They were ROOMMATES

Pilot

There's a knock on the door.

Louis groans. Who could possibly be visiting him at this hour? His only friend who would even be awake is Liam, and Louis knows he has footie practice right about now, so why the fuck is someone knocking on his door this early on a Sunday? Isn't that illegal!

Louis picks a pair of jogger up off of the floor, sniffs them, and proceeds to put them on. He makes his way to open the door but then hesitates.

"Um... who is this?" Louis asks.

"It's me, Harry. Please let me in, these boxes are heavy."

Harry? Harry? Louis doesn't know a Harry. He doesn't think so anyways, although Louis is a bit notorious for hooking up with guys then forgetting their names. Harry wasn't that blonde bloke who left his handcuffs behind last week, was he? No... his name definitely started with the letter M. Or... maybe it was an A....

The point is, he doesn't know any Harry.

"Can you come back later? I'm kind of busy," Louis lies, unless sleeping counts as busy.

"Please, Louis! These are really really heavy!" Harry says from the other side of the door. "I'm gonna drop them!"

Louis lets out a huff of annoyance and opens the door, just in time for this gangly willow tree of a boy to stumble forward, dropping a stack of boxes on Louis, then falling on top of the heap.

"Bloody hell!" Louis exclaims. "Get off of me!"

The younger looking boy scrambles to his feet, eyes wide with guilt.

"Oh my God, I'm so so sorry!" he says.

He pushes the boxes to the side and reaches to help Louis up, but the older boy declines his hand.

"Don't. You've done enough," Louis grumbles, rising to his feet. "What are you doing here? And what is all this shit?"

Harry blinks in confusion. "I'm Harry Styles. The RA said she emailed you that I was coming today."

"Listen, I don't check my emails, especially school related," Louis explains. "but now really isn't a good time."

Sundays are Louis' only day to sleep in between class and his Saturday morning shift at The Waffle House, and Louis isn't about to sacrifice that for some curly haired klutz (no matter how good his legs looked in those skinny jeans, damn). That's beside the point.

Harry laughs, and he has dimples too?! Louis is about to ask for the boy's number, because he is significantly hotter than most of his other one night stands, when Harry says something that changes his mind.

"Louis, I'm your roommate."

No. That's impossible. Louis doesn't have a roommate. Well, he used to until Matt got hit by an ice cream truck and lost his footie scholarship, having to leave school. But that was ages ago, and Louis has had the dorm to himself ever since. He's been free to be as messy as he pleases, hook up with as many people as he wants in the comfort of his own bed, and he never has to worry about someone else leaving the light on to study while he's trying to sleep.

I'm University terms, it's practically been paradise.

"This... this must be a mistake," Louis groans. "I don't want to share a dorm with you."

Harry's face falls. "Oh. Well I'm sorry. It wasn't my choice," he says. "I'll try not to cause you anymore trouble, though. You won't even know I'm here."

Louis watches as the curly haired boy sadly scoops up his stuff and puts it on the empty bed by the wall.

He sighs. "Harry, wait."

"What?"

"Are you sure you don't, like, have any friends you can room with?" Louis asks. "I'm not trying to be rude, I just like my privacy."

Harry shakes his head. "Nope. No friends. I guess you're stuck with me."

Louis glances at the time. It's still only eight, so he decides maybe he can get a few more hours of sleep. But just as he's finally getting comfortable again under the blankets, there's the loud sound of a glass shattering.

He sits upright and is met with the face of a very distressed Harry hovering over the shards of one of Louis' mugs. Great. Louis thinks. I'm stuck with the world's clumsiest roommate. Could this get any worse?

"Louis, I am so sorry!" Harry mutters, reaching down to pick up the mess.

"Don't touch that, you'll-"

"Ow!" Harry yells. He recoils his hand in pain, clutching it to his chest.

"Cut yourself." Louis sighs, rolling his eyes. "I'll clean it up. Just sit down and... don't touch anything else."

He rises from the warmth of his bed and kicks on a pair of shoes.

"Where are you going?" Harry asks, his eyes wide. "Did I upset you?"

"Would you relax? I'm just going next door to borrow a broom," Louis grumbles. He slams the door behind him.

The hallway smells like sweat and stale alcohol, per usual. Louis already knows that Niall will be asleep, but he hardly has it in him to feel guilty for pounding on his door, given the shit morning Louis' had himself so far.

The first thing Niall says when he opens the door is, "What the fuck, mate? Why are you awake?"

Louis groans in response. "Because my new roommate broke my favorite mug and I need to borrow a broom."

So, maybe it wasn't Louis' favorite mug, but it's his morning to complain about, so he'll embellish it all he wants.

"New roommate?" Niall says. "Is he hot?"

"Niall!"

The Irish lad wiggles his brows. "So that's a yes then."

"His name is Harry, and he's the most clumsy, awkward person I've ever had the displeasure of meeting," Louis mutters. "Now can I please just have the bloody broom. I'm afraid to leave him alone in there too long or he might break something else."

"Do you mean Harry Styles? Curly hair, skinny? Pretty boy face?" Niall questions.

"Yeah, I guess he fits the bill? Why?"

"He's in my business management class," Niall says. "He doesn't talk though. Always sitting alone too."

Louis had assumed that Harry was just starting school here, not that he'd been here all year. Why did he not already have a dorm?

"Louis?"

"What?" He look to see Niall staring at him with a quizzical look on his face.

"Just because you had a bad experience with Matt doesn't mean you need to take it out on Harry. He's sensitive."

That's not fair. Louis isn't taking anything out on anyone. This has nothing to do with Matt and everything to do with Harry annoying him!

"Whatever, I don't need the kid's whole bloody backstory," Louis grumbles, pushing passed Niall. "If you don't want to get me the broom I'll get it myself."

Louis is already halfway down the hall when he hears Niall holler, "Make sure you actually give it back this time!"

Louis pretends not to hear him.