I Hate You (Larry Stylinson) ✅

24. the game

March 6

Harry's POV

"Alright mates, who wants Prosecco?" I ask, setting down wine glasses on the table.

It's around 10pm on a Friday night and I'm having the guys over for drinks. It's been ages since we all went out together. In fact, the last time we had all been in one room was during the night we went clubbing, and we all know how that ended.

I've been keeping up with Niall and Liam at work. Apparently, my Pret ads did well and the business is out of the danger zone at least for now. And of course, we've all been checking up on Louis. We haven't wanted to disturb him lately, as he's still pretty sick, but he's been dying to get out of the house and I thought tonight would be the perfect way to cheer him up.

"Me!" Liam says, raising his glass.

"Someone's in a dapper mood," Louis says, raising an eyebrow. He's wearing a black hoodie and baggy black joggers with a beanie even though the weather is finally starting to Get warm. The poor lad is always cold.

"Maybe I am," Liam says, blushing.

"Go on, tell us what it is!" Niall says, elbowing him in the side.

Liam shrugs, his amber eyes squinting a bit as he smiles. "I may or may not have met someone."

"No way!" I say, pouring each lad a glass of wine. "Who is it?"

"Oh, stop it playing dumb Harold," Liam giggles.

"Do I know him?" I joke.

Liam shakes his head and turns to Niall and Louis. "It's that doctor guy Harry was talking about. The one he wanted to set Louis up with. His name is Andres. He's Spanish. And super hot."

Louis bites his lip and looks up at me. I smirk at him, glad that Louis never did get a chance to meet the doctor. There was always someone else who was after him....

"What's he like?" Niall asks, taking a giant gulp of his wine. The lad drinks every drink like it's a glass of beer.

"Oh, he's lovely. He's 28, so a bit older. Kind of serious, but also has a snarky sense of humor," Liam gushes. "But it's only been one date. So who knows!"

"Well he sounds lovely," Louis adds. I watch as he looks at the wine warily before taking a small sip.

I frown and take a seat next to him. Then I take a sip of my own wine, showing him that it's okay. I've been really worried about him lately. Ever since the extreme hunger incident, he's been pretty terrified of food. Even more so than before. He's been eating, but very cautiously, and it's so sad to see him look at food like it's the enemy. It's not the enemy - it's exactly what he needs to stay alive.

"Wanna put the game on, yeah?" Niall asks, jumping up to get the remote. Of course, we assume he means football. But when a man in a golf club appears on the screen, we all roll our eyes and groan.

"Come on, Niall," Liam says, grabbing the remote from him. "No one wants to watch this rubbish."

"Rude!" Niall pouts, sitting back down and pretending to cry.

Louis giggles and I resist the urge to slip my arm around him. I'm not sure if he wants that right now. It's always hard to tell what he wants. Because sometimes what he wants is different from what he needs.

"Fuck, I hate both teams," Liam complains as he switches the channel to football.

"Me too," I laugh, taking another sip of my drink.

"This is why we should have stayed on the golf channel," Niall mumbles. He downs the rest of his drink and takes out his phone.

"Anyone want more wine? Or food? I have crisps and pretzels," I say, heading back to the kitchen.