17 Black

Medicine--Chapter 6

Harry didn't really recall traveling across the club; he vaguely seemed to be floating, his body slowly plumetting closer and closer to Earth as he came down from his orbit, settling him into the nearest barstool.

Julian raised an eyebrow at his starstruck schlump. "Did he fuck you that hard?"

That startled Harry back into reality, a deep red blush racing up his face. "What?"

Julian repeated himself, not caring to hide his smirk as he followed Harry's gaze to the curtain at the side of the stage.

"No, no-we didn't-he didn't-"

"Hey, man, don't worry about protecting yourself to me," Julian said, raising his hands in mock surrender. "It happens all the time."

Harry felt as though he had, once again, had a heavy weight dropped into the pit of his stomach. He struggled to speak through the sudden dryness of his throat, sputtering out: "Louis has men come around often?"

"Oh!" Julian said, his eyebrows raising as he watched Harry stutter. "No, no, not really. I was speaking more in general. If I'm being honest, I don't know if I've ever seen him take someone home. He's new here, though, so he might've elsewhere. Why?"

Harry ignored his question. With a twist in his stomach and a slight release of the pressure on his shoulders, Harry hoped to God that Louis hadn't done this a lot. He found himself selfishly wanting Louis to himself, not wanting to share him with whoever else had come through the cherry doors of the bar.

The reminder of the door made Harry lick his lips, craving something to take the edge off his personality. He was so filled with anxiety he felt as though he couldn't breathe, and he needed some fire in his throat to clear it up.

"Do you have Kirsch here?"

The bartender leaned up from the bar, turning to his stack of shining bottles behind him. "Um," he muttered as he scanned the lines. "I think so? Why, what do you want?"

"Do you know how to make a rose?"

Julian hid a grin as his hands wrapped around the neck of a cool, nearly full bottle. "Remind me."

Harry's hand hit the back of his throat, embarrassed that he knew exactly what went into the cocktail, but not embarrassed enough that he wouldn't admit it. "It's got vermouth, kirsch, and some fruit syrup. Cherry would be nice, if you have any."

"A man of substance," Julian crooned as he began to mix the drink into a small cocktail glass, "And, apparently, cherry flavoring."

Harry grinned, his dimples showing and smile lopsided as he casually waited for Julian to finish mixing his drink. The drinks fizzed and bubbled as he shook them together, and, for once that night, Harry found his mind wandering from Louis something simpler.

That is, until the lights dimmed, and Louis stepped out onto the stage once more.

Though he was farther away than he had been before, Louis's slender, curved body was unmistakable. He walked with a certain kind of swagger, knowing all eyes, knowing Harry's eyes, were on him, and, with a quickly tossed glance and a wink up toward's his seat at the bar, he gripped the pole and began to dance.

And he was dancing to one of Harry's songs.

Harry felt his stomach twist and lurch as he recognized the thundering bass of Medicine, the song he'd conspicuously left absent from his first album, and only recently released as a single due to the high demand from fans, a teaser for his second album. One of the few times Harry had allowed himself to speak about those desires that plagued the inside of his soul, it was no secret what the song was really about.