around, and somehow, magically, a guy appears next to him within two minutes. Louis watches with no little awe as he has a drink in hand-and, Louis thinks he overhears, at least one offer to head to the bathrooms within five minutes.

Louis hands over the money for his own drink to the bartender, laughing and shaking his head when Liam winks at him over the other guy's shoulder. As Louis turns to head back to the dance floor, he sees Niall, glancing over at Liam for one brief second, before he turns back to what looks like a different guy, and giving him that shy, innocent look that he usually gives Liam.

It's as good as watching a match, almost, Louis thinks, an hour later and quite a bit drunker. Niall looks at Liam, gives one of his soulful gazes with his heart in his eyes, and Liam's busy flirting. Niall goes back to looking pretty and biting his lip and attracts someone else, and Liam immediately focuses on him, his whole body drooping. Sometimes, Liam sees Niall watching, and he definitely laughs louder, touches the arm of whoever he's with, and glances over to see if Niall's noticed. Niall just turns away, always.

"Hey, why aren't you dancing?" Harry demands, appearing next to him after Niall lets one of the guys he's talking to touch his hand and Louis can see Liam physically restrain himself from going over. "Come on bro!!!"

So Louis lets himself be dragged into the dance floor byt his younger brother, and he dances and laughs and drinks more, feels all of them around him like he's in this mass of fun time made out of alcohol and freedom of the tour break, and nearly forgets about the drama that's playing out at the bar.

Until, that is, he's tumbled out for yet another round-he is not going to be eating out for a month after this-and he sees them again, still on opposite sides of the bar. As he waits, the guy Niall's talking with-short and compact, dark-puts his hand on Niall's. Niall looks at it for a second, then pointedly doesn't move it as he looks back at the guy, ducking his head in what Liam thinks is a glance through his eyelashes. It's the most approachable Louis's ever seen Niall look, when he isn't just with Liam and Harry and Zayn-this is probably what Niall looks like flirting.

It must be what Niall looks like flirting, because Liam's moving. He hops off his barstool, makes his way through the crowd with single-minded, drunken focus, and drapes himself over Niall's back, wrapping an arm around his collarbone to pull him back into himself. Niall freezes, then gives the guy he's with an apologetic smile. Louis maybe edges closer to hear.

"C'mon, Nialler," Liam's saying. He probably thinks he's whispering, but he's not. "Come dance with me."

"Don't think you can even stand up on your own," Niall replies. The other guy is withdrawing his hand, and Niall shoots him another shrug.

"Probably," Liam agrees. Louis thinks he might be biting on Niall's earlobe. "That's why I need you."

"Liam..."

"You should take me to Ze's house," Liam announces. He tightens his grip around Niall, and gives the other guy a smile that is not nearly as nice as usual. "I'm drunk. You need to put me to bed."

"Think you can ask one of the others to take you Li," Niall tells him. He reaches up to try to detach Liam's arm, but Liam holds tight, doesn't let him.

"No, it has to be you. Please, Niall? Please?"

Niall sighs, so hard it looks almost painful, and shrugs. "Okay, Liam." He looks at the other guy. "Sorry. Drunk friends, you know."

"Right." The guy shrugs back. "See you 'round?"

"Sure. You've got my number? I want to tell you about the-Li!" Liam, from what Louis can see, bit Niall's neck. "Shit, okay, he's drunk."

"Not sure he is, actually," the other guy says enigmatically, but he leaves with good grace, and Niall levers Liam around so he can slide an arm around his waist instead. He catches Louis's eye as he does. Louis tries to look like he wasn't watching.

"I'm taking this one home," he says with a grin that doesn't reach his eyes. Liam's pressed against him, head on his shoulder and lips against his skin. "You all going to be okay?"

Once everyine nodded, reasuring Niall that everything would be fine. They were gone, the two of them, and Louis just looks after them and almost wants to laugh. Cause just as their almost out the door, he can see the sway to Liam's step slowly disappearing.

-Liam & Niall

"Liam! Are you listening to me?" The bouncy blonde beside Liam yelped. "I was trying to yell at you!"

"Sorry. What were you saying?" Liam's cheeks flushed red. He didn't want to admit it, but he was getting lost in the beautiful blue eyes of the bubbly boy.

Niall groaned into his hand, "you weren't listening you bugger! You were staring at me but not listening!"

Liam's cheeks got redder making Niall roll his eyes. "Next time can you just please control your alcohol? I was really having a nice time."

Liam looked at the Irish lad with a blank expression. Masking the hurt that he was feeling his, he closed his eyes and sighed. "He wasn't good enough for you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. He looked like a hippie anyways," Liam said frowning.

Niall couldn't help but to burst out laughing at that. They guy did kind of dress a rad bit hippie-ish. His hair messy and all long and disordered. Luckily, he manages to pull it off so it's cool. Plus he's been friends with Harry for three years, he's pretty use to the look by now.

"Cuddle me?" Liam asked softly. His voice was a bit slurred still, and you could kind of see the dilation on his brown eyes. "Please? You're all warm, and I'm all cold."

Niall chuckled lightly, before giving in to Liam's request. Taking off his shoes, he crawled into the bed next to him, and got under the covers. "Night Li."

"Night Ni."