Tfios (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter 9

February 24th - Day 39

It was only after I walked into the bowling alley and saw Harry, Niall and Zayn sitting on the old turquoise seats that I understood. The place had a dirty glamour about it, like had once been stylish but had fallen into dirty scratched linoleum and stained navy carpet, ceiling leaking and waterstained, grimy light fixtures sending pale light into the crevices. 

It was mostly empty, some pop song I vaguely recognized playing over crackling speakers as I headed over to the three, Danielle and Liam trailing behind me. 

Harry was the first to notice us, raising a hand in greeting. He was wearing a bright red jumper, the sleeves pushed up around his elbows, a pressed white collar sticking out the top, and tight blue jeans. 

I tapped his thigh with my first two fingers when we reached them, shooting him a  grin. “Scored a tight pants day, I see.”

He smiled crookedly, a vague bit of flirtation hanging on the edge of his lips. “Don’t you feel lucky.”

“It’s better than the lottery.” I replied, turning to Liam and Danielle, who were hanging onto each other’s hands on the fringes of the conversation, like they were waiting for permission to join. “Liam, Danielle, this is Harry, Zayn and Niall.”

Handshakes and greetings were exchanged all around, Danielle even diving in to give Harry a hug. 

“Been enjoying the cake I frosted for you while you two lazies napped on my floor?” She asked, sliding her jacket off and sitting next to him.

He nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve never tasted vanilla icing so good.”

“Harry, you had cake and you didn’t share with us?!” Called Niall from his reclined position, elbows on the seat cushion, legs draped over Zayn. 

Harry threw up his hands in mock despair. “Look what you’ve done now, Danielle! Now Niall’s going to kill us. This is entirely your fault.”

“Damn right I’m going to kill you. First hot people, and then cake…”

“You’re on a slippery slope, Styles.” Zayn cut in, worrying his fingers across Niall’s knee and shaking his head disapprovingly at Harry.

“It was terrible cake.” I clarified, taking a spot between Harry and Zayn. “Absolutely vile, nothing you’d want to deal with.”

Zayn leaned over to Niall, stage whispering into his ear. “I don’t know Niall, this sounds like a plot to keep us from desserts.”

“No, he’s right, if it came from Danielle’s bakery you know it isn’t any good.” Cut in Liam, tugging on one of his girlfriend’s bouncy curls.

She smacked him lightly on the arm. “He’s a dirty liar.”

He adopted a wounded expression. “I am not!”

She rolled her eyes, leaning conspiratorially toward the two boys. “I’ll send some cupcakes with Lou and then we’ll see who’s telling the truth here.”

Niall shook his head frantically. “Aww no you can’t send them through Harry, he’ll eat them!”

“I most certainly will not!” Harry protested, crossing his arms childishly over his chest. 

I leaned over, patting Niall on the head. “Don’t worry love, I’ll make sure he doesn’t get near them.”

He put a hand over his heart. “You’re my hero, mate.”

At which point the conversation veered somewhere toward the direction of bowling, losing me around the time Harry’s eyes met mine.

He gave me a smile, jerking my head towards our friends, who were currently attempting to coax the scoring machine into compliance. Everyone’s getting along really well.