So, What? // 1D AU ✓

Chapter 17

~I'm gonna get in trouble,

My ex will start a fight~

The phone fell from Harry's hands and slammed into the street where the group was standing. Zayn leaned over to pick it up, and sighed loudly. "We're in business, boys!"

It should've been the best part of the night, but when everyone looked over at Harry, he didn't look happy. His hands were clasped tightly over his mouth, and he sat on the curb, making himself as small as possible. Tears ran down his face, but his hands muted the sobs that started the second the text popped up on the screen.

"Are you kidding?" Niall laughed at him, showing off his perfect teeth and fixing his fringe for the hundreth time that night. "Pal, we're in the endgame! It's cut his dick off time!"

Louis slowly sat next to him, pressing their thighs together. Niall saw his lips move, but the sobs of Harry must have drowned out whatever he had to say. His lips flattened out into a thin line, and he put his hand on Harry's knee, waiting for Niall to continue talking, apparently.

"This is real life?" Harry said, finally moving his hands for a second. "This illusion, it's going away," He moved his arm through the air slowly, like the world was turning to dust as they spoke. But all of his insecurities and fears were only in his head.

He cried more then, and Louis quickly grabbed his hand before it went back to his mouth. He stared at Niall, who stared at Zayn, who was watching Liam trying to reattach the wallet back to Harry's phone, since it had broke off when he'd dropped it.

All of them jumped when the Apple ringtone played, with almost a second dropping happening. Niall's attention quickly switched back to Harry, who had somehow managed to stop crying in the last two seconds and was wearing a mask of being someone he hadn't been since the beginning of the night.

He cautiously held out the phone to him, but it was Louis who shot up and answered the call before any of them could react. "Hello, this is Louis," He said politely. Harry sniffled loudly, wiping his eyes, and Niall quickly moved to sit down next to him for the phone call. Then they were all sitting in a line of the curb.

"Where the fuck is Harry?" It was on speakerphone, and Harry's heart froze, hearing that voice.

Rather than letting Harry answer, Niall covered his mouth lightly, eager to see where their new friend was going to take this. The two of them made eye contact, but Niall fully intended to stop this after a moment or so. "Harry's right here, but I'd like to say my piece, you bastard, before he tries to forgive you or some shit? You know you're a total asshat, right?" There was total silence from the other end of the phone, and Louis went off for a good four minutes, talking briefly about everything that Harry had talked about.

"He knows a lot," Liam bumped Zayn, who smiled briefly before refocusing on the tense moment that was happening. It was also a bit weird. This fella that most of them had just met less than an hour ago was cussing out the star of the night's husband on their relationship.

Niall and Harry held hands, and the latter had closed his eyes and was wavering his position, listening to Louis get mad at Cole. If it wasn't for the fact that those blue eyes were intensely focused on the phone, Harry would have been sure that the call had been dropped by now. There was no way he'd survive this length of time with this level of anger at his ex.

When Louis stopped for a breath, Harry hugged his legs and uttered a small, "Thank you." The blue-eyed one smiled happily at the statement and enjoyed the little embrace, forgetting that he's on the phone.

"Ok, where are we asking this asshole to meet us?" Liam questioned, arms folded.

Niall fixed his hair again. "The alley where Harry broke his nose."

"Louis, give me the phone," Harry said in a meek voice, and then coughed, reaching up with one hand. "Meet me in the alley behind the club you left me out. And bring my fucking inhaler, bitch!"

"Har-" He hit the End Call button, and Louis laughed loudly.

Then Niall pushed Louis, who stumbled off of the curb. Harry fell into a puddle, since he was attached to him, and he yelped. "What's your fucking problem, pal?" Louis questioned, folding his arms to avoid hitting Niall back.

"That was his fucking moment, you asshole! He was supposed to tell him off, not you! You're lucky I didn't fucking choke you while you were talking. You stole that moment from Harry, you absolute dick!" He stepped forward, hands outstretched to push him again, but Harry grabbed his leg roughly. "What, Harry?"

"Niall, you know that there's no way I could have done that. No matter all about all of this self-confidence stuff from tonight. I would've been balling. And I didn't ask Louis to do that, but I'm not going to yell at him for that."

"It's probably more dramatic since it came from a stranger," Zayn added loosely, kicking the water in the curb. "You know."

"It was his fucking moment!" Niall screeched, angry no one was understanding him. Liam finally shot up and grabbed his friend to stop another fight from happening.

"It's fine, Niall. Really. I'm going to be the one punching him and writing songs about how much of an ass he was," Harry looked up at Louis and beamed. "This is my story," He insisted. "I get to decide how it goes. And I wasn't going to stop that from happening."

"We've all got issues," Louis sighed. "I suck at communication, for one." Harry snorted in laughter, and Zayn started giggling. It was hard to believe that when he was just yelling to Cole on the phone for a decade in minutes.

"Do I at least get a punch?" Niall finally asked, arms crossed. He was still pissed.

"Duh," Harry nodded, and then giggled. "This was your idea, after all." Niall smiled, needing the ego boost greatly.

"Alright, I'm calling an Uber," Zayn said. "It's time to get this show on the road."