LURE ✧ l.s. ✧

16.

The next Wednesday that Louis goes into practice Harry's already there which Louis knows because the door was already unlocked when he went to open it.

When he gets inside the first thing he does is rush to the locker room because he really has to pee. He drank the majority of his water bottle on the way to the club and liquids always go right through him.

After he's finished he goes back out into the main club area and places his speaker on the edge of the stage. He turns some music on and then starts dancing. He practices climbing the pole and swinging around it just like last time.

At around noon Louis starts getting hungry so he puts his sweats on over the tiny shorts he was wearing and then slips his t-shirt on as well. He was dancing without any shoes so the only thing he had to do before putting his Vans on was put on socks. Once he's presentable he grabs a twenty out of his bag that he brought and walks across the street to Chipotle.

He orders what he always gets and then takes it back to the club. He'd rather just eat there instead of the noisy restaurant filled with mostly uni kids on lunch break.

He sets his food on the bar and then slips his sweats off. They're really thick and he was getting hot. He sits on one of the stools and starts eating only to get half way done before realizing he forgot to get a drink, which sucks because his water bottle is empty but he's really thirsty. He decides that he can just buy one from the club.

Louis gets up and goes behind the bar. He grabs a plastic cup and then goes over to the drink dispenser and fills it with Sprite. Once he's finished filling it he goes over to the cash register. He even didn't think about the fact that it would be locked. Hopefully the key Harry gave him will work. He sticks the silver key into the lock and thankfully when he presses the open button, it does. He uses his change from Chipotle to pay for the drink before closing and locking the register again.

"I thought you said you weren't going to steal?"

Louis turns around to find Harry walking out of his office and over to the bar. At first Louis thinks that Harry's serious but then he sees how Harry's just barely smirking, but smirking nonetheless.

"Yeah well, I got bored. Wanted to see if I could pull it off," Louis says as he walks back around to his stool where his food is at. "Guess I'm not a very good thief."

"Of all things, you decided to try and steal Sprite?" Harry asks clearly being sarcastic considering he saw Louis put the money in the register.

"Was easiest. You'd notice if I took money, I doubt that you regularly check how much Sprite is in the machine," Louis says, playing along.

Harry shakes his head and opens the mini door to the bar before walking out. He walks past Louis and over to one of the booths where there's some papers sitting. "Actually I'll have you know, I do check how much Sprite there is. Every night, it's just part of inventory."

"Oh," Louis says after chewing the food he has in his mouth, "I see. Well next time I guess I'll just have to plan it out better."

"Yeah," Harry says as he grabs the papers and then goes to the front doors. "You probably should."

Louis watches as Harry opens the door and walks out. He hears a car start and he assumes that means Harry's leaving. Louis just sits on the stool starring at the door with a small smile.

This is what he means when he says Harry's cool. The way he talks to Louis so casually but at the same time there's this anti-social vibe to him which only makes Louis want more. So far from the way Harry's been around him, Louis' come to the conclusion that yes, Harry is a bit anti-social and he really doesn't like many people but, he's not a mean person. He won't ignore you but he won't make too much of an effort to have a real conversation. Louis can deal with that. Baby steps right? It might take time but Louis' sure he'll befriend Harry at some point. Maybe he'll just have to come in and practice more often and just hope that the odds of Harry being here also, are in his favor.

After around twenty minutes Louis finishes eating and debates on if he really wants to keep dancing. He didn't do as much as he'd like, but he's also really in the mood to go home and watch Netflix. After a couple seconds of thinking, he decides that he'll stay for a half an hour longer so he can get in just a little more exercise.

Just as as Louis' about to go over to the stage he hears Harry's car pull back into the parking lot. Louis thought he went home but maybe he just went to get his own lunch or something. Louis sees Harry get out of his car through glass doors of the club. He's about to walk in but then a kid comes running down the sidewalk with ice cream in his hand. The kid who Louis assumes is probably ten, trips and drops his ice cream on the ground.

Harry notices and Louis watches as he bends down to the kid's height. Louis can't hear anything but it looks like the boy is about to cry. Louis keeps watching and sees Harry pull out his wallet. He hands the kid a five and then points to the McDonald's down the street. Louis obviously still can't hear but Harry says something and the little boy lights up. Once the kid's gone Harry comes back into the club.

Louis doesn't say anything as Harry walks back to his office. That was a really nice thing for Harry to do. Louis doesn't understand why so many people have said Harry's heartless or emotionless. If anything Louis thinks he's the exact opposite.

After a little while Louis finishes dancing and cleans up. He makes sure he has his key and then grabs his bag. He thinks about saying bye to Harry but he's probably busy and would like to be left alone so he just leaves.

When he gets back to the dorm the first thing he does is jump onto Niall's bed next to him.

"Do you ever leave this room?" Louis asks.

"Yes, I do. Unlike you I do what I need to do during the day and not at three in the morning. Why are you sitting here? You smell like sweat." Niall dramatically scrunches his face up at Louis.

"That's usually what happens when someone exercises. I'm sitting here because I have good news."

Niall gets fake excited. "You're moving into a different dorm?! Oh that's great news, Lou!"

Louis smacks Niall's arm. "You wouldn't know what to do if I moved out. No, the news is about Harry."

"If you tell me one more time how 'cool' he is I'm going to jump out of the window," Niall says, giving Louis a very 'I'm done' look.

"We're on the first floor so go ahead. It's not about how cool he is this time."

"Then what is it about?"

Louis smiles. "How nice he is."

"Louis." Niall says deadpanned.

"Niall. Just listen. There was this kid who dropped his ice cream and Harry gave him money to go get more from McDonald's."

Niall rolls his eyes. "That's so cliché. Also why was there a kid with ice cream outside of a strip club?"

"Well, it happened and it was adorable. After he came back inside he acted like nothing happened which means he did it just to be nice. And I have no clue."

"I'm not gonna lie, that is kinda cute. Have you befriended him, or whatever it is you're doing yet?" Niall asks as he types on his laptop.

"I don't think so. I'd say we're more acquaintances than we are friends, but that'll change. It's going to take a while, he's not very social so I don't get very many chances to talk to him," Louis explains.

"Well good luck with that then," Niall says then pushes Louis away. "Get your sweaty ass off my bed and go take a shower."

Louis flips Niall off but does as told and gets in the shower. While he's in there Louis decides that from now on Wednesday will be his day to go and practice which also means it's his day to get to know Harry more. One thing's for sure, by the end of all this, Louis will definitely have the body he wants.

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

A/N: How are you? Like genuinely, are you doing okay? Have you drank enough water today?